4 Month Birthday Letter

Dear Belle,
I pretty much have been dreading your 4 month letter since the day you were born. I knew your 4 month birthday letter would coincide with me going back to work. Well, here it is. Mommy goes back to work tomorrow. You'll get to spend the next month with your daddy. Oh what fun you are going to have. You love your daddy so much and he loves you. I know he's a little nervous about being your primary care giver so it's ok to go a little easy on him....just not too easy, we don't want dad to think the last 4 months has been a cake walk for mom! :)

This last month we have really watched you grow. Not just physically, but mentally too. This month, you started laughing out loud and we have loved every minute of it. Your dad and grandpa love giving your raspberries on your stomach and we all get to enjoy you laughing when they do this. You will also smile back at us when we smile at you. You have one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen sweet Belle. Please never stop smiling. Every time you smile at us it makes our day! You have also started grabbing onto your toys and holding them yourself. It's been really awesome to watch you discover your toys and figure out how they work.

You also rolled over from your back onto your stomach this month. At week 7 you could go from your stomach to your back, but going the other way took some time and some more strength. You sure do have it down now. At first it would happen when you would rock back and forth. Now, you can roll over in a quick motion, and bam, you're back on your stomach. Your dad and I missed it the first time you did it. We put you on your play mat on your back and walked in the kitchen to get some breakfast. A minute later we both turned the corner and there you were smiling at us with that toothless grin on your stomach.

I'm not sure if all babies are as flexible as you but holy cow, you are flexible. You use your big toe just like you do your thumb. It's your second favorite thing to suck on, the first being your thumb. It's pretty amazing to see your toe go right into your mouth with ease. Such a sweet, funny baby you are!

This month you also had your first hotel stay. You did great. We went down to San Diego for a night figuring if you had a complete meltdown, we were close enough we could just drive you home to the comforts of your own bed. We shouldn't have been worried though, you really are the best flow with the punches baby ever. You adapt to every situation we put you in.

As I sit here and write up all the wonderful things you've accomplished this month, all I can really think about is how much I have loved the first 4 months with you. There is a Carter's Clothes commercial on right now where this little girl is talking to her mother and she says, "I'll be honest, the first night home was a doozy. But soon you got the hang of it, and I got the hang of it." This commercial made me laugh out loud and cry at the same time. I couldn't have said it better myself, though I think if you could talk right now, you'd probably say the first month was a doozy. I'd probably have to agree. I can't believe how far we've come kiddo. You were only 10 days old when everyone went back to work or went home and then it was just me and you. Thankfully, your grandma came over to help the next 3 weeks and then we were really on our own. We had our good days and our not so good days, but we still survived each and every day. There were days we would laugh together, cry together and fell asleep together. We studied together, sang together (well, you babbled), and played together. But the best part of our 4 months together, was loving each other together. You taught me a lot, and hopefully I taught you a lot. I've had a job since I was 17. Sometimes two jobs at one time, but being a mother to a newborn was one of the toughest things I have ever done. Looking at your now, I can smile through my tears and know that I did a good job. You made it easy though. You are the perfect baby. I love you Isabelle. Returning to work was a tough decision and one that I wish didn't have to be made. But for the next month, you'll be with your daddy, have the time of your life. I  can't wait to see what kind of trouble you two get into!

Love,
Mom and Dad

 

3 Month Birthday Letter

Dear Belle,
Happy 3 month birthday! I know I'm extremely late on writing and publishing your 3 month birthday letter, but I had to write a paper for school and finish up a bunch of other homework, take a bunch of tests and before I knew it, the 27th had come and gone. Don't worry, it won't be the last time I'm late on one of my letters to you, but I'll get it done. I enjoy writing them as much as I hope one day you enjoy reading them.

This month had a few more firsts for you! You started tracking things with your eyes. If we put a rattle or some other object in front of your face, you will follow it if we move it slowly from one side to the other. This has it's pros and cons. You've also started tracking me as I try to sneak out of your room after putting you down for a nap. When you were younger, I could put you down and sneak out. Now when you see me leave, you start crying. It's not too bad though, you are a pretty good napper. Though at the beginning of the month you would cry when you thought you were about to go down for a nap, now you've calmed down and go down pretty easily. I would always talk to you when you were crying because you were about to go down and mention that one day you're going to want to take naps and not have time to! :) You've been a bit challenging with your night sleeping this month however. Your first month you got up A LOT to feed. Your second month you really only got up once in the middle of the night and then again around 6:30am or 7am to start your day. Your third month of life however, you reverted back to getting up A LOT to feed. This made for some extremely long days for your mama. I am really surprised how the human body can function without sleep. Since I'm writing this so late in your third month, I can happily say you've gone back to being a decent night sleeper. Thank goodness! I still get giddy thinking about the day you'll sleep from 8pm until 8am. Giddy I tell you, giddy! Some  say I'll have to wait until you're a teenager for that to happen. Um no. I need that to happen before you're a teenager!

This month you've also started grabbing things and being able to hold them in your hand. It was been such a pleasure to watch you develop your fine motor skills. I've been able to watch you try to grab your rattles or toys to being able to. You've also discovered your hands. I really wish we would have been able to get that on video! The look on your face when you realized your hands were attached to your body was hilarious. You have been putting your hands in your mouth the last couple of months but now you know they are your hands. And oh my goodness do you love putting your hands in your mouth. It's hard to get a picture of you with your hands not in your mouth!

Your dad and I talk all the time how big you are getting. You are growing leaps and bounds and on October 24th you were 10 lbs 13 oz! Not only are your growing in size but in your development as well. Everyday you amaze us with your ability. At least once a day your dad and I say in amazement to each other, did you see what she just did??

We are so blessed to call you our baby. You really are a good and happy baby and we love you so much!

 Love, Mom and Dad
P.S. It took me two days and a million pictures to get a good one. You were being so stubborn during this photo shoot. Most of the pictures were of you putting your dress in your mouth and sucking on it or not looking at the camera. The picture below pretty much sums up what you thought of taking the picture this month. You silly kid!