Juliet 4 Months!

Juliet Rose, you are FOUR months old today!! I really tried to soak up every moment over the past four months because I know how fast it really goes this time around! But even though I tried to be really intentional with living in the moment, I still feel like the last months have FLOWN by! You have grown so much and your personality is really starting to shine through! It is SO much fun watching you grow and see that personality come forward! 

You are an extremely chill and easy kid still. I'm really grateful because your sister is the of epitome of 2 and very wild. You rarely get fussy and when you cry with consistency then something is really upsetting you. You like your paci and that is awesome! It's such an easy way to calm you down. 

You're a happy and content little girl and I of course try to take a billion photos of you. Most of the time, however, when I pull out my phone you zero in on it and either look very concerned or very intent. It's been difficult to catch your adorable smile on camera, pumpkin! 

Still have those blue eyes girlie!

You're now sleeping in the nursery in your crib. It's been great having our room back to ourselves and you're doing really well in your crib. I love walking in to get you from your naps and you're laying there, a little bitty baby burrito in your swaddle and you look so small in your crib. You smile up at me and I feel a little burst of joy. You're always really happy to be unswaddled and picked up. I love that you wake up so happy. Olivia really likes to "help" put you down for naps and "help" wake you up. You're a really good sport with it all. 

Now that you're sleeping in your crib, we've been doing a very flexible version of the Moms On Call schedule. It's been nice having you on a routine and it's glorious when both you and Olivia end up napping at the same time. But, it's also so super sweet when it's just you and me and we get to hang out. I love my JuJu-only time too. 

Part of your nighttime routine is giving you a quick bath each night. You really love your bath. I sing you a song while I undress you for the tub and you laugh and smile every night. You splish and splash and make happy little sounds each night too. Ah, you're so cute, baby girl!

You've started having small stretches in the Bumbo and I think you are enjoying the new ability to sit up assisted. You're gaining more and more control of your hands and fingers and can grab on to some things with more intentionality. You are also so very close to rolling over from your back to your belly. That pesky arm just gets in the way. 

You adore your older sister and she gets the most laughs out of you by far. I hope your relationship continues to be sweet and that you guys grow up being best friends! 

Daddy is one of your absolute favorite people and you do this coy flirting thing with him and give him lots of smiles. I really need to try and get it on camera! 

You have started being able to make noises and try your hardest to copy daddy making this "ptfffff" noise with your lips. I think you're very proud of your achievement. Olivia enjoys making the sound back at you, so you get plenty of practice in each day. 

I weighed you this morning and you are at an even 13 pounds. Your nails grow crazy, crazy fast and it's definitely a challenge to get you to hold still long enough to let me clip them without cutting you. You are teething with lots of drool and are always wanting your fist in your mouth, which has added to the nail-cutting challenge. 

Oh pumpkin pie, my heart is so full and at it's absolute bursting point. I love you so much and words never adequately express my love for you and your sister. You are such a joy! It's been such a fun 4 months and each and every day with you is such a wonderful gift! Happy 4 months JuJu!

Olivia Four Months!

Precious, precious girl. You are FOUR months old! I can't believe how fast the past four months have gone (I know I sound like a broken record saying that on each post). I feel like you've always been a part of our family and I have a hard time remembering life before you were here. 

It was a year ago this week that we found out you existed. It's amazing to see you so happy and healthy after the surgeons and doctors said chances of you surviving after mommy's surgery was slim.  You are a miracle and I thank God daily for you and for your health! You are strong and a survivor. 

You've made some big advancements this month. It's truly crazy how fast you change. People say that about babies all the time, but witnessing it is incredible. 

Right after you turned three months old you began to roll over from your back to belly. We were visiting Lolly and G-Daddy for a week in Milton and you actually rolled over for the first time when we were FaceTiming with your daddy! What a gift that he was able to witness that big first even though he was 300 miles away! 

You now prefer to roll onto your belly anytime you have the opportunity. You roll over and try your very hardest to propel yourself forward. Girl, you want to be on the move so very badly! You often fuss out of frustration because you can't move when you so obviously want to. The desire to always be on your belly made taking photos of you next to the Teddy that your Granny and Papa gave you very difficult... It's also made us be much quicker to steady you and we now have to hold on to you while doing things like changing your diaper. 

