Letter to Baby

Dear Avonlea,

Oh, little girl. You are so much fun. You are growing leaps and bounds these days in terms of your growth and development.

Physically, you are getting so big. Everyone exclaims about it whenever we go out. When I say you're 4 months old, people say, "oh, she's so big!" They say how long you are, and you really are--you are too long for 3 month clothes (and some 6 month clothes, too!).  At the doctor today, you were 25 inches long, which is in the 75th percentile. You're also getting more chunky. Your arms have the cutest little rolls, and your legs are getting a little dimply. You weigh 16 pounds 4 ounces--80th percentile!  Your carseat is getting harder and harder to carry!

Your long, darker hair that you've had since birth is almost all gone on the top--you just have a dark mullet around the base of your neck. More hair has started growing in, and it is all blonde, just like Daddy.

Your physical therapy is going well. The doctor thinks you have made really good progress. There's only about 10 degrees of rotation left for us to work on. You don't fuss as much during your appointments anymore, which is nice. Everyone at the doctor's office always dotes on you when you come in.

My days of calling you little miss Fussy Face are almost over. You are going to have to be called little miss Smiley Face from now on!  You love to smile, and are starting to really laugh at things now. You love to have your feet played with, and if I ever need you to smile, I just squeeze your little toes. You love your Daddy! He comes home from work and says "hi" to you, and your eyes just light up. We have snuggle kisses time in the evenings before you go to bed, and I love to see you smiling and laughing.

Your sleep is still not great, but it's because you're growing up in that department, too. You are officially out of a swaddle now. It took a few days of crying and struggling, but now you go down for naps and sleeping without too much fuss. Last night, you didn't cry at all when we put you to bed for the night!  You're only sleeping 4 hours max at a time overnight, so Mommy is going to work on breaking that habit. You take 2 or 3 naps a day.

This month, we took you to Disneyland for the first time. You loved all the colors and lights. We rode It's A Small World, the flying Dumbos, and the Pooh ride. You got a little scared on the Pooh ride when it got dark and played scary music, but other than that, you liked it!  You stayed up from 4:00 until 11:00, and fell asleep before we got out of the parking lot!  You just love to see what is going on around you!

We also took you to your first wedding. You did an amazing job! You were nice and quiet during the ceremony and you liked being outside. Everyone at our table couldn't believe how well-behaved you were.  You are so much better overall with being patient and having a longer attention span without being fussy.  I couldn't believe on Sunday that you could hang out with a friend for 4.5 hours while Mommy cooked!

We put you in your big stroller for the first time this month--you looked so little in it! I had to prop you up on a couple of blankets so that the seat restraints would fit the right way. :)

You're back to liking your car seat. You fuss getting in to it and getting out of it, but you do a good job riding in it once we get going.

You are growing so much developmentally, as well.  Your core is much stronger, and you can sit for longer periods of time (by being propped up, of course).  You are very engaged with your toys, and enjoy sitting in your high chair surrounded by them. You still aren't a fan of tummy time, but I can trick you by propping you up on your belly on the Boppy pillow, and you like it much better. You are grabbing things and putting them in your mouth, and you have started drooling a lot.  We bought you an exersaucer, and you love to sit in it and play.  A couple of times we have caught you falling asleep while sitting in your exersaucer or high chair!  You're more and more vocal every day. I always know when you're finally ready to get up for the day, because you'll lay in your pack-n-play and just sing to yourself (aah-aah-aah).  Oh--and you started rolling over again, after a long break (because you got too chubby to roll yourself over).

I am so blessed to be your mommy. You are changing so quickly now--I feel like every day you learn to do something new. It's amazing to see you grow more and more beautiful and sweet, and it's so neat to see how smart you are when you learn something new.  I'm so glad I get to spend the days with you.

Love,
Mommy