Sterling Grace turned 4 months old on the Fourth!

Snuggle Bunny!

Sterling is 4 months old and is really starting to get a little personality!  Here is what our sweet baby girls is up to at 4 months old:

*Sterling loves to blow bubbles and raspberries, she does it over and over and just smiles in between :)

*For the most part, Sterling is an incredibly happy baby.  She has started waking up happy most mornings and instead of laying in her bed crying she will lay there and talk and play.  It is so sweet and just the best thing ever to wake up to!

*I LOVE the fact that Sterling almost always smiles in response to a smile :) :) When you smile at her she just opens her mouth and gives you the biggest most adorable toothless grin!

*She has become more active, actually playing with some of her toys and especially with the hanging toys on her playmat

*She continues to roll over from her stomach to back and lately has been trying so hard to get from her back to stomach!  She will lie there on her side and just try and try but just can't get over that little arm in her way!  When I lay her on the ground and just let her play, she uses her strong little legs and moves herself all over the place!  I always find her in a different place than where I left her!
*Sterling is very interested in her surroundings and loves to watch her pup and brother.  Unfortunately she is extremely easily distracted so nursing has gotten a little difficult. I have to nurse her in a quiet room alone if I want to get a successful feeding in which has proven difficult with a crazy 2 year old running around!!!
*Sterling is a very light sleeper and wakes to her brothers antics often...I have started putting her down for naps upstairs in her bedroom and she still sleeps in the pack n play in our room at night
*Her schedule is very predictable and we are still in a pretty great routine!  Here is what most days look like around here
*8:00-8:30ish am:  first feeding of the day
*9:30:  gymtime or playdate with friends followed by any errands we need to run, Sterling usually finds about 30-45 minutes in the morning to take a catnap on the go
*11:00-11:30ish:  second feeding followed by playtime
*12:30:  both kids down for naps (hurray!!!)
*2:00-2:30ish:  third feeding followed by playtime
*3:30:  naptime for Sterling and usually when Brayden is waking up from his afternoon nap
*7:00:  Sterling usually takes about an hour nap at this time*5:00-5:30ish:  Sterling wakes up for her fourth feeding followed by playtime
*8:20:  bath followed by her last scheduled feeding of the day and right to sleep about 9:00

This is where our schedule is SO off!  Sweet Sterling was giving me 8-9 hour stretches of sleep early on at about 2 months.  Very slowly her nightime sleeping habits have gotten worse and worse!  Most nights I get up to feed her again between 1:00-2:00 am and then again at about 5-5:30 am.   A couple weeks ago we decided we were going to let Sterling "cry it out"  but after over a week of unsuccessful sleep we decided to give it a rest and try again in a couple of weeks or so.  I know she is only 4 months old and she has a tiny tummy so I just need to continue being patient and eventually we will all be sleeping through the night!

*Now for some great news, Sterling found some fingers to suck!  Yay!  Hopefully this means that S will be able to start soothing herself back to sleep here pretty soon!  Just within the past few days we started leaving her hands out of her swaddle during naptime and she just sucks away!  (It took mommy being gone for the morning and Brian making the decision to let her suck during her nap!)  I am not quite ready to unswaddle her at night yet but we are getting close!

Here are some more pics of S from this month:

bathtime with GaGa

This is Sterling's signature look!  She is always smiling with her mouth wide open like this :)

We recently started putting S in the bouncer.  She hasn't quite gotten it down yet but seems to enjoy sitting up and looking around

We also started letting S sit with us during meals, I think she likes to be included!  Of course this means that Brayden had to be moved from his high chair to a regular stool...we have already had two broken dishes and will have to start giving him plastic from now on!!! 

Sweet baby girl is getting to be more fun everyday!  Always looking forward to what the next day will hold...