4 months

Our little Rylee Ann is 4 months old today.  How is that even possible?!

at 4 months Rylee...

- still loves loves loves snuggling.  Seeing her snuggled up on Daddy's chest during church is one of my favorite sights.  She nuzzles right up to him and falls straight to sleep for her afternoon nap.  

- has started playing with toys!  She loves her key rings and whips those keys around like nobody's business.  She also loves her Sophie Giraffe, her taggie owl, her taggie socks, and her Sqwish toy.  Lucky for us, she learned how to "play" with toys right before our San Diego trip and entertained herself during the long drive.

- is still sleeping 9+ hours straight at night.  Now if we could just get her bedtime to before midnight.

- loves to stand!  She loves grabbing onto someone's hands while standing and wiggling her little hips back and forth.

- still loves blowing bubbles.  Except they have gone from a little stream to a full on river down her chin landing in a puddle on the front of whatever she's wearing.  

- laughs and SQUEALS.  She can now be found randomly squealing and screaming with pleasure during the day.  

- enjoys sucking not on just two or even three, but four fingers these days.  Which she quite regularly shoves down her throat.

- loves it when Daddy comes home.  She searches for his voice and gives him a full on smile when she sees him home.

- enjoys gnawing on a slice of a peach or watermelon here and there.  And maybe a taste of ice cream that Daddy sneaks in when Mama isn't watching.  

- might be starting the road to teething.  She sucks on her fist, hands, toes, and frozen binkies whenever she's cranky (which isn't all that often).

- has finally warmed up to the idea of taking a bath.  She squeals and kicks at the water and her rubber duck every time now.  She's a big fan of the water and loves watching it come out of the faucet.

- is still a looooong, petite little girl.  She's finally developed a roll or two on each of her thighs, but that's it.  I'm not sure this little gal will ever be a chunk.  

- has obtained the nickname "Drooly" due to the amounts of drool that dribble down her mouth all day long.

- is an old pro at holding her head up and rolling over.  Seriously.  She's had both tricks down for months (most likely due to the small amounts of chunk she has).

- loves it when her Grandpa growls at her.  She laughs rather than cries unlike most kids he does it to.

- loves tangling her hands in hair.  Especially in Aunt Talya and Morgan's long hair.  

- thinks that both sets of grandparents are pretty funny people.  They could quite possibly be her favorite people.

- has discovered mirrors and loves looking in them.

- still loves looking up at trees when we go on walks.  Her entire body gets into the excitement of seeing the light through the leaves.

- has hair that is slowly becoming lighter.  With tints of strawberry blonde coming through.

- keeps her parents guessing on the color of her eyes.  Perhaps she'll have color-changing eyes like Aunt Toadie?

-nicknames: Smiley Rylee, Ry-Ry, Drooly, Peanut, Little Britches

 [^ ^Ry Ry has also taken a liking to the crocheted blanket Aunt Misty made her.  She loves sticking her fingers through the holes.  I love that Aunt Misty even embroidered Ry-Ry's name into her blanket. ^ ^]

 [^ ^ That smile kills me. ^ ^ ]

[^ ^ little miss did this pose all on her own.  I turned around to grab the camera and she'd fallen into this position. ^ ^] 

[ ^ ^ our precious little girl ^ ^ ]

I don't think we could have gotten any more lucky with such a perfect little baby.  She has her learning moments, but is overall such a delightful little one.  I think often of how the phrase "our pride and joy" doesn't come close to how we feel about Rylee Girl.  

Happy 4 months Ry-Ry.