4 Months!

Last week Taylor Anne turned 4 months. I can't believe how fast it has flown by, yet there are times when I feel I have known her so much longer than 4 months. I remember those first few weeks and so many people telling me to enjoy every second because time will fly by. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure what there was to enjoy. Was I missing something? Knowing I had wanted Taylor Anne for so long and then not really enjoying those first few weeks made me feel all sorts of guilt. Maybe I am not a newborn mommy, maybe I just had to much change in my life in those first two months or maybe it was something else, but I do know that this last month has been my very favorite and I completely understand now what those people were trying to tell me. We left Taylor Anne for three days with my mom while we went to the Sugar Bowl and when I got home it seemed like she had gotten so much bigger and she had even picked up a new trick. I was only gone three days, actually 66 hours to be exact and I felt like I had already missed out.

Well Taylor went in for her 4 month check up and she is now 14 lbs and 23 inches long. She is now in the 60th percentile for weight which makes Dustin and I laugh hysterically since she was in the 4th percentile at her 2 week appointment. Ashley (my sister) calls her little "mish" because her legs look like she could be the Michelin baby. So here are just a few wonderful things about Taylor Anne:

• She is definitely a grunter, almost to the point of annoying. She is not really mad or upset when she does it, I think it's just her way of communicating, but she is constantly sounding like she's trying to push something out...
• She is sleeping through the night... hooray! Maybe that's why this has been my favorite month. Right before she turned 3 months, we moved her into the crib and she started sleeping through the night. There have only been 2 nights that she hasn't. This is my very favorite accomplishment! Way to go Tay Tay!
  
• She is smiling a ton. She is so happy when she wakes up in the morning (complete opposite of her mama). She has even had a couple of belly laughs. When my mom was here and we were sitting on the couch, I was rubbing her belly and she was laughing away.
  
• She is already a manipulator. She has been doing a bit of fake crying the last week or so. If I try to get stern with her she just starts smiling at me which in turn makes me melt and then I completely forget what I was even stern about.
• She is done with the binky, but her hands are always in her mouth.
• While I was in N'Awlins, she started blowing bubbles or sticking out her tongue and blowing, not quite sure what you call that.
  
• She loves music. My mom got a CD called the Lullabies of Jesus. It honestly puts her right to sleep which is very helpful since she totally fights falling asleep.
• She loves football and basketball. My mom and I were at lunch and she was getting fussy so I went to grab the diaper bag out of the car and my mom walked her over to a water feature to help soothe her. She calmed right down and my mom thought the mini waterfall was working. When she looked at Taylor Anne, her eyes were glued to the football game on TV. Every daddy's dream.
  
• She started Rice Cereal this week. I was so excited when our pediatrician told us to start her on it. I was at the grocery store and there was a woman and her daughter admiring Taylor. She was asking me all sort of the usual questions, and then I proceeded to tell her she was starting rice cereal that night. I sounded like a totally geeky mom! Here is Taylor's first attempt at it below (I didn't want to bore anyone with the video footage, so I just posted some pics, but mom and dad, I'll send you the video):

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