Beatrice doesn’t know how to hold a sign yet.

Beatrice turned four months old this week! For her, the difference between three and four months has been leaps and bounds more than the difference between two and three months. She’s really gone from being a passive observer who occasionally batted at toys or cried to let us know the scenery was getting boring to an active little girl who reaches for everything, twists and rolls to try to get where she wants to be, and talks to us non-stop to let us know what’s going on.

Hi! Hi!

This is one of her little looks of joy and wonder. She doesn’t really have a laugh or giggle yet, but she has a little shriek of delight that she’s been using more every day. It’s loud and it makes us laugh too.

Beatrice and momma on the back porch.

Baby blue eyes.

With every month we’re seeing a little more of her face emerge. She’s getting big blue eyes! It’s hard to say what will change in the years to come, but since Kelly and I both have blue eyes, it’s almost certain little Bea’s eyes will stay this color or near it. She’s a really pretty little girl and I am thinking about starting a gun collection so I’ll have something to clean when suitors come over.

First hike (Twin Falls).

Seeing fireworks for the first time.

In the past month, we’ve just taken Beatrice along for the ride as we’ve had adventures, and she loves it. She’s really curious about the world and loves car rides (but only while we’re moving, Dad!) and seeing new things. We’ve been on a road trip to another state, a hike, a fireworks show, and all kinds of walks and trips and errands.

Beatrice in her Jumparoo.

Beatrice can become occupied with toys now! She loves her jumperoo and has figured out how to tumble the cylinder, pull at the elephant, and otherwise amuse herself while Momma and Daddy are trying to finish their dinner.

And the vital stats from her 4-month checkup:

Height:  25.5″: 93rd percentile
Weight: 16lbs, 4oz: 83rd precentile
Head circumference: 44.5cm: >97th percentile

Yes… she’s a big baby and she’s got Daddy’s big head. She’ll grow into it. She’s already wearing 9-month sized outfits!

Finally, here’s a little video of her I took with my cell phone. Sometimes I play it at work when I’m frustrated, because it makes me smile every time I watch it.

We love her more each day!

Here she is, all ready to have some tea. We’ll have to wait on the tea, but for now she’s our cute little girl with a sweet little belly.

Happy Friday everyone! Unofficial, official fourth month blog post is coming. Her four month visit to the pediatrician isn’t until next week so we’ll have to guess on things like her height and weight.

Here is Beatrice as a scarecrow:

Afterward, we went to Theno’s Dairy where we enjoyed some delicious ice cream and Beatrice fell asleep in her car seat.

It’s all going by so quickly, I can’t believe our girl is already so big she nearly fills her bassinet!
Here she is before:

Beatrice in her bassinet April 2010

and here she is nowadays:

Beatrice in her bassinet July 2010

She’s getting so big already!  Here’s hoping we all sleep well tonight. Happy Independence Day! We’re thankful for our freedom as U.S. citizens and our freedom in Christ!

Beatrice’s third month has been full of new accomplishments. For one thing, she’s figured out how to grab things!

One day, I came home from work and held out her bee with the crinkly wings for her–she loves to hit it–and instead of just batting at it, her hands zeroed in on the wings, opened up a little like a pair of lobster claws, and latched on. Soon she was making her happy noises while tugging at the wings and listening to them crackle.

She’s getting lots bigger, too. Here she is in the chair for comparison with the 1- and 2-month updates:

Her newest trick is babbling! She’s become very vocal over the last few weeks and lets us know exactly how she’s feeling. We’ll post a video of her talking one of these days and you too can be enthralled with her command of consonants and vowels (I think she’s got enough to say “Dang!” if she puts them together in the right order.)

Best of all, she’s developing a little personality and becoming more like herself every day. She will hold your gaze now, look into your eyes and beam at you to see if you’ll return her smile. She knows her momma and her daddy and rewards us with huge, toothless grins when we walk into the room. She loves it when her dad pretends to be a lizard and when her mom sings songs to her. She thinks she’s a little grown-up and always wants to be part of the action, sitting with us at the table if we’re eating and shouting little interjections if we’re talking.

We love you, Beatrice! Don’t grow up too fast!

Here are her stats:

Weight: 12lbs, 9oz. 95th percentile
Height/Length: 23″. 75th percentile
Head circumference: 41cm. 90th percentile

She also received her two month vaccinations. That was pretty much the worst thing to happen to us since she was born! Poor girl, she’s such a joyous baby and all afternoon she’s been smiling, then wincing and then crying. Hopefully she’ll keep sleeping and will feel better in the morning.

She does not want to lie flat right now, I think being in the swing helps her to keep her legs still. She’s enjoying the swing and has been sleeping there pretty well, I was holding her most of the afternoon, but we were getting a little hot and sweaty!

