Sweet Landry - This month has been quite a blur with Mommy starting her new job, but nonetheless, we have been delighted by you on a daily basis. You give Daddy and I such a fun reason to come home everyday and we are so thankful for you. You are becoming more and more fun every single day. Here are some FOUR month facts. You:
Weigh 10 pounds, 15 ounces (3rd percentile) :S
Are in the 50th percentile for head circumference (16 cm)
Are 23 1/4 inches long (10th percentile)
Are still wearing Size 1 diapers - starting to get more snug
Eat 3-5 ounces every 3-5 hours (on average)
The only sure time you sleep is after daycare from about 4-7 pm
Usually go to bed at 11 and wake around 6:30 (+/- a 3-4 am waking)
Love to look at yourself in the mirror
Are becoming a ham in the bath - kicking and splashing while giggling
Smile most at whoever is around you most that week
Are starting to grab things more deliberately
Love to nap with your Daddy
Are incredibly hot-blooded like your Mommy
Occasionally sleep with eyes half open like Grandpa Lennie
Still do not roll over
Got your 1st haircut at exactly 4 months old
Still sleep in your carseat in our room (I know, I KNOW!)
Have such a fun, smiley personality
Do not like to be laid down and left alone
Absolutely LOVE your bath, and getting your hair washed
Love to shop with Mommy
Are still wearing lots of your newborn clothes (what?!)
At your 4 month checkup, we talked a lot about the possibility of getting you a helmet to help with the flat spot on the back of your head. I truly do not think that it is that bad, but after seeing several kids on rotations with very bad problems I am extra conscientious about it and have had lots of anxiety about it, because I do know that you have a little bit of one (due to your preference to always looking to your right). The pediatrician said that you were in the middle of absolutely not needing one and definitely needing one, so it was difficult to know what to do. You don't have an odd shaped face or offset ears as some kids do with bad plagiocephaly, but it is definitely there. We might look into it and see what it is going to entail. I really do not want it to get worse but at the same time I don't want to put you through more than we need to. We also are going to start rice cereal before bedtime to see if that will help tie you over a little longer during the night. We will see how that goes?! You had a vaccine drink (which you gulped right down and seemed to love) and 2 shots, and you cried for just a little bit and as soon as I picked you up you were over it and smiling at us in the mirror. One tough cookie, you are.
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4 month checkup -
Breaking the scale, you're so big! :) |
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Quick pic with Mommy after your shots.
Such a tough girl! |
I am finally understanding that no matter how much I deny that I am just like any other typical first time mom, I am still one of them. We haven't been keeping you in the carseat in our bedroom because we weren't ready to move you to her room, but instead reasoning it in my head that you needed to be sleeping in your carseat to try to keep pressure off of the back of your head and to help your reflux...and well, it was just as easy to keep you in our room. Apparently I am just in denial and I'm ready to stop being ridiculous and move you to your room. It wasn't until my friends made me promise them after a night out that we moved from sleeping on the couch in the living room for the first month and a half after LA was born to our bed that we actually did it (and I got 2 texts from Tiff and Ascha the next morning confirming that I didn't break my promise...how's that for accountability?), and now the girls at work are providing accountability for me in moving you to your crib in your bedroom. All that to say, girlfriend needs to start getting in some sort of routine for sleep and it's high time to do it. I am ready. Now I just have to convince Daddy that he is ready, too. (He was the one that was most reluctant to move out of the living room after she was born!).
Someone told me after LA was born that babies are "too little to manipulate you," so I took that and ran with it, and haven't been too worried about you taking advantage of all of the loves and cuddles that you get in the middle of the night when you so much as grunts and we pick you up. I am now beginning to see where the problem lies. You have us trained. But Mama's going to turn the tables around and we are going to start some sleep training. This waking up at 3 or 4 am and not going back to sleep for sometimes 2-3 hours is getting kind of old. Not that I don't enjoy that time, but I don't want to be creating a monster for the future. Plus, everyone knows that when mama's happy everyone's happy. We are restarting the Prilosec for reflux that we stopped about a month and a half ago and give that a week to kick in and then we are going to start sleep training. That way we don't have to worry about you being in pain as a reason for crying when we try the whole "cry it out" thing.
