Molly's 4 month milestones

I really stink at baby books. I don't even have one for Molly yet, and my dear friend Norah gave me one for Anna Cate about 8 months into her life.  I've decided I'm just not a detail person, and what a child weighs, when she rolls over, or starts food just isn't significant to me.  I know I should journal about the details that do matter to me, and that is one of the reasons I invest my time in this blog.  I just hope for some strange reason, Blogger doesn't die and all this be lost (no I'm not printing, but I will buy a book with these printed inside at the end of the year).IMG_2128.jpg picture by batesking04
So, when the pediatrician's nurse writes down the statistics for Molly, I don't know really what to do with it.  She is in the 50% percentile for both height and weight, and although the appointment is 20 days past her exact 4 month birthday I'm very proud that she is average weight since she got down so very low (5 pounds 11 oz). She now weighs 13 pounds, 7 ounces and is 24 inches long. (even after I wrote that I wonder, "who really cares about that"?)


  I love seeing her chunky legs and knowing that my body helped produce that FOR her.  Too bad I don't think the same things when I see chunk on myself! Oh, and her head circumference is in the 95% percentile...we can thank their Daddy for that!


Back to the details that do matter to me, my dear Molly.  You are rolling over and holding your head up, but what I love is that your head is turning to see what your sister is doing.
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  When you nurse, you can't decide whether to suck and breathe or to look up and give me this open-mouth smile that completely melts my heart, or you'll nurse and then look for a family member to interact with you. 


  When we were home in Centerville, you were constantly watching to see what Nana was doing, and grinned in gratitude for the attention.


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Molly's smiling and giggling gives me the window to her little soul! We've just returned from our annual summer visit to Centerville, and I reflected upon how horrible I felt last year as Molly's cells were rapidly dividing, and my body was preparing to house a baby.  It completely knocked me out, and I'll be honest, I wondered if we'd made a mistake in having a second child. I spent the majority of my 3 weeks at home asleep in bed, or on a couch in the sun room, wondering what I did to my precious little Anna Cate and myself!?!


This year, I would  behold that group of cells on that couch and thank God and the universe we inhabit together for allowing me the privilege of being her Mother. 
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While grabbing her feet was last month's entertainment she still enjoys....


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A few days ago, Molly reached for something for the first time (or for the first I noticed).
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At four months, she is hitting her milestones, but more importantly she is reaching out and grabbing our hearts. I love watching Anna Cate and BJ fall in love with her more each day, and reveling myself in this little wonder whose presence completes our family.  I hate to say I'm not too inspired to buy the baby book or write this down, but being written on my heart in my life story now are the ways we are loving this baby.

 I won't remember the age she rolled over or the date of the first smile, but I will remember that when she rolled over to look at something or when I caught a smile, or giggled with Anna Cate as we got Molly to laugh, I drank it up.  Whatever milestone I'm supposed to be noticing pales in comparison to the sheer joy of Molly Mae and the ways her precious self is unfolding before our eyes and making a home in our hearts.

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