4 Months

This past Monday was Emily's 4 month birthday; I can't believe it! She's growing up way too fast. I thought it would be fun to commemorate the occasion with a tribute to Emily's 4 favorite things.
Number 1: Her hands and fingers. Emily is fascinated with them-she could stare at them all day I think. She is always sucking on them and is a drooly mess because of it. She favors her first two fingers and sucks on them the most, but when it's not those two it's the entire fist. She doesn't take her pacifier very often anymore because she always has a sucking device at her fingertips!
Number 2: Her swing. This is a recent favorite of Emily's. I got this really cute swing from my Aunt Kris and I've heard that babies just love their swings, but Emily used to HATE it. I'd put her in it and she'd last about thirty seconds before the wailing began. But last week I tried it again and she loves it now! She'll sit in that thing forever (an hour and a half is her record so far). I used to have to wait till she fell asleep before I got anything done during the day, but now I just put her in her swing and she talks and coos and eventually falls asleep for a little cat nap. It's wonderful!
Number 3: Rolling over. This one is bitter-sweet for me. Emily started rolling over about two weeks ago, and I'm so proud of her...but it's bad news for me for a couple of reasons. First of all, she is now mobile (she's also started the beginning stages of crawling and can scoot her way around like a little snake very well) so I'm always nervous that I'll turn my head for a second and she'll roll off the couch or into something hard. And second, my days of 8-12 hours of undisturbed peace at night are over. Emily has always slept so well at night, but now I have to get up atleast two times in the middle of the night because she's rolled herself onto her back and woken herself up. She hasn't learned how to roll back over yet-so she just lies there and cries until I come and roll her back over. Sometimes I have to hold her little bum down for a while until she settles down because she just keep rolling! It's adorable though, and she usually goes right back to sleep. I still consider myself very lucky to have such a good littler sleeper!

Number4: Daddy. I saved him for last because he is her ultimate favorite. I love watching the two of them together. Emily is absolutely in love with her dad; she makes dreamy eyes at Steve and it just melts his heart. Steve is such a wonderful father. Emily and I are very lucky girls to have such a great man in our lives.

Emily had her 4 month checkup on Wednesday. She now weighs 12lb 13oz and is 25" long and her doctor says she is above average with her motor skills. Along with the 4 month checkup came the dreaded 4 month vaccines. I was surprised at how much better it went this time. I brought along my friend, Amy, to the appointment for help and support (last time I went alone and was very overwhelmed). Of course she cried that painful little cry, but once we got into the car she fell right asleep. She was a little whiny the rest of the day, but not much at all. She was still smiling and happy as can be considering the circumstances. She just played on the couch-bandaids and all.

Emily has so much fun grabbing everything she can reach. She loves playing with her rattles and toys and she loves the security of blankies. If there's one anywhere near her hands or face she just squeezes and hugs it with all her might. It's really cute. I found this very helpful on our long drive to Moab; she kept herself quite entertained and comforted with her blankie.

Emily is such a happy baby. She's all smiles most of the time; she definitely has her moments but she's a baby-she's entitled to a good cry every now and then. I know I say it all the time-but I love her smile. It just warms my heart.