Four Month Update

Four months. Back in February, June seemed like lightyears away, and now it has arrived. Our sweet Baby Tuna turned four months old yesterday, and I just can't believe it! (Technically, she was sixteen weeks old last week, but yesterday was her birthday, so I'm not really sure how all of that works, but, whatever.)

Weight: one ounce shy of 14 pounds
Height: 23 1/4 inches...still considered "short" for her age. I have a sneaking suspicion she will eventually catch up. (wink, wink)
Sizes: Our little squirt is still wearing size 0-3 months in most items, though some of her footie pjs have been retired. Most of her pants and shorts are 3-6 month size to cover those long legs and to get the most wear for our buck, but they are a bit big in the waist. She is such a skinny-mini!

Loves: Drooling, stretching, Sesame Street, "chewing" on pretty much everything (including fist-fulls of mommy's hair - bizarre), zerberts (like a raspberry) on her belly and the bottoms of her feet, and she's still in love with Woobie, and his counterpart, Woofie.

Baby Tuna and Woofie watching Sesame Street. Totally entranced!

Bath time is still a big favorite for our little miss. She gets a super focused look on her face and we know she is about to start the kicking and splashing. She wants to start sitting up on her own so badly, she does what we call her "crunches" in the whale tub as she tries to sit herself up. It's actually quite helpful during shampooing.

Our little chatterbox has gone through a bit of an evolution in her vocal stylings. She still coos and babbles, but there is now a full range of squeals and screeches, some of which are quite piercing. The more ear-busting, the more pleased she seems.

Strawberry sunglasses...obvi.
(Found in the dollar bins at Target, in case you're lookin' for some too.)

Hates: Being in the car when it's hot, but who doesn't? She's also not a huge fan of getting dressed. It's actually the part when the onesie or t-shirt is put on. I have a feeling it's related to her dislike of being restrained. That moment when her arm is kind of trapped before it gets pulled through the sleeve...that's where she loses it. 9 times out of 10.

Diet: I am so happy to say that our little lady is 100% formula fed. After all that we went through with breastfeeding (read more about it here), it's such a relief for me to know that I can eat whatever I need to eat and I don't have to worry about how it'll effect the babe. (Call me selfish, but my diet has improved so much. Haven't had a pb & j in weeks!). Through the transition, we had her on Similac Sensitive, but once she was on full formula, we noticed that her gas issues were still kind of bad. Now she's on Enfamil Gentlease and things are better.  She's still tooty, especially at night, but is generally much happier. We have considered trying the Gerber sensitive, the Hubs even picked up a can, just to see if it will make any difference. We like that it doesn't have corn syrup in it, and if it will help me get a full night's sleep, I'm all for it.

As for how much she eats, well, that's where things get complicated. She should be eating more formula less often, but apparently Z didn't get the memo on that. She prefers to do what I call "grazing." Sometimes she'll eat 5 ounces, sometimes only 2. And this is every two hours. We've wasted a ton of formula (and $$) on this kid's crazy eating habits. The doctor said we needed to just push her meals farther apart, even if she wasn't happy about it. So far it's kind of working, though she can get pretty grouchy if she wants a snack. I just try to keep her busy until meal time. I'm hoping it will work itself out soon.

I was surprised that the doctor didn't mention introducing rice cereal or oatmeal, and we both forgot to ask. It seems that most kids start all that at 4 months, before beginning purees. I'm not even sure when she should start with purees. I guess I need to start researching. :O)

Sleep: We seem to be hitting more of a regular pattern now that she's on formula. A nice morning nap, about an hour long (gives me time to squeeze in a workout and shower), then a couple of 30-45 minute catnaps, an afternoon nap that lasts about an hour or two, and another catnap in the late afternoon. Usually. Sometimes she sleeps more, sometimes she's what another baby blogger calls the "No Nap Ninja." (I love that phrase and we've decided to adopt it as our own since it is soo fitting.)

Z goes down for the night around 8pm every night and will sleep very peacefully until about 4am. A nice 8 hour stretch. (There was a week or two when she was sleeping eleven hours straight. We hope those days come back soon!) I feed her as quietly as possible so she doesn't wake up all the way. After that, she's back to sleep, but super restless until 7:30am. It's the gas that's got her twisting and jumping all over the place in her pack n play. Drives me bananas cuz, with all her moaning and grunting, I keep thinking she's awake, which keeps me awake. The doctor said that we should just move her to her crib, but with the monitor, I'm still gonna hear her and wonder if she's waking up.

