Mirai and Taishi’s 4 Month Update

4 months and we’ve hit the milestone in everyone’s nightmares when they think about taking care of infants. For us, I can’t say it has gotten too bad yet but then again I am probably just used to wakeful nights by this point! M and T are growing well and really starting to show their personalities these days which is fun to see.

As their 4 month check, Taishi weighed 6795g and was 65.5cm long. Mirai was 5855g and 60.5cm long. Both are growing within the average curve.

DEvelopments

In the last couple of weeks, M and T have really started to change. Mirai rolled over from her tummy to her back one day but hasn’t done it again since! And Taishi is starting to show signs of rolling from his back to his tummy. They both have begun touching toys and attempting to grab them, usually while sitting on their bouncy chair. They aren’t quite reaching out for things but that is the next step! They also love staring at their hands and chewing on them. Hands are fascinating things to babies!

Neither of them particularly enjoy tummy time on the flat floor but they will spend anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes doing it propped up on our TwinZ nursing pillow (usually when distracted by the TV or their older brother!). They also love to talk using their little baby “oohs” and I try to talk to them as much as possible throughout the day.

Sleep

Sleep, at least in the beginning of the night, has improved a ton since our two month update! Taishi still goes to sleep quite easily using his pacifier (not sure what I’ll do if/when he stops taking it!) but Mirai has recently switched from being rocked to sleep to wanting to nurse to sleep more. This is actually good news to me because it’s much easier to sit and nurse her than to spend hours rocking. She does occasionally still get rocked to sleep though (after nursing). During the night, Mirai tends to wake up every 2-3 hours and I usually feed Taishi right after since I’m already up. This has stayed the same pretty much the entire time though so I’m used to being up frequently in the night. I also don’t mind night feeds because they are good for my milk supply and baby weight gain.

Both of them take 3-4 naps a day depending on the length. Taishi tends to take 4 because his wake times are slightly shorter than Mirai’s usually. It’s interesting how they can be born only one minute apart and be so different! Mirai still usually naps in the carrier and Taishi sleeps in the bed. This can be challenging if they are on opposing schedules, which still happens frequently.

Right now, I am not really following a strict nap schedule since their nap lengths vary widely from day to day. Generally the daily wake time and bedtime is consistent however. Here’s the general schedule:

6:30AM – Wake up for the day
Naps around 8AM, 11AM, and 2PM (sometimes a 4th nap sneaks in)
5:00PM – Bath
5:30PM – Final feed in the living room
6:00PM – Bedtime
(Usually dream feed around 10PM, wake up and nurse at 2AM and 5AM)

Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is still going quite well and I feel lucky to not have run into any issues yet. Now that they are a bit older and better at latching themselves, I tend to tandem nurse them for most feeds throughout the day. During the night I nurse them one at a time because it’s easier to burp them and put them back to sleep that way. Generally, they each have their own boob that they prefer. Taishi prefers my heavier producing side and therefore tends to drink quite a lot at once and doesn’t need to snack after that. He easily follows the coveted “eat, play, sleep” routine. Mirai, however, still prefers my less producing side so I tend to tandem nurse her with Taishi and then once more before her nap. I really like tandem nursing because with both sides being stimulated at once, they letdown tends to come quite quickly and everyone is happy. They also started to look at one another while tandem nursing and it’s the cutest thing!

I am so excited to see how their relationship grows and changes over the coming months! They are such sweet babies (what baby isn’t though?) and I love spending time with them every day. I am so proud that I have been able to nourish them with my body this entire time and I hope to continue for months and years to come.