4 Months

Wow, this is my 100th post! That is pretty exciting! :)

A,

Well, these past 17 weeks have seriously been some of the best if not the best in my life. We have big changes on our horizon as I have had to start back to work. I am sad that this is your first monthly birthday that I have had to miss. Don't worry though, I gave Daddy lots of instructions on what pictures to take! :) I know I was lucky with as much time as I had home with you as I did but selfishly I wanted more. You are becoming a little person right in front of our eyes! Your personality is already shining through and I love to watch you learn and discover. You have just discovered your toes and it is so cute to watch you grab them and realize that they belong to you. Your face just lights up! And, oh, your smiles, I love your smiles. You get these big grins now that just melt my heart. Last night, after being away from you all day, I rocked you to get you to sleep, and as I was about to put you down, you looked right at me and smiled. It was the best moment of my entire day. You hear a lot of about how much you will love your children and everyone says you don't understand it until it happens, and they are so right. I knew I loved you from the moment the doctor put the embryo inside of me, and the love grew as I felt you grow inside, and then when you were born, I thought I couldn't possibly love anymore, but each and every day, you prove me wrong. Smiles and moments like that just make the love grow stronger and brighter every day.

Next week you will attend daycare for the first time. I am worried of course but I know you will do great. You are already a social butterfly and love to be around people. Just know that even though I am not around you all day any more, I am always thinking of you, and always love you. Luckily, you are nice and close by so I will try and check in on you every now and then too! Five o clock used to be a good time anyways as it was the end of the day, but now it will be my favorite time as I will be rushing to pick you up and hold you in my arms once more!

I think we found a new favorite place for you as well. We took you to the beach for your first time on the 1st and loved it! You weren't able to play in the sand and water just yet, but you were fascinated by the waves and watching them. I think because we use the sound machine and put it on the wave sound, you were excited to see what actually made that sound. Of course, the sound also put you to sleep while we walked along the waters edge. You had such a peaceful nap as we walked. It was also a special beach that we took you too as it was the one right across the street where Daddy and I got married! I even took a picture of the three of us in the same spot we took our wedding photo!

I seem to be working backwards in time here but that is ok! Your first New Year's Eve was pretty quiet. We didn't go out and you needed your sleep so you didn't see midnight. But, Daddy and I snuck into your room at midnight and had a toast for you and each gave you a kiss to ring in the new year. :)

Christmas was very busy! You had your first night away from home. We all went down to your grandma and grandpa's house (my parents) for the night before Christmas Eve to celebrate Christmas with them and be closer to Disneyland in the morning. You didn't quite get opening presents yet but did enjoy grabbing at the paper once it had been torn off! You slept pretty well away from home and did not seem bothered that you were not in your room. You stayed in a room with us though and I think you liked being back with us! The next day we went to Disneyland for our annual Christmas Eve tradition! This was our 25th year going as a family and so it was very exciting to start your first year on this special year! I look forward to the next 25 with you! I really hope you enjoy this tradition as much as I do! We only went on one ride, The Little Mermaid, but you seemed to have fun. Daddy and I held you and you just stared at all the things we passed. You were very focused on it all, it was so cute! The rest of the day we spent walking around and looking at the different lands, and of course lots of pictures!! We also took you up in Sleeping Beauty's Castle so you could see the story of Princess Aurora :) We left around 7 as it had been a long day and we knew we had to drive back home. We then did take you to the candlelight service that night as it is one of our favorites. You slept through the whole service but that is ok, lots of people came by to see you and say how cute you looked in your Christmas dress!

Christmas Day we went to your other grandma and grandpa's house (Daddy's parents). There we spent the day with his family opening gifts and eating dinner. Your cousins wanted to play with you so bad and I know when you are a little older you will love to play with them too!

Overall, you had a wonderful holiday month of December! You experienced so many new things, like Santa for your first time! And you grew up more and more each day. You now "talk" so much all day long, you grab at toys and love to stare at them, you have started to teeth which means everything goes into your mouth, you had your first cold (which you did so well with the nose spray and sucker!), and just continued to grow into your own person. I look forward to what this next month in the new year will bring us!

I love you so much, more than words can say. I will always be here for you, even when I am away.

Love,

Mommy