4 Months Old

It is so hard to believe that you have been with us for 4 months already.  At the same time, it seems like you've been part of our family forever.  The past month has flown by, and you are really starting to grow up.  You look a lot older than you are because of your size.  Your 26.5 inches puts you in the 95th percentile for length, even though you are only in the 50th percentile for weight at just over 15 pounds.   The look of your face is also starting to change.  You look less and less like your sister and more like your own little person. I can't put my finger on exactly what has changed, but you are changing.  Teachers from other rooms at school that visit your room from time to time have not recognized you at times over the past few weeks.  Great-grandma York also didn't recognize you; in her defense, one of my friends was holding you, so it was an unusual context.  But, the point is still made...you are growing up!

I think we can officially say that you are done with pacifiers.  You have discovered your thumb, and now prefer that or your fingers to the man-made pacifier.  I guess you just want to be like your big sis.  I just hope it is as easy to get you to stop using it as your sister (thanks to the dentist)!

You've not only discovered that your hands can go in your mouth, but you are also learning to use them to reach for things.  You love reaching for the animals that hang from your bouncy chair, or the frog that we've put on your car seat.  You have even reached out, and successfully grabbed, your sister's hair.  I think you liked that a lot more than she did.  You follow everything with your eyes, and have started turning your head to follow certain sounds. 

The biggest change lately is probably the one to your diet.  You are eating rice cereal in the evenings!  It has only been a few days, and we still aren't sleeping consistently through the night, so I hope that will change in the coming month.  Mommy could definitely use some consistently good sleep.  We are also working to let you fall asleep by yourself (without rocking or cuddling).  The next few weeks might be a little painful, but we know it will pay off in the long run. 

I know you are going to change by leaps and bounds over the next couple of months.  You are so close to rolling over, and once you master that, crawling will come all too quickly. I am excited to celebrate all of the milestones that we have coming up, but I am also going to enjoy each day with  you just like you are now. 

Welcome Fall

The past month has been a blur.  Work has been busy, and I made my first overnight work trip since returning after Barrett's birth.  It was only one night in Washington, DC, but it almost turned into 2 nights when I left my driver's license at Treasury.  At home...well, we haven't been at home a lot, so maybe I should say...outside of work, we've been busy too.  We were at the Lake of the Ozarks last weekend to see my parents new boat.  It was cool, overcast, and rainy, but that has never stopped us from boating before.  After such a hot, dry summer, it is really a pleasant change.  None of us were complaining. 

With cooler weather, unfortunately, comes stuffy noses.  We've all had them.  Audrey was even a little horse the other morning, so I made her a cup of tea with honey.  It was decaf, and I made it very weak, so she loved it.  Now, she keeps coming in the kitchen saying she doesn't feel good because she wants tea.  I guess she hopes that I will offer it if she acts like she is sick. I keep trying to tell her that if she wants tea, she can just ask for it. 

In the fall, I also like to break out some of our favorite fall/winter foods.  Audrey is also enamored with the items we are bringing back into our normal rotation of meals.  We had chili one night last week.  The next morning she said, "Mommy, chili soup is de-yummy-ous (I think that is the best way to spell it).  It is much better than the green soup at school."  I am not sure what the green soup is, I think it might be their white chicken chili, but I do agree that our chili is de-yummy-ous. 

Even with all of the great weather and yummy fall foods, I think my favorite part of fall is the change of pace that it holds for our family.  We enjoy going to the respective lakes where our families are, and boating, and swimming.  But it is a lot of travel and doesn't leave us much time at home. So, at this point in the year as the frequency of our trips slows down, it is a welcome change.  We have a few fun activities coming up over the next few weeks, but we will also have basically every other weekend at home.  That means more time for going to the park, enjoying bike rides, and maybe even a little bit of looking at houses.  As much as Audrey loves the lake, I think she'll be alright with the change of pace too! 

Boating in a Hurricane

Thanks  to Hurricane Isaac, we got a ton of rain to help us celebrate Labor Day weekend.  We did not let that stop us from getting out on the lake though.  We were in Greenville, and the rain caused the lake to raise almost 4 feet overnight Friday.  It was still raining Saturday, but Grandpa Pat put the full enclosure on the Cobalt, and we went for a ride. 

This weekend we also got to meet my brother's puppy, Megatron.  He is so adorable, that we decided the name Meggie Weggie Poo fits him much better.  You can decide for yourself.

We returned from Greenville early Monday so that we'd have time for a zoo visit that afternoon.  We made it a real St. Louis holiday and went to Ted Drewe's afterwards too.