(4 months) Robby and I haven’t been camping since I first found out that I was pregnant. I really wanted to go, but was a little intimidated to go with Emily. The Smiths and Parkers were also interested in camping, so we all planned a trip together. Having others around took a lot of the stress off. We all had a wonderful trip. God was good and brought the rain early and we were able to camp in dryness. We hiked out to Benton Falls with Emily riding in her front pack. Before we got back to the camp she had fallen asleep. Emily loves to be outside listening to the sounds of nature, so she didn’t mind the different noises.

Mommy has a confession. I love for Emily to grow bigger, but I also dislike it. I love to see her develop and grow bigger. I love her new outfits for the next size and am excited to get her in them. But then when I go to move her to her new clothes I’m sad. The problem is that I love all the clothes that she is outgrowing. The clothes are sweet and my memories of her in them are so fresh. With reluctance I am changing over Emily’s closet to her new size. I will resist the urge to keep the outgrown clothes in the drawer and embrace the wonderful new outfits. In just a few weeks the outgrown outfits will be really too small and I will be deep into my love affair with her new size.

(4 months) Uncle Doug sent Emily her first piano. She has been playing it with her feet so far. It is tied to the end of her cradle and she has figured out that when she kicks it that it plays music and talks to her. I thought I was doing a good job of turning it off when we were done playing with it, but one evening when I went to put her to bed she kicked it, and the music rang out in the room. I turned it off as quickly as I could. I know better than to wake a sleeping baby! I got lucky and she just dozed off again. She is starting to really engage with toys now and it has been so much fun to watch. . . The joys of motherhood!

(3 months) Emily’s car seat has a fabric foot cover that stretches across the bottom of the car seat. She has taken to kicking her feet to rest on the top of the cover. This way she has foot freedom! I have decided that this new trick has transformed her car seat into a recliner (maybe even a LazyGirl recliner).

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for Emily’s dedication. She enjoyed all of the extra hugs and kisses! A baby can not get too many of them. They were able to stay almost a week. Robby took off of work while they were visiting so that we could all visit and enjoy Emily. Our excursions included an afternoon at Fall Creek Falls and a picnic at Norris Dam.

We had another good checkup at 4 months. She weighed in at 12 lbs. 2 oz. and 23-1/2 inches. As of her first two visits her size was in the 15th percentile for children her age. With this visit she has grown into the 25th percentile for size. I can tell that she has been growing because my arms get tired when I am holding her. Obviously she is growing faster than my arm muscles. At this visit she had a very traumatic four shots and one oral vaccination. I don’t think I have ever heard her cry so loud or make more tears. She took it easy for the remainder of the day and napped a lot. I think it is going to take longer this time to recover from the shot. She will go back to visit the doctor for a 6 month visit.