4 months

I'm a little late doing this 4 month post, but I really want to keep up with this blog monthly.  I'm not sure how people do it weekly!  Staying at home with Adele is full-time and I barely have time to do something for myself - blog.  If I'm going to do anything for myself with free time it would be SLEEP!  So, sorry for the lack of posts.  She's growing so fast into a chunker-roodle-roo!!

My turn for a photoshoot again ;)

Adele's first zoo visit at 13 weeks!  We went with my friend Haley and Adele's Physical Therapist, Susan, and her 2 little ones :)  It was such a nice day and SO good to spend the day out.  We also visited the library for the first time this day.  Memphis is really blessed with a great zoo and library!!  This city doesn't get enough credit for all of the great qualities it does have and the "bad" gets magnified.  I have really loved living here and have an awesome community of friends and support.  Just wish my family members were all closer!!

Nana came in so mom and dad went on their first date!  We went to Erling Jensen's and it was DELISH.  I got fish and Luke got bison.  It was so fun to get out and not focus on baby, although we missed her.

We visited our new cousin, Marley Grace Dempsey, in Northport, Alabama 2 weeks after she was born!!

Cooper, my nephew, was really cute with Adele.  He looked at her for a moment, then said, "you're cute Adele" and he also gave her a kiss - such a sweet cousin!  Also, Sydney, my niece, is such a great help and just wanted to hold the babies all day and help feed Adele!  She will be a great, nurturing mommy some day and she's only 7 years old.  I am SO thankful for my mom.  She really took care of Adele all weekend and poor Charity and Marley got the shaft.  Adele was so fussy and high need though and Marley was an angle baby and so laid back!  I also need to remember we all got in the closet the second night because the tornado sirens were going off.  Pretty funny and it got really hot AND I was trying to feed Adele.  My poor mom couldn't fit in the closet with me, Adele, Sydney, Cooper, Charity and Marley AND their car seats!  It was crazy and I knocked poor Adele's head a bit on the door frame trying to get out.  I also poured a bottled water on her accidentally while she was in the swing trying to bend over and talk to her.  She was not happy with either incidents but Cooper lightened the mood by saying "it was like she was peeing, but the water was going the wrong way."  That's one way to look at it ;)  I felt like a bad mom...haha.  I wish I got more pictures of this weekend but it was crazy with 2 babies and 2 kids.   I am glad that I got to spend time with my sister and go with her to her doctor's appointment while mom/Nana stayed back and watched Adele.  I love my family!

I have to remember this day.  The day that Adele turned 14 weeks....

- she had her first visit to the dog park and she christened it with a poopy diaper.  In the midst of changing said diaper in the carseat IN the dog park she fountained pee into the air that trickled into flooded her carseat.  lovely ;)  A boy sitting nearby said, "you need to tell her this when she gets older and it will make her laugh..."  I would say more embarrassed ;) haha.

Also, this day we stopped by the doctor to pick up some hypoallergenic formula samples trying to see if that would help her fussiness/gas/poor sleep.  We went ahead and did a weight check and she was 12 lbs 2 oz and 22.5 inches long!!  My baby is growing :)  That made me happy and what made me even MORE happy was that she slept from her 9:45 feeding until 5:15 with me only having to pacify her around 3 back to back while I made a bottle (that she never woke up for ;)  So exciting after a rough weekend in Alabama!!  The night before she ate at 8:30, 3:30 then 6:30 with no pacyfying in between, which is great too.  Both of these days she got more daytime rest, so I believe this is the key answer - trying to get her to take better daytime naps, which she does best in the car, so we stay on the go!!

We went to Nashville, then Jackson for Easter.  My mom's side of the family always does a big Easter egg hunt for all the kiddos, so we went and Adele...slept.

 Pooping in her pretty Easter dress, ha!!  I'm sure you'll love seeing this when you grow up Adele! 

 Was that okay?

And we got to Jackson!

 Luke's childhood bedroom :)

 She met Aunt Pam for the first time :)

 And she met Great Aunt Lou Lou (in the pink)!

Physical Therapy update:

At 12 weeks she was diagnosed with torticollis, or as Luke likes to call it - torticockus.  Sounds cool, but not so fun to deal with.  She was not supposed to go back to physical therapy for another 2 months, but I was noticing her sleeping with her head to the right, looking to the right, and slouching her head to the right while in the carseat for the majority of the day.  The PTs in the NICU told me to watch for this, so I did and noticed and I'm glad I called and went to see them!  Right now I'm doing daily stretches to stretch out her neck on the right side and exercises to strengthen her right neck muscles.  I have to do this during and after feeds because that is the only time she'll relax and tolerate it.  It takes patience for this to fix.  Below are some links on torticollis.  Here is a picture in action/passed out.

http://www.babycenter.com/0_torticollis_10912.bc

http://www.babycenter.com/0_torticollis_11397.bc?page=2

http://www.childrensmemorial.org/depts/rehab/torticollis.aspx

Pulmonogist update:

done with the apnea monitor!!!  This was a big deal folks.  It made me one step coser to feeling more normal.  We stopped using it during the day around 11 weeks and no more at night by 12 weeks

more about ADELE

Likes = 

• tongues/noises from tongues
• for you to copy her cooes and faces 
• "skidaradinkidoo" song
• changing table time...still (I'm also using this time to flip her on her tummy and look at her mirror)
• being naked - yikes!
• the ceiling fans - she loves to converse with them sometimes even more than me!
• To stare, laugh, and watch daddy cross the room - daddy's girl already!

