Happy 4 Months Eleanor!

Eleanor turned 4 months old yesterday! I didn't get my snazzy photo of her with an animal, sitting in a chair, just like I didn't for 2 and 3 months. Sorry kid, it's been a heck of a year. But, you're not without your own share of photos, even if they aren't "official".

Her appointments are off a bit, thanks to my crazy shot schedule and having to keep the shots at least 4 weeks apart, so I'll update with her stats in a couple weeks after her visit to the doctor.

The day started with some good rolling over for the first time! She is just like Avery, who also hated tummy time with a vengeance, so she mastered going from back to belly just like her big sister. Now that she's figured it out, she rolls no matter where she's parked for the moment, and she tried to roll herself out of the swing today. Glad she was strapped in! She also hates when she ends up on her tummy, but she can't seem to stop swinging her body over. I was smart and managed to catch the first one on video, plus every one after that for the rest of the day, but it takes too long to upload videos on here, so just trust me - she's a pro.

She also started reaching for items more, and she has become quite adept at getting the paci back in her mouth if it's dangling close enough. She found her voice in the past 2 weeks, and though she's still our "quiet" baby, she does talk more than she had been and lets out some major squeals of excitement on occasion. She's also begun cooing on car rides. Maybe she's talking to Avery.

She has graduated to the bouncer, though she doesn't bounce quite yet. Her feet do touch the ground, surprisingly, because she has such short little legs. She loves to look at the toys and her arms flail about and manage to catch them, where she'll then hold on for dear life.

She is the happiest baby ever and is quick to offer a grin to anyone looking her direction. She still loves to hold her own hands and gnaws on them constantly. She's quite the drool baby these days, spits up more than she used to but still not much by Avery's standard (who required an entire suitcase of burp rags when we traveled), and wants to be held all the time. She tries to sit up if she's reclining in someone's arms, wanting to see what's going on.

She is definitely a mommy's girl and still hates the bottle, so I'm on-call 24/7. She was sleeping 10 hours a night, but we're back to up once in the night usually, sometimes twice. So frustrating when you get used to good sleep, but we've traveled every week or two since the beginning of November, without much of a break in-between, so it's no wonder that she doesn't have a consistent schedule yet. She's often ready for bed by 6 pm, though I try and push it til 6:30 if I can. Then, I get an hour with Avery before she goes to bed.

I'm much more confident at handling two kids now, though it definitely tests my patience and my sanity some days. I'm also much more relaxed about Eleanor, though I was pretty relaxed with Avery. We did a lot more bottles with Avery, since I couldn't seem to get over being shy about nursing in public, which made it take longer to get out the door. With Eleanor, since bottles aren't even an option, I just load and go and nurse anywhere. It's so much better this way!

Wow, much more than I planned to type. Love you sweet girl!