Four Months Old

Dear Devyn,

As you turn four months old, here are a few things I want to remember about you at this age:

• You have dimples in your elbows.
• You love it when I sing the alphabet song, "Baby Beluga" or "Too Marvelous for Words."
• We watch Friends together most afternoons. (I know. I KNOW.)
• You've gotten so much more active, just in the last couple of weeks, grabbing for your toys and swinging them around while you crow at the top of your lungs.
• Your first laugh made me cry with joy.
• Many times when you smile at people, you'll grin a huge, toothless grin, then turn away and hide your face in my shoulder. It's almost as though you're playing at being shy or coy and it's the most adorable thing ever.
• When you're first waking up, you bury your face in my shoulder and sigh. I love it.

You are growing so incredibly fast. Today you weigh 11 pounds, 8 ounces, up from 6 pounds 6 ounces when you were born, and at the doctor last week, they told us you were 24.5 inches long—two whole feet! You rolled over for the first time this month (from your tummy to your back)—then you seemed to forget how for a few weeks—then you started rolling over again like you'd never stopped. You seem to actually like tummy time now; I think it's because it doesn't tire you out as much to hold your head up for long periods, because you're getting stronger and stronger.

You also drool like it's your job. We've had to start putting bibs on you just so you don't soak through your clothes every day. And you LOVE those bibs! You grin like mad when I put one on you and immediately bring it up to your mouth to chew on it.

Just about everything goes straight to your mouth these days. You've gotten really adept at putting your toys in your mouth, and you tend to get frustrated if something won't go to your mouth—like the toys suspended above your play gym.

We've got a pretty good daily and weekly routine down now, which, in my short experience, means it should be changing at any moment! You sleep about six hours at a time at night and then wake up to eat before sleeping another three or four hours, eating again, then sleeping another two. That's not so bad, all things considered, and your dad and I appreciate it. It's taking less time to put you to bed, too. In the beginning, we needed to bounce you for at least 15 minutes after you fell asleep to make sure you would stay asleep when we put you down; now it takes only five minutes, maybe 10, to make sure you are sound asleep.

We go to the new mom's group every Monday to hear the speakers, chat with other moms, and get you weighed. On Tuesdays we go to the farm to pick up our box of veggies, and on Wednesdays and Fridays we go to an area park somewhere and meet up with the stroller club so I can get some exercise.

You also had your first non-family-member babysitter this month! My friend Stephanie came over to watch you for a few hours while I went to interview for a job as a dining tour guide. Apparently, you gave her a bit of a hard time; fortunately, she's not holding it against you! Next weekend we're throwing a party in your honor so all our friends can come meet you. And then, the weekend after that, your Grandma and Grandpa Renner are going to come visit for Labor Day and baby sit so that we can have a night out for our anniversary. Hopefully Gran and Pop will also be able to come visit you this fall.

In the wider world this month, the stock market has been going up and down like a yo-yo after Standard and Poors downgraded the U.S. credit rating and people are worried about national debt, both here and in Europe. The 2012 presidential campaign also got underway with the first "straw poll" in Iowa for the Republicans; Michelle Bachman won. Also, the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial in Washington DC opened this week, and will be dedicated this weekend on the anniversary of his "I Have A Dream" speech.

My darling Devyn, I can't even begin to put into words how amazing it is to have you in my life. I "officially" went back to work this month, writing from home for Yellow Scene and doing some projects on the side for other companies. Before you came along, I was worried that I wouldn't take well to being a stay-at-home mom; I worried that I would get bored or depressed because I wasn't out working, busy doing something outside the house, interacting with other grown ups.

I couldn't have been more wrong. In the first place, you are anything but boring! You keep me on my toes every single day. I never want to "get away" from you, and I miss you every time I am away from you. There is always plenty of work to be done around the house (sometimes it gets done, sometimes not so much!). And when I do need adult interaction, it isn't hard to find; going to our mom/baby groups has been wonderfully helpful, and because of your amazing father, I've still been able to see my friends, go to my writing group, and do all the grown up things I want to do to help keep me balanced and happy to be home with you.

You really are the center of my life, in ways I could never have imagined before you got here. I know (from experience now!) that you won't be able to truly understand this until you have your own kids, but I'm going to keep trying to show you how happy you make me every day.

All my love,
~Mommy