Baby Mim - 4 Months

Dear Mim,

Can I just start this post with a big giant THANK YOU for being my baby.  You may just be the greatest little peanut in the world and I have no idea how I got so lucky to get you as mine.  I am so crazy madly in love with you.  Borderline obsessed, is more like it.  You make me happier than I ever thought possible.  

You have been so much fun this month.  It's amazing to watch your little personality develop and has been such a pleasure getting to know you.  You are such a happy laid-back baby.  You love to smile, squeal and laugh.  You quietly watch your big brother so intently when he's around; like you're trying to memorize him and study everything he does.  But as soon as he's not around, you take over the show with big laughs, screams and funny noises.  You have become quite the talker and are super chatty with everyone.  You make the cutest little love noises and squeals.  You love to laugh and will bust out laughing, just because other people laugh, which makes us all laugh even harder.  You give smiles freely and just one smile makes everyone around you fall in love with you.  You are ticklish, which I absolutely love to no end.  Mainly under your chin and on your belly.  Your giggle is the greatest noise ever.  You also just started singing back to us when we sing to you.  I love this!  You're such a big music fan and love it when daddy sings to you or plays you the guitar.  I have a feeling you're going to much more musical than your brother, which will make your daddy so happy.

You are growing like a weed and I'm surprised every day by just how big you're getting.  At your 4 month pediatrician appointment you weighed almost 15 pounds and were 25 inches long.  You're much more of a chunk than your brother was at this age and it shows in your chubby cheeks and amazing thigh rolls.  You're wearing size 2 diapers (but probably not for much longer) and 6 month clothing.  Your eyes are still blue right now, which surprises me.  I thought for sure they'd have already turned dark.  Some days I think they're darker than other, but they're still blue.  As for hair, you still have very little.  Mac's hair was starting to come in blonde around this age, but we're still not sure about your hair color.  The little that you do have on the back of your head is dark, but the top is getting lighter.  That's still a mystery.  

You absolutely love your hands and fingers.  It's probably a combination of self-soothing and early teething, but you chew and suck on your hands/fingers all day long.  Your hands are always in your mouth and your sleeves are always soaked.  I don't even want to think about how much dog hair you're probably swallowing a day.  That's protein and helps building immunizes, right?  

Your sleep right now is good.  You usually wake up once a night for a bottle - we either do a dreamfeed with you before we go to bed or you wake up on your own around 3:00 a.m.  And then you are up for the day around 6:00 a.m.  Of course, we'd love it if you slept in a tiny bit longer (since Mac's not usually awake before 7:00), but it's really hard to complain when you're such a good little sleeper.  We have our bedtime routine figured out and you usually go down very easily at the end of the day.  I love giving you a bath and rocking you to sleep every night.  It's actually my favorite part of the workday because it's such a sweet quiet time that I get you all to myself to love on you.  You are such a snuggle bug as we cuddle up in your rocking chair under a blanket.  You wrap your hand around my fingers every night while you eat and fall asleep in my arms, breathing on my neck.  It's perfection.  Most of the time your middle of the night wake-ups are short and you go right back to sleep after you eat.  Occasionally you'll be wide-awake and talkative in the middle of the night (like last night), but I can leave you in your crib and you'll just chat away until you fall asleep.  Your naps are less consistent.  The first one is about 90 minutes after you first wake up, but the rest of them are pretty unpredictable and can last anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours.  

We're still swaddling you at night, but you always manage to get your hands up to your face, so you can chew/suck on your fingers.  I'm telling you - you love them!  We're probably close to the end of the swaddling days as you're just starting to roll over now.  You've rolled from your back to your tummy a few times while unswaddled and playing on the floor, but haven't shown any inclination to roll at night in your crib while swaddled.  Breaking the swaddle habit was hard for us with Mac - I really hope it's easier this time around.  

I don't even really know what else to say, other than you are an absolute delight and we are so happy to have you in our lives.  I just can't seem to get enough of you right now, which makes it nearly impossible for me to leave to go to work in the mornings.  It is so easy to be with you and to love you.  You make everything better.  Sometimes when I'm holding you and rocking you to sleep I get overwhelmed with emotion and worried about how to keep you safe.  The recent events in our city makes me so sad and nervous and frustrated.  I struggle with how I'll ever be able to properly talk to you about our world and teach you how to be a caring, open-minded, fair and generous person.  Sometimes I just wish I could keep you small and protected forever.  

You are just so wonderful, little one.  I don't even really know how to put down into words just how lovely you are.  People that meet you are usually blown away by how sweet happy and beautiful you are.  No one can seem to get enough of you.

So again, thank you for being amazing.  For being so sweet.  For being you.  For being my baby.

Love, 

Your mama

Likes:

- laughing

- smiling

- your fingers/hands

- baths

- watching your brother

- grabbing the rings on your playmat

- squealing

- singing 

- music

- standing up 

- sleeping

Dislikes:

- being cold

- being overly tired

- being in the car seat while not moving

For comparison: