Waverley | Four Months

Dear little Waverley,
I have no idea how you're already four months old. You have such a sweet little personality, and you're getting so big! It's so much fun watching you learn new things, and I love seeing you grow before my eyes.

At four months, you...

-weigh 14 pounds, 1 ounce (48th percentile)

-are 26 inches long (89th percentile)

-have a head circumference of 16.9 inches (99th percentile)

-wear size 3-6 month clothes

-wear size 2 diapers

-have gotten SO MUCH better at letting other people hold you

-still LOVE watching Pemberley 

-are a great lover of naps and sleeping at night

-found your toes!

-have rolled from back to belly a few times

-enjoy reaching for the hanging toys on your play mat

-must be starting to get some teeth, because you constantly have your fingers in your mouth and dribble everywhere :)

-have the PRETTIEST blue eyes!

Sleep: Even though we're in the middle of a leap and the four month sleep regression, you're still quite the champ when it comes to sleeping! I limit your wake time to about 90 minutes, and you take three naps during the day: the first one is about an hour/hour and a half, the second is about 2 hours, and the last is roughly 45 minutes. I've recently started putting you in your pack and play, swaddled with your arms out, when it's nap time. Daycare won't let you sleep in a swing, so I figured it was time to break that habit. I was nervous because you've always loved your swing and napped really well in it, but you're doing so good! I put the projector on along with white noise, and you babble and clap until you tire yourself out and fall asleep. 

Nighttime babbles: As much as I hate to admit it, you seriously crack me up at night. You wake usually twice, once around 1am and again about 6:30am. The 1am wake time is literally the cutest thing. I can hear you moving around in the P&P, and before long, you're just babbling away. You coo and talk and shriek, and you're just the happiest little thing! And you have the BIGGEST smile on your face when I pick you up and put you in bed with me and Daddy. Sometimes you'll fall asleep eating and I don't have any issues putting you back in the crib asleep, but there are other times when you wake up as I'm putting you back in there. And again, you're so happy! I let you talk yourself to sleep, and then just lay there, thankful that you aren't a hot crying mess anymore ;)

Little Miss Tears: Well, at your four month appointment, even your doctor remarked that she's never seen a baby who has stranger danger this bad and this young. Any time someone you've never seen before tries to hold you, you put on the saddest little face and start crying. BUT! You have gotten better at letting some people hold you, though. When Gigi and Papa G were here a few weeks ago, you let Papa G hold you for a long time! And you let your Grandma Joanne hold you too. I can't tell you how much better that makes me feel, knowing you'll be going to daycare in a few short weeks!

I think that's all for now, my sweet little Wavie Doodle. I really can't believe you're already rolling over and trying to sit up. It seems like just yesterday you were this teeny tiny newborn, and now you're practically driving and going off to college. (Maybe a *bit* of an exaggeration, but seriously, time just needs to slow down!) I love you so so so much. I can't wait to see what you're doing at five months!

All of the love in the world,

Four Months of Sisters

Dear Pemberley and Waverley,
You have been sisters for four months now, and I can barely remember a time when you two weren't. Seeing the two of you together is the best feeling in the world, and it's only going to get better from here on out! (And Waverley, I promise you are not nearly as terrified of Pemberley as you look in these pictures!)

 

It took me awhile to get used to basically seeing double, because the two of you were practically identical newborns. I put together a few comparison pictures and had Daddy and your grandmas try to guess who is who in them. They're harder than you might think!

Left: Pemberley - Right: Waverley

Left: Waverley - Right: Pemberley

 

Over the past four months, there are some phrases I truly can't believe I have uttered, mostly directed at you, Pemberley. These include:

-Fingers do NOT go in your sister's eye/mouth/ear/other eye/nose/other ear.

-No, her paci does not belong in the dog fountain.

-No, Waverley does not want your Cheez-It.

-For fuck's sake, she doesn't want your boogers, either. 

Pemberley, you adore your little sis. You're always walking up to her and saying, "Baby! Baby!" about an inch from her face. You love looking at my phone to see her picture, and you have gotten super good at hauling ass around the corner to see what's going on when she cries out. Your gentle touches have also gotten A LOT better, which I really, really appreciate. You didn't even mind too much when she yanked some hair out after you practically body slammed on top of her.

