Dear Tiny Baby,
You are four months old. At your three month check-up, you weighed a whopping 9 pounds, 11 ounces. At your four month check-up, you managed to top the scales at 10 pounds, 2 ounces. While your 23 inches of amazing length has you on the growth chart around the 8th percentile, your weight has dropped below the curve. You. Are. Tiny. Last week, a woman said "Oh my goodness! Your baby looks just like a little pixie!". I love how little you are for so many reasons; I stress about how little you are because, as your food source, I can't help but worry that I'm the cause of your wee-ness. Your sisters were 2 pounds smaller than you at this age - those were our tiny babies. I guess that's what we make around here: teeny, tiny, girls.
Here's what you should know about your four-month old self: You smile countless times a day. It is a "tickled with the world" kind of smile that makes you tuck your chin, turn your face, and burrow into whoever is holding you... only to peek back out, still smirking. Abby and Elise have both gotten you to giggle. And both times have been while you were lying on the bathroom counter, mid-diaper-change. You are currently a rotten napper, unless you're tucked away in a sling or pouch attached to me. You LOVE to be worn. Nights, however, are lovely - you're in bed anywhere between 7:30-8:30, you wake around 3:00 and eat, and then sleep again until somewhere between 7:30-8:30 in the morning. Your 3:00 middle-of-the-night feeding often takes place back in my bed and then we just snuggle in for the rest of the night. You LOVE the sky. As soon as we walk outside, your eyes widen, your face softens, and you gaze. You've completed two full sessions of Baby Sing and Sign with Gran. The first month of classes, you slept through part of every class. The second month, you were awake the whole time, smiling and watching. I love teaching these classes - it takes my love to a whole new level to look up and see MY BABY grinning back at me. You mutter. Oh the muttering! If you're hungry or tired, with or without a pacifier in your mouth, you mumble and complain - not crying - just downright muttering. You and the pacifier are friends - it doesn't matter the brand or style, color or size. You'll take it. Although, in the past few days, you've discovered that two of your fingers work pretty well also - never your thumb - just two of your fingers. Abby and Elise have started carrying you around, just in the house and near an adult. They love to walk you to the window or their bedroom, all the while narrating what you might be seeing. Abby did almost drop you today when you spit up all over her. Luckily you don't spit up much or else we might have to put an end to the carrying. The carseat makes you mad sometimes, but if we all sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" you usually settle back down. Elise gets in your face all day long saying "Hello!" or "Hi!" and Abby catches your eye regularly with "Oh, hello doo-doo!". You can thank Daddy for being called "doo-doo", as well as "Anna pants". So far, the big girls have never asked if we can give you back. In fact, I think they grow more fond of you daily. Good thing something around here is growing... :)
