~4 Months~

Our little bug turned four months on Monday.  I'm just posting this late.  After all, it's been a crazy week with the movers here.  And everything is out of the house and the car has been dropped off at and shipped from Dallas.  We're almost out of El Paso.  Anyway, I digress. 

Malu took Sina to her four-month doctor's appointment on Monday.  Much like her two-month appointment, she was a trooper as far as her shots were concerned.  She cried for about three seconds immediately upon impact and then stopped when daddy picked her up.  Everything is always better when daddy is around.  She is still as healthy as a horse and has not gotten sick (knock on wood) in the midst of the cold weather and flu season. 

Malu forgot to take write down her stats for this month, but he did recall that she now weighs 13 pounds--a three pound gain from two months ago and in the 20th percentile.  To my parents who seem to think she's a huge mega-baby, don't let that cute double chin fool you because this means she's heavier than only 20 percent of babies her age, and lighter than the remaining 80 percent.  Malu couldn't remember how long she's gotten or how big her head is, but he does recall that she is in the 75th percentile for her head circumference.  She's got a big noggin!

Some significant events for this past month...she had her first Thanksgiving and met her Aunt and Uncles (on her dad's side) for the very first time.  She can roll over completely right now and is able to sit upright on her own, with very little assistance.  Now, she almost hates to be lying down and almost always wants to be in on all the action, sitting straight up, or having us hold her in a standing position.  She loves to watch what Malu and I do, wherever we go. 

She is a definite grabber/grasper now.  Anything she is given, she accepts and almost always puts whatever it is in her mouth.  She fiddles around with her pacifier all the time and puts it in and out of her mouth at any given time.  At the beginning of this past month, she grabbed at bottle and held it, only at the time, she needed help holding it up. Well, not too much anymore.  As soon as she sees the bottle approaching her mouth, she grabs at it and sucks away.  But, by far, the cutest thing she does with those chubby little hands of hers (that are exactly my hands) is taking hold of our faces with them whenever we look at her up close.  It's cutest when she does it to her daddy.

Sina is also at the point where she's become discriminatory towards certain people.  You can tell there are people that she prefers to be near, be looked at by, or to be held by.  And, well, those two main people are her daddy and I, which much emphasis on her daddy.  Although we know she adores our friends, there are some that she remains completely calm around and those that she just completely throws fits with.  It's just funny how finnicky they can be at this age.  I just hope she's not that discriminatory when she meets her great-grandparents in Utah in a few days, or her grandparents in Colorado in a week!

But I can tell that this is going to be the most fun age--now until a year or two old.  She's so playful and happy, isn't too needy, and still doesn't have an opinion on anything.  But the way she makes noise throughout the day, you would think that she does.  I was told by some people at the Welcome Center on post that she has some really good lungs for a baby her age.  Those said lungs are so not cool when she cries and her loud "talking" is soooo cute, but not in the early mornings when she does it the most.  We're exposing her to tons of music, so lets hope she can put those lungs to good use as a singer :)

Speaking of music, I know that she recognizes certain songs that we replay over and over for her. I know this because she goes crazy (hands and feet flail in excitement and she has a huge goofy smile on her face) whenever she hears them.  Malu is convinced that she does this because she likes all music and it generally makes her happy.  In any case, I've been watching the Gilmore Girls series for the past two months (borrowed the set from a friend).  Pretty much the entire time, Sina was watching with me and I swear, it got to the point where she would smile big and go crazy everytime she heard the theme song.  She does the same thing when you sing the song to her.  She could be in the middle of the bottle or getting her tummy time...as soon as she hears the song, she stops and looks at the TV and starts grinning.  The same goes for that song, "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars, which Malu has played and sung to her repeatedly.  It's the cutest thing. 

 

Other miscellaneous things...she's still wearing her 3 month size clothes and is still in size 1 diapers.  Her hair is out of control, but thankfully none of it has fallen out since birth, like a lot of people told me it would.  And what's funny is that her hair is curly when it's wet, but straightens when it is dry.  She is still a very good sleeper, still waking up once in the middle of the night to feed.  She also gets two naps throughout the day.  We also started giving her some rice cereal about two days ago and today, she finally mastered the art of swallowing her food.  Now, if you take too long between spoonfuls, she tells you by making noise.  She definitely has her mommy's appetite.  She absolutely loves books and being read to, and watches her morning shows (i.e. The Cat in the Hat, Curious George, Sesame Street) intently every day.  We can tell she's going to be one smart little girl!

Anyway, that's pretty much all that I can sum up for now.  Happy four months to our precious little girl.

You are truly the light of our lives and we can't to show you off the next couple of weeks.  As I mentioned, we'll be leaving El Paso.  On Monday to be exact.  The last of our household goods left today and with some minor cleaning tomorrow, we'll be completely out of the house.

We'll be doing the whole "Tour de Baby" for the holidays, stopping first in Utah to visit Malu's grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins.  The remaining time will be spent in Colorado with my family.  We're definitely looking forward to it, but I'm dreading the flights to both places.  Any pointers from you experienced moms to make the trip easier?

Have a safe and happy weekend!