Amelia Jane - four months old

We've got a happy baby on our hands this month. She spent the whole month charming everyone who even glanced her way. I have never gotten so many comments on my baby like I have this month. The dimples and huge eyes draw everyone, but the real winner is her huge smile. Her little soul is making quite the appearance and we are all eager to interact with her.

I don't feel like a lot has changed this month. She's definitely grown longer but not filled out hardly at all. All of that growing only goes one direction I guess. When next to an older baby, she always seems to be the same size only leaner. She's wearing 3-6 month clothes and a few 0-3 month items still like pajamas, onesies, and rompers. No way are the 0-3 month pants fitting at this point. Summer weather makes it easy to fudge sizes a little since the length isn't as important. I wouldn't be surprised if we skip a size once winter clothes make an appearance.

This month, Amelia got two teeth at just 3m1w old (3 weeks sooner than her big sisters). It was incredibly shocking to discover. What was even more incredible was that within twenty minutes of discovering the first tooth, she rolled over for the first time (on the deep freeze while I was putting on the Moby wrap - no baby was harmed in this alarming story). My heart could barely handle all of the milestones that day, but thankfully they haven't kept up at that pace since then. She now rolls all directions and will not sleep on her back. I lay her down swaddled with one arm in and one arm out and she rolls over to her tummy for the rest of the night.

Another huge development - she's a pacifier lover! After all of the teething, she really started to chew on any and everything. On a whim one day, I stuck one in her mouth and she loved it. She won't sleep without it now and it has really helped in those in between times when she could sleep or eat but isn't quite needing it yet. I admit it fully - I love having the pacifier as a crutch. Plus, the big girls can help put it back in her mouth in the car or if she's fussing while I'm finishing cooking or whatever job I'm stuck doing. Church is so much more manageable now that I can wrap her up tight and mute her with the pacifier. She has slept through more services this month than the first few combined.

bubble blower

Just this week she started blowing bubbles. She's making constant sounds, mostly sticking to one drawn out ahhhhh as loud as she can. She's never been afraid of her voice, this one. I got one belly laugh out of her by tickling her lightly and kissing her cheek/neck area, but mostly she just coos and offers huge smiles.

She also sits in the exersaucer (with blankets stuffed behind her for support), although she's always very aware when I'm sticking her in there to distract her while I try to get something done. It seems at those moments that she only screams and doesn't play. If I'm not doing much and put her in there, she's as happy as can be. She's a smart little lady and keeps me on my toes daily.

We haven't spent too much time in the bumbo chair but she loves it too with the same criteria as above. When we are outside, she will lay on a blanket peacefully looking around. Stroller rides or being worn by me are also almost always successful when we are outside. She just loves being outdoors. It's a huge relief since it's good for all of us to get fresh air and the older two girls need to be able to run around. I don't know what we'd do if we were stuck inside all day.

We have been so busy this month with activities out of the house almost every day and she just rolls with it amazingly. Her naps are pretty haphazard, usually taking two random naps either on the go in her carseat or worn on me. She also falls asleep in my arms if she's wrapped up tight with the pacifier. It's so wonderful to have that flexibility. She gets a good 2 - 3 hour nap most afternoons unless she has a long morning nap, then it's a bit shorter. Bedtime is still around 7:30 even if she takes a third nap right before. That happens a few times a week too.

For how much noise she's constantly surrounded with, she can be over sensitive when it comes to loud screams or shouts when she's eating. We're just getting to the stage where she unlatches constantly if she gets distracted. She likes to kick her feet and if there is something within reach, she'll kick so hard she can't stay latched so sometimes we end up in a bit of a wrestling match. This is especially fun at night (note the sarcasm). She hasn't used those two sharp teeth to bite down yet (thankyouJesusforreal) but I'm kind of waiting for it any day now. 

The sister picture went well.

I suppose I should mention that we've hit that lovely four month sleep regression stage. She used to only wake once at night and now it's a solid three times every night. I'm mostly used to it and just have an extra cup of coffee in the afternoons. I will take a nap maybe once a week for about twenty minutes and don't seem to be over tired, but I definitely wouldn't mind getting more solid sleep. Thankfully, she eats and goes right back to sleep most of the time so it doesn't take more than fifteen minutes. I fall back asleep quickly too, so my complaining is minimal. I know it's short lived and that soon enough she'll be like the big girls and not need me so often. I do enjoy the sweet baby snuggles while I can get them.

