Thursday, September 30, 2010

Four Months Old

Cailtin,
You turned 4 months old on Sunday (Sept 26th)!  This month has been full of new and exciting things for you!  We went to the doctor today, and you are still a little peanut.  Here are your 4 month stats:

  • Weight: 10lbs 8oz (<5th percentile)

  • Height: 25 inches (75th percentile)

  • Head Circumference: 39 cm or 15.4 inches
Because you are such a little peanut and gained less than a pound during the past 2 months, your pediatrician (Dr. M) is a little concerned.  We suspect that the reason for you not putting on the lbs is because you are distracted and only eat enough to get a top off so you can move on to bigger and better things and/or because my supply has dropped a little since I returned to work.  In order to remedy this, we are going to start you on rice cereal.  We are going to put 1 tablespoon in each of the bottles that you get while I'm at work and then on the weekends, we're going to try to feed it to you from a spoon.  We go back in 3 weeks for a weight check, and we are praying that these things work.  If they don't work, Dr. M is going to make us get you up at night to feed you.  We do not want to start doing that, so please consider gaining some more weight for us, ok?  You are still wearing size 1 diapers and 0-3 months and 3 month clothes.  You are still long and lean, but I think you are getting a little buddha belly!  Last month, I talked about how your hair was starting to fall out.  Wow, I thought it was really falling out last month, but this month, it has really become more apparent.  We find your hair everywhere!  You have a few bald spots here and there, but you do still have a lot of hair!  You are eating about every 3 hours during the day and now that I'm back to work, you are taking 3 bottles a day (usually about 4 oz) during Daddy Daycare.  Breastfeeding is going ok.  Now that I'm back to work, I've had some plugged/clogged milk ducts, and the thrush has returned yet again.  Some days I really feel like we can't catch a break, but then I remember how I thought breastfeeding was something I wouldn't be able to do when I was pregnant and I realize that we've made it four months and that is longer than I ever thought would be possible.  So, we'll just keep plugging along and trying to make it work.

What are you up to this month?  At the beginning of the month, you were obsessed with your activity mat - squealing and talking to your animals and kicking you legs a lot! While you still like it, sometimes we think you're getting a little bored with it.  You are Grabby McGrabberson these days.  You are still working on grabbing things with one hand, but you are pretty good at "gathering" things to your chest/mouth with both hands.  We've started giving you your lovey's and you are pretty good at gathering them to your mouth.  You still love your mobile.  We can always count on the mobile to keep you occupied when we need to get something done around the house (folding laundry, getting your bath ready at night, etc.).  On exactly your 4 month birthday, you rolled from your stomach to your back.  The next day, you rolled 5 times, but haven't really done it since.  Maybe you wore yourself out with the rolling?  You are pretty much a pro at holding your head up.  You smile ALL the time, especially when we smile at you or if Daddy makes a funny face at you. We seriously cannot get enough of those smiles!  We think we may have gotten a few giggles out of you, but the things we do when it happens do not consistently make you laugh.  For the most part, you are a pretty laid back little girl.   You love watching yourself in the mirror.  We have a mirror that sits on teh floor that you can look in while you're doing tummy time.  This has been a really good distraction for you when we put your on you belly.  I also like to take you into the powder room or our bedroom and have you look in the mirror.  As soon as you realize that there is another baby in that mirror, you smile really big and look away.  You keep looking back and smiling when you see that the baby is still there.  You are still a big fan of the TV, especially when the Phillies are playing.   You've gotten really good at turning yourself around on the activity mat so you can watch the TV.   We also tried having you sit in the Bumbo seat, and so far, you kind of like it.  You don't love it, but sometimes it will keep your attention.

Let's talk about sleeping.  You started sleeping in your crib full-time at 3 months, 1 day old (August 27th).  The transition to your crib was actually pretty easy; I think you may be happy to have your own space now.  In your 3 month post, I was bold enough to talk about how you were sleeping through the night and how proud we were of you.  Well, let me just tell you, we are still awful proud of you, but you have stopped the sleeping through the night business.  We are still swaddling you at night, but most nights you break yourself free of the swaddle so you can get your hands, which in turn wakes you up because you haven't figured out that your hands can help soothe you back to sleep.  Instead, you just start fussing because you want the pacifier back.  Because you are waking up multiple times at night, Daddy and I have started rotating the nights that we get up with you so that at least one of us is getting a full night's sleep.  We also had to borrow breathable bumpers from your friend Morgan because you cannot keep your little legs behind the bars (see your 17 week post).  We are currently working on teaching you to sleep without the swaddle.  We have a pretty good routine at night, and you definitely seem to still enjoy bathtime.  Some nights, your legs go crazy kicking and splashing and some nights, you prefer for it to be a quiet, relaxing bath.  It's the nights when you are really quiet that are the problems - you have pooped in the bathtub twice! 

