4 month update

It's hard to believe that exactly one year ago today we took our first pregancy test and found out we were expecting...and tomorrow Julia will be four months old. I can't even begin to summarize this past year of my life. Words can't describe the love that has grown as we prepared for Julia and now watch her grow from day to day. Wow, 4 months old - can I just push a pause button to soak it in for a little bit longer? For some reason the jump from 3-4 months seems like a big one. She has developed quite a personality, which everyday reminds me that she is an individual with her own mind and her own demands. Just when I think I have her figured out, she surprises me with something new. Our biggest new surprise is the fact that she has decided that it was getting a little too comfortable to sleep through the night. From 6 weeks through 3 months she was sleeping 8+ hours through the night. Now she is up whenever she pleases, which has been really difficult now that I am back to work. Waking up to her is still a joy - she of course is happy and bright eyed (just hungry). I can't help but laugh at her - even at 2am. We are working on it - any insights would be very helpful!

We have been on the go in the last few weeks. First with a trip to DE/PA to see family and friends and celebrate Jill and Tommy's engagement. She does great with the ride down, which is great news for us as we anticipate many of those in her young life! When we came back Julia seemed on the verge of laughing, but couldn't quite get there...I knew it would happen at any moment. The other night I caught her in a really good mood - I blew some raspberries on her tummy and she let out the cutest belly laugh. Luckily, I had my camera close-by to capture it (please ignore my "mommy" voice on the video :))

On Thursday (10/8)we were off again to celebrate my mom's 50th birthday in Florida. We've known for a while that this would be our first big trip, but since Charles and I do not have much time off of work, it was a quick one. I personally think Julia could be Southwest's mascot... not just because she looks so cute posing in front of our plane, but she also slept the entire trip to Florida and all the way home. We had a great time - my mom, sister, Gram, and I got manicures and pedicures on Friday. We had the whole spa to ourselves and it was such a treat. We then took Julia for her first trip to the beach. It was not a surprise that she loved the water since she loves her bath (and her sleep sheep plays waves every night). The only difficulty was keeping her out of the sun. The tent we bought for the trip worked perfectly-she slept in it at night and loved playing in it at the beach. I would put this on my list of top 10 baby essentials especially for those who travel don't want to cart around a pack n' play.

Saturday's highlights included cooking breakfast to kick off mom's birthday, checking into our hotel in Clearwater, enjoying a little time by the pool before we went out to a lovely dinner and caught the tail end of the sunset as we raced back to our hotel. We topped it off with a competitive Cirillo-style game of Scrabble. All the great things of life. :)

On Saturday evening Charles and I were up all night with Julia. We hadn't had a night like this since Julia was just a few weeks old. We gave up around 6am and decided to head out to the beach to catch the sunrise. Although we were exhausted, it was such a great opportunity together in the midst of a busy and ever-changing time in our lives. We thanked God for each of these blessings we are experiencing. When we were preparing for Julia I never imagined that this child would completely shift my perspective on life. She brings such simple joy to everyone.
There is so much more that I could add - this month has been packed full of new adventures. Our newest encounter will be the transition from the bassinette in our room to her crib upstairs. We started this last night...we'll see how it goes, but the bassinette goes next door to our neighbors who are expecting any day now, so there is no turning back!

Hello Miss Julia

Now that I've been back to work for about a month, life has changed drastically. I know it's a good balance, but I feel like we jump in and hold our breath on the days that I work and then emerge trying to pull all of the pieces together. Julia is fine with all of this. She's so adaptable!

We had a rotation of our parents watching her the first 3 weeks, but this week she started in an in-home daycare for 2 of the 3 days that I work. Apparently she loves watching the older kids and I think this will be a great socialization opportunity for her. (I had to keep telling myself this as I walked away from her in tears everyday!)

The past month has been so much fun as Julia becomes so much more alert and vibrant from day to day. My neighbor randomly invited me to a Mommy and Me music class that is held in a little school house a mile from our house. I decided to go and check it out thinking that I would get a feel for whether I would like to sign up when Julia is ready for something like this. I completely underestimated the fact that she would already be engaged and ready for this class - SHE LOVED IT! She was in awe from start to finish and even threw in a few squeals of delight. The crazy woman who runs it starts off with a welcome/hello song that has been stuck in my head since the class. Each time I sing "hello, Miss Julia. How are you today?" she gets a big kick out of it! Needless to say, I have humbled myself to the goofy-singing-mom-role and we will be back to the music class when we get back from vacation.

We are off to Florida to celebrate my mom's 50th for a fun filled weekend with our family. This will include many firsts for Julia...plane, beach, visit to Aunt Kirstan's...so I'm sure I will have much to report. And then when we get home, Julia will be 4 months old! I love seeing her grow, but this is just flying by!