My Dearest Claire-Bear,

You’re starting to really enjoy signing. At clinic I have to wear a mask so you can’t see my face, and in order to entertain you while we wait for an hour I sign through all the songs I know. Your face lit up when I started signing ‘you’re happy and you know it,” and towards the end you even started giggling! It was amazing for me to see you recognize the signing since I know you weren’t reacting to my facial expressions since all you could see were my glasses-obstructed eyes. It’s great motivation for me to learn even more songs and more ways we can communicate using sign.

I have just started some IV antibiotics as my lung function at clinic was quite low for everyone’s liking. Luckily my Mom came down to help out while I work on getting my self back into good health. That said, I have run out of scheduled posts so the next week or so might be lacking! Don’t you worry, as soon as I’m feeling better we’ll get those posts rolling back in.

Until then, I leave you with some baby cuteness from an impromptu photo shoot I set up in my living room. Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Halloween!

Dear Emerson Claire,

You are already 4 months old. This past month has been a really great one. It started out with a trip up to Rhode Island to see everyone and you were such a good baby the whole time. You were a champ in the car and I couldn’t have been more thankful.

We had a rough go for a bit when I had to go on antibiotics for 2 weeks could only nurse you twice during the day -every 12 hours to be exact. You were not thrilled about taking a bottle from me, but you gradually warmed up to the idea.

You’ve managed to roll over quite a few times by yourself. It doesn’t happen often. There is a certain mood you have to be in in order to roll yourself over, but each time is just as exciting as the last. You’ve definitely learned to enjoy tummy time more, which is great since sleeping in your crib on your back has given you quite the flat spot, and if we’re really honest, it’s given you quite the bald spot too!

Your personality is really starting to come alive. Much to my despair this also includes whining. How, how, at 4 months old have you already discovered whining?? You’re not afraid to give us an earful when we’re not at your every beck and call. For now we think it’s cute, but I’m sure we’ll reach a point where it’ll stop being cute.

You light up the room every time you smile, and this past month has been full of them. You smile every time you see your Daddy, and you smile when Oliver goes crazy. You’ve even started giggling and truly laughing. Of course you make us work very hard for each and every giggle and laugh, but all those dances and jigs we do are well worth it. But nobody, I mean nobody, has made you laugh like Oliver. All he has to do is walk into the room and you burst out in a huge grin and giggles surely follow.

You’re all about your hands this past month, so much so that we stopped swaddling you. We stopped cold turkey! It took a few nights of waking up a bunch, and needing extra comfort to fall asleep, but now you’re a rockstar at being free. I think it made nap-time and bedtime smoother overall.

When you’re not sleeping, you’re chomping on everything you can manage to bring to your mouth. You’ve got quite the grip so you’re less likely to lose whatever it is you’re holding onto. Your focus is fantastic now and you’ll look around the room searching for Daddy when you hear his voice.

You had your 4 month checkup this past Monday and you were very well behaved. You were 24.5 inches long (About the 55th percentile) and weighed in at 11 pounds even– about the 1st percentile. Your doctor isn’t concerned that you’re a peanut, since you’ve almost doubled your birth weight and you were up 2.5 lbs in two months. That averages out to a gain of 3-4 oz per week which is on the low side of normal. You had to get round 2 of shots (8 vaccines total, in 3 shots and 1 oral medicine) and you hardly cried. You cried on the first one, and the nurse was so quick that when she was done I signed “all done” and went to scoop you, but by the time I went to pick you up you had pretty much stopped crying. The nurse was highly impressed, as was I. You were such a trooper. I definitely have a strong little girl on my hands.

Emerson, this past month has been an absolute blast. You get cuter everyday (yes! I can’t believe it either) and watching you discover the world around you is breathtaking. You are the light and joy in my days and your Daddy and I love you to pieces. Happy 4 months baby girl.

All the baby books you’ll ever read say creating a nighttime routine can help your baby sleep better and longer. I tried once, when Emmie was about 8 weeks old, to implement a routine. It lasted all of two nights. I gave up, we just weren’t ready for a routine yet.

I watch a boy on Thursdays who’s just a week younger than Emerson. His mom and I chat about all sorts of things our babies like to do. We discuss what works and what doesn’t, and what we’re planning on doing. After multiple occasions of her bringing up her nighttime routine, or nap routine, I decided maybe I better try again.

I finally figured out why my routine didn’t work… it was too complex. Now we’ve got a nice simple routine and it seems to be helping. Every time we’re home for a nap, we turn on our sleepy sounds, close the blinds and read a quick picture book. I used to swaddle her up, but more recently we’ve stopped swaddling. I’ll give Emerson her pacifier and tell her to “have a good nap,” and out I walk. It took a few days, but now she’s asleep in just a minute or so.

Having a routine makes naptime a lot less stressful for both myself and Emmie. No wonder all the books strongly recommend routines – they just work!

Last week I took Emerson with me on a small hike with the other mom’s from our birthclass. She loved hanging out in her wrap, just taking in the sites. She took a snooze and woke up right as we were finishing up. It was a great success. 

That following weekend, it was a beautiful Sunday; 62 degree’s and not a cloud in the sky. Kyle and I packed up the family and we went off for a nice fall hike. Oliver had his pack on, I carried the backpack full of various items and Kyle carried the baby in her wrap. 

Emmie had a blast looking at everything! I can only imagine there was so much for her to take in: new sounds, new smells, new sights. In fact, I think it was the first time she had ever seen a stream. Oliver also had a blast. He carried the two heavy water bottles in his pack along with some extra diapers for Emmie. He trotted along the trail. 

Halfway into our drive to the park we discovered we forgot to pack Oliver a leash! We improvised with an infinity scarf we had in the car. Good thing our boy is so well behaved when we hike. Oliver really needed a good day out to romp around, and the hike was just the thing he needed. He slept the whole night… not even a peep when we went past his dinnertime without feeding him. That’s how you know he’s exhausted.

I’m hoping we can go on a few more family hikes before it really gets too cold. The nice thing about the wrap is it keeps Emerson nice and toasty warm even when it’s chilly out. This hike really makes me excited for next spring and summer, when we can take Emerson camping!

Being a pessimist I always take fall as the first sign that winter is truly on it’s way, but this year I don’t want to do that. This year I get to show my daughter just how wonderful fall can be.

We’ll cook dinners in the crock pot, and eat warm oatmeal for breakfast. We’ll sip on teas or hot cocoa and spend rainy days inside reading. So while my body may be cold, my heart will certainly be not!