4 months!

Elizabeth turned 4 months on Wednesday. We captured her being cute that night during and after her bath. She's so photogenic!

I took her in to see Dr. Rowland today for her check-up and weight is 12 lbs 13 oz (40th percentile), height is 24.5" long (60th percentile) and FOC -head measurement is 16.5" circumference (75th percentile). Banana baby! I've been worried that Elizabeth hasn't been gaining enough weight but Dr. Rowland reassured me everything is ok. Elizabeth has been in the 50th percentile for weight all along and Dr. Rowland showed me that her placement on the growth chart and the difference between 40 and 50th percentile is not that significant. And now that Elizabeth is more active and will continue to be more active, her weight will probably fluctuate. There will only be cause to worry if she continually goes down in her growth rate. So let's hope for the best. But I also have to keep in mind that Elizabeth was sick for a while and on antibiotics which made her poop like crazy so I'm sure some weight was lost through that! Elizabeth was moving like crazy on the table and rolling and scooching around (show off!) which impressed Dr. Rowland. She said she usually doesn't see babies move like that until 5 or 6 months. So again the weight issue isn't cause for alarm since she's reaching her milestones ahead of time.

We're going to wait until she's 6 months to introduce solid food and Dr. Rowland agreed with that. Even though we don't have a family history of food allergies, I want to be as conservative as possible on this and not risk anything. Plus I want to wait until Elizabeth is ready. She seems to be watching us now when we eat which is a good sign. And she's drooling like crazy and mouthing objects all the time which could mean she'll cut her first tooth soon. Yet she still seems to be doing ok on just her feedings (update 4/15/09 - well now I've had to nurse her several times this week in the middle of the night, but maybe she's just going through a growth spurt). And she has good head control but can't quite sit up for that long without support. She is getting plenty of tummy time though at daycare which should improve her back strength and also round out some of those flat spots on her head.

She also had her third round of vaccines (we're splitting up her shots a bit and going every month instead of every other month). She had her Rotavirus, DTAP, HIB, and Pneumococcal vaccines this time. At her 5-month shot-only visit, she'll get her Polio and Hep B shots. This is always the part that both of us hate. Everything is fine and dandy until the nurse comes in with that big needle and sticks Elizabeth in both thighs. At least it's at the end of the visit! She took her rotavirus ok in the mouth and didn't get that upset. Andrew and I learned a trick when we had to give Elizabeth her antibiotics - gently blow in her face which stimulates her swallowing reflex. It works! But with the other shots there was a split second delay from the time Elizabeth got poked until she started crying. But she didn't stay upset that long. At least we're getting better. Before she'd be hysterical the whole time.

I'm looking forward to starting solids in 2 months. Anyone have a recommendation for a good book to read? Dr. Rowland mentioned Super Foods. There's one called Super Foods for Babies and Super Baby Food so I'm not sure which one she meant. I'll have to ask at our next visit!