One other sweet little "Amelia" thing... when I pick her up post nap or if she has been crying, she buries her head in my shoulder so hard that she can't breathe and then comes up for air suddenly like she just couldn't tear herself away from me. It's the sweetest thing, and I haven't seen her do it to anyone else. That's about the extent I get for cuddling. She loves to be held, but not in a cuddly way. I fully expect her to take off away from me (or anyone holding her) once she becomes mobile.

Here are the girls all lined up. Amelia, Audrey, then Josie. I've heard so many times that Amelia looks just like Audrey but I still can't see it. I don't feel like Josie looks like herself in this picture, so I definitely do see any resemblance here. What do you think?

The fun is just getting started with miss Millie girl. :) Even though the newborn newness has worn off, we are all still enamored by her all the time. So thankful she has joined our family.

Nursery reveal

The nursery has been in use for a solid four months and it's time to share it. I don't feel like the pictures do it justice. It has a peaceful, clean feeling but the pictures seem a little cold and bare. Does that make sense? My photography skills are lacking, but please take my word for it. I do love this room. It seems that Amelia loves it too. She gets her best sleep in there and seems to sigh a breath of relief after we've been gone a few days. 

I don't close the blinds - ever- because I really want her to be able to sleep without it being pitch dark. So far it hasn't been a problem. She does wake up around 6:00 AM or so but I don't really think it's because of the light.  If I leave her to chatter to herself for a while, she usually falls back asleep. It's working out great and having the blinds open all the time makes the room feel bright and homey. 

I really love this room.

I made the mobile quickly one night when I realized that she liked to watch her bassinet mobile while falling asleep. She's the first kid we've had that has paid it any attention. It's pretty subpar, but it'll have to come down once she's sitting up anyways, so it does the job. 

(I really need to get that camera up out of her reach before she can grab it.)

• Hubby made the valence above the window. The fabric is sadly out of stock forever. I tried to get more for the crib skirt, and it was impossible. It's also a hard color to match, so it only mostly works with the rest of the room. 
• The chair cushions were redone by this Etsy seller. It wasn't cheap and took forever to come in the mail, but it looks great in the room and will work when it's not the designated nursery chair.
• The dresser is from Furniture for Less and matches the dresser in the big girls' room. Eventually it will be in their room as they get bigger and need more space. 
• The baskets under the changing station are from HomeGoods. The bottom baskets just barely fit but since we don't need to pull them out often, it hasn't been a problem. The upper baskets are where the cloth diapers are stored so they are used ... often. 
• I made the changing table mat cover. I actually made two of them, along with all of the sheets and the crib skirt. Many thanks and credit goes to my mom who helped me keep the pregnancy brain forgetfulness to a minimum with that lovely sewing machine.
• The big A on the dresser is from Hobby Lobby.The clock is from HomeGoods.

• The flag banner contains all the leftover fabric from the sheets and mat cover. I am so glad I didn't have to throw the scraps away. I'm just too cheap (I prefer the word frugal) to do that.

• I made the outside pictures using Photoshop and ordered the middle print from this Etsy shop. 
• The model in the crib is a real life baby that just happens to live in this room.
• The owl stool is an accidental prop that was left behind by a curious older sister. It's often found here or alongside the changing table. 

• The mirror is from HomeGoods.
• The lithograph print is from this website. The options seem endless and I could stare at them all day. Check it out! This print in particular is the Pride and Prejudice print.The entire picture is made up of the words from the book. If you look closely, you can actually read most of it.
• I picked up the navy blue framed cork board from Target's dollar section on a whim. I added navy blue in with the teal/turquoise, coral, and plum last minute after seeing the colors all mixed together at the best fabric shop in the world, Modern Textiles. I tell you what, I get lost in that store just dreaming about all of the possibilities. Everything is so gorgeous.

So there you have it. My hope is that this room can evolve into a little kid room, then a big kid room, and maybe even a guest room without having to be completely redone over and over. The neutral gray walls are lovely but I also know that gray won't always be so in style. There is a lot of room for her to make it her own as she gets bigger, but for now, I like it just the way it is.

Amelia's newborn pictures

While looking for a few photos from months ago, I realized I never posted Amelia's newborn pictures. Dear friend/family Missy took them for us (while she was eight months pregnant - that's a gift to us if I've ever seen one) and they turned out exactly as I hoped. I really just wanted one or two good pictures that I could print and hang up (need to do that still...) and she got them easily. The big girls wanted in on the fun too, and their shot at the end of this post made me swoon. It's also been made into a magnet and will forever be on the fridge. 

