What?? 4 months??

I realized about half-way through my morning that today Caris has officially reached the fourth month of life. Am I the type of mother who is going to forget her children's birthdays??? I sure hope not. But in addition to this mid-morning realization leading to questioning my mothering, I was also in disbelief that my once teeny little infant is 4 months old!!


I am making up for my forgetfullness of this significant date by actually posting on the date. I have forgone my attempts to post her (insert month) pictures on the corresponding post as the last time I did that, I barely got them in before the next marker. I think I can attribute all of these things to the fact that time is going by sooooo quickly I can barely keep up; a month feels like no time at all! (side note - when do you transition from measuring age in weeks to then months to years? at 12 weeks we started on months, do you measure in months until 2 years?? reason this intrigues me...)


For some reason, this marker is a big one for me. I think because so much I have read and researched says things like - 'under 4 months, don't worry about a set nap schedule' 'before 4 months don't expect your infant to sleep through the night' 'at 4 months you can talk to your doctor about introducing foods' - you know, really important things. In my mind, I have justified quite a few things by adding the phrase 'well she's still just 3 months'. Without the ability to add this caveat, what will I do when she still doesn't have a rhythm to her naps and wakes up sometimes at night? We have no more excuses!



So now on to the real purpose of this post, our 4-month-er CARIS!



Little woman, what are you up to these days and what adventures did your 3rd month of life bring?


- You continue to LOVE to eat and that is usually the first thing you want to do when you see your mommy. This is evidenced in your continued growth. Although I haven't weighed you in awhile, at last check you were almost 15lbs!! That is quite a change from the 6lb baby we brought home. I am anxious to get to the doctor and see how long you are as it seems to me you have grown quite a bit in length as well.


- You are losing your once VERY full head of hair. Every morning you leave quite a stash on your crib sheet....I guess I need to explain to you that the tooth fairy only comes if you leave teeth behind... I can no longer put little bows in your hair. It is starting to grow back in now and is looking a little blonde, but still has a red glow :) We are curious what hair color you will end up with! (Don't worry about the hair loss sweet girl because your mommy is losing hers these days too! I support you!)


- You have been rolling over for awhile now, but it isn't exactly always the first thing on your mind. You seen to go through spurts where you will do it alot then you take a break ;) But you are definately developing your skills.

- You continue to show a preference for standing. You are constantly trying to push up and many people aside from your biased parents have commented on the fact that you seem quite strong. You love to be standing on people's laps.

- You are enjoying tummy time much more these days and have had a few long stretches of about 20 minutes where you hold your head up so high to look at your world.


- Your night-time sleep has been very good the past few weeks (outside of a few minor setbacks). Last night, we tried something new and you took it upon yourself to welcome your 4th month by sleeping from about 7:15 p.m. to 7:15 a.m. WHOA!! Your mom was really surprised by this and once she had the proof that you were, in fact, still breathing, said a big prayer of thanks!


- My favorite thing right now is that you are constantly smiling, laughing, and talking to us. You LOVE to ham it up and give everyone a big gummy grin and you have started to giggle and 'laugh' along with your smile. It is absolutley adorable. You are starting to really recognize your mom and dad and you get excited when we pick you up from school and sad when we leave :)


- Your little personality is really starting to emerge in the past few weeks. You seem to have a very sweet temperment and are very adaptable to new things. You intently examine your surroundings and are very intrigued by new faces. You continue to love new stimulus and activity.

- Your favorite activities include : anything outside - you love the trees but the sunshine hurts your light eyes. anything with water - you love swimming, baths, the sound of your bath running, etc. anything with music - you love our silly songs, daddy's guitar, your many playlists, car radio. you love lights/shadows - you like the computer screen, ichatting with your family, watching the 'music lights', looking up at the ceiling fans and lights. and going to parties and going to dinner, we tend to do a lot of this!


- Your hand skills have developed in the past few weeks as well. You have started to hold onto your toys, reach for objects, and you even try to put your paci in your mouth and help your dad hold your bottles.


- You have attended your school for almost a whole month now and it seems you are thriving. Yesterday, you were able to play with the bigger babies in the sprinklers and you loved it! You are a favorite there and we are proud of you.


- You took your first commercial flight this month as we traveled to Amarillo, TX for your gret-grandfather's 80th birthday party. We were able to spend time visiting your 'big Granny' (machita's mom) while we were there too. Thus completing the introduction to all your great-grandparents.


- You are are very loved little girl and have been lucky enough to see all your gandparents, aunts, and uncles at some point in your third month. You change so quickly that we try to see everyone as much as possible!

I'm sure I have missed something important as this month seems to have produced the biggest amount of growth and change thus far. I have loved seeing you grow every day and can't wait to see what our next month has in store! We love you sweet girl.

....since I am at work and have no pictures from today, I'm including our latest video of Caris standing (and no, garrett is not holding her up, she's up there on her own!......

although it is kind of long, you can stop at any point as it is pretty much the same thing the entire time plus the sooner you stop watching the less of my annoying voice you will hear (why do I sound so annoying on video? do I sound like this in real life?).....or if you are Caris' grandparents, go ahead and play it over a few times :)