Talia is 4 months old!

Natalia is already 4 months old. It's so hard to believe. She had her 4 month check-up yesterday with Pat. She is now 24 1/2 inches, 14 lbs. 8 oz., and her head circumference is 16 1/4 inches. She did better with the shots this time than two months ago. I gave her some Tylenol before her shots and throughout the day which helped. Pat could tell that Talia was a smart baby, which we already knew, but it is still nice to hear. She told me that most babies just take cat naps and we are very lucky that Talia naps for an hour or two and sleeps through the night. She says that Talia is the baby that everyone wants. She also told me that babies develop stranger anxiety between 4-6 months so we'll have to see how that turns out. We are very happy that she is still a healthy little girl who is growing well.

Baby Photos

We might be a little biased, but we have the most beautiful baby in the world! The other day Talia and I played around with our new camera and here are some of our favorite pictures. She is such a little doll and we are convinced she gets prettier every day.

She is getting so much more active as well. She rolls from back to tummy towards the right and the left. She smiles so much and giggles and tries to talk. Her attention is not kept by just lying on the sofa. She is so interested in everything and wants to be sitting upright or standing.

We got her this ExerSaucer that she loves. She stands, rocks, and bounces while she plays with the toys. The seat spins around so that she can play with different toys as well as talk to the girl in the mirror.

First Family Getaway

This past weekend we took our first family trip up to Duluth. We left early Saturday morning and got up there a little before noon. We ate lunch at Betty's Pies and then went to Split Rock Lighthouse. It was a little overcast, but the cool weather was nice for doing all of the walking, especially carrying Talia. We got there at a good time. It was still fairly early so it wasn't very busy yet. As we were leaving we noticed a lot more people. By the time we left it was about mid-afternoon so we decided to go check into our room at the Holiday Inn Express.

After we checked in we got ready to go out for dinner. We made reservations at the Black Woods restaurant. The food was really good and since we were so full we went to Canal Park to take a walk. When we got there the bridge was going up in anticipation of a boat coming in. It was fun to be able to see the bridge in use and to see the large ship.

We got a room with two queen beds so that Natalia would have somewhere to sleep. Surprisingly she was wide awake that evening after having a busy day with minimal napping.

Sunday morning we woke up very early so that we could go to Gooseberry Falls. When we woke up the Weather Channel said that it was only 46 degrees, but it was nice and sunny. With the sun the temperature rose quickly and was pleasant for a walk. We were glad that we went early because there were very few people at the park when we were there. It was also warm walking around and it would have been hot taking a walk later in the day.

After going to the falls we went back to Canal Park for lunch. We ate at Little Angie's Cantina and then walked down the pier. We got some nicer pictures than the night before because the weather wasn't so overcast. After our walk we got back in the car for the ride back to the cities. It was a nice little getaway and we had a fun time sight-seeing.

New Camera

We decided to invest in a new camera. We thought it would be nice to have great pictures of Talia as she grows. We played around with the settings on Saturday on a walk and at Jon's parents' house. These are some of the pictures. We are excited to get more familiar with the camera and learn how to do more things with it. It's a lot of fun.

Natalia keeps growing at a rapid pace. I can't believe she is 3 months and 10 days old. She coos a lot more and likes to smile and giggle. We can tell that she desperately wants to move around. She is getting so close to rolling over when she is on her back but is not quite there. Toys are beginning to be interesting and she tries to put whatever she can grasp into her mouth. This summer break from school has been nice so we can spend quality time playing and reading books.