Now that Winter is four-months-old, our routines are getting more defined and predictable. Winter has yet to consolidate her naps, so she’ll usually sleep for 20-45 minutes, play, eat and repeat within a three-hour time frame. I definitely do not get much done during her naps, not only because she doesn't sleep for very long, but also because I end up spending at least 15 minutes peaking through the crack of the door to look at her or take pictures.

Up until very recently we swaddled Winter while she slept. We've since retired the swaddle since she is able to roll from her belly to her back and we want to be extra cautious that she doesn't roll in her sleep. This series of pictures was taken within a week of making the transition to a sleep sack instead and, to be honest, I really miss the swaddle. Not only does Winter look adorable all swaddled up, but I associate swaddling with newborns, which makes me realize that my baby is growing wayyyyyy too quickly. This swaddle by Ergo Baby was well lived in but I will definitely be saving it for our next bambino to use one day.

We don't have a consistent bedtime routine. I've never been one for strict routines, and while I know that babies thrive off predictability, we don't want her to become too accustomed to one thing so that it’s hard for her to be flexible when our schedule changes or when we travel. So instead of a first A, then B kind of schedule, we try to create the same mood or environment at each nap or at bedtime to send her cues that it's time to sleep. For example, we always play white noise of the ocean. When I was 17 weeks pregnant with her, I went to the Dominican Republic for a wedding. I am usually terrified, I mean paralyzed by the ocean and consistently think of sharks. For some reason, however, on this particular trip I was not wary at all, and even went snorkeling without one thought of what could go wrong. I like to think it was Winter keeping me calm. Thus, hearing the waves in her room soothes me and takes me back to the time when she was just a daydream, swimming and floating inside of me.

Some other activities we may do to induce sleep include reading her a book, rocking her in the chair, singing to her as we rock her in our arms while standing up, laying her on the changing table and putting lotion on her body or some combination of these. We also try to put her down when she is drowsy, but not too sleepy, to help her learn how to fall asleep independently. I always do mini celebratory dance outside her door when I time it just perfectly and she lays down in the crib awake and falls asleep quickly without any fuss or crying. I wish this happened every time! We definitely have those naps that go all wrong; where we spend more time trying to get her to sleep than time she spends actually sleeping. In those moments, I have to take a lot of deep breaths and remind myself to have grace, because at the end of the day, you win some and you lose some. This parenting thing is a trip, but I feel so lucky to be on the journey with Winter.