4 Months with You, Rio

Dearest River Jane,


You are a delight, dear child, an absolute delight. It blows my mind how snuggly and lovey you are. You are a social baby, lighting up whenever you make eye-contact with anyone. But you still have your moods when only momma can calm you. I love that. I am so thankful for how much you adore being touched and kissed and snuggled. You will lie there while I kiss all over your face and just smile and smile, delighting in the physical touch. So precious. I get sad that I can't devote as much time to just stare at you, but I don't think you mind. Having a big sister will be a much bigger joy. 


Here are a few of your special skills/facts:

• You are fantastic at rolling over. It's no longer random and 'accidental'. You can control when you roll over and even the direction you roll. 
• You are a grabber. If anything gets anywhere near your line of sight, you get this wild look in your eye and attack. You especially love it when faces get close, so you can squeeze and kiss them.
• You like to constantly be holding something in your hands, especially fingers. 
• You are getting stronger in the back area. You can now sit up okay in your bumbo. You don't last long because you dive forward trying to grab stuff off the counter. When you are focusing though, you can sit up very straight. 
• You recognize faces very well. You light up when you see mommy or daddy or when Taylor stops long enough to make eye contact with you. 
• Your voice is very expressive. You will chat with about anything, even the light fixture above the island. And when you get super excited, you emit this high-pitched squeal. So sweet.
• You are finally getting good at napping. You take 2 longer naps and 1 short evening nap during the day. Mommy can now lay you down and you fall right to sleep. She enjoyed holding you for naps, but Taylor needed her attention as well. 
• Your night sleeping is pretty good. You go to sleep around 9 and wake up around 3, sometimes 4, to eat. You then go back to sleep until around 7. Mommy is ready for you to make it through the whole night. But looking back at Taylor's 4 month post, she realized that Taylor was the same way. You sleep in a pack and play in the guest bedroom for right now. Soon we hope to move you in with Taylor. What fun!
• You've been desiring to chew a lot lately. Some of your favorite items to chew are fingers (yours and others), Sophie the Giraffe (Taylor was kind enough to share), blankets, and basically any toy that is chewable. 
• Mommy started carrying you in her woven wrap. You love being held so close, but she has to keep moving to keep you happy. You are like a little koala attached to me. 
• You are very ticklish on your neck and belly.
• You give smiles freely. You do this cute thing where you smile and then tuck your head down like you can't even contain your joy. 
• You are very content to just sit in someone's lap and look up at them. 
• You enjoy playing on the floor with your play gym on your back and belly.
• You still nurse well. I'm so glad we stuck it out. I can't nurse you well with a cover on, but that's okay. We make it work. 

Our sweet 'Rio', 'Baby', River Jane, we all love you so much. Mommy delights in your sweet, snuggly personality. Daddy is already starting to have so much fun with you. You think he's pretty hilarious. And Taylor has accepted you as ours. She is protective of you, getting upset if she thinks someone is taking you away. She always makes sure you are included and that you don't get left behind. I love hearing her say, "hey baby" or "hey Rio" whenever she first sees you after a nap or absence. She is such a great big sister to you, and I pray you will be best friends soon. We are cherishing this exhausting, but perfectly sweet time that you are still an infant. It is such a short time. We thank God for the exact way that He made you, our sweet "Rio Rio". 

We love you,

 Mommy, Daddy, and Taylor

Meet Rio

Recently, Marge, a sweet missionary to Costa Rica called River Jane "Rio". for those of you who don't know, Rio means River in Spanish.

I fell in love with it.

It's now my favorite nickname for River Jane. And even better, Taylor calls her Rio too. But it sounds more like "wio". It's adorable. Adorable I tell you.

Taylor had been calling River Jane "baby". That's cute and all but she calls every other baby "baby", including her baby dolls. Now we have something different that Taylor can say.

Did I mention that I love it?!

And just for fun, here's a pic of our sweet little Rio.

A Little Truth for Now

So, I just speed-read the book "Loving the Little Years". Loved it, but I will need to read it again. One of the many parts that hit home with me was called "no need to count".

Basically, it talks about when I'm up in the middle of the night with baby or sick toddler, why even look at the clock. I often tally my awake moments just so I can be certain about how much I gave. Poppycock. The book pointed out how I am up just when I need to be. Good to be reminded of that.

Also, this verse was like gold.

"Everyone to whom God has given wealth, and possessions, and the power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil-this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart." (Eccl. 5:19-20)

To sum it up, a quote from the book.

"The days of your life are supposed to be full of things like this. But joy is not giddy. It is not an emotional rush-it is what happens when you accept your lot and rejoice in your toil. So rejoice in your children. Look them in the eyes and give thanks. You will not even remember the work of all this planting when the harvest of joy overwhelms you."

