Josie 4 months

Happy 4 months to this little (or not so little) one! I've been back to work for about 4 weeks now and we're all starting to find our groove. It took her awhile to figure out the bottle thing but she's now a pro and we're so thankful for that. I'm also so grateful that my job is flexible and I can work from home some days. 

Josie is a pretty easy going baby overall. Right now she is eating well, napping well (taking 2 naps most days), and sleeping well at night (usually up once but sometimes twice). This month has brought out the best in her for sure! She's smiling all the time and laughing more too. This month she also started rolling. She has rolled from front to back and back to front a couple times. She's generally a really happy baby but has a bit of a witching hour around 5 pm (an hour or so before bed). She likes her swing and play mat, enjoys putting her hands and toys in her mouth, and loves watching her brother be his goofy 2-year old self. 

I LOVE this age so much. She's just a ball of soft, pudgy, smiley love and I could kiss her cheeks all day long (and sometimes do). Keep being awesome Jo!

Update: She had her 4-month doctor's appointment at 4 months and 1 week and weighed in at a whopping 17 lbs, 4 oz and is 26" long. Over 90th percentile for both! They said she looks great.

Click on "Read more" below for more photos.

Josie 3 months

This was a fun month with Josie. She didn't have a doctor's appointment this month so we don't know how big she is, but her growth seems to have slowed down a little. She's still a big baby though! She is wearing 6-month clothing now. She is really alert and interactive, smiling all the time and even giggling a little bit too. She likes her play mat and looking at new toys. She is starting to reach for objects but can't hold them very well yet. She loves to take a bath. She's an excellent sleeper, often falling asleep during the day on her own and sleeping really well at night (usually up once a night and occassionally sleeping all night!).  The only problematic thing is that she won't take a bottle. I'm going back to work in a week and so we're pretty nervous about this. Her easy-going nature may go out the window if she continues to refuse the bottle and is hungry all day. We're hoping this isn't the case of course! Overall she's a super easy baby and especially having a toddler to care for too, we are so thrilled. Love her more every day!

Josie & Bandit, 3 months

More photos from this month below.

Madison in December

Two days after Christmas we took our first road trip as a family of 4. We drove to my sister's in Madison. The drive went pretty well and Josie slept a few hours on the way there and almost the whole way back. Oli even took a nap on the way back. We spent the weekend there and had a great time. My sister cooked for us and made some delicious food. We also had a chance to go sledding on a gorgeous, warm (for the midwest) December day overlooking Lake Monona! Since I had missed Oli's first time sledding, I was thrilled to get to experience his second time sledding (and it was my first too!).

cousins

father and daughter

Christmas 2013

Oli (from 2 years ago) and Josie in the same sweater

We had a really nice Christmas this year. We got a beautiful big tree (a balsam fir) in early December and except for shedding some needles, it stayed looking and smelling good the whole month! We read Christmas books and watched Christmas movies with Oliver this year. Some favorites were The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and The Polar Express.

More photos to follow.

Oli goes sledding

About a week before Christmas, Chris' brother Steve visited us. While he was here, he and Chris took Oli sledding. It was Oli's first time and he loved it! Josie and I stayed home and I was pretty bummed I missed it. Chris took most of these photos (except for the one he is in) and I think they are absolutely gorgeous. Such a beautiful winter day!

Happy Holidays 2013

Sending you all our love this holiday season. We are thankful for the family and friends that live nearby and miss all of you who live far away!

Josie 2 months

With the busyness of the end of the semester and the holidays I'm a little late doing Josie's 2-month update, but here it is. Of course the main thing is just how much bigger she's gotten. At her doctor's appointment on the 17th she was 13 lb 10 oz (92nd %) and 23.5" long (89th %). I love how chubby and squeezable she is! In case it's not obvious, she eats well. She is a very good sleeper, usually waking up only 1-2 times between going to bed around 8 pm and getting up between 5-6 am. We are lucky! She prefers to nap during the day while one of us is holding her. She will sometimes nap in the baby wrap or Bjorn too. She's much more alert this month and enjoys looking at toys and watching us (especially Oli). She was not a fan of being bathed early on but thankfully doesn't mind it anymore. She has been smiling a lot and even laughing a little. Baby smiles and laughs are the best! (In the photo below the pink bandaids are from her 2-month shots. She, of course, cried but seemed fine the rest of the day so we were happy about that!).

And some more photos from this month. Love this little one!