Four Month Appointment!

We went to the pediatricians for Emily's 4 month check-up this morning. Dr. Tull said that everything looked really good with her and that we were doing a wonderful job. She looked happy and healthy!

She got all of her measurements done and her height is 23 and 3/4 inches (30th percentile). Her weight is 13 lbs. 1 oz. (45th percentile). And her head measured 16 and 1/4 inches (50th percentile). Her weight gain was very good this month which is good to off set the bad weight gain she had last month.

She is still on the monitor, for those of you that I know are wondering about this.

We don't go back again until the end of October. I will be very anxious to know her new measurement by then.

We went to the park after her appointment was over to take advantage of the cooler weather today. Well, the not blazing so hot that I sweat just from opening my front door weather. It was overcast and breezy so it made for a pleasant enough day. We strolled around Crump Park and then found a nice spot under a tree to rest and snack and read. We spend about two hours there today and it was wonderful just to be spending some time outside!

(This picture was taken at the park today. She was smiling right when I hit the button on my phone to take the picture and by the time it snapped this is the face I got. Still cute though.)

So Many Changes

I don't think I have mentioned that Emily actually rolled over when we were at the beach a few weeks ago. I didn't get to see it, but my mom and Nate did. More than once!

I was in another room from the rest of them and they had her on her tummy. She apparently rolled over 5 different times. By the time I got to the room she wouldn't do it anymore. Nate has seen her do it since then, but this little milestone seems to still elude me. It's like she just doesn't want me to see her do it.

She has also laughed out loud. She has been smiling and doing something that is supposed to be a laugh (but really isn't) and then out of the blue early last week she just up and laughed. I mean a big, loud, ha ha funny laugh. All we were doing was eating dinner. She was watching us and she started laughing. Neither of us were looking at her and we weren't sure she had done it. We kinda giggled a bit because she was still smiling and she laughed again. Which in turn made us laugh, which made her laugh more, and so on. This laughing episode lasted for a few minutes. She hasn't done it again since then, but she has come really close on a couple of different occasions. I can't wait til she does it again!

I also love my little hugs. They aren't really hugs, but I like pretending that they are. When I pick her up, sometimes one arm ends up on one side of my neck and one arm ends up on the other. Right now she is in a stages where anything that ends up between her hands or arms ends up being pulled to her chest or mouth. So this is what she does to my neck. I love it though! It always makes me smile.

Her 4 month doctors appointment is tomorrow so I will have new information to share!

Visiting with Bridget!!

Last week was my long overdue reunion with my very good friend from college, Bridget. I was so happy to see her again and to meet her son, Michael, as well as have her meet Emily. It was a very happy time for me. Of course, having the kiddos around all of the time made it stressful as well.

On Tuesday morning Chloe, Bridget, and I meet up at Maymont so that Emma (Chloe's daughter) could see the animals at the petting zoo and to show Bridget around. We went in the morning to try to avoid some of the heat, but it was still hot!! We basically made it through the petting zoo part and then found a nice shade tree to park it under. We stayed there until we left around noon (when Emily started crying very loudly because she was tired) so unfortunately B did not see much of the park. It was still a good time though.

On Wednesday, we meet up again at Short Pump Town Center for lunch and a stroll. This time accompanied by Melissa, who came up to see all of the little ones! It was another hot day, but at least we were eating inside. After lunch we strolled around and let the little ones play in the fountain.

I wish she could have been here longer, but am already looking forward to our next visit and I am so happy that she got to meet Emily!!

Emily's First Beach Vacation

We went to Cape Charles for a few days at the end of July and had a very relaxing time. Well most of it was relaxing, but that is another story. Anyway, Emily did really well at the beach. We put her feet in the sand and she seemed memorized by the feel of it. We sat with her in the water and she kicked at it and seemed very content. It was perfect because the beach is what I call a "little beach." I call it this because there really aren't waves being that the beach is on the bay side of the Eastern Shore. Mom was with us and Matt and Lauren came up for a day. We strolled around town a bit and now Mom is set on finding a place of her own in the town. She is in love with it as a vacation spot. She is determined that Emily is going to be a beach girl like we are, and that is ok by me!

3 Months Old! I Can't Believe It!!

I just can't believe how much she is changing everyday. Sometimes I want her to stay just like she is. I am loving every minute of it and I don't want her to change too quickly. But, some days I can't wait for the next thing that she learns to do.

