Peyton Eve: Four Months

Ya'll. How is my baby FOUR months old?! This month has been so much fun. While I miss my teeny tiny little infant that loved to snuggle up with me and fall asleep on my chest, Peyton is becoming such a fun baby with an awesome little personality. Her smiles and laughs are infectious- you seriously can't help by smile or laugh back with her.

I feel like Peyton grew so much this month. She is comfortably in size 1 diapers, and almost too tall for her 3 month clothes. Those snaps are getting harder and harder to button! I can't believe I am about to switch my child into 6 month clothes!

P had her 4-month well visit with her pediatrician this morning. Everything looked great and she is growing and developing right on schedule. She received her four month vaccines, one shot in each leg and an oral vaccine, so she is currently feeling under the weather. Poor baby. Dr. Strauss mentioned that P has a slightly flattened head so we should be doing more tummy time and playing in her upright seats. 

Peyton at FOUR months

Weight: 12 lbs. 1 oz. (18th Percentile)

Birth: 6 lbs. 10 oz.

Height: 25 inches (75th Percentile)

Birth: 19 inches 

Head:  16.25 inches (72nd Percentile) 

Birth: 13.25 inches 

Celebrating the holidays with a baby is on a whole new level of excitement! I blogged about her first Thanksgiving here and some of the Christmas traditions we're starting/continuing here, but I just need to reiterate how fun this time of year has been with our little nugget. 

Peyton Loves: 

Sucking on her hands and feet

Bouncing in her door jumper 

Sitting in the high chair 

Napping in the swing & the car seat 

Splashing in the bath tub 

Her Magic Merlin sleep suit 

Being outside

Peyton Hates: 

Tummy Time (for the most part) 

Getting out of the bath tub 

Being left alone

Spending extended periods of time in her car seat (especially when she is awake)

Waiting for her bottles to warm up

What's new this month: 

1. P seriously rolled over (over and over again) for the first time a couple weeks ago! While she still doesn't love tummy time, she is definitely starting to tolerate it more and more each day. The other day, she was in a pretty active mood, so I decided to try my luck with some TT. To my surprise, she seemed to really enjoy it and was looking up at me, pushing herself up, and giggling! Then, all of a sudden she just flopped over onto her back! She did this at least 10 more times throughout the day- I even caught one of the first ones on camera! She rolls over so frequently now that we have a hard time keeping her on her tummy for long!

2. As Peyton gets older, we've noticed that she is much more content when she is upright. This month, we pulled out her high chair, door jumper, and floor bouncer. The door jumper and high chair are new favorites of hers. I think she will like the bouncer better once her little feet can actually touch the floor! I love having her in the high chair next to us when we're in the kitchen or eating dinner. She is so content just watching us eat, cook, or clean the dishes!

3. P sleeps like a BOSS. We're starting to implement more of a routine this month and it is definitely paying off. Peyton wakes up every morning around 8 a.m. and drinks a 7 oz. bottle. She will usually play for a while before getting sleepy again around 11. (Sometimes she is awake for longer, but she gets grumpier the longer she stays awake past this point.) Throughout the day, she naps 2-3 times for at least an hour each time. Around 8:15-8:30, we start her nighttime routine by changing her into her jammies, putting her in the magic merlin suit, feeding her a bottle, and putting her in her crib where she almost always puts herself to sleep. The magic merlin suit has been a game-changer for us. Peyton is so cozy in the suit and it keeps her from startling herself awake during the night. Seriously, every baby needs a magic merlin!

4. Baby girl has officially found her hands and feet this month. And they are ALWAYS in her mouth. Which results in all. the. drool. She is constantly soaking her outfits, her socks (on her feet in her mouth), and our clothes. Maybe soon, she will start getting some little teethers!

We love you and your ever-developing personality, little girl! I can't help but smile when you smile, laugh when you laugh, and sometimes even cry when you cry! You've forever changed our lives and once again, we can't wait to see how much you grow and change over the next month! 

Four-Month Photo Dump

Those eyes! <3  

Christmas Traditions

I don't know how you mama-bloggers ever get anything written. I started this blog post almost two weeks ago and have been working on it a little every day since then. I had a whole other blog post scheduled to post today, since it is mine and Ryan's third anniversary...but that'll just have to wait until another day! Happy Anniversary, Ry-Guy!

This month has been filled with new and old Christmas traditions! 

Visiting with Santa

Marietta square this year transformed into a winter wonderland, complete with an ice skating rink and Santa welcoming parade! Wanting to create some new traditions with P, we decided to check it out on Thursday evening. 

We got to the square around 5 and walked around for about 45 seconds before P had a major explosion in the diaper region. Luckily, this Mama can't be fooled (anymore) and didn't dress her in her fancy "sit on Santa's lap" outfit. After finding a place to get changed, Peyton was ready for a visit with Santa! Unfortunately, the line was at least 100+ people deep, so we decided to grab dinner first and then go get our picture. 

We ate at La Parilla, but the line there was really long also, so we didn't actually sit down to eat until about 7:45. Santa took off for the North Pole at 8:30 and by the time we finished eating, he was gone. Boo. At least we had some fun with our families and new friends in the area! 

On Saturday, we decided to try to catch Santa again, this time at a winter festival in downtown Kennesaw. We got to the festival about 45 minutes before it closed down to avoid any long lines. We got in to see Santa with no problems and even had a little time after to walk around the festival and pick up a Christmas gift or two. Peyton was less than impressed with Santa and let him hold her no problem, but we couldn't coerce a smile out of her to save our lives! Maybe next year. 

Christmas Cards

Making Christmas cards this year was F.U.N. and totally different/time consuming. Taking a good picture of my baby is easy and impossible at the same time. I mean... look at her, she's adorable. Unfortunately, she also can't sit up on her own yet and squirms all over the place so pictures are almost always blurry! All of this did make for some pretty cute outtakes though! 

Decorating the Christmas Tree

One of my favorite little family traditions that Ryan and I have started is the decorating of our Christmas tree. I love it because it combines traditions from both sides of our family. While putting the ornaments on the tree, we listen to the Alabama Christmas CD (which is a Smith tradition) and drink our first egg nog of the season (which is a Schoeff tradition.) This year, we got to include our little nugget, which made the process even more special. She LOVED staring at the lights and playing with the ornaments (that couldn't break of course.) 

The flowers in the bouquet I carried down the aisle THREE years ago today...still looking pretty good! 

Stanley/Stone/Smith Christmas Gift Exchange

For a few years now, the Smith's and the Stanley's have gathered for dinner and a white elephant gift exchange around the holiday season. Ryan and I have never been able to attend since we lived out of the state and were never around until right around Christmas time. This year was our first Smiley Christmas party! We all met at Brandon and Rachel's house to watch the Falcons (lose), hang out by the fire pit, and enjoy some of Brandon's famous smoked pulled pork and chicken. After dinner, we drew names and participated in the white elephant portion of the evening. The gift theme this year was "As Seen on TV." Ryan and I walked away with a "Car Cane"... (yay!) 

That's it for our holiday traditions so far! I'll leave ya'll with a couple more super cute christmas-y pictures of P-diddy...because, why not.