4 months old

Dear Veda,

My sweet girl, you are 4 months old already! The time is flying by, and yet I can hardly remember what life was like before you. You are changing and growing in leaps and bounds it seems. I can barely keep up! I'm really enjoying this age though. I love the way your face lights up into a huge toothless smile every time you see me or your dad. The best part of the day is first thing in the morning when, after a while of you playing alone in your bed, you finally give a little "good morning!" cry.. and I lean over and look in on you- and in that moment of recognition the sheer joy on your face when you see me- it just melts my heart... The first couple of months I was overwhelmed by how much I loved you- so completely and quickly.. and now, in addition to that, I feel overwhelmed by just how deeply I feel you love me! It feels really nice to be needed in such a way. Thank you for that gift....

*as of today, you are 13 lbs and 24" long- and growing like a bean!

*you are now not only exploring our faces with your eyes, but with you hands and fingers as well - poking, prodding, (pinching!). everything is new and exciting. you are much more coordinated as you reach and grab for things and hold them - usually in your mouth which is where most everything immediately goes. you especially love to gnaw on your crocheted wooden teething ring, sophie giraffe (of course), and mommy and daddy's fingers (yummy!). You are learning to soothe yourself by sucking your thumb. It's pretty cute actually..  you have also discovered your feet and love to play with them and even occasionally stick them in your mouth (as do I ;)

*you love to be pulled up to a sitting position. you look around in sheer delight- so proud of yourself. you are also starting to try to stand- and you're incredibly strong. i'm not even close to ready for that, so please, let's slow down and take things one step at a time (please don't follow in your father's footsteps and walk at 9 months!!).

*you're still sleeping pretty well at night, though lately you're too distracted during the day to eat, so you wake earlier than you were before, but it's still only once, so I don't mind so much.. you've also started to develop a nap routine- taking a pretty long (1.5-2 hour) nap in the morning and then again in the afternoon.

*lately, you are starting to explore different noises and volumes with your voice. you sometimes do a little fake cough- which is pretty funny... you are giggling a lot more. it's totally infectious!

*you can scoot around a bit on your back as well as your tummy. one day dad had set you down on the farm for a few minutes and when he came back, you had scooted off and under the coffee table! you are also rolling over a lot more these days (still from front to back for the most part).

*you grandparents visited from idaho this month. unfortunately you had a tiny little bit of a cold (your first one!) and weren't 100%.  they were so excited to see you again, i don't think they even noticed!

*we took you on your first airplane trip cross country. you were pretty good, though you weren't a fan of sitting in one place for so long (who is?). Once we would get up and walk around and you could see all of the people, you were happy as could be. You were such a good sport in LA as we dragged you around all over the place. The time zone didn't seem to affect you too much either- which was a huge relief!

I love seeing the world anew through your eyes - trying to imagine how impressive and beautiful it must seem to you. Looking at the world through your eyes reminds me of how magical it all really is...

love,
mama