:4 months:

My dear, dear, neglected child is 4 months old! Time to blog about Chloe and only Chloe. I'm constantly consumed by guilt that I can't spend every waking moment playing with Chloe. Oh, the advantages of a first/only child! That said, she will probably grow up to have a very easy going disposition. After all, she's not very used to getting what she wants, when she wants!

I'm way behind on blogging. So many things to say about Christmas and the fun events leading up to it, but this post is just about my sweet, sweet baby Chloe who is now 4 months old. Where did the time go?!

She is such an easy going baby. Loves to be held and involved. She has had her fair share of illness (thanks to a certain toddler who brings lots of germs home) and tummy issues (reflux that just kept getting worse), but other than that she has been quite happy.

We just graduated her from her bassinet to a crib. Grace officially moved to her big girl bed on January 1 but we had to move it to the garage for a few weeks. You know, out of sight out of mind. Chloe was much too big for her bassinet but still loved sleeping in it, so I wasn't too stressed. I did start to notice that she kept jolting and wacking the sides of it with her arms, which would cause her to wake up. Anything that causes a sleeping baby to wake up MUST GO!

In related news, she is done with the swaddle. It too kept waking her up at night. I'd go in there after listening to her grunt and whine at 2am only to find her proudly showing me that she got both hands out of the swaddle and was happily sucking on them. Again, anything that causes a sleeping baby to wake up MUST GO :-) This was actually a fairly easy transition. It's amazing how the second time around these things are just minor. I spent weeks stressing about trying to break Grace of the need to be swaddled.

We also broke out the exersaucer and walker for her. This girl doesn't want to feel left out. In baby speak, apparently that's being 'vertical' instead of always lying next to us. She's much happier now.

We also have family meals together where we all eat. Oh my, I thought having a toddler at the table was disruptive. Having a 4 month old trying to spit out rice cereal is a bit of a distration too. We had to start her earlier than expected since she was suffering so badly from reflux. We tried so many things and all forms of medicine and this was our last chance. I am happy to report it worked like a charm. She doesn't spit up nearly as much and is much more comfortable. We have her 4 month appointment tomorrow and I'm actually expecting to lower her medicine! Good job Chloe! This girl LOVES to eat. A totally different concept from child #1. Grace ate more as a novelty, Chloe eats because she LOVES to eat. This might explain the fact that she's been in 6 month clothing for a while. Curious to see how that translates on the growth charts.

Here are some shots from the past few weeks. Isn't my girl getting so big?

These first three are from this evening. Someone woke up from her last nap in a great mood. Love that!

With Uncle Brian at Christmas. A bit out of focus but one of the few shots I have of her smiling. I love that smile!

In the bouncer with Cookie Monster, her BFF.

Welcome to vertical living Chloe! Here she is in her 'command center'.

With Great Grandma at Christmas time. So sweet!

In her "My First Christmas" hat. I think the flash scares her. Check out her expression!

Grace and Chloe sharing a cuddle in the chair. Their morning routine after breakfast while Grace watches a little bit of Sesame Street.