Four Months

As of November 25th, Lua is four months old!  

Our big girl!

Her development in the past month has been amazing.  Since learning how to extend her reach and bat at things, she's grown to love touching everything, especially her fingers and her toes.  She reaches for toys and moves her hands deliberately, slowly learning how to manipulate objects and interact with the world around her.  It's been an amazing process to watch.  It's as if, Dan says, she's finally becoming a "real little person." 

She's grown so much in other ways, too.  She smiles so easily now, and watches people with interest.  She blows raspberries (and copies them!)  She laughs at funny sounds and wiggles when she gets excited.  She's easily distracted, even while feeding, in her eagerness to look around and reach for things.  She has favorites, too-- favorite songs, favorite noises, favorite toys.  

While I have enjoyed every step of Lua's development, this month has been the most exciting.  I love how social she is, and how reactive and playful.  I love that she has found her voice and is learning how to use it.  And, of equal importance, I love that her schedule is becoming more predictable.  She now takes four 30-minute naps throughout the day, in addition to her eight or nine hours of sleep a night, which is better than the all-or-nothing nap schedule that she followed before.  

Here are some pictures from her 4-month photo shoot.  She now weighs around 15 pounds.  She's still pretty wobbly and unstable, but at least she's perpetually cheerful!

4 months old!

Playing with her fingers

Eating her blanket

"Hey Lua!"

Smiles!

Not quite sitting on her own, yet

Lounging on her Mombo pillow

Munching on her fist

Her bright blue eyes

Sitting on the couch and laughing

And... folded in half

Sitting!  Sitting!  

... Nope

With a little help from Daddy

In this past month, we've seen her develop laughter, chatter, raspberries, thumb-sucking, toe-grabbing, and a real, fledgling personality.  I'm excited to see what she'll be like when she turns five months old on Christmas!

Lua Laughs!

Lua has been laughing for about four weeks, now, but it's been impossible to capture on video.  Her laughter is sporadic and unpredictable-- usually occurring in short bursts and disappearing as soon as the camera comes out.  

Yesterday, though, Dan pulled out his camera phone in time to catch her laughing as we were dancing in the living room.  For the first time ever, here's Lua laughing!

That's the best sound in the world.

Mom's Visit

Lua and I had a great time last week, when my Mom came to visit for my birthday.  She stayed from Sunday until Saturday, which was the perfect length of time.  She got to know Santa Cruz, reconnected with Lua, and even babysat for us, allowing Dan and I to go on our first date in.... forever.  

It really was a great visit.  We took Lua to the aquarium, went on a whale-watching tour, walked in the redwoods, and visited the tidepools.  It was also just fun to watch Lua interact with Mom.  It's crazy to realize how much Lua has grown since we left Pennsylvania two months ago.  She's gone from being a sweet, rather sleepy newborn, to being an active, participatory, and attentive little infant.  She's also gotten very noisy, a change that was so gradual, I was almost fooled into believing that she'd always been that way.

The following are pictures of my Mom's visit.  There aren't any pictures of Dan-- sorry!  He had to work all week, but he did enjoy spending time with us in the evenings.  

P.S.  There aren't any pictures of my birthday dinner, either.  All four of us went out to eat, but Lua cried the whole time.  Since she was always screaming, one of us always had to be away from the table, holding her.  It wasn't an especially photogenic occasion!  I didn't mind, though.  I was pretty grateful to have my mom, baby, and husband all together and with me on that day.

Mom and Lua

Look at that face!

Haha.  Clothes are some of her favorite toys.

At the aquarium.  This time, Lua actually looked at things and followed animals with her eyes.

She seemed to like the jellyfish and the penguins.

After a while, though, she tired out and reverted to thumb-sucking.

Mom on the whale watching boat

A humpback whale

A killer whale.  This pod was so close to the boat that I could barely get a picture of them!

A killer whale!  These were the only killer whales seen in the bay in the past month.

Proof that it actually is a killer whale.  Blurry, but wholly acceptable as evidence.

Killer whale fin, trailing the boat

Feeding Lua on the boat.  Yes, she is wearing a life preserver.  Those were the rules.

