Life with the Magic Number: This and That

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

This and That - Avery at 4 Months

Here is our adorable little munchkin at 4 months:

Stats:

Height: 25.5 inches (89%)

Weight: 16 lbs, 5 ounces (87%)

Head: 41.4 cm (74%)

What's there to say about Miss Avery? To know her is to love her, pretty much sums it up. But I'll get a little more particular:

Avery:

Sleep: Hmm...well... its difficult to describe this girl lately. She hasn't been on much of a routine and her naps aren't consistent in time or length. You just never know what you are going to get, except I know she will nap and she isn't crabby in between, so it could be worse. At night she has been falling asleep with her last feeding around 7:45 and sleeps until 6:30 or so in the morning (and several mornings she eats then and goes right back to sleep until 9 or so). She has been waking up 1-2 times at night, but just for a quick feed and then right back to bed, every so often. Frustrating, yes, but at least she isn't up wanting to party at all hours of the night. She is, however, a LOUD sleeper. The girl makes so much noise in her sleep. Sometimes I wake up, thinking she must be awake as much noise as she is making, and I look over and her eyes are closed. John comments all the time how loud she is. She snorts, grunts, wiggles, etc. We have to keep the monitor in our room, though because when she wakes up she doesn't cry out, or it takes awhile for her to get to that point. She will just hang out in there awake and babble. Which is great and all that I don't have to rush in the second her eyelids open like her brother expects, but when she's awake, we like playing with her! And for the record, she is still sleeping in our room. I am having a difficult time with the idea of moving her to her bed, as much as I would like to, because it is so close to Rudy's room and I don't want them waking each other up. Hopefully Avery gets back to sleeping all night and then I will be ready to try it, especially since she falls asleep for the night right before he does and usually wakes up right after he does.

Eats: Pretty much the same as sleep. She usually goes every 3-4 hours between feedings, but it ranges from day to day which hour of the day and in the late afternoons, early evenings, she sometimes wants to eat every 2 hours. Breastfeeding is starting to take its toll on me. I love the bond it has given Avery and I and all the good things it is doing for her, but it is getting difficult not being on any type of schedule, per se. And the more we want to do outside, its hard to nurse outdoors, obviously. My goal was to make it 5 months with breast milk from me, then a month of my stocked up supply as I wean her to formula, but I may start the weaning a tad early. We will see. She is still a spit-up machine. We always have to have a burp rag handy because she is guaranteed to spit up between just about every feeding. It isn't a ton or projectile or anything, but just enough. She is still on her reflux meds, too. We talked to the doc about it at her 4-month checkup and she switched her medicine to something "better" because she shouldn't be spitting up as much as she is.

Movement: Avery rolled over!! ...from her stomach to her back. Just a handful of times so far, but progress!! She is trying her hardest to roll over from her back to her stomach, but just isn't quite there yet. She gets so close, then rolls back to her back. She likes laying on her back under her play gym and talking to Mr. Octopus and wiggling around. She is a talker! She coo's and ahh's all the time if you talk to her and her smile is infectious. She has the biggest, prettiest smile with kissable cheeks. She knows no stranger and is happy to smile at just about anyone that will talk to her. She is pretty good at holding her head up on her own now and likes to hang out in her activity jumper. She is also very content in her rock 'n play where she spends her mornings when we have breakfast usually or when she is in the bathroom with me when I take a shower and rarely complains. She likes to "play" with toys more now, too. She will reach for objects, hold on to them, and usually she finds a way to get it to her mouth, too. She isn't a big fan of a pacey, but likes having it around to hold on to the stuffed animal part. And the girl can't get enough of chewing on her own hands.

"Oh, hey Mom! Were you right there this whole time??"

Rudy wanted to hold her hand while his show was on...Melt.My.Heart.

Physique: Avery is a beautifully round little peach :) She is in 6-12 month size clothes (baby sizes on clothes are so different, but generally speaking, I wouldn't buy anything 6 months or less anymore!) and size 3 diapers. She is losing some of her hair, mostly in the back of her head where she has developed a nice bald spot. Her eyes are still blue and her cheeks and baby rolls are the cutest things ever.

Personality: Avery is a happy little peanut and we love her to death for it. She loves to laugh and gets out a high-pitched chuckle when she's really happy. She is ticklish on her neck and tummy and I love, love, love seeing and hearing her smile and laugh. Besides what I mentioned previously, she loves attention and she is so entertained by those around her. When its just her and I at home, she's the most work. It's interesting how occupied she is by Rudy and John's antics. She lights up whenever Rudy comes around to talk to her, lay with her, or play with her and the same goes for Daddy.