Sweet Baby Rae: Four Months

I absolutely can't believe how much Rae has grown since she was born! She used to have little chicken legs and now she is getting some delicious leg rolls. Be still my heart.

Four Month Stats: 12lbs 15oz

Rae has discovered many new things over this past month including her voice and that she can shove her fist and pretty much anything else into her mouth - including burp cloths, my hair, and blankets. Rae is so close to rolling over from back to belly and is already a pro at rolling over from belly to back. She loves talking to herself, especially at night while falling asleep and right after eating. We just moved to size 2 diapers after the grossest of blow outs while nursing and Rae is still wearing size 3 month clothing but is slowing making her way to size 3-6 month clothing. Her blonde hair is more like peach fuzz except for a patch on the back of her head that's a bit longer. One day she won't be bald will have hair!

We had to take some photographs in this beautiful dress that Auntie Melanie bought Rae and since its a size 3 months, she won't be able to wear it when there is actual warm weather. The Dark girls have decided its a dress that will get passed around to all of our baby girls so we had to make sure we got a picture of Rae wearing it.

Rae Loves: talking to herself, chewing on anything she can pull to her mouth (including hands, burp cloths, her lovie and her teether toy), smiling and occasionally laughing, playing with the birds on her play mat, doing tummy time on the boppy, going on walks with Emmett

Rae doesn't Love: being tired or hungry (I'm right there with her though) - there's very little that Rae gets upset about; she is such a wonderful, happy baby.

We've been using the Babywise method for eating/wake/sleep time and just started implementing a schedule with Rae. It's taken us a little while to get started on a schedule just because I think I wasn't sure how to transition her from taking little cat naps in the Rock & Play to taking longer naps in her crib. She has slept in her crib at night since about 2 weeks old (yeah we kicked her out of our room quickly!) so we knew she could sleep in there just fine. Here's what her schedule is as of right now. I made it based on a few blogs as well as what her bed time has been. Eventually we will work our way down to a 7PM bed time/beginning of bedtime routine but we're working on getting her to sleep through the night first.

This schedule has been working for us. I know it's not for everyone but it works for now. We will be working on extending play time and dropping naps over time.

Rae's Schedule:
7          wake, eat, play
8:30     nap
10        wake, eat, play
11:30   nap
1          wake, eat play
2:30     nap
4          wake, eat, play
5:30     nap
7          wake, eat, play
9          final meal, bedtime

Rae usually wakes only once around 3-4AM to eat and then falls asleep until around 7. One night last week she slept until 6AM!!! We knew it was a once in a blue moon thing but we're slowly getting to sleeping through the night.

We can't wait to see all of the new things she will learn over the next month!

Sweet Baby Rae: Three Months & Christmastime

For Raelyn's three month birthday we were home in Maryland celebrating Christmas with family! She did fantastic on the plane rides from Yuma to Baltimore and it definitely helped that we were on a half empty flight! We took over an entire row so Rae was able to play on the middle seat between sleeping and eating.

It's always hard spending enough time with each side of the family since both of our parents live in Maryland but I think we did a pretty good job of splitting it as best we could. We spent Christmas Eve with my parents at our church service and opened gifts with them that night. In the morning we enjoyed time with David's parents and in the evening my family came over the Phillips' house for Christmas dinner.

Three Month Stats: 11.2lbs (I held her & stood on a scale to get an approximate weight since there is not a 3 month check-up.)

Raelyn is getting much better at tummy time and holds her head up for quite some time. When we hold her she always wants to be held upright so she can look around. Her neck is pretty strong even though she is still a bobblehead most of the time. She will be able to hold up her head without bobbling before we know it! She also rolls over from belly to back sometimes and is so close to rolling over from back to belly. That dang arm just needs to get out of the way.

Rae Loves: being held upright so she can look around at everything, playing with the rattle birds on her play mat, getting kisses from Mommy & Daddy, chewing on blankets and her hands, talking to Daddy, stretching her body after meals, sticking her tongue out - she just discovered her tongue not too long ago.

Rae doesn't Love: taking naps (we're working on getting her to nap longer than 30 minutes at a time as I type this), loud coughs & people who blow there nose - she gets startled EVERY time.

During our visit home Raelyn met one of her Great Grandmothers! Grandma Ruthie now has 8 great grandchildren and loves to tell everyone. She's so cute about it. Hopefully Rae will be able to meet Great Grandpa & Grandma Norris this summer at the Lake Cabin in Minnesota.

Four generations of Phillips & the Phillips Family

Here are some pictures from a successful tummy time (of course I had to photograph it) and then some three month pictures in her onesie.

I think this next  picture will have to be shown at Raelyn's wedding one day. I mean, those chin rolls are so amazing.