Eleanor at 4 months

4 Months!  So crazy.  Here's an update:

-Eleanor is talking, kinda.  More and more her coos really sound like she is trying to form words and really say something.  She looks you in the eye and "answers" your questions.

-She continues to smile and her smiles are getting easier to catch on camera!

-She is so roll-y and long!  Everyone comments on how she seems big for a 4 month old so I was expecting to learn that she was off the charts at her 4 month appointment.  However, we found out that she is pretty much a straight 50% girl.  She is 24 1/2 inches long and 14 lbs and 13 oz.

-Eleanor discovered her hands.  She loves to put them in her mouth, much to my dismay and despite by constant attempts to pull them away.  She loves to grip on to things, like her shirt (flashing everyone around in the process) or blankets.  And she likes to put her hands together and look like she is about to tell you something very wise.

-She sits in her bumbo seat like a pro!  She actually prefers it to laying down.

-Eleanor always wants to stand now.  Her legs will go stick straight and she won't sit no matter what you do.  My favorite part about her standing is that it really shows off the definition in her legs (definition of rolls, that is).

-She gets distracted while eating, especially when she can hear her dad talking.  Sometimes she just stops eating and starts smiling real big like she can't be bothered with anything but smiling at the moment.

^^Seconds away from falling over but looking so grown up while doing it.

-After a month of going back to getting up in the middle of the night to feed, Eleanor's sleep is finally lengthening out again.  She still goes down late at 9:30 to 10 pm but has started to sleep until at least 5:30 am every morning.

-Eleanor can really hold her head up well, making it easy for us to carry her around in one arm while getting things done with our other arm.  Success!

-A glorious development is that Eleanor has started to eat every 3 hours during the day, instead of every 2 hours, making it so much easier for us to get out and go places!

-She has become more interested in toys so we pulled out the toy bin and are always putting stuffed animals around her.  Aaron has taken to naming everything and so far we have Petrie the pterodactyl/bird, Hank the hippo and Izzy the duck.

-Lastly, Eleanor loves looking in the mirror.  If she is ever getting fussy, Aaron will hold her so she can look in the mirror and then she gets all smiley.

We fall more in love with her every day.  Every new thing she does is like magic for us.

I have been able to be so much more productive through the days, which is really nice.  I run errands and visit teach and do crafts and fold laundry and make meals and get all those sort of things done. And Eleanor is along for the ride for all of it.  She really is my best friend.  I just can't say it enough.  Having her along for our outings makes everything so much more enjoyable.  We smile at each other all through the grocery store and have our own little conversations.  She's my bud.

One other big improvement for me is that I've started to exercise from 6-7 am three times a week with other moms from church.  It seems like a mighty sacrifice of sleep, especially since I have to wake up at 5 am to pump and get ready, but I'm trying to remember that my health is worth it.  Let's hope I can keep it up!

Life with Eleanor keeps getting better and better and we love her so.