Her own room

My baby girl has transitioned into her crib in her own room.

I wasn't ready for that yet, but Emma told me she was. The last few weeks, she had been waking up 2-4 times a night in her bassinet by our bed. I would hear her start to fuss and then pull her into bed with me to feed, fall back asleep, and wake to put her back when I felt her detach. Then on Sunday, when we were having a hard time settling her into the bassinet, Shawn got the brilliant idea to put her down in her crib to rest until she was really ready for sleep. She fell asleep without a fuss and didn't wake to eat for 4 hours. She has been sleeping in her crib for the past 4 nights and only gets up twice. I am a much better mommy, midwife, and wife with a solid chunk of 4-5 hours of sleep as opposed to 2-3. She wakes up around 12-1am, I go into her room to feed her, then go back to bed. She wakes again around 4 and Shawn brings her to me. I feed her in bed and then just keep her with us until we wake for the day between 6-8. Not only do we get much more sleep now, we get to wake up with her smiling at us.

We are going camping this weekend with Shawn's family to our favorite climbing/camping spot, Cooper's Rock, WV. We'll see how baby girl does on her first camping trip! I sprained my ankle on Sunday so don't anticipate much hiking or climbing on my end, but it should be fun none the less.

Four months old

Look at those blue eyes!

Emmaline is four months old now. She has found her feet and is pretty close to getting her toes into her mouth. Everything else is making it's way into her mouth as she gets better control of her hands. It is amazing to watch her advance every day. She is getting good at grabbing rattles (and mommy's hair) and webble-wobbling back and forth. She rolled over twice a few weeks ago, and hasn't since then. Her smiles and laughs are amazing. I love it when she sees me and smiles, it fills my heart with incredible joy. I knew I would love my baby, but I had no idea how much. This is truly the most awesome thing I have ever experienced.

Shawn is such a good daddy too. He is upstairs singing her to sleep right now. I love seeing her in his arms. He's been doing a good job when I have to work my 12 hour shifts, and she has even been asleep by the time I get home a few times.

I do miss her sleeping through the night. It's been about a month of sleeping 2-4 hour stretches and I think it's her new normal. I know you can start some non breast milk at 4 months and maybe it will buy me some sleep, but I still hesitate. I don't know if I am ready to move on to that yet. She is starting to show some interest in food. She likes to sit on our lap while we eat and has been watching us put food in our mouths, but I'm not going to push it.

We took her to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware a few weeks ago and it was super cute. She didn't care too much for the water, but the pictures are pretty fun! The water was too cold, so we just let her feel the sand on her feet and let the water just touch her toes.

Emma's first swim

Our friend's Pranay and Elizabeth have moved to Baltimore with their daughter Zivia who is 5 weeks younger than Emma. Their townhouse has a fantastic pool that we took Emma and Zivia to. Zivia was not at all pleased with her swim, but Emma seemed to have a good time. Unfortunately, Shawn was at work and couldn't go so he is very sad about missing Emma's "first" of anything. He is off this week though so we should be able to go again soon.