Caroline's 4 Month Update

Sweet Caroline is four months old. I must admit that I'm just a little bit impressed with myself: I have taken the pictures within a week of her "month birthday" every month so far. I didn't do so well at taking the monthly "sticker" photos with Riley and I had to promise I would do better to convince David to let me buy a set for Caroline. I intend to keep my promise :)

• Caroline continues to be a good sleeper. We're consistently getting 10 hours at night. I'm hoping that doesn't change as we head off to camp this week. We Brown girls like to stay on schedule so I'm trying to keep my expectations low. 
• Caroline is paci free at night! Right after I wrote last month's update, Caroline started waking up in the night because her pacifier would fall out. I'll feed a hungry baby in the middle of the night, but I'm not getting up to replace a paci. We had a couple nights of crying/fussing, but our girl is now able to put herself to sleep. This makes me one happy mommy.
• With Riley, we wished we had let her keep the pacifier during the day so we gave it a shot with Caroline. She actually has it for naps and does fine not having it at night. I read a few places that it's a different part of the brain that takes care of day and nighttime sleep and apparently it's true. 
• I have good news: Caroline's spit up issue seems to be getting better! We had her 4 month appointment last Monday and we got some bad news in the weight gain department (7 oz. in two months really isn't cutting it). The doctor's suggestion was to add some cereal/solids to her diet in hopes of helping her milk stay down. I'm a big fan of delaying solids until 6 months, but I'd rather her eat a little bit than be on medicine. You might do the meds and that's fine, but David and I decided we'd like to avoid that if possible. So far the spit up has decreased; we'll see at her 2 week recheck if she's packing on the pounds.
• Caroline is such a happy girl. She rarely cries, is content to watch what's going on around her, and laughs at the silly things we do. She doesn't mind being passed around at church, and she lets Riley "feed" her cupcakes and "Oreo soup." We have a busy schedule and it's certainly a blessing that God has blessed us with kids who are able to go with the flow. 

Life

We've been busier than usual lately, I guess. At least it seems that way. I haven't had much time to blog lately because we've been dealing with some sleep issues with Caroline during the day and some weight gain issues due to her spitting up. Fun, fun, fun. I'm going back on a dairy free diet, trying block feeding, and cutting out some whole grains to try to help the spit up. If it doesn't improve in the next two weeks, our littlest is going to have to go on medicine to help prevent it. I'm really praying that we'll be able to avoid that - yes, I know it's not the end of the world if she has to go on something but I'd definitely like to prevent it if at all possible. 

We've been doing a few preschool activities here and there, but nothing as organized as we had been. I have a couple ziplock baggies with pre-made sorting activities and shape/color practice that we've been pulling out. Riley enjoys those, and I need to make up a couple more baggies so we have some selection. I'll be glad when things calm down a tad so we can get back on track with that. We've been talking about creation and doing crafts related to that. I just haven't gotten around to taking any pictures of our work. 

I've also been crocheting quite a bit lately. Now that Caroline goes to bed when Riley does, I have some time in the evenings to get a little bit in. They have also been taking one nap a day at the same time. I've actually been able to open my Etsy shop again, too. 

From Our Family to Yours...

Happy 4th of July! We have had a great day enjoying our little family and we're hoping the weather will hold out tonight so David and Riley, along with others from our church, can pass out tracts to people waiting for the fireworks display.