4 Month Doctor Appointment

Marissa had her 4 month old checkup today. She got an A+ again! Hooray!
We had our 5 shots and 1 oral vaccine...today she only cried for about a minute. She was sort of "talking" to me during her crying and it seemed like her feelings were hurt more than anything...it was sort of cute and sad at the same time. But she rebounded quickly, thankfully!!
She now weighs 13 lbs 6 oz and her length is 24.5. She has been following the growth curve perfectly...Dr. Fleming said she is "textbook" as far as the growth curve is concerned. She's 50th percentile for both height and weight, and 75th for her head measurement (I guess she has a big head in proportion to the rest of her...hehehehe).

We can start introducing "solids" at any point, whenever we're ready. And I put "solids" in quotation marks because there's nothing solid about it...it's more "liquidy mush" than "solid."First comes rice cereal, then oatmeal/barley, then yellow/orange veggies, etc...Doc advised that I introduce fruits later so she doesn't develop a preference for the sweet stuff right off the bat.

None of this food at this point is actually supposed to fill in as a meal (she'll still nurse/drink formula like she was before); the point is actually to get her used to different textures, tastes, swallowing, etc.

As soon as I told Matt about this development he immediately turned his thoughts to how much grosser her diapers are going to get.

So let's see...what else is going on with Marissa?
1. She has found her thumb. A couple days ago she figured out how to get her thumb into her mouth and since then she LOVES it and will suck on it frequently throughout the day...mainly when she's tired -- it helps her go to sleep so that's awesome.

2. She's sleeping 11 hours at night now...I'm thinking she could almost do 12 because I have to wake her up in the morning. We might try an earlier bedtime soon. Doc said she should be sleeping 10 - 12 hours at night so she's right on target here.

3. I heard a real live laugh last weekend. She hasn't really done it since...of course she still smiles a TON and does some small laugh-ish type sounds, but this laugh last Sunday was a true belly laugh, giggle. It was so fun to hear...hopefully she'll start doing this more.

4. She's trying to flip over...still working on it, but hasn't done it yet. Doc said this usually happens between 4-6 months. She is definitely getting noticeably stronger, it's so incredible how quickly they change. She now frequently pulls her legs up and rolls to her side. She also grabs her feet when she's on her back. And she has mastered grabbing things (and putting them in her mouth). Mommy had to stop wearing necklaces...she also likes to grab my hair...

5. They LOVE her at daycare (of course they do!). They can't get over what a good baby she is...RARELY fusses. I can't help but be proud even though I know this has nothing to do with me...it's just her demeanor. We got lucky! :-)

6. Colds, nasal congestion: The kid always has crap in her nose...however, the doctor examined her and said her ears look great, and her chest sounds great...so it's just the infamous "infant nasal congestion." It's too early for allergies...the doctor said that her cellular structure is too immature at this point to really have that type of allergy.

Anyway, clean bill of health and exciting stuff going on with her development. She'll be fun to watch over the next several months!

Matt's first Father's Day is this weekend...really cool. I'll do a post in celebration of that...but in the meantime, it's a cool memory for me because last year we found out we were pregnant on Father's Day weekend. So one year ago we found out we were being blessed with Marissa...it's weird to think of how much has happened in just one year!!