4 Month Stats

Dear Goose,
At your four month check up, you weighed 14lbs, 2oz, up exactly a pound from the 3 month. You were 25.4 inches long, placing you in the 81% for height and 43% for weight. The doctor was very pleased with your growth, your strength and your focus. You even gave her some smiles before she gave you your shots. You cried for a moment, then were back to your regular sweet self. (Though later that night you got a little fever and the next day all you wanted to do was sleep)

The newest development is that you're riding in a stroller and in the carrier facing OUT. You LOVE it! You are so happy seeing the world. But it's overwhelming, too; after about 30 minutes of facing out, you're ready for a big sleep.

I swear there's a tooth getting ready to pop up, sometimes I think I can feel it protruding from your bottom gum. You continue to have an intense oral fixation and want everything in your mouth. It's not unheard of to catch you gnawing on all ten fingers. You're also a big fan of pulling on your toes. You go into the classic Happy Baby pose whenever you're on your back, which can make changing your diaper a little challenging at times. The weather changed rather suddenly from summer to fall and taking off your pants gets in the way of leg stretching time.

Loving Sophie and milk. Happy Goose in the park while Mama is at work!

Four Months Old!

Dear sweet Goose,
You are four months old! You just recently found your feet and while they haven't made it to your mouth quite yet, it's only a matter of time. Because everything else goes directly to your mouth. You are really enjoying chewy toys, the plush animals with fun noises are okay, but Sophie is your favorite. Though fingers and nipples are okay too. Yeah, ouch, little Goose!

You are starting to enjoy playing on your back with toys above you. You have to be in a certain mood, but you like to hit the toys and watch them swing.

You are getting a little ticklish, too! If I tickle your tummy, you'll let out a little giggle! So far it's only for me, Daddy really really tried so hard to get you to laugh and you make him with for it. But you're starting to see how silly he can be

16 weeks old!

Dear Goose,
You are now 16 weeks old and the newest development this week is raspberries! Instead of only drooling constantly, you now joyfully spit bubbles at us, too.

You are still all about things in your mouth, though we've basically given up hope on the pacifier. Fingers (yours or anyone else's) and toys are your preferred oral fix. And mostly to gnaw on, not suck, except when you're falling asleep. You primarily sleep on us, we haven't even tried transferring you to your bassinet for naps. The first thing you do when waking up is blow raspberries. So so so freaking cute.

The other new development is laughing more than a little. You kind of laugh your ass off if something strikes you as funny. Mainly your sister. You have an adorable throaty laugh and when you get going it almost sounds like hiccups on speed. You laugh with your whole body, bouncing with joy. And it's infectious, your laughter sets off anyone nearby into fits of giggles. You are so much fun!

15 weeks old!

Dear Goose,
You are 15 weeks old now and, wow, what a fun stage we're in! You laugh daily now, though what you find funny changes and is unpredictable. One day it's Daddy saying "Ba BOO!" over and over again, the next day it's being tickled on your tummy, then another just because we're making silly faces at you. You love to look at yourself in the mirror when I'm holding you, but when your sweet sitter does it, you cry. (Clearly you understand what a mirror is!) You have mastered the tummy to back roll, sometimes doing it several times in a row when I put you on your playmat. Though sometimes you just hang out on your belly, too.

 Look at that strong neck and belly!!

You are drooling a TON these days. I keep a soft cloth in my pocket and in the carriers I use to wipe your chin. Sometimes we don't catch it and the front of your shirt is soaked. It doesn't bother you, so it doesn't bother us. Along with the drool is the constant hands in your mouth. You almost always have at least one hand in your mouth. You suck your fingers to soothe yourself, you gnaw on your finger joints for fun, you grab toys and clothes and carrier edges and other people's fingers and taste them...I think I say "wow, delicious fingers!" a hundred times a day

Delicious fingers!

