Sophie // Month 4

During her fourth month of life, Sophie laughed for the first time, and I realized all you people who told me beforehand how wonderful it would be were right. It's not that I doubted you, but, come on, it seemed a little dramatic. "Oh, hearing a baby laugh for the first time is the absolute BEST." No, really, you were right. It's the absolute best. Seeing Sophie's first laugh made me crazy giddy, with an emphasis on the crazy. I immediately texted Joe the video I took on my phone, but when he texted back something cute and fun like "Eeeeee!" I felt angry with him. Eeee? That semeed like an insufficient response to the amount of joy I was feeling, and I told him so. Did it matter that he was in a meeting when I texted him and that he later watched the video twenty times in a row because he loved it so much? No, evidently, a baby's first laugh turns the mother into a psycho. Sorry, Joe.Another favorite memory from this month was the game she started playing with me while nursing. She would start eating, then unlatch and look up at me with wide, expectant eyes. Only when I looked down and smiled at her would she flash me the biggest grin and then exclaim loudly "goo!" or "ahhhh!" and whip her face down to begin nursing again. A few seconds later, she'd stop and wait, giddy with anticipation, until I couldn't keep a straight face any longer. I'm sure I'm breaking all the rules of nursing by encouraging this distracted behavior, but when my infant daughter wants to play a game where she squeals with delight at the sight of my smile, I'll play along. I will always play along. [Update: Now I'm crying because she doesn't play this game with me as often anymore, and I hate that she is growing up so fast already and oh my gosh all the mommy tearsssss.]Finally, my Bebe (Sophie's great-grandmother) came to visit this month. Bebe and Sophie instantly connected, and by the time Bebe left for Atlanta, the two of them had their own special routine of playing with balloons and laughing over funny noises. I'll forever treasure the photos I have of these two besties.Favorite books: Much to my disappointment, books are no longer cool this month. Sophie would much rather reach out and grab something than sit and look at pictures. That said, she seemed to like the silly voices I made when we read Eric Carle's Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? Favorite songs: "Treasure" by Bruno Mars, "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth Wind & Fire, and "Sherry" by the Four Seasons (I replace the word "Sherry" with "Sophie)Favorite activities: Pooping through her adorable pink Easter dress immediately after the church service, watching me dance above her (I'm 99% sure she's a little embarrassed by me already), joining in on important conversations with her own commentary (gooo! and ah!), tummy time in small quantities, croaking out some hard-core pterodactyl sounds to her dad, and falling asleep in my arms in the mornings after she nurses. Her #1 favorite activity this month was giggling as her Bebe stuck her tongue out and made funny noises at her. She also loved it when Bebe softly rocked her to sleep.Favorite things: Pink elephant wubbanub, measuring spoons, the Jellycat bunny lovey that her aunt Yo gave her, the banana teething toothbrush, the electronic bunny at her Gammy and Muzzy's house that sings "Let's go to the hop/ Oh Baby!" while dancing, BALLOONS, and the tail of her sweet, old cat Lucky.Least favorite things + activities: Sophie has a love/hate relationship with her bumbo chair. Sometimes she doesn't mind her thighs being squeezed into the tiny holes (I have to pick her up with the bumbo still attached in order to peal her out of it). Other times, she minds greatly...She also HATES it when I put her clothes on her, and she is now 100% indifferent when it comes to ceiling fans and her blue monkey. I'm pretty sure she dumped him, and they're on bad terms.New Nicknames: TROUT (we've actually been calling her trout or troutface or good ole' fish lips her entire life, I just kept forgetting about it). Doobla (because of her double chin).Firsts: laughing, playing the "smile game" while nursing, pulling her toys to her mouth, turning her head confidently from side to side during tummy time.A few favorite photos: ^ They're watching a balloon above them. This photo cracks me up.^ The double chin!