Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Father's Day Pictures (4 months)

Matt was out of town two weekends ago on a fishing trip. While he was gone that Saturday, Mrs. Becky and I drove down to Tallahassee for the morning so that Matt's cousin, Gentry, could take some father's day pictures of Lorelai to surprise Matt with. Gentry did a great job and here are some of the ones that turned out good:

Strawberry Girl

When Lorelai was born, we looked her over for a birth mark. Matt does not have one, but I have a decent sized one on my back (probably 4x5 at least). We never saw anything, so we assumed she didn't have one. When she was about 2 weeks old, we noticed a little red abrasion on her collar bone. It looked just like she had been pinched hard enough to raise some blood to the surface. We figured that we had somehow just pinched her in her car seat. Well, it never went away. In fact, it continued to grow! By her 1 month appointment, it was a fair size. We asked Dr. Megow to check it out and it turns out that it is a capillary hemangioma.

Here is the definition from wikipedia.com: A capillary hemangioma (also known as an "Infantile hemangioma," and "Strawberry hemangioma") appears as a raised, red, lumpy area of flesh anywhere on the body, though 83% occur on the head or neck area. The mark usually appears between one and four weeks after birth. It may grow rapidly, before stopping and slowly fading. Some are gone by the age of 2 , about 60% by 5 years, and 90–95% by 9 years. Capillary hemangiomas occur 5 times more often in female infants than in males, and mostly in Caucasian populations. Additionally, low birthweight infants have a 26% chance of developing a hemangioma. While this birthmark may be alarming in appearance, physicians generally counsel that it be left to disappear on its own, unless it is in the way of vision or blocking the nostrils. This picture is the one from wikipedia, NOT from Lorelai:


This is exactly what Dr. Megow told us (in not so scientific terms). She said that it would probably continue to grow for the next month or so and then, eventually, it would start to turn silver and fade from the inside out. At about 2-3 months it stopped growing and at her 4 month appointment, Dr. Megow said that she is starting to be able to see some silver in it.




It does not bother me or Matt one bit. I think that it just makes her more beautiful than she already is. We call it her "Strawberry" and I jokingly tell her that she is so beautiful that God gave her an extra little decoration. As weird as it sounds, I'm trying to actually enjoy it. I know that it will not be around forever (it will probably be gone by the time that she is 2), so I want to cherish it as it is a part of her "baby phase".

It is funny because people are just now noticing it for the first time. She is at church usually 3 times a week and because it is summer, she is usually wearing some kind of top that shows it. It doesn't bother me at all and I just praise God that it isn't on her face! Even though it would still go away if it was there, I wouldn't want her to look at her baby pictures down the road and only notice that. And I'm also glad that I don't have to deal with strange stares from strangers. At least with where it is at, it is hardly noticable.


On another note, she actually does have a permanant birthmark on the back of her neck. It is called a "stork bite". It is right at the base of her hair line and it is just a couple of little red splotches. These, however, won't go away. They are hardly noticable and one her hair grows, no one will se it at all. Even when we pull her hair up.

What a unique little girl we have!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Water Baby

After Laura left to go back to Atlanta on Sunday, Matt and I decided that we would put Lorelai in the pool for the first time since we were already at Mom's. I had looked for a bathing suit for LL for probably a month, but I couldn't find one small enough. They were all 6 months +. Mom went to Atlanta a couple of weeks ago and FINALLY found one small enough for her at a Target up there. Then, mom and I were shopping last week and we bought her a little starfish float to go in the pool. It was finally time to test all of this stuff out! I think that LL did really well! She was a little confused, but she never fussed and we even saw her kicking her little legs in the water some! Afterwards, we had to give her a bath to wash all of the chlorine off and she was such a tired little girl! She was sleeping almost immediately and had a great long nap. Here is our little water baby:

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Shower for Meatball

My sister, Laura, is currently pregnant with her first child. She's due in early August and she's having a boy. She knew that we had a hard time with the "You're naming her what?" when we told people that we had picked out Lorelai as the name for our daughter. That being said, she has decided that she and Gino (her husband) aren't going to tell anybody the name until after he is born. This also gives them the opportunity to have a couple of names in mind and to pick the one that they think suits him best once he's gotten here and they've seen him. We have to call him something and since Gino claims strong Italian heritage, we all call him Meatball. This weekend was Laura's shower for Meatball!




Mommy to be!

She lives in Lawrenceville (near Atlanta) so she made the drive down Friday night. I was super-excited for her to see LL because she hadn't seen her since she was about two months old. She has changed so much since then!


Cupcake cake



We had Laura's shower at Two Friends Cafe and we had a really good turn out! There were only about 11 people there (not bad considering that Laura doesn't live here!) and she got so much stuff that I could hardly believe it! She got in one shower the amount that I got in two of mine. I was so excited for her because she got about half of the stuff on her registry and she still has one more shower to go! I can tell you one thing, Meatball is going to be the best dressed little boy in Lawrenceville!


Me, Laura, and Mrs. Connie

Me, Mom, and Laura



I miss Laura already (and I know she already misses Lorelai), but Matt and I are planning to take a little two day trip up there in about 3 weeks so that Uncle Gino can see LL a little bit before Meatball gets here. When we went up there in April, Gino was super-sick (we actually had to cut our trip a little short!), so he really hasn't seen her since she's been born! I think the shower went AWESOME, I hope Laura had a good time, and now I'm just ready to meet Meatball!

This is the first diaper cake that I have ever made. I think I did a pretty good job!

1st Fathers Day!

Exactly a year ago today, we announced to the church that we were pregnant! I remember that I was almost 6 weeks along (I would be the following Tuesday). How far we have come in a year! From being 6 weeks pregnant to having a 4 1/2 month old! We've had an awesome day to celebrate today. This morning, Matt got up to go to church early just like always. Luckily, Laura (my sister) stayed with us last night because she was in town for her baby shower (blog post to follow shortly) so I had lots of help getting ready this morning! The three of us got to hang out this morning and when I left for church at 10:30, Laura left to go spend time with the parents. At church Matt and I got a great present - LL slept through church so we finally got to enjoy a service together! Usually she gets fussy right when the preaching starts, so one of us has to take her out. Today she was so tired from playing with Aunt Laura that she slept through the whole thing!






After church, we headed to my mom's to meet up with Laura and have lunch. Laura left after lunch and then we had another first - Lorelai's first time in the pool (Again, another blog post to follow). After the pool, we got a bath to wash off the chlorine and then took a LONG nap.


Finally, we headed home and we've just spent the evening hanging out as a family. We did gifts with Matt the other night because we new we'd have a crazy weekend with Laura's shower and Father's Day and I wanted us to be able to take our time with that. Lorelai got her daddy a new wallet and I got Matt some cologne. Our theory was he could smell good for Mommy and spend his money on Lorelai. :) We also had some pictures of Lorelai taken in Tallahassee last weekend, so we got Matt and surprise collage of 9 of those pictures to hang in his office at the church. He was surprised because they were pictures that he had never seen before. All in all, a great day!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Rolly Polly Part 2!

Two days after LL's 4 month check-up, she decided to reach another milestone - - - rolling from her tummy to her back! I was at my mom's house and we laid her on the floor to change her diaper. After we changed it, she rolled to her tummy. Well, we were talking so we just left her there and we looked down and she just all of a sudden plopped over onto her back! It was so cute and she was so proud of herself! She did it non-stop for about two days and now the little stinker won't roll AT ALL! It's like she's figured out that she can, so she's not interested in it anymore! I think she's also in a heavy part of teething, so I think that is playing into her overall attitude. She's not talking as much, not moving around as much, not rolling as much. All she wants to do is chew on her hands! Here's a video of the little stinker rolling over...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOdnC7uiwpk


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Thursday, June 11, 2009

4 Month Well-Baby Check-Up

Today was Lorelai's 4 month well-baby check-up with Dr. Megow. It was scheduled for 1:45 and I asked Matt's mom to go with me because Matt would still be a work. I definitely didn't want to go by myself because it was a shot visit and I did NOT want to go through that by myself! 1:45 is the first appointment that they make after lunch, so we got back to a room very quickly. The first thing that they do is take all of LL's measurements. Here's what she looked like today and how it compares with her 2 month check-up.



