Ari’s 4-6 Months: Growing and Giggling

I love witnessing a baby’s development. Ariana’s cuteness is off the charts, so that’s a plus, and it’s fascinating to see her become her own little person. I also love how she has no pride, no judgments, and no anger towards anything. The simplest thing brings her joy and is new and exciting. Her innocent perspective helps me enjoy and see the world differently. For example, she loves sucking on her toes…I’m sure there’s a lesson to be learned here.

Look Mom, I have toes!

All About Ariana Watts
Ari is a calm and happy baby. She loves exploring and playing, and she’s pretty good at entertaining herself. When she’s on her tummy, she likes to toss or drop her toy a small distance away and then go crawl after it. (Whether she always does this on purpose, well, who knows…) She loves sucking on straps and touching technology. No matter what she’s doing, though, she just lights up with joy if one of us suddenly looks at her, smiles, and starts talking to her.

No one can make her laugh the way my mom can. We don't know why, but it's awesome.

Aunt Rachel caught one of Ari's big smiles next to cousin Abby!

She got better at posing for the camera.

It was after Ari was 4 months old that I really felt that bubbly feeling from having a baby. One day she was sitting in the walker, and when she noticed me smiling and talking to her, she broke into a bright smile and cooed at me. I thought, "Wow, I love having a baby."

The Many Expressions of Ariana Watts

Things She Likes/Doesn’t Mind:

• Phones and computers
• Daddy’s mouth
• Mornings
• Riley the dog
• Smiling faces
• Getting her diaper changed
• Taking naps
• Falling asleep on her side
• Smiling
• Playing outdoors
• Being tickled
• Sleeping in her carseat
• Kicking her legs while laying on her back
• Babbling right after eating
• "Buzzing" her lips (blowing air out and using her tongue)
• Eating Daddy's toes
• Sucking on Mom’s arm while waiting for her milk to warm up
• Being kissed on the cheeks fifty times a day

Sitting upright used to be the only way she'd fall asleep during the day. Not anymore!

Things She Doesn't Like/Minds:

• Big groups of people
• The vacuum
• Eating solids before going to sleep
• Being cradled when tired or hungry
• Taking a bath
• Having snot wiped away from under her nose
• Hearing someone blow their nose
• Having her fingernails cut

Unique things about Ari:

• Ari was in a size 5 diaper by 5.5 months. She practically skipped size 2 because they wouldn't seal properly. Each new diaper size looks huge on her, but fits her just fine. And, because they are big for her overall size, she can go a long time without pooping or peeing out her diaper!
• Ari has 2 birthmarks, one on the back of her head and one on her thigh.
• Ari has never spit up on me. She has spit up a few times when I was holding her, but it wasn’t enough to get on me. Pretty much anytime she’s spit up on someone, it was on Clayton. She just loves her Daddy. ;)
• The number one thing strangers comment about is her chubby cheeks.
• Ari nurses too fast to keep up my milk supply. We feed her mostly expressed breastmilk now, but for a while we had no idea what we were doing and a couple times she nursed, ate breastmilk from a bottle, and ate formula all in one eating session. She didn't seem to mind, but I did! (Thank goodness those days are over!)
• By 4 months, the back of Ari’s head was getting flat from lying on her back so often. If it wasn’t corrected in a few months, she would have needed a helmet! We bought a donut pillow to cushion her head and did all we could to help her improve tummy time. Thankfully we got her head growing all nice and round again!

It’s hard to top the cuteness of a two-foot tall human whose life is happening in the world of miniature.

Look Mom, no hands!

There are days when I miss having my independence, like being able to shower or nap whenever I want, or eating a meal from start to finish without interruption, or sleeping through the night, or being able to go to the grocery store without making sure Ari's ready to go and approves of the idea. I sometimes get tired of having to change a poopy diaper or feed a squirming body when I'm exhausted or sick and blowing my nose every three minutes.

But any path I would have chosen for my life would have come with not-so-glorious moments. The hard times of motherhood can take me down and out of the real world, but they don't last long compared to the awesome moments of motherhood. Sacrificing so much of my time, energy, and wants for another person does bring real happiness--even if that person can't even say yet "Why gosh, thank you Mom!" for anything I do. She shows her thanks and joy in other ways, and I love her like crazy.