Sweet Baby Smudge: Our baby girl is 4 months!

It's a little hard to believe. I don't quite feel like time is flying by but she is getting so big! The last time we weighed her she was 14 lbs, 6 oz. We haven't ever measured her length at home but I'm guessing her to be at least 24 inches. Her next appointment isn't until August 29 so she will be almost 20 weeks then. That's hard to believe. In terms of milestones, she is doing a great job with supported sitting. She really likes when I "pull" her into a seated position. She looks around so proudly like she knows she's a big girl. She also loves to "stand" while she holds your fingers. She has gotten considerably better with tummy time. If she can watch the puppies chasing each other, she is quite happy on her belly for long stretches. She likes to roll on her side from her back but she's still not made it to her tummy. In some ways, I feel like I spend a lot of time excited about "what she's going to do next" but in other ways I feel like I'm just pushing toward the next milestone and that I need to enjoy her while she's so little. Because she's already not so little.

Yesterday we went on two walks around the neighborhood because it was a "cool" 95 degrees outside. For the first walk, Chad walked the puppies and I wore Alaina in the Beco Gemini. Everyone loved the chance to be out of the house! Later in the afternoon I wanted to try her in the stroller. Up to this point, we've used the stroller more like a travel system, with an adaptor that allows us to attach the car seat to the top. And I looooooove it. But yesterday I wanted Alaina to be able to really look around on our walk. Figuring out how to adjust the straps was an afternoon affair. I'm still not convinced they're quite right. I love the Beco carrier, though I'm ready to start carrying her on my hip or occasional front facing for a short while. I've also been carrying her in the moby wrap but she might be getting a little heavy for that. Both tend to hurt my back but that may be because I'm not getting them tight enough. I regret I haven't gotten pictures of these things, though.

The most stressful thing lately has been sleep (some of you thought I was going to say feeding, eh? Nope that's all pretty much the same). For the last three weeks or so Alaina absolutely refuses to be put to sleep by Chad. He is her play buddy and bottle feeder so she gets so angry when he tries to rock her! It's even getting harder for me! She sleeps great once she falls/stays asleep; usually she sleeps 10 pm - 6:30 am which is awesome. But she *hates* falling asleep. I have to walk with her, shushing or playing music/white noise. Naps are the same thing. And if I put her down in the rock & play (yes, we need to transition her to the crib...) too soon, she wakes up (she still only sleeps 30-45 minutes most naps). So most of my day is spent putting her to sleep or holding her while she's sleeping. And I know that's okay. I know that I'm not spoiling her and she won't be little forever. While it's sometimes hard, I'm pretty sure no parent has ever looked back and wished they had held their sweet baby less. On an interesting note, she sleeps perfect for people babysitting her. Maureen watched her last week and she said she went to sleep with little fussing after just being laid down in the rock and play with her sleep sheep (white noise)! Silly girl.

In a fun development, she loves when mommy and daddy give kisses on the cheek to each other. She just laughs and laughs. This child definitely will grow up surrounded by love.

So here's to an amazing four months. I can't believe she's a third of a year old (and yes, I've already started thinking about birthday party themes...doesn't hurt to think about them, right??).

Here are some fun pictures & videos over the last week.

Rocking out in nostalgic Nintendo gear. Chad says we need to raise the next generation right.