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!