Estelle's 4 month update!

4 months! I'm not going to lie. This month has been a month of high highs and really low lows. I'd been having a hard time figuring out Estelle's sleep. It has been all consuming but I think we finally have a light at the end of the tunnel. Which is a hope I haven't felt in a long time.  At it's worst I felt like my whole life was spent trying to get Estelle to sleep.  

        I've realized that Estelle becomes overtired really easily and when overtired she becomes impossible to get to sleep.  Which only fuels my stress and anxiety to get her to sleep.  It's a vicious cycle and at times I feel like I may break.  

      We finally took Stellie into the doctor for reflux. It was hard for me to consider reflux medicine. She had had cold after cold and was dealing with all the side effects that come from that. With so many factors, it was hard for me to separate what was causing all of her (and by default our) woes. I wanted her to be healthy before pursuing medicine.  We got her healthy and her reflux symptoms got worse.  She's been on the meds for a week and a half now.  I think it's been helping. Nights and naps have improved, although not drastically. I've also started to cut out dairy and caffeine from my diet, as that sets off Estelle's system in a heart breaking way. Totally not my favorite. 

     I love to get out of the house and become easily depressed if I don't. It's especially hard with Estelle.  I'm learning that I have to choose to either get out of the house and deal with an over tired baby. (Which means that night we will spend 3-4 hours at trying to get her to sleep) OR I can stay in all day and spend my day trying to keep Estelle sleeping well...(while I slowly slip into a depression.)  It's not my favorite choice. Since being on our trip, she's out of routine and I love it because I have no schedule expectations for her. We just go with the flow. And to be honest I think with the medicine on board it doesn't seem to throw her as much. 

        I do just adore my little Estelle. She hasn't had an easy young life, and yet is so pleasant.  She is so smiley.  At this age, I've never not gotten a smile when I was trying for one. 

      She is so tickled to be noticed and engaged. She loves to talk. She found her voice early on.  Although she did loose it a few times due to colds and congestion.  I really love she sweetness and personality of it. She is very communicative. Especially when boobs are at stake. Or if we are getting her out of her car seat (lots of happy squealing) or putting her in (lots of angry protest.)  Sorry baby, You're a second child. Car seat and stroller is basically home. 

       Estelle loves to be held and snuggled.  I'm not kidding. She is such a snuggly baby. She will curl up on your chest and lay her head against you and just settle in, watching the world. 

       Stellie's become so much more aware and come out of her newborn fog.  She has little monkey feet and toes that she will grasp things with, just as if her toes were fingers.  Estelle's found her feet and likes to grab onto them while she plays on her back. She has also rolled over front to back!  When she first learned this trick I made her do it 10 times in a row as we facetimed various relatives. 

        Estelle thinks it's funny to bite and pull on my nipple while nursing. She has started to bite then slowly pull until she pops off my boob only to smile/giggle then repeat. 

        If Estelle is overtired she will cry frantically when she realizes we are rocking her to sleep. She also has to be calm to take a bink.
  

       I've been waiting to write this sentence since Estelle was born. We finally got her on a sleep schedule!!!!  She seemed to be really ready for it.  She has the average wake time of 1.5 hours then sleeps anywhere from 30 mins to 2 hours. She's doing 4 naps a day right now.  How long she actually stays down is a crap shoot but hey, at least we have some sort of direction. This was all pre trip, of course.  We try to stick to it if we are having a low key day, but mostly we are just going with the flow.

      Stelly got her first food this month. CHEESE!  The Portus family was over and we were all eating dinner. Indie was giving Cora bits of her dinner and receiving all sorts of 'thank you's' from us for it.  So, I think Phillip wanted in on the action too. He picked up a bit of his cheese and gave it to Baby Estelle without anyone noticing.  I look over and see Estelle turning something over and over in her mouth with big eyes.  She couldn't believe her luck! 

       Estelle likes to have a blanket over her eyes and face to fall asleep.  While rocking her we often have a burp cloth or swaddle blanket over her face until she's in a deep enough sleep to slowly lift it away. 

       She also loves to eat blankets.  She will just chill happily playing away, but if you put a blanket on her chest she will scoop it up and have it in her mouth in 2 seconds flat. Her blankies always have a wet spot. 

         Stella Bear is such a communicator. She won't cry until things are really out of hand, but rather grunts and squeals and whines to convey her desires. She is so expressive with her eyebrows as well. So cute. 

      Teeny one is out of 0-3 month clothes and has moved on to size 2 diapers. We can not get enough of her cute rolley thighs! Heaven! 

             Estelle is starting to really show in interest in her toys and zoning in on random objects to try and get.  This past week I have really enjoyed her and can't get enough of her happy smiles and emerging personality.  

      I'm so grateful we are moving forward and love watching her grow and progress. Hooray for reflux meds, hopefully her growing coupled with medicine will allow for both of us to get some sleep!  (#stopthesleepwar #letmewinallthebattles)

     Lastly this months top nicknames are: Stinky, & Hi-The-Baby. Oh, and it wouldn't be a true monthly update without a shameless photo dump....

Photo Dump:

This face kills me. She's a gremlin!