Ariya is Four Months Old!

Our sweet Ariya is already 4 months old She smiles and chatters all day long and is so alert and curious about everything around her. At her 4 month checkup, she weighed in at 16# and is 26.5" long, in the 90th percentile for both. WHY must I have the fastest growing babies of all time?! 

Ariya is SUCH a good baby, so predictable and easy to please. She's such a joy - to all of us. Her brothers couldn't be more smitten with her if they tried, they just radiate love - It makes my heart swell. For as much as they pick fights with each other, they have nothing but sweet words and gentle touches for their little sis. Their "little missy."

Ariya continues to sleep like a rockstar, 8-10 hour stretches every single night and a solid nap in the middle of the day (along with a couple small catnaps in between) She's unreal. I think Avery slept through his first night when he was...11 months and Cullen was maybe 6 months. She was 2 WEEKS and has done it consistently since then.  She still sleeps in our room and until we can figure out how to get Cullen and Avery to sleep in the same room together, that's where she will stay. She breaks out of her swaddle every night but usually falls right back to sleep with her fists up around her ears.

Her favorite spot to nap is on her tummy on our bed. When she doesn't fall asleep nursing, she prefers to be cuddled in the cradle position and have her bottom patted. It works every time!

Ariya loves bath time and kicks half the water out of her infant tub before she's finished. 

Her neck and core are getting so strong and she tries to pull herself up every time she gets a hand to grasp. She would rather sit up (with support) to look around than play on her tummy, though she tolerates it for short periods (the mirror helps). She she's only rolled over a couple of times but enjoys grabbing her feet and rolling from side to side.

When she gets scared, she lets out a very high-pitched squeal and if what's scaring her doesn't stop, the squeal turns into a cry.

Ariya's taken up the two-finger-chew (like her brothers did at this age) and drools all over everything. She LOVES watching her brothers and having them up in her face entertaining her is her favorite. She's especially fond of Avery right now because he takes his big brother role so seriously and knows how to anticipate her needs. He wipes her spitup, alerts me when he diaper gets full and knows all her favorite toys. He's very proud that he can help her sit up when she's fussing and she LOVES this arrangement :)

For as sweet and calm as she is, she has a 'fussy time' from 5-7 every evening - like clockwork. It makes preparing dinner and rounding up dirty boys from outside pretty difficult when all she wants is to be held. She often gives her lungs a good healthy workout during this time ;)

I took these photos of Ariya last month and just now got around to posting them - she has already grown and changed so much since they were taken.

I never could've imagined how perfectly this sweet little person would fit into our life. I love to see her so aware and learning so much every day, but feel a little tinge of sadness every morning I wake up and see how much she's grown during the overnight hours. I spend every hour of every day with her and somehow I still can't keep up with how quickly the time is going. I'm so grateful for the time I have with these three babies of mine. 

xoxo 
 
I've been enjoying looking back on these blog posts from Avery and Cullen's baby days. I love them so much, I'm going to make a point to continue with Ariya's updates - I knew I would appreciate taking the time to write all of this down!
Avery @ 4 Months
Cullen @ 4 Months