Haley turned four months old just before Christmas. We took pictures and had a checkup and everything right on time, but haven’t been able to slow down and update the blog since then! So here we go.

Our little bean is still quite little but is growing just like she should. She is just under 11 pounds and is 23 1/4 inches long. Her head has done the most growing and is now proportional with the rest of her body, in the 20th percentile.

She loves to look in the mirror and recently figured out how to grab a toy and hold on. This skill transfered to her own sock the other day, and she thought she was so funny for taking off her own sock!

At her checkup, we were pleased to announce that she has all her four month milestones: she can laugh, roll over from her tummy, turn to a voice and watch from far away, grab a toy, and push up with her legs. Her pediatrician said she was very happy with Haley’s growth and asked how she was eating. When I replied that she sleeps consistently ten hours straight at night and eats about every four hours during the day, Dr. Heigel was very surprised. “She’s eating like a six month old,” she commented. “You must have great milk production.” Why do people keep commenting on that? 🙂 But seriously, what a blessing it is.

Last night we met Jim’s family in Bellevue for Grandpa Keene’s birthday dinner. After a quick bite to eat, we headed over to Snowflake Lane to enjoy the show. It was a little cold but everyone stayed warm, and we had a great time!

p.s. Yes, that’s Haley snuggled up in the Moby wrap – you can see her white hat poking out!

Tonight JT started building towers while I was making dinner. When I turned around, he had built one so high it was taller than him! I wanted to get him in the picture but he got shy and wouldn’t stand next to it.

Tonight JT said to me, “I take picture?” while holding the Flip. So I said yes. He opened the case, turned it on, and recorded me. Then he stopped recording and watched his video. Seriously! The Flip camera is known for its ease of use, and they’re really not kidding.

Then he said he wanted to record Haley. I think the best part is when he tries to show her what’s on the camera. 🙂 I know these are a little bumpy, but I couldn’t help sharing!

I grabbed this picture of Haley in JT’s reading chair the other day as we were leaving. She looked so cute in her fuzzy vest!

While I was loading the car, JT snuggled in with Haley and read her a book. What a great way to stay occupied for a minute or two!

We had so much fun at the bouncy house today with our friends Jen, Asher, and Abby and Elisa, Gracelyn, and Tyson. Haley and Tyson are both too little to bounce, so they did a lot of napping. But the rest of us had a great time! It is very close to our house, which is nice, and I had a half-off coupon. With half the area flooded and the other without power (neither of which affect us, thankfully), it was a great way to spend the morning hours.

Haley is starting to make more sounds, and it is very cute. When she squeals but isn’t angry, JT says, “She make happy sounds.” But lately she has also been cooing and gurgling, and I’ve even heard a couple of consonant sounds in there sometimes.

JT thought that he should be recorded also… he was finishing dinner while Haley was playing on her playmat and I was cleaning up the kitchen. I like this one because of his declaration at the end.

I started this posting last week and then got too busy to finish it. It’s been a little crazy!

Miss Haley is growing and babbling and becoming a little more fun. She is enjoying sitting in her BebePod chair for five minutes or so at a time before she gets too tired and wants out. I was lucky enough to get this shot the other day.

Side note: She is getting the BebePod upgrade tray for Christmas for when she starts eating rice cereal in a few months. I would recommend it for this chair because the play tray that comes with it has holes for the toys to snap in, and it was messy when I used it for JT.

She has noticed the dog and I’m not sure what she thinks, but her vision is good enough to watch us walk away now and she sees the big black thing go by now and then. Of course, Slider isn’t often far away when there’s a baby on the floor. In fact, I have to tell her to move if I leave the room because it makes me nervous that she’ll forget and roll over on Haley.

JT has figured out some ways to make Haley smile, like nose beeps and silly faces. He also does great Haley impersonations: “She go like this!” They have the same color eyes now, too!

Finally, I got her some new 3 month clothes, mostly tops, that I love. I thought she looked so adorable leaving for church in her green striped shirt with a bow on the collar, cute jeans, boots and hat. When I got to church, someone asked where my daughter was and how come I was holding that little boy. Nice.

There are certain things that I ask JT to do, and I say that it’s his “big guy job.” That way when he can’t do something, I simply explain that it’s a “mom job.” He’s getting it, because yesterday Haley was fussing and he went running across the family room saying, “Big guy job! I get her binky!” And at the chiropractor’s the other day, she was starting to get cranky in her car seat at the front desk, which is where she spends the ten minute appointment with Emily the receptionist as her babysitter. I sent him out from my waiting room to check on her. When I peeked out to see how things were going, he was putting her binky in her mouth and rocking her car seat at the same time. 🙂

Anyway, he is recently also very interested in kitchen jobs. He asks to help with almost every meal. It is sometimes difficult to come up with something that he can do, but I try to include him. He does a great job dishing up fruit or counting out vegetables or chips or rolls. He is working on his spreading skills and did a pretty nice job spreading peanut butter on the bread for his sandwich today. (“To the edges,” he can be heard muttering to himself.)

Last Saturday he helped me make pancakes for breakfast. He did a great job stirring the batter and then watching for bubbles on the pancakes to know when I should flip them. I offered to let him help pour the batter or flip the pancakes but he declined… he is such a cautious guy and he pointed out that the stove top was hot. Duh, Mom. 🙂

JT also helped wrap the Christmas presents (I forgot to post these when I wrapped two weeks ago). He started reading the gift tags and noticed his name on one: “Hey, that spells JT!” So then he checked all of the gift tags for his name.

I also forgot about this Thanksgiving day picture from Safeway that I took on my phone. I have never, ever let him ride in one of those ridiculous car carts. But it was Thanksgiving, and I said it could be his present. He was sooooo excited. We crashed into several displays and I made the most of it, shouting things like “Look out please, student driver in the aisle!” and people were staring. But most people smiled and JT thought I was very funny, which is what counts.

And finally, he recently started building things with this Lego blocks instead of just stacking them together or pretending they are cars. His Legos were a gift from his Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Matt for his birthday. Here he told me he was building a house.

Every year, my church hosts a Women’s Christmas Dinner. I have gone the past several years, but this year I hosted a table. It was so much fun! A hostess is responsible for the entire table: linens, dishes, decorations, silverware, glasses, dinner favors for the guests, and the dessert. Thanks to my mom’s dish collection and help from my mother-in-law, I was all set. I picked up the decorations and linens at last year’s after Christmas sales and they turned out great. My friend Sarah came too. I will definitely host again next year!