WEIGHT
Another 2 pounds gained puts her right over 14 pounds!
HEIGHT
Will weigh again at 4-month appointment, but def getting longer!
SLEEP
Naps have been the bane of my existence this past month. Without fail, little Miss wakes up 30 minutes into every nap. I hear her stir, look at the nap timer, and it's anywhere between 28-32 minutes on the dot! Sometimes her SNOO rocks her back to sleep, but most often she's just ready to be up. Which means all day long it's up for 1-ish hour, rock her to sleep (which takes a while), then finally down, but only for 30 minutes, repeat repeat repeat. Whew! Thankfully, we are now trending toward longer naps, and sometimes she even naps for 2+ hours! I'm ready for her to have a more consistent schedule.
Overnight sleep, on the other hand, has been a DREAM. Lolz, pun intended. Marigold sleeps about 8 hours straight at night on average, but sometimes up to 9 hours straight, sometimes as short as 6 hours. After her long stretch, she wakes up for a feeding, then goes back down within an hour and sleeps another 2-3 hours. She usually isn't officially up for the day until 10am. It is bonkers amazing and worth the trade off for the not-as-stellar daytime sleep. Now say a prayer that all this doesn't go out the window with the upcoming 4-month sleep regression. Please and thank you very much.
FIRSTS THIS MONTH
-Social smiling SO easily. Just make eye contact with her, grin, and she's ALL smiles, ear-to-ear adorable.
-Lifting her head a little longer and a little higher during tummy time.-Sitting up in the Bumbo!
-Loves chatting. So much cooing!
-GIGGLES!!! Like real belly laughs. It takes some work, but usually bouncing around and making silly noises at her will do it, or tickling her armpits or toes or thunder thighs. SAH CUTE!
NICKNAMES
Margs and Margo Moo are the two most frequently used, with Sissy occasionally thrown in for fun.
OTHER THINGS TO NOTE
-John has been working like crazy this past month (to "pay back" all the time he took for paternity leave), so it's been me and the three kiddos hanging at home lots. I'm still not brave enough to take all three out on my own, so we just hunker down and find fun things to do around the house. I promise I'll take you places some day, Marigold. :P We do get out when John is around to help, and we've enjoyed all those outings. But when it's just me, I'm nervous about keeping the big boys out of trouble while I tend to little sis, so for now, we're hermits. So far, I don't actually mind.
-When we do take her out and about, Marigold reeeeally doesn't like her carseat. We can sorta keep her happy with her pacifier, but only sorta. She mainly wants to scream and cry the whole time. And when she cries hard, she sweats hard. I can count on one hand the number of times she's calm or sleepy/napping in the car. Otherwise, it's all fight.
-John occasionally works night shifts, and when he does, bedtime by myself with 3 kids is a s t r u g g l e. So I did the smart thing and hired a teenaged neighbor to come help me from 8-9pm every night John is away. Best $10 I can spend! She gets the big boys settled with pajamas, teeth brushing, books, songs, and snuggles, all while I give Marigold the undivided attention she needs to settle for sleep. We went from being utter chaos without help (imagine all 3 kids crying at the same time for a whole hour because I couldn't meet all the needs) to a happy peaceful home with help. And the boys love Miss Abigail. Win win win!
-She also only tolerates being worn in the Boba or Solly wraps. I love the convenience and cuddliness of wearing her, and she will take a nap in there if I time it right. And if I walk her around and around and around until she passes out. But once the nap is over, she's READY to bust out. Like fights and cries and squirms until she's out. I've never had a baby who doesn't love being snuggled in a wrap, so this one's new on me.
-I can't even express how giddy her chunkiness makes me. I love her leg rolls and chubby cheeks and tubby belly. Fat babies are my favorite!
-We went blueberry picking this past month! The boys did most of the picking while Margo and I hung out in the car and she nursed a bunch. For the few minutes I had her out in the fields, she got to wear her adorable yellow sunhat and it was so cute. Looking forward to having her join in on the blueberry picking and eating next summer!
-Marigold is an expert at breaking out of her swaddle at night, so we decided to try arms-out swaddling. The first night, she slept like normal! It was great! But the second day, it completely messed with her naps, so back in her arms went. We've continued to swaddle her with arms in ever since. :P Maybe we'll try again in a month or two?
-My sweet girl definitely looks more like John Paul than Jude. See pic below for reference. On the left is John Paul at 3 months, and right is obviously Margo at 3 months. They're not identical, but the resemblance is definitely there.
-Speaking of resemblance, I think Marigold looks a bit like me! The following picture is me at around 3 months old, at my Baptism. What do we think?
-John Paul and Jude continue to love on their sister. John Paul can even cheer up Marigold when she's feeling cranky, just by talking with her. It's so sweet to see! Jude loves her a bunch too, but he often likes to push limits, and has gone so far as scratching and pinching her to purposefully make her cry. Eep! That has thankfully slowed down in the past week, and there have been far more kisses and snuggles than injuries. Phew! Every month, she can interact more and more and it makes me look forward to the day she's walking and talking and really keeping up with her brothers. Siblings are the best!
