4 Month Check Up

Anna Claire is 4 months old!?!? Where has the time gone? We enjoyed a super long weekend as I was off work on Friday and Monday for MLK Day. I really enjoyed the extra time with her and dreaded going back to work this morning! Every day she does something else to amaze me and I don't want to miss a thing.

Our appointment with Dr. Childers went well on Monday... aside from the trauma following her second round of vaccinations! Yikes. Maybe she is going to have a childhood needle phobia like her Momma! My Mom claims that I would scream and get stiff as a board and that it was always a real concern that a needle would be broken in my leg. To be honest, this continued until I was about 18! Thankfully we have a great Pediatrician and some wonderful nurses, so maybe it won't be so bad for AC! At this point it is ok as she is unaware until the moment it happens. She was not a happy camper following the appointment and she pretty much cried herself to sleep... I could not seem to sooth her right away. After some Baby Tylenol and a nearly 3 hour nap she was back to her giggly self Monday evening and was sound asleep by 8:45! Bