Today is your four-month birthday! You are certainly growing right before our eyes. I’m not sure exactly, but I’m guessing that you weigh 17 lbs. You have grown out of all of your old clothes, so it’s a good thing Christmas produced lots of new, larger outfits, because you certainly need them! Plus, you look so cute in all your new things.
You have developed a lot of new tricks.
We caught you rolling from your tummy to your back. You can still do it, but it isn’t something that happens very often. Perhaps this is because you’ve been held so much in the past few weeks you haven’t even gotten a chance to be on your tummy.
You have also started to play with toys. You will sit in your Bumbo chair or lay on your back and bat at anything that is within your reach. It is fun to watch you play and laugh.
That’s another thing—you’ve started to giggle. It’s a rare treat, but something we try to coax out of you all the time! Just yesterday, you also started to stand on your own two feet. We have to help you balance, but you lock your legs and smile and coo and work on strengthening those leg muscles. Just in the past couple of days, you’ve also started to arch your back when we put you in your car seat or change your diaper. These aren’t very pleasant new tricks and we hope you don’t continue them for a long time…
I have become much better at clipping your scratchy little nails. I succeeded in doing so this last time without any crying or bleeding. It was quite the success.
You have lots of funny habits that always make us laugh. You always wiggle and squirm your head and torso back and forth while we are changing your diaper. You also have the most projectile sneezes! If you start sneezing we all duck for cover—you’re not shy to shoot out snot or recently consumed milk. Afterwards, we always tend to get a good laugh—usually at some poor bystander’s expense. You have started to chew on your hands and slobber all over anything that comes in contact with your mouth. You have pathetically small coughs that seem designed to inspire sympathy more than do anything productive. I’m afraid to say that we often just laugh at how funny they sound.
Your sleeping has become a bit less than desired. You still like to wake from your naps after too short a time; 45 minutes seems to be your new fad, but you need more sleep. Sometimes you’ll sleep through and take a long nap—those are the best days. You got a cold right at Christmas and started waking up during the night again. This isn’t very fun—you went from sleeping for 12 straight hours to waking up at about 3 am every night. I’m still trying to figure out if it is something you just started after being sick and has become a habit, or if you are ready to start eating solid foods. I’m hoping you won’t be ready to eat solids for some time yet, as I’m not ready for my little girl to be that big!
You’ve had a lot of big firsts this month. You took a plane ride, visited Arizona for the first time, met lots of new family, watched a movie in the big theater, had your hair cut, met Santa, celebrated your first Christmas, took your first international vacation to Mexico, and visited the ocean.
You bring lots of happiness to our lives and we are glad to have you around! You have certainly been getting lots and lots of attention!
This is particularly true of your grandmas, grandpas, and aunts. They have loved to have you around this Christmas season and will be more than sorry to see you go next week!
Love,
The Wiper of much drool,
Mom
