4 months!

Where has the last 4 months gone? Lily has really grown up a lot in the past four months and seems to be changing in leaps and bounds especially recently (as I'm sure all parents say). She had her 4-month well baby visit with her pediatrician yesterday. She's a star and an over-achiever just like we thought. This marks the end of my maternity leave unfortunately. So Monday will be Lily's first day at day care. The good news is she'll have 2 baby friends (one the same age as her and one 2 months older) to be friends with and a couple slightly older kids. She loves watching other kids so we think she'll really like being there. Her day care provider is very much a grandmotherly type person and very affectionate so we are very comfortable with her watching Lily.

Lily's official stats from her pediatrician:
weight - 15 lbs 15 oz (90th percentile)
height - 27 inches (over 97th percentile - off the charts!)
head circumference - 42 cm (75th-90th percentile)

Lily had 4 more immunizations. Basically just the 2nd doses that she already received at her 2 month appointment. She cried, of course, but she was consoled pretty easily and then just nursed until her doctor came back. As soon as he walked in the room she was too distracted to keep eating. She loves her doctor and thought his exam was play time.

A few updates in bullets:
-Wears size 3 diapers (switched to Seventh Generation diapers - fragrance and chlorine-free).
-Wears some 3-6 month clothes but is transitioning to 6-9/6-12 month things right now.
-Loves to roll from back to belly.
-Spends a lot of time on her belly before she gets frustrated.
-Occasionally rolls from belly to back.
- Loves to try and crawl. She can get her knees up under herself but it still a ways off from getting up on all fours. She's trying to army crawl though.
-Really good at moving in a circle on her back.
-Can scoot on her back.
-Talks A LOT. Working on inflection and tone all the time. Likes to shriek and gurgle. Is the loudest when she's really happy, especially after she's just woken up.
-Working really hard on sitting up. Does NOT like to recline at all. She prefers to be upright or flat on her back. She has been able to sit up for a couple seconds on her own before tipping over. She can sit up well with minimal assistance.
-Has sat in a highchair at a restaurant but still needs some extra back support.
-Very interested in food and what everyone is eating and drinking.
-Took a sip out of a regular water bottle. She didn't like that the water was cold and spit it out. She wanted to try it again though. She loved touching the cold water bottle.
-Loves in to interact with toys. Her favorite toys are ones that make noise. She likes toys that talk back (like her Lily frog that counts and her Elmo hand puppet that says a few phrases) and she also likes toys that crinkle (like her cloth bugs that have plastic inside the fabric of their wings).
-Takes 2 naps (around 9 AM & 1 PM) and sleeps for a total of 4 hours each day.
-Goes to bed for the night between 7:30 & 8 PM and gets up at 7:30 AM. Gets up 3-4 times each night to eat.
-Sleeps and naps in her crib all of the time unless mommy falls back asleep at night and then she might spend the last 2 hours in bed with us.
-No longer needs to be swaddled to go to sleep.
-Has developed an affection for a sarong/wrap of mommy's that we've been using as a cover while breastfeeding outside the house. The past couple days she has gone to sleep much quicker at night and for her naps if she has this in her hands and I rub it on her cheek a couple times. We think this is going to be her lovey. Thankfully the fabric is very thin so we aren't as worried about it being a suffocation risk. We do make sure she doesn't pull it up over her face in her sleep and when I go to sleep I take it away from her (carefully without waking her).
-Loves faces. Loves touching noses, lips, eyes, etc.
-Likes being read too. Looks at the page and words. Looks at us reading to her. Likes to try and hold the book and turn pages.
-Still 100% breastfed. We'll probably start solids a week or two before her 6-month visit with her pediatrician.
-Went to story time for babies at the library for the first time on September 2nd. She loved watching the other kids and listening to the stories and songs.
-When she's upset she says "Mmmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm."
-Sucks her bottom lip to soothe herself and just in general.
-Sucks her whole fist, both fists at the same time, or her first two fingers. Shoves everything in her mouth.

How Lily is developing:

Beginning to understand the role of language
Researchers believe that your baby can now understand all the basic sounds that make up his native language. Between this time and 6 months of age, your baby will develop the ability to make some vocal sounds, which means you may hear the words you've been dreaming about, namely "ma-ma" or "da-da." While child development experts say it's too early for your baby to connect those sounds with you and your partner, that won't make hearing them any less exciting.

You can encourage your baby's attempts at communication by mirroring or imitating his expressions and sounds. He may try to imitate you now, too. Say "baa" and he may try to say it back.

Reacting when your baby makes noises or tries to say something will help your baby learn the importance of language. It'll also help him better understand cause and effect. It's great for his self-esteem, too. He'll begin to realize that what he says makes a difference.

Expand on what your baby says and try to give it meaning. For example, you can say, "Yes, that is a ball!" Soon, his "ba" will become "ball."

Time for solid food?
For the first four to six months of life, your baby gets all the nutrients he needs from breast milk or formula. Still, parents are often eager to start their babies on solid food.

It's true that your baby's digestive tract is more developed now and his tongue-thrust reflex is starting to fade, so it seems a logical time to start feeding him some solids, such as pureed baby food or cereal. But there are good reasons to wait, too.

Starting solids later may cut down on possible allergic reactions, and ensures that breast milk or formula won't get crowded out of your baby's diet. And if you're hoping that eating solids will help your baby sleep through the night, studies have shown that you can't count on that happening.

A few highlights since our last post:

The debate over when to start solids continues. If you're unsure about when to introduce them to your baby, talk to his doctor.

She's so happy right after she wakes up from a good nap!

We didn't quite make it home for naptime. She just needed her pacifier and had to hold onto her butterfly to go to sleep.

OMG! Already texting!?!

Reaching over to get her toy off the ground and turning on the vibrate on her bouncer. Good thing mommy strapped the seat belt!

Taking a walk to the grocery store in her new big-girl stroller. She loves it and mommy loves it because it's 11 pounds compared to the 29 pound behemoth that mommy was lugging around.

Swinging at one of the apartment playgrounds. We like it a lot. And we like seeing all the other kids.


She knows what her pacifier is and where it's supposed to go. Her arms just can't quite get it there yet. Yes, you can hear me in the background saying "ooohhhh" because I think she's so cute but still trying to hide out of her view.


Swinging and trying to grab the camera.