Hi Everyone,
This is very stream-of-consciousness so I apologize in advance.
So Friday was Charlotte's four month appointment. She's growing very consistently. Her doctor was very pleased with her growth and tickled by her smiles and laughs.
Weight: 15 lbs 10.3 oz - 87%
Height: 27 inches - 100% (still off the charts and around the size of a 7 - 8 month old)
Head Circumference: 16.73 inches - around the 86th percentile - can't quite remember and don't really care?
I discussed with Charlotte's doctor that she eats a lot at daycare -- sometimes as much as 20 oz -- but still wakes up hungry at night. As a result, we got the go ahead to introduce solids. We're going to start with rice cereal and once she gets the hang of eating, we'll move on to pureed fruits and vegetables. So we'll start that as soon as we A) get my boss's son's highchair, B) get a splat mat, and C) get some baby spoons. We are SO not prepared.
Charlotte also got her four month shots. The Pediatric Injection Clinic was packed on Friday because of parents and children trying to get the HlN1 vaccine. Luckily, as Charlotte was there to get shots other than the flu shot, we didn't have to wait in line at all! And as Charlotte is too young to get the flu shot, I got it at the same time. Score! Charlotte handled the shots much better this time. She screamed for a couple minutes, and was all smiles shortly thereafter.
During her exam, Charlotte was constantly rolling over on to her tummy and then back again. Her doctor was quite impressed and said that if she wanted to, Charlotte could roll across the entire room that way! Ack! Mobility! Time to start baby-proofing our house.
Speaking of rolling over.... So we've been swaddling Charlotte at night since birth. She takes the swaddling as a cue that it's bedtime and goes to sleep pretty easily. It's worked great for us until now. Now, because she's rolling over constantly (mainly from back to belly), this is presenting a problem. We're trying to wean her from the swaddling, but it's not going very well. For one thing, it's a lot easier to roll over when your legs and arms are free. As a result, we have to go up multiple times to flip her onto her back. Last night she woke up at 12:45 and then again at 5:45, and both times we found her on her stomach. The thing is, she hasn't gotten the memo that she can just flip herself to her back when she's tired of being on her tummy. Instead, she starts crying because she's so frustrated. Oh joy!
We have a great video of Charlotte rolling over onto her stomach three times in succession, so I'll have to share it here as soon as I get a chance to upload it.
Finally, we had a really nice weekend! On Saturday, we headed to San Francisco to visit with our friends Nancy and Eric, who just moved there. It was an absolutely beautiful day -- sunny and warm -- and we walked all over the Noe Valley neighborhood. Two city blocks were blocked off for a Harvest Festival complete with face painting, pumpkin decorating, and a Halloween pet costume contest. The winner was an adorable little dog dressed up like Frida Kahlo -- she even had the iconic uni-brow! Charlotte had fun until about the end when she had a major meltdown because she was so tired. We hightailed it out of there and she slept all the way back to Sacramento.
I hope everyone had a great weekend! Next weekend, Charlotte's first Halloween!
We relied on swaddling to get our son to sleep, as well. I didn't realize that I would need to stop when he could roll over, but he was almost 6 months old and still needed swaddling to sleep and I said "enough" and went cold-turkey with no swaddle. It was easier b/c I'm a SAHM and could just be really consistent at all naps and bedtime. But I didn't even realize how important it was to stop swaddling when the babies can roll over, because they can flip face down, then not be able to roll back over if their arms/legs are wrapped up. I do think it's okay to leave her on her belly if that's how she "lands" when she's sleeping. If you keep going in to flip her, she will probably come to rely on that, and it will be another habit you have to break (like the swaddle).
ReplyDeleteIsn't it great that just when you've got them all figured out, they go and change on you? Keeps you on your toes! Good luck with the solid foods, that is very exciting! Did you get the H1N1 vaccine or the regular flu vaccine? I can't wait to see that video.
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