Yesterday, we went for Emily's 3 month check-up at the pediatricians. Everything was good except for her weight. Her height was almost 23 1/2 inches so she grew 1.75 inches since last months. This is a big difference from the previous month when she only grew half an inch. It places her about 50th percentile for growth. Her head is 50th too where it has been all along. Her weight was the biggest difference this month. She weighed 11 lbs. and 9 ozs. Last month she weighed in at 11 lbs. and 5 ozs. so she has only gained 4 ozs. We were hoping for at least a pound and a half. So she went from 75th percentile in weight last month to 40th this month. She is eating enough throughout the day so she should be gaining more than that. Her reflux has not abated any and we think this is the cause for her slow weight gain this month. We are going to try a different reflux medicine and we have to try and feed her an extra bottle each day. Not a full bottle, but a little extra at the end of the day to try and get a little more into her. We will see how her weight is at the next appointment. Lets hope these changes work!

Other than that she is great. The Pediatrician is happy with everything else and says she looks good.

Changes for this month... she is smiling and laughing a lot, she holds her own head up all the time, pulls her head up when laying down and looks around, pulls her body into a sitting position with her torso (although she can't hold it there :), has almost rolled over, sleeps from 9 pm til 6:30 am without waking up (well she wakes up at about 3:30 but just wants her binky and then goes back to sleep), and her apnea monitor has not gone off while she was sleeping for almost 4 weeks now. Her reflux is still bad though, as I already mentioned, and still makes her gasp and choke so we still have to keep a close eye on her.

All and all it's been a good month and I can't wait to see the changes she goes through in the month to come!!

Colonial Williamsburg

We took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg yesterday. It was a much needed outing and we really enjoyed it. I had to stop the car a bunch of times on the way there and on the way back but we made it.

She really enjoyed being outside and it was a beautiful day to be out. It has been so hot lately that the 85 or so degree weather felt so nice. We meet my Dad and Annie for dinner at Food for Thought and Emily actually let me eat!

On the way home we had a little bit of a scare though. She started choking. It had been 3.5 to 4 hours since she had eaten and should have been fine, but she was choking. I slammed on the brakes and pulled to the side of the road. (Luckily we were on Route 60 instead of Interstate 64.) I got around the car to her in time to see clear liquid squirt out of her mouth and nose. Nothing has ever come out of her nose before and nothing coming out of her has ever been clear. She was still choking so I got her out of her car seat and had to hit her on the back to clear out her throat. Then she started screaming. The episode seemed to have hurt her throat or nose or both. It took a while to calm her back down, but she was ok.

When we got home the bib she was wearing was soaked through and the onesie underneath was very wet as well. I was very glad to be home. We had had a good time but not a good car ride.

Taking Trips

So, in the past two weeks we have been out of town twice with Emily. It has been interesting to say the least. Before Emily, we could get away with one bag for Nate and I combined and then a small bag for Bailey's food and her bowls. Not any more.

On June 25th and 26th we went to Madison County to go to a friend's wedding and see Nate's family. It took us half the day to pack up the bags and the car. Not only did we have our ONE bag and the small bag for Bailey, we had like 4 for Emily. One was for her apnea monitor, another for her bottles and breast pump and such, a third was a big diaper bag that had her clothes, diapers, blankets, burp clothes, etc. in it, and a fourth that was technically a smaller diaper bag for me to carry around once we got there. Oh, and we had to bring the wedge and sling that she sleeps on.

Even with all of that stuff we still had a lot of room in our little Honda Fit. Bailey was very happy with her new travel accommodations. She had always had the entire back seat (which is not but so big) in one of our two door cars before, but in the Fit we laid down one side of the back seat and she had tons of room, our stuff had plenty of room, and Emily was nice and content on her side of the car.

We had a good time at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, but neither of us slept much the night that we were there.

For the 4th of July Emily and I went to Portsmouth to see my mom. Nate had to drive us to Williamsburg to meet my mom and then Emily and I rode the rest of the way with her (because of her apnea). The first night, I only got about 3 hours of sleep. The second, I had to sleep with my hand hanging inside her bassinet and holding her pacifier in her mouth because that was the only way I could get her to stay asleep. She sleeps much better at home in her own bed.

None the less we had good times both weekends and have learned that we need to start packing about 3 days in advance if we want to get out of the door on time. :)