4 Months

My baby girl is 4 months old. Geezum peetes. As for the stats - she's a giant at 15lbs 7oz, 25 1/2 inches long. She was in the 90th percentile in all of her measurements.

I think this may have been my worst month ever for blog posts, but to be honest the only time I have to sit and type is when Kaycie's asleep, and for the past month I've spent every minute of her nap time face first on the nearest horizontal surface.

This hasn't been the easiest four weeks. I learned the term "4th Month Sleep Regression" recently. My sweet girl who slept 10-12 hours a night from weeks 6 - 12 has slowly deteriorated her sleep habits until she wakes up approximately every 2-3 hours and then wants to play for a couple of hours. At 1am. Oh I don't think so. I miss those six blissful weeks of sleep. This past weekend I had to call in reinforcements. My sweet mother-in-law came and took care of Kaycie for a few hours so I could go crash. Greg was sick and I hadn't slept more than a couple of hours in a row in two days. It was bad. Her 30 minute naps are now one and half to two hours. If I wake her up early she just wants to nap again sooner. She's about to make her mama coo coo for cocoa puffs. Thankfully the past two nights have been muuuuch better. And today she developed an ear infection so that she screams every time I lay her down for any reason. Somebody shoot me.

BUT, in good news, I suspect part of the problem this past weekend was a growth spurt, because by Sunday she could wear all those 3-6 month clothes that were too big last Friday. I'm doing the happy dance and half a dozen loads of laundry to refill her closet with new cuteness.

We made our first sick visit to the doc this month. I was afraid she had caught the ickies I had the week before. When I talked to the nurse she was afraid she'd caught RSV. Turns out she caught her daddy's DNA. My poor sweet girl is suffering from seasonal allergies and is already on her first decongestant (which keeps her from going to sleep well) and now has the previously mentioned ear infection. I went ahead and bought an automatic nasal aspirator. Seemed like a good investment.

Kaycie is such a big girl now that she has an aversion to sitting. She wants to stand. I broke out the play saucer this week to give my poor arms a break from holding her up. And my legs a break from being stomped on. She's got some powerful little legs, and they can't be still. She seems to love the saucer, especially if I put other toys within reach that she can pick up and lick.

In a really, really, really bad development this month, Kaycie has developed a serious issue with people. And by people I mostly mean her grandparents. She'll give both grandma's bad face if they try to hold her, but she'll get over it usually in a few minutes. The grandpa's haven't had it so easy. She's terrified of both of them. She can look at them from across the room and start crying. The only way they can hold her is if she's facing outward so that she can't see who has her. It's killing them both. Doc said she has never seen stranger anxiety this early before and the best medicine is more exposure to the people freaking her out. She has to grow out of this soon. She has to. I can live without sleeping for a while, but I can't live with her being afraid of grandparents!

She's also becoming a lot more cognitive. Her hands are fascinating to her, and she will stare at them in amazement. She looks for her daddy when he leaves the room. She'll watch the pup when he's roaming around. The baby that lives in the mirror is endlessly entertaining for her, and it follows her from room to room and even to grandparents' houses. She'll play by herself on her play mat or in her crib for half an hour or more now, just looking at things or licking her feet.

Did I mention she likes to lick things? Anything within reach get slimed. I swear her tongue spends more time out of her mouth than in it. Just a warning to anybody who might want to pick her up...

The next month should be fun. BFF Lauren will be here in a couple of weeks to spend some quality time with us. Or rather, with Kaycie, because I'm pretty sure I don't matter anymore! Hopefully Kaycie'll get to meet her new baby cousin who is getting stronger every day and should be going home from the NICU in a few weeks. April will bring even more adventure, as she makes her first beach trip AND attends her first wedding, all in the same week!

Preview

I survived the ebola.

So did Kaycie.

And Greg is 95% through his recovery as well.

Yes, it hit our entire household and last week was really pretty crappy. Thankfully this week is looking better. I'm planning a 4 month Kaycie update later this week, probably after her doc appointment on Wednesday, but here's a preview:

In the meantime, I gotta go do the 1,352 things on my list of things to get done while she's napping. Or, you know, go stand outside in shorts and a t-shirt and soak up some springy goodness. 'Cause I can't lie to you, I've missed it. A lot. I need warmth to live.

Ebola

My BFF Sharonda and I used to joke every time we got the sniffles that we had ebola.

I got the ebola.

