Flora has gotten her two bottom teeth! She has had them for about a month and a half. She doesn’t know what they are for yet and she loves to play with them with her tongue. She has started to bite a lot in the last few days which is not fun for the recipiant. She is just so darn cute with her toothy smile. Every little milestone is so exciting and we can’t wait for the next.

As parents Ryan and I have expanded our vocabulary in a way that neither of us ever thought would happen. The nicknames and funny words we come up with for Flora and things she does or has is quite hilarious. There are things we say that I could have never imagined we would ever say. Here is a look into our new vocabulary. Some of her nicknames are Honey Girl, Sweet Girl, Rooty toot toot, poopy pants, buddha belly, fussy mussy, cheeky monkey and various others. Some funny words include stinky pew pews, pee pee pants, burpies, explosive bowel, tum tum, diapies, milkies, jammy jammers (toe jam) and many others. We say these things all the time and of course our memory is failing us at this moment. We will add more words on here as we remember them. We also have an arsenal of songs we have come up with just for our little Flora which she enjoys.

I thought that once we got to the third or fourth month we would be on some sort of regular sleeping pattern. Oh No! Little miss Flora likes to keep things exciting and unpredictable. She is just as stubborn as both of her parents and does not like to go to bed. She has figured out that after bath time is bed time. Once Ryan starts to dry her off, she starts to scream. There were a few day a couple of weeks ago where she was sleeping one 7 to 8 hour stretch and then another 3 to 4 hour stretch and we thought that was wonderful. That only lasted about 5 days and now we are back to 3 to 4 hour cycles. I hope she will start developing a more regular sleep schedule to give us a little more rest. This is also a child who does not like to sleep during the day unless we are out and about or she is in my arms.  I didn’t think it was possible that some babies don’t like to sleep. Oh was that a big suprise!

Our little Flora rolled over today!! I missed the first two successful attempts but I finally saw the third time. It was like she knew I wanted to see it so badly and didn’t want to give me the satisfaction of it. I finally caught her the third time. I am so excited to see that she is moving right along with her milestones. Our little ducky is growing up. Next we are going to blink and she will be 16 and getting her license. What will I do with myself? For now we are enjoying every little thing and just can’t get enough of her.

Really digging the illustration style of this book. Lots of clean lines, bold colors and wonderful typography. Created by the talented folks at EightHourDay. Would love to pick it up if it gets published. View images from the book here.

Pretty soon we are going to be saying ‘Flora, no!’

While watching the superbowl this evening I turned to look at Flora only to find that she was hanging halfway off her swing. In her attempt to rollover to her stomach she managed to slide down with her feet dangling off the bottom. I leaped into action to grab her and as soon as I picked her up she started giggling. Guess we need to keep a better eye on her.

She has been trying to roll on to her stomch for a couple weeks now but has been unsuccessful. She manages to make it about 99% of the way but she hasn’t learned to bend the arm that she is rolling on to. As soon as she gets close she rolls back to her back. This desire to rollover has made bath time and the act of changing her diaper that much more exciting.

I can’t hardly believe that our little baby (who is not so little anymore) is 16 weeks old. Where has the time gone. Yesterday we went for her 4 month check up. She is weighing in at 14 pounds 13 ounces and is 24 3/4 inches long. She sure is getting big. Ryan and I think we see and feel two teeth coming in although the doctor said there wasn’t. We started her on rice cereal yesterday and she did not get much in. It didn’t help that she was cranky while we were feeding her. She wasn’t feeling very well after all her shots. She still isn’t sleeping through the night so hopefully the cereal will help her with that. She is laughing and cooing all the time. It is so cute. She has started to suck in her bottom lip and she looks like an old toothless man when she does it. She is trying to roll over but hasn’t quite figured that out yet. She can go from her front to her back but not the other way around. Time really does go by so fast. We are enjoying every minute, even the hard stuff. She’s just so cute, you can’t help it.

Well it is definately the best thing on earth. It is more than I could have ever imgined it would be. Even though people try to help prepare you for all you will face as a parent, nothing does it like doing it yourself. As hard as being a parent is, the joy it brings out weighs any hardship and sleep deprivation.  Time and dates go out the window. Most of the time I do not know either of those things. That’s ok because she is all that matters. I am no longer in charge of what goes on in my life. She is the boss right now and she gives me all the direction I need. I wanted to do everything perfectly and I have had a hard time realizing and accepting that things do not always go according to plan and it is not always a bad thing or doesn’t mean that I am a bad parent. I just need to relax a little and my wonderful husband is helping me with that. I just look at my beautiful Flora everyday and am so thankful that she has made me a mommy. It is all I have ever wanted and more.

If only this was around when I was little I might be a rockstar drummer. Plan Toys also has several other wooden toys that are meant to “inspire children’s imagination as well as promote their physical and intellectual development.” On top of that the company is also environmentally conscious. Other toy companies should take a cue from Plan Toys by making stuff that promotes a child’s well being and the environment. You can see more great toys here.

We didn’t really go anywhere, it’s just that Flora has kept us quite busy over the past 9 weeks. Its amazing how much time has gone by since she was born. Seems like only yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. It was pretty rough at first but we’re finally getting into a pretty good groove with the sleeping and eating. Sarah has been a trooper throughout all of this which I am immensely thankful for.

Its amazing how little sleep you can function on. I don’t even remember what a full night’s sleep is like and probably won’t for at least a couple months. Hopefully within the next month or so we will be getting into a regular feeding/sleeping schedule. Life will be easier for all of us once that happens.

Flora is starting to smile which melts my heart every time and reminds me that no matter how fussy or mad she gets it is all worth it.