Another amazing month has passed (way too quickly), and we can't wait to see what new and exciting things the next month brings!  We love you so much, baby girl!!

Love you like no other,
Mommy

Here are your 4-month pictures with your bear: 

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A couple outtakes from your 4-month photoshoot - they make me laugh!
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For comparison, here you are at 3, 2, 1 and zero months:
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Monday, September 27, 2010

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Houston, we have a roller!  Caitlin rolled over from her stomach to her back yesterday while we were celebrating her 4 month birthday. Today, she rolled over 5 times and Daddy got one of them on video!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

17 Weeks Old

Caitlin, you turned 17 weeks old today!  You started off the 17th week with a bang! I don't have any pictures of this, but you managed to poop in the bathtub 2 days in a row.  The first night I was giving you a bath, and when it happened, I had to yell downstairs to Daddy to tell him that we had a "Poop Situation".  The second time it happened, Daddy was giving you a bath, so I got to help while Daddy cleaned up your mess AGAIN!  I did take the opportunity to take pictures of your cute little nakey butt while Daddy was cleaning up.  Anyway, here's the recap in pictures from week 17.
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You hugged your bunny.

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You sat in the bumbo seat for the first time.

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And looked very thoughtful.

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You even kind of smiled for the camera.


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Daddy thought it would be funny to make your ears look like Dumbo. 

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You played with Mommy while laying on my legs one night.

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You sat in the Bumbo again.

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You looked in the mirror at that other baby.  This mirror makes your hair look so crazy!

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Bumbo seat again... you were interested in the toy for a little while.

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But then you got tired.

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I know you can't see your face in this picture, but I just love your little feet.

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Daddy put together your exersaucer, and we let you sit in it to see if you were big enough.  You thought the pattern was very interesting.

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We hung out outside for a little bit. 

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You chewed on your hands. 

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And then you decided you were tired.  You are just the cutest thing!

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This is the face you've been showing me lately when I take your picture. 

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We took you to Centennial Park, and Daddy pushed you in the stroller.

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You fell asleep during your stroller ride.

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We took you to your first Phillies game.  Oh, those cheeks - they are just too much!

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You fell asleep.

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We realized that we should probably put the bumpers on your crib.  This is how Daddy found you one day when he went to get you up from your nap. 

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I finally got a smile from you!  Again, with the cheeks.  They are just so squishy!!  I love them!  

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We celebrated our 2-year anniversary by taking you to your first of many Mexican meals.  You hung out in your carseat for a little while and then decided you wanted to sit with me.  You were such a good girl!!

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You were way too busy looking around at everything to look at the camera.  This is the best picture we could get, but you still look so darn cute. 

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Caitlin and the Bouncy Seat

Oh, how you've grown over the past 4 months...

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Week 2

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Week 4

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Week 5

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Week 6

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Week 7

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Week 9
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Week 17

Thursday, September 16, 2010

16 Weeks Old

Caitlin, you turned 16 weeks old yesterday!  Here's the recap of the week in pictures. 

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You chewed on your fingers.  This is becoming a fairly regular occurrence.

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You sat in the Bumbo seat.

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Tummy time!

You chilled in the Boppy.  Notice how in the first 2 pictures that you are facing the back of the couch.  This is because you wouldn't stop turning your head so you could watch TV!
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We had dinner with the Allisons and you fell asleep like this on the way home.

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You sat with Daddy and tried to eat your hands.

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More tummy time.

And then you tried to eat the blanket.
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You sat up in the chair like a big girl. 

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You hung out on the blanket that Aunt Bonnie made for you!

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You looked in your mirror and tried to figure out who that other baby is.

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You pulled on your toes/feet and tried to get them to your mouth!