Lvl Up: 4 Months

Dear Baby,

Well, Baby, it's that time again! Sorry this post is a little late; Momma has been recovering from emergency surgery to finally get her gallbladder out. There's a long list of new things you've discovered you can do, so let's get to it!

Achievement Unlocked:

Laughing – You're getting more confident with your laugh, although it scares you sometimes. You laugh or chuckle a lot (especially at Daddy), you're starting to get ticklish on your sides, and you still laugh your little baby-bum off in your sleep! Nana asked you where you go in your dreams that make you so happy: I think that's the time you visit Poppa Rick. It's too bad he's not here, physically, to meet you; but it makes me happy that you two can spend time together in your dreams. One day I'll write a whole post about Poppa Rick for you, so you can know him better!

Smiling – I'll never forget the first time you stared at me and recognized me as your momma! Your eyes got very bright, and I could see the familiarity dawning in them, then you gave me the biggest, sweetest smile ever. Now you recognize Momma and Daddy, and you smile at us all the time. You also recognize Nana and almost all your other relatives too. You have lots of smiles for all of us.

Words – You're trying so hard to talk now. You make lots of baby grunts and oohs and aahs. When someone asks you a question, you respond with enthusiasm. You try to have conversations, and you even grumble when you're upset now. You say Momma and Nana sometimes, and you still refer to your bottle as Nah and your pacifier as Nee. You don't have any other "real" words, but you're trying really really hard! You especially try hard when I ask you if you can say Daddy. Daddy is a hard word to learn to say, but you want to say it so badly! You make all sorts of noises when you try to say Daddy. Don't worry, you'll get it soon!

Hands – This one gives me mixed feelings: You're now able to suck on your fingers/hands. It's a great accomplishment, because it means you're more aware of your body (being able to get your hands to your mouth successfully); you're more independent (able to recognize that you want sucking-comfort and being able to address that need on your own); and it means Momma doesn't have to get out of bed every two minutes because your Nee has fallen out! However, I believe that letting a baby/child suck on their hands/thumb/etc isn't the healthiest choice. During the day, I replace your hand with your Nee. If you make it obvious, though, that you want your hand specifically (by getting upset and spitting your Nee out right away), then I let you do what you want. I also let you suck your hands at night.

Practice Steps – Now when Momma holds you up to exercise your legs, you try to walk. At first you were very hesitant, but now you're quite confident and determined in your practice steps. One day, you practiced so hard, you actually looked like you were trying to run!

Flashdance – This isn't an "accomplishment" per se, but it's awesome anyways. Sometimes you get so wiggly that you kick your little legs, and swing your little arms so much that you look like Jennifer Beals from "Flashdance" doing her warm up. You do this a lot when Momma or Daddy are trying to change your diaper!

Routine – You've set up a good routine for yourself, all by yourself! You sleep from 10pm – 5am. Then you have an early morning feeding and sleep until about 8am. At that point you wake up for a feeding and some cuddles for an hour. Then you sleep until noon. From noon onward you have your wakeful period. You still have little naps here and there, but for the most part, you're up for the day. I let you have half an hour of TV time when you first wake up. Then we play and talk and cuddle, etc. At around 8pm you get really fussy, so we have more TV time and lots of cuddles. At 9pm you have a bath, get dressed for bed and I read you a story. Then we cuddle until you fall asleep (you rarely make it through the story though). At 10pm you're sound asleep, so Momma puts you in your crib for the night.

Also, you're ready for your Jolly Jumper, but Daddy isn't. You and I have decided to let Daddy have one more month to be confident that you'll be safe, and then we're going to try it out. If everything goes well, you and I will have Exercise Time each day. I'm going to set up your Jumper and Momma's elliptical machine so they face each other. We can put on happy music and exercise each day!

A couple days ago, you had your 4 month immunizations. You now weigh (are you ready for this?) 11lbs 5oz. You're 55cm long; and the nurses all say that despite the fact that you're a preemie, there's no need to worry about your growth. You're still a superstar!!