Four Months Old

WANTED: This baby...

THE CRIME: Growing up too quickly!

It doesn't even seem possible, but our baby is four months old.  I am getting sad just typing this because it makes me think about how quickly time flies.  However, Miss Leighton is getting more and more fun each day!  When she is awake, she is usually smiling... especially if her daddy's around.  You should see the way her face lights up when she sees him - it makes me quite jealous is amazing!  It is still a very rare phenomenon, but she has started laughing out loud too.  It is the best!!  As I mentioned in previous posts, other new firsts this month included reaching for and grabbing her toys and rolling from her back to her tummy.  Such a big girl! 

We went to the doctor on June 8th, and other than a pesky runny nose courtesy of daycare, the doctor said L is doing great!  She also gave us the green light to start the little one on solid foods.  I was eagerly awaiting the whole solid food thing because it would be new and fun... but also because I was hoping it would help her sleep through the night.  By definition, L has slept through the night (a 5 to 6 hour stretch) for a long time, but within the past few weeks she has started stirring in the wee hours.  We usually just shove her paci back in and she goes back to sleep.  BUT once she starts stirring, she usually wakes up every hour afterward.  Makes for one tired mommy in the morning.  I will do a separate post on her first date with rice cereal, but the jury is still out on whether or not it's actually helping us during the night.  Here are her stats from our four-month visit...

Weight - 12 lbs. 14 oz. (33%)
Height - 24 in. (that's two feet - she's almost as tall as I am!) (41%)
Head circumference - 16 in. (40%)

Despite my best efforts, I could not get the little one to smile for her four-month photo shoot.  I wanted to take her pictures after we went to the doctor so we would have her stats... but the shots and the baby Tylenol made for one groggy baby.  I think every picture of her is cute though...

Look how big (and tired) she looks in this one...

I love the tongue/cheeks in this one...

And (ignore the Flash Gordon hand, but) check out the dimples in this one...

But my very favorite picture of the day is this one...

No matter how hard I try... I just can't get enough kisses :)

Leighton Blair, you continue to amaze us!  Your mommy and daddy love you right up to the moon and back!

Happy girl!!!

These pictures are from Memorial Day weekend, but I just looked at them again and wanted to share.  It looks like someone is telling Leighton a VERY funny story...

The sweetest pictures of all are these of Leighton with my Mamie (one of her great-grandmothers).  Priceless...

First time in the pool...

So this post is a little bit late, but I wanted to share pictures of Leighton's first time in the pool.  We took our 10 foot "white trash" pool down to P.O.C. for Memorial Day weekend.  I had the bright idea of setting it up on the front porch so we could keep Leighton out of the sun, but I didn't think about the fact that the water would be COLD without the sun to warm it up.  We filled the pool Saturday morning and the water was FREEZING, so we waiting until Sunday to put the little one in.  We started by splashing some water on her legs, then we dipped a few toes, then the legs, and finally she was all in.  I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

What is this... a big bath tub?

Geez Mom, this water is cold...

I'm not so sure about this, guys...

Okay, maybe it's not SO bad...

OMG, this pool is AWESOME!!!

Our family (plus rubber duckie)...

Notice that in most of the pictures, Lyn and I are not "in" the water... it was that cold.  But, Leighton took it like a champ.  I think her daddy and I were more excited about the whole pool experience than Leighton was, but I'm sure she will enjoy it more and more as she grows (especially if the water is not miserably cold).

In other news, Leighton Blair Goldman is four months old today!!!  I know - it's crazy!?!  We are going to the doctor tomorrow for a check-up (and more shots), so stay tuned for her four-month post.

Reflections of Motherhood

I came across this video on Heather's blog and I thought it was so good I wanted to share...



If I could go back to right before Leighton was born, I would tell myself that the most important thing is to love her... and the rest you just figure out as you go.

So many of the signs in the video spoke to me, but here are a few of my personal favorites...

It's okay to want a break
You will make mistakes
Nobody really knows what they're doing
She will have your eyes :)

I hope you enjoyed as much as I did!

Rocking and Rolling!

On Thursday, May 26th, this is how Leighton looked when she started playing...

And this is how she looked a few minutes later...

That's right... my baby rolled from her back to her tummy!  Naturally, I didn't see it happen the first time :(  I was sitting a few feet away cutting the tags off some of her new clothes, and when I looked up... she was on her tummy.  Of course I was bummed, so I did what any mother would do... I put her back on her back and tried to lure her with toys, etc. to make her do it again.  Sure enough, she did!  I thought I would try my luck a third time to see if I could catch her doing it on video for her daddy.  No such luck.  We tried again when Lyn got home, but she would get sooo close... then flop back over.  It was still a chore for her at that point.  This past weekend, Lyn was playing with L in her room and he caught her in the act.  After she did it the first time, she wouldn't stop.  Now when we put her on her activity mat, the first thing she does is roll onto her tummy.  She'll even inch back and forth from time to time, so I'm thinking we may have an early crawler on our hands.  Better start baby-proofing now.  Sometimes it still seems crazy to me that I'm a parent, but watching your children grow and learn new things is pretty dang cool :) 

It’s a bloggy blog world…

I mentioned a few posts ago that I had a blog-related run-in at Kendra’s wedding. Here’s how it went down…

After the wedding, my parents took Leighton to the reception, and Lyn stayed back with me while the wedding party took pictures. When we arrived at the reception, we found my parents and the munchkin sitting at a table. As usual, my mom was holding Miss Leighton and the rest of us were standing around admiring her when a couple sitting at a table behind my parents walked by and started to chat. The gentleman started the conversation by commenting on how happy the baby obviously made my parents and said he was guessing that she was the first grandchild. My mom asked how he could tell, and the man explained that he knew exactly what it was like because their first grandchild (also a little girl) was nine months old. A few minutes later I began talking to the gentleman’s wife and I asked her if they lived close to their granddaughter and got to see her often. She said they lived in Dallas, and her daughter’s family lived in a neighboring suburb. She went on to say that her daughter was an event planner and she worked one day a week, but was busy on the weekends with her job. The more and more we talked, the more and more familiar their story sounded, and I was 99.9% sure that her daughter was Karen of Black Tie, White Dress and Now A Bassinet!. At that point, I started asking myself... do I admit to this woman that I blog stalk her daughter or do I keep my mouth shut. I decided that if I was going to be a creepy blog stalker, I should at least fess up to it. So, I asked her daughter's name, and she said it was indeed Karen. I then told her that I read Karen's blog and confirmed that her granddaughter was the adorable Miss Eleanor. It was probably at that point she realized how creepy I actually was, but we both started laughing and shared the coincidence with the rest of the group.

The best part of the story is BEFORE we came to the realization that I "knew" this woman's daughter... she may or may not have told me this news.  AFTER I told her I read Karen's blog, I swore to secrecy... but thought it was so cool that I knew something that had not yet been revealed to the blog world yet.  Creepy?  Yes... but I thought it was so cool.  I have always wanted to randomly meet someone who's blog I read, and this just might be as close as I get.  Or will it??