McKell 4 Months

The story of your 4th month continues with us still visiting family in Washington and begins in the most exciting way I could've imagined. On Dec 17th you laughed for the first time. You were smiling up at Mommy who was singing Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, then suddenly you got this very serious look on your face and then the giggles came! Mommy cried and yelled for Nana to come. You must have laughed for 5 minutes nonstop. It was great! Of course we all spent the rest of our visit trying to make you laugh some more.

We made it back home on Sun the 18th, and everyone was so amazed how much you had grown in 10 days. We spent the next week getting ready to celebrate your first Christmas. Mommy did a lot of baking and Daddy did some last minute shopping. For Christmas Eve we got all dressed up and headed over to Guy and Michelle Picards's house for dinner and a gift exchange.

On Christmas morning we had a bit of an adventure at 5:45am which left Mommy with the biggest bruise on her butt and both Mommy and Daddy wide awake. You never woke up, so after some snuggling we left you asleep in our bed. Mommy and Daddy had a very nice quiet little Christmas morning. At 10am, your Granny Kitty came over for breakfast and at 12:30 we loaded up the car and headed over to Pawpaw and Meme's house for Christmas dinner. You were such a lucky girl and got all sorts of fun stuff for Christmas. Our favorite gift was the wooden rocking horse your Pawpaw made.

On Christmas Day you decided to start teething! We didn't have anything for you to chew on, so you used Daddy's knuckles instead.
After Christmas things were pretty quiet around our house, with the exception of New Year's Eve. Staring at around 7:30pm the kids all up and down the block were setting off fireworks. Gunther was running all over the house barking and you didn't wake up one time!
Now that the holidays are over we spend time everyday playing on the floor with all our new toys and reading books. You especially love your fish rattle and your stuffed puppy, although you are pretty happy with anything you can get in your mouth. On Jan 7th you surprised us by reaching out, picking up the pacifier and putting it right into your mouth. We have tummy time everyday too, and you hold your head up and watch Gunther run back and forth chasing his ball. You are such a happy baby even through the teething.

At the end of the month you weighed 14 1/2lbs, and are 25 inches long! You are now going to bed all by yourself at 8:30pm and sleeping until almost 8am! Sometimes we wake up in the morning and can't believe how much you've grown overnight!

McKell 3 months old

This month we celebrated McKell's first Thanksgiving. We all have a lot to be thankful for this year! You are now 10lbs and 23 1/2 inches long. We wake up every morning to big smiles and now you are "talking" to us for about 30 minutes at a time. You have learned all sorts of new things this month including how to blow raspberries and stick your tongue out at us. For Thanksgiving we went over to Meme and Pawpaw Daly's house, with Aunt Laura, Uncle Mike and your great Aunt Judy. What a social butterfly you have become, and were totally happy to go visit everyone for most of the afternoon, until we wore you out and came home so we could all take a nap.

We skipped all the black friday shopping, although Mommy and McKell were still up at 5am. Instead we went out to a tree farm to cut our own Christmas tree. Sadly the only good trees on the lot were in the orange grove!

So we went to a regular tree lot and came home with a 9ft tree! Took Mommy and Daddy all weekend to get it all decorated, but you sure do love the lights.
On Dec 7th, you got to take your very first airplane ride! Mommy and McKell flew all by ourselves all the way to Washington to visit Nana and Papa Dennis. You were the best baby on the plane! Not one single time on the flights did you cry! Even the flight attendant came up and told us what a wonderful girl you are. The Captain came out and gave you a little travel log, where he wrote how many miles you flew and signed it! Sadly Mommy's hands were too full to get any pictures of you and the Captain. We spent 10 days in Washington, where you got to meet your Great Grandma Cox, your Great Grandpa Neumayer and your crazy Uncle Dan. We had dinner with Aunt Karen, Uncle Dave and your cousin Nick, but you slept most of the time (and Mommy forgot to take any pictures)

It was pretty cold while we were in Washington so Nana whipped out the sewing machine and made a really cozy car seat wrap and matching fuzzy hat!

You turned 3 months old while we were in Washington, so the rest of the story continues on the next page!