Letter to Becca: 3 & 4 Months

Dear Becca,

You've reached this strange point in infancy where I can't believe that you're already four months, and I also can't believe that you're only four months all at the same time. I'd meant to write your three month letter sooner, and then the weeks flew by with hardly a moment to breathe, and here we are at four months already. It took longer to lapse into combined month letters for Lizzy, but here we are already with you.

So, the last few months, you've really grown into a little person with a little personality and little preferences.You're quick to smile and laugh. When you're excited (especially when you know you're about to get to nurse), you kick your little legs like crazy. You also love books, which we're all completely thrilled about.

You seem to prefer to spend time on your stomach (opposed to your back), and in the last two months, you've really mastered rolling. Aside from an occasional stuck shoulder, you can generally roll however you want-- which is usually off the blanket that I've laid you on. In fact, just last weekend, you rolled yourself right into the kitchen! Over the last couple of days, you've also started scooting, and like to try to pull yourself onto all fours, though you don't stay that way for very long. Sometimes you can tripod sit unassisted, sometimes you just topple over.

Over the course of the past few months, you've also started waking very frequently at night. I'll admit, I'd kind of forgotten about the 4 month wakeful, and how hard it is--just like with your sister, we got a teaser of a few nights of REAL sleep, which just makes the transition to waking every hour or two again even more brutal. About a week ago, after a particularly rough couple of nights sleep-wise, your sister asked if she could watch Dora and hold you before bed. I was bone tired, and so I let her...and I couldn't believe my eyes, but you fell right asleep on Lizzy's lap! One interesting difference between you and Lizzy--you really love to have something snuggly up against your face while you're falling sleep, be it stuffed animal or blanket. Lizzy was not that way at all! She wouldn't even hold any of the stuffed animals that people gave us--it was only when SHE picked out a stuffed animal herself at the store that she started to like one, and she became fiercely attached to "Baa-Baa"! So far, as long as it is soft, you love it, and haven't formed an attachment to any one over the other--it'll be interesting to see if you do as you get older.

Let's see...what else? You seem like you're teething, but teeth haven't actually popped through, so who knows. Also, you've actually tasted "real" food. With Lizzy, I was kind of obsessed about waiting until 6 months until we let her try anything. Since then, I've kind of come to realize that every kid is different, and the "rules" may or may not apply. Lately, you've been really interested in trying to grab food off our plates at meals, and so when you grabbed for some banana, I let you try some. Sometimes you're interested in trying food and sometimes you're not. I'm not sure why, but with Lizzy I think I thought that once we "went there" with solids, that we had to jump to solids as a form of nutrition. With you, you're definitely still breastfeeding as the main form of nutrition, and occasionally tasting a bite or two of food when you seem interested. And I'm okay with that.

We've also been babywearing you a bit more than we wore your sister, which I think is pretty typical for second kiddos. Your dad even wore you for the first time over the weekend, and true to form, he went all out on his first attempt at it, wearing you while we walked a 5k! I've gotta say, there's something pretty hot about a dad wearing a baby. Ahem. You probably did not need to know that. But it's true. And I hope that someday you're lucky enough to have a husband who is just as great as your dad.

 
Love you a bushel and a peck,
Mom