Alese 4 Months

Alese turned 4 months on Feb. 15, and we had her 4-month check up that same day. She did great, with shots and all.

Decided to do a little remembering back to Ashlynn at 4 months here, and wow are these two sisters following a similar path for growth. Looking at pictures, Alese is definitely coming more into her own, but don't get me wrong, I still see similarities. Ashlynn seemed to be a little heavier, but they're almost dead on for the same height. Fun seeing some of my favorite outfits of Ashlynn's come back to life, too.

Some updates on little Miss Alese...

- Height: 25 1/2 in. (88%)
- Weight: 13 lbs. 13 oz. (52%)
- Head: 42 cm (76%)
- Introduced rice cereal about a month ago now, and backed off for a bit because, well, it backed her up. And that was no fun. But we've brought it back and this time have opted for oatmel cereal because it contains more fiber. She's been eating it like a champ before bed and doing great with it. Has the occasional constipation from it, but we filter in a little prune juice here and there and she's good.
- She's still eating about 5 oz. of milk at a time, and I'm still pumping and keeping up. We only nurse during the night feeding(s)...a little different than Ashlynn, who I would nurse in the evenings after daycare. Alese just likes the bottle more than the boob, which is totally fine.
- Still rolling herself side-to-side, but not fully over to her belly yet. She's done belly to back for us a few times.
- Likes her Bumbo, exercise play mat, bouncey seat, swing, just laying on the floor on her tummy or back, and of course being held and talked to.
- Sleep department is getting much, much better as of last week. We had a couple rough nights where she just wouldn't go back to sleep after a night feeding, or seemed to get up 2-3 times. Which makes for horrible work days and zombie-like evenings at home. But last Tuesday, I for some reason decided to skip my usual cup of half-caffeinated coffee and also my afternoon swigs of fountain pop at work. Not that I'm addicted (I swear, even though I probably sound like an addict in denial), but just need a break from water throughout the day. Well, no caffeine in my system on Tuesday, and Tuesday night she only got up once, ate and went right back to sleep. Ahh-maz-ing. 7 1/2 hours of sleep for me...I felt like a whole new woman. So when I realized I hadn't dabbled into my usual caffeine that day, I figured I'd try it again Wednesday and see if that was what helped my baby girl sleep. Well sure enough, we had another good night where she was only up once. Took her a little rocking to get back to sleep, but still. Solid night for baby, solid night for mom. Since last Tuesday, I haven't touched caffeine. And since last Tuesday, she's only gotten up once each night (well, a couple nights with 2 times, but she goes right back to sleep). I can sooooo live with this. Whether or not my bits of caffeine were the culprit, I'm not about to mess with a good thing. And I guess now that I'm getting decent sleep, I don't really need the caffeine, either. I did however get some decaf K-cups at home...give myself the illusion that I'm having my morning fix. Lame, but it'll work for now.
- Has taken a few baths with her big sis. We just set her in the Bumbo in the tub (majorly supervised with both Jer and I there since we know it's not meant for that), and the two girls just eat up each other's company. Totally fun to watch.
- Blows spit bubbles like a boss. She figured out she can do this, and now it's like she wants to keep showing off. The other night I thought it was Jer doing it back to her, but it was just Alese the whole time. Loud and proud!
- She's playing with more toys now - rattles, Sophie the Giraffe, her banana teething toy and anything else that she can grab onto and bring to her mouth. Not sure if she's teething, discovering her hand-eye coordination or both, but she's shoving all toys and her hands in her mouth and doing a lot more drooling. That coupled with blowing spit bubbles and we've got a lot of soaked necks on her outfits by the end of the day.
- Wearing 6 month clothes for the most part, some 3/6 and some 6/9 month, but just depends on the brand. Long-limbed girl that needs the bigger sizes for her arms and legs!
- Such a happy, smiley baby. You simply make eye contact with her and she's in heaven. Guess she loves attention...Jer says, "must be a girl thing." But we all love giving her attention, so it's a win-win.

Some photos of our baby cakes!

Alese 4 months





Ashlynn - "Wanna hold hands?"

Alese - "Yeah, I suppose."

Alese - "Now come in for the good stuff."

Photo from our daycare lady...Alese was helping her daughter Karissa do Algebra.

And finally, a little sampling from our blowing bubble queen (with some encouragement to get it on camera, so disregard my attempts)...