Baby Cummings: October 2013

It's hard to believe it, but our little Emerson is 4 months old!!!! We've had another action-packed month with lots of "firsts", and her personality is evolving every single day. I feel so incredibly lucky that I still have another 11 months off of work to spend with our special girl. I'm trying to cherish every single day (hence the ridiculous amount of pictures), but they just seem to fly by. There are definitely days when I wish I could slow down the time because she's just getting so big so fast!

She still spits up all the time, but I do think it's starting to get a bit better. Unfortunately I've read that it gets worse during teething, so I still think we have lots of spitting up in our future.

The paediatrician said that we could start her on rice cereal at 4 months, but we decided not to. There is no nutritional value and it just takes the place of breastmilk. It really doesn't bother her when she spits up, so it would really just be for us. Also, she isn't showing any interest in real food, so I don't think there's any rush. We'll probably wait until at least 5 months and then start her on some real foods like sweet potato and avocado.

Here's some tidbits from her fourth month:

- Emerson has developed this adorable little giggle that sounds more like a sneeze

- She seems to smile most when we aren't looking or when we are yelling at Casey

- Her eyes are starting to change a bit, they're still blue, but a different shade

- Everything goes in her mouth, if she can get her hands on it it's going in there

- She can now grasp onto thing and she will reach for toys and hold onto them

- She went in her jolly jumper for the first time and she loves that thing

- She loves trying to stand while we hold her up

- She had her first cold this month...so sad :( She's actually still a bit congested...

- She still loves baths more than anything, and still gets one every single night followed by lavender lotion

- Our bedtime routine begins with her bath at 8pm, then feeding at 8:30pm, and asleep by 9pm. She usually wakes between 3-4am, then goes back to sleep until 7 or 8am

- When laying on her back, she loves rolling onto her side, then back to her back again. She does this repeatedly and manages to turn herself all the way around.

- She still does great during tummy time, but doesn't appear to have any interest in rolling over. She just props herself up on her arms and hangs out there

- She is not really content entertaining herself anymore, which means I'm constantly trying to keep her happy

- She loves when I clap my hands, and when I touch her toes to her forehead - almost guaranteed smiles

- Her 4 month shots are on Thursday, and I can't wait to find out how much she weighs! She is still huge compared to the other babes at the moms group who are the same age...haha!

- Sometimes she only nurses for 5 mins. now because she's too busy being distracted by everything around her...sometimes I have to cover her head just to keep her focused!

- She loves being walked. If she's crying, we can pretty much guarantee that she'll stop as long as we walk with her. Grandma Levstik says she's spoiled! :)

- She sucks on her fingers constantly. I try to offer her soother, but she never has any interest and goes right back to her fingers

- She's drooling a ton!

- Most of her clothes, especially her pants and sleepers, are size 6 months. I already have a whole box of things she's outgrown.

- She definitely knows who mommy and daddy are, and has started to make strange with other people

- This month we did the following: took her first trip to the Quilty farm and met great grandpa Quilty, went to the pool for the first time and several times afterwards, went to three movies (awesome!), went to visit Grandma Levstik twice, went to visit Nana and Poppy in Palmerston, went to lots of moms group gatherings, went to Snyders Family Farm and pumpkin patch with Bethany and Zee, had visits from Arijana and Carlin and mommy's work friends, went for our first run (major fail!), had visits from Grandma and Grandpa Cummings and Great Grandma Gracie, took a trip to McMaster, and lots of other exciting adventures!

Here's a whole bunch of photos from the past month, and I posted two videos also:

Morning Stretch!