Isn't she the sweetest? She's four months old (as of yesterday) and that post is coming soon, but it's fun to look back and see how much she has already changed.

Amelia Jane - Three months old

Another month has quickly passed by with this little lady. We have a wonderful routine down now and each day is a lot more peaceful and enjoyed (as much as can be with three girls under four). Amelia is a happy little baby, no longer a newborn yet not even close to toddler (thank the Lord, Mama isn't ready for that kind of talk yet).

  

We had her two month check up this month (a week late, so the stats never made it to her two month post). She weighed 12 lbs 5 oz and was 25 inches long. That put her at just over 50% for weight and a whopping 97% for height. I wasn't a bit surprised by this. Her 0-3 month clothes still fit fine (which does surprise me), since she is long but not filling them out at all width-wise. Well, they were fitting fine until this week. I'm slowly putting away outfits here and there but we aren't jumping right into the next size. Most of it is very summery and the rainy, cool weather gives us a chance to get one last wear out of a lot of her winter clothes. A friend gave us a bunch of hair bows that she had made and never sold, so now we have a ridiculous amount to choose from and dressing her is still ridiculously fun.

She's eating well. Breastfeeding continues on painlessly and efficiently. She is faster now that she's a little older and there is a lot less over-production so that helps keep it quick and with less mess. I'm not sad that I don't have to have two or more burp cloths around at all times! I do get paranoid about my supply since it isn't as obvious. She also sometimes just seems to want to nurse for comfort even when she isn't hungry anymore. It's hard for me to not worry and try to "fix it" because when I look back at my time breastfeeding Audrey, there were signs that it wasn't quite right and things I could have done differently to prolong milk production.

Amelia still has a lot of dirty diapers and is growing just fine, so I just need to chill out. She just went through a growth spurt when she wanted to eat more often, but my body adjusted and now it doesn't seem to be an issue. Each kid is different and so far it's going fine. She has started to play with my shirt as she eats and I've been enamored with watching her little eyes light up when she takes in the textures and colors. I'm so thankful for this part of being her mom.

There has not been any rolling or even hints of rolling yet. So far, she has been happy alternating between tummy time and back time by me turning her. She doesn't get upset on her tummy now that she is strong enough to look around. If she can see her sisters, she is entertained for at least four times as long. If nobody is around she will only hang out for a few minutes before getting worked up. It isn't the easiest to get chores done if the big girls aren't around to keep her attention. She get to "help" in the kitchen a lot by being in a sling or having me wear her with the Moby wrap.

The car seat is no longer a problem. Each month has gotten better and now she'll happily sit in there and look around even if she's not moving. I've learned to leave her in there as long as she is happy. Then, once she starts to fuss, I take her out and hold her. Again, once she fusses, she gets moved to the floor on her tummy, then her back. This little routine gives me about an hour to do whatever (visit with someone, sit in church, etc). I do like predictable patterns like this that I can count on.

She still won't take a pacifier (I've given up trying) and switching positions is the best way to soothe her when she is fussy.

She is still reminding me of Josie with her behavior, always looking around with huge eyes, taking it all in. She will try to look around me if I try to make eye contact with her when she's getting tired or is really fascinated by her surroundings. Josie did this all the time too. She also loves to stand and has really strong legs already. All three of the girls did this so young...something in our genes I guess! I wouldn't be surprised if she starts sitting up or standing before she rolls over...

She happily shares her dimply smile with anyone and everyone now, and even tolerates others holding her for longer stretches of time. She will get in moods where she is just chatty and will coo and grin at me while we "talk" to each other. I haven't seen her do this too much with others yet, although Josie has gotten her to do it a few times. Jo has a lot more patience than Audrey so she gets the results. ;)

Just last week (right before she turned three months), we started having her sleep in her room. It's gone great! She just coos or grunts a little when she wakes up to eat (still just once around 4-5:30) and falls back asleep quickly when I sneak out of the room. My favorite part is that now when she wakes up, she just looks out the window, plays with her hands and Snuggie (if she gets her hand/s free which is more often the case than not), and talks to herself. I can hear her and tell that she's happy so I have time to get a few morning things done, usually getting the big kids ready or at least on the path to getting ready. It has helped our morning routine tremendously. When I go in to get her, she's still happy and I get the biggest grin of the whole day. She is so happy when she wakes up. I'm always excited to go get her instead of hubby doing it because I love seeing that huge grin.

