Dear Addison - 4 Months

Dear Addy,

I'm a bit late writing this update, time is flying by and things around here have been busy!
We have stopped counting your age in weeks and have switched to months. So you are now 4-and-a-bit months old!

It seems you are definitely my daughter in terms of looks, it is the first thing people mention after 'isn't she cute!!' You have my eyes and my nose but there are certain expressions where your Daddy is so obviously part of your DNA.

You are getting very clever! This month you learnt how to grab things, how to put them in your mouth (or close to it), how to do tiny little ab crunches and how to roll! You can roll from tummy to back quite confidently and look so proud when you achieve it! You learnt how to roll when I had a stroke of genius and decided to try you out at tummy time on our bed. Since it was so soft you didn't seem to get a sore tummy and after a couple of practice runs with Mums' help you figured out the rolling thing. Now you won't stay on your tummy long - rolling is way more fun! Your head and back muscles are pretty strong now. There is no sign of any rolling from back to front yet, the only way you move is to bring your legs up and curl in a ball. Foot sucking won't be far away!

You have turned into quite the little thumb sucker. It is absolutely adorable. I secretly hoped you would suck your thumb, I did when I was little too. We tried a dummy when you were little to try and help your wind but you were never into it so we didn't force it on you. It has only been since bang on 4 months that you started sucking your thumb. One day I looked over at you on your playmat because you had gone quiet. You were just lying there quite calmly sucking away and drifted off to sleep. Now I catch you quite often doing it and you will do it on and off during naps too.

We have now officially moved you into your cot for all sleeps (starting today actually - you are sleeping in there now as I type this). You would have been in there a long time ago but our little two bedroom cottage has been host to a few amazing visitors and we thought it would be easier to keep you in your bassinet in the lounge so we didn't mess up your wonderful WONDERFUL sleeping habits. Yes, you are still sleeping through the night and we are so thankful! You have even moved your own bedtime back from 10-11pm to 7-8pm which is great except when we are out and things turn to custard. It might be time to get a portacot.

You sleep until around 7 or 8am in the morning and when I come in to get you up, you smile the biggest of smiles and thrash your limbs around excitedly. You are bright eyed in the morning, I'm not too sure where you get that from - Nana thinks it must be from her.

Your favourite game is still leaning backwards off our knees. You push yourself off and we have to make sure we hold you tightly! Other things that rate highly in your day are eating Terry the Kiwi (soft toy), standing in the jolly jumper (haven't quite figured out the jumping part) and looking around the room at anything and everything.

Things that have dropped down to your not-so-fun list are baths and cuddles. I'm not quite sure what is happening with baths, you loved them a month ago but now as soon as you hit the water you scream bloody murder until you are out and dressed. Sorry kid, you can't escape baths, they are a necessity of life. Cuddles have also decreased, the world is just way too interesting.

Your personality has developed even more now, you are quite stubborn - you know what you want and will do everything you can to get it. You are determined - you get frustrated when you can't do things. You love attention - but only when you want it, other times you couldn't care less. You are happy and love to see Mum and Dad and Killer the cat. We have to work to make you smile and we are still waiting to hear your elusive giggle. You love your sleep and are usually a breeze to put down, just a few minutes of protesting cries before you are out to it.

A whole season has passed since you have been earth-side. Winter began and is now officially over. Now that spring is here hopefully we will go for a lot more walks with you in your pram, looking at ducks and pretty flowers.

Once again we just have to say how much time is flying by. You are growing so quickly and changing every day. In about 5 months you will have a new baby cousin to play with which is so exciting! Sitting and solids and teeth are the next things looming on the milestone horizon, I'm not sure I am ready for that!

We are so blessed to be your parents Addison, you are loved so much and have fitted perfectly into our lives. Bring on the nice weather so we can play outside!

xx Mum and Dad