4 Month Comparisons

Makenzie

Presley

And little miss Avery

Avery is the only blondie from birth.  Makenzie's hair started changing to blonde by around 6 months old, and as you can see from the pictures, it's still dark at 4 months! I think it's so neat that Makenzie and Avery favor their Daddy (and each other) and both girls have Wayne's blood type while Presley has mine.

Some things Avery started doing this week:

1.  She started cereal.  I, for one, was not thrilled about this, but her Dr. told me to go ahead with it.  I just wasn't ready.  I'm good with keeping her my baby for as long as possible.  However, Avery on the other hand, was just thrilled with the new food.  She's eating 1 TBS of cereal first thing in the morning for now, and she is gobbling it up!  The first morning I attempted this I just knew it was going to be a huge mess.  I didn't think she was ready for it, and I assumed I'd be proven correct and get to table the cereal business for another month.  Needless to say as soon as I put the spoon in the air and headed toward her with it she had her mouth open and ready. She swallowed the first bite and was ready for the next.  Guess she was ready for cereal after all :(

2.  I'm not sure if Avery's teething or going through a growth spurt or what, but since Sunday night she has been waking up at 3:00 am and talking to herself.  Well what's wrong with that you say? At least she's not crying....I'll tell you what's wrong with it.  The little stinker gets to talking to herself and she gets louder and louder until finally I get out of bed and walk into her room to see her sweet, smiling self.  Sunday night I picked her up, changed her diaper, and gave her pacifier back to her.  I thought maybe she was hungry or she'd slept too long that day or something, but as soon as I gave her the pacifier she got quiet and looked like she'd go back to sleep.  I put her in the bed with us and she was out cold within 10 minutes so I moved her to the pack-n-play in our room where she spent (and slept soundly I might add) the remainder of the night. The same thing happened Monday night.  Then last night I decided to try a different approach.  Instead of picking her up when I went into her room, I just stuck her pacifier back in her mouth.  Immediately she closed her eyes and *looked* like she was dozing back off.  I went back to bed.  Within 10 minutes, she was talking again so I went back in and gave the pacifier back to her.  No luck.  I picked her up, took her to our bed, stuck her pacifier in, she turns into me and snuggles up, and sure enough, out cold within 2 minutes!  I think this little girl is playing me! Maybe she just likes to snuggle with Mommy...who knows? Truth be told, I'm kinda enjoying snuggling with her too, but Wayne and I have always said we'd never have children in the bed with us. I definitely don't want to make this 3 am wake up call a habit either so I have no idea what to do other than let her talk herself back to sleep.  The problem with that is she's so loud I'm afraid she'll wake everyone else in the house up. I'm not getting any sleep anyway so why not just snuggle with her...right?  Hopefully, it's just a growth spurt and she'll work it out soon!

Avery is 4 Months Old Today!

Time is flying by, and it really needs to slow down! I can't believe how big Avery is getting and how much she's changing.

We are soo in love with this sweet baby girl! She is the happiest thing ever, and I couldn't be more thankful that she's as easy going as she is.  She will never have to question if she's loved! Between Wayne, both girls, and myself, she gets enough kisses to cover her from head to toe (daily!)!

She's just as precious when she's sleeping!

This little stinker is still just as serious as ever and refused to so much as grin at me this morning when I took her picture. She got shots two days ago and hasn't been feeling the greatest since :(

Miss Avery now weighs 13 lbs. 6.4 oz. and is 26 in. long which means she's gained nearly 2 lbs. and grown 3.5 in. since her 2 month appointment! She's in the 95th percentile for height and the 90th percentile for weight.  Makenzie's baby book is stored in the attic so I couldn't check it, but I did check Presley's to see how they compare, and at this age Presley weighed a pound more than Avery, but was 2 in. shorter.  In fact, Presley wasn't the same length as Avery is now until she was almost 9 months old! Wow...

And this is the face she gives me when she is sick to death of me trying to take her picture! LOL

Here are some things she's done lately:

• Squealed with delight
• Made a laughing sound (although it's not quite the belly laugh I'm waiting on)
• "Talks" to us
• She is sitting up really well assisted or in her bumbo.  Her doctor says she has a strong back and will be sitting up quickly.
• She found her feet and loves to try to play with them
• She can use her hands pretty well and has mastered pulling her pacifier out and throwing it at me!

I can't wait to see what she does this month! I do hope she'll slow down and be my baby for awhile.  She reminds me so much of Makenzie as a baby.  Makenzie was very serious and curious too, and she did everything really quickly- she sat up alone at 4 months, crawled at 6 months, pulled up at 7 months, and walked by the end of her 9th month- so I won't be surprised if Avery does the same.  I have to say I hope she takes her time though!

Play Date With Audrey

Avery and Audrey are exactly a week apart in age, and I just love when Stevanie and I are able to get together for a visit.  We just can't get enough of these little girls...so precious!  On this day we met at Local Culture for some ice cream and a little cuddling.  Both girls are right at 4 months old and getting to be sooo much fun!

Still a little wobbly, but both girls sit up enough for us to get pictures :)

Oops...there goes Avery.

I LOVE the look on Audrey's face in this picture...it has "will you please get this chick off of me?" written all over it!

These girls are going to have so much fun the older they get :)

Avery's First Time to Swim (4th of July)

We went to my parents' house for some 4th of July fun yesterday, and I just couldn't resist letting Miss Avery try out her swimsuit and the pool for the first time too!  I had put her little toes in the water a couple of weeks before, and she didn't cry so I was hopeful she'd enjoy the water.  Here she is posing in her swimsuit.  My parents recently built a pool house, and it has been perfect for Avery on the days when we're at the pool.  She can nap inside with the air conditioning while we play in the pool.  It works out great for her and for my big girls too!

I was nervous about her getting a sunburn since she's so fair complected so my Dad, the hero that he is, brought a huge umbrella over to keep the sun off of her.  I handed her in to her Daddy, and as soon as she felt the water she got the biggest grin on her face.

Avery loves to take baths, and since the pool was so warm yesterday, I should have known she'd love every minute.  She just kicked those little legs, and when I got in with her, she even sat in one of those little boats that have the leg holes.   

After about 30 minutes in the pool, she let me know she was done! Ha! I got her out, dried her off, changed her clothes, put her pacifier in her mouth, and she was out cold! She is such a happy girl...seriously, this child rarely cries!   You would not believe how many people ask me, "Is she always this good?" or "Does the child ever cry?" It's so nice to be able to take her everywhere and not have to worry about her getting fussy.  She even sits through church with us without making a sound.  We love this sweet baby girl, and we're loving every minute with her.