Four Months Old

Four months old!

Four months!

How is that possible so soon? I swear she was only born yesterday.

The last month has been a big one for Mathilde with lots of milestones and firsts.



In the last month Mathilde has discovered her hands and her feet - and both are constantly in her mouth! Ok, maybe not quite constantly but she does spend an awful lot of time grabbing her feet and shoving them in her mouth. When her hands aren't preoccupied with her feet they're busy grabbing at everything else within reach. Let's just say that eating dinner with Mathilde on my lap is becoming rather difficult. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I find myself wearing a bowl of pasta!

As well as using her hands to grab at things, Mathilde is learning how to use them in other ways. She can now replace her pacifier when it falls out of her mouth. Yes! Who would've thought that such a simple skill could make so much difference. She's now also using her hands to play and entertain herself. Scrunching the wipes packet is a favourite. She just loves the scrunchy noise it makes. Who needs real toys when you've got a crinkly, scrunchy wipes packet?

Mathilde can now roll over in both directions. She started going from her front to back around 3 months old and has recently worked out how to roll from her back to her front. This is her latest favourite trick and it sure makes diaper change time (or photo shoots!) awkward. She doesn't stay on her back for very long now.

After quite some time of smiles and happy squeals we're finally getting some big, hearty laughs out of Mathilde. Even the odd snort or two! Tickling her under the chin is usually a pretty reliable way to solicit a chuckle.

And if all these new skills weren't enough here's the big one... Mathilde can sit on her own, completely unsupported! She actually started sitting on her own just after three months, which is totally crazy. She looks so proud of herself when she sits up. Admittedly it doesn't last all that long but she is getting stronger and can last about 20 seconds before she slowly falls forward onto her belly. Mathilde has always liked being held in a sitting position (although she prefers being held standing up) and it was completely by chance that I discovered her ability to do it on her own. I was dressing her on the change table one day and had her sitting up. I had a bit of a baby brain moment and let go of her to turn around and reach some clothes that were sitting behind me on the bed. Straight away I realised what I'd done and thought "Holy crap, I've just left my 3 month old sitting on the change table alone!!". Expecting to turn around and see Mathilde falling to the ground (eek!) I was surprised to see her just sitting there, staring at me with a perplexed look on her face. Since then we've been practicing sitting quite a lot - but always on the floor!

Now what about those firsts...

We recently went on a little vacation to Seattle and Portland (lots of posts coming soon) which meant Mathilde's first flight, first ride on Amtrak, first trip out of California and first swim in a pool (she loved it!).

We've also had Mathilde's first cold. Not such a fun first that one but a first none the less.

Mathilde had her four month check up today and it turns out she has grown quite a lot too. She now weighs 6.11kgs (13lb 7oz) which, while still smaller than average, is well over double her birth weight. She has grown a lot longer too and now measures 63.9cm (23 1/8") long. Mathilde may not weigh much but her length is in the 82nd percentile.

At her check up today the doctor suggested that I can now start feeding Mathilde solids. Eek! If anything makes it feel like my little baby is growing up too quickly it's the thought of her eating solids already. Not sure I'm ready for my little girl to grow up that quickly just yet.