You've been waking yourself up multiple times a night by rolling yourself over onto your tummy. You're no longer swaddled, so we tried many different things to try and keep you sleeping on your back. We tried swaddling you but leaving your arms free, a sleep sack instead of a swaddle, and even rolling two swaddles up and kind of barricading you in in between them. Nothing worked very well. Thankfully, in the past few days you have just started to sleep on your belly from the get go and I'm hoping it will help you sleep more comfortably and for longer stretches. 

You're still waking up to nurse 2-3 times a night. I think if I was a little bit stronger in the middle of the night, and let you cry it out, we might make a breakthrough in how many times you wake up. To be honest though, I'm so tired in the middle of the night that I find it easier to zombie walk to your nursery and nurse you and then go back to sleep fifteen minutes later. 

Your bedtime is still around 7:30 after you have a bath and you are ready to wake up for the day around 6:00 AM.  In the morning we play for about an hour and a half and then you are ready to take a nap most days. I've been appreciating this recently as I've been able to get a few naps in myself while you're sleeping! However, as soon as we seem to figure out a schedule you throw mommy a curve ball and switch things up. I'm thinking you may be going through a growth spurt as you've been taking more frequent and longer naps lately. I'm looking forward to seeing your weight and length at your 4 month well visit next week!

Aunt Sarah brought us their jumperoo to let you borrow and you are a big fan. You enjoy being upright and it's great to be able to turn you a few degrees and all of a sudden you have something new to explore. You can also sit in the Bumbo for short periods of time, but you seem to prefer to topple yourself over in an attempt to eat your feet, so we've been taking a bit of a break from that. 

You are very interested in the world around you, spending much of your time studying whats going on and watching, watching, watching. You really enjoyed watching your cousins Karis and Evan play when we visited family for a week earlier in the month. I understand I am unabashedly biased, but I think you are super intelligent. You can look into your eyes and see the wheels turning. 

You've reached the stage of wanting to grab everything within reach and would like to stick everything in your mouth if we let you. Just in the past week you've become even more intentional with your grabbing and it's as though you have just discovered the dogs for the first time. The dogs are very patient with you, but I can speak from personal experience, that when you grab on and pull... it hurts! We are working on being gentle with them - not sure how much of that is sticking as you are only four months old haha. 

You've perfected two yoga moves this month... upward dog and happy baby. It's pretty cute watching you grab onto your feet. Another big achievement you met this month is laughing! Oh my gosh. There is NOTHING better than hearing you laugh. It shoots burst of joy through me that are hard to describe. I will repeatedly do foolish things over and over again if it makes you laugh. 

I think we have decided you must be a people person. You want to be with constantly. If you could be held 100% of the time you would be. You are always very aware of where people are in relation to you. You need to make sure that someone is with you and that you can see them at all times. It's great when we are with a big group like family and there are many hands to hold you and pass you around, but it is slightly exhausting when it is just mommy to entertain you all day long. You don't have much understanding for chores and bathroom breaks. 

You have definitely "found" your voice and talk talk talk all the time. Unfortunately for those around you, much of what you have to say sounds like a screeching eagle. I don't mind however. I hope you always know that I am here to listen to whatever you have to say, and even though it may seem trivial to others it will always be important to me. 

You celebrated your first Easter this month. Such a lucky girl as you received two Easter baskets! One from the bunny and one from your Aunt Sarah and Uncle Jared! So sweet and so special. You also attended a church service for the first time and you did really well. I've been slightly anxious to take you because I didn't know how you would do, but you did really well. 

Girl, I think you inherited a love for all things food. You obviously haven't tasted anything but breastmilk, but you are super interested in food. You study it, are fascinated by people eating, and lunge forward to try and reach it whenever possible. I think it will be a very exciting day for you when you eat solids for the first time. 

I hope I'm not leaving anything big out. I'm fighting a bad cold and fever so am not in tip-top shape. It's been interesting trying to take care of you and keep you healthy when I am far from functioning at my best. Thankfully, it's the weekend and we have your daddy in our lives who takes such good care of us. He's been nursing me back to health and has been on full-time daddy duty, letting mommy sleep and get some much needed rest. Being a parent is so hard, and I have so much awe for those who do it on their own. I cannot imagine going through this journey without your daddy's help. I also am so incredibly thankful to have an older sister who has kids and has already been through everything. I call your Aunt Sarah daily - seriously, multiple times most days - to ask for advice. 

Little, precious Olivia, you are so dearly loved. You are a piece of my heart walking and beating outside my chest. I cherish you and am so glad that God made me your mommy. Happy four months baby girl!