Alexandra is 4 months old! April 20th, 2010!

My Dear, Sweet, Wonderful Alexandra-

Have I told you how much I love you? I don't think you can comprehend just how much I love you! I am just overflowing with love for you and I am constantly overwhelmed by your wonderful-ness! You Daddy thinks so too! The other day we were marveling at the fact that just 4 short months ago, you didn't exist in this world. Just a year ago, we were in an entirely different place (emotionally especially) and we were longing and wishing for you. How utterly and profoundly amazing it is that just a year later, you are here, now, right in from of us and we can touch you and hear your coos and giggles, and see your smiles You are a lifetime wishes and dreams manifest. You are everything that we wished for and SO SO much more! You have far surpassed our expectations of what parenthood would be like! We both agree that it has been the most amazing ride of our lives!

This month has brought so many wonderful things!

You are so much more aware and in possession of yourself and your body! You smile at us all the time and your beginning to giggle! We went out walking one evening and stopped by our neighbors front yard to talk to meet them and chat. Our neighbor was swinging her little girl in a swing in their porch. You watched intently and then startled giggling and squealing with delight! You thought it was so funny! You kept this up for a good 5 minutes! It's so much fun to see you discovering the world and having your own thoughts and opinions about it! No doubt, you wanted to jump right in that swing yourself by your reaction! A good way to make you laugh now is to say the word "giggle" in a high pitched voice. You find it hilarious and it always produces a smile and often a laugh!! Your belly laughs are the best!

At the beginning of April, you started daycare. It was so hard to leave you, but I'm so glad that we are easing you into this-both for you and for me! We started with an hour on the first day (I cried once I left you!) and have been working our way up. You are getting better with the bottle, but mainly just fuss when you get tired, take a little milk with the bottle, and then fall asleep. This seems to be how you deal with being apart and not being able to nurse. Its making me very nervous for when I go back to work next month, but it's definitely an improvement as you screamed the first time we tried to give you a bottle! I am so happy that we found the daycare provider that we did-Leticia is very sweet and you seem to like her and being there. You've never cried when I've left-you are all smiles when I drop you off and all smiles when I pick you up! I would much rather you stay with me, of course, but since you have to go to daycare, I'm so happy that it's in a good environment! I hope that you grow to love Leticia and that you like going to daycare. I'm also happy that the group that she has is all girls! Hopefully you'll make some good friends!

You are enjoying your baths in the Tummy Tub! I hesitated getting it because it just looks like a bucket, but it's perfect for you! You like being in the warm water and splashing. It's a nice winddown at the end of the day, and you go right to sleep after nursing on the days you take a bath!

In your Tummy Tub (see video HERE)

You've definitely found your fingers and your thumb! Your hands go to your mouth more and more often and you use your thumb to self soothe sometimes! I'm very happy that you've found a way to soothe ourself-you don't need to often as I always respond quickly (I won't let you "cry it out" ever and I'm not planning on it) but there are times in the car when I can't get there right away and it's good that you can call on your thumb! With sucking on your fingers comes lots of drool! It gets everywhere and sometimes I have you wear a bib to keep you from soaking the front of your outfit! I was wondering if you were teething, but you don't seem to have any teeth coming in yet-(I hope they wait awhile! I'm not ready for that!) You have also started taking a pacifier-you don't take it all the time, but seems to soothe you if you get tired and can't seem to find your thumb. Rocking you in the glider with the pacifier seems to help you relax and go to sleep in the later afternoon.

You are a good sleeper so far at night! I nurse you around 9pm and you go right to sleep. If the lights are off and it's quiet, you often sleep right through til 6:30am. If you've been at Leticia's for a few hours and didn't get to nurse (and wouldn't take the bottle) then you are a bit clingy-er and wake up to eat once or twice in the night. Sometimes also you just wake up around midnight to eat again. I dont' mind though-it's just another chance for us to have our special time together. For the most part, I feel very lucky with your sleep habits and hope you keep it up!

