Noelle's four month birthday is today! Happy birthday! In honor of her four months of life, I would like to share some things that Noelle likes and some things she doesn't like.
Noelle likes:
Noelle doesn't like:
Noelle likes:
- Smiling - She loves to smile at everyone. She has a knack for making everyone feel like they are her favorite person. Smiling pictures are very easy to snag.
- Standing - Noelle thinks standing is the most fun activity around. Even if she's kind of sad, helping her stand up will often buy a few more minutes of happiness. She has strong legs and she likes to use them.
- Being naked - Noelle loves to be naked, but having a naked bum really appeals to her. As you can imagine, this means she loves having her diaper changed and "bare bum time."
- Taking baths - The feeling of warm water rushing over her skin is fun for her. Plus, she gets to be naked.
- Drooling - This one is new. Since increased drooling started up about the same time that she started sleeping really poorly at night I thought she might be getting teeth. So far there aren't any teeth, just excessive slobber.
- Computer screens - Really, she loves any kind of screen -- TV, cell phone, laptop, kindle, etc. Justin and I try to keep her away from them, but she inevitably finds a way to sneak a peek.
- Flailing her arms - As she came out of the womb, first came her head and then one of her arms shot out. To this day, she likes to wave her arms around. Swaddling is essential to control her arms for sleeping. Once she is released from her swaddle, she immediately stretches out her arms into a victory V and proceeds to flail them around. When she eats, she likes to use her free arm to repeatedly swat and grab my chin, nose, collarbone, neck, mouth, shirt and cheeks. Her arms are out of control.
- Holding hands - The best remedy when her flailing arms become a problem is to hold her hand. She loves to hold hands. I like holding her perfect little hands too, so this one is a major win-win.
- Eating her hands - Her hands are her favorite thing to suck on. When we are outside, her hands are always freezing because they are always wet with slobber.
Noelle doesn't like:
- Falling asleep - Sleep is a huge battle for our little girl. Her naps average 30 minutes in duration and it takes just about as long (sometimes longer) to get her to take one. She just doesn't want to miss the action. I think she must know that most of the time while she's napping, I'm hanging out in front of her most sought after screen. She has developed a few tactics to prevent falling asleep. Often, she will look around the room for anything that might be mildly interesting to occupy her mind. Or, more manipulatively, she will smile at me to get me to interact with her and maybe even believe she isn't tired. What kind of monster mom can keep from reacting to a sweet baby's smile? Trust me, it's a challenge.
- Tummy time - She has made huge improvements with tummy time, but it's still not her favorite thing after approximately three minutes. She has rolled over a few times, but it's not a consistent trick at this point. I am hopeful that tummy time will someday jump over to the likes list.
- Getting out of the bath - Being in the bath is a joy, but the second she gets out of the bath she starts screaming. This is further evidence of how much she enjoys bathing. She doesn't want the fun to end!
- Putting her arms in sleeves - Noelle gets really annoyed when I try to control her arms, so putting her arms in sleeves is a challenge. I always ask her to make a fist when I put her sleeves on, but instead she spreads her fingers out as wide as she can or grabs a fistful of sleeve while her hand is passing through, rendering it almost impossible to get her hand out to the other side.
- Pooping in a wet diaper - Nine out of ten times she will poop right after I change her.
- Sleeping alone - Noelle loves to be held or to be up against you while she sleeps. Justin and I have started transitioning her into her crib for at least part of every night, but she mostly just wants to sleep next to us.
- Her pacifier - Many tears were shed when she decided she didn't like her pacifier anymore -- by me. She never really loved it, but it was a useful tool when she was trying to fall asleep. Now she hates it. I'll warn you, don't try to stick it in her mouth when she's upset. It will only increase the screaming.
- Group hugs - Often Justin initiates family hugs, but Noelle always reacts negatively. Sometimes she cries and other times she screws up her face. I don't think she has learned to associate hugs with affection just yet. She has never been into snuggling so I shouldn't be surprised.