On Wednesday, you turned four months old. You had another well baby check-up with Dr. M, and you weighed in at 15 lbs, 4 ozs, and you are 25.3" long. Dr. M said you definitely did not forget how to grow! I think you have changed more this month than you have in the previous three combined. You are grabbing everything within your reach like your toys and blankies (good) and handfuls mom's hair (not so good). One of daddy's co-workers let us borrow their Excersaucer, and you are really enjoying it. You are very curious about all the toys that are attached to it, but you do get kind of frustrated that they do not come off. You pull on and yell at one particular little turtle that spins around - it is pretty cute to watch.
A few weeks ago, you figured out how to roll over from your belly to your back (and a few days after decided that you no longer wanted to do that), and on the same day you figured out that you could make "raspberries" at will. You have also discovered your feet, and you enjoy playing with them, kicking your legs, and occasionally sticking them in your mouth. You went swimming for the first time in Grandma and Grandpa's pool, and you seemed to really like it! One of your other new "tricks" is to give kisses. Or at least we think that's what you are trying to do! You grab our faces and come at our cheeks, chins and noses with an open mouth. I love your kisses, even if I end up with a nose full of drool. I know someday you will not think it is cool to give your mom hugs and kisses, so I cherish each and every one.
You were doing pretty well with sleeping - going down at about 8:00 every night without a fuss - but right around the 4th of July, your sleep patterns began to take a turn for the worse. It was like we had a newborn again! I had to rock you and sing to you, and wait until you were totally asleep before I even attempted to move you into your crib. I knew it was not a good habit to get into, but it was the only way I could get you into your crib at night. If I even attempted to set you in there before you were completely asleep, you would act like I set you on a pin - screaming the second you hit the mattress. I spent some more nights on the couch (something I hadn't done for a couple of months) so that I could be close to your room, as you were waking up about every two hours. I started to keep a log of your naps and feedings during the day, and your wake times at night. I planned to take it with me to your well-baby exam to show Dr. M. I don't know what I thought he was going to do with it - I guess in the back of my mind I thought he would look at it and say, "Oh yes! I know exactly what is wrong, and here is what you do!" But, alas, he laughed when I pulled it out of my folder, told me how organized I was, and said I should frame it just in case we ever decided to have more kids. After all, you are just doing what 99% of infants do when they are learning to sleep through the night. And then, about a week and a half ago (and right before your doctor's appointment), your bottom two teeth broke through. And you started to sleep much better. I'm hoping your next set of teeth do not come with weeks of sleepless nights again!
You are becoming so much more aware of the things that are going on around you. Now, when you hear a loud noise, you get startled and you try to find where it came from. Usually, this is accompanied by "the lip." Things that you would previously sleep through, like the vacuum cleaner and blender, now surely wake you up. Daddy has graciously given up having smoothies in the morning when he is on day shift just so you will sleep as long as possible in the morning, and I can, too.
When you see something you want to explore, you reach out and grab it, and it immediately ends up in your mouth. When we are out at a restaurant (yes, daddy let us take you out to dinner with us, and even lunch and breakfast!) we have to push our plates, glasses and silverware out of your reach, and make sure there are no paper napkins near you. When you are at work with me, you reach for my mouse, and pull papers off of my well organized (yeah right) stacks of work orders. You are so active, and you want to be able to move around so bad that you get frustrated and scoot yourself around in circles when we lay you on the floor to play. Dr. M thinks you will be crawling by the time you are six months old. It scares me a little to think that he is probably right!
You took a trip to the Valley to meet our friends, Aaron and Crystal. Daddy has known Aaron and Crystal since he was in high school, and they are really more like family to us. It was the longest car trip you had ever taken, and you did great. I made sure you had a full tummy when we left the house, and you slept the whole way there. It was very hot, so we spent most of the day inside the house, and you played happily on the floor most of the day. On our way home, you woke up a couple of times, but went back to sleep quickly after. All in all, you did great for your first "vacation" day!
As you continue to grow and learn, I do to. I am learning to be your mom, and each day brings a new lesson and a new challenge. I have begun to relax a little bit more, and go with the flow - I now understand how much our lives have changed. Daddy can't help but laugh at me - that it took me this long to realize this fact. Perhaps I had already realized it. Now, I have accepted it.
I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.
Love,
Mom
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