Sleeping Beauty!

While you are a great nighttime sleeper, you don't sleep well during the day unless I'm holding you. Once I put you down, you wake up after a few minutes. I've been trying to read your patterns though and several times I've put you down in your crib for 2 or 3 minutes to use the bathroom or do something and I comeback and find that you are sleepy and are sucking your thumb or fingers and pretty soon have fallen asleep! These naps only last about 45 minutes, but I'm glad you are learning to put yourself to sleep! I'm not complaining though about your lack of daytime naps-if it leads to you sleeping well at night, I don't want to change anything!

You are very vocal and you love "talking." Sometimes you squeal or yell to get our attention, and sometimes you just like to exercise your vocal cords! I love it and we like to have "conversations back and forth. You are a much more active participant now in these conversations than you used to be, using your voice at full volume, instead of just cooing! You usually only talk when we are at home, though-when we are out, you are usually just quietly taking it all in. See a video of you talking HERE

You had your first big trip in early April. We went to Santa Barbara to see Grandma Didi, Grandpa JohnJohn, and Auntie Gretchen (who hasn't seen you since you were 7 days old!). They all loved seeing you! It was a bit of a tough trip for you as it was your first time in such a new environment, away from home for so long. We also went to Auntie Gretchen's bridal shower, so you met lots of people and all the excitement was hard for you! You were great though, and were still smily by the end of the trip. It was clear that you were so glad to be home, though because you fell asleep into the most peaceful sleep immediately with Daddy when we got home that night!

With Auntie Gretchen

You love to watch other babies and we always have fun at our Mom's group! I pull you close to the other babies and you stare at them and look and stare some more! You are very attentive when you are interested in something and you can hold your attention for a long time! We don't have any toys for you other than your baby gym which we use several times a week for tummy time. Other than that, you seem very content with just us and we try to make lots of eye contact and talk to you all the time!

With Nathan at Mom's Group

You love looking at the picture of Eeyore on the wipes box. There are other Winnie-The-Pooh characters on the box, but you only have eyes for Eeyore. You smile at him, stare at him, and reach for him! I sometimes say "where's Eeyore? Find your Eeyore" (yes, he is your Eeyore) and you smile and look over in his direction! When I say his name, you know what I'm talking about! You are so smart!

With "Your Eeyore"

Towards the end of the month, you found your feet one day! Now when you are on your back, you often reach for your feet. You aren't pulling them to your mouth, just reaching for them (Happy baby yoga pose!). Shortly after that, you started rolling from your back to your tummy! Without warning one day your just rolled! I was, of course, surprised, but you acted like you'd been doing it forever! Now, when we put you on your back, you immediate put your legs up and start rolling! It's pretty funny! It also makes for a challenging changing time because you always want to roll over to your Eeyore! See the video HERE

Alexandra finds her feet!

Your 4 month appt went well. You got more shots, which you didn't like, but you were very good and only cried for about 10 seconds until it was over and I picked you up! Then you were your old happy self again! Your growth has slowed down and you are about average on the growth charts, which the Dr said is normal for breast fed babies.

Your weight: 14lbs 1.5oz (55th %ile)

Your length:

Your head:

I really like your pediatrician, Dr Ball. He's very laid back and easy going and gives great advice. He gave us the go ahead to start you on solid food if we want, but said it would be better to wait until you are 6 months since I'm breastfeeding you. This made me happy, because I'm not ready to give up any of our feedings yet! We'll start you on solids after your 6 month appt in June.

At your 4 month appointment

Everyone always comments on what a beautiful baby you are (in fact Dr Ball even said that you could be a baby model!) People are alway saying how cute babies are, but people say you are beautiful! I have to agree! You are the most beautiful being, inside and out!

I love watching your grow and discover new things-each discovery is so amazing! You are amazing! I can't believe how far you've come in just 4 short months!

I love you baby girl! You are the light of my life!

Love forever,

Mommy