Gumdrop the Fun-drop!

Yesterday our sweet little Gumdrop turned 4 months old. Four! Months! I can hardly believe it myself. Big Brother's first year crept by at a snail's pace. Well, the second half of 2010 and majority of 2011 crept by at a snail's pace in general. But here we are, halfway through the first month of 2012 and we already have a 4-month old wee one in our midst. Our itty bitty Gumdrop is zooming through life and there's nothing we can do about it but relish all the sweet moments with her (and Big Brother of course!). 

Gumdrop now weighs in at 13.1 pounds (25th percentile) and measures 24.5'' long (50th percentile). We have yet another long and lean baby on our hands. She is exclusively breastfed, nurses on demand, and more often than not winds up in bed with us at some point during the night. She can roll all the way over, laughs, coos and talks up a storm, and is absolutely enthralled with her Big Brother (who is the absolute sweetest to her, by the way). We are completely smitten with our precious baby girl and are excited to see her grow and develop into a toddler. We stand amazed most days when we see Big Brother and Gumdrop side-by-side. It is utterly incredible to see how quickly babies develop and tear into toddlerhood with both hands outstretched. Only 17 months ago we were going through the same developmental stages and milestones with our firstborn, and now he has calluses on his feet from running and playing so hard and being 110 miles per hour every waking moment of the day.

But I digress, isn't this about Gumdrop? 

We're in no rush to start her on solids and I plan to nurse her exclusively until 6 months unless she develops alternative plans.And speaking of alternatives, she is on Dr. Bob's alternative vaccination schedule. We're very thankful for a pediatrician who understands our concerns and respects our decisions as parents and is willing to conform to our desires without making us feel like bad parents like we have experienced in the past with Big Brother's two former pediatricians.

She has also begun to bring her knees under her when she's on her tummy, so we're almost certain she will be trying to get mobile early on - if only to keep up with her Big Brother. We're betting she'll be crawling by 6-7 months and we're anxious to see if we're right.

And the award for the worst sleep-fighter in the history of babies? Goes to our little Gumdrop, I'm sure. Kid hates sleep and I have no idea why since her parents and older brother enjoy it immensely.

Gumdrop at 17 weeks.