Four months old

Today the happiest baby in the world turns four months old.

Yep, my newborn Luke is no longer an infant... He’s a full-on little man. I mean, when you’re born at nearly ten pounds you’ve never been itty-bitty, but he’s gotten so big that I’ve already packed away any and all clothes sized for children less than six-to-nine months of age. And he is now in size-three diapers, which are technically called Cruisers, because they’re meant for kids who are old enough to crawl and walk. Which at the rapid rate he’s moving up the growth chart, he might start doing next week.

He actually IS on the move, technically, as he started scooting and rolling over this past month. And just like the first time Taylor rolled over, I missed Luke’s very first roll. I put Mr Man down on the carpet in the nursery so I could braid Miss T’s hair before we went to the gym, and when I finished her do, I turned around to find Luke face down on the floor, wiggling his body like a snake and attempting to lift his giant noggin and letting out grunts and moans that I could only guess are baby-talk for, HOW DID I GET THIS WAY?! SOMEONE TURN ME AROUND SO I CAN STOP EATING THE CARPET!

But now he’s got the hang of it, and Chris even spied him rolling from his back to his tummy and then back onto his back the other day as he was playing in his mobile gym. Man, he LOVES that mobile gym! I don’t remember Taylor having nearly as much fun in it as he is having, grabbing for the dangling rattles and spinnies, staring up at the lights and hanging butterflies, squealing in delight and kicking and swinging his arms and legs with excitement. It’s fantastic. And it gives me a place to plop him down and preoccupy him while I’m chasing Taylor around the house trying to calm all of her craziness.

And speaking of his high-strung big sister, she is still totally obsessed with her, Yukey. And the other morning both of my children were laying on my bed, when I turned my back for a moment and heard Taylor squealing, YUKE! Let go of my hair! And, sure enough, there was my little man with a hand full of his big sister’s mane, and I had to pry each of his chubby digits away from his catch to force him to release it. And after she was freed from his grasp, Taylor whined a bit and then shook it off. And Luke, well, the big guy just smiled and laughed and propelled his limbs in satisfaction. And it was all I could do not to crack a big grin right along with him. Because maybe next time the Princess will think twice before laying on top of him and getting in his face. Well played, Mr Luke. Well played.

So as we cross off another wonderful month on the calendar, I look ahead to the following one with great anticipation of all the milestones our family will hit in the next 30 days. Luke’s first trip to the farm, Taylor’s first day of preschool, my first time flying with two kids. Yep, we have an action-packed month in our scopes. And I could sit around, wring my hands and make lists and plans of action on how to handle all of these upcoming events, or I could take a deep breath and appreciate how fabulous and happiness-filled our lives are at this exact moment. I’ll take the latter. This is too good to miss.