She also had her dreaded shots. She did fairly well. Just cried after being poked but was easily consoled with nursing immediately after. Chad and I also handled it well, which always surprises me (I expect to be a mess). She didn't want to swallow the rotavirus oral suspension but we think she got enough of it.
The pediatrician thinks Alaina is doing great. She always jokes about how this baby isn't starving. We discussed feeding (of course) and will continue nursing + soy formula. We won't introduce cereal or solid food until closer to 6 months. We've been giving her an ounce of pear juice daily for some 'bathroom issues,' with little effect. Dr. Voight said we could try more or other juice or adding a little Karo syrup to her bottle to help. The pediatrician also said I could start reintroducing some dairy as trial and error. In the last two weeks I've had butter or suspected hidden dairy (Jimmy John's won't release their ingredients!) a handful of times and haven't seen any negative side effects. She mentioned that cheese, butter, yogurt, and ice cream (!!!) are lower in lactose than butter so I might be okay with trialing small amounts. It is such a process though having to wait days between tries and also between other things (shots, switching juices, etc.). But it would be nice to go out more without worrying.
We also met with the early childhood specialist from Healthy Steps. She just loves Miss Alaina. She was cracking up as Alaina played her own form of peekaboo, where she looks at you and then quickly turns away. Socially, Alaina is great--doing all the right things. She even commented that Alaina is developing great self-soothing skills (e.g., bringing her hands together and to the middle, bringing her thumb to her mouth, attaching to her lovey). This was good for me to hear since I spend so much time teaching students how to teach clients emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills. :) In terms of motor skills, Alaina is on track. She hasn't rolled over yet but she likely will soon. She has a strong back and her neck isn't wobbly at all. She is close to a "tripod" sit (the step before unsupported sitting) but isn't quite there yet. She loves to stand, bearing weight, if you hold her up. All in all, great things.
We also talked about her sleep. Alaina just doesn't get enough. While she does a great job sleeping through the night, she only sleeps about 8 hours and most babies sleep 10-12. Her naps tend to be 45 minutes, opposed to 2 hours. Most sleep experts say babies Alaina's age should get about 14.5 hours per 24 hour period. When I work really hard just on sleeping, she gets about 12. So we are just going to continue trying to make that better. We hope daycare will help too.
She's been a little fussy today but nothing out of the ordinary. I've heard anecdotally that the 4 month shots are hard but I'm hoping we escape any reactions. We are keeping an extra eye on her.
Right after I finished this she woke up with a pitiful little cry so I'll give her some Tylenol if she seems like she's in pain. Poor little girl.
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