Olivia! Four Months!

Okay, so three days late. My excuses are not good - too hot, out of town, first shots at the doctor and so you were miserable.

My Dear Olivia,

Regardless of excuses, here we are. We love you, my dear. You are babbling and cooing and have the biggest smiles I've ever seen.

You had your four-month doctor's appointment on Monday. He was impressed with your eye contact and your smiles and your whomping and wiggling. You cooed at him when he tried to look in your mouth and everyone laughed. You are 95% for height and weight and remain at 50% for head circumference. You must have gotten that from your daddy. You also got your first shots as I wanted to wait for several reasons. One being you were having what seemed like diarrhea. Hard to tell at this point, though.

Anyway, the shots. Oh man. Lots of crying. You calmed down pretty quickly at the office because Momma was there to calm you down the way only mommies can. You were mostly fine for an hour or two afterward, but you did not want to be put down and it was the most I've ever heard or experienced you crying. I'm so very sorry. I remember Sophie getting her shots at 2 months and we said that it was the worst day in her life up until that point. That was Monday for you.

This is also the reported, dreaded, four-month sleep regression. It coincides with a big developmental leap and we've been gearing ourselves for less sleep, etc. So far, not too bad. I can handle the every 2 hour or so wake-ups because I get to snuggle next to you. It's nice having you in the room with us because you don't have to cry to let me know that you're hungry. You just start whomping and cooing and I pick you up and you're full of smiles. Oh, your smiles. You are like a heat-seeking missile for faces. You stare at people very, very intently until they look at you. And then you give them one of the Olivia full-body smiles, complete with leg kicking and face wiggling. It's pretty much the cutest thing I've seen in a long time.

© Kirsten Graham

You are also a heat-seeking missile for your big sister. She plays a game with you where she walks back and forth in front of you and you sit there the whole time grinning at her, moving your head back and forth. It's adorable. You babble to Sophie in the backseat when we're driving places. Even if she's sleeping, you babble and coo at her. Maybe to see if she'll wake up? It's fun right now that your car seats face each other. I'll look back and Sophie will be holding one of your feet or your hand and you'll be smiling at her and I'm not sure there is anything better. Right now, this is a great moment in time.

Olivia, Whomper Bean, Moo #2, LMGT (Little Miss Grabby Toes), Toodles, Livvy-Loo, Kickie-poo.

You have brought extra light into our house. Sophie is a supernova of awesomeness and we didn't think it could be better. But Sophie as a big sister? And a lovely, smiley Whomper Bean? So wonderful.

© Kirsten Graham