She is still in the smallest size for her cloth diapers but they are working great. She doesn't have many rashes and they don't leak very often. She did have a ridiculous blowout the other day but that hardly ever seems to happen so it really sticks out in my memory. We are exclusively using the Flip diapers unless we are doing laundry. I just don't like the old pocket diapers we started with. They are stretched out and always end up leaking.

These three girls are so fun to watch. When Amelia is on the floor, the big girls will take turns playing with her, giving her toys and kisses like crazy. 90% of the time, they are gentle and sweet. I still like to be watching just in case, but usually the roughness I see isn't intentional and doesn't actually upset Millie. I'm just worried that it will escalate. Josie continues to be such a great helper with her and will lay the blanket out or get toys for her to reach for (she doesn't really yet, but that's the goal) all the time.

We added a few more nicknames this month. We often call her Millie McGee, Mila girl (my favorite), Mildred, Malificent, Milbert (daddy's favorite), and Boppy baby (Josie's favorite). Audrey still prefers A-Mee-lee-a all sounded out when you ask her what her name is. We also still call her Millie Vanillie, Amelia Bedelia, and our family version, Amelia Be-deyle. Ridiculous amount of nicknames, I know.

 As far as naps go, she still take four naps (the other girls never ever took this many naps!) and it's working out well for us. One around 8-9, another from 10:30-11:30, a long one from 1-3:30, and a shorter nap from 5-6. There is wiggle room with all of them, which is why it works so well. As long as we are within a half hour or so of each of those, she's happy all day. If we push it (like skip the last one which happens when we go to Missional Community on Tuesdays or Sunday mornings when she skips one of the morning naps) she will be pretty fussy and fights sleep a lot more. Part of that is because it's hard for her to fall asleep in our arms instead of wrapped up in her bed, but she still does okay with it. I think she's getting more adaptable as she gets older, which is a little surprising. I didn't expect her to do that, but I'll take it!

I usually wrap her up, start the mobile music, turn on the sound machine, lay her down even if she's fussing or crying and then leave the room. She usually stops crying in under two minutes. If she doesn't, I sometimes go back in to feed her (once in a while she's just still hungry) or change her diaper (once in a while she is fussing because she just filled her diaper) but most of the time, she just looks around before going to sleep. I'm so thankful for this simple routine! I can't imagine having a longer more drawn out routine with having big kids that need me too.

Here is the comparison picture of all three girls. Amelia first, then Audrey, then Josie. Audrey and Josie still had long dark hair at this point and you can't see Amelia's hair in the front, so she looks quite different. In these pictures especially, I think Amelia and Audrey share the same smile. She's still pretty close in size with Josie. Notice how long her legs are, though, even all curled up! Her skin tone also seems more like Josie's than Audrey's (who always had such white/pink skin).

Amelia is so good for my heart. She is truly a huge blessing to our family. I wish I could express how much joy she brings each of us every day, but you'll just have to take my word for it. It's a lot. :)

No love

False. Amelia gets plenty of love. Also, note the many faces of this growing girl. Sometimes I just can't help myself and dress her up in the most ridiculous outfits.... and then I document them here to thoroughly embarrass her when she is older. Enjoy!

Amelia Jane - two months old

Eight weeks have gone by, and suddenly our newborn isn't so "new" anymore. I think it's safe to say that she is a full on active baby and no longer a newborn. The change is pretty remarkable.

Just a recap: after her first week, she really started fussing. Well, fussing that turned into full on screaming that lasted pretty much all day every day. By the time we reached six weeks, it was to the point where I was just walking around in a daze, shushing her, rocking her, trying to feed her, bouncing up and down, etc. None of it helped, so we decided to take her to the chiropractor. Within minutes of being adjusted, seconds really, she was a different baby. It was such a relief! Now we can love her and enjoy her. 

It's a little hard to recap the month since the first half and second half were completely different. I've written about how being adjusted helped her already here, so I'll just focus on the last two to three weeks.

Once she was more comfortable, I was able to focus on her sleeping routine/schedule and figure out if she had any obvious signs of being tired. Spoiler alert: she doesn't. It seemed like we'd have one good day and then one bad day over and over again. Finally, I dug into a few old blog posts both on this blog and other blogs I'd read in the past that had example schedules for babies this age. You'd think after having done this a few times before I'd remember, but I really didn't at all.

She was staying awake way longer than she should have, and the result was that she was quite over tired all the time. Once I started putting her down for a nap after only being awake about an hour, she fell into a great routine and we've all been happy and more relaxed because of it.

