Four months old! That’s how fast time is flowing!

Claire has several new sounds in her vocabulary. In addition to the creaky door moan, there is a high-pitched squeal that can sound like a prelude to crying or is just a noise she can make because it gives pleasure. The most recent addition is a grunt — “Uhn. Uhhn!” — when she wants something: more milk, a different toy, someone to pay attention to her.

Tummy time remains a challenge, because she flips herself onto her back as soon as she’s placed on her stomach. She’s working hard to turn herself from back to stomach; I don’t think she’s yet made the connection that this action is the “other side of the coin” to the tummy time. Once she does, I’m sure she’ll be rolling all over.

She squeals with delight now and laughs heartily. Some of her favorite games are:

• Kicking her Lamaze Pupsqueak toy as I hang it over her feet; it jingles and jangles. She especially enjoys this when she’s in just a diaper, because she can use her toes to grab the toy.
• The finger rocket game; Daddy pretends to launch a missile (his index finger) that goes way up, and it comes down in spirals and wiggles and lands on her stomach. The sound effects are what make this so fun. He makes the sound of the launch, whistles the falling action, and makes a crashing sound when his hand lands. Her face is a rapture of anticipation as she watches.
• The animal sound game. This is self-explanatory.
• The kissing game. I kiss different parts of her body and name them (feet, knees, elbow, head, etc.).
• Claire fishing: we dangle linked plastic letters over her mouth as she’s lying on her back, and she opens her mouth like a fish taking bait. These letters are portable favorites. She rejected pacifiers at about nine weeks when she discovered her fingers, and now the letters and her fingers bring satisfaction.

Claire likes to sit up as much as possible and to stand with support. Her manual dexterity is increasingly refined. She grabs toys with more precision and manipulates them more smoothly.

She reaches out to touch a book when it is read to her and has begun grabbing the page to turn it (not necessarily in the direction of the story).

I’ve made short movies with the new camera (which has sound too), and showed them to her. She is fascinated and transfixed watching herself.

Thursday she sees the doctor for a check-up and vaccinations. Today we’ll begin a weekly class called Music Together at a local community center. I make an effort now to get out more with her; she’s a social being and avidly interested in the world. Coordinating when is a challenge. She continues to have about two good alert hours right after waking and eating before she becomes exhausted and needs a nap. It takes a lot of energy to grow a brain!