Sweet Ellen is 4 months old today!

Ellen (infrequently) rolls from her tummy to her back, (frequently) smiles, has figured out toys, is strong enough to play upright in her jumper, and talks a ton. She is soothed by music, as long as it is “live” (AKA someone singing or playing guitar), and Lewis loves to sing to her to try to cheer her up when she is blue. I think she is still losing some of her hair. She loves to kick and splash in the bath. Wind freaks her out. She drools constantly and copiously. She averages 1 to 2 blowouts per day. And she is just the sweetest girl!

Her 4 month checkup isn’t until January 2nd, so I don’t have any official stats, but 2 weeks ago when I took her in for illness she was 18+ lbs and about 27 inches. I bet you she’s hit 19 lbs by now, but we shall see!

No matter what she weighs, Ellen is definitely still a chunky monkey. She’s in 12 month size clothes in almost all brands now, and she’s only one diaper size shy of what Lewis wears. 

4 months is when Lewis slowed down his growth in a big (scary) way, mostly due to starting daycare and immediately becoming ill and refusing bottles. Ellen is showing no signs of slowed growth yet, but my lord… It must be coming, right?!

After 4 months with Ellen and over a month back at work, things are feeling pretty good. Ellen is much less newborn-y, I’m much less hormonal, and life is just making more sense.

The sleep thing is probably the only thing that really feels hard right now. That’s not to say I’m excelling in all other areas. Shoot, don’t even ask about the dishes and the laundry! But I am managing everything well enough that I don’t feel super stressed. Except by the lack of sleep. 

I don’t know what I did in a past life to deserve two sunnyside up births and two babies who don’t sleep, but it must have been bad. This is rough. 

Let’s not dwell on that, though!

I think I forgot to report in about my weight loss at 3 months, so I get to share a bigger number now than I otherwise would. In the last two months, I’ve lost 6.5 lbs! Still a long, long way to go, but boy does the progress feel satisfying!! My body feels a little more familiar every day.

Yucky news – Our whole family is sick right now – ’tis the season. Ellen’s epic cold has lasted going on 3 weeks. Kyle has a cold that seems to have him thinking he is at death’s door. Lewis has a drippy nose and a bit of a cough. And I’ve – so far – fared better than the rest, but today I’m showing signs of losing the battle myself. The cold is a-comin’!

Two kids in daycare sort of means this is going to be standard procedure for a while. Ooooooooh well!

All in all, things are pretty good over here. Now if I could just get some rest…