Zoe Faith at 4 months

Little Zoe is doing well and continues to grow!  At her four month check up, she was 11 pounds, 5 ounces and 23.5 inches long.  She loves to be around people, and she especially enjoys it when Enoch plays with her.  At this point, she tracks toys well with her eyes and can grab them when they are within reach.  Zoe is quick to smile at people when she's engaged, and she laughs when tickled.  The big girls like to hold her in their laps and give her toys.  She's very adept at rolling both ways now, though she does still fuss sometimes if she feels like she can't get off her belly.  The only other time she usually fusses is when she is over-tired or lonely.  Also, Zoe's favorite two places to be are either: in my lap/on my hip, or in the floor with Enoch playing with her.  She just loves to laugh and squeal when he pays attention to her, and he honestly does a very good job of being gentle and fun when he engages her (which is so, so sweet for my mama heart to witness).

Eating & Sleeping:  We haven't started her on solids yet, and she is still nursing around 10 times per day (with 3 of those at night).  Her naps have settled down into a shortish morning one (45 min - 1.5 hours) and a long afternoon one that corresponds with the big girls nap (~ 2-3 hours, but sometimes she needs to nurse in the middle).  We put her to bed around 7:30 or 8:00 at night and she typically wakes up around 6:30 or 7:00 am (with a few night time nursing sessions in between).  When we put Zoe to bed, she typically nurses and then gets laid down either asleep or very groggy with a paci.  As you can see in the photo below, we also transitioned out of a swaddle blanket a few weeks ago, and now Zoe sleeps in a little sleep sack.

Hair & Skin Care:  Zoe loves taking baths, especially kicking in the water!  We are continuing to use coconut oil in her hair once per day after misting it with water and de-tangling it with a pick.  As long as I'm gentle and slow, she doesn't mind this process, and I just love seeing how her locks keep getting curlier (I always wanted a kiddo with curly hair!).  I also use the coconut oil on her skin anytime it looks dry.

Other Daily Life:  Zoe is regularly in some type of wrap.  The picture below was of her first time in the Ergo carrier, which I think she liked (she certainly took a good cat nap in there while I made lunch, anyway).  This is the only way I can make it to the grocery store or out to run errands, but she gets fussy/squirmy if I have to bend down and do something for a few minutes. (I also still use the ring sling with her quite a bit.)

Sometime during this fourth month Zoe learned how to insert her paci.  Now she technically can't always find it, but if she can get her hands on it, then she usually either chews on it or sucks it like normal.  Additionally, just this past week, Zoe definitely found her voice.  She has been babbling quietly for awhile now, but all of a sudden she has started talking louder, yelling some, and even shrieking (in excitement) sometimes.  This has been a harder transition for me than you might expect (given that we always have a loud/active house) because my mind is having to re-adjust to her new noises and discern which are happy noises (most of them) and which are "help me" cries.  It probably sounds crazy, but I really have had to take some time to get used to these new louder talks by reminding myself that she's not hurt or sad... she's just more excited these days.

Cloth diapers:  Now that we are well out of baby-bootcamp, I've also started using cloth diapers on Zoe.  I use a combination of prefolds with a snappi & cover as well as pocket diapers.  I usually use a disposable liner to catch solids, but since Zoe only poopies once every 5-7 days, I don't need them too often.  Cloth diapering does take a bit more work, but this has honestly been the easiest transition into cloth for me because the big girls are still going through a lot of underwear with their potty training. (I've been doing a load of cloth/underwear every other day.)  

Here are some more Zoe smiles:

her 4 month photos with her little lamb

(attempting to eat the blanket, ha!)

Baby girl loves her bumbo (it's a different brand technically) because she gets to be right in the action during meal times.

And a classic pic of Karis checking in on her (both big girls love to keep tabs on Zoe and tell me anytime she cries, goes to sleep, loses a toy, etc.).   :)