My baby! My sweet, sweet baby has now been a part of our lives for 4 whole months! {Well, make that almost 1 whole year...because I found out I was pregnant March 19, 2012 and she's been a part of my life since then!}
But 4 months of her teaching to me to unconditionally love like I never have has me even more excited for our future. I just know that with each day that passes, she becomes more and more a part of our family, making us all mesh together to form one whole & complete bond, and it's incredible to imagine how we will all grow as a family and change each and every day to come. As much as I want to say 'holy crap, the time has flown' {because, well, it has!}, I'm going to say I'm very happy that she is still only 4 months old, and I'm going to attempt to embrace every ounce of 'little' baby that she still is!
And now let me insert the warning. {Photo overload! This post contains an insane amount of photos - amazingly cute ones at that - of our newly 4 month old who changes every day!}
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Let's start with the favorites!
4 MONTH FAVORITES ::
1. Eddie Bauer Strap Cover Buddies - With all the traveling Baby E has done, I have been meaning to buy her these for a while now. Finally did this month and I'm pretty sure she's thankful for them. No more straps digging into her neck when she falls asleep. Plus, when she's awake, she has little Grizz's to grab onto ;)
2. Bright Starts Snuggle & Teethe - A crinkly little toy with rubber teethers as the feet...She just recently began liking the sound of the crinkle and playing with it herself. Fun to watch!
3. Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Jumperoo - Still a tad too short for this, but it still works for her! It keeps her off her head {which is needed due to her fun little bald spot} and she loves the sound/lights. We put her in this while we do a workout in the evenings and she will sit in it the whole time staring at us. So I keep telling her that she's working out too ;)
{By the way, I meant to add this as a favorite, but forgot. We've been working out using EA Sports Active 2 for PS3- great to use at home since baby can just sit and watch...we entertain her with how stupid we probably look!}
4. Baby Cakes book - I read it to her each night while Daddy is swaddling her to keep her calm, and it's like she now knows this means 'bed time!' It's the cutest little book, and so fitting for a bed time story. Ends with 'Hug my little baby cakes oh so tight....Now my little baby cakes, go night night!'
5. Burp Cloths - These are not the ones we have, but I wish they were haha. The link is for burp bibs -- whoever came up with that is genius. But we just use regular ol' burp clothes 24/7 around here for all her wonderful spit ups {that I've been sporting on just about every shirt and in my hair..}
6. Bumbo - Love this to keep her off her head for a little while. It let's her sit up and see what's going on all around her.
7. Whale of a tub - I know I used this in 1st month favorites, but seriously, bath time is just about her favorite. Bath time, her swing, and {see #10}. She just hears the bath water running and instantly calms. It's great!
8. Eddie Bauer Shades - This is another I had been meaning to get for a while with all our traveling. Sun in the face problem solved ;)
9. Slow-flow nipples - While in the hospital, the lactation consultant gave us a few of these disposable nipples and said something like "These things are great -- they're what you need if wanting to breastfeed as well as give her bottles of breast milk so she can switch back and forth easily. Oh yeah and you can't get them anywhere besides the hospital, so use them wisely!" Well lady, I found 'em on good ol' Amazon. Some of you had asked about what bottles/nipples I use while breastfeeding, and these are them, along with the Ameda bottles. They mimic the slow flow of actual breastfeeding.
10. HER HANDS! - This should really be her #1 favorite! Can't get those hands out of that mouth!
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4 MONTH STATS ::
12 lbs, 11 oz. :: 20th %
25 inches :: 75th %
Her 4 month birthday {on the 13th} was spent at the park with the Clauson's. A beautiful day with mommy, daddy, friends and shades.
MILESTONES ::
{Rolling over - ALL over!}
We've got a little girl {trying to be} on the move! & I have a love/hate relationship with that little fact. She rolls/flips from front to back, back to front, and back again. She's non-stop..and I'll find her in completely different areas and positions then the way I laid her down. The hate part comes into play with sleeping.
{Holding her own bottle}
She's been doing this for a while actually and just loves having at least one hand on the bottle at all times. She knows when she sees a bottle and dives her head towards it every time. I had a can in my hand and she dove her face into it with her mouth wide-open thinking it just might be a bottle. No luck there.
{Talking/Cooing/Babbling}
Oh yes, we have a talker. She will blab for looong periods of time and it cracks me up. We don't even have to respond to her and she just kept on going. Girl knows how to talk her head off during The Bachelor. Just wants to join in the gossip ;)
SLEEPING ::
Pretty much the same as last month. 8-9 hours a night, sometimes 10.
EATING ::
Still just breast milk. But I believe the pediatrician will be giving us the go ahead for rice cereal tomorrow. Big step. Woohoo! We'll see how she takes it! And I must add that I can't believe I've made it this far with the breastfeeding/pumping. It's been a struggle (definitely doesn't just come easy for me like some) and I really didn't know if I'd make it this far. But 4 months was my goal and I reached it. {Time to throw a lil partay} haha. I'm going to continue still, but I feel as though a weight has lifted after reaching my main goal!
MISC. ::
Her current favorites include her fingers and hands in the mouth, bath time, swinging, being read to by her momma, car rides, and cuddles. She's recently started noticing when there are animals on her footed jammies and tries to grab at her feet while mesmerized. It's great.
Point proven:
Yup...we think our girl is stinkin' beautiful....
Stinkin' beautiful even at her worst...{hahaaa} Sad eyes, bubble beard and all...
There are just too many times that we wish we could freeze time. And luckily photos can help out with that. But nothing compares to each little moment we spend with her. The little ones that just can't be captured because they are too wonderful. The moments of love and eye glaring and bashful smiles while digging her face into momma's shoulders. Oh, the moments I am taking full advantage of!
It's hard to believe it's already been 4 months since our sweet girl cuddled against our chests for the very first time, but I'm loving the fact that she is still only 4 months and we still have plenty of time for warm cuddles, sweet smiles, fun firsts, and soft baby smells. Loving each moment that makes us fall more and more in love with our bubble blowing, babbling beauty!
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OUTTAKES :: thought it could be fun to show a little behind the scenes of trying to capture a girl on the go. Just wait til she's actually mobile. How am I ever going to get these monthly photos?! Haha wish me luck ;)
And my personal favorite...
