4 Month Update

I am four months old today! Instead of going to day care today, I went for my four month checkup and got my shots. I barely even cried! Then I spent the rest of the day sleeping and with a slight fever.

• I weigh 13 lbs, 6 oz. and am 24 inches long. Basically in the 50-75th percentile for everything.
• My sleep has regressed a little. I used to be able to sleep 6-7 hours straight without waking up, but a few weeks ago I started waking up every 2-3 hours. Mom was waking up at least 3 times a night to feed me or put the pacifier back in my mouth. Dr. Tan said it's possible that I've become too dependent on the pacifier, so when I wake up without it I can't fall back asleep. He suggested that we start sleep training. How am I supposed to learn to fall asleep without the pacifier in my mouth?
• I can't.stop.eating.my.hands. All these fingers feel really great in my mouth, especially when I try to shove them all in there at the same time.
• I can lie on my tummy and hold my head up real high! Tummy time is not so bad anymore. Hopefully soon I'll be rolling over.
• I laugh a little. And starting to babble a little too.
• I love practicing to stand. Mom holds my hands and pulls me from lying to sitting to standing position. Dad thinks I'll be walking before I'm even crawling.
• My new favorite activity - walking around in the Bjorn facing outward. I love going on walks and being able to see where I'm going!

Back to Work

Kaitlyn started day care this week. I started her with half days and am slowly increasing the number of hours so by next week she'll be spending a full day there. I've been so worried about sending her to day care: Would she take a bottle? Would she constantly be fussy like she is at home? What would happen if she had one of her gassy crying episodes? What if she can't go down for naps? We were actually scared she would cry so much that she'd get kicked out of day care. There are so many concerns, but ultimately I have to learn to let go and trust that she will be taken care of.

Anyway, so far it seems to be going okay. Johanna, the owner tells me she really enjoys watching the other children, that they talk and laugh to her and she talks and laughs back. She hasn't had any major crying episodes yet, although Johanna says that she's really gassy and she has to burp her multiple times. Maybe she does a lot better job at burping her than I do, that's why she hasn't had any tummy problems yet. My biggest concern though is that Kaitlyn isn't napping well when she's there. Johanna said she takes 20 minute catnaps here and there, but I don't think that's enough. The past three days, as soon as I've taken her home she napped for hours. Yesterday she slept from 2pm until 7pm! I'm worried that she's getting overstimulated and overtired there, and not sure what's going to happen once she starts full days. Johanna said it takes about a week to adjust to the new routine, so hopefully that's the case and Kaitlyn will figure out that she needs to get some rest during the day!

I'm really not looking forward to going back to work. =(

Grrrrr....

This whole time, I thought Kaitlyn hated the swing. All our friends with babies used to tell us, "Oh, I just put ____ in the swing and they nap for hours." And I would wonder what the heck is wrong with our baby that she can't even nap in a swing like any other baby and always needs to be held? Well this past weekend we went over to a friend's house. They had the Fisher Price Papasan Swing for their 1 month old and we put Kaitlyn in it to demonstrate how much she hated the swing. What do you know, she fell asleep!! WTH!

The thought had never occurred to me that maybe it wasn't the swing Kaitlyn hated, it was the particular brand/type of swing that we owned (or maybe the thought did occur to me but I was in denial). Originally we had the Carter's Cuddle Me Swing from Babies R' Us. I had registered for it while I was pregnant and chosen it based solely on the looks/design, totally ignoring the fact that it was only rated 2 stars on the BRS website. I should had known when I put Kaitlyn in it and she looked so uncomfortable, like her back was hunched over and her chin was practically touching her chest. The seat also had no support, so it was like a hammock.

The Fisher Price swing, on the other hand, had a hard-back support and was angled comfortably so it felt like an actual seat. As soon as we got home we disassembled the Carter's swing and bought the Fisher Price swing the same week.

And Kaitlyn has gone from this:

To this:

I'm kicking myself now because if I had realized this sooner, like say 3 months ago, I may have gotten hours and hours of my life back not having to hold Kaitlyn during naps and actually getting things done instead. *Sigh*

3 months

A few days ago I turned 3 months old! Mommy is sad to see me growing up so fast, but I'm excited to be developing and learning new things each day. At three months, look what I can do!

• I sleep for up to seven hours at night. Although my average is five or six hours at night, there have been a couple of times where I went seven hours, and that one fateful night where I slept for eight hours straight. I'm giving Mom and Dad some hope.
• I smile. At around eight weeks I started teasing Mom and Dad with half-smiles. Then I started smiling at the sheep on the mobile above my crib. At first I didn't smile much for Mommy and to her dismay, after a long day I would give Daddy a great big smile when he came home from work. Sorry Mom, I couldn't help it. He's a funny man.
• I found my fists. And man are they tasty!
• I can sit up straight. With a little help of course. See how I'm sitting up all by myself on the couch in the picture?
• I can hold my head up. Kinda. I still suck at tummy time. Mom doesn't make me do it enough cuz she hates to see me cry. But I've always had a strong head from week 1 and sooner or later I'll stop face-planting into the activity mat.
• I can put my hands together. I clasp my hands, intertwine my fingers and suck on them all at the same time!

What accomplishments! It's not all good stuff though. There are still some challenges I'm working through, including trying to sleep during the day without having to be held all the time and still coping with gas problems (sometimes my tummy hurts so much I scream uncontrollably). I'm also a lot more aware of my surroundings now and take much shorter naps, so it's getting harder for Mommy to spend hours at the mall without worrying about me waking up and melting down in the stroller. I've spent many a car ride crying my lungs out while Mommy helplessly tried to drive home as quickly as she could. All in all, it's been a great first three months of my life!

Bumbo

Check out my new seat! Yay me for sitting up straight!