Dear Coraline: Month 4

Dear Coraline,

As of 1AM this morning, you turned four months old. You’ve grown leaps and bounds this month, weighing in at just over 14 pounds and fitting into clothes sized three to six months (closer to the three still) and size 2 diapers (albeit closed very tightly). Your poppa and I think you’re more interactive than ever. You smile very easily and have a quasi-giggle when something amuses (or tickles) you; a real giggle is just around the corner, I’m sure. You seem to know who family is, smiling readily whenever you see your grandparents, aunts, uncle, and your cousins. You love to observe everything happening around you, from the cats walking by to the dogs wrestling to us cooking in the kitchen.

You celebrated your first Christmas when you were 93 days old. Of course, being as little as you are, you didn’t really notice much except the Christmas tree lights and star. Oh, how you loved the star on top of the tree. Your poppa and I (along with the rest of your family) really enjoyed shopping for Christmas gifts for you, even though you didn’t really notice what you got. Still, just having you around this year made it our best Christmas ever (having the first white Christmas in recent memory only added to how special the day was). Just think how much more fun this year’s Christmas will be, though, since you’ll be able to help unwrap your presents.

For some reason, I find myself keeping track of how old you are not by weeks but by days. Although at the rate you’re changing and discovering new things, it’s getting harder to keep track of the days. Still, on day 99 you celebrated your first New Year’s Eve with us and a handful of friends, all of whom enjoyed meeting you for the first time. The first day of the new year, day 100, you napped in your crib for the first time ever. You took to it like a fish takes to water, probably because you’d outgrown your bassinet and a real mattress made a big difference in the quality of your sleep. On day 108, you spent your first full night in your very own room, a milestone that was bittersweet for me. I was happy to see you take to your crib and your room, but I missed (and still miss) having you only a few feet away from me in our bedroom. Lucky me, our walls are thin enough that we can hear whenever you need us even without the baby monitor.

You enjoy being read to these days. This month we’ve read through all your board books as well as some classics, like Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who and The Cat in the Hat (you much preferred the latter). You’ve started rubbing your eyes when you get sleepy. You reach out to touch my and your poppa’s faces when we hold you or feed you. You grasp one of our fingers and move it up and down while you eat. You love eating rice cereal in your milk even though you slap the spoon away when we try to give it to you out of a bowl (you first tried it on day 104). You love sitting on your poppa’s or my lap when we’re on our computers (although we try not to do that too often). You love kicking around on your little gym and grabbing at the toys hanging from it, especially the panda and the blue igloo teething ring.

You even hit a couple of major milestones this week. This past Tuesday night (day 117-118) marked the first time you slept through the whole night. That Wednesday afternoon, you rolled over from your back onto your stomach during an afternoon nap. I went in to calm you down when you started hollering; I think you startled yourself that first time and didn’t quite know what to do once you were on your tummy. Now, just a few days later, you roll over in the blink of an eye and have turned into quite the stomach sleeper. This afternoon your poppa and I got a huge kick out of watching you roll onto your tummy then back onto your back within a matter of minutes. It’s the little moments like that, with all of us hanging out on our bed, that make everything we do for you worthwhile. That, and your million-dollar smile. I can’t wait to see what month five brings.

love,

Mommy