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.

Julia loves to chew on her fingers. This day she was sitting up like a big girl and chewing on her fingers. How cute!!

Julia was weighed and measured at her doctor appointment. At 3-1/2 months she weights 11 lbs 6oz and measures 24-1/4 inches long.

Julia is not the easiest baby to swaddle. She loves to stretch her feet as far as they go and she loves for her hands to move. Some days I watch her struggle and be unhappy until she frees her hands from her fabric cocoon. Although when it is time for her to go to sleep, swaddling her is like magic to help her settle into sleep.

Julia has found that her fingers have uses. They are just lovely to suck on and make loud smacking noises. Fingers are great for closing around Mommy’s hair making it difficult to be parted from her. And lastly, they are good for reaching out and touching toys. Emily loves Julia’s hands to touch and hold. Often in the car, we will look at the girls and Emily will have reached over and taken Julia’s hand in hers.

Pacifiers are real hit and miss with Julia. At times they are great comfort to her. Other times she wants nothing to do with them. I notice it most when she is crying and will not take it. This happens mostly in the car while we are in a drive-thru and limited attention can be given to her. Pacifiers are very difficult for Emily to leave alone. If she finds Julia’s pacifier not in Julia’s mouth she will pick it up and try to put it in Julia’s mouth, bring it to Mommy, carry it around, or put it in her own mouth. If she wants to play with Julia she has been known to remove it from Julia’s mouth.

Finger Food, originally uploaded by Robby Edwards.

Emily’s favorite finger food is… Her fingers!