Smiley, squawky, screamy: Four months
3rd March 2009
Dear Alice,
Just a few moments ago I was in your sister’s closet with the door closed, singing You are My Sunshine, with you swaddled in my arms and crying and fighting sleep.
You see, getting you to sleep is a complicated matter. You don’t like being put to sleep, but are still little and can’t do it yourself yet. So we usually take you to the basement where the furnace and washer/dryer make beautiful white noise that helps knock you out. But during the day, our bright back room — which we have to walk through to get upstairs to your crib — will startle you awake.
Which is how I found myself in the closet. Mumble-singing with my eyes closed, laughing on the inside and reminding myself that this, too, shall pass.
My frien
ds think you are my hard baby. Granted, you were sick for a week this month, but the older you get, the more holding and attention you require. You used to be content in the bouncy chair or the playmat for good stretches, but no longer. You cry and flail your arms up and down, and instantly quiet on my hip or the carrier (lordhelpus if we are with company and someone else tries to take you). Do you just need to be the centre of attention, or need to see everything? Is this a second child thing?
(Your Nana thinks we are spoiling you. But your Daddy and I would prefer to lessen the hearing damage your squawks can cause, and so up you come.)
(Needless to say, I don’t get much work done around here.)
You are sensitive. You don’t like strangers, and have been playing shy since you were two months old. You bounce my moods back at me, so that some days your Daddy wants t
o stay at work because he knows if I’m pissy, you’re pissy, too. But when we’re happy, whoo boy. You make a room explode in rainbows and unicorns with your smile, my dear. It lights up your entire face, from your crinkling eyes to your double chin — people cannot resist you when you are grinning, and several attempts have been made to steal you away from us.
When you are able to read this, they may be a thing of the past, but know the D emoticon? That looks like this? : D
That’s what your Big Smile is like. Your top lip thins out, and your bottom lip drops down into a half circle.
(Yes, your father came up with that clever analogy.)
This month you learned to blow bubbles. You can easily grab toys dangling in front of you. Your hands — especially your thumbs — are always in your mouth. Therefore, you drool a lot. You are almost rolling onto your belly, but only do so when you’re angry and have your arms and legs scrunched up.
It looks like your eyes will be the same colour as Lucy and I’s. I am happy/sad about this, we kinda hoped you’d get your father’s brown eyes.
The fine hairs on your ears are disappearing. The hair on your head is growing back in a lovely dark brown. You have the most delicious chubby legs and feet. Last check, you were 14 lbs.
I am aching for warmer weather so we can get out and explore together. I can’t wait for you to learn to sit up so you n’ Lucy can interact more. I have dozens of photos of you staring at her. W
e can tell you’re just dying to do what she does.
Until then, you’re still mine, smiley, squawky, screamy. And I love them all (especially when you are sleeping).
Love you,
Mum-Mum
p.s. — this month I also dropped a spoon on your head when you were nursing (I was trying to show Lucy how to balance one on her nose). Sorry ’bout that.
Possibly related posts:
really adorable pics of Alice……..she looks happy as a sandboy…..cant imagine her unhappy……..have you tried a ticking clock by her crib?? sometimes that helps get them to sleep………
From a mom of “spoiled” children – babies are supposed to be spoiled. Happy baby = happy parents, as you said. You can teach them lessons about doing things themselves and waiting their turn and playing alone later in their life. In too short a time they won’t want to be held at all, so get it in while you can.
A friend of mine had a baby who hated to go to sleep too. I got him a bear that has a ticking ‘heart’ inside it. It’s supposed to emulate the mother’s heartbeat and it also vibrates I believe. Anyway, this thing did the trick. From a very fussy sleeper to instant sleeper. He loved it. They’re about $40ish at that Masterminds store (Pickering Town Centre). That might be something to try. He was about the same age as Alice when we tried it….
Love the story. Makes me yearn for another one … almost
K, you’re not the first one to mention that heart bear. I should look into it…
You mentioned her needing white noise… My kids both definately needed that and still do. I got the Obus forme one from this site:
http://well.ca/products/obus-forme-sound-therapy-relaxation_574.html
It’s a great site, quick deliver plus FREE SHIPPING!
It has a heart beat setting too!
She is sooooooo cute! ANd I can’t believe she is four months old already! About the eyes, they may still turn brown. Alex had blue eyes for the longest time and just a few months ago or maybe sooner they are turning brown. So you never know…
Laura, that Obus Forme one is sold out!! Boohoo.
I’m at the mall tomorrow and will look for something. Thanks for the tips!
Good luck with the sleeping remedies. Since Brady moved into his own room at 6 weeks, he has had an old wall clock in his room. I’d like to think it helped.
Having the humidifier on in his room doubled as white noise too.
Enjoy the mall!! Where do you get to go shopping?
I remember the 4-month sleep issues we had. Sounds very similar – she wanted only wanted to sleep in my arms, so that I was sometimes rocking her for an hour to get her to sleep, to have her only sleep for 20 minutes. THAT was frustrating! I’m not proud to admit it, but 4 months was definitely the toughest time for me.
Good luck – I wish I had tried a few of these remedies on here. My best attempt to soothe her was to put Bob Marley on, as that was her favourite music to fall asleep to. Still works now, over a year later.
That, combined with our first attempts at cry it out, at around 5 months, got us through that stage.
Carly-the Obus system is available on amazon, walgreens and many other sites. Just google it.
Alice is such a pretty little girl. I love the photo of you holding her and taking your picture. So sweet!
I saw it’s available from those retailers, but unfortunately they’re American — thus ridiculous shipping, customs etc.
Right now we’ve got a stand-up fan on in her room. It seems to be helping get her down without waking as much, but the timing is right in the midst of the 4-month sleep regression…so it sure ain’t helping her STAY asleep!
Will continue to try it, though, then see if it’s worth it to get the noise machine.
Thanks for the tips, everyone!
All my kids have an air cleaner in their rooms and a humidifier. They have all been put into their own rooms in their cribs by themselves the day they came home from the hospital. Dylan was the hardest one to get to sleep but at about 4 months I started to put him down at around 6, 6:30pm when he started to get fussy. I had read that keeping them up past their fussy point made it harder for them to fall asleep and they slept less. Took about a week but it worked. I also put rice cereal in his bedtime bottle to keep him full longer and I did for the next two from about 3 or 4 months.
We also had to do the leave the baby and cry thing with Dylan too. It does work, you just have to get through it. Sorry if I’m rambling, it’s late. Hope some of it helps.
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