Harper Brooks
Harper becomes more expressive and excited each day. When she laughs, she opens her mouth wide and shows her toothless gums and lets out a short screech. She gets especially tickled when we play patty cake and she "rolls it." She loves to smile at people and scrunches her chin down in almost a shy manner when she smiles. Most of the time she lays around peacefully, taking the world in. And this girl can sleep! I put her down at 7pm, sometimes with no protest and sometimes she will cry for 3 or 4 minutes and then she is out for the night until around 7:30am! She is usually the first one up from naps, so she does get extra time in the Ergo baby carrier (thanks Mark and Carolyn!) while we get stuff done and wait for Allie to wake up.
Yesterday, at her 4 month check-up, she weighed 12 pounds 9 ounces (26th %ile), had a head circumference of 40 cm (37th %ile), and was 24.2 inches long(50th %ile). Dr. Chugani congratulated her on the use of her arms to pick up that neck and chin when she is on her tummy and said she was growing beautifully. It is hilarious when I put her down on her stomach and she arches that back and lifts her head to look around at the world.
Alloway Dayton
Allie is the energizer bunny, kicking those legs, ninja chopping, and lighting up the room with her smiles. She smiles so big that she has to scrunch up her eyes and often gurgles with those big smiles. Her favorite songs are the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Rise and Shine and Give God the Glory." She is on the move and I have to put her at the far end of the crib because she makes her way all the way to the top all by kicking those legs. For an hour each day, she dons a colorful eye patch to strengthen up her right eye muscles. It doesn't seem to bother her at all and it absolutely enthralls Harper. She takes wonderfully long naps during the day and is still figuring out nighttime sleep. Most nights it takes her a little longer than Harper to get settled into her crib, but she is usually out by 7:20 and wakes up one or two times to eat before 7am. Last night she did sleep the entire night, but I'm not letting myself get too excited because it was probably from the two shots.
Yesterday, she weighed 12 pounds 12 ounces (30th %ile), had a head circumference of 41 cm (52nd %ile), and was 24 inches long (40th%ile). Dr. Chugani was impressed with her movement using those legs and hopes she will start using her arms to help her scoot along.
I am such a blessed mother to have such easy and delightful daughters. Both girls take luxuriously long morning naps, which afford me time to cook, make grocery lists, and create some order around the house. They go 4 hours between the first and second feedings, and then three hours between feedings for the rest of the day. Every day we get closer to a four-hour schedule. When they get fussy, an easy solution is to pop them into the stroller and hit the park. They usually fall right asleep as soon as we are down the elevator, and when they are awake in the stroller they hardly ever make a peep. We are still figuring out afternoon naps (with help from this book), but we follow the general pattern of "Eat, Wake, Sleep" (from Baby Wise) It is easier on me to get out with them on a walk or grocery shopping for one of the nap cycles, and I'm so thankful that I can walk to Trader Joe's and Publix because loading and unloading two babies from the car can be an ordeal. There are trying moments of crying most days and bedtime sometimes raises my blood pressure, but overall, life is great with these ladies. We thank the Lord for Allie and Harper daily.
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