Happy Valentine's Monthday!

Nora is now four months old!  Today has been a nice sunny day, so we had enough nice natural light to capture her actual coloring this time around.

We can't wait to find out how big she is getting at the pediatrician on Thursday.  According to the development charts I've seen, she is moving right along at a great pace.  Since her third monthday, she has really started reaching for and holding her toys, she is a lot more vocal, and over the past few days she has even started holding onto her feet.  She is twisting and rotating so much and tolerating tummy time so much better that we think she'll be rolling over soon.  With the exception of one week during which her teeth seemed to really be bothering her, she continues to sleep well, and her naps are starting to get a little longer.

Billy and I agree that parenting an infant is a lot more fun than parenting a newborn.  We used to feel overwhelmed by how quickly she was changing, but now we are learning to embrace and enjoy it. During those first few months, I told a few people that I didn't need childbirth amnesia in order to embrace the idea of having another child someday-- I needed newborn amnesia.  In retrospect, that difficult period was really over as quickly as everyone said it would be, though some of those days felt reallllly long.  I've also been working on developing more confidence in my abilities as a mom.  Rather than worrying about creating bad habits, I've been trying to direct my energy toward creating good habits and keeping Nora as happy and healthy as I can on any given day.  Now that she is getting more social and responsive, it is a lot easier to reassure myself that I'm doing my best.

After a quick outfit change, I also took some photos to celebrate Nora's first official Valentine's Day.  We've never been particularly big Valentine's day people in our house, but last year the day was special because we had just found out Nora was on the way.  It's pretty crazy to stop and think about the fact that in one year, Nora grew from a bundle of cells into the happy, healthy, curious baby these images capture.

Valentine's dress courtesy of Aunt Vickie; Valentine bear courtesy of Great Grandparents Mimi and Papa

We hope you're all enjoying your Valentine's Day in whichever ways you choose to celebrate, and we'll be back in a few days to update you on Nora's growth!