4 Month Checkup!

Ok. I am know I am waaaayyyy late on this, but the holidays were just so hectic and then the computer broke...you get the idea. Anyway, Emily had her 4 month check up on 12/23/08. Poor baby got another 4 shots! :( She weighed 15lbs (80th percentile), was 24 7/8" long (50th percentile) and her head circumference was 17 (93rd percentile). She really has a big noggin! Overall, Dr. Pappalardo said she was pretty healthy but that he was a little concerned that she was gaining too much weight. Now I know I am not the one with the M.D. here, but 15lbs just does not seem like that much to me - especially since she weigh 8lbs 5oz when she was born! According to Tiffany (my personal RN and BFF :) babies are actually supposed to triple their birth weight by 6 months, so if that is true, it seems to me like she is right on schedule! Oh, well. The Dr can have his opinion, but I am going to continue to do what I feel in my heart is right for my baby.

Emily had her first cereal on 12/24/08! She really liked it! Now she opens up for the "choo-choo" almost everytime!

We still have not been able to celebrate her rolling over for the first time... I guess she will do it when she is good and ready, but I am just so anxious for her to meet all of her baby milestones on time! I think if she would lay on her stomach at all, she might roll over sooner but she absolutely HATES IT! As soon as you lay her on her tummy, she starts whimpering.

I know that some people say that the first three months are the hardest, but for us they actually were easier than now. I have no idea why, but Emily just seems to fuss all the time. Not really crying but just whining. I am trying really hard to be patient, but sometimes it is really difficult. The constant whimpering sometimes grates on my nerves...especially when NOTHING seems to calm her. Oh, well...I hope it is just a phase!

Christmas and New Year's happenings, along with pics, will be coming soon...be sure to check back!

1st Thanksgiving and 1st Christmas Pics

Emily has officially celebrated her first Turkey Day! Really, I don't think she could have cared less except she did have her first taste of mac and cheese, scalloped apples and mashed potatoes, much to her Daddy's dismay. I believe he thinks that giving her anything but formula will destroy her digestive system forever! Oh, well - at least he does think of such things!

I was looking at Emily's newborn pictures the other day and I just really cannot believe how much she has already grown. She is holding her head up very well now and she is still trying to roll over. She manages to get over onto her side, but just can't seem to get all the way over. We are pretty much in the same spot as we were a month ago in terms of sleeping. Ideally, I would like her to sleep at least until about 7am, but so far we have only managed to make it to 5am. Kerry had been waking her every night at around 11pm to give her a bottle in the hopes that she would sleep longer, but tonight I think we are going to try something different. We gave her a bath at 7pm and a bottle at 7:30pm and now she is sound asleep in her crib. I think we are going to skip the 11pm feeding and see how long she can make it. I know 7:30pm seems pretty early to put her to bed, but she is honestly so exhausted we can't keep her up much longer than that. Well, I guess we could but we would have one SERIOUSLY cranky baby on our hands! So, we'll see how it goes tonight. Besides, I read somewhere the other day that waking a baby to eat really disrupts their internal sleep schedules. I also read that around 3 months is a really good time to start trying to nail down a bedtime routine since babies are pretty flexible now and should fall into the routine pretty easily.

We took Emily to see Santa on Saturday and she sat on his lap like a little angel (see the pic) but she did spit-up on him. Oh, well. I guess he gets that all the time. We also went to get our family picture and her Christmas pics done on Sunday and she really decided to show her butt! She would only smile in one of them and kept trying to eat the bow on her dress in all the others. Even though it was a hassle, I am sure I will be glad to have all those memories when she is all grown up. Everyone tells you that they grow up so fast, but it is really hard to remember that when she is screaming bloody murder or crying for a bottle at 4am. But, I am trying to savor every moment with her. Sometimes I am still kind of in shock at the thought that I am someone's mother. I have this little human being that is totally dependant upon her Daddy and I to take care of all her needs. That thought is sometimes a little scary, but every night I just pray to the Lord to help make me the very best mother I can be.