Monaloca

Phew! Four months, really? It went by fast with Melina but this feels like super-speed.

Our littlest girl is up to all sorts of new stuff, including wanting to sit up (she does ok for about 10 minutes in a Bumbo chair or against a boppy), smiling at herself in the mirror, grabbing at things and batting at the animals on her play gym (and her favorite toy, the winkel), laughing up a storm (especially when Kai or Melina is involved), and rolling over from belly to back. She can also get to her side from her back depending on her mood and motivation. She’s started to show a small interest in our own meal times, but hasn’t yet started grabbing for our food.

She can be quite loud. She loves expressing her desire to have other people around, and lets us know immediately that she doesn’t like to be left alone in a room, even for just a couple minutes. She squawks loudly when she’s hungry or wants attention or comfort, and I have no doubt she’ll do just fine holding her own with two older siblings. On the flip side, when she’s content she’s pretty quiet and chill, to such an extent that with three kids we sometimes almost forget she’s there. (Sorry, monkey!)

Nalani is on her second cold of her little life – chalk it up to two older siblings and an exceptionally cold summer. This time she also has a cough and we swear it sounds like she’s losing her voice. Since she doesn’t seem to be in pain, it’s a bit funny to hear that scratchy sound in a four-month-old’s coos.

The other big question with four-month-olds is always “sleeping through the night yet?” Well, she still does at least one five-hour stint each night. But where she used to go til 2 or even 3am then wake every hour or so after that, she’s now switched to waking earlier (around midnight or 1am) for a snack, but then will sleep again until 5 or 6am. Or sometimes 4. Ugh. Then again the other night she slept clear through from 7:30pm til nearly 6am. Daddy shoved a binky in her mouth when she woke up around 3, and that was all she needed. So we know she’s capable.

We still spend our days going on morning walks to Elmwood Cafe after dropping Melina at preschool, then running errands, walking around our own ‘hood and visiting friends, and doing baby yoga once a week with Anna and baby Maya. Next week I start working two days/week. Since it’s only two days I feel okay with the change, maybe even ready for it. Nalani has had a couple trial stints at daycare, where the report was “She ate great, she slept, and she smiled a lot.” Outside of being with us, we couldn’t ask for more in the care of our little four-month-old.

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Last week we headed to Capitola for our annual Weiss family beach vacation, a tradition we started when Melina was Nalani’s age. Highlights included daily sand play (Kai), a mosaic mermaid on our walk to the beach (Melina), Grandpa/Grandma/Auntie Stacie holding time (Nalani), daily ice cream, a trip to the candy store, and of course plenty of cousin play with Lucas and Noah.

We also celebrated baby Nalani with a “sprinkle” hosted by the Hindmarshes and a reunion of our two families. It was great fun to see Jess and her family for the first time in two years (yikes!). Then on Tuesday evening we headed to the boardwalk for 1907 night: all rides, hot dogs, and cotton candy just $1 a piece.

Melina had been looking forward to her first taste of cotton candy all afternoon, but was heartbroken when the pink fluff melted to near nothing in her hands before getting to her mouth, and was absolutely traumatized when I plopped a fresh piece right in and she discovered it didn’t taste anything like what she’d hoped. At least that’s what her cries told me she felt.

Lowlights included the two older kids and me fighting a cold the entire time, and Joey’s insane bout of sciatica. It was so bad one morning that Nalani and I had to take him to the ER in Santa Cruz while Kai and Melina held down the fort, so to speak, with their cousins.

Joey felt ridiculous walking through the door with a cup of coffee in his hand, and was more than disappointed when the only treatment given was a terse “you need to stretch and excercise through the pain” from the doc. “Can’t you give me a shot?” Nope. Luckily the doc was right and stretching is helping, just not as quickly as Joey would like.

Needless to say, traveling with three young kids was not exactly a vacation in the relaxing sense of the word. But the kids had a blast, I loved hanging out with my “whole family” as Melina would say, and we all got a kick out of a change of scenery for five days. I’m sure our tradition will become more relaxing as the kids get older… right?

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