Little Things: Ada, Four Months

Ada is four months old today! It is quite the celebratory week around here, between my thirty-four years, Jude's two years, and Ada's four months. Here are a few things to remember about Ada at this age:

• Ada does not like bottles! She is currently refusing to drink from a bottle and we have resorted to teaching her how to drink from a cup so that she can stay fed while I'm at work, starting next week. We tried her with a bottle every day for about a week. We tried a morning feeding, an evening feeding, breast milk and formula, Mommy and Daddy offering the bottle, but nothing worked. She just does not seem to understand that she needs to suck on the bottle to get food. At least with the cup, we can pour a little bit into her mouth and she will swallow some of it. It is possible that once she learns to drink from a cup, we'll be able to get her to take a bottle, but at least this way she'll be able to stay hydrated while I'm away.
• As of Monday, Ada was a little over 13.5 pounds. I don't know how long she is, but she seems to have grown a lot in the last couple of months.
• Ada is a very happy baby. She is smiling and laughing most of the day while she's awake, and rarely cries except when she's hungry or tired. She is becoming quite verbal, making lots of noises and responding to everyone around her.
• Ada is still not sleeping consistently. She'll take 3-4 naps a day, but we never know if any given nap is going to last 20 minutes or 2 hours, so it's hard to plan around them. At night, she likes to stay up late, but once she goes to sleep she'll have one pretty long stretch and then another decent one. Sometimes she still likes to get up to play in the middle of the night, but she's getting better at going back to sleep after the middle-of-the-night feeding.
• Ada is still in size 2 diapers, but she has grown out of most of her three month clothing. She's wearing mostly 3-6 month and 6 month clothes except for pants.
• Ada has started playing with toys and likes to grab on to certain things and chew on them. She is great at tummy time, but still not rolling over consistently. If she's on the floor, she will lift up her midsection and spin around, but other than that, she doesn't move around much.
• Ada continues to nurse well, about every 2-3 hours during the day and every 4-6 at night. She rarely seems hungry and can go for a while after waking up before being fed. Jude was always ravenous right when he woke from a nap or night-time sleep.
• Ada is still swaddled for most of her naps and night-time, but she'll occasionally fall asleep in the car seat and stay asleep for a while.
• Ada likes music and she likes to look at books. We've started reading to her as part of her bedtime routine.

Here are a few photos from the past week or so. Ada likes soft stuffed animals much more than Jude ever did. Here she is in her car seat with the giraffe from Ama.

Ada has had the chance to wear more cute dresses recently since Ama is in town to dress her.

At the park with Ama.

A cute close-up from Jude's birthday party.

Out for a walk with Mommy.

Lying on the quilt from Nanny.

Tummy time on the couch at Nini's house.

On to month five!