The Dahlia Digest

On July 4th Dahlia turned 4 months old!

These days she is rolling over and over, but only to her right. She is also pushing her upper body up off the floor when she's on her stomach and kicking. Maybe she'll crawl within a month. She loves to stand up while we hold her waist or arms. She kicks and steps forward and squeals with excitement.

In the last month she has discovered that she can do more with her voice than just cry. One morning in June she screamed and has been squealing and babbling more and more every day. She has plenty to say- just like her dad... and the bird.

These days EVERYTHING is going into her mouth so we try to keep everything clean within arm's reach. The other night she sat on B's lap and pulled his dinner plate toward herself.

"Is that for me?"

Just 3 days ago Dahlia discovered her tongue! And what fun it is to stick out the tongue!

"Look what I can do, Uncle Brody!"

On Monday we took her to her 4 month check-up.

Only 11 pounds and already a heart breaker

We were surprised to learn that she is on the low average for weight at 5-10%, 50% for length at 24 1/4 inches and in the 75-90th percentile for head circumference. Average baby with a big brain!

"Hey doc, let me wash that off for you."

Dahlia is very alert and pays attention to everything. She always looks around for B when he enters a room. She follows his voice and loves to just sit and watch her fascinating daddy. She also likes TV, so I try to keep the pretty moving pictures off as much as possible. Since Brody is here for the summer, she spends lots of time just sitting in his arms and staring at everyone. This works out well for all involved because we get to look at her too.

Dahlia loves the bathtub! She kicks so much that I just bought an inflatable tub for her so she wont hurt herself on the plastic tub we have. On July 4th she went into the swimming pool for the first time! I sat in the water with her and eased her in. She took it slow, but wasn't scared and finally started kicking around!

We read to Dahlia almost every day. She likes the books that taste the best. One of her books is called "Eat, Rattle, Chew" and has a chew toy attached to the spine. It goes over well.

I take her in the baby jogger almost every day. She loves walks and loves to cuddle up in her stroller.

I am still known as the "baby hog" since I only share when I have to. Wouldn't you?