Family Friday: 4 Months Old

18 Weeks Old

Cameron had a 4 month wellness check-up on Tuesday, the day she turned 4 months old.  She now weighs 13lbs 1oz (a 7lb 4oz increase since birth) and is 23.2 inches long (a 5.2 inch increase since birth).  She got another round of vaccinations that were the same four that she got at her 2 month visit - one was a liquid done orally, the other three were shots in her thighs.  At two months, she had no reaction to the shots.  This time she developed a slight fever after getting the shots and was fussy for a couple days.

Cameron is always following action and sound with her eyes and by turning her head.  I can tell her vision has improved even more because she now watches Dulce and I from across the room.  She has great head control now and really enjoys sitting up so that she can see everything around her.  She still drools constantly!

As a teacher, child development fascinates me, especially language/communication and art.  It's so fun to see Cameron's language and communication skills developing!  She has her own little language going on, complete with multi-syllable "words" using most of the vowel sounds and many consonant sounds.  She has great inflection (variation of pitch) in her voice and also varies the volume with whispering, shouting, and everything in between.  She talks a lot!  I engage her in conversation often and other times she'll happily talk at Dulce or to herself.  I'm trying to incorporate as much Spanish as I know into her day in hopes that she'll be bilingual someday.  Johnnie and his family all speak Spanish so they'll be a big help in this aspect.  Also, many of Dulce's commands are in Spanish so she hears those words often.  I joke that Cameron's first word will be "dejalo" which is Dulce's command for "leave it" :)  Every night before bed, we read Buenas Noches, Luna (the Spanish version of Goodnight, Moon) and Cameron actually listens and stares at every page.

As of Wednesday, Cameron is now exclusively formula fed.  I exclusively breastfed her on demand until 3.5 months and then I started introducing formula.  She is doing fantastic on formula!  Her bottle skills have improved so much in the past 3 weeks that she's now on a medium-flow nipple and can drink from all the bottles that we have.  The Playtex VentAire Standard bottles still are our favorite.  Since we started formula, she has started sleeping longer at night.  She was sleeping 8 to 9 hours a night, but now she sleeps 10 to 11 hours straight.  Two nights ago, she actually slept 12 hours straight!  Is it the formula or is it because she's just gotten older?  Perhaps both.  Despite switching from breast milk to formula, her eating schedule hasn't changed.  She still eats every 4 hours with the final two feedings a little closer together.

Cameron is a great sleeper.  She takes three naps during the day: sleeping about 2 hours in the morning, about 1.5 hours in the early afternoon, and about 40 minutes in late afternoon.  She still gets fussy after 6pm until we start our evening routine.  At 7:15pm she gets a bath and dressed for bed, then she has a bottle followed by a short cuddle story time, and then she's in bed at 8:15 and falls right asleep.  I still swaddle Cameron for naps and for night.  She'll fight sleep if she's not swaddled and if she does fall asleep, she wakes herself up with her flailing arms.  When I swaddle her, she relaxes and falls asleep within minutes (literally)... it's as if she knows that swaddling means sleep time.  I credit a full belly and a tight, inescapable swaddle for her awesome sleeping.  She still sleeps in the bassinet on our bed.  I know I have to transition her to her crib soon but it's so comforting having her near me and hearing her move and breathe.  I think I'll aim to have her in her crib by 5 months.

Cameron's weekly photos are taken on the floor of her bedroom next to a big window.  I lay out a piece of fabric, holding it in place with hand weights, and then I stand on a bench so I can look down on her to take the photos.  I usually have to lock Dulce out of the bedroom or else she would be in every shot.  She loves being close to Cameron!

I have loved watching their relationship blossom over the past four months and I know it will only get better as time goes on :)

I am now 4 months post-partum and my body is almost back to normal.  Now that I'm no longer breastfeeding, my chest has returned to its original size which is awesome because I can wear all my old clothes and bras again!  However, weaning has caused my hormones to suddenly change and is causing a couple zits and hair loss - both of which should stop after hormone levels return to a normal balance.  My C-section scar is a healed red line but some parts of my belly around the scar are still slightly numb.  I'm pretty much at my pre-pregnancy weight but my muscle to fat ratio is different than before although I'm in the process of changing that!  I am halfway through a 60-day Beachbody Insanity challenge and though I haven't lost any weight, I have lost 1.5 inches off of my waist so far and I'm definitely rebuilding muscle all over my body.

Now that Cameron is on formula and I can drink unlimited caffeine again, I have an insane amount of energy!  I am working on cleaning and organizing our house, decorating with photographs and art, finishing crafty projects and working on new ones.  I even cooked an actual meal tonight that I can eat for the next few days :)  I will hopefully start blogging more often now and get caught up on posts about last year's travel adventures.  I have big ambitions this year for every aspect of my/our life!

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