New Parent Orientation: Time Flys When You're Havin' Fun!

So I realize it's been almost a month. A MONTH!!! That means Miss Olivia is 4 months old today:) Happy birthday baby girl!
There is so much to tell - this month has been one full of smiles, new sounds, new moves and lots and lots of learning. And of course - tons of fun!

The smiles are becoming more frequent and she not only smiles back, but she smiles first. She smiles at toys, at herself in the mirror, at mommy and daddy and sometimes she smiles at nothing - she just feels like smiling :)

Last month, she was cooing sweet "hooooos" and "ahhhhs". This months she is grunting and screaming and squealing.

As far as the new moves go, she is on a roll - literally! On February 10 she figured out how to get to her tummy from her back. And she hasn't quit yet. She rolls over almost instanly if you put her on her back. She even sleeps on her tummy in bed now. And Katie and Mike got to witness a first with us just last night when she figured out how to roll back to her back :) So now she can roll a full rotation.

She is starting to scoot, although we're not sure it's intentional. She can get her knees up underneath of her and then she kicks like a frog and makes some pretty good headway. We are sure she will be crawling within a month; two at the most! She is also loving the bounce, so our next purchase will be a Johnny Jump Up. Can't wait for that!

We started her on rice cereal and she's getting really good with the spoon. At first she just wanted to suck on it like she sucks on everything (even the bars of her crib) but she will open her mouth now and "chew" on the cereal. She seriously sucks and chews on everything. Her hands, blankets, toys, our faces and hands, my collarbone...everything!

We gave her her first bites of food including carrots, banana, mashed potatoes and ice cream. Of course, these weren't really "bites." They were just a teeny little taste. She loved all of it except the carrots - those hit her lap faster than they went in :)

First taste of Ice Cream

She loves pulling hair and pinching faces. She slobbers and pukes and poops and makes all kinds of messes. She wakes up to eat every 2 hours at night and wears a full load of laundry or two a week. All of these things sound like and are a lot of work. But you know what? They are all pieces to the puzzle that makes Olivia and I wouldn't trade or change one single thing about our little nugget. She is perfect and beautiful and the most joyous little girl we could ever have. We are blessed!

It really is amazing to watch her grow and learn. There is so much more that has happened and developed in the past month, but I can't write about them all. I will do better at keeping up and then I can go into more of the wonder of her.

I hope you are all doing well! Talk to you soon!!!