Waverley, you LOVE looking at Pemberley to see what she's up to. You've gotten really good at turning your head to follow her around the living room, and you are constantly turning your head to follow her voice (like that one time when she went "HIIIII-YAAA!" and roundhouse kicked her sippy cup across the kitchen floor, or the other time when she was walking around singing Bieber at the top of her lungs with a snack cup on her hand in a very Captain Hook-esque manner).

Daddy and I can't wait for the day when you two walk to the park holding hands, or when you're both stealing each others sharing clothes and reading the same books. For now, though, we'll take all of the sister snuggles we can get!

I love you both so much,

Favorites | The First Three Months

Dear little Waverley,
I thought I would share a quick post about some of the things have have gotten us through your first three months. Each one of these has been a total lifesaver!

 

angelcare baby bath // graco duetsoothe swing and rocker

boppy + cupcake cover // petunia pickle bottom ergobaby

love to dream infant swaddleUP // oatmeal bunny wubbanub

delta children's english garden bassinet

Bath // We had this from when Pemberley was a baby, and we loved it! You, however, are not really a fan of bathtime just yet. You do okay during the actual bath part, but when it comes time to dry you off and put you in fresh clothes, you scream like you're being tortured. I'm hoping that reaction goes away the older you get!

Naps // This swing has been a total game changer for us. You take all of your naps in it, and fall asleep pretty easily. I feel a little guilty that you can't nap on me like Pemberley did, but with your crazy toddler sister and the dogs and cats running around the house, there's just no way you would get any quality sleep. We keep the swing upstairs in our bedroom where it's quieter, and while I prefer not to use a sleep prop, it works so we roll with it :)

Swaddle // At first, I thought you hated to be swaddled, but after doing some reading, I realized you just weren't being swaddled tightly enough. We use this swaddle when you nap in your swing, and I love how cute you look, all bundled up. Sung as a little Wavie Bug!

Paci // You only take a pacifier when you're napping (at night, we've started swaddling you with your arms near your face, so you suck on your fingers). You still can't quite coordinate the swing and using your fingers to self-soothe, so the Wubbanub is perfect since the weight of the bunny makes it difficult for it to fall out!

Bassinet // I love this bassinet! It's small enough to work next to our bed, and it has a vibrating function that I admit I've used a few times when you've woken up in the middle of the night. It's also freaking adorable...English Gardens?! Say no more.

Baby wearing // The Ergo is probably the most used thing on this list, believe it or not. For the first 8 weeks, it was the only way I could get you to calm down when you got worked up. I would literally wear you for hours and hours. But I'm definitely not complaining...I loved all of the tiny baby snuggles! You're finally big enough to not need the infant insert, so baby wearing is a lot cooler now, too!

I can't wait to take out some "big girl" toys in a few weeks! So exciting :)

We love you so much, little Waverley!

Waverley | Three Months

Dear little Waverley,
Three months! Time is truly a thief. It's like I blinked and here you are, literally growing before my eyes. I'm so happy I have six more weeks until I go back to work, because I don't think I could give you up to daycare just yet!

At three months, you...

-weigh 13 pounds, 4 ounces (74th percentile)

-are 25.5 inches long (95th percentile)

-have a head circumference of 16 inches ( th percentile)

-wear size 2 diapers

-wear 3 month clothes

-are the happiest girl when I hold you! 

-pretty much hate everyone else, except Pemberley 

-take awesome naps during the day and sleep great at night

-prefer to be forward facing when being held

-hate laying down, but love tummy time on my chest

-have found your voice and love to talk and coo!!

-have the BEST smile!

Stranger danger: You're seriously the squishiest, sweetest little girl when we're at home! When we leave the house, though, it can get pretty scary. In fact, when we went in for your weight check, Dr. Gaffney asked if you always hysterically cried. I explained that you kind of freak out whenever anyone but me holds you, and that you hate unfamiliar places and loud noises. (All of that was said while she examined you, and you screamed as though you were being tortured.) But truth be told, I'll take all of your baby snuggles as long as I can (although I do have nightmares about taking you to daycare in August...).

