4 Months Old

Dear Emily,

Life with you is so fun.  Let’s just start with the noises you make.  You discovered a few weeks ago how to scream.  For about a week that was the primary noise you made whether you were excited, hungry, tired, or upset. Last Sunday you had so much fun yelling that Dad sat with you outside the chapel during sacrament meeting so you both could still listen to meeting but no one could hear you. Now you like to suck in air and make a throaty noise, especially when you are excited.  Oh, and you GIGGLE! We LOVE this development.  “Eating” your tummy, neck, and cheeks encourages this giggling as does our own laughter.  You have begun singing along to songs a bit more consistently with me.  You also make lots of humming noises with your mouth closed, especially when you are tired.

You are beginning to look at your feet and hold them with your hands.  Sometimes, like right now, you just stare and stare and stare at them. Yesterday I caught you holding your hand out in front of your face, apparently inspecting your nails.  It looked very grown up of you.  Your hands are starting to be a big part of your daily life now – you reach out to grab your toys! You are also rolling over from you tummy to your back like a pro! The second we start to lower you down to your stomach you cock your head to the right to prepare to roll immediately upon landing.  You only consistently roll to your right, although occasionally you will roll to your left.  Today you almost rolled from your back to your front, but ended up just face-planting and stalling on your side until you built up enough momentum to return to your back.

In the mornings when we get you out of bed you are quick to greet us with a smile.  You are sleeping well at night, going to bed between 7 and 8 (the last two nights we’ve both gone to bed around 7:30!) and getting up for the day around 7 or 8.  We haven’t figured out your napping schedule for the day yet, but I’m working on it and hopefully we will both get the rest we need during the day.

Two nights ago you had your first almost positive reaction to your bath.  Normally you are relaxed and seem rather neutral about the whole event, but you kind of smiled when Dad poured water on your stomach.  Hopefully there will be more bath time smiles in the future. I think every situation, even those involving your car seat, is much improved now that you can suck on your hands and distract yourself.

This month you have begun chewing and drooling with great gusto.  Anything that you can grab ends up in your mouth.  We are starting to have to be more careful with our bowls and plates at dinner, as you have tried to pull them toward you a few times now.  When I’m playing the piano you are either chewing on my arm or trying to chew on the keys.  A friend gave you a little mickey mouse which has become the favorite of all chew toys – especially his nose.  Sometimes we also stick a wet washcloth on the floor during tummy time and you like to chew on that.  When I am folding laundry with you on the bed you grab the closet article of clothing and chew on it with much excitement.  I gave you a pacifier last night and it turned out to be a great chew toy; plus you pulled in and out of your mouth at will. As difficult as it is to have increased frustration when you aren’t chewing, it is neat to see you interacting more with your environment.

I think you have the prettiest eyelashes and (for the moment) blue eyes.

You are our favorite little buddy and we absolutely love going on adventures with you and having you hang out with us around the house.  It has been so cold you have been spending a decent amount of time in your snowsuit (the very same one us Moose kids wore growing up) although you aren’t too sure what to make of something that prevents access to your hands.  The new cupcake hat is a bit of a miracle. We recently discovered on a -30 degree day that your newborn hats no longer fit. I mentioned this development to another mom.  A few days later she ordered a hat for her daughter and was sent two, giving one to us.  It wasn’t a big thing, or even something we couldn’t have bought for you, but Heavenly Father was looking out for you and made sure you had a warm, cute hat for this cold winter.

This months skateboard picture was a bit of an adventure because you were interested rolling on it – sort of.  It kind of startled you a bit but it was the first time you were really aware of the motion.  After much trying we finally just laid you down.

We love you so much Emily!