Big moon over the Bay

Lua and I are thrilled about this giant redwood cookie at Henry Cowell State Park

Mom and a cluster of redwood trees

Mom and Lua on a hike

Inside a redwood, looking out

At Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

On the cliffs at Wilder Ranch

With Lua at Wilder Ranch.  On sunny days from the hours of 10 until 2,
Lua disappears and is replaced by a giant, floating pink hat.

The sea cliffs at Wilder Ranch State Park

Our cute little hiker

With Mom at Wilder Ranch

Though Lua was fussy through most of the hike (through pristine coastal scenery), she really seemed to enjoy
getting changed on the concrete bathroom floor.  It's safe to say that this was her favorite part of the day.  

Mom and Lua tidepooling

Lua searches for shells, starfish, and hermit crabs

At Natural Bridges State Park

A brilliant sea anemone

Good job tidepooling, guys!

It was hard to see Mom go, but I'm so happy to know that we'll be back in Pennsylvania (and New Jersey!) in just five weeks.  

Lua's First Halloween

We knew it was going to be cold and rainy on Halloween, so Dan and I decided to make it a night in.  It was too wet to go and join the revelers downtown, and, besides, we were looking forward to staying home to hand out candy.  

We considered buying Lua a costume, but, in the end, we chose to use an outfit that we already had on hand.  She'd only recently grown into it, and it was really cute.  So here's Lua in her "costume"-- a tail and a set of elephant ears knitted by my step-brother's wife, Jesse.

It was perfect because it was warm, snuggly, and fit over her pajamas.  We're nothing if not practical, even on Halloween!

Lua's first Halloween

Look at those ears!

And that tail!

Our little elephant

We had fun handing out candy, although there were fewer trick-or-treaters than we had expected.  Then, when it seemed like the majority of the kids had all gone (at around 8PM), we took the rest of our candy to a friend's apartment and passed it around while we watched a movie and played Catan.  It was a nice and peaceful night-- the best kind, when you have a little baby.

Happy Halloween!

Lua Goes Batty!

(Just in time for Halloween)

Lua finally reached her last three-month milestone:  Batting!

After I tried for weeks to capture her attention with toys and other colorful plushies, Lua reached up yesterday and batted at a... tissue.  Haha.

She's since moved on to towels, although she still shows no interest in batting at her actual toys.   

You know you're a first time mom when you record your baby reaching for a hand towel.

I have to say-- watching her grow and develop has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  I know that she is normal and that all babies have gone through this same process, but I am still in awe.  She's gone through so many incredible changes in her (nearly) 14 weeks of life.

Visitors

This past week, we've received a lot of visitors.  It's been busy, but great.  Dan and I really enjoy spending time with other grown-ups, and Lua is at her best when she's constantly moving and being jostled around.

Last weekend, we hosted Dan's Aunt Wendy, who was visiting from San Diego.  She has a lot of energy, so it was fun to drag her all over campus and on our nightly sunset walks along the water. Then, last Thursday and Friday, we hosted Hoang, a friend from Peace Corps Mozambique.  He's the helpful sort, so he made us some French toast and helped construct a bookcase for our living room.  Finally, on Saturday and Sunday, we hosted Dan's cousin Jenny, who was on a business trip from Switzerland.  She and Dan hadn't seen each other since 1997, so it was a big reunion.  We took her to the boardwalk, where she went on her first roller coaster ride ("Fun, but a bit scary!") and frolicked in the Pacific ("That was good fun!").

Things will be fairly quiet for the next couple of days, until next Sunday when my Mom comes out for my birthday.  She'll be staying for a full week, about which I am inordinately excited.  Not only do I get to shake up my stay-at-home Mom routine with all sorts of adventures, but I'll also get a free babysitter.

If you haven't come out to visit us-- please consider it.  The distance has been hard on us, and we want to share our daughter as she grows and changes daily.  

Lua is very willing to give up her room!  

Dan and his Aunt Wendy on the UCSC campus (overlooking the bay)

Dan, Wendy, and Lua watching the surfers at Steamer's Lane

Hoang on West Cliff Drive

Visiting the wharf

With Hoang on the UCSC campus

The forest canopy on campus

Sunset at the lighthouse

Dan and Jenny on the swings at the Santa Cruz boardwalk

Dan and Jenny on the Gravitron.  "It was fun for the first half," declared Jenny.

Family reunion: Dan and Jenny at the Boardwalk

Jenny steps into the Pacific for the first time

Dan and Jenny

Jenny, Dan, and Lua