Baby Girl -
You are so beautiful. I look at you in awe each day. I love your smiles. Your laughs. (yep, you are laughing now!). You are such a sweet, happy person, it is such a joy watching you grow each month.
Here's what you've been up to lately:
Your First Thanksgiving: We celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a family of four. We invited family over and celebrated on Saturday. I worked at Festival of Trees & Lights all week so by Saturday, I was ready for a nice relaxing day. It was great - we had Thanksgiving lunch, the weather was beautiful (thank you Pat!) so we played outside, and we capped the night off with the traditional Christmas Vacation. You experienced Festival for the first time on Thanksgiving Day - you had fun looking at all the lights. I think the Elmo tree was your favorite!
2. You met some of your Kappa aunties. Aunt Jacque and Aunt Tiffany LOVED meeting and getting snuggles from you. These are very important woman in my life and I hope as you grow, you look to them as role models on what it means to be a strong, kind, intelligent, driven and beautiful woman. #KKG #BadoomBadoom
3. You survived your first trip to the ER for croup. We heard your cough and knew immediately you had croup. Unfortunately, you showed first signs at 4 p.m. on a Sunday night, right after all the Urgent Care locations closed. We wanted to be on the safe side, so after talking to a nurse on the phone, we took you in. They gave you a steroid and we went home for lots of snuggles. I'm glad we caught it early - you were only home from school for a few days.
4. Getting Strong. You are getting so strong in your core. We are still working on tummy time but you're able to support yourself when we hold you and are already starting to work on rolling over. When you're on your tummy, you can roll onto your back. When you are on your back, you can half roll to the side - not quite over but you're getting there. You also love to grab everything (hair, rattles, balls, etc). You've got a strong grip. It's fun watching you think about grabbing things. You'll stare at your duck binkie - you know you want to bring it to your mouth - but making your hands do the work is still something you're working on.
5. Loving School. You are doing so great at school. You're teachers are Miss. Brittney and Miss. Jaime. They really enjoy having you in their room. You are loving all the activity blankets. You are rocking your bottles (most days) and are great at taking an afternoon nap. They love snuggle time with you in the late afternoon right before pick up. It's such a relief to see enjoying school so well.
6. Belly Laughs. You have the BEST belly laughs right now. It's so fun watching you smile and react to things. Your giggles are the best sound in the world. Big brother is really good at making you laugh too. For the most part - you are a very content baby. You love to be held and really only cry when you're hungry or tired.
7. 4 month appointment. We had your 4 month appointment and you have been busy growing. You are now 13 lbs and 24 inches long. You are 23% for height and weight but your head is in the 70's so averaged out you are in the 40%. The checked you over and you are growing beautifully. You are on track developmentally. Other than a slight ear infection, you had a great appointment. Keep growing sweetie :)
8. First road trip to Minneapolis. The first weekend in January we headed up north to visit friends. It was your first long road trip in the car. You did so good! We got in the Christmas spirit by visiting Reindeer Days, and enjoyed a cozy night in with friends with the first snowfall of the year.
9. Blondie? Your dark hair is falling out (just like your brother's did) and it's lightening up. Will you be a blond too? We can't tell right now. You still have a few Mohawk hairs on top refusing to give up.
10. Sleepless Nights. We are still working on sleep. Mom is pretty tired - you're still getting up a few times a night. It's been hard because you've been sick but I worry we are getting into some bad habits. We are getting you a baby monitor for Christmas so after we get that, we are going to work on some sleep training in your new room. Get excited!
We love you sweet girl. I can't wait to see what the next month brings.
