A half-smile and the "fat face"
Monday, January 22, 2007
Hand-chewing
She loves chewing on her hands, which leads to fountains of drool (thus, the bib). She usually has a beard of spit because she also loves to blow spit bubbles.
Entering the Fourth Month
Wow! I can't believe Elle is already 4 months old; it seems like just last week she was a sleepy ball of baby resting silently in my arms. She has certainly changed! I know they say that babies change every day, but you don't realize what that means until you have your own. Now, each time she makes a new sound or reaches out for a toy quicker than she did the day before you discover how crazy-in-love you are with this new little person in your life.
Anyway, here’s the update: from the beginning, Elle has been a people-person, meaning that she loves to be held and talked to every waking hour (Kyle tries to blame this on me—but I know you can’t spoil a baby this young), and this month, she has started to “talk back” a lot more. She began with babbling almost constantly. Then, at some point, she discovered that she can screech, so now, she spends most of her awake-time babbling and screeching as loud as she can. She loves listening to herself and thinks it’s the greatest thing that she can make such an attention-getting noise. Everyone who talks to me on the phone when Elle is awake comments that “she really is a talker” or “she’s going to talk early.” Apparently, I was quite a talker as a toddler (“and you know what, and you know what…”), so I guess she gets something from me, since her looks are mostly all Kyle (except for her long eyelashes!). She is very expressive when she talks, making all sorts of facial expressions, and she is not satisfied to simply talk to herself. She likes to have someone looking at her and engaging in the conversation. She’s discovered that someone will pay attention if she just screeches louder. It’s so bad that when we had some people over for dinner recently and no one was looking at Elle (because we were having some baby-talk-free adult conversation!), she let out the loudest, psycho-baby scream I’ve ever heard, which, of course, got her the attention she wanted. She even “talks” herself to sleep!
Other than talking, some of Elle’s other favorite things are sitting up and standing up. She seems completely disinterested in rolling over (she’s done it twice) and hates tummy-time. When I lay her on her back on my lap, she strains to sit up, unless she’s distracted by a toy, and she loves being set in the corner of couch to sit up by herself. She also loves to stick her legs and butt in the air, much to the dismay of her father (not exactly a proper position for a lady!). When lying on her back almost anywhere, she’ll continually lift her legs and butt in the air, then slam her legs to the ground. She also likes to grab her toes and pull her legs to her face.
I think she has her father’s personality because she gets very frustrated and angry with herself when she can’t do something that she wants to be able to do. I read to her every evening, and she actually sits and listens and loves to look at all the pictures. But often, I have to cut this short because once I start having her hold onto the book and feel all the different textures, she, of course, wants to cram the whole thing in her mouth. When she can’t complete this feat, she starts yelling at the book and gets so upset that I have to distract her with another toy.
She’s become quite adept at reaching out and grabbing for things on the first try. She is also obsessed with her hands. That is, they are almost always in her mouth, especially since she never takes a pacifier. This constant hand-sucking causes lots of drool (which inevitably ends up all over me). She is fond of blowing spit bubbles too, so she usually has a beard of spit bubbles going down her chin.
I know I’m biased, but she really is the cutest. She wakes up with the biggest smile every morning (and yes, she still sleeps with us and we love it!), and she smiles all the time throughout the day—she has the best gummy smiles! She started laughing recently, especially when I do sit-ups with her on my stomach. She still screams in the car, loves to be carried in her sling, wrap, or snugli, enjoys singing with mommy, and has yet to take a bottle. So, that covers the first few months in raising Elle, our little princess.
Anyway, here’s the update: from the beginning, Elle has been a people-person, meaning that she loves to be held and talked to every waking hour (Kyle tries to blame this on me—but I know you can’t spoil a baby this young), and this month, she has started to “talk back” a lot more. She began with babbling almost constantly. Then, at some point, she discovered that she can screech, so now, she spends most of her awake-time babbling and screeching as loud as she can. She loves listening to herself and thinks it’s the greatest thing that she can make such an attention-getting noise. Everyone who talks to me on the phone when Elle is awake comments that “she really is a talker” or “she’s going to talk early.” Apparently, I was quite a talker as a toddler (“and you know what, and you know what…”), so I guess she gets something from me, since her looks are mostly all Kyle (except for her long eyelashes!). She is very expressive when she talks, making all sorts of facial expressions, and she is not satisfied to simply talk to herself. She likes to have someone looking at her and engaging in the conversation. She’s discovered that someone will pay attention if she just screeches louder. It’s so bad that when we had some people over for dinner recently and no one was looking at Elle (because we were having some baby-talk-free adult conversation!), she let out the loudest, psycho-baby scream I’ve ever heard, which, of course, got her the attention she wanted. She even “talks” herself to sleep!
Other than talking, some of Elle’s other favorite things are sitting up and standing up. She seems completely disinterested in rolling over (she’s done it twice) and hates tummy-time. When I lay her on her back on my lap, she strains to sit up, unless she’s distracted by a toy, and she loves being set in the corner of couch to sit up by herself. She also loves to stick her legs and butt in the air, much to the dismay of her father (not exactly a proper position for a lady!). When lying on her back almost anywhere, she’ll continually lift her legs and butt in the air, then slam her legs to the ground. She also likes to grab her toes and pull her legs to her face.
I think she has her father’s personality because she gets very frustrated and angry with herself when she can’t do something that she wants to be able to do. I read to her every evening, and she actually sits and listens and loves to look at all the pictures. But often, I have to cut this short because once I start having her hold onto the book and feel all the different textures, she, of course, wants to cram the whole thing in her mouth. When she can’t complete this feat, she starts yelling at the book and gets so upset that I have to distract her with another toy.
She’s become quite adept at reaching out and grabbing for things on the first try. She is also obsessed with her hands. That is, they are almost always in her mouth, especially since she never takes a pacifier. This constant hand-sucking causes lots of drool (which inevitably ends up all over me). She is fond of blowing spit bubbles too, so she usually has a beard of spit bubbles going down her chin.
I know I’m biased, but she really is the cutest. She wakes up with the biggest smile every morning (and yes, she still sleeps with us and we love it!), and she smiles all the time throughout the day—she has the best gummy smiles! She started laughing recently, especially when I do sit-ups with her on my stomach. She still screams in the car, loves to be carried in her sling, wrap, or snugli, enjoys singing with mommy, and has yet to take a bottle. So, that covers the first few months in raising Elle, our little princess.
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