Dear Sophia: 4 Months Old

Dear Sophia,

You're now 4 months old. I have a 4 month old daughter and that's just crazy to me! You are full of life and happiness and we just can't believe how lucky we are to have you as our daughter. You surprise us and amaze us everyday with your feisty personality and your beauty takes our breath away.

You are becoming so active and lively now. You love to be down on your mat kicking and rolling. You prefer to be playing than cuddling nowadays. Some nights I look over old pictures from the newborn days and long to have you curled on my chest asleep, smelling that intoxicating smell of a newborn again. Some nights after your dream feed I sit in the dark cradling you, snatching a few minutes of peacefulness with you; my beautiful baby girl. 

This month you have been...

Eating 

Nothing much to report here. You are still gaining weight well and are generally a good feeder. You have days where you have lots of milk and other days when you're not so hungry - I just follow your lead. You're now 15lb9 and doing really well according to the health visitor. Today she wrote in your notes that you were 'a very sociable and contented little girl'. You lay on your mat smiling, laughing and cooing at her, making me so proud if you! 

Sleeping

You are still an excellent sleeper! Still sleeping through the night which is so lovely. You go to bed around 6:30pm after your bath and usually wake between 5am and 8am. If you wake before 6 I usually bring you into the bed and you have another hour or two. 

You usually have around three daytime naps, mostly two catnaps and one long nap. 

You are now enjoying sleeping in your cot and having more room to stretch out. I think it was a harder change for me as I'm used to having you in your basket right next to me but your cot goes at the end of your bed. You feel further away and I find myself waking a lot in the night to lay my hand on your tummy to feel it going up and down. 

Developing

You continue to learn new things all the time. You're as bright as a button and we couldn't be prouder of you! This month you can...

~ laugh. This is by far my favourite thing that has happened this month! I was playing with you one day and tickled your neck and you burst out laughing! It made my heart burst. You don't laugh everyday but it is getting more and more frequent.

~ roll over. You can now roll from your back to your tummy very well. You will stay on your tummy for about 5 minutes now too if you have a toy to play with.

~ do 'sit ups'. I call them your sit ups. You pull your head and legs off the ground, desperately trying to sit up! You're such a strong little girl!

~ grab things. You're hand-eye coordination continues to be very good. You take toys off us and can reach to grab the toy you want. You're favourite thing to grab at is my locket!

~ take an interest in books. We go to the library every week for storytime and to get three new books for us to read. You like to look at the pictures and touch the pages. You can now sit through one or two books. 

~ get excited. Whenever your daddy or I come into the room or we dangle toys above you, you're arms and legs start shaking and your eyes grow wide. It's so sweet!

With every day that goes by I love you more and more, I don't even know how that's possible but I do. Carry on growing sweet girl, we love to watch and teach you. 

I hope one day you'll read these letters and know how very loved you are. Just five months ago you weren't here, we'd never met you before. But now you make our world go around. We love you more than words could ever say!

Happy 4 month birthday beautiful girl!

Lots of love from Mummy and Daddy.xxx