4 Months

Happy 4 months babies!  You rock at life.
Because I'm too lazy to blog and because it's sweet and stuff, Josh's monthly post...

It’s 5:16 am on Sunday morning.  I’m awake.  You’re both asleep.  This is both really weird and very good at the same time.  It’s weird mostly because it’s 5:16 am, I’m awake, and I’m not even tired.  And that’s totally the norm at this point.  That’s what happens when your bedtime suddenly becomes 9:00 at night.  It’s good because you’re both asleep, you’ve been asleep since 7:45 last night, and I’m hoping that you guys might sleep for another hour and a half before waking up.  And that’s even pretty realistic.  We’ve come a long way, babies. 

As you can imagine from that first paragraph, this month has been a lot about your sleeping.  A couple weeks ago we stopped swaddling you in the middle of the night.  We really thought this was going to be the hardest thing we’d had to go through yet, but it was actually pretty painless.  Austin, you loved it from day 1.  You used to battle that swaddle like you were in a street fight.  No matter how tight we wrapped you and no matter how many blankets we wrapped around that sleep sack, we’d come check on you in the morning or the middle of the night and you’d have worked your way out to the point that both blankets were almost entirely off of you, your arms were loose, and the sleep sack was all but unzipped.  And you’d worked so hard to accomplish this that you were basically 180 degrees from where you started.  With the exception of a few nights, you’ve been sleeping through the night since we set you free.  SumSum, you’re a different story.  We actually think you loved being swaddled and the adjustment has been a little harder for you, probably because you’re a little smaller than Austin and you liked the coziness of being wrapped up like a tight little burrito.  You had a solid stretch of days (weeks?) where you’d cry out at 2:00 for a while and then again for a longer stretch at 5:00 before we got tired of listening to you cry and put you in the swing for an hour until it was time to wake up.  Getting you to go back to sleep really sucks because you have trouble keeping your paci in your mouth, so you can’t soothe yourself back to sleep with it.  What does that mean?  We can either stand over your crib holding it in your mouth or we can let you “cry it out” until you fall back asleep.  Either choice really sucks when it’s the middle of the night and we are exhausted, but the doctor told us that learning to cry it out was best for you, so we’re doing it.  If this is somehow scarring you emotionally, please don’t take it out on us during your teenage years.  In any case, you’re still sleeping right now (5:29), so maybe you’ve turned the corner. 

Aside from all of this sleep stuff, you guys have had a really busy month.  With play dates, playgroups and play classes every day, you guys are playing your asses off.  Mommy has you guys doing all kinds of cool stuff, and I’m pretty sure you’re going to be officially named the social prince and princess of the Atlanta baby scene.  In the picture gracing the magazine cover, Summer will undoubtedly be wearing a ridiculous bow as if she was attending a Royal Wedding, and Austin will likely have on some skater outfit covered in drool. 

As part of your social calendar, you guys are so lucky to get to see your family so much.  Your Nana comes to see you every Monday, your NaNa and Papa come to see you about every three/four weeks from Miami, and we see some combination of your aunts, uncles and cousins a few times a week.  We love that you’re surrounded by so much love, and we can’t wait for a few trips this summer to Miami and Toronto so you can see so much more of your family.

In terms of what’s new this month, Summer, you taught yourself how to roll over from your back to your tummy this month.  You worked and worked and worked, and then finally got yourself to flip over.  Austin, we’re pretty convinced you’ve started to teeth.  You are drooling enough to fill a small pool, you have moments where your freakouts are so intense that you have to be going through something traumatic, and we even think we see the signs of teeth starting to poke through your gums. 

You are both amazing at “sitting” and “standing.”  If we hold your arms or torsos, you can stay in a sitting or standing position for a really long time, and you seem to love it.  We’re not sure if this means you’ll be early walkers, but maybe you’ll be able to join me on marathon training runs earlier than I originally planned.  You are also both “talking” up a storm.  Sometimes you make sweet noises that are adorable and perfect.  Other times we’re not sure if you’re screeches and squeals mean you’re talking or yelling at us.  But regardless, lots of sounds are coming out of those adorable mouths.  And when sounds aren’t coming out of your mouths, thumbs are going in them, at least in Austin’s case.  Thumb sucking has become a favorite pastime this month, and it’s pretty damn cute.  I guess we just have to pay attention and get you to stop when the time is right so you’re not still doing it when you’re 12.

You also went to your first baseball game this month.  It wasn’t professional, it was 8 year olds, but it was baseball and you were there, so it counts.  Your cousin Brandon went 4-4 with the game clinching hit, so pay attention, you guys, learn from him!

As always, we are loving watching you grow and figure out all this cool new stuff every day.  By this time next month, who knows what you’ll have done.  That’s the amazing part of this whole parenthood thing.  Every day is filled with laughter, smiles and surprises for me and your Mommy.  It’s a bittersweet thing that each day that passes you get another day older, but we have so much to look forward to that we can’t help but be amazingly excited to see what each new day brings. 

Oh, and by the way, it’s now 5:51 and I still haven’t heard a peep.  Did I mention how much I love you guys?

Love,

Daddy  

Vital Stats

Four month weight: Austin – 13lb, 2oz; Summer 12lb, 4oz

Four month height: Austin – 23.5in   Summer – 23.5in