Four Months the Fourth Time Around

Last week we took our very last trip to the pool for this summer.  It was by far the most fun we've had at the pool all year.  I took Bailey, a middle school girl from our church whose family we have grown to know and love.  My children absolutely adore her and they all played nonstop.  She had to leave just as we were packing up to head out so I walked to our van by myself with the four children.  As Silas commented on the slides he was going to miss until next year, Sim ran his hand along the rock wall just outside the pool gate, and I called to Lieren to catch up.  Blaise, who had acted on the verge of a tired meltdown right before we started walking out, now smiled at me happily from his carseat in the stroller.  And in the background, as if on cue, that song You're Gonna Miss This started playing.

Deep breaths.

I am.  I know I am.  As hard as some days are, I really love them.  And I am gonna miss it.

Our Blaisey is one sweet baby.  He will be four months old in just a few days.  When did I blink?  I don't recall that many days passing since he was born.

By far Blaise has been our easiest baby.  Oh, he has his moments.  But for the most part, he has fallen right into the family routine and makes having a tiny one in the midst of so many other little ones seem like nothin'.  He is the kind of baby that makes you want to have more...because its just so do-able!  Ha!  More on that later...

Right around the time Blaise turned 3 months, I found we were really getting into a groove.  Now we're definitely on a schedule that he loves and craves.

Blaise wakes right around 6 every morning, like clockwork.  If he stirs at 5:30, I know he wants to sleep a bit more and a paci will hold him over that last 30 minutes (if I try to go ahead and feed him at 5:30, he falls right to sleep till 6 or after; he is so routine!).  We get up and moving after he eats.  The other three wake between 7 and 8 so I usually have a bit of time to pull myself together before everyone is up.  By 8:30 (if not before) Blaise is desperate for a nap so I put him down as the others start breakfast.  He sleeps till 10:00ish.  Then he's up and interested in what everyone else is doing until close to 11 when he wants to eat again (I know! He goes such a long stretch in the morning).  He sometimes needs a catnap around noon to get him through but often stays awake until afternoon naptime.  Sim and Lieren go down at 1, then I usually feed Blaise again and put him down at 1:30.  Silas retreats to his room to rest from 1:45 until 3.  Sim and Lieren are typically up at 3:30 while Blaise most often sleeps till close to 4 (again, I know! Told you he makes you want to have more!).  He eats around 4:30.  Sometimes he needs another quick nap in the evening but not always.  A bath at 7 can hold him off eating till 7:30 but otherwise he's ready to eat at 7.  Sim and Lieren go to bed at 8.  Then it's bedtime for Blaise by 8:30.

And he will sleep till morning.

If you've ever had a baby who doesn't sleep, you may wish you'd never read about my Blaise.  But then again, I've had a non-sleeper.  So I know how that feels.  And I will say that I am most grateful that we have a sleeper the fourth time around!

I've always wondered what it feels like to know you're done having children.  I never thought I would feel completely sure that I was ok not being pregnant again or not giving birth again.  So I've prayed through it some at times. And recently I've found myself enjoying Blaise's babyhood in a different way than I enjoyed the others.  With Silas it was all exciting and new and sometimes hard to really enjoy because I didn't know anything.  When Simeon and Lieren came along, it was exciting and new because they were twins and sometimes it was hard to really enjoy because, well, I was just trying to breathe most of the time.  And with all the others I often felt a twinge of sadness, not wanting them to get big because what if there was never a newborn in the house again?  But this time I don't feel that way.  I don't feel sad at Blaise growing.  I am enjoying it.  But at the same time, I'm in no hurry for him to grow up.  I'm really content with each phase so far.  And I'm grateful that if this is it with the newborns in our house, that this is the experience we're getting to have this time around.

And if you would like to see the older three at this age, here are links to Silas at 4 months then Simmy and Lieren at 4 months.