Even after I've picked up the same toy 9 times already and answered to my name being called 34 times by my gifts of God, I will rejoice in my toil.

Big Girl Bed

Well, we did it. After months of dread and nervousness, we decided to put you in a toddler bed.

We had been planning on doing it pretty soon, so that the crib would be open for River but you wouldn't feel like she pushed you out. But we needed a bed.

I found one at kids market. You were so excited when you saw it, so we decided to just go for it that night. I didn't read up on what to do; we winged it. I'd heard the transition can be hard, so I was nervous.

You did great! You went right to sleep. You did fall out twice, but it didn't hurt. The first time, I heard you fall and watched you just lie back down on the floor instead. So funny. Daddy put you back in bed. The second time you actually climbed back in bed yourself.

Naptime was a little harder. You wanted to play more in the daylight. That's understandable. Mommy had to get on to you several times, but you finally settled in to sleep. It's hard for you to go back to sleep when you wake up too early because there's more distraction.

The next night took you longer to get to sleep. You explored your options. Climbed out of bed, but only took two corrections to fix that. Pulled stuff off the shelf, but only had to tell you once. You also played with the tub of animals that mommy had put beside the bed to block you from falling. So, we took it away. And you fell out. Hard enough to make you cry, but after mommy and daddy both ran to your rescue, you were fine.

Now on our 4th night, and you are a pro. We still put the tub of animals as a block to falling, and it's worked. You settle in well at naptime. Scout helps you by singing to you. When we put you to bed, you say "no" and pat your arm. We think you are reminding yourself to not get out of bed. Cute little rule follower. I think we are almost ready to remove the video monitor.

You made this pretty easy, little girl. Thanks for being awesome.

Mommy and Daddy had a hard time with this transition. It made you feel so grown-up. It was exciting, but at the same time so scary. We are proud of you, sweet girl.

It Starts Now

4/01/12

Today marks operation "get River Jane out of my bed".

I wouldn't call myself a family bed practicer. I've got nothing against it, but I like my space. I like to be able to go to bed without attachments. And I like to be able to change positions when I wake up at night. Can I also add, that I am a light sleeper who doesn't move around. River Jane sleeps on her side right up against me. So I feel her if she moves. I wouldn't let her sleep with us if I thought it was in any way dangerous. That's all.

With Taylor, I started early getting her to self soothe herself to sleep. She would start out in her bed, but I would nurse her by me and leave her there for the 4:00 feeding.

Things are different with River Jane. I'm scared to let her cry even a tiny bit at night. We share a wall with Taylor and I'm so afraid it will wake her up.

So, she sleeps with us. It's just easier to feed her or pop the paci in when she wakes up. I know. Begin as you mean to go. This is a bad habit I've gotten myself into.

And it stops now.

I want my bed back. I love every minute with that sweet baby, but I want my away from baby sleep time.

So, tonight I'm trying to put her to sleep in the pack n play in our guest room. I moved the video monitor out of Taylor's room and into there.

I think this will help both of us sleep better. Hopefully it won't take too long.

Wish me luck.

Update on Wednesday, April 4th:
The first night did not go well. I caved and ended up sleeping with you in the guest bed. And starting at 1, you woke up EVERY hour. Not cool, kid. The next day we worked on self-soothing during naptime. Again, did not go well. Lots of crying; little sleep. And that night we made the mistake of doing another big change by putting Taylor in a toddler bed, so she needed the video monitor. That meant mommy had to sleep in the guest room with you again. After nursing you, I worked on at least getting you used to not being right next to me. That worked. I also started giving you a bottle at night so I couldn't use nursing as a paci. You slept in your pack and play well at first, but mommy caved when you wouldn't go back to sleep. And then the next day for naps, the magic happened. Mommy figured out you sleep well on your own when she lets you cry it out on your belly. It takes you less than 5 minutes to fall asleep without my help. Awesome. Please let this be real. The first night of belly sleep, you slept in the pack and play til 5:30, with one bottle between that. Awesome.

Giggle Giggle Quack

You didn't quack.

But you did giggle.

Mommy was making raspberry noises at you, and you decided she was funny enough to giggle at.

You are 8 weeks old.

I can't wait for those deep belly laughs.

Bring it.

Belly Roll

You little sneaky doll.

I lay you on your play mat like I often do, and then head into the kitchen to cook dinner. No big.

Minutes later I hear you crying and think you must be bored with that.

Nope.

You rolled on over to your belly and I believe surprised yourself.

Who taught you that.

It's so funny, because with Taylor I had time to watch and wait impatiently for every milestone. But you get to surprise us with your skills on your own time. I like that.

Well done, little girl.

You're not quite 3 months yet (4 days away to be exact).

And we love you to pieces.

Update on 4/5/12:
And you just rolled over from your belly to your back. Slow down, kid.