I seriously can’t even believe we’re 1/3 of the way through Madelyn’s first year. Wow. December 9th marked four months of Madelyn! We are constantly blown away by what a little person she is! Every day is better than the next and it’s really a fun age! Her personality is shining through, she expresses wants, needs, and even her opinion, and I am even finding that over this time, I am able to read her better.

Before having a baby, I never believed that a mom could really know her baby’s different cries. And… now I do! It feels like such an accomplishment. I can tell when she’s hungry. I can tell when she’s sleepy. I can tell when she has a diaper that is anything but empty. This method of communication blows my mind, and I’m so glad to be involved in Madelyn’s little language.

At four months, Madelyn has…

• rolled over! She is such a rolie-polie! From her back to her tummy, she uses her hips to flop her to her side and then enlists her arm muscles to push her past her side to her chest. She doesn’t really LOOOOOVE being on her chest for very long, but she definitely gives herself a mental high-5 when she arrives on her tummy.
• started to giggle. Be still. Thump thump. My heart. Thump thump. With each giggle, I become a bigger puddle than Frosty the Snowman in a latke skillet. I mean, seriously? It’s not fair how cute baby giggles are. I can’t get anything done because all I want to do is just play with Madelyn for an end result of a giggle. It starts as a deep, below-the-belt gurgle and then she gasps for air. It ends with a higher pitched squeal and the whole thing starts over and blends together. It seriously makes my day, my hour, my minute. Madelyn better keep this up when she’s a teenager and wants to get her way. It will probably work with me.
• made babble sounds! I read in a geeky book somewhere that four-month-old babies know all the sounds of their native language and will now begin to experiment with saying them. Look, my kid’s not reciting the Gettysburg Address, but she’s pretty damn close. Basically, she’s saying “Four score and seven years ago…” like “aaa aaaa aa-aaa-aaa aaaaaa aaa-aa-aaaa.” But she is talking in her own way! And she even makes little facial expressions with the vowel sounds. Warm fuzzies all around.
• really been enjoying bath time! So do I! She splashes so much now that she enjoys it. The whole bathroom counter and floor are flooded with her bathwater and I sodon’tevencare about the watery mess. It’s just too cute. We usually play music and sing songs in the tub. She makes all kinds of fun, playful noises — including those heart-melting giggles! — and she looks so damn happy when I sprinkle warm water over her head and down her back.
• the ability to reach and grab items now. The thumbs don’t really work to their potential just yet, but Madelyn can pretty much grab at anything that fits in her hand and hold it for a while. Including my hair. This part does not make me happy so much. Her grip hurts!! But I need to remember to put my hair back when we cuddle so she can reach and grab at me all she wants without making me go bald.
• lots of drool! This month, Madelyn’s mouth became a faucet. Not that cute, but I guess it’s all part of the growth and development and when it’s your own kid… eh… the drool isn’t that disgusting. I need to remember to carry extra burp cloths with me and bring bibs along. I always thought bibs were for food, so I figured we had a while before using them since she’s not eating solids yet. But, now I understand why babies Madelyn’s age need them! She drools and then adds to the gush when she puts her hand in her mouth! That’s right. Her hand. The whole thing. Madelyn has discovered her hands and they are constantly in her mouth.
• found her feet! Along with discovering her hands, her new favorite toys are attached to her — her left and right foot! She discovered them just a couple weeks ago while walking through Home Goods. She grabbed them and I swear I saw a lightbulb go off in her head! She kept pulling on them and then bringing them closer. She can almost make her feet meet her mouth (hello, Cirque du Soleil. Meet Madelyn, your newest cast member!), and she’s fascinated by these perfectly soft new toys that fit like a puzzle piece in her hands. She is very pleased with her feet. Good thing they’re cute (unlike her mommy’s).
• started the loooooong process of teething! I can’t believe how soon she’s getting teeth. You can’t really see them yet, but this definitely explains the drooling and some out-of-character irritability that comes at random times. I can see two white dots on her lower gums and the doctor says those are the start of teeth that will begin to poke through. I don’t think I’m ready for my baby to have teeth! She’s definitely growing up.
• adapted well to her new schedule. Bryan and I are doing our best to keep her on a pattern of a schedule with wake time not exceeding two hours. We can usually follow this in the mornings, but the afternoons are tricky unless we’re home already. Bedtime is about 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. and she does a pretty good job of falling asleep after her diaper change and night time bottle. She sometimes sleeps throughout the night, but it’s not consistent. Per our doctor’s suggestion, we are now going to try to teach her to self-soothe in the evening since she doesn’t need a bottle every three hours around the clock. So if she wakes up and cries at 3:30 a.m. we — don’t throw tomatoes! — allow her to fall back to sleep without our help. The timing of the cries is decreasing, so we know we are doing the right thing and she’s learning to become independent at night. A baby’s nighttime independence is a mommy and daddy’s happiness. Madelyn has become attached to her “lovey,” a little pink poodle or lamb (depends on who you ask. It could be either thanks to the curly, furry head), and this helps her fall asleep in her crib, as well.

At her four-month check-up, Madelyn weighed 13 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 25 inches long. She’s doing great and right on track. The doctor likes her schedule, and says she’s meeting all the developmental milestones perfectly. You can call us proud parents. Sure, why not?