milestones at four months

today is maya's birthday. ok, it's only been four months. but every day seems like a milestone so right now i count every month. i'm sure, almost all first time mothers do the same thing until their kid is a year old so, why not me?! =)

i've been super excited these last few weeks because i have seen so many changes in maya. we started physical therapy a few weeks ago and it has made such a difference. i'm so grateful for the services that our state provides. because of it we have a physical therapist come to our home once a week. eventually we will have a speech therapist also. i find that i'm learning so much about human development. i have maya to thank for that, among other things.

maya has really blossomed into her own person lately. well, she's always been a social person, but now she giggles like crazy and loves to see everything we see. she doesn't like to be cradled as much anymore, now that she is gaining head control she likes to be on our shoulder and see everything.

one of the things that we have been doing in her therapy time is showing her that she has hands and feet. this is something that others might take for granted...i mean i didn't even know that she was supposed to find her hands and feet at a certain time. but there is a timeline for everything i guess. we had been working on it from the first therapy session. well a couple of weeks ago she started to put her hands together on her own. i was so excited to see this. it felt like a huge milestone. when i think about it, even though it felt like a long time coming, she really learned this trick very fast. the therapist was really impressed with her progress.

now besides just sucking her thumb (which i believe she enjoys more then her pacifier now) she will intertwine her fingers and play with them. she is also starting to grab at her toys. now this is a really big thing because up until last week she didn't have any interest in toys or outside objects unless it was her burp cloth or my hair.

i was thinking this morning that she has come a long way in such a short time. from the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) needing oxygen and a feeding tube, to a laughing little girl, bursting with energy. she has amazing strength in so many ways. there isn't a dull moment with maya around. i never thought i would be so in love with my daughter. but i am. and i'm certain now that this is what joy feels like.