Lots of bath pictures...girl does love her bath. Couldn't resist putting several of them up.
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I'm not normally a fan of names on the walls of nurseries, but
I found these letters and couldn't pass them up. Only took us 3.5
months to get them up, but I couldn't be happier with how they turned out! |
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| Just napping with Mommy. |
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| On our way to the bath! |
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She's going to be mad again, but too cute to not put on here.
I love watching these 2 cuddle. |
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Woke up at 5:00 am one morning to Daddy carrying you naked
needing help cleaning up an early morning mess. He was changing
a diaper and you farted right as he was grabbing the diaper and
the next thing he knew there was poop EVERYWHERE.
You ruined pretty much everything in your path (including a pair of jams
that we threw away, 10+ diapers, basket) and got all the way to the
bookshelf and on the carpet in between. That right there, is impressive! |
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| Pre-bath kisses. |
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| One of Mommy's favorite pictures. |
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| Just bein' a ham! We call this one The Einstein. |
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Aunt Roo drove all the way down to hang out with you for a day when
daycare was closed. I left you two like this, and came home to you
two like this. You can't get enough of her rubbing your
face and cuddling with you on the couch.
One whimper and you get to stay on the couch all night with her.
They say babies aren't manipulative...but I think you've got Roo figured out. |
Over maternity leave in early January, I received a call from a PA at Sutton Ryan Dermatology (my dream job...check out our website!--www.suttonryan.com) informing me of an upcoming position who told me to submit my CV as soon as possible. So I did, and long story short, after 3 interviews I was offered the job. I had been praying about this very opportunity for 2 years and to even have been considered for an interview there was a honor that I wasn't expecting. Looking back, I am just amazed at how things worked out. Right after graduation, I was offered a job at an allergy clinic here in town and ultimately ended up declining the offer because it just didn't "feel right." Shortly after I interviewed and was offered the job at the medical spa and took the job because it was at least some experience in aesthetics which I had hoped would ultimately help me get a job in dermatology someday knowing that it was a means to an end. The practice that I was at was not a good place for many reasons so the timing of when things happened was just perfect (although I would have liked to not have to go back to Omaha after maternity leave at all, but 2 weeks was tolerable). Throughout the months that I was worked at the medical spa, I was offered a couple different jobs but declined those as well because they "just didn't feel right." They would have been much safer in that they would have been in Lincoln, a guaranteed salary at a set amount, hopefully much better hours and less weekends, and working for respectable providers at respectable practices...but I really did not want to be job hopping and therefore didn't want to just make a career switch because something was "safe" and available sooner than later, much to Dan's dismay. I remember at least 2 different occasions telling him that he "just needed to trust me on this one." We rarely disagree on big things, but we did have a couple disagreements when I just wasn't ready to make a switch. I didn't know what I was holding out for, but I did know that I had been continuously been praying about it and seeking God's direction and trusted with all my heart that I would know what was right when it came along. Many, many trips to Omaha were spent praying that God's will be done, whatever that may be. Never in my life have I trusted God more and sought his guidance in a big decision, and felt at such peace about it. What I didn't know was that he was doing big things and answering my prayers in His perfect timing.
So, after all of that, on March 4 I began the first day of the rest of my life. I could not be happier and am so lucky to have been given the opportunity to join such a respected, well-known practice and to have physicians who are willing to pour thousands of dollars and precious time to mentor me. I have been studying for a couple hours most nights after work and on weekends so it hasn't left much free time because I soak up the rest with hubby and babe. Every.single.day that I work I am thankful for what I have been given, for the hours that I work, that I don't have any weekends, holidays or call, that I only have a 20 minute drive to work, that I get to do what I love and work with some of the most amazing people that I've ever met, and most importantly that I get to spend the evenings with my family. These things I will never take for granted. God is so, so good!
I did not get around to getting your 3 month pictures taken, so I am hoping to get your 4 month pictures taken very shortly. I'm thinking that 4, 8 and 12 months might be better anyway since maybe you'll be doing just a little bit more at each of them at that interval.
It has been such a blessing to have you in our lives and to get to watch you grow and discover new things everyday. Daddy and I were talking yesterday about how much we both look forward to getting off work and coming home to see you. I can hardly drive home fast enough. Thank you for being you, Sweet Girl. We love you!
