Being 4 months old is tough!

4 Months Already!!!!

Luca had her 4 month appointment yesterday, and the poor girl had a cold when we went in. So, to add insult to injury, she got 4 vaccines and had her ears cleaned out. Needless to say, she wasn't SUPER amused with the process, but little trooper that she is, she slept it off and was in a good mood the rest of the day.

Chillin' after the vaccines and Baby Tylenol kicked in.

Anyhow, she's still small (11.4 pounds), but doing so well on her milestones that her Dr is not at all worried about that. So, I thought I'd share some pictures highlighting her milestones. I think once you review them, you will agreee we are raising a genius.

Here is Luca, sitting up and explaining to Daddy that crabs are cold water invertebrates AND make a delicious rattle/chew toy.

If she looks confused, it's only because the duck isn't wearing any pants.

She's already breezing through books, such as the Classic 'Touch and Feel Farm'.

Yes, the toy is the size of her head, but that won't stop her from holding it.

Luca and Piggy: BFFs

There's no denying it....what Piggy wants, Piggy gets. And Piggy wants everyone, large and small, to love her. In an effort to make Luca love her, she has taken to following us wherever we go, just in case Luca might possibly reach out and touch her. By the way, the face in the last picture there is the same one she makes when we try to kiss her cheek.

Two smiling, happy girls!

Luca just wanted to show Piggy her cool wrist rattles.....

...but Pig had other ideas.

Luca and Melody...friends before they were born!

Our friends Kristin and Jeremy had a baby about 3 months before Luca was born. The beautiful Melody Eileen is quite the charmer with all that hair and those big, beautiful eyes! They knew each other before they were even born (why do I get the feeling they'll be tired of hearing THAT someday?). Proof of this can be seen below:

Kristin and Katie: This was on New Year's Eve 2006. Kristin was due almost exactly a month after this, and I was due in May.

And here I am, about 7 months pregnant, babysitting a 2 week old Melody. Excuse my look...I was too busy creating life to bother with looking presentable (hahaha).

Anyhow, that was then. And this is now! We were lucky to be entrusted with watching Melody so her parents could get out for the night, and we had so much fun. It was great because it happened to coincide with Luca's discovery that other kids are super fun to stare at and touch. And, by the by, it was just coincidence that they ended up color coordinated. Not only is Kristin a great friend, but she clearly has impeccable choice in clothing, if you ask me!

First Melody noticed Luca and reached out to her.

Initally Luca was not sure how she felt about the whole thing.

So, she reached out and gave Melody's tummy a little poke.

Turns out....she decided this was fun!

I fully plan on torturing them with these pictures when they are both 15 and SO embarrased by their parents!

Rolling with the homies....

It's official: my baby rolls.

She rolled from her tummy to her back a little over a week ago, but I sort of thought it might be a fluke. Like maybe she was unstable propped on her belly and rolled on accident because she was off-balance. But, the other day she was on her playmat and reached over her body with her right arm for a ring toy that was attached to the mat. She grabbed the toy, and pulled herself over from her back to her tummy.

Clearly, she's a genius.

And, anyone who gets the movie reference in the post title is my hero.

Luca and Lydia

Our friends Troy and Jessica were in town on Friday and Saturday from Vegas. Jessica and Lydia came to visit (we missed Troy, but he had to study...apparently that is a necessary evil when one wishes to become a Doctor). The girls seemed to enjoy seeing each other. Lydia loves babies and just wanted to hold Luca's hand or touch her toes. And Luca has just recently started to notice things like other babies and animals, so she was very interested in Lydia.

The visit was too short (they always are when you miss your friends), but we loved seeing them!

Starf*cks

I know many people who won't go to Starbucks, for a variety of reasons. It's overpriced. It's corporate. It's wasteful. It's on every corner.

I am not one of these people. Starbucks is good. Tasty. Creative. Has a convenient drive-thru. And, most of all, it's on every corner. It's good and it's bad. But mostly, when it's 6 a.m. and I slept 3 hours because of Luca and I am expected to be able to function like an awake, alert, professional adult for 8 straight hours, it's good.

If I ever decide, however, to boycott Starbucks, it will be because of the Starf*cks.....the snotty 19 year old Emo kids who are pretty sure making a venti skim machiatto is akin to creating art. I have nothing against 19 year olds, nor against Emo kids. And I truly appreciate those who lovingly craft my morning brew. However, I cannot stand this:

me: "I'd like a Venti nonfat iced latte."
Starf*ck: "That's a nonfat iced venti latte?"

No, Starf*cker, it's a Venti nonfat iced latte. Why can't you repeat it back to me in the same order? Why must you mess with my order? Why, when I have swallowed my pride and adopted your stupid terms instead of ordering a large iced latte with skim milk, can't you humor me?

It matters not how you order the words. Any way you present it, they throw it back to you differently.

Grande hot white mocha with nonfat milk and no whip cream becomes white nonfat mocha with no whip.

Venti iced caramel machiatto, double becomes double iced venti caramel machiatto.

Even a small coffee with cream and sugar becomes coffee, tall with half and half and 3 sugars.

If I wasn't so addicted and drawn in by the convenience of the almighty drive-thru, I'd boycott. How very American of me.

Miss Piggy

Anyone who knows the Pig will find the humor in this. We had her locked outside the other day so we could mop the floors, and I totally caught her being an idiot on film. She sits right up against the sliding glass door and presses her nose to it (very Piggy of her, no?), then opens her mouth and licks the glass. The result is this lovely face that only a (doggie) mother could love:

Luca is 3 months old

Luca is 3 months old now, and it's amazing how time flies and yet stands still when you have a child. She's the same sweet baby she was 13 weeks ago, but she's a whole new fun little person as well.

Most nights she sleeps a solid 5-6 hours, which is great since both of us are back at work. Darrick started teaching at Mt. Pointe HS this week. He's teaching freshmen and sophomores, so he needs his sleep! Anyhow, most nights she sleeps through, which she's been doing since she was about 5 weeks old. We sure got lucky in that sense!

She smiles a lot now, and just in the past 2 weeks she has really discovered her hands. It started with her grabbing shirts of people holding her. Then it became her grabbing my hair when I would hold her on my shoulder. And now she plays with toys if you give them to her. It's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen to watch her grab at something and hold it and put it in her mouth to see what it is. We bought a toy bar for her car seat, and she really likes to play with links. Of course, discovering her hands all means fun new hand gestures.

Just this week, she really discovered her feet as well. I never knew how cute a baby grabbing her own feet could be, but when you spend 13 long weeks watching her slowly notice them and figure them out, it's so exciting when all the sudden she's playing with her toes.

We feel like such lucky people. Darrick and I sometimes sit there and stare at her and say to each other, "Other parents must be jealous of us since we have the world's cutest baby. Ever." And, at just that moment, parents across the world are probably looking at their own sweet kids and saying the same thing. We all know they're wrong and we are right, though!

We also celebrated Darrick's birthday on August 1st. His mom came to town, and Luca got to spend some quality time with her Uncles (that's Uncle Brandon) and her Grandparents. And, of course, Darrick rang in the day with a rousing game of 'Flying Baby'. That's her coming in for a landing and a kiss. We're real party animals these days! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARRICK!