4 Months Old!!

The babies have been four months old for a whole week now.  Man, time is flying....at the same time its going really slow too :)  How is that possible?  I can't believe how big my babies are!  They are getting so old and grown up, I wish I could keep them little tiny forever.  It is fun to see them grow and develop and learn new things though.  I'm so grateful for healthy babies!  

I did a few photo shoots of them.  On Sunday we got them all dressed up in the cutest outfits that my amazingly talented cousin, Lynette, made for them.  You can see her work here: http://www.thinkinginshapes.com.  Thanks so much Lynette!!  We got a few shots before church, but as usual, we were rushing and late for church so I didn't get any of them together, just individually.  When we got back, they were in really bad moods.  I tried to get a few of them together, but they were pretty cranky.  I decided to do some more pics a few days later.  I loved some from both "photo sessions" so you get to see both :)

Miss Liv:

-16 lbs 3 oz!! That is in the 90th-95th percentile! You are my little chunker.  I just love your arm rolls, double chin, and thunder thighs! I could nibble on them all day long.

-26 inches long! That is in the 95th-97th percentile! You have always been really long, but I guess I'm not surprised.  I mean, look at your gene pool :)

-Head Circumference is 16.5 inches.  That is in the 90th-95th percentile.  We always joke that you have a monster head.  It doesn't help that you have an extra big head, and Street has an extra small head, so side by side it kinda does look like a monster head :)  The nice thing is that you and Daci can share headbands.  Ha!

-You have a VERY flat head.  Just like Daci did :)  The doctors say it isn't bad enough for a helmet, but that we need to keep you on your tummy or off your head as much as possible.

-You are the HAPPIEST baby.  I know I say it constantly, but I am so grateful for your sweet and laid back demeanor.  You literally smile all.day.long.  Even when you are sad, if I look at you and pull a face you will bust into a huge smile, and then go back to whimpering.

-You get the biggest kick out of your little brother.  You look at him all day long and just smile and squeal.  Whether he is screaming his head off, or talking to you, you just think he is hilarious.

-You already seem protective of him.  You hold his hand a lot, or put your hand on his head or leg when he is crying.

-You are a super natural nurser.  I stopped nursing at 6 weeks, after all my help had left, and I didn't have the help I needed to be able to nurse.  I exclusively pump now and feed you two breast milk.  Well at 13 weeks I had a clogged duct so I tried to nurse you so that you could help me out.  I didn't think you would even remember how, but you latched right on and ate like a champ.  I have nursed 3 or 4 times since then, and you still just latch and eat right away.  

-Your rooting reflex is still really strong.  If I put my cheek up to yours to snuggle, you immediately turn and start sucking on my face :)  You also like to try to suck daddy's nose when he has you up close to his face, talking to you.  Like I said, you love your food.  I think you would eat all day long if I let you :)

-You have a little binkie that has an elephant attached to it.  You don't take binkies during the day, but for naps and bedtime you like to have it.  Mostly, you just like to play with the little elephant, but when you get really tired you will stick it in your mouth and suck until you fall asleep.  Its so funny, when your dad or I lay you in your little corner of the crib, you look right at us and open your mouth wide until we stick the bink in.  Daddy likes to tease you and wait a little while before he sticks it in to see if you will keep your mouth open.  You do!  You just keep it wide open and start kicking your legs and getting impatient until he sticks it in :)

-Like I said, you have a little corner of the crib that you like to sleep in.  If you aren't in that corner, you won't go to sleep.  Silly girl.

-You need a lot less sleep than your brother.  You always wake up way earlier than him from naps, and aren't always ready to go back down when he is.  You are happy as can be on less sleep than him though.  

-You are a light sleeper.....well maybe just a normal sleeper.  You always wake up if Street makes a noise, but his noises are generally full on screams, so I guess I can't blame you for waking up :)  Its frustrating though, because he will make noises in his sleep but not wake up. Once he does, you are wide awake and don't go back to sleep.

-Your big sister, Daci, absolutely adores you.  She pretty much mauls you :)  She constantly wants to hold or play with you.  You handle it so well and very rarely get frustrated with her.  You are a very go-with-the-flow baby.

-You are finally starting to work on your tummy.  For a while there, I was a little worried.  You hated tummy time and you would never lift your head up, you would just bury your head and scream.  You are very strong now, and push up very high.  You still aren't the biggest fan of tummy time, but at least you will do it longer now.  

