Weight/Length: 25 inches long...homegirl is getting SO BIG (stop it!)! She is in the 95th percentile for height. She also, as of Thursday, weighs 16 lbs, 3.5 oz. Still 97th percentile for weight. The doctor said she's not worried about L being malnourished! ;-)
Sleep: I am so grateful that we were blessed with a wonderful sleeper. I am starting to realize that I cannot count on any routine, because just when I think we're in one Lilly changes it up on me (this is totally normal, I hear), but sleep has been pretty predictable as of late (except for the nights when she breaks out of the swaddle!). We typically start our bed time routine with a bath around 7:00. If she had a super long afternoon nap or took it later than usual, I'll let her play for a little while after bath time, but most nights we head upstairs to read a book, eat, and go to sleep. She is normally in bed (still awake) by 7:30 or 8:00. I have made it a point to put her down while she's still awake to help her learn to self-soothe. So far, thankfully, this has not been a problem. Some nights, she will lay in there talking and giggling to herself - other nights she goes straight to sleep. On a "normal" night, Lilly sleeps until 7:00 or 7:30 a.m., wakes up to eat, and then goes back to sleep until 9:00 or 9:30. She takes a short nap in the morning, normally between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. and normally only lasting 45 minutes to an hour, and then she takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon, normally sometime between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. On the mornings when she goes to stay with the nanny, we keep her up instead of letting her go back to sleep, so sometimes the morning nap is a little earlier and lasts a little longer on those days. Lilly so far has demonstrated that she'll sleep anywhere and through just about anything (angels singing). She is still waking up sometimes having broken out of her swaddle, but it is not very consistent, so we're still trying to decide what to do. I talked to her doctor about this issue, and asked about whether we should work on sleep training and breaking her of the swaddling habit. The doctor basically told us that Lilly is such a good sleeper, if it were her, she wouldn't fix what isn't broken and she'd just order a bigger swaddle. She tended to agree with us that the fact that Lilly wakes herself up when she's not swaddled probably means she's not quite ready to come out of it yet, and said that she may even wean herself off of it. She assured us that nothing about swaddling is harmful for Lilly's development - she said her own children slept swaddled until they were 8 or 9 months old. She reiterated that we for sure need to stop swaddling once Lilly can roll over in the swaddle because then it becomes dangerous. I don't see that being an issue as I have been trying to get the child to roll over again ever since she did it for the first time last week, but she won't. So, we decided we will order a bigger swaddle and give it a week to see how it goes. If the little escape artist still wiggles her way out of the next size up, we'll sleep train without the swaddle. Side Note: Why am I always worried that writing about how good she is at eating, sleeping, being happy, etc. will jinx me?
Feeding: Clearly there are no problems here. She is eating around every three hours during the day still. Sometimes she'll go four hours, but it's only if she's napping when the three-hour mark hits. I asked the doctor if this was normal, and she said absolutely. She told us that since Lilly is sleeping for a minimum of 10 hours/night, it makes total sense for her to eat every three hours during the day - really, if you think about it, if she wakes up at 7:30 and eats every three hours, she's eating 5 times in a day. Lilly is still nursing like a champ. Over the past few days, she's fought me on it a couple of times. I'm hoping this is just due to the fact that her tummy was really upset (as evidenced by complete and utter blowouts both times, ugh). Other than that, I'm thankful that she is OK switching back and forth between bottle and b00b so easily. In other news, the doctor gave us the OK to start on solids, so we're going to try rice cereal this week. She told us, which I found interesting, not to put the rice cereal in Lilly's bottle - she said if it doesn't come from the breast, it shouldn't go in the bottle. She said to try the rice cereal mixed with breast milk and to feed Lilly with a spoon. If she can't quite get the hang of it, she told us to give it a week and try again, that Lilly will let us know when she's ready. If all goes well with rice cereal, we can introduce a few other things - avocados, sweet potatoes, bananas - shortly after. I mentioned that I'd like to make Lilly's baby food (I am not saying I will never feed her baby food out of a jar, just that I have a food processor and some empty jars and a freezer and figured, why not?), so she gave me some good resources for that which I'll blog about in a later post.
Firsts This Month: First bachelorette party! She also rolled over for the first time - I know, I still need to post that video. She sat up in a seat for the first time without help (she's had good head control and has been able to sit propped up against something for a while, but this month marked the first time we tried out her seats and she does really well in them!). First time staying with a nanny. She was also baptized, which I guess can be considered a first. First time swimming, which she LOVED. I know I say it every month, but I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot.
Developments: Lilly has been smiling at us for a while now, but I feel like in the past month she's really given smiles a lot more freely. The same goes for giggles - we're starting to hear belly laughs pretty often now, and it's the best sound in the whole world. She has excellent head control now, and wants to be sitting up looking around and taking everything in (nosey girl!) instead of laying down when she's being held. She is starting to "stand" some when being held, but not a whole lot - I'm not sure whether it's because her legs can't hold up that buddha belly or what. :-) She is really exploring her hands and figuring out how they work, and testing her depth perception. She's gone from "batting" at her toys to actually reaching for them and picking them up - she immediately tries to put everything in her mouth, of course. Sometimes she is surprised when she pulls her hand back and the toy is in it - it's pretty cute. I am also still wondering if we're going to have a thumb sucker - more and more I catch her putting her thumb - not her whole fist, which she also sometimes does - but specifically her thumb, into her mouth:
Likes: Bath time, eating, cuddling, stroller rides, being worn in the baby k'tan, singing and music, dancing, talking, cooing, giggling, her swing, her piano gym play mat, tummy time on the boppy, being outside, toys, books, the sunshine (unless it's shining in her face in the car seat), Layla, watching the ceiling fan, people watching, bumbo seat, swimming.
Dislikes: Being cold or hungry. Or overtired/over-stimulated. Oh and getting dressed - specifically anything that has to go over her head. Being lotioned up after bath time - same goes for putting on sunscreen. HATES it. Also being bored.
What I'm Thankful For: My sweet little family! I am so overwhelmed with love for Dan, Layla and Lilly every day. Who knew my heart had room for even MORE love? I also don't think I say enough how thankful I am to have a wonderful and very hands-on husband. He never hesitates to help out around the house and with Lilly. He cooks, he cleans, he does yard work, he takes care of Layla, and he is SO good with Lilly - even with her dirty diapers!
What I'm Looking Forward To: My little sister is getting MARRIED next month! Lord, I feel old.
Next Pediatrician Appointment: Lilly's 6-month check-up on July 24 (I think).
How Mommy's Doing: Wonderful. I am still trying to find a good morning routine, but something tells me it will never be perfect. I am still struggling again with my new body and the way it looks. Something tells me I will never be fully comfortable with it, but I need to get a move on into getting back into shape - I don't know where I'll find the time but I know it will only get harder!
I've just realized that I never blogged about Lilly's baptism, so I'll add that to the list of posts for this week along with a picture post for the weekend (would take too long to upload all of them tonight), the rolling over video, and the "making your own baby food" post. Lots to do! For now, I shall leave you with a few shots from Lilly's "I'm 4 months old and SUPER cute" photo shoot. I love how
Hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend. I am thankful for those who have fought and continue to fight for my freedoms!
Sarah
PS - Don't forget to vote! :-)
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