We're moving!

In two ways!

We found a bigger place here in Wichita- it's a duplex, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, with a backyard (not fenced in, unfortunately) and a garage (!!!!!!!!!!!). We're signing the lease at the end of this week, and D-husband's parents are coming to help us move.

I also found a new site for us to post updates, photos and videos. It's called Shutterfly, and here's our link:

http://midwestlegers.shutterfly.com/

This site will still be up, of course, but I'll be posting there from now on! Sayonara :)

I'll have whatever you're having.

H-bear the drool-machine has been super interested in whatever we're eating or drinking, we recently gave her her first taste of rice cereal. She really seems to enjoy it, but still has trouble swallowing any of it. Babies have a very strong reflex to spit things out of their mouths, but eventually she will outgrow that. We've been working on it a little everyday.

The video of that first feeding will be posted soon. We took about 7 minutes of video, and you don't need to watch all of it so we're editting it down a bit.

Like I said, she's also been very curious about things we're drinking. I gave her a cup to play with, which she really enjoyed. Check out the tongue...

A few weeks ago she started rolling over from her tummy to her back. That was pretty easy, and she's gotten pretty quick with that.

She just recently started going from her back to her tummy. That took a little work. The arm kept getting in the way. For a few nights in a row, she woke us up crying and we found her rolled over part-way, and too tired and frustrated to go back to sleep on her own. Within a few days she got the hang of it, and now she is sleeping all night again, and most mornings we find her sleeping on her tummy.

She has come a long way recently in sitting up. She can sit up unassisted now for 20-30 seconds or so before she falls sideways or backward. As long as she has a toy or something in her hands to occupy her attention, she does pretty well.

I gave her a new toothbrush to play with the other day. I'm not sure if she liked it or not.

We bought her first shoes the other day! Two pairs, actually. Before she was born I always thought it would be pointless to buy baby shoes before they can walk. Well, having a baby changes your opinion on a lot of things...and they're so cute!

Not much else is new. She continues to surprise us with her strength and curiousity, and her ability to show preferences for certain things. We'll get that video up soon!

4-month measurements

Height: 25 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 14 lbs. 4 oz. (61st percentile)
Head circumference: 17.5 inches (99th percentile!!)

H-bear did very well, and showed Dr. Arensdorf how well she can hold up her head, and bear weight on her legs. Then she got her second round of shots, and didn't like them any better than the first. :(

We got the green light to try some rice cereal, but nothing else until she gets used to swallowing solid (or at least mushy) cereal. So no more peaches for awhile.

4 months and 3 days

H-bear was so cute this morning. I was in her room refilling the humidifier (she's not coughing anymore, but we're still using it as a preventitive measure) as quietly as I could, and she kind of halfway opened her eyes. I said, "Hello, H-bear! Good morning!" but then her eyes slowly drooped closed again and her mouth curved into a little smile, and she was asleep again.

I was thinking about the first few weeks of her life. When she couldn't do anything but eat and poop, and squint her eyes at the cold air and bright lights. She couldn't smile, or babble to us, or grab a toy and chew on it, or do any of the things that make up her little personality. She was a little stranger who needed every minute of our attention and love. Now she's starting to tell us her likes and dislikes, and show that she wants every bit of independence she can get. It's only been 4 months, but it feels like years. Yikes!

She can grab her feet while laying on her back now...and even get them into her mouth. It's pretty impressive!

She is not sitting up on her own yet, but I got out our high chair the other day, just for fun. She can sit in it by herself by holding onto the bars (with the tray removed). She seemed to like it. :)








We have been letting her sample a little of our food lately. Very carefully, of course. We hold onto it, and make sure she can't chew off little pieces or anything. The first few things, I think they were cucumber and watermelon, which she did not like at all! She gave them both a little lick, and just grimaced. Apple slices she liked a little better, but peaches were the big hit.

Unfortunately she also showed a lot of interest in D-husband's bottle of beer. She could just smell it from the the top of the bottle, and seemed very intrigued (and tried to eat the bottle).

Here are some other new pictures:

Sitting up in the Boppy pillow

Yes, they're baby sunglasses. :)

I tried to get a picture of her yawning, but I just got the very end of it. What a goofy face!

Big smile!

Warning: Sticky subject

There has been an abrupt change in H-bear's poop habits. She has gone from pooping two or three times per day to pooping every other day. We expected this as a normal part of her developement. Of course, the amount of poo every time she goes has increased significantly. WOW.