Here are some other big milestones from the last week or so:

Sleeping in her own room for the first time May 12, 2010

Strollin' with Aunt Megan May 14, 2010

We also went on our first family roadtrip this weekend! We visited Jonathan’s brother Rusty in Yakima and stayed over night. Beatrice did pretty well in the car, but upon arrival in Yakima, she was cranky because she was hungry. While I was nursing her in the backseat of our car, she managed to fill her pants to overflowing and had poo all up her back! Thankfully, I was able to hold a burp cloth back there so she could finish eating and then we went into the restaurant to change her. To add injury to insult, I took her back to the restroom and they had two doors, so I pushed the first one open and went to rush her into the bathroom only to have the door stop on the stupid garbage can and bash her in the head! So I had a hot, sweaty, poopy baby that was now crying loudly! I was also hot and sweaty and crying, but we managed to get her changed and we both calmed down and enjoyed a nice dinner. She seems to be okay in the head so I think we’re clear there and I’m pretty sure the stain came out of her onesie. Oh, parenting. I’m still waiting for the day when I don’t think one of two things: “What a miracle!” or “Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!” while tearing up a bit.

Wait… wasn’t it just yesterday that we were writing a blog post about little Bea turing one month old? She’s two months old now and growing big and strong.

While she was visiting her grandparents in South Carolina last week, she rolled over for the first time! In the photo above, you can see her trying to do it again. She’s very focused and gets frustrated when she can’t do it, but she gets even MORE frustrated when we pick her up. “Come on, mom and dad,” we imagine her saying, “I was just about to get it!”

Yes, yes, we can see that you’ve almost figured it out, Beatrice. Good job! Bea also loves to try to crawl: she grabs the blanket and pulls forward with her arms while kicking furiously with her little feet. We’re pretty sure she’ll be mobile in no time.

Here’s Beatrice waving from the chair so you can compare her to her one-month picture. She’s really growing! Kelly estimates her weight at around 12 pounds.

She’s also becoming much more aware and interactive–she will stick her tongue out if you do it to her and she smiles and laughs at little games. She can’t reach and grab much yet, but she will bat the occasional book and she’s just starting to notice and try to touch toys.

And, of course, if you’re wondering why little Bea is such a beauty, you need look no further than her mother. Here they are after Bea’s little two-month photo-shoot.

Our little Bea’s growing up so fast. It’s a real joy to be a part of her discovery of the world.

In all seriousness, you may see little Beatrice with a nice round butt because of her sweet diapers!

Here she is sporting one for your benefit:

And here she is holding up her head to show you how strong she is AND how much she loves her diaper:

I was a little hesitant about the laundry part of the cloth diapers, but it’s really not bad. Everything goes into a washable bag that I use to line the diaper pail and then drop it all into the laundry. The two types of cloth diaper we are using are the fuzzibunz one size and the grobaby. A big thanks to Natalie at Punkernoodle Baby in Seattle who took the time to explain and show us all the different types of cloth diapers. She happens to have a great selection in stock if you just want to see and feel the diapers before you buy them! So far, we’ve not had any problems with either the Fuzzibunz or Gro Baby diapers as far as leaks or fit go and have not found that we need to change her any more frequently than we did with disposable diapers.  Do any of you use cloth diapers? Do you have any tips to share with us?

In case you were wondering, yes, I do sing “Baby Got Back” on occasion. Just keepin’ it real here on the eastside.

We’d like to take just a moment to thank everyone who brought us a meal over the past month! We enjoyed many fresh and delicious dinners that we didn’t have to plan, shop for, prepare, and serve, and consequently we were able to spend more time just being parents during these first few weeks of Beatrice’s life. It’s been pretty great to have that time and to get to spend time with each of you.

Thanks, friends!

After Bea’s umbilical cord fell off, we were able to give her a real immersion bath for the first time. She likes these way better than the sponge baths and sits quietly in the warm water while she’s washed! Kelly tumbles her towel in the drier so that she has a warm, fresh towel when she’s done with her bath.

Beatrice is learning to sleep in the bassinet, but her favorite place to sleep is still on our arms or chests. She’ll sleep for hours and hours when she’s being held.

Beatrice slept through most of her first two weeks of life–ten minutes was a long time for her little eyes to be open–but she’s really turned a corner as she approached the one-month mark. Now she’s awake and very interested in the world around her for hours at a time, and her eyes are getting bigger and bluer every day.

Beatrice has been smiling in her sleep for the past few weeks, but just a few days ago she started smiling for real! (We haven’t caught it on film yet.) So far she’s smiled at her mother, her doctor and nurses, Brenda, her aunt Megan … and not her father. This is a bit of a sore point.

Beatrice gets a little bit of “tummy time” every day. Sometimes she just lies quietly but lately she’s been able to hold her head up a couple of seconds and even try to roll over. These are developmental milestones she’s not supposed to hit for quite a while and we’re encouraging her to cherish her immobile days while they last!

We’ve really lost count of how many friends and family have come over to bring us food, hold Beatrice, and generally be supportive and loving. Beatrice has met adults and children of all ages and is generally very happy to be held and admired by just about anyone.

Kelly’s starting to feel like her regular self again. Seriously, does she look like she’s a sleep-deprived parent who underwent major surgery a few weeks ago?

Beatrice had her one-month checkup today and all looks rosy–she’s in the 70th and 80th percentiles in the measures that matter and she’s doing great. Thank you for your prayers and support as we try to figure out this “parenting” thing!