If I time it right, I am able to wrap her in her snuggie while she is awake and leave the room. She usually looks around and fusses just a little bit for about 10 minutes or so and then falls asleep. She wakes and falls back asleep like 3 to 4 times before falling into her deep sleep. I don't take it for granted that I can lay her down awake already. I was surprised myself when it worked!

Our general routine right now goes mostly like this. She wakes up to eat around 4:30-5:30. She usually wants to eat again around 7:00, and then I try to keep her up for a little while. She'll nap again around 8:15, wake up, eat, play, and nap again until 12:00 or so. At this point, my goal is to keep her awake until the big girls are ready for naps. I've actually been pretty successful at this, which means I have a couple of hours (or at least one) a day where they are all napping. It's been so good for my mental health and I've been able to keep the house a littler neater, get work outs in, read a little, and/or prep for afternoon activities.

After she wakes up, which could be anywhere from 3:00-4:30 (!), she eats, plays for an hour, takes another nap, and then is up until her bedtime which is around 7:30. Bedtime isn't set in stone though, because the older girls stay up later and sometimes she is hungrier and wants to eat before she sleeps, which pushes bedtime back a little. If I dream feed her before I go to bed, she usually sleeps until 5:30 the next morning, which is awesome. Four naps a day may seem a little excessive, but I know the morning two will reduce to one as her wake time gets longer, and eventually, the late afternoon nap will also disappear. I'm not messing with it for now.

Nursing is going really really well! I've heard that one should wait until you've done it for six weeks before throwing in the towel and that is so true. If I would have based my feelings about it on how things were going just two weeks in, I wouldn't have wanted to continue. I was so sore and it was painful pretty much every time. At six weeks in, it's completely different. It doesn't hurt at all. I'm not engorged, even in the mornings, since my body has gotten used to our routine. She's gotten really good at latching quickly and appropriately so I haven't ever felt like she's not getting enough or unhappy. The only little hiccup we have is that she really doesn't like being covered up while we're in public. Maybe she gets hot, but she will latch and unlatch over and over and usually doesn't eat as much, which then means she eats a lot more later. It's not a big deal, but something I should note. If I used the nursing cover instead of just a blanket, it'd probably help a lot. I've just been lazy and haven't taken the time to dig it out of the endless pit of the diaper bag.

I also should note that she just started making eye contact with me and smiling in the middle of nursing, which is pretty heart stopping. She really captures her mama in those moments. I love this stage.

Around six weeks old, she started smiling, just a little bit here and there. Being adjusted and having her more comfortable probably helped, but mostly it was just good timing. She is sneaky with it, smiling for only a second or two before resuming staring. If you aren't careful you'll miss it! Just this week, she's started smiling and cooing for other people consistently. Her interaction time lasts a lot longer and she seeks me out with her eyes more. It should go without saying (but I'm going to say it) that she's getting to be more and more fun.

She is still wearing 0-3 month clothes comfortably. I'm really tired of most of her clothes (it's the third time around for a lot of them and my sense of baby style has shifted but I don't want to spend the money on more clothes so I'm just waiting it out) so I won't mind when she switches to the next size. I might even pull them out early, even if she hasn't actually grown out of the the 0-3 clothes. They are already in her dresser, just in the bottom drawers, so it wouldn't be too difficult to do. We shall see. The weather will play a huge factor in this as I only have the summer clothes ready for 3-6 months.

If the girls would have gotten sick of her, this would have been the month since she cried her way through the first half of it. Thankfully, they really didn't seem to mind and still love her dearly. Audrey's taken a little more ownership over her "tistah" and Josie is still showering her with physical adoration (smothering? almost... she's a little overwhelming) all the time. Millie girl seems to be getting used to it and doesn't cringe every time, so that's nice to see. She is juuuust starting to watch them as they play around her, and I'm sure that'll take over as she keeps growing and developing.

They help me come up with new nicknames for her all the time. Currently, we call her Millie, Mil mil, Millie McGee, Amelia Be-deyle (a play off of Amelia Bedelia), and Millie girl. We've just barely scratched the surface, I'm sure. We sure do love nicknames over here!

And now for the comparison:

Still looks so different. We still hear that she looks more like Audrey, which I can now see a little more. Mostly in the mouth, which isn't surprising. We found pictures from the past, showing how much Audrey looks like her grandma Annette, and Amelia looking more like her daddy (and I'm sure that there are similarities between mother and son). Josie continues to look more like me and not like her sisters! Genetics are so fascinating.


And already, this next month is flying by!