“I am 4 months old! I know! I’ve discovered my hands. I can’t get enough of them. I like to look at them, touch them together and put them all up in my mouth..YUM! I love my morning time with daddy, and my snuggle time with mommy at bedtime. I love to laugh and smile and sing songs. Oh, and I love to give speeches to my toys. I hang out at daycare all day with my friends. I like that too.”
Esther’s 4 month appointment went well. She is 60% percentile for weight, 50% for head circumference and 40% for height. What does all of that mean? Pretty much that she’s perfect and the smartest baby in the world, which we knew already, right?? (; She took the shots again like a champ. Just screamed for a little, then daddy picked her up- mommy fed her and she was fine for the rest of the evening.
Another exciting development this month is that Lady E can roll from her back to her belly now. I was so excited for her to learn that. The first time she did it she looked around and was so proud of herself. It was very cute. Then I proceeded to watch her face plant and move her head back to back on the ground as if she were stuck. You see my (the) problem here, right? So I rushed to flip her over again and scared the crap out of her! That made both of us! I wanted so badly for her to learn how to roll over and then immediately wished she couldn’t ever do that again (especially at night, which is, of course, exactly what she did later on that night). Thus begun “the great rolling over no sleep torture”. Three nights in a row I got no sleep because I’d keep staring at her to make sure she was still on her back and or side. Then I’d watch her roll over and get stuck. I’d flip her on to her back and she’d immediately roll over again. She’s a determined one. When I brought it up to the doctor he understood ( as last time my intense worry was “the choking). He said that the most important was that I was sleeping. A child needs rested and alert parents, so if that meant she’d have to sleep in her car seat for me to feel secure, then by all means she could. I tried that for 1/2 the night on Wednesday and just felt so sorry for her. She looked comfortable enough, but I know I wouldn’t be so comfy sleeping sitting up. I took her out of the car seat and put her into the pack n play next to our bed after her 3 am feeding. Then she began to roll again and I almost threw myself to the floor and rolled around causing a temper tantrum of my own. SOMETHING had to be done. So, I took my struggle(s) to Facebook. Oh the beauty of social networking! Another Momma came up with a GREAT idea! I altered her “invention” a little to work for us and it worked!! Esther can’t roll and momma can sleep!!
So here was the other momma’s solution to our problem:
Photo credit to Carla Peraza
Here is mine. I used a soft scarf to tie it all the way around the mattress (since she isn’t in a crib yet).
Also new this month was Esther’s first car trip. She went to visit her grandparents who live a little over 3 hours southwest of the Twin Cities. She did “ok”. We have to make sure to target her nap time and she’s fine to nap 1/2 the way. She slept a long stretch of time. Then we’d stop to stretch and to feed and change her, then back into the car for the second part of the drive. That was the more difficult stretch because she was awake then, rested and wanted to play but instead was strapped in. She didn’t cry the entire time, but she made it clear that she had had it! We were proud of her though for being such a good little trooper and it was great bonding time for her and the grandparents.We are looking forward to a summer of fun. She loves bath time so we will have to take her swimming so she can splash until she’s worn out!Thanks again for reading!
Andrews Family Happenings 