Age: 4 months, 2 days (yesterday)
Length: 25.25 inches (81st percentile)
Weight: 15 lb, 11 oz (60th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.2 inches (52nd percentile)
What a beefcake. Look at her busting out of her 6-month clothing:
Since I lost it during her two-month vaccines, John made me wait in the lobby while Ari got her four-month vaccines–apparently being down one shot since Hep B isn’t given at four months makes a world of difference…thanks for sweet white lies, honey. I could hear her screams from the waiting area, where small children watched curiously as I sobbed underneath the posters about healthy food choices.
A few hours (okay, minutes) later, she was no worse for wear, albeit a bit cranky and sleepy. An upper respiratory infection on top of things did not help. It’s a little sad/cute when an infant can’t blow her snotty nose; and the suction thing-y totally traumatizes her. But the gurgly noise she makes when she giggles is pretty adorable. Definitely a day to curl up in bed:
anna in med school 
Do you have a Nosefrida? It will change your life. $15 seems steep, but it’s the best snotsucker EVER! And far less traumatizing than a bulb syringe.
1. As always, that baby is ADORABLE!
2. Under “daddy” in the dictionary, somebody needs to put that last picture.
3. I think Nosefrida would be a wonderful name for a little girl. And Rosie, I’m sure there must be a saint with that name, right?
1. Thank you!! 2. I feel the same way…we went out of town without him this weekend; I know they both really missed each other. 3. Bought!
I take all your recommendations seriously! Done and done–ordered, should be here tomorrow. Thank you so much!
I love this so much! (minus the torture)
Thank you!
I know you are a vaccine advocate, but have you considered delaying any of them? We put off Hep B on our kids until about 2 years to decrease the number of shots per visit down to two (for reasons of trauma but also aluminum, among others). Depending on the daycare/school, you might have a little wiggle room when it comes to vaccine scheduling. Ours simply asked us to give them a note written by us saying that we’re delaying Hep B.
This might not be as helpful for you since you and John have medical backgrounds, but for others, I found Dr. Sear’s The Vaccine Book incredibly informative and completely objective when it comes to information regarding each vaccine, its purpose, risks, timetable, etc.
And yes, we’ve had Emma in 12 month pjs since she was about 7 months 🙂 They really do grow up too quickly. Keep the pictures coming!
Hi Tina! Thanks so much for the suggestions. I’d like to think we’re not too high strung, but we’re a little when it comes to vaccines, especially since there are so many kids who are totally unvaccinated in the Philly area
When it comes to Hep B, we’ll definitely wait until 6 months since many daycares/schools won’t consider the dosage complete unless there’s one after 6 months.
Thanks for the recommendation! I LOVED the Sears pregnancy/birth books–found they struck a nice middle ground for folks like me who wanted to try having as few interventions as necessary while also acknowledging the huge benefits of modern medicine. I suspect I would find some issue with the Sears breastfeeding book since I don’t love the “breast is best” mentality.
Please keep the pictures coming on your end as well–your kids are too precious! It’s amazing that Ari’s almost twice her birth weight! xoxo
She is so precious, Anna! I can’t believe how much HAIR she has already.
I am also a huge wimp about shots for Maya, and had to admit that Dave is way, way better at keeping her calm through them than I am. But obviously, it’s not something we view as negotiable, and we are glad our pediatrician seems to feel the same way.
I was thinking about our breastfeeding dialogue yesterday when I saw this post from my blog-friend Natalie (http://www.natthefatrat.com/2013/02/on-end-of-nursing.html). It encapsulated a lot of what I was saying about how good it felt to have nursing be something I felt “objectively” “good” at, amid lots of other things that felt terrible (in her case, a long struggle with infertility, in mine, my postpartum emotional health, er, difficulties). Again, I’m still so glad you’ve had a great experience nursing Ari, and that it’s been a good bonding experience for the two of you!
Surprise surprise, I have some mixed feelings about Dr. Sears re: things like co-sleeping, sleep training, being a working parent (which I believe he at one point regrettably calls “escape parenting”), and some other classic AP tenets, but I’ve found other of his ideas (for example, babywearing) to be wonderful tactics to incorporate in our lives. I know Adele Collins is a huge Sears fan, however, and has found his ideas really work well for their family — so, different strokes, I suppose?
Thanks so much, Sloane. Maya is simply gorgeous–no surprise there!
Thank you for sharing Natalie’s post on breastfeeding; I read it a couple times. I simply love all the pictures of her breastfeeding. I hadn’t thought much about photographing myself breastfeeding, and now I’d really like to, it’s such a tender time. Since reading, I’ve been a bit more aware of myself as I’ve been breastfeeding. I love that she and you have felt good at it. In truth, I’m not sure I’m great at it–just a couple days with the flu made my supply plummet and Ari was not happy! Thank goodness for a frozen supply! But I love it. And thinking about Natalie’s post has made me try to appreciate each moment of it more, as I’m sure the time to wean will creep up on me quicker than I’d like.
Oh, Dr. Sears…I really loved his (and his wife’s) pregnancy and birth books, but I wonder how I would react to some of his parenting suggestions…maybe I should read more. What’s interesting is that it seems like AP really works for some people, and not always the people I would expect (some other wahoos, for example, who do not strike me as the AP type but swear by it). I’m sure it’s some combination of parental style and the babe’s personality. I think we’re very attentive to Ari’s wants and needs, but we would never sleep with her if we practiced strict AP. But I’m totally game for some baby-wearing–we love it! What do you use?
Thanks so much for your comments, Sloane!
Anna, John had to get his blood drawn one time and he sat on my lap while they did it. He never whimpered and he watched the whole time. I on the other hand cried like a baby. And another time when he went to the dentist I lost it and the dental people put me in a room by myself cause I was a mess. All it means is that you have a big tender heart! I love you three so much.
Aw, thanks so much, Christine! John was always a tough cookie, I guess 🙂
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