4 months
weight - 13 lb 12 oz (50%)
length - 24 1/2 in (54%)
head circumference - 16 in. (36%)
2 months
weight - 11 lb 7 oz (62%)
length - 23 in (69%)
head circumference - 15 in (31%)
Difference
weight + 2 lb 5 oz (-12%)
length + 1 1/2 in (-15%)
head circumference +1 in (+5%)
What all of this means is that she's growing, just not drastically. Which is good. She's not one of those babies that weighs 22 lbs at 4 months. She has gained in numbers for all three areas, but she has lost in percentiles for all three areas. Gaining or losing in percentiles is fine, as long as it does not change dramatically. For instance, it is fine that she has moved from 62% to 50% in her weight. What would not have been good would have been for her to go from either, lets say 62% to 30% or 62% to 85%. Those are both drastic changes and not what the doctors look for.


Here are all of the questions that I asked and the answers that I got:

1- Congestion. Since her 2 month appt (really, her whole life), this kid gets congested! She has to sleep with a humidifier every night and I have to suck out her nose twice a day or else she snorts like a pig. I asked if this was normal/okay/etc. What she said is that as long as it is not accompanied by fever, irritability, etc. that it is probably just an allergy and to keep doing what we're doing.

2- Sunscreen. We don't put her in the sun a lot, but I have been wanting to put sunscreen on her when we do go out. But the problem is that all sunscreen (even the stuff for the babies) says do not use under 6 months. I wanted to see if I could be using it anyway. She said not to because her little skin isn't really strong enough to handle it. Just to make sure that she's not out in the sun for long periods of time, to keep her covered, etc. She said I can start using it at 6 months, but to just test it in a small area to make sure that she doesn't have a reaction to it.

3- Swimming. I've been wanting to put LL in my mom's pool with me, but I didn't know how the chlorine would effect her. She said it was fine to put her in for short periods of time, just to make sure to give her a bath when she gets out.

4- Flat spot. I've noticed that LL has a very small flat spot right on the back of her head. Dr. Megow said this is fine and should go away on it's own as she starts to move around more (which she is already doing).

5- Cereal. I have been so anxious to start LL on cereal. It's just one of those steps towards being a "big girl" and I have been looking forward to it! I really thought that LL was ready because she's been getting tired of her formula. She chews on the nipple half the time and it takes me an hour sometimes to get 4 oz a feeding into her because she just seems so uninterested in it. I thought FOR SURE that she was just ready for something else. Boy was my bubble busted! Dr. Megow said that because she is only eating 4 oz at every feeding (sometimes 6, but not very often) that she didn't want her to start cereal yet. She said that she also didn't want her to start cereal yet because, even though her percentage drops are perfectly normal, she doesn't want them to start dropping more. How she explained it is that, before babies are 6 months old, they should be getting all of their nutritional value from the milk (formula or breast) that they drink. Cereal does not add anything to a baby's diet but more iron. If I were to put LL on cereal, it would decrease some of her formula intake, but it would add almost no calories from her cereal. She would, essentially, be losing a feeding. She said that cereal at 4 months is good for babies that are eating 8 oz at every feeding and still acting hungry. So basically we are going to hold off on the cereal until one of two things: 1- she starts eating 8 oz at every feeding. Then I can start it on my own. 2- She hits 6 months. At 6 months she needs to start replacing some of her formula intake with solids. I'm kinda bummed, but I understand and I want to do what is best for her. She also said that LL is probably chewing on her bottle because she is teething. Great.

