Fiona at 4 Months

How did this happen? How is it possible that 4 months ago this little person was just a fetus, swimming around in my uterus with what I imagine amounts to gills, having recently lost the last of her tail?! Yet here she is- communicating, learning, rolling over, laughing, showing her personality...And so it goes. 3 days ago was her 4 month birthday. This last month seems to have gone by particularly fast-owing to the holidays I suspect. She chose this day to roll over from back to front for the first time and has been practicing it since. This was the very first time she did so, and she seemed quite pleased and intrigued by her new vantage point. Despite a small self-inflicted injury, she sure is cute, although she was not much in the mood for smiling. Too full of wonderment over her new accomplishment I believe.







I love those great big blue eyes that our girls are blessed with, along with that constant drop of drool poised on her chin, evidence of teething.
She is on a pretty good night routine of sorts. She goes down for the night promptly at 7 most of the time. She'll sleep for a few hours, usually waking sometime around midnight for her first feed in the night. There is usually another one, then a last one around 6 am. I'm not thrilled with the night feedings, but am so happy about the 7pm bedtime. I feel like that's when my day really begins. From 7am-7pm I may not be able to get much done in the way of productivity or enjoyment, but after 7pm, I'm a free agent. I'm trying to wean her off the night feedings, but she gets so mad! Her daytime schedule is not nearly so liberating. She naps often, as much as every 1 1/2 hours, but for only 45 minutes, precisely, each time. I can count it to the minute each time. You;d be amazed how fast 45 minutes go by when you are trying to clean/eat/get ready/rest/recover/enjoy...Usually it feels like about 15. Strange. Luckily she is pretty much happy whenever she is awake. When she is fussy, which is mild, it is generally only to eat, sleep, or be held. All of these possible reasons are easily remedied, so we don't hear much crying. When she does protest, she works up to it very gradually, as if to say "Um, hey- If you get a minute, could you help me out here? No rush, just whenever. If it's convenient. If you're coming by this way, I wouldn't mind being held, but don't worry about it. I'll just be waiting. Over here. So, whenever." If consistently ignored she will gradually increase her pleas until she gets the attention she seeks, but manages to be quite innocuous about the whole thing. Wonderful. She still smiles with little encouragement, and Bella can always get a good grin out of her. I need to take video of Bella doing her 'baby talk' to Fiona, a request I frequently ask when Fiona is starting to fuss and i am out of reach. Also, she's huge! Timm took her for a checkup about 3 weeks ago, and she was in the 75% for weight, and the 95% for height, although I'm afraid that's all in her torso and she has Taylor- short- leg genes. There's still hope. Speaking of those legs, she has the cutest super chunk legs that most babies have, but Bella never had. (Being in the 2nd percentile and all...) I love when she tries to communicate. All those guttural sounds she is fond of making, as well as the 'G's and attention-seeking coughs and yelps. I love to see her face light up when you imitate her language, as if she understands the exchange, or at least comprehends that you are communicating.
So that's pretty much Fiona right now. A love, a joy, a beauty. It's a good thing she's shed those gills and tail though, or she might not hold quite the same allure.