In my online wandering I found this remedy for diarrhea that I just wanted to keep for my own future reference:

The "BRATTY" Diet
Bananas
Rice
Applesauce
Toast
Tea
Yogurt

A few quick updates

H-bear has been changing in quite a few little ways lately...

She is very close to sitting up on her own. We sit her up in her Boppy pillow, and she can now hold up her upper body very well, and just bounces off the sides a little. She also leans forward from this position to look at her feet. She hasn't tried to grab them yet, but she definitely likes to look at them.

I think she really enjoys this, too, but recently she seems to like sitting in her pillow more than sitting in my lap or D-husband's. Whenever we hold her for too long, even with toys or something to entertain her, she whines and squirms until we put her in the pillow or on her tummy. She is so anxious to be mobile!

She is well on her way to crawling. When she's on her tummy she does a sort of "caterpillar crawl" by pulling her legs up under her and scooting her upper body forward. She can't do this while holding her head up though, so she doesn't go too fast. This photo is a little blurry, but you get the idea.

I'm pretty sure it's too early for her to be teething, but she has gotten more interested in putting anything and everything in her mouth. Number one favorite at the moment: mommy and daddy's fingers. Must taste better than her own, though she still loves her thumb. She likes to gnaw on her toys, too, but gets a little frustrated when they don't fit into her mouth.

She is becoming more vocal and making new noises, too. She babbles quite a bit now, especially during diaper changes. Just this morning, actually, she started trying out a new sound. She presses her lips together and says "mmm"...she's still doing it now, in fact! She's really close to laughing, too, which is very cute.

She also just had her first little cold (we think). Sometime last week she started coughing a little- a very dry, raspy cough. It wasn't very often, just a few times a day. We took her temperature evey few hours, and the highest it got was 99.5. She didn't have a runny nose or anything else to be worried about, but after the coughing lasted a few days we decided to call the doctor's office. We spoke with a nurse, who told us that a humidifier in her room should help, and to call back if she got worse, got a runny nose or fever, or refused to eat. We went out and bought a humidifier, but as luck would have it, she stopped coughing that day, so we haven't bothered to use it.

She is doing very well in her crib, sleeping 10 to 12 hours every night....which is wonderful! Still taking a few naps during the day, of course. She is always is such a great mood when she's well-rested. Mornings are the best time of day...she smiles so much!

Here's a few new pictures:

She obviously doesn't need us anymore. :(

Turn up your volume for this video...the audio is essential :)

Trip to LC, the cousins finally meet, and baptism!!

Our trip to Lake Charles this past weekend was great! What a whirlwind trip.

We arrived Friday night, and H-bear had a really rough time going to sleep. We figured it was a combination of getting up early that morning (to drop D-husband off at work), the two flights, and all the new people waiting at the house. She was pretty wound up, and not happy about it. :(

On Saturday, we had to wait patiently for H-bear and J's awake times to coincide...H-bear woke up just as J was taking her morning nap, and just as she woke up, H-bear decided it was time for hers! Finally they were awake at the same time. J is almost nine months old now, while H-bear is only about three, so the interaction was pretty one-sided. Still very cute to watch though.

We got Darrell's for lunch, and afterward at the house we spent the rest of the afternoon with visitors and family who stopped by. H-bear got a little overwhelmed at times by all the attention and new faces, but mostly she seemed to enjoy it. After Mr. Gatti's pizza for dinner, D-husband and I, and some friends, went to Lauberge casino. Had a great time, but stayed out a little too late.

Sunday afternoon we headed to church for the baptism! We still can't believe how well H-bear did...the whole time the deacon was speaking, she just stared at him, and when he poured the water over the top of her head, she just stuck her thumb in her mouth and looked at something on the ceiling. Lots of friends and family in attendance...so lots of picture-taking afterward!

After that, we all went to D-husband's uncle's house for barbeque. It was nice to see everyone and get a chance to catch up, and let H-bear get passed around a little. It's tough for me not to have her all the time, but she does really well with it, and I'm sure it's good for her.

That evening D-husband and I went to a movie, and then got to eat the top of our wedding cake, which his parents had been saving for us in the freezer! The icing was exactly the same, but the cake was a little dense. Not bad though!

We're back at home now, and once again settling back into our routine. Wichita is getting hot! Three days this week are forecasted over 100 degrees...yuck. More news later!