4 months

It's been a big month for the Schulze family!  Claire turned 4 months old on our first full day back in Georgia (Friday, June 24th).  She and mommy were hanging out at Grammi and Paaps' house and had lunch with Grammi and shopped with Aunt Jamie.  (Daddy was still stuck up in Chicago working).

4 months old!

What? This isn't the pose you were looking for?

During the month we proceeded to move into our new house, buy a new car, give Claire her first "solid" food, and do a little sleep training (more on that in another post).  Claire also did her first overnight without Mommy and Daddy.  She slept better for Grammi than she was for her parents!  Little stinker! Developmentally, she is still not a big fan of tummy time and is not rolling at all. We're working on it. She discovered her hands and feet this month! Sometimes she'll just stare at her hands as she rotates them around.  So cute! She is able to grab her feet with her hands and recently is getting them into her mouth.  This can entertain her for a while and I'll often find her awake in her crib just playing with her feet. We also go to a Gymboree play and music class once a week to socialize and work on those developmental skills.

Ooh feet!

Claire has also mellowed into a pretty happy baby.  She is full of smiles and loves listening to and looking at people.  She usually has a smile for anyone who wants to say hi.  She cries so much less than before, usually only when hungry, tired, or ready for a change of activity.  Breastfeeding is also going much better as we've finally gotten to where she's no longer fussy while trying to eat and pulling off all the time.  She's starting to go beyond every 2 hours, which is nice.  Having a little oatmeal once a day seems to help as well.  And she loved it from the start.  Looks like we might have a big eater on our hands. 

Mmmm, oatmeal!!

Sleeping is also going SO MUCH better.  It used to take a lot of work to get her to fall asleep.  Thanks to some brain maturation and a little work on our parts, she is now able to fall asleep by herself.  It may take a few minutes of crying in her crib, but then she is out.  This is huge!  I no longer dread when she gets tired.  Bedtime has moved up to around 9 or 9:30 and we're making sure she is up between 7:30 and 8.  Naps are usually after being awake for 2-2.5 hours.  She's taking about 3 naps a day, one late morning, one early afternoon, and one late afternoon.  Anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Sometimes more but shorter if we're in the car as the motion puts her to sleep.

All in all, she's much easier to deal with on a daily basis.  This makes is much more pleasant and rewarding to be with her and is finally making this staying home thing seem like a good idea.