Last week, you turned four months old. With the way you took a hold of your schedule and life and said, "this is how it's gonna be, Momma", I felt like you turned 18 years old.
I know, you're crying in this picture, but I don't want you to get the idea that you are rainbows and sunshine all of the time. So, yeah, sometimes you cry. This picture is pure four month old Gracie. You did not want to wear those silly sandals, and you let me know it. You did not want to lay down on the floor and smile, and you let me know it. In the fourth month of your life, you have marched to the top of the mountain and shouted out "I'm Grace, and I'll do what I want!" I love it. I don't want you to be a kid who just lays back and lets Daddy and I make all the decisions without your input. I want to have discussions and debates with you and find our common and uncommon ground. Well, we definitely found our uncommon ground the day of this photo, and it was those sandals.
Suddenly, in the middle of this month, you decided to start taking naps. I'm not talking 15 minute naps in the swing that give me time to catch my breath. These are 45 minute - 1 1/2 hour naps, twice a day! Suddenly, I have time to drink my cup of coffee without reheating it three times, and I read most of the front page of the Chicago Tribune. I can take showers without taking you into the bathroom in your bouncer with me and showering with the curtain halfway open. I actually did a whole 20 minute yoga video the other morning. You know what though? I miss you during that time. I find myself checking the monitor a ridiculous amount of times, and popping my head in your nursery just to watch you sleep. I'm just a little jealous of your blanket you snuggle up to and wish it was my shoulder. I'm also jealous that you made this little nap schedule up on your own. You didn't want or need my help. You did it on your own time. You're already so grown up.Soon after you started napping, other big milestones started happening. You no longer wanted to be swaddled, you would start the night in one place in your crib and end up in a completely different position by morning, and then you started rolling over on your side from you back. Suddenly, you were a baby on the move. You kick your feet in the bathtub now, and throw your head back and laugh, like really LAUGH, when you think something is funny. Sometimes this thing is Daisy, and she is licking your feet while you gurgle your appreciation. You're learning to pet her gently, and she is extremely patient and loving with you, even when you pulled out an entire handful of her hair.
You ended your fourth month with your very first vacation at Grandma and Grandpa F's lake cottage. I was a wreck leading up to the trip worrying about the car ride and how well you would sleep at night and other various things. I should have spent all that time worrying doing something else because you were just perfect. I'll never forget the look on your face when the water rushed up over your toes for the first time on the beach, or how sweet you looked napping in just your diaper after a long morning of playing. One night, as Daddy and I were toweling you off after taking a bath, you looked up at us and touched my face with your hand. It was the absolute perfect moment.
You are keeping us on our toes, Gracie, and we love it. I think it's safe to say that you have us in the palm of your tiny little dimpled hand.
xoxo
Momma
