Mia is 4 Months and a Week!

Hello everyone-

Mia is doing great. "Talking" up a storm, sighing in delight, squeaking and squealing and still singing along. She has made a big milestone...ONE THAT I MISSED :(:( She apparently has rolled over from her stomach to her back on May 2. My mother in law was watching her at the time and said she was on her playmat when she did this. I have been waiting to see her do it myself, but instead she turns to her side and can't quite make it all the way over. So, hopefully I will get to witness this firsthand very soon. I'm waiting and watching. So, it figures that the first big thing she does I miss! ha ha

Another big change is that she now reaches out for objects in front of her to hold. She never did this as deliberate as she is doing now. I would have to touch her hand with the object for her to know she had the tools to hold it. It is just today I noticed her actually reaching for it!!!! It is SO COMPLETELY AMAZING to see these changes right before our eyes. Our little one is really getting big. :(:(

Oh, how can I forget. Mia had her 4 month pediatrician appt. last Wednesday. Her current stats are as follows:

Weight: 15 pounds (95th %ile)

Height: 25.25 inches (90th %ile)

Yes, it's amazing...her mother is all of 4-11.5 inches short and Mia comes up above the 90th %ile in both height and weight. I never thought there would ever be a time in her life when this would be the case! ha ha. The pediatrician explained that they can actually determine height to some degree when she is 2 years old. They follow patterns and can have a general idea of how tall she may be. She did ask me if there were tall people in our family. Giacomo's mother and grandfather are and were tall and she said Mia could very well have some of these taller genes. So, we'll see! I guess it can be that Mia will be looking down at her mother at the age of 8!!

I have been working 1-2 days a week which I am acutually enjoying. It is good to get out of the house and see all my old coworkers and get back into the swing of things. 1-2 days seems like just the right amount. I do miss Mia a lot on these days, but it makes it all the more better to see her when I come home. I just think it's good all around for the both of us.

Oh, we have officially started solids as well on April 30th. We actually cheated and started a couple days before this and before we had the Dr's "approval". So we'll consider the official day the 30th! She did very well considering it was her first time. She gagged at the first spoonful, but then down the hatch it went like a true champ. My girl loves to eat! The rolls tell all! :):) So it's been about a week that we have her on rice cereal 2x/day. I give it to her in the morning and in the evening. In about 2 weeks, I will start fruit and then vegetables. I must only introduce one food at a time and not anything else for 5 days. This is to see if she has any allergies and to also make it easy to identify the culprit if she did. So I am sure Mia will devour the fruits when we start these. I am enjoying all these changes. It was surreal to actually take out a spoon. It hit me that she really is getting bigger.

About the nights, she is still not sleeping through the night. As she has always been doing, she goes to bed about 9 and then gets up for a feed about 3. The Dr. said this is age appropriate and that 4 month infants should only be sleeping about 6 hours in a row, which she does some of the time. LOL I'm not concerened at all. She did say that at about 6 months they should sleep 10-12 hours. So this should be GREAT!! I am looking veyr forward to this. She said for us to try to get her to go to sleep earlier as the next 2 months approach because ultimately, by six months, the ideal sleep pattern is: to bed at 7p and sleep until 7a. This way Giacomo and I can get some alone and quiet time and STILL get a full nights sleep. Seems too good to be true!

We bought a bouncer/exersaucer for Mia 2 days ago. We put her in it yesterday for the first time and she loved it. She can bounce and be upright. I also realized how much she is changing now that she can be in one of these. She looks and holds everything in it. It's so cute.

She just notices everyone and everything. She follows you everywhere you go in the room and fusses if she is left alone for a few minutes. She loves to socialize...guess she is just like her mother. :):)

She cracks up at the silliest things and it so great to hear her laugh. This is the part I adore so much.

She can sit up with very little support now. She stares at her feet all the time.

I guess this is about it. I have posted a lot of pictures with this entry. I have been quite behind! They include when we went to NYC for the first time in central park, going to Rutgers ag field day, and some other events, but most of all, they include Mia being her cute little self and our daily dose of love and fun.

Hope you enjoy them and looking forward to sending you more updates on our little pumpkin!

Love,

The Bellomos :):)