Baby Blogging: This Is 4 Months!

It's been a while, I knew having Annabelle would mean my days would change but I wouldn't say it has really hit me until she hit 4 months. It has taken me almost 2 weeks to finish this post! Up until this point days involved a lot of naps, fairly consistent night-time sleeps and a baby that was fairly

easy to entertain. Motherhood was (dare-I-say it) fairly easy.

Then. 4. Months!

It's hard to remember all the small changes that have happened because they appear so frequently but the culmination is that we have a very different baby to even a few weeks ago.

One major difference is that nap time is now giving us a structured routine, that if mess up we really know about it. Gone are the days where she will happily fall asleep in the buggy, now naps are mainly in her cot in her room. Night time sleeps occasionally regress, sometimes because of teething, sometimes because of hunger and sometimes both. Whatever the reason we have had less sleep in the last few weeks than at any point since Annabelle arrived.

We now know what people mean when they say Motherhood is hard work. Up and until now Annabelle had given us an easy ride.

Skills that have appeared in the last few weeks now include:
Grabbing - a serious life threatening skill and it means we have to watch her constantly
Sitting - so she can be part of everything, but it now means laying down is not something she will entertain so we can't just leave her happily playing on her mat.

Playing with toys - a great new way to entertain Annabelle but interest in each toy lasts a few minutes max so the lounge is now covered in toys
Rolling - although not consistently, when the mood takes her Annabelle will now roll increasing the area she can cover

Laughing/Giggling - heart-warming, charming and guaranteed to always make us melt

Smiling to charm - okay so Annabelle has always been a smiler but seeing her use it to make anyone and everyone fall in love with her is adorable
Standing - not totally unaided but definitely with minimal support, again this helps her be 'part' of the conversation

Annabelle even graduated Baby Development class, her involvement was limited but we're proud! She even joined us at an actual graduation and thankfully slept through the whole thing - including a speech by Michael Parkinson!

As it Children In Need Annabelle wore PJ's, the slippers were the first thing we ever bought  our 'baby. They reminded us of Bisbee!

It's fair to say our baby girl is growing up fast and I am both overjoyed and sad in one breath. The interactions, engagement and actual involvement I now have with Annabelle are moments I will treasure. We work on things together. I will make faces, do voices, in fact do whatever it takes to get the giggles. I have learnt beat-boxing, fart noises and cheesy music all work for getting a giggle.

With this comes a serious lack of time for me though.

Sometimes it can take me half an hour to get Annabelle to sleep and then she will only sleep for half an hour - barely enough time to get a wash on.

Then there is teething. Overall we are 'managing' with teething but some days it's as if teething is all Annabelle can focus on. I am forever mopping up drool and finding teething toys - Sophie the giraffe is current favourite. Oh and the teething mitt.

Seeing Annabelle start to enjoy the wider world is amazing though. Her eyes light up when she sees trees. She loves fires - we discovered this in our cottage in Wales and on Bonfire night (more on that in a later post). She's chatty in the cutest way and will happily join the conversation when we are sat round the table.

One thing we are still working on figuring out is how quickly she'll fly through emotions. From happy gurgling to crying it can be 0.1 of a second. Often we'll go back to gurgling but here have been times when it's escalated unexpectedly.

Thankfully as Annabelle is easy going we have managed to keep up our travels. In the last few weeks we have visited Wales (survived getting a puncture in a location without phone signal) and headed to Sheffield to stay with friends and check out the Derbyshire Dales. On both trips Annabelle was amazing and happy to go with the flow. Although we had some moments in the car where we had all out screams.

Nothing phases Annabelle, she has also got eczema that started to appear at 4 months. It's not irritating her but it has set my Mum guilt off - post coming soon on that! She rarely cries and loves Bisbee, even if she gets a little close at times.

I have also learnt (mainly through Baby Development) not to be 'so' careful with Annabelle. That throwing her around is good for balance and inner ear development. Turns out they need to fall before they figure out how to sit. I just need to make sure I don't drop her. We have learnt plenty of songs with dance routines that include trowing Annabelle in the air. This is our current fav:

Days always fly by but I can either have really good days, Annabelle will have napped. We'll have walked Bisbee. I may have done a bit of tidying. I will have eaten. Annabelle will play happily. There will have been little drama and we welcome Laura home.

On bad days naps will be non-existent however hard I try. Bisbee won't get a walk. Nothing will get done. Food will have been a random snack. Playing involves tons of toys as nothing will hold Annabelle's attention. When Laura comes home I sigh with relief.

Raising a baby is certainly a journey!