4 Months

I know it's cliche to say "I can't believe how fast the time is going" so I'm not going to. I know I shouldn't be, but I'm glad the time is going by quickly. Jericho will be here in less than a month and I'm so excited I could have a giggle fit.

If I thought being pregnant was an open invitation for strangers to talk to me, it's nothing compared to walking around with a little baby. I was at a fabric store today and a lady asked me how old my *beautiful* baby was and I told her. She said, "Wow. AND you have time to sew?" I responded with "If I didn't do things like this, I'd go crazy." [More on all of my projects later.] Strangers are always talking to me about my baby. I love it, actually. I've never felt so popular.

Isn't she a gem? I was testifying of Sydney's cuteness to Jericho the other day and he said, "Good. I'm glad she's so cute. I'd hate for you to be in this situation with an ugly baby."

Noteworthy behaviors at the 4 month mark: 

~ Spits. Not drools. Not just cute baby bubbles. Spits. Raspberries or whatever it is she does. She does it a lot when she's laying on her back and super excited about life. Her face gets soaked. 

~ Also while laying on her back and super excited, she kicks her legs REALLY fast. If I tried to kick my legs that much that fast, that would be my workout for the day. We call it the bicycle because her arms are simultaneously stretched out in front of her with clenched fists. 

~ Still sleeping through the night. She's a champion. Have recently moved her into her nursery and all is going well thus far. 

~ The girl is freakishly strong. Seriously. She does pull ups on the handle in her car seat. 

~ Unless she's tired or eating, she doesn't want to sit. Is always trying to stand up or kick her legs or do jumping jacks. 

~ Is getting more tempestuous during tired times. In lieu of a rocker while at my parents' house, my mom used an exercise ball to calm her down enough to go to sleep. It worked.

And check out what I made on my computer! Sydney animation!

Thanksgiving in Pictures

I couldn't let November go by without posting more than once. I don't have too much to write but thought I'd share some of the pictures from Thanksgiving week at my parents' house. Even though I live only an hour from my parents, I went over there early and spent most of the week with them. Ever since I spent one Thanksgiving completely by myself, I've always had a greater desire to do it up right and be with as many family and friends as possible. I have so many fond memories of hanging out in the kitchen and cooking as a family and this Thanksgiving didn't disappoint.

1) My cute sister. She cooked all the hard stuff. 2) My cute parents, working together. 3) My cute baby, watching all the hard work. 4) Various pots, cooking away in one of the two kitchens. 5) Dusted off the good tableware. 6) Pretty Christmas decorations. I'm jealous. 7) Yummy peee-can pie courtesy of uncle Trevor. 8) And one more picture of my [drooling] baby for good measure.

Three Months

My child is three months old. When did this happen?

Since I haven't started a baby book for Sydney [and might not ever because there's a good chance I'll neglect doing one for any subsequent children and don't want to get accused of favoritism down the road], I wanted to write down some of the more noteworthy moments of late even though roughly 100% of you don't care. Except maybe her grandmothers.

- Rolls over from tummy to back. She did it the first time a couple of weeks ago and completely took me by surprise. I squealed with delight while she looked at me like I was crazy. She does it every now and then but I don't think she knows what she's doing. I think she pushes up so far that the weight of her head tips her over like an upside down Weeble.

- Loves to eat her hands or anything close to her mouth. Exhibit A:

- Smiles all the time and loves being talked to or even just people talking near her. She'll imitate the noises you make and will sometimes mimic your facial expressions, including sticking her tongue out back at you. Exhibits B & C:

- Can grasp some things though I don't think it's on purpose because she does it a lot to my hair and I'd like to think she's not that mean.

- Has been sleeping through the night since about 10 weeks old. Usually from about 8-10 at night to 6-8 in the morning. I have no idea how it happened. It may have something to do with her straight jacket aka the Miracle Blanket. I thought I'd freak out when it first happened because I'd think she stopped breathing but turns out I was too tired to notice. Exhibit D: [She loves this. I swear.]

- When she's awake, she's hardly ever still. Probably why she sleeps so well at night.

- She LOVES her play gym and her swing and looking at lights. 

- Squeals so high when she's excited that it makes the neighborhood dogs freak out

- Has started to get picky on which pacifiers and bottles she likes.

- She's started to get more temperamental. It totally throws me. She's so mellow and manageable about 95% of the time and then that one time when she's fussing for what seems like no reason, I'm completely at a loss and whine like crazy for all of 10 minutes about how hard my life is and then she falls asleep. This is clearly an indication that Heavenly Father knew I couldn't hack it as a single parent with a really fussy baby.

- Has had her first "My mom is so mean" moment when she had a bit of a stuffy nose last week and I attacked her with the bulb sucker every few hours for several days.

- She burps like a man. I do not exaggerate. Ask any member of my family. I'm so proud.

- She can arch her back while laying down. And also while in her tub which is great fun when she goes back down.

I like to consult this chart and conclude that my child is aMAZingly gifted. She's been in the "Advanced Skills" column for her age her entire life. She's going to be doing quadratic equations any second now. I just know it.

[via this website]

That's a little bit about our Sydney. And here's one more picture because I love this new onesie- For dad and grandpa.