You Are My Sunshine... in December

Some favorites from December:

12/3/2011: Big girl chillin' in her boppy

Looks like she's watching tv - she's not!

12/4/2011: Daddy's scratchy face

12/10/11: Mommy's Favorite Gift!

Mommy's Favorite Fat-so :)

12/23/2011: Yum, Sophie!

12/28/2011: Jovie's biggest tell when she's tired - she rubs her head, and it's so cute!

Cereal Adventures!

So today was Jovie's first time eating cereal, and of course we documented the whole experience. :)

Getting ready to eat cereal; might as well try the bib, too!

She was only confused for about two bites...

...but she settled into a rhythm quickly. Notice who's hovering closely...

Having fun!

Funny faces

Lovin' the cereal

She was definitely ready for this!

She really caught her stride - you would have thought she's been eating it for weeks.

In big trouble after he got some of the cereal when we weren't paying attention.

All done! Big girl!

Trying to get the leftovers... ;)

Four months

My baby is four months old. And she's such a bright, beautiful baby!

Here are her giraffe comparison pictures:






At her four month appointment today, her stats were:
15 lbs (75th percentile) - Yes, I know I was way off last month with my guess...
25 3/4 inches (90th percentile)

The doctor says she's definitely teething, and we have about 3-4 more weeks until her first tooth cuts. We've been wondering with the drooling and gnawing on her hands.

Jovie is even more amazing than ever! She:
-Notices EVERYTHING!
-Holds her bottle (if it's not too full; struggles to get it back where it belongs entirely if it falls out)
First time (12/12):

-Rolls from tummy to back, now and then. She's not consistent, and the first time was definitely an accident! But, she tucked in her arm and rolled, and we were proud
-Blows raspberries with her tongue between her lips and thinks she's talking
-Sporadically waves. First time: I saw a couple attempts of her waving at the babies at the Christmas Party, but didn't know if those were waves or grabs. But on Sunday, 12/18, I was in the elevator holding her, and a man from church (that I do not know) smiled and said hi to her. She smiled and definitely waved! Enough that the others in the elevator said "Oh, you got a good wave!"
-Gets very proud of herself when we encourage her and make a big deal about what she's just done
-Falls asleep by herself. Today was the first time we put her down to sleep at night without rocking her, and I never heard a peep! It must have been what she's always wanted. She's still a champion sleeper at night. Naps take a little more effort...
When she sleeps, she sucks her thumb and now rubs her head. So cute! (Someday I'll be brave enough to catch a picture; I'm afraid to wake her up.)

Jovie is such an expressive little girl. She's much louder than other babies her age. I hear other babies her age and think "Jovie was NEVER that quiet. Maybe when she was a week old..." She is totally not afraid to let you know how she feels. This also means that she is totally active and interactive, and that is so fun for us! She is constantly trying to make new noises, expressions and movements and surprises us with what a little person she is turning out to be. :) Sadly, she's developed some stranger fear. Only Mommy and Daddy can hold her without tears; well, all-out screams, really. She still smiles a lot at others, and will, at times, let other people hold her after several minutes/hours of getting comfortable with them. We'll see how Christmas goes...

So happy to celebrate my four month old Jovie today!!

Christmas Party

On Saturday, 12/10/2011, the McShanes hosted our small group Christmas party. As usual, lots of food and fun!

Jovie was nervous about anyone holding her, and it took her awhile to relax. But she loved the kids! Here she is "playing" on the floor with Emerson and Ruth.

I like this picture of Emerson trying to get Ruth's headband.

So, of course we had to get the pictures of all the kids together. And, as usual, they didn't disappoint! They are so funny. It cracks me up that all the kids have different facial expressions in the various pictures EXCEPT Jovie. She has the same blank expression in all of them. When she gets in the middle of these photo shoots, she seems to lose all of her animation and gets mesmerized. At least she stopped crying long enough to get a couple good pictures!

Later, Mike and I realized just how much Jovie looked like Santa when we looked at the pictures. All the way down to the white bib which looked like Santa's beard. Pretty unintentional on our part. And pretty funny. :)

Here they are - the cutest kids ever!

Hanging out with Daddy at the party

Playing the X-box Kinnect

Another great party together!

Who Says You Have to Wait For a Milestone?

So, it's not a three month birthday, four month, 100 days, or any specific "day" milestone. But Jovie has been doing so many big things lately, and we've really been noticing her grow up in the last week or so.

She tries really hard to rollover, and can do most of it by herself; she just needs a little leverage on her legs. Can't really get the arm from under herself either, but she can pull herself around! She turns her head all around when she's on her belly (it's no big thing these days that she can hold her head up.) :) When on her belly, she pulls those knees in, rocks herself up, and every once in awhile coordinates with her arms and launches herself a couple inches. Maybe backwards, maybe forwards, but she moves!

She tries even harder to sit up. She grunts and pulls herself forward. All she needs is a little support on the side, and she can do it!

Her big, big smile turns into a laugh a little bit more these days, and her interactions with us are becoming more and more complex. She tries to carry on conversations and her vocal noises have more pitch and intonations, depending on her mood. The facial expressions are also more varied these days. Sometimes she tries to sing when music is on, and she LOVES when we dance with her. She demands a lot of interaction these days!

And, the new favorite pose in the bouncy seat:

Seeing Santa on Saturday

On Saturday, December 3rd, we went to go see Santa at Tyson's Corner with the Smith and McGinnis families. It was so much fun to get Jovie all dressed up for her first picture with Santa!

At home, ready to go

By the Santa display at Tyson's Corner

The Smiths

I was really impressed with this Santa. He was sweet and gentle, and looked great!

So, when it was time to sit on Santa's lap, Jovie was fine for about thirty seconds...

...then, suddenly, not so sure.

We took a picture with all the kids (Jovie, Peyton, Owen and Madeline) and it went pretty much the same way. :) We weren't too surprised. Actually, we were kind of surprised that we got a good one.

After pictures, we went to Cafe Deluxe and enjoyed some really yummy food and the company of our great friends.

Owen chillin' after dinner

Madeline chillin' too

What a fun Saturday evening!