4 month appointment

Today Alaina had her belated 4-month appointment. Technically, she's 4.5 months but our pediatrician had been on maternity leave (I was a little jealous at how fabulous she looks so soon!). Alaina weighed 15 pounds, 7 ounces and was 24 inches long. She's growing perfectly.

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.

D-day

So Alaina started daycare today and it wasn't terrible. She was there 8:30-4. I felt like I was on the verge of crying quite a bit; I'm not gonna lie. The brownie and poptarts I consumed when I got home? Total distress tolerance. I'm enjoying being cuddled up with her in the nursery right now, listening to her rhythmic snoring and enjoying her sweetness. Chad and I have both given her extra snuggles.

Overall, Alaina did okay. The owner and teachers said it was a rough day but all babies go through an adjustment period. I'm hoping tomorrow is a little easier. She is just used to being the only baby and now she's having to learn patience with seven others to contend with at any moment.

I am staying home Wednesday because she has her 4-month shots. What a terrible week, right? Thank goodness she won't remember it and soon it will only be a memory for me.

Here are some pictures from the day. She's the one in the cupcake onesie with the heart on the bum. I know they're tough to see. In the first one, she's looking at herself in the mirror on the far left hand side. In the second, she's in the middle of the babies hanging out on/by the blanket. In the last, she's being fed by Ms. Katie.

I'm sure you can guess how much work I got done today. Yup, zero. In between each of my meetings, I was checking on the baby. I know there is an adjustment period for me, too but for now I'm thankful for the camera!!

Quick update

So I have been super busy as I try to get back to work on a full-time basis. I am really loving being back! But daycare starts Monday. :(

I still have things I want to update on--like sleeping, in particular (maybe I'm not updating because I hope the issues will resolve!) but I don't have a lot of time these days. Maybe I can do a big update this weekend. However, I've got a week's worth of pictures and videos that needed to be uploaded. I am pretty sure that's what most people want to see anyway. :)

Here's a picture of Alaina after our walk on Sunday. This shows you that she is still really tiny!

I love her little lovey. She really likes it, too. I've been trying to give it to her during times of comfort and quiet. Hoping she attaches to it. See how cute!

No matter what Chad and I do, we can't make her laugh like the puppies!

 

Play time:

 

She grunts a lot when she's grumpy! However, you can see how much she loves playing with her feet and how good she is getting with her hand-eye coordination--even passing the toy back and forth between hands!

 

 

She has been doing this hilarious thing lately that sounds like a fake cough.

 

This was unexpected

So Monday afternoon Chad and I got the news that Alaina could start daycare three weeks earlier than we were last told. You may recall we had an original start of August 1, which got pushed to September 17, causing us to scramble to find coverage once classes started. So this was a relief but was not without irritation. They said if she didn't start August 27, she would get pushed to October 1. Annoying. And we had to answer right away. Irritating. But whatever. In the end, it works better for us. They recommended that we bring Alaina by to meet her teachers and start to get acclimated with the environment and the other babies. So Tuesday and Wednesday we went to visit. And that's when it hit me. Our baby is going to daycare. Now I should preface this discussion of my inevitable meltdown by saying we chose this daycare because we've heard great things about it. They use developmental research in choosing activities for the kids. They even have a webcam where you can check in on your child throughout the day (yes, I am fully aware I won't get work done the first week/month she is there...). We wanted her to be in a facility where she would be with other children her age. This is a good thing. I never wanted to be a stay at home mom.

But our baby is going to daycare.

This sucks. I was not expecting to be emotional about it. I knew this was what we wanted and it is a part of our plan. But it makes me so sad. I'm even getting teary as I type this. As I noted in my last post, Alaina loves nothing more than being held. Now she will be competing with other babies for attention. We have been so spoiled by having great in-home care. When I brought Alaina home on Wednesday, I just couldn't stop crying. Man, I'm going to be a mess on the 27th.



Here she looks like she's pondering yea, what were you thinking?

 

They're going to make me do tummy time, too?

 

But alas. We know she's in good hands and it likely will be harder on us than on her. She actually seemed to like it there. She loved watching the other babies! In fun news, she is so interactive. She has recently discovered that she can grab my face. She likes to grab hold of my mouth or cheeks. I guess it's only fair as much time as we spend squeezing her sweet chubby cheeks.

 

 

I also was going to talk about her sleep lately but I'll save that for another post.  

Our baby girl is 4 months!

It's a little hard to believe. I don't quite feel like time is flying by but she is getting so big! The last time we weighed her she was 14 lbs, 6 oz. We haven't ever measured her length at home but I'm guessing her to be at least 24 inches. Her next appointment isn't until August 29 so she will be almost 20 weeks then. That's hard to believe. In terms of milestones, she is doing a great job with supported sitting. She really likes when I "pull" her into a seated position. She looks around so proudly like she knows she's a big girl. She also loves to "stand" while she holds your fingers. She has gotten considerably better with tummy time. If she can watch the puppies chasing each other, she is quite happy on her belly for long stretches. She likes to roll on her side from her back but she's still not made it to her tummy. In some ways, I feel like I spend a lot of time excited about "what she's going to do next" but in other ways I feel like I'm just pushing toward the next milestone and that I need to enjoy her while she's so little. Because she's already not so little.

