Abigail is 4 Months Old

Our little sissy is 4 months old now.

If she looks like a big, healthy girl in the above photo...it is because she is a big, healthy girl!

I took her to her 4-mo. well-child appointment on Monday, and Abigail is 26.5 inches long and now weighs 18 lbs 1 oz. This is - ahem - more than her big sister Elisabeth weighed when she came home from China at 14 months old.  But Elisabeth was on the little side for her age (still is), and Abigail is on the big side for her age.   To be precise, on the growth chart Abigail is currently 97th percentile for weight and 99th percentile for height.

We had a blood draw on Monday also.  The women (whom we have been to numerous times before and love!), could NOT find a vein to draw blood from.  Turns out that "fluffiness" makes it hard to find your veins.  After feeling around for at least 20 minutes - and one unsuccessful poke - they decided to prick her heel and just squeeze blood from there.  Abigail was a trooper.  She cried a little briefly during the unsuccessful poke, but she just smiled and cooed her way through the feeling and even the prick and squeezing.  

It amazes me how fast this is going.  I'm not new to motherhood, so why am I still surprised by how quickly they grow and change???

I love looking at "before and after" shots.

And this is how she looked in her bouncy seat as a newborn...and a few days ago:

And this is how she fills out her bassinet, then and now:

Yes, it will be time for her to move out of her bassinet, sooner rather than later.  [sniff]

The girls are ready and waiting for A to move into their room with them.  But I don't know if mama is ready for that yet.

Abigail is still drooling.  

Alot.

And it really bothers her for her shirt to be perpetually wet.

Or not.

But it does bother her mama, it looks cold and uncomfortable to me.  So I've taken to putting a bib on her much of the time.  The older children don't like it...but I don't want her to go through 4 outfits a day.

Some new things that Abigail has begun doing:

Trying to sit up - whether in her bouncy seat or her car seat, sissy wants to sit UP and be a big girl!

And she is thisclose to rolling over by herself from her back to her front.  Every time we lay her down on her blanket on the floor, she immediately starts rolling to her side...like this:

Gabriel had to get down there and play with his "sissy girl."

She is no longer content sitting in her bouncy seat watching while we eat supper.  She wants to be sitting in one of our laps, watching all the action from up close.  Can't blame her.

It is so interesting to watch her discover and investigate new things.  Like her hands.  She finds them so enthralling, and just turns them around and stares at them.  Hard.  

I'm also thinking it won't be too much longer that I'll be able to hold her bottle.  Abigail is now holding on to my hands/fingers while I hold the bottle...or else, she is actually holding on to the bottle herself also!  Girlfriend digs her bottle.  

Abigail continues to be a very content and flexible little girl.  Ideally, we would have her down at about 8p.m. every night...but when things come up - like if we have another family over to eat - she may not get down until 10p.m.  No problem.  She usually wakes up in the morning somewhere between 6 and 7a.m.  It was 7 or 8...thankyouverymuch time change.  

She normally will cry out a time or two (or three) during the night, but she doesn't need a bottle...she just wants help getting her paci back in her mouth.

Abigail is still taking 5 bottles a day, with 7 oz of homemade formula per bottle.  And it seems to be agreeing with her.  Dr. D said she looked great and was developing great and seemed to be "advanced" in terms of motor skills.  I may just be a proud mama, but I agree!

I have begun accumulating some new hair products for sissy's beautiful curls.  Her hair is now 2.5" long. 

I recently ordered this book, and am making my way through it.  I've read Rory's blog since G came home, and I'm so glad that she just released this book!

My favorite new hair tool is this Tangle Teezer: 

I've read about the Tangle Teezer for years on this Adoption Skin and Hair Care yahoo group I'm on...but haven't needed one for G-man.

This thing.  THIS thing...is great!

Abigail used to cry when I would use a wide-tooth comb to detangle her hair after I put conditioner in.  

But now she just lays there...acting like a cool cat.

This look is definitely saying: "Ain't no big thang."

You can use the Tangle Teezer on wet and dry hair.  We have fun making her hair into a fro right before her bath...

...and I think it is so interesting how it shrinks so much after her bath.

The quality of these next pictures is not good at all.

But I love them because they show the love/love thing going on between LK and A.

It is really like this with all the bigs kids and both of the little kids.

But for some reason it just really has surprised me with LK.

I guess it is because she is so not a girly-girl.

But this rough and tumble gal has such a soft spot - and a gift, really - with these younger ones.  She is a great big sister...and will make a great mama one day.

Guess who missy is looking up at.

Yep, daddy.

She's a little fond of him.

Just a little.

"I'm tired of holding my head up."

Abigail is just as deprived of attention as G was as an infant:

Gabriel loves his little sis.

He calls her "Sissy Girl"...but it sounds more like "Sissy Gull."

We have had two post-placements visits with our social worker.  Mrs. Sandy is great and we've so enjoyed working with her.  Whenever she's here she drops hints about "when I come back to do the homestudy for your next adoption."  She thinks we need 10 children.  We'll see about that.  

We've been sending in our monthly "share sheets" and pictures to our agency...that they then turn around and share with A's first parents.  

Everything has been progressing as expected with the legal side of the adoption, and our finalization hearing at the courthouse in front of the judge is scheduled for next month.