Isobel at four months

This month Isobel and I have joined some new baby groups! I realised I was spending the first half of my week meeting with mum friends I met when I had Luka and the second half either doing housework or catching up on other things in between pram walks and sleeps.So I decided Isobel needed her own friends. We've started going to a baby group at the eldest one's school and an NCT group I used to attend when Luka was a baby. It's been really nice chatting to other new mums and I hope Isobel will make some friends too.
Emotionally, month four has been quite tough again. I've spoken to my doctor about my feelings and we agreed that a lot of it has to do with both Luka's birth and the distinct lack of sleep that is happening right now! I've been referred to a counsellor and my husband and I are looking to get some closure on the whole birth issue. To be perfectly honest, it felt like a huge weight off my shoulders and I've had a much more positive outlook since I spoke out.There are still lots of feelings of guilt surrounding how I am now parenting Isobel and how I struggled with Luka but I guess this is something I need to work through.

This is the moment Isobel rolled over!

This month, Isobel has rolled from her back to her front! Hooray! She has been trying for ages and has been getting really frustrated. Once on her front, she is starting to really hold herself up with her arms and she holds her head really well too. Not only that but her little legs are bending as if she is about to crawl! She has never been a static baby by any means but now you can leave her on the mat for a few minutes and when you return she is at the other side of the room! It won't be long until she is off, I'm sure.

Isobel in her Dribble Buster

At four months, Isobel is teething really badly. We've been using teething toys such as the Gummee Glove  which has been fantastic, but mainly she has been chomping our fingers, her fingers and anything else she can get her hands on! She's also been living in dribble bibs so I've started using prettier ones that match her outfit! Don't laugh, this is probably my last girl! Anyway, we love Dribble Busters and they do the job let me tell you! I think the teething also has a lot to do with why Isobel is not sleeping as much as she was in the earlier weeks either. These days she only sleeps for about 40 minutes or so during the day and most of those sleeps are either in the car or the pram. Luckily we have a large carry cot with our Joolz Day pram and she sleeps really well in there. We've also started using a Kid Sit board for our walks, which is brilliant. Luka can sit and chat with Isobel and it's a lot easier to push than the double pram.
During the night, Isobel is still only going 2-3 hours between feeds and we are thinking about moving on to a cup soon so that she can have a little drink of water. At her weigh in this month (12lb 3!) the health visitor suggested this might encourage her to sleep a little longer at night as she will stop waking for water, but I'm not convinced. She is following the line nicely on the growth charts so there doesn't seem to be much point in disrupting that. We're also still using the Baby Bay bed so my sleep isn't too disrupted...
All in all, Isobel is coming on in leaps and bounds. She is no longer a 'little' baby which is sad in a way, but very exciting in another! We had professional photos done this month which was nice. We do take a lot of photos ourselves but its nice to have some really good quality ones done too.

I'll leave you at the end of month four with this gorgeous photo. For me, it sums up how lovely the developing big brother relationship is.

Big brother