Yesterday we went on two walks around the neighborhood because it was a "cool" 95 degrees outside. For the first walk, Chad walked the puppies and I wore Alaina in the Beco Gemini. Everyone loved the chance to be out of the house! Later in the afternoon I wanted to try her in the stroller. Up to this point, we've used the stroller more like a travel system, with an adaptor that allows us to attach the car seat to the top. And I looooooove it. But yesterday I wanted Alaina to be able to really look around on our walk. Figuring out how to adjust the straps was an afternoon affair. I'm still not convinced they're quite right. I love the Beco carrier, though I'm ready to start carrying her on my hip or occasional front facing for a short while. I've also been carrying her in the moby wrap but she might be getting a little heavy for that. Both tend to hurt my back but that may be because I'm not getting them tight enough. I regret I haven't gotten pictures of these things, though.

The most stressful thing lately has been sleep (some of you thought I was going to say feeding, eh? Nope that's all pretty much the same). For the last three weeks or so Alaina absolutely refuses to be put to sleep by Chad. He is her play buddy and bottle feeder so she gets so angry when he tries to rock her! It's even getting harder for me! She sleeps great once she falls/stays asleep; usually she sleeps 10 pm - 6:30 am which is awesome. But she *hates* falling asleep. I have to walk with her, shushing or playing music/white noise. Naps are the same thing. And if I put her down in the rock & play (yes, we need to transition her to the crib...) too soon, she wakes up (she still only sleeps 30-45 minutes most naps). So most of my day is spent putting her to sleep or holding her while she's sleeping. And I know that's okay. I know that I'm not spoiling her and she won't be little forever. While it's sometimes hard, I'm pretty sure no parent has ever looked back and wished they had held their sweet baby less. On an interesting note, she sleeps perfect for people babysitting her. Maureen watched her last week and she said she went to sleep with little fussing after just being laid down in the rock and play with her sleep sheep (white noise)! Silly girl.

In a fun development, she loves when mommy and daddy give kisses on the cheek to each other. She just laughs and laughs. This child definitely will grow up surrounded by love.

So here's to an amazing four months. I can't believe she's a third of a year old (and yes, I've already started thinking about birthday party themes...doesn't hurt to think about them, right??).

Here are some fun pictures & videos over the last week.

Rocking out in nostalgic Nintendo gear. Chad says we need to raise the next generation right.

 

Enjoying laying on a real bed for a moment. We can't resist the fauxhawk on occasion.

Hilarious video of her attacking my shoulder. We call her a tiger cat. Though wildcat would probably be more appropriate.

She looks so innocent here--

 

She LOVES her puppies! Warning: there is spit up involved in this video...can't figure out how to edit it out.

 She is seriously the happiest baby! (except when she's not...)

 

 

 

I love toys!

Alaina is certainly starting to be more interested in toys and such. So I got her a few little things that light up and play music and should keep her interest until she's a toddler (so the package says...). I can't wait to see her playing with them more. So far, she watches the lights curiously and, if a toy is near by, she likes to investigate it with her mouth. Her newest thing this week is flailing her arms about, which often ends in her hitting herself in the face or chest. Which she thinks is hilarious.

She isn't spoiled:

 

 

This video has horrible picture quality but it's the only time I could get her to demonstrate it for the camera!

 

 She also thinks bibs are tasty and worth investigating.

In other news, she's getting tougher to put to sleep for naps. She still sleeps great at night but she really doesn't want to fall asleep before 10:30 pm (the Olympics are very exciting!). She seems to be doing pretty well on the switch back to soy formula. I probably will be introducing hidden dairy back into my diet slowly next week to see how she responds. I will start with a McDonald's small fry. :) Exciting stuff.

It's been a crazy few days. My schedule at work is picking up a bit in terms of deadlines, thesis proposal, reports that need reviewing, papers to submit, etc. It's still hard to find the time to work at home and coming in only twice a week doesn't really cut it. But I am doing what I can. Today our babysitter had the day off of her other job so I had her come in for a few hours so I could go to work. It's impossible to take Alaina anywhere right now because it's 110+ degrees every day. 

Classes start in two weeks and I admit being pretty excited. It will be difficult for a few weeks until Alaina starts daycare on September 17. I am very curious to see how different our lives will be once we add this to our routine. I tend to think I might start cooking and baking a bit again on the weekends. We'll see. I did bake some "jelly donut" cupcakes last weekend. They were not a resounding success. Chad blames it on them being vegan. I blame the nutmeg.