Four Months

Eating // Zianne is wavering between 5-6 feedings a day, depending on what our day looks like and how long she naps for. She is queen of the short nap, so she still often eats six times a day, since she cycles through her eat/play/sleep cycle so quickly.

Wearing // Zianne is officially in all 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers. I can’t keep up. I have three full vacuum-seal storage bags packed up, and I still have 9 month clothes to return that she never got a chance to wear. Last night, I went to JCPenney to buy her some clothes with a gift card left over from Christmas. I like to buy Carter’s multi-packs of short sleeve onesies because they are perfect when we are home all day and I can just add leggings to the outfit when we leave the house. I was hoping to pick up a new pack in the 18 month size, but I discovered something funny and alarming while shopping. She has already gone through EVERY available design out this year because she has cycled through clothes so quickly. She had the coral flowered set in size 6 month, the mint and pink bird set in 9 month, and now she is working on the navy and hot pink butterfly set in 12 month. There are no other patterns available at department stores, and I felt lame repeating a set in the 18 month size. Hopefully, I’ll find some new designs when I get around to returning all her unworn 9 month clothes to the actual Carter’s store.

Doing // Now that she has almost full control of her head, Zianne can do fun and convenient things like sit on my hip as I carry her or sit in her baby seat on the counter and watch me cook. However, sometimes she gets tired of holding up her big ol’ head and she’ll slowly sway backward as I carry her and I’ll have to catch her head or she’ll slump over in her seat and start to cry. We’ll get there, baby girl…

Loving // Sleeping in her crib. The Xylophone we got her for Christmas. Having her stomach tickled. The song “Rockin’ Robin.” Sucking her fingers…any of them, preferably with her palm facing up, so her fingers are upside down in her mouth.

Loathing // She’s still not a huge fan of tummy time, and she tires quickly of all her activities. During her wake time, she will tolerate activities in about five minute chunks {flashcards, reading a story, tummy time, play mat time, sitting in her chair, looking at the fan, and as soon as she is done with each activity, she lets me know instantly by fussing or crying}. She doesn’t like loud noises, which we discovered during the NFC championship game. Every time we cheered for the Seahawks, she would get this nervous pout on her face and then slowly start to cry. She was quickly consoled, but she didn’t like our yelling at all.

Daddy’s girl // We attended Micah’s cousin’s wedding the weekend after Christmas, and as Micah walked down the aisle to our seats while holding Z, he had a moment where he realized he would someday do that again, but she would be all grown up and dressed in white. The years go by so fast, all our aunts and uncles always remind us, and in that moment at the wedding we caught a glimpse of how surely time flies.

Mishaps and milestones // This past month was a big one for Zianne {and mom!}. She took her first plane ride to Seattle on Christmas day. She did great on the way there and back, which I was extra thankful for, since Micah flew back a couple days before me and I was all by myself with the baby on the way home. It was good practice though, because about a week and half later, Z and I boarded another plane and flew to Texas for a reunion with all my best friends from college. Again, she did great, although we had a connection in El Paso, which threw us off our whole take-off, eat, sleep, land routine, but she was gem, even with an extra down and up in our air travel. Beyond the transportation part, these trips were really special because of all the friends and family that got to meet Zianne for the first time. It was so fun to introduce her to Micah’s grandparents, especially since she is the very FIRST great-grandchild on that side of the family {Confession: Z totally pooped on great-grandma during their first photo together!}. I’m pretty sure Zianne’s cuteness convinced all the Carter siblings and cousins to have babies pronto, so hopefully she’ll get some cousins soon! It was also fun to introduce her to some of my best childhood friends, who graciously came to Micah’s mom’s house and sat in the back bedroom with me to chat while I nursed in the midst of all our luggage and baby-ish that had exploded all over the place. In Fort Worth, we stayed busy visiting our favorite Texas restaurants and carrying on all our old best friend traditions, such as eating dangerous amounts of queso and having slumber parties, except we had babies in tow this time around. Zianne and Matthew, who is just eight weeks younger than her, sat side by side in the middle seats of the minivan, while all the mama best-friends piled in the front and back seats as we cruised around town. We felt incredibly old, yet still really young, all at the same time. 

I also have to note one other milestone, because it’s been my favorite in motherhood so far… A few days before Christmas, Zianne laughed for the first time. I was being silly as I changed her diaper and all of a sudden she started making this jerky, deep sound in her throat, while a big, open smile was painted on her face. It took me a second to realize that she was trying to laugh, but didn’t quite know how. Over the weeks her laugh has developed more and more, but it still sounds like an old man chuckling and I love it. These are the things she finds hilarious so far: having her belly tickled, mom or dad doing a loud, obnoxious fake laugh right in her face, and, as of today, peek-a-boo.