Amelia Jane - four months old

We've got a happy baby on our hands this month. She spent the whole month charming everyone who even glanced her way. I have never gotten so many comments on my baby like I have this month. The dimples and huge eyes draw everyone, but the real winner is her huge smile. Her little soul is making quite the appearance and we are all eager to interact with her.

I don't feel like a lot has changed this month. She's definitely grown longer but not filled out hardly at all. All of that growing only goes one direction I guess. When next to an older baby, she always seems to be the same size only leaner. She's wearing 3-6 month clothes and a few 0-3 month items still like pajamas, onesies, and rompers. No way are the 0-3 month pants fitting at this point. Summer weather makes it easy to fudge sizes a little since the length isn't as important. I wouldn't be surprised if we skip a size once winter clothes make an appearance.

This month, Amelia got two teeth at just 3m1w old (3 weeks sooner than her big sisters). It was incredibly shocking to discover. What was even more incredible was that within twenty minutes of discovering the first tooth, she rolled over for the first time (on the deep freeze while I was putting on the Moby wrap - no baby was harmed in this alarming story). My heart could barely handle all of the milestones that day, but thankfully they haven't kept up at that pace since then. She now rolls all directions and will not sleep on her back. I lay her down swaddled with one arm in and one arm out and she rolls over to her tummy for the rest of the night.

Another huge development - she's a pacifier lover! After all of the teething, she really started to chew on any and everything. On a whim one day, I stuck one in her mouth and she loved it. She won't sleep without it now and it has really helped in those in between times when she could sleep or eat but isn't quite needing it yet. I admit it fully - I love having the pacifier as a crutch. Plus, the big girls can help put it back in her mouth in the car or if she's fussing while I'm finishing cooking or whatever job I'm stuck doing. Church is so much more manageable now that I can wrap her up tight and mute her with the pacifier. She has slept through more services this month than the first few combined.

bubble blower

Just this week she started blowing bubbles. She's making constant sounds, mostly sticking to one drawn out ahhhhh as loud as she can. She's never been afraid of her voice, this one. I got one belly laugh out of her by tickling her lightly and kissing her cheek/neck area, but mostly she just coos and offers huge smiles.

She also sits in the exersaucer (with blankets stuffed behind her for support), although she's always very aware when I'm sticking her in there to distract her while I try to get something done. It seems at those moments that she only screams and doesn't play. If I'm not doing much and put her in there, she's as happy as can be. She's a smart little lady and keeps me on my toes daily.

We haven't spent too much time in the bumbo chair but she loves it too with the same criteria as above. When we are outside, she will lay on a blanket peacefully looking around. Stroller rides or being worn by me are also almost always successful when we are outside. She just loves being outdoors. It's a huge relief since it's good for all of us to get fresh air and the older two girls need to be able to run around. I don't know what we'd do if we were stuck inside all day.

We have been so busy this month with activities out of the house almost every day and she just rolls with it amazingly. Her naps are pretty haphazard, usually taking two random naps either on the go in her carseat or worn on me. She also falls asleep in my arms if she's wrapped up tight with the pacifier. It's so wonderful to have that flexibility. She gets a good 2 - 3 hour nap most afternoons unless she has a long morning nap, then it's a bit shorter. Bedtime is still around 7:30 even if she takes a third nap right before. That happens a few times a week too.

For how much noise she's constantly surrounded with, she can be over sensitive when it comes to loud screams or shouts when she's eating. We're just getting to the stage where she unlatches constantly if she gets distracted. She likes to kick her feet and if there is something within reach, she'll kick so hard she can't stay latched so sometimes we end up in a bit of a wrestling match. This is especially fun at night (note the sarcasm). She hasn't used those two sharp teeth to bite down yet (thankyouJesusforreal) but I'm kind of waiting for it any day now. 

The sister picture went well.

I suppose I should mention that we've hit that lovely four month sleep regression stage. She used to only wake once at night and now it's a solid three times every night. I'm mostly used to it and just have an extra cup of coffee in the afternoons. I will take a nap maybe once a week for about twenty minutes and don't seem to be over tired, but I definitely wouldn't mind getting more solid sleep. Thankfully, she eats and goes right back to sleep most of the time so it doesn't take more than fifteen minutes. I fall back asleep quickly too, so my complaining is minimal. I know it's short lived and that soon enough she'll be like the big girls and not need me so often. I do enjoy the sweet baby snuggles while I can get them.

One other sweet little "Amelia" thing... when I pick her up post nap or if she has been crying, she buries her head in my shoulder so hard that she can't breathe and then comes up for air suddenly like she just couldn't tear herself away from me. It's the sweetest thing, and I haven't seen her do it to anyone else. That's about the extent I get for cuddling. She loves to be held, but not in a cuddly way. I fully expect her to take off away from me (or anyone holding her) once she becomes mobile.

Here are the girls all lined up. Amelia, Audrey, then Josie. I've heard so many times that Amelia looks just like Audrey but I still can't see it. I don't feel like Josie looks like herself in this picture, so I definitely do see any resemblance here. What do you think?

The fun is just getting started with miss Millie girl. :) Even though the newborn newness has worn off, we are all still enamored by her all the time. So thankful she has joined our family.