Dear Lucy,

My goodness, where has the month gone? I've been thinking about this letter for weeks and here we are, just a week away from when your fifth month letter is due! You've been changing so much and so quickly, it's taking everything we have just to keep up and not miss anything.

Your fourth month was marked by your constant struggle against remaining stationary. I swear, if you're not walking by the time you're a year old it won't be for a lack of trying. Your little legs are constantly wiggling, thrashing, and pushing as you try to build up those little musicles to the point where they can support your weight. Of course, you're not actually doing any walking or crawling yet, but that hasn't stopped you from scooting, sliding and rolling. I'll never forget the afternoon in late May when I heard a loud gasp coming from the living room, followed by your mother's exclamation that you had flipped over! She turned her head for a minute -- just one minute was all you needed -- and you had managed to roll yourself over onto your belly for the first time. We turned you back over and, wouldn't you know it, just moments later we were able to get your next attempt on film.

You did decide quickly, though, that while you were eager to try flipping over you weren't too keen on actually being on your stomach. That's something we've had to work on -- getting you interested in staying on your belly and building up those neck muscles.

You would much rather spend time on your back with your best buddy Gus!

The two of you together are seriously the cutest thing ever. Gus is extremely protective of you and spends pretty much every moment that you're on the floor in your jungle mat strategizing how he can give you the maximum number of licks without getting shooed away by us. He has his pattern pretty well established: Give you a few kisses, do a slow lap around the room, and circle back for a few more. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. And you are more than happy with this arrangement.

What I'm really grateful for, little girl, is how well you're sleeping through the night. I was prepared for 4:00am feedings to be a natural part of life for the first year or two, but I can probably count on one hand the number of times you've gotten us up before 5:30 this past month, and more often than that it's 6:30 or later. While 6:30 is still crazy early by my not-a-morning-person standards, you still welcome us with huge grins and giggles first thing in the morning, which doesn't ever get old.

Each month with you is just so much more fun than the month before. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us next month, little Lucybear!

xoxo,

Papa