Happy 4 Months Peanut!

Dear Peanut,

I can't believe you are four months old today. Time moves so fast... I have to say that I think 4 months may be my very favorite age of your babyhood so far. You are so much fun right now. You are such a happy little girl. You will smile at anyone who looks even the slightest bit fun, and the way you smile, with your eyes and your entire face, can literally light up a dark room. Here is evidence of that smile with your monthly photo in your bean bag chair:

Notice your feet in the above picture. You always seem to have your feet in that "praying" position. They were like that when you came out of the womb and haven't entirely changed yet. There is very little of you that is like you were when you first were born so I treasure getting to still see your little feet like that. As you can see by your pictures, you are quite...ummm...healthy. You have rolls within your rolls. And I LOVE IT! One day it will upset you to have rolls in your thighs, but right now it is a sign that things are fantastic.

You are starting to notice things around you more now. And your favorite thing to notice is your brother. You two are developing quite the little relationship. It makes my heart sing to see it happen. He LOVES that he can always make you smile, and you will pretty much light up at the mere sight of him. You especially love it when he joins you in your special places like your crib...
And it makes you even happier when he lets YOU join HIM in one of his special places:
But your very favorite thing in the world is when he gives you a hug. And he does this a lot. He is always hugging and kissing on you and I imagine someday that will irritate you, but for right now, you think it is wonderful! I love seeing you look up at him with wonder in your little eyes and can't wait for all the things he is going to teach you.
Your daily habits have changed a lot in the past month as well. The biggest change is that you are now going to daycare three days a week. Besides the first week when you weren't sure what happened to your Mommy, or those things she carries around with her that feed you, you have decided it is great. Of course your brother is there, so that makes it cool. You go to "school" Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and work from home with Mommy on Wednesday. I pump for you so that you can continue to have only Mommy's milk even when I am not there. I am told right now you drink about 8 to 10 ounces in an 8 hour period of time. The ladies who take care of you constantly tell me how "easy" you are and that you are just a joy to be around.

I couldn't agree more.

In addition to school, you have changed your sleeping pattern quite a bit this last month. You are finally acting like a normal little baby. You go to sleep every night around 8:30pm and you sleep straight through in your crib until around 5:00am. At that time you wake up and nurse with Mommy in Mommy's bed and then go right back to sleep next to me. I love when you wake up in the morning next to me because you don't make a peep. All of a sudden I will look over at you and your eyes will be open and bright and you will give me the biggest smile. It is such a wonderful way to start my day. You still haven't really mastered the long nap thing, but you are getting better. In fact yesterday when I had you home with me you took two proper naps. The first was for 2 hours! And the second was for about an hour and a half. You no longer sleep in your swing and have transitioned into your crib like the big girl you are. You also are still trying to refuse to take a pacifier and instead prefer to stick your pudgy thumb into your mouth. If you are tired I can sometimes convince you to take the pacifier instead, but for the most part you prefer your thumb, your fingers or your fist.

You truly are an amazing little girl. I can't believe how lucky I am to have you. I call you my little ray of sunshine and you truly are. You bring nothing but smiles and joy to every part of our lives. You very rarely cry, and people are always saying to me, "Is she always this good?" "Is she always this happy?" And yes; yes you are. You are getting much stronger and LOVE to stand on my lap looking into my eyes. We spend a lot of time "talking" like that. I just looked over at you while I was typing this and noticed your entire shirt is wet. You have started that annoying baby drooling thing, but I highly doubt we are getting any teeth anytime soon.

Your brother was such an easy baby that I had prepared myself that you were going to be a little tyrant (one can't get so lucky as to have two easy babies, can they?) But you aren't. So far you have been a complete joy. I am sure you will torture me in later years (like your brother is doing now), but right now, you are nothing but pure sunshine. I love you more than words can possibly express. Thank you for the last four months my little Peanut. I love being your Mommy and I love you!