4 Months and Growing

Last week Sadie had her four month check-up. She continues to be about average to slightly above-average in weight (clocking in at 13 lbs. 12 oz now), but the real shock was her height. She went from average length at her 2 month check-up, to 80th percentile this time around (25 1/2"). "She has the legs of a nine-month-old," our pediatrician informed us cheerfully. Well, that explains why her feet are busting out the bottom of her 6 month sized pajamas. Unfortunately, she's also pretty skinny, which means that even though her legs are long, her body is thin, so all the material in her clothes bunches around her body and occasionally into her face. She'll be rocking the 6 month size awhile longer before I can move her into the next size up.

Sadie was none too happy to get her vaccinations. I think it was worse than last time, in fact, because her lungs are better developed and she's a lot more in the moment than she was at 9 weeks. I made Scott be the one to hold her arms down this time, so he could know what it feels like to be the bad guy. That turned out to be a mean thing to do -- I think it really upset him. At any rate, she was fussy for a few days afterward, but went back to her normal happy self fairly quickly.

I don't imagine there's an actual connection, but it seems like her vaccination weeks always come hand in hand with some new developmental leap. Last time, the day she got her shots was also the day she first laughed (not at the same time. Naturally). This time, she seems to have discovered her feet. Her new favorite pasttime is lying on her back, grabbing her legs and attempting to shove her toes in her mouth. Still no rolling, though.

The doctor also told us that starting at 5 months we can start feeding Sadie solid food. My emotional response to this news was about the same as it was to the news that we were going to be having a girl: I got all weepy inside and thought, "Oh my God, I'm catching a glimpse of the future." The thought of sitting Sadie in a high chair, spoon-feeding her strained peas, just does not jibe with my mental picture of her, in which she is perpetually very tiny and has no upper body strength.

While I'm excited to move to that next stage, I'm also saddened by the thought. For more than 4 months now, Sadie has been exclusively breastfed. I never set out to do it that way -- I was always open to the idea of supplementing with rice cereal or straight-up formula feeding if breastfeeding didn't work. But it was never necessary. Breastfeeding, from day one, has been a pleasure. It wasn't always easy -- yes, it hurt the first few weeks (especially at the beginning of mealtime when Sadie would first chomp down and I would involuntarily wince and make what Scott referred to as "that face"). And pumping, of course, is a giant pain in the ass, especially when you have to travel hundreds of miles with a giant mechanical breast pump and dozens of accompanying tiny plastic parts in your suitcase.

Those things aside, though, I can honestly say that feeding Sadie has always been the best part of the day. I love the little "ah, ah, ah" sounds she makes when I sit her down on my lap and she knows the milk is on its way. I love the memory of her when she was only a few weeks old, bobbing her head like a chicken as she tried to locate the right body part to latch onto. I love her "milk drunk" face, where milk dribbles down her chin and her eyes get all heavy and she looks like she's thinking, "ohhh man, I overdid it again." I love the intimacy of it, and how together we've gotten it down to a science, and how convenient it is, and these are all things I will miss one day when she doesn't need the boob anymore.

Sigh...okay, emotional sniffy-ness over, I promise. Several people have asked us what kind of sleep schedule we keep Sadie on, and now that she's becoming consistent, I thought I'd write it down here. I should warn you in advance, though, that Sadie's a very nappy baby and apparently needs more sleep than your average 4 month old. All times are variable by an hour or more:

6:30am: wake up, eat, go back to sleep

9:00am: wake up for good

10:30am-11:30am: morning nap

1pm-1:30pm: midday catnap

3pm: here's where things get dicey. We used to be able to count on Sadie to go down for a solid 2.5 or 3 hours here, but more often now she cries and gets cranky but won't actually sleep until 4pm.

4pm-6pm: afternoon nap, often with wake-ups. I put her paci back in and she goes back to sleep, or sometimes I have to bounce her until she stops crying and gets sleepy again. I've been known to nurse her back to sleep even though according to the doctor this is a no-no.

9pm: bedtime

We've tried to experiment with the schedule, but this seems to work the best. She refuses to take a nap between 6 and 9pm, so if she wakes up at 5pm instead, we just put her to bed an hour earlier and she's cool with it.