Happy four months to the secondborn!

Week 135 motherhood of 2.5 year old and 4 month old: 

• Apr 13:  Tried this morning sporadically to nurse the little one sideways while in bed.  DH was off to work since it was his day in the office and I wanted a bit more lie-in still because we had been getting up every 2 hours for a feed and I was so tired.  The sideways nursing worked!  I had the baby sleeping next to me suckling away while I was able to get in some snoozing.  It wasn’t heavy sleeping though because I didn’t want to accidentally roll on her or smother her with the sheets, but it was a nice extra zzz’s for 30 minutes long.  If it weren’t for the Zumbini class at 10am, we could have slept in more.  She slept really soundly next to me.
• The virtual Zumbini class today was great with the enthusiastic facilitator.  I find it a class more for me to move around and have my Fitbit track it as an aerobic exercise for about 20 minutes.  The toddler wasn’t interested in dancing or following along to the songs which was okay with me.  I had a good time getting my steps in and heart rate up. 😀
• The toddler actually wants more chances to hold the baby these days.  She no longer redirects when we call her a big sister (she used to say “mm hai zei zei, oi hai zuu zei” [I’m not big sister.  I’m piggy]).
• The baby is turning more on her side when on the playmat/floor.  She can probably turn over soon.. I’m not mentally ready that this kid is going to be mobile soon 😅.  I’ve really enjoyed the babyhood, quiet nursing sessions, and simpleness that comes with caring for an infant.  Once this one starts moving, we’ll be in a different ballgame again.
• The baby held her head up so high during tummy time today and for 5 minutes (longest stretch so far)!  She seemed so comfortable doing it and was smiling too.  She was kicking her legs too.. if she has more power, she will be able to scoot herself forward very soon..  Ahh, I’m not ready!
• The toddler has an incredible memory and can recall so many little random things we did or said to her.
• She really enjoys helping grandma make soup or prep meals by pouring in items or washing vegetables or sorting things.
• April 20:  I had my first post-pandemic haircut outside of the home this past weekend.  It was time for a professional to cut my hair instead of DH since my hair was becoming so heavy.  DH could trim and cut my hair no problem, but he doesn’t know how to thin it out with scissors.  My hair is naturally wavy and thick and heavy.  It was also a great time for a haircut since the baby has started to yank and pull on it while nursing too (the firstborn never yanked on my hair.  Maybe because I was bottle feeding?).
• It was nice to get someone else to wash my hair (would have been nice with a massage too).  Unfortunately, while the hairdresser did successfully thin out my hair so that it feels much lighter, he didn’t cut both sides equally and I didn’t realize it until I got home.  I had to take my scissors and cut some of it to even it out.. so much so for trying to avoid DIY hair cutting lol..
• The baby turned 4 months old!  Can’t believe it.  On some days she is still potato-y and sleepy and sleeps all day and nurses all day.  She is much more alert and responsive though.
• I was again able to get a TGTG cake bag to celebrate her month birthday. 🥳
• I accidentally used the same onesie she wore during her two-month milestone photo again for her fourth month.  Argh!  I was kicking myself for not realizing it.  It’s like this poor child doesn’t have other clothes to wear.  The reality is that she has more clothes than the firstborn because we received more hand-me-downs for this baby.  But sometimes more is not more and just creates more mess and disorganization.  Too much to sort through…
• We had the fourth month checkup at the pediatrician too.  I appreciated that he didn’t even mention the RSV or falling off the bed incident despite receiving the hospital reports about it; I guess it wasn’t necessary to bring it up.
• The baby weighed 6.075kg = 13.39 lbs at the doctors.  I like how the nurse moved the scale directly into the room this time for us to weigh her.  Makes more sense for privacy of the baby and to allow us more time to undress and dress her.  It used to feel so frazzly to rush the process when the scale was placed out in the hallway area.
• The pediatrician was happy with the weight gain (she’s just slightly below the 50 percentile mark now but her height and head circumstance are on the right path) even though I mentioned she feels lighter after getting RSV and that she doesn’t sleep 4 to 5 hour stretches anymore and likes to nurse every 2 hours.  The ped said it’s normal for her to lose some weight due to RSV (I did know this already too) and she’s likely wanting to feed more now to catch up again.  Sigh.  I sure hope so.  I’d love to sleep more continuous hours.
• Six to 7 wet diapers daily, poos every other day or every day.  Nursing every 2 to 3 hours in the daytime and certainly at night too (😭).
• He asked a few benchmark questions like is she tracking movement?  Yes.  Does she laugh or giggle?  She smiles and giggles a little bit when grandma was playing with her but she hasn’t personally giggled or laughed in front of me yet lol..  Does she pull on objects?  Oh, yes she sure does.  She pulls on my hair!  Neck getting stronger?  Yes.
• She had her two immunizations and oral immunization today — same as last time.  She didn’t gobble up the oral vaccine as quickly as previous times but still managed to intake basically all of it.
• She didn’t cry or wince after the first shot but definitely let out a loud cry after the second one which the nurse said hurts more too.  She was okay again in a few seconds.  Brave girl.
• Next appointment is two months later at 6 months old!
• The pediatrician said to wait until 6 months of age to start solids.  We aren’t rushing it, and the baby is not ready yet either.
• Discovered and read more about ChatGPT this week and tried it out for myself.  The things it can do blows my mind…
• The singing continues.  The toddler loved asking for different songs to sing to.  Today, the song was “I have a tiny turtle”.
• The toddler pays rapt attention to the virtual EarlyON sessions but doesn’t like to participate.  She doesn’t like following along or copying what the facilitators do even though most other kids do.  I hope she isn’t this defiant when she enters kindergarten…
• When the facilitator asks the kids to nominate a song for singing, the toddler is able to pick songs.  She asks for “Old MacDonald” a few times and “Wheels on the Bus” and “Zoom zoom zoom”.
• The baby likes to suck on three fingers at a time and sometimes they’re in the way when she burps.
• I couldn’t stop laughing a few times when we were in the virtual class and I had both kids in my arms and the baby turned to look and stare at the older sister lol.  It looked so funny onscreen.  It’s quite interesting to see what the baby is picking up from the older sister.
• I’ve been trying to read more to the baby.  I feel like I read all the time to the firstborn when she was a baby.  The older one gets jealous and doesn’t want us reading to the baby sometimes.
• The baby was lying on the playmat and was actually in the right spot to move her hand and touch the monkey toy hanging down and actually batted it a few times.
• I also went to the basement and retrieved a number of the baby toys that the firstborn used to play with for the baby.  She doesn’t know how to hold the Oball toy yet.  Or when she did hang onto it, she didn’t know how to let go (I remember this with the firstborn too).
• The toddler has been playing with the large diaper box this week.  Climbing into it, placing stuffed animals into it, peeking out of it.  A classic non-toy toy.
• I brought up the Itsy Bitsy spider puzzle for her to play with and she attempted to put it together, but it’s a tricky one.  It even tests us as adults so I don’t think it’s suitable for her as a toddler yet.  I wouldn’t want her feeling discouraged and giving up on toys when they’re really not for her age range yet.
• She can’t fully complete the wooden puzzles either.  Those are also 3 and up.
• The toddler remembered that there was a flower shape for the shape sorter and it was missing.  If there’s one thing I can describe about the toddler is that she has the memory of an elephant.  It’s incredible how much she remembers and the tiny details too.