Four Months

I can hardly believe that Z is four months old! I think what excites me most is that we can start incorporating rice cereal into her diet. I had our pantry stocked with different cereals and stage one baby food and all of her bowls and spoons sterilized a week before the go-ahead from our doctor, although I am guilty of letting her try some pureed honey crisp apples six days early. Zac and I were also super excited about getting her a high chair so we spent the week before Easter studying and researching high chairs so we could have it ready for her to try out on Easter Sunday.

I heard about all this talk on how introducing cereal would improve our Z's sleeping and keep her fuller throughout the night. Unfortunately, I don't think these two correlate for Z. She has been a pretty terrible sleeper for the past few weeks now, but despite that she is a pretty happy baby during the day and never really cries when she wakes up at night. This is what makes it difficult to be upset. She still sleeps in a bassinet next to my side of the bed so I hear her moving about very easily. Shortly after I hear those movements, I hear her spit her pacifier out and shortly after that she starts to "sing" or make very quiet cooing sounds. After several nights of trial and error, Zac and I discovered the key  was to just let her be because the moment you make eye contact with Z, she will undoubtedly suck you in with an ear to ear grin. The first few nights I thought this meant I could pick her up and she would quietly fall back asleep if I rocked her. NO. Never pick up a smiling baby Z if it is past midnight!!! Once she is out of her bassinet and in my arms she immediately starts to fuss and wants to  be nursed...even if she was just nursed less than an hour ago. Thank goodness she usually just goes back to sleep after being nursed and rocked for a few minutes. Sometimes she doesn't need to be rocked and I feel like I just hit a major jackpot. Despite the nightly sleeping struggle we have been going through the past few weeks, we love this girl to bits and pieces and forget about how little sleep we got the night before when she greets us with such a happy face in the mornings. She "talks" so much in the mornings when she first wakes up and Zac and I have so much fun chatting along with her and pretending to have serious conversations.

Anyways some fun things about our four month old:

25 inches long
14 lbs. 8 oz.

-Loves to play "peek-a-boo" and will laugh her head off if you can hide your whole body before surprising her.
-Gets frustrated when you take too long to get her rice cereal on the spoon and in her mouth. Like her mom, she is very serious about her food and smiles once she has a mouthful of cereal.
-Still considers her blanket as her BFF in the car and will talk, sing, and laugh at it while we drive.
-Has mastered being able to turn 360 degrees while being on her tummy (but she still only roles occasionally). It's pretty adorable to watch her waddle on her belly and talk to her toys as she passes them.
-Uses her hands and arms to hold her self in a sitting position for up to three minutes.
-Drools like crazy. We are always amazed at how much she drools and we go through at least 5 shirts a day because she gets them so wet.
-Adores her caterpillar Claire. She hugs and squeezes and plays with Claire forever and is always happy to see her first thing in the morning.

 This would be Z showcasing her never-ending drool. It is just beginning in this picture.

 All smiles

Rice cereal trial 2 and I could hardly keep up with how fast she wanted to eat. 

 We're working on that bald spot...But it seems as though it is growing by the day.

 This rarely happens now since Z usually can't sleep for more than 15 minutes if she's not in her crib or bassinet so we like to document it when she does stay asleep in our arms. 

This (Prime Rib) roast happened for Easter and it was delicious

 Z loves bath time.

We can't get enough of that smile! 

Zac and I had the idea of taking pictures of Z with the stuffed animals her grandparents brought her when they came to visit from Utah last month...I don't think Z was as convinced this was such a good idea, but she is still the cutest.