California Stars: Quatre mois

My dearest Lily,

I love you. I love you. I love you. Je t’aime, ma petite chou.

I have written you several letters, and at the end, I always tell you that I love you, but today I want to put it first. I hope that I never forget to tell you that I love you. Everything else, ma belle, can wait.

Yesterday marked your four month birthday. You are a whopping 15 pounds 13 ounces and 26.25 inches, which puts you squarely in the GIANT category, or what others call the 98th percentile. Lily, there is nothing dainty or petite about you from your unbelievable amounts of drool to your big, hearty, baby laughs. We love to hear those beautiful sounds and your father and I will dance around and generally act buffoon-like in order to hear you laugh, but the only one who can constantly garner giggles is your big sister. Oh Lily, how you love your big sister. Sometimes I set you up on your blanket for tummy time in your sister’s room, and I come back minutes later to find you both snuggled up together laughing and gurgling. Daisy loves to tell you stories, stories about butterflies and fairies, and you just gaze up at her adoringly. I hope you two always continue to laugh together, to have fun together, and to share your stories.

Besides laughing with Daisy, your ultimate favorite activity is to snuggle and cuddle. All you want to do is to nuzzle and cuddle and lay in someone’s arms, usually mine. You love it when your grandparents bounce you. You love it when your daddy makes funny faces at you. You absolutely love it when Daisy plays peek-a-boo with you. But, more than anything, you love snuggling up next to me, nestling into my chest and flashing that beautiful baby grin up at me.

Of course, I am the ultimate indulger of this behavior since one of my favorite things to do is to love on you. So we end up spending huge chunks of every day just sitting in the nursing chair or lying on the floor of your room nursing, giggling with your sister, reading, singing French lullabies, and snuggling. I cherish this time together and hope that you take your sweet time growing out of this phase.