dislikes = 

• turning her head to the left
• if you force the paci in her mouth...you must give it to her gently so it's on her terms ;)  I think she would rather suck her thumb at this point but cannot control her limbs enough and gets frustrated, plus the therapist doesn't want her to because she prefers her right hand and that would worsen her torticollis
• she dislikes getting overtired (I do too)
• spending more than 5 minutes on her tummy at a time
• shots @ 4 mo check up.  She hasn't slept well since then :(

Size = 

• On to size 2 diapers!  We didn't even have time to finish up our size 1.  
• She has really bursted in growth this month and didn't get to wear her 3 month clothes for very long.  She is in mainly 6 month clothes by the end of this month!  However, the sizing differences on infant clothing is ridiculously different from brand to brand. 
• She can still wear her newborn booties and shoes.  She has definitely grown into her "paws" and it looks like her ankles and wrists are about to pop!  I love the chunkiness :) 
• 41 mm in head size @ 4 mo. check up, which is 75% for her ACTUAL age (off the charts for her due date age)!

Weight:

4/5   10 lb 4 oz

4/8   11 lb 2 oz

4/13 12 lb 2 oz, 22 inches (I took Adele in to the dr. to get the different formula and did a weight check)

4/19 12 lb 6 oz

4/25 13 lb

4/29 13 lb 4.5 oz

5/5   14 lb

5/9   14 lb 4.5 oz, 24 inches - 75% on weight and 50% for length for ACTUAL age (off the charts for her due date age and 95% in length) can we say praise God for the growth spurt?

I mean, 4 lbs and over 2 inches of growth in ONE month?  Hello...

SO, that means a monster no-neck roll.  It was getting red and stinky even though I was cleaning it out.  I told the dr. at her 4 mo. check up and he prescribed that I clean it, dry it, and put nystatin cream on it 2-3 times a day.  If you don't know, this is a jock itch and athlete's foot cream...um, really doc?  haha.  It's worked like a charm though!  I can't wait to tease Adele about this when she gets older ;)

Firsts = 

• Adele has started doing 7-8.5 hrs between feeds (with a lot of pacifying, however)! More daytime rest is paying off - small victory for our 14 week old/8 weeks adjusted ;)
• Conversational cooing/gurgling
• staring at me and smiling during bottle feeds more consistently and holding her bottle or our hands
• started laughing hardcore at the end of this month
• Started sitting in her bumbo seat

Eating = 

• We were doing 4 ounces every 3 hours during the day, but at week 13 we started integrating 5 ounce feeds and received not too much spit up, so we went all 5 ounce feeds when I traveled to Alabama and she took them like a champ!  She is doing about 6 ounces by the end of this month 5-6 times a day.  So glad she can get more calories and continue to grow like a weed (a pretty,wanted weed that is)!  
• One day after I got back from Alabama, I called the Dr. to ask if I could try some hypoallergenic formula and he said sure.  I asked if I could drop by and pick up some samples (after looking at Wal-Mart and seeing that a small can was $25 - yikes!).  Well, I'm so glad that I got a sample bc we didn't even make it through a day of feeds without Adele rejecting it!!  It literally would take an hour to feed her a 5 ounce bottle of that stuff because she would fuss and cry when I was trying to feed her.  I started the first bottle with only 2 ounces to see if she would take it, and she did without a hitch, but as the day grew longer her taste buds grew more sour.  Poor thing acted like I was feeding her poop!  Well, the formula smelt like "cow manure" according to Luke ;) 
• We are learning to drop the dreamfeed and get her to bed around 7-9 and try to pacify her all night long so we'll set her clock to get more calories during the day

Sleeping = 

• while we're on the subject...let's be positive.  At least this is getting better (spoke too soon) but still unpredictable!!  She was an awful sleeper/napper before and during the Alabama trip, but as soon as we got back she started sleeping longer stretches than she ever has!  She did an 8:30, 3:30, 6:30 night the first night (after sleeping almost the whole 5 hour trip back from Alabama) and then a 9:45, 5:00, 8:00 stretch the second night and has been doing 7-7.5 hour stretches most nights since!!  However, still having to pacify quite a bit between feeds, but not having to hold or rock her, which is SO much better. 
• More daytime rest has been the key here and I'm really trying to get her to nap better without having to be on the go in the carseat.  She is still does her long sleep stretches at night swaddled on her boppy lounger.  
• At the end of this month, however, she has outgrown the lounger and we are trying a multitude of sleep positions to try to figure out the best.  She also is not sleeping on the go anymore because she is too interested in her surroundings!
• In conclusion, we still cannot figure this portion of her life out.  I wish it was a good portion of her life, but it is not.  Therefore, it is not a good portion of our life - BUMMER.  Can I get a serving of sleep please?
• On another note, when I pick her up from sleeping or the changing table I see TONS of hair on the sheets.  SAD!  All of her hair is falling out in the back leaving a "hat ring"

Some other tidbits...

This video was taken at the beginning of 4 months after she really started to conversationally coo and gurgle - such a joy :)  However, I always get caught up in the moment and wait too long to start video-ing and she starts to get tired. 

After Adele's first morning feed, I sing her this song so that she knows that it's time to wake up now and I try to do her first feeding in daylight and out of her room.  The song goes: "Good morning to you, Good morning to you, Good morning Adele good morning to you.  I love you I do, I love you I do, I love you Adele, I love you I do!"  And then I make  up other verses sometimes too...

Here is a video of her talking when Luke had an out of town work conference.  We missed him!

Like I said, she loves the ceiling fan!