6- Swaddling. I am still swaddling LL and it is really the only way that she'll sleep. If you lay her down in her crib un-swaddled, she will not sleep at all. Sometimes you can get a 30 minute nap out of her that way, but not often. I've been wanting to faze her out of this, but I haven't really known how. Dr. Megow said I can just quit cold-turkey and let her CIO (cry-it-out) a few times until she gets the hang of it, OR we can just keep swaddling her until she decides herself that she doesn't like it anymore. I think we'll go with option number 2.

7- Eye color. I know that there is no possible way that Dr. Megow can tell me for sure, but I wanted to know her opinion on if LL's eyes would stay blue or not. She said that, obviously, she couldn't tell me for sure, but that they probably will. She said that most of the time, if they were going to change, they would have done so by now. Yay! Matt and I would obviously be happy with whatever color her eyes turn out to be, but we would really like them to stay blue!


After all of this, she got her shots. She didn't do as bad as she did last time. She didn't even make a noise for the first one, whimpered for the second one, and cried for the 3rd and 4th ones. This is compared to last time where she screamed hysterically for all of them. Next check-up: 6 months!

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Rolly Polly

Yesterday, little miss decided to reach another milestone...rolling over! Right after I posted on her 4 month birthday about how she was SO CLOSE, she decided to do it the day after! Just like I predicted, she rolls from her back to her stomach. And every time she rolls, she rolls to her left side. It's funny because she's not a big fan of being on her tummy, so once she rolls she's happy for a little bit, but then she gets really made because she's on her tummy. I'll roll her back to her back and she will immediately flip again. Every time you put her on her back now, she flips!



Here's a video of our little girl in action! It's a little bumpy, but I'll get better as I figure out our new camera...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5fhoNeC6FI

Friday, June 5, 2009

4 Months Old

We are already at 4 months! My little baby is getting so big! I'm amazed at how babies learn to do so much in such a short amount of time. Matt and I sang "Happy Birthday" first thing for us and she got so excited that she yakked on me. Ah, the joys of being a mom. These are a few pictures of her this morning (her official 4 month birthday):






Here are the major things that have happened this month:
1 - Legs up! Lorelai has learned that she can move her legs up close to her hands and now she does it allll the time. I must say, it is convenient for diaper changes and it is just as cute as can be. She hasn't grabbed her feet yet, but I think it's coming soon.

2- She puts everything in her mouth! We have now reached that stage. If she can get hold of it, the first place that it is going is her mouth. Luckily, she's still not mobile, so the only things that she can get to are the things we put around her. That means that she's not putting anything in her mouth that she shouldn't be.


3- Yelling. This little girl is finding her voice! She has now discovered that she can yell (well, it's more like a shout) without being upset. She will be perfectly happy and just let out a little yell. If you aren't in the room, you can't really tell if she's happy or upset, but if you're with her, you can tell that she's happy. It really is pretty funny.


4- Almost rolling over. Let me put emphasis on almost. I really think that she could do it if she WANTED to. The thing is, she HATES tummy time. Obviously, we make her do it anyway, but she absolutely hates it. We have started putting her on her surfboard for tummy time lately and she is liking that better. What is really funny is that the times that she has come the closest to rolling over, it has been from her back to her stomach. Usually, babies roll from the stomachs to their backs first. I don't know. She might just decide to skip this step all together.

5- Talking. This little girl talks non-stop now! She will even wake up in the middle of her nap, talk to her mobile, and then go back to sleep. It is absolutely adorable and I love it. I think she's going to be a motor-mouth just like her mommy.

6- Head control. Her head control is SO much better than it was even just last week. It seems like it gets tons stronger every day! It is so good now that we can actually put her in her Bumbo for extended periods of time. Actually, I found that she loves to sit on the kitchen counter with me while I do stuff in there. *note - I stay right in front of her so there is no possible way for her to injure herself!



7 - Laughing because stuff is funny. When she first started laughing, it was only if we tickled her. Now, she's starting to laugh when she thinks you are being funny. It's really cute and usually sends me into hysterics, as well. Then the whole thing just turns into one big laughing fest.
**Her eyes are still blue. Here's fingers crossed that they will stay that way!