Lydia: 3-4 Months

Lydia turned four months old on September 6th. She is still such a happy baby and she is getting so big. I have seen several newborn babies lately and can hardly believe that Lydia was once so small! When I feed her, her little legs hang off my lap and are constantly poking out from underneath her feeding cover. She not only smiles, but she has started giggling as well. It's probably the sweetest thing i've ever heard.

Here are some other things that happened this last month (the month of August):

--At her 4 month doctors visit she weighed 13 lbs 5 oz and was 23.5 inches long.

-At about 3 1/2 months she just started to grab things and bring them to her mouth. I was amazed when she did it for the first time. It's like she learned overnight! Now if you hand her anything, it goes straight for her mouth. Its crazy to think that just a couple of weeks ago she couldn't grab things (she would bat them around with her hands, but not really grab them - and definitely not bring them to her mouth.)

-She is constantly sucking on her hands and will sometimes gag herself in her attempts to fit them both into her mouth at the same time. She will gag, make a disgruntled noise, and then go back to trying to shove her hands in her mouth. She has also started to suck on her thumb more - as she is better able to control her fingers to get just her thumb in her mouth - but she still won't take a binky. Oh, and a really new development is that she has started sucking on her wrist while "talking" making muted talking/sucking sounds.

-I'm so glad not to be going back to school. I wondered if I would be sad when my friends started teaching again, but it really didn't even phase me. I had a few "back to school" teaching nightmares, mostly involving me not showing up and then getting into huge amounts of trouble when my students were there without a teacher. But I can honestly say that I am so happy to just have this time with Lydia. I know that not everyone is able to stay home with their babies, and I am just really grateful that I can.

--Even though at her appointment, L was below the 30th percentile in weight, she still seems to be gaining really well. Her arms and legs are getting super pudgy and I love her little baby rolls. Even her cheeks are filling out and she has developed the most darling dimple when she smiles really big. I love it.

--Pretty soon after she hit three months, Lydia started rolling onto her side. She would roll up onto her side and then flop back onto her back, shifting her body just slightly. She would lay on her blanket or under her toy gym and repeat this motion while her body pivoted around her head. It was so funny to watch her slowly turning herself around in a circle!

--On August 25th, my girl rolled over for the first time! A week or so later and she was practically a pro. Now she rolls over in seconds and will hardly stay on her back. At her well-check the doctor seemed surprised that she could already roll, and even more surprised that she was rolling from her back to her front! I know it's not that unusual - but it made me feel good to have such a developmentally-appropriate/ahead baby. Now we just need to get her rolling from her front to her back.

--At about 3 1/2 months Lydia graduated to size 2 diapers!

--Lydia is doing better at sleeping in her bed. We have definitely made progress (meaning that she doesn't sleep with us in our bed at all anymore) but she wakes up 3-4 times a night. It's starting to become really draining and in the past couple of weeks, I feel like it's gotten worse. I've read a couple of books and they totally contradict each other so i've come up with this psuedo-plan taking bits and pieces from each. But now I feel as though everything is just out of control. I hope that we get this figured out soon.

--One of my best friends, Kayla, moved back to Washington DC this month. Kayla and her baby boy Landon stayed at our house the night before they left and we took them to the airport. They were so sweet together, and I may be making arrangements for them to marry each other when they grow up.

--Lydia has stopped cooing as much as she used to. Now she usually only makes "talking" noises as she is falling asleep in the car or in her swing. It's sad because I love to listen to her - but i'm sure it's just a phase and soon she will be talking so much I won't be able to get her to stop.

--We have had a crazy month and Lyd has been such a trooper through the whole thing. From house meetings, appliance shopping, grocery store-ing, and everything else we've had going on - she is always as sweet as can be. I'm grateful for such a content baby. (It makes the night time thing much easier to handle because in the day she is so good.)




Pictures:

Elizabeth Ackerman, Landon Hall, and Lydia Peaden - Bekah's, Kayla's, and Mine respectively. These sweet babies were born in May, June, and July! They are going to be such great friends.  

Lydia and Landon

Lydia and Landon

At the park with dad. 

This is the sweetest photo I think. 

Playing in her bouncer. (That we got for free!)

I know it's blurry but I just love it so much.

With Grandpa Walker

With Grandma Peaden

Totally turned sideways under her toys.