Sleep: You are such a good little sleeper! Here's a quick rundown as of late:

Wake up at 9am

Nap from 10:15-12:30

Nap again from 1:45-3:30

Last nap from 5:30-6:15

Bed at 8pm

Wake up at 1am to eat

Wake up at 5:30 to eat

I've noticed sleep is kind of a trade off for you; if you take short naps, you don't wake up to eat during the night. If you take two long naps during the day, you wake up a few times to eat. And that makes sense, when I think about it. I'm definitely not complaining, though, because I have a pretty good idea of what to expect throughout the night when you go to sleep. You definitely have your Daddy's sleep gene!

Hair: You're starting to lose all of your newborn hair, as you can kind of see in the pictures below. It makes me sad because at this rate, you will be bald soon, but I'm excited to see how it grows back! I'm thinking it'll be a little bit darker that Pemberley's, but straight like mine. We will see!

Here are a few pictures I managed to take this past month. (That smile, though!)

 

I can't tell you how much I love that last picture of you and your Daddy. You're getting better every day with letting him hold you, and seeing the two of you bonding just melts my heart! 

Three months, little Wavie Bug. And so many more to come! I can't wait.

With so much love,

Nursery Reveal

Dear little Waverley,
This nursery reveal is *super* late...we've actually had your room completely done since a few weeks before you got here! But you came a little early, and things have been gogogo since then. So apologies for the late reveal, but better late than never, right?

I had a ton of fun decorating your nursery! I ended up changing your purple accent wall about a million times before I settled on this shade, and I really couldn't be happier with it. I was originally going to do just purple and ivory, but when I saw the pink fur rug, I couldn't help but add in some pink accents! I'm not sure if you'll ever get to sleep in this room since there's a move on our horizon and you're still comfy in a bassinet next to me, but I hope one day you'll look back at these pictures and know how much love and care I put into your first bedroom!

 

 

I love you so, soooo much! 

Waverley | Two Months

Dear Waverley,
It's so hard to believe that you're TWO MONTHS OLD already! Where did the time go? You're growing up before my eyes and I just can't handle it!

At two months, you...

- weigh 12 pounds, 3 ounces (75th percentile)

-are 24 inches long (95th percentile)

-have a head circumference of 16 inches (97th percentile)

-wear 3 month clothes

-are in size 2 diapers

-still love to be worn

-love to nap in your swing during the day, and fall asleep almost instantly

-sleep from about 9pm to 6am, eat, and then go back to sleep again until 9:30am

-have started to smile and show off your dimples!!!

My little dragon:: The first seven weeks of your life were so hard for me, Waverley. I didn't admit it on your one month post because I felt like a failure. You were a crier. Your crying got gradually worse by week five, and week six was a nightmare. You'd cry every.single.night for 20-30 minutes straight. But not just a normal baby cry - this was more like an ear drum-splitting, blood curdling, purple-faced cry. And nothing consoled you. Not walking, wearing, bouncing, singing. I tried it all, and those cries will literally haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. And then when you decided you were done, it stopped just as suddenly as it started.  You're about 9 weeks old right now, and we've been colic-free for about a week and a half. I'm really, really hoping we are past it all, and that I can leave the support group on Facebook that I joined for fussy "dragon" babies ;)

Sleepy girl:: You must have inherited your Daddy's sleepy gene, because you love to sleep!  I don't even have to nurse you to bed; it's like, when you're ready, you don't need any help getting there. I've been consciously trying to make sure you're "drowsy but not asleep", and it's working beautifully. You hang out for about 10 minutes in your bassinet before drifting off. And the fact that you're sleeping from about 8:30pm-6am makes me feel a lot less crazy. ((I think I was swaddling you all wrong before, by not making it tight enough. It wasn't until I pulled out the sleep sack and started wrapping your upper body tighter that you started sleeping  longer stretches.))

Well, big girl. It was a rough start for us, but I think we're in the clear now. You are a happy little girl now, and I am so excited to watch you get bigger and grow. (Even though the thought of you sitting up on your own in a few months makes me want to cry and never stop!)

I love you SO much,