-You also aren't the biggest fan of the bumbo.  You will sit in it ok for about ten minutes and then you get really mad and arch your back and try to jump out.  Good thing those chubby thighs of yours stop you from falling out when you arch your back like that!

-You rolled over quite a bit for three days in a row, and then all of a sudden you stopped.  So, I guess I can't really say you are rolling anymore.  I know you are capable, you just don't do it anymore.

-You have a particular blankie that you love.  Its really soft and you love to hold it in your hand and rub your cheek with it when you are trying to go to sleep.

-You like to suck your fingers and your thumb.  Its pretty darn cute :)

-You love your baths!

-Nicknames: Miss Liv, Livvi Lou, Princess.  Daci loves to call you Luva Lou, I think she is trying to say Livvi Lou but she says it too fast :)  "Mom, can I hold Luva Lou!?" "Luva Lou is smilin' at me!" "I gave Luva Lou her binkie!"

Mr. Street:

-15 lbs 10 oz.  That is between the 50th and 60th percentile.  You eat the same amount as your sister, but you scream most of the day, so you work it off :)

-26 inches long.  Between the 90th and 95th percentile.  The surprising thing about this is that 8 weeks ago, you were still an inch shorter than Liv.  You grew 4 inches in 8 weeks and are now the same length!!

-Head circumference is 15.75 inches.  That is only in the 5th percentile.  You have a peanut head, just like Daci did :)  It used to be perfectly round, but the last few weeks you have also developed a flat head.  Probably because you started sleeping longer stretches at night.

-You are still pretty fussy, although I am seeing longer stretches of happy time.  By that I mean like 30 minutes for every hour and a half that you are awake, rather than 10 :)  I'm hoping you will out grow this colic soon because you are SO much fun when you are happy!

-You don't really like tummy time anymore, but you are VERY strong!  Like you arch so far back that it looks like you could touch your head to your back :)  You did this for the doctor yesterday and she was shocked at how strong you are.  She thinks you will be rolling any day now.

-Speaking of rolling, you rolled twice from your tummy to back right about the same time Liv did, but haven't done it since then.  

-Your smiles are hilarious!  You didn't really start giving smiles until 12 weeks old.  Now you give them freely.....if you are happy that is :)  Since that isn't very often, you are still trying to figure out how to smile.  The corners of your mouth will start tugging and shaking as you try to pull them up.  You give HUGE wide open mouth smiles.  Its funny because I will look at pics and think, was he smiling or screaming?  Because your mouth does the same thing for both, but the key is in the eyes.  If your eyes are happy I know you are smiling :)

-Your mouth really is huge.  Kinda like a frog mouth :) I love it.

-You used to be a huge binkie boy, but ever since you got sick again at 12 weeks, you won't really take it anymore.  I think it scared you to not be able to breathe with your bink in, so you decided to give it up.  You won't take it for bed anymore, the only time you take it is if you are in your carseat and you get a little fussy.

-You never stop moving.  Your arms and legs are constantly kicking and circling.  Your little fingers are constantly wiggling.  Your muscles are always tense.  The only time I see you still is when you are asleep.

-You love to suck on your hands.  You usually have both fists in that big mouth of yours :)

-You still spit up all day, every day. You pretty much spit up your whole bottle by the time its time for another one.  I don't know how you are gaining weight.  You go through an average of four outfits a day.  You probably could go through more, but I get sick of changing you so I strip you down a lot now that it is warmer.  

-You also have a blankie that you love.  You like to cover your whole face with it to fall asleep.  We have to sneak in after you fall asleep and pull it off :)

-You LOVE your bath time.  You would sit in the bath all day long.  You just give me the hugest smiles during the whole bath.  I love it!

-Nicknames: Handsome, Streetie.  Daci calles you "Streetie Boy".  "Streetie Boy is fuzzin' (fussing) again, Mom!" "Streetie boy spit up, mom!" 

These were taken after  church when they were a bit cranky. They still look adorable though, right?

And of course, I have the get the naked pics!  Here are my chubbers:

Street on left, Liv on right

Love this pic! They are both so happy!

Street

Livvi

Here is the other photo shoot I did with them.  They were so happy!

My new favorite pic of these two.  I love it when they are both happy!

And of course, a photo shoot wouldn't be complete without Daci :) For those who are wondering, I can laugh about the hair cut story now, but I still get teary eyed when I see how short her hair is :(

And here are some pics of Street when he was in an especially good mood.  Smiles for Mama!