(4 months) Nothing is sweeter than watching a baby sleep. Even though they are still, so much inside of them is changing as they grow. It is just amazing to understand how they develop from movement from the center of their bodies outward. Julia was reaching out and making contact with a toy just a few months ago and now she is grasping things and bringing them to her mouth to taste. Now, everything that she get a hold of goes into her mouth, and if she can’t find anything, she will use her own fingers for entertainment. I don’t mind her chewing on my finger, it is a glimpse into how she is interacting with the world.

Julia is a regular night sleeper now, although she seems to have lost it for our vacation. On our trip she would wake once and sometimes twice to eat. All of our schedules were very different as we traveled, so I was not surprised. When we returned she would wake up once and last night she slept the whole night. I noticed a marked improvement in my memory, patience, and fatigue once Julia gave me my first week of sleep without interruptions.

Today, we had our first intentional occurrence of putting Julia down awake and her falling asleep on her own. While I changed her diaper today she was pretty still and it was time for her nap, so I went ahead and laid her down. It worked and she went to sleep. This is one thing I hope is repeatable.

Julia and I played a game of waving at each other yesterday. I don’t know that she understood what waving was, but her arm was bent up so that her hand movements were a wave.  I would wave at her and she would smile big and move her hand and arm. If this is repeated soon, I will be shocked, but it was a fun time of play between us.

Julia was enjoying a swing while Grandma secured her to it, although you couldn’t tell it from the look on her face. She was swinging in a tandem swing with Emily, which Emily thought was pretty cool.

Julia has a pretty serious face most of the time. Sometimes she sports a super-serious look, if she is considering something. Then she will burst into a smile and a little laugh. Many of her smiles are given to Emily and the best time to see one is when you go to save her from her bed when she wakes up.

Our family took a trip to Florida to do some visiting. We took the opportunity to go out to the beach and play with the girls one afternoon. Julia wasn’t very interested in the cool breeze that hit her once she was ready for a nap. Shortly after this photo she got bundled up and took a snooze. Emily had a blast both playing in the sand and splashing in the ocean. We let her wade in far enough to get her shorts wet. She wanted to go in further and stay in the water longer than we allowed her. The beach was a place of exquisite freedom and play for her. Who knew that sea gulls ran when you chased them? Touching the sand was awesome, but do you want it piled on you? What did the ground feel like under the water?

Julia had her 4 month checkup. She weighed 11 lbs – 12.5 oz. and measured 24 1/4 inches long. This is an increase of 1 lb – 6 oz. and 2-1/2 inches over the last 2 months. Julia is now at the 50 percentile for height. No wonder that she no longer fits in a lot of one piece outfits she has. The doctor was pleased with her growth. We discussed the number of feedings and my approach to her feeding. I’m trying to be a little less of an engineer when it comes to feedings. I am letting her ask for food before I offer (most of the time). I just like things I can measure. Julia is pretty laid back about everything including asking for meals. We will see if she changes with my new approach.

We also discussed my ongoing struggle with Julia’s dry skin and cradle cap. He has made some suggestions and I am hoping that we can make her more comfortable. Julia received two shots and one oral vaccine to keep her current on her shots. We had a fussier than usual evening which we are blaming on the sore legs, but maybe she just wanted to milk it for extra attention.

The doctor and I had a follow-up discussion about her heart condition. I had hoped that he would have received a report from the heart doctor before our visit, but it hadn’t arrived yet. So our discussion was all based on my comments. It is hard to remember everything and the names of conditions. Our doctor admitted his concern at her last checkup was that Julia had a heart defect because what he heard just didn’t sound like the typical murmur. He was glad to hear that Julia’s condition may be the less serious PFO condition. I will see if he has any other thoughts or comments at our next visit, which is at 6 months.

Mommy put the girls in red to celebrate Valentine’s Day and then tried to get photos of the girls. Neither were interested in posing for photos. So we have what we have. Emily stole her Granddaddy’s hat and consented to look in the direction of the camera. We thought that she looked like a rock star with the hat, arms, and attitude.

Wow – it has been four months already for little Julia. I have been holding her this week and thinking that she is so much heavier and getting a little chunky. Well, chunky for one of my daughters.

I try to document all of Julia’s significant changes around the time they happen, but I realized that I missed a big one. Julia has neck control and holds her head up really well. At one point she was close and I thought it would be much longer, and then the next thing I noticed, she was a pro at it. I guess I blinked. But she has been doing this for weeks, and I am just now journaling it.

There are some things she has been working on this week that I haven’t missed. She has found her voice. Not in a crying way, she has been working on that one since birth. She has found a coo & a holler. She can keep a conversation with you and at other times she joins in on loud conversations or attempts to get our attention. Tonight, I could have sworn that she was making noise to get Emily’s attention. It is really funny and I love it.

Something else that she is working on is trying to flip over. For a while, she has been doing leg lifts. She alternates between lifting her legs and then lifting her head/shoulders. Her leg lifts get pretty high and now she is adding a twisting motion to them that is getting her close to a flip. She will roll herself over and on her side when on soft cushions like the couch or bed.

Julia has the most beautiful bald spot on the back of her head. I would prefer her to not have it, but she just loves to rub her head back and forth. She likes to have her head rubbed on in general so she must be rubbing it herself. She will quit soon enough, and her hair will grow and it will be a distant memory.

One of my favorite thing she does is hold on to our fingers. When she is fussing herself to sleep in our arms, she pokes her hand out of the blanket in which she is swaddled. If we put one of our fingers into her hand, she will grip it, start to relax, and fight less. She will then drop into sleep, relax, and make herself so heavy. Julia is starting to not need to be swaddled to fall asleep. I remember Emily moving into the stage of not needing swaddling. It will coincide well with warmer weather, but I will miss my baby bundle.