We've taken a big step this week, and returned the lounge room to it's pre-baby configuration. The portacot was invaluable for the first couple of months after Isobel was born, but (apart from a couple of nights last month when the power was out) she hasn't used it in weeks. We found the bag and eventually remembered how to fold it up and stuff it away, and put the side table back by the couch - I have somewhere to put my coffee again!

This leaves me with somewhat mixed feelings - while she's still only four months old, we're looooonnnnnggggg past the point where I can put her down for a nap in the same room as other people, or a noise source like the TV. I've even had to start taking her upstairs to her room for her feeds, after she developed the habit of "suck, suck *, look, look" - which would be fine if she would just unlatch at the *. I'm just lucky she's got a gentle latch to begin with ...

Our attempts at teaching her to put herself to sleep are progressing - better now that her rainforest mobile (which lights up and runs for 10mins!) is off the portacot and upstairs to replace the little Pooh mobile we had there. Nothing wrong with Pooh and friends, but it's a windup and only goes for a couple of minutes ... usually ends in tears when the music runs out. She still likes being wrapped in her swaddle me blankies, but she's too tall now to do the legs up - this sometimes means she can propel herself from the bottom of the cot to the top working herself into a bad mood. However, there's a simple pleasure to be gained from hearing her wake up, have a bit of a chat to herself (or the monkey on the mobile - who knows?) and then drift off to sleep again.

We're even seeing a bit of a routine developing - she melts down about two hours after each nap, a little earlier in the morning and a little later in the evening. I've given up trying to put her to bed at 7-8pm for the moment, and we're all less stressed for it - she's napping for 2-3hrs at a stretch each time, and 8hrs+ overnight. I don't mind having a baby that sleeps until 8.30am or so - and I know it won't last forever, so we're making the most of it while we can.

Isobel has her 4 month well-child appointment with Dr Tiffany tomorrow - four more shots, hopefully she'll manage as well as she did last time. We've also signed up for an infant massage course next week. I'm about 30% of the way through weaving in the ends on my bargello afghan, which I'm actually enjoying - must be the obsessive compulsive in me, normally I hate finishing off! I've found my next project for the Fair here, just waiting for the book to arrive with the pattern so I can order the yarn. In the meantime, however, I'm going to attempt my first real bit of clothing ... more than just a scarf this time. Wish me luck!