Woke up with a sore throat and sniffles. Hoping it's short lived, but fear it's just an early symptom. It's the first time since I left my job at UMC that I've really gotten sick. I'm used to having to make the decision whether to stay home from work or not. Now I have to decide how to take care of an infant without breathing on her. Thankfully Greg has already taken Friday off from work, but we have hair appointments scheduled. This wouldn't be an issue if it didn't require a trip to Vicksburg.

Meanwhile, I've spent my day playing Yahtzee on Pogo instead of doing laundry, sorting Kaycie's new clothes into bins and running errands. My child isn't happy with the lack of personal attention she is receiving, which is too bad because the last thing I want is for her to be sick.

I'm about to break my own rule and park her in front of the TV. She is entertained enough if I talk to her from a distance, but that just makes my throat hurt worse. Blah. I plan on drugging myself tonight and hoping I feel better in the morning.

The Great Clothes Conundrum

One of the reasons I hate clothes shopping is because I've always been hard to fit. I always seem to be a size in between. Regular pants are too long, petites are too short. If I try to buy a suit the top will be too big, the bottoms too small.

I never realized that these issues began as infants.

Kaycie has long outgrown her 0-3 month outfits. She's been mostly wearing Carters 3 month clothes, but even those are getting too small. I noticed she couldn't stretch out her legs in her 3 month footies today. So I started digging through her 3-6 month clothes. They are all huge on her. The onesies hang down to her knees. The footies are nearly 2 inches too long in the crotch and the legs. I've pulled out almost everything and found maybe two things that she can wear, which aren't quite as too big as the rest. It's not that she doesn't have clothes, she has buckets of clothes. It's not that I need to go buy her clothes, there isn't an in between size to buy!

What I'm saying is that my child, who has a wardrobe 3 times as large as mine, will be mostly naked until she hits another growth spurt! Why can't somebody make 4 month old clothes?

3 Months

My little girl is three months old today.

Wow. She's gone from fitting the crook of my arm to spilling out when I hold her with both arms.

She's certainly more active. She's trying to be helpful and hold her own bottle, except that usually results in pushing it out of her mouth. She has also become very good at sucking her thumb while drinking her bottle. Again, not the most helpful situation, but a definite sign of talent. Very soon she will be introduced to a spoon and rice cereal. That should be entertaining. And messy.

She's laughing and smiling and babbling a lot. Especially if you play with her feet. She wakes up happy most every morning, after 10-12 hours of sleep. Yes, I know that's ridiculous for a 3 month old child, but the girl likes to sleep. At least at night. Naps are a different story, she'd rather skip those altogether, which tends to result in the appearance of Miss Fussybutt.

Her eyesight is developing quickly. She can see much further and more detail. I can tell because she's taken a lot more interest in the world around her, particularly the things on her nursery walls! She will stare at her flowers in amazement. She's also staying awake more while riding in the car, looking out the window at the scenery. She seems in awe of new places. Hope she keeps that up, as she will be taking her first beach vacation in April!

She doesn't like to snuggle so much anymore, unless she just woke up. She wants to be where she can see. She'd rather sit up in lap or stand up on those strong legs. Just don't expect her to lay on her tummy happily. Uh uh. She hates tummy time with a passion. I know she has strong back and neck muscles, as she will push off of me if I try to put her on my shoulder, but when I put her on her tummy she will just lay still and scream. I'm working on some incentives to make her more patient, but so far nothing's worked.

However, she's recently discovered toys. She likes cloth toys, especially if they make crinkle noises, that she can attack and eat, but she's showing a little interest in her Pooh bear as well. I'm gradually introducing her to new things, but her favorite toy is still her hands, which she likes to chew on, and my fingers, which she also likes to chew on. Second place would definitely be her Leo the Lion, which crinkles and she can chew on. See a theme here?

Finally, one thing that hasn't really changed is her interest in people. She absolutely loves it when her grandparents visit. She made friends with Lauren when she was here before Christmas, and I'm sure will be super excited to see her again next month. She can usually be passed around without much fuss. She had fun at her first Superbowl party, where she met her little cousin Mackenzie and lots of Greg's family. I suspect her first words may be "Who Dat." She didn't do as well at Addyson's birthday party, but we're going to consider that a fluke. Overall she doesn't seem to care who's holding her, as long as she has their full attention and they are willing to have a conversation with her!

She's growing so much. I can't imagine what the next three months will bring.