She won't sleep in her crib anyways. I've been trying to put her in there for one or two naps a day, but she either wakes up the minute I put her down, or just a few minutes later. I usually give up and just put her in the swing. We're hoping that after her surgery, we can start fresh.

Milestones: 
Rolling Over: Two months ago, Baby Tuna started rolling from her belly to her back. Ahead of the curve with this, yes, but she did it at almost every tummy time, without assistance. She hasn't done it in weeks. Totally forgot all about it. Is that normal? Who knows. Now she is rolling from back to belly. She spends most of her time in a funny in-between position, but she can roll all the way when she wants to. She's actually started sleeping in that position (on her side with her back arched) which kind of freaks us out. You know, SIDS and all.

That's not a strange stain on the bootie of her romper. It's the flower print on her diaper peeking through. 

Reaching and Grabbing: This kid will grab at anything...blankets, clothing (her own and those worn by others), toys, even the curtains behind her changing pad. And 99% of what she grabs is pulled directly to her mouth. (Incidentally, our pediatrician has announced that the teething process has begun. No chompers yet, but with all the drooling and gnawing...you see where I'm going with this.) The only thing that doesn't make it into Z's mouth is the dog. She's started reaching out for Scout, who immediately starts licking Z's little hand. Only once has the babe grabbed Scout's lip, which was hilarious. Wish I had a pic of that!

Bottle Holding: Well, almost. She can get her hands into position, she can even hold the bottle and bring it to her mouth, but she hasn't figured out that it must be tipped for her to get any milk out of it. She does enjoy yanking the bottle out of her mouth in the middle of a feeding, which is super fun for whoever is feeding her, or grabbing at the bottom of the bottle and tipping it up or pulling it down. Again, super fun.

Sitting Up: Again, sort of. She can do what I call a "gorilla sit." She sits up properly (when we place her on her butt, she can't get there by herself yet) for about ten seconds, then leans forward onto her fists...like a gorilla.

My baby gorilla.

Swimming: Not really. We have a beautiful pool in our backyard, but with the babe in our lives now, we don't get many chances to use it. So we decided to suit up the bambino and put her in the whale tub so she could splash till her heart's content without worrying about soaking down the kitchen. It took her some time to figure out what was going on...why was she wearing a bathing suit in the bath tub? Why were we outside? Once she figured things out, she had some fun, but we had to cut it all short thanks to the mosquitos. We will definitely be doing it again!

Terry bucket hat - Gap
Swimsuit - Old Navy

Toe Grabbing: Someone discovered her feet the other day!

Father's Day:

We had such a nice, low-key Father's Day. The Hubs got to sleep in, since he rarely ever gets that anymore, then he made some yummy chocolate chip waffles. We spent the day hanging out as a family, ran a few errands, and I made Father's Day s'mores cupcakes (recipe). They were delish!

As his first Father's Day gift, Z and I made a little plaster handprint, which was an adventure in itself. The next step is to put it in a shadowbox frame for display. The Hubs was so timid (and a little afraid of breaking Baby Tuna) in the beginning, but now he has become the most amazing daddy!

Now, last year on Father's Day, I thought it would be cool for the Hubs to find out he was going to be a daddy, so I took the first in a series of inconclusive pregnancy tests. We couldn't tell if it was positive or negative, but, as it turns out, we were indeed expecting. And a year later...

Medical Update: Baby Tuna's surgery (if you're new to the blog, you can read more here) is scheduled for next Tuesday (the 25th). We've been told that it will last about 4 hours, the longest 4 hours of our lives, I'm sure. She will be sedated and kept flat (due to the location of the incision - just above her tush) for two or three days, and kept for observation another two or three days. I'll be spending most of my time at the hospital (I don't want her to wake up without the Hubs or me there) and will have my laptop, so I plan to blog out some updates. I know a lot of you have been following Z's progress, and we have really appreciated all of the support.

I know some of you have been through very similar experiences with your babes. Any advice or suggestions as to how to get through it, words of wisdom, what to bring, or how to pass the time, would be much appreciated. Leave a comment, email, or send one of us a private message. I'm someone who likes to know exactly what to expect, so I'd love to hear from you.

As I've said before, please say a prayer, light a candle, rub a crystal, wish upon a star...whatever your beliefs, just keep sending positive energy Z's way.