4 Months Old (on the 4th of July)

Dear Brenna,

Today is your first 4th of July. Four months old on the fourth of July. Daddy and I were just talking yesterday about how sometimes it seems that you were just born yesterday and sometimes it seems like you've always been here with us. Life's funny like that. We're still enjoying getting to know you and learning with you. You're such a good, good baby and we're thankful for that, of course! Daddy commented today that everytime he looks at you, his heart just melts. He said, "I just can't get enough of her." I think that's a perfect description of how we feel about you!


Your appointment isn't until Tuesday (yep, more shots, I'm sorry sweet baby!) so I don't know how much you weigh or how tall you are. But, you're definitely growing. You are officially out of all your newborn size clothes (except shorts, they still fit) and are wearing 0-3 month and 3 month clothes. Today you even wore a 3-6 month dress, but it was definitely too big - but too cute not to wear to celebrate the 4th of July! You still wear your size small diapers and sleep in your one-sized BumGenius diapers. You don't have nearly as many leaks now that they fit better and this makes us all happy! I went to put you in your newborn shoes (that have always been too big) the other day - and they were too little! You're growing like crazy and getting so, so tall. I think you're the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. I think all mommies say this, but I don't think many people could argue with me about this. You get compliments everywhere we go.


This month you have really developed a lot of new skills. You love to reach for anything that is near you - toys, bibs, your clothes, mommy's purse, mommy's drink at dinner, etc. Anything is fair game (so you think!) and you are very persistent. You hate for things to be out of your reach. You can also take your paci out of your mouth - but you aren't as good at getting it back in. You're getting there, though. Yesterday you even pulled my glass of water toward you and put your mouth up to the edge. Sneaky little thing! You also try to hold your own bottle on the rare occasion you take a bottle. We're mainly nursing almost every feed now that I'm home for the summer. You are nursing 5 times a day - usually about 8:00-8:30 AM, 11:15-11:45 AM, 3:00-3:30 PM, 6:15-6:45 PM, and 9:30-10:00 PM. Everybody keeps asking me when I'm going to start you on solid food, and I'm not sure. We'll probably wait until you're 6 months old, but you may get cereal sooner than that because your reflux has become really bad. You're still spitting up a lot, but it doesn't seem to bother you that much.


You're still a champion sleeper. You take a long nap from about 9:30 until 11:15 or 11:30 and another one from about 1:45 until 3:15 or so. Sometimes you take one or two more short naps. We've started putting you down for bed between 9:30 and 10:00 and so far it's going really well. You usually wake up for good about 8:00 AM. I just love you for this!


Daddy put together your jumperoo and you love it. Your little feet don't quite hit the floor yet, but you love to just play with the toys that are on it - and you LOVE for me to bounce you in it. I know you'll love it when you can actually jump in it. You also still babble a lot and you love to talk to your stuffed animals. We've taken a million videos of this, don't worry. You love to "stand" with us holding you and your legs are so, so strong. You also like to sit up and face outward - and you love to talk to people when you are facing outward in my wrap when we run errands. Everybody loves to chat with you and I can't blame them! You have a favorite rattle that makes a loud, crinkling noise. You also love to pull the toys on your carseat. It's so fun to be driving down the road (thinking you are asleep) and hear you pull your musical ladybug. You're getting so smart! And, of course, you rolled over for the first time this month! I laid you on your playmat on Friday, June 18 as we packed to go out of town. I just had a feeling you were going to make it ALL the way over so I told Daddy to get the video camera out. But, it was too late. You did it so fast that he didn't have time to turn it on. I got a few pictures, but I couldn't wait to scoop you up and congratulate you. You're an old pro at it now and do it all the time. You still haven't made it back to your back from your belly, but you'll get there. It was fun to go to your first wedding (Daddy's cousin Kevin and and his sweet wife Julianna) and brag about you rolling over the day before. Everybody was SO proud of you.


This next month holds a lot of adventure - Daddy's in a wedding and Mommy's in another wedding so you'll get to go to both. We're also going to the beach with London and his family. But during the weeks I plan to just enjoy this time we have together because it's flying by! We love playtime during the day and you enjoy the nursery at the gym while mommy exercises. They love to see you coming and they love to hold you when you stay awake (which isn't often). I get so sad when I think about going back to work, so let's just not talk about it, okay? We've got almost two more months together, so let's make the most of it, sweet girl. There is no other way I'd rather spend my days.

I love you, my little Sprout!

Love, Mommy