Four Months Old!

Wow, Janie. You are practically a grown up now. The past month has been kind of a whirlwind. We went to the pediatrician yesterday, and you passed with flying colors. You're doing everything you're supposed to be doing. And apparently, you're a big baby, as the pediatrician exclaimed upon walking into the room. No kidding!


You are learning an impressive range of entertaining tricks. In the past week, you have started blowing raspberries (which result in a full-on drool beard) and laughing! You laughed for the first time on Christmas Eve. Just a little "heh-heh", but definitely a laugh. I yelled to your dad to come see, and you indulged us with a few more giggles. Since then, though, the laughs have been few and far between (note to self -- be funnier!).


You rolled from your front to back for the first time a few days ago. Afterward, you had a "Whoa. What was that?" expression on your face, so we cheered you obnoxiously and you seemed okay with it. You haven't managed to do it again, but you still seem much more content on your tummy knowing that escape is possible. It's also really helping your reading.

You're also getting really good at grabbing things with your hands, primarily with the goal of putting them in your mouth. Nothing is safe from your grasp, and you seem to be eating a disturbing amount of dog hair as a result (you are perfectly happy about this, naturally).

You are becoming generally better at coping with difficult situations. You're just so mature! You are now happy in the car most of the time, which is amazing. You are even getting better with new/infrequently seen people, as long as you're given a few minutes to warm up to them. You are usually in a good mood these days, and always ready to play.

Your most recent challenge is learning to sleep without being swaddled. You slept through the night at a fairly early age, thanks in part to the Miracle Blanket (the mother of all swaddle blankets). The love affair with the blanket is over, though -- you can bust out of it like a champ. So just yesterday, we started putting you in a sleep sack instead of your swaddle blanket. While it is harder to put you down to sleep, so far you haven't been waking up every 15 minutes as we feared. You love having access to your hands, and it helps you soothe yourself. Good girl.

I know you're only four months old (so this probably sounds a little stupid) but you're just growing up so fast! You are becoming less helpless with every passing day, which is so exciting. It also kind of makes me snuggle up with you endlessly, which of course you rarely stand for these days. You always want to be exploring something. I'm just happy to be along for the ride.

Love,

Mommy