At 15 weeks you still don't have any discernible schedule. Some days you'll take a nap for 2 or 3 hours in a row, other days you'll sleep no more than 45 minutes at a time. Some nights you'll sleep in your bassinet for 6 hours before snuggling up next to me in bed to nurse the rest of the night, others you won't transfer at all. 

One long nap allowed me to actually get some work done!

No matter what your sleep/wake/feed cycle has looked like, you're most often calm, happy and content. You have started babbling more and it's the cutest thing ever. Daddy says you sound like R2D2 and I think you sound like you're singing. You are as delicious and amazing as ever and we just keep falling more and more in love with you!

Three months old!

Dear Goose,
You are 3 months old! And the biggest news to date is that you laugh! Oh, my goodness, what a laugh you have. You laughed for the first time in the car while we were driving up to Vermont (more on that later). I was crinkling a book at you and you laughed and laughed and laughed. And everyone else in the car laughed too. It was magical.  You didn't laugh again for a few more days, and then it was at Daddy making silly noises. "Ah-BOO!" Hilarious. We are such addicts for your laughs, we'll really do anything ridiculous if we think it might get a laugh.

3 months old and very into your fingers

You wake up happy in the morning, all smiles. You still have a pretty high threshold for unpleasantness and will give us plenty of warning before going into epic meltdown mode. And even when you have gone to the dark side, once what was bothering you has been remedied, you're cool again. It breaks my heart, but often you will be smiling again with tears left in your eyes.

You eat with gusto and have gained another pound this month bringing you up to 13.

This past week we indoctrinated you to The Mommune, with your first long weekend in Vermont. You are an easy happy traveler (okay,m the car is not your favorite place, but you will tolerate it for a decent length of time) and are non-plussed at new surroundings. One night we stayed up late singing and you slept right through the singing, dancing and merriment, waking up only for a moment as I transferred you from wrap to bed.

 The whole Mommune. You fit in perfectly

posing for pictures with your sister

12 weeks old!

Dear Goose,
I'm not sure if the 4th trimester ends at 12 weeks or 3 months, but either way, we're getting close. And you are SO much a yummy baby these days, no longer the curled up fetal creature we met 12 weeks ago (though you were obviously spectacular then, too). You coo, you smile, you are fairly easily appeased when you're upset unless what you really want isn't possible (mostly getting out of a carrier when we're in transit). You are already an excellent travel companion, enjoying the bus, the subway, the railroad and the car.

Traveling with your sister: near the top of things you love to do

YUMMY BABY!

This week has seen the beginnings of some laughs. No laughing sounds yet, but you've laughed silently a few times. I can not WAIT to hear what your laugh sounds like.  You've been chattering a away a bit more, too, lots of fun noises. 

And, oh! The drool! SO MUCH DROOL! Sometimes I put a bib on you before we go out so I have something handy to wipe your face. I didn't know it was possible for such a small human to create so much drool, but after a snuggle session, my shoulders are sopping wet. We put your amber necklace on, just in case the drooling is the beginning of teething. I don't think it is, but the necklace is cute anyway. 

11 Weeks old

Dear Goose,
Wow have you woken up these past few days! Much longer stretches of awake time, much more activity, many more noises and so many smiles! You smile with your whole face, mouth open.

You are so strong and active! You basically have total neck control now and spend a lot of time looking from side to side. I'll tell Daddy "She's watching tennis again!" because it seems that you want to take in the whole world at once. You rolled over from front to back at 11 weeks, 2 days. OY! You want to sit up SO badly, essentially doing crunches every time you're on your Boppy pillow. Laying flat on your back seems comfortable and nice, though, Except for sleeping, which you prefer to do on people. And your people are happy to oblige. 

neck control!

You're big goal lately is to find which finger combination is going to be your go-to to soothe yourself, fingers are constantly in your mouth. Your fingers, but also anyone else's fingers who happen to be close by.  If you're awake, you usually want something in your mouth. The pacifier is still hit and miss: you like it but often can't keep it in your mouth and then you lose interest.