5 months old

We don't have another doctor appointment until her 6 month check up. So we are not sure how much she weighs these days (but she feels heavier when we pick her up out of the crib).


Here are some of Kaitlin's MILESTONES this month:
- Rolls from back to stomach (and most of the time gets stuck)
- Holds the bottle and tries to put it back in her mouth (needs help getting it back in most of the time)
- Does a push up to her hands and is trying so hard to crawl
- Started cereal and other solids
- Found out she's ticklish
- Still pulling out the paci and trying to put it back in (isn't successful though)
- Making progress towards sitting unsupported
- Does a 180 in her crib some nights
- Laughs when you play peek-a-boo
- Overall more alert and tracks sounds better
- Prefers standing over sitting
- Wearing mostly 3-6 month clothes (can still fit into some 0-3 month items)
- Wearing size 2 diapers


SLEEP:
- Some (rare) nights she will go down at 7pm, wake up once between 1-3 am and wake up for the morning between 6:30-7:30am
- Most nights she wakes up 3-4x per night
- Naps 2-3x per day
- Sleeps with a little doll which has to be touching her face
- Most mornings greets you with a smile when you come to get her

what is this thing?

This past weekend we headed to Racine to celebrate Grandma

and Aunt Kelly's birthdays. Kaitlin was checking out Gavin's toy

dinosaur (which moved and made noises). She wasn't quite

sure what do think of it.

i love tacos

If anyone knows me well, they know that I love Mexican food. We received this bib as a gift for Kaitlin and it was perfect! And since Kaitlin isn't quite ready for Mexican she had to settle for rice cereal. We tried cereal again last week and she has been eating it 1-2x per day.

Here she is a before picture.

I meant to take an "after" picture before I cleaned her up but I forgot. So here's a video of her eating. You can see she really got into it (and got a little messy).

long ride home

Bryan is headed out of town this morning for work. When Yellow Cab didn't show up, we had to pack Kaitlin up and drive daddy to O'Hare. When I pulled into our driveway this is what I found in the backseat. She fell asleep holding her toy that is attached to her car seat.

Let's hope that Kaitlin is good for mommy all week. Bryan doesn't come back until Friday night. Then we have a packed weekend next weekend with family.

our irish cutie

She loves to stand!

holding her own

Kaitlin has decided she wants to be more independent by holding her own bottle. She still doesn't have a handle on it all the time, nor can she put it in her mouth by herself but it's a start!

rice cereal

On Tuesday we decided to give Kaitlin some rice cereal to see how she did. She ate about 4-5 spoonfuls and really tasted each bite. I think we will wait a few more weeks before we try the cereal again. Before we know it she'll be eating solids!

4 months old

Yesterday Kaitlin was 4 months. Time is flying by and she's getting so big.

Here are some of Kaitlin's MILESTONES this month:
- Sits up well with support
- Plays well independently
- Talks to her toys
- Is making new "words"
- Loves to stand (when assisted of course)
- Pulls the pacifier out with her hand (she's put it back in but it's been a fluke)
- Really enjoys her baths, kicking up a storm
- Looks around to see where a sound is coming from



STATS
We went to the doctor for her 4 month check up last Monday (2/22). She was 11 lbs 14 oz (19th percentile) and was 25 inches long (81st percentile). She's still a string bean, or we've also been calling her "our little peanut." She handled her shots like a champ (she cried for 30 seconds after but was fine once I picked her up).

SLEEPING & PACIFIER
She's still not sleeping great at night. She wakes up 2-4x per night (sometimes even 5x). With Bryan working late and me getting up almost every time to nurse, we are exhausted. The pediatrician said that we can try taking away the pacifier now (or at 1 year). But when I told her that she sometimes wakes looking for it, that we could try getting rid of it while she sleeps now.

We tried taking the paci away Saturday morning. I lasted for 1/2 the day (during her second nap that day). She was super tired and crabby. She wasn't really finding her hands to help self-soothe. I tried putting her hands to her mouth but she wasn't having it. I gave in and gave it to her. She was out almost immediately. So we're back to square one.

For napping we are still roughly following the 2 hour rule (awake no longer than 2 hours). We've almost transitioned out of the swaddle. We will be starting to put her in sleep sacks soon.

CLOTHES, DIAPERS & TOYS
I've put away all of her 0-3 pajamas and most of her 0-3 months clothes. She's still wearing a few 0-3 month items and some of the 3-6 month stuff is still too big.

We are finishing up our size 1 diapers, will use the box of size 1-2's and then start on size 2.

She has started to enjoy this little stuffed baby doll and her little bear lovie over the past week. I was hoping that one of those could help soothe her when we remove the paci (when ever that might be). This weekend we just starting putting her in the exersaucer and she loves it.

SOLIDS
The pediatrician said that most people start solids between 4-6 months. We should be looking for signs that Kaitlin is ready such has, interest in our food & still hungry after nursing. She already is sitting up well. And most nights we've been having her sit in her highchair while we eat our dinner. We picked up some rice cereal yesterday to have on hand for when she is ready. The doc did say that giving her cereal will not help her sleep longer at night (darn!).

And for now Kaitlin is mostly getting breast milk. The nanny will give her a little of formula (maybe 2 oz) during the day if she runs out of milk. I think I will try to get to 6 months of nursing and re-evaluate then.

On another note I asked Bryan if he would have any interest in making Kaitlin's baby food. We have a few friends that do it and it's something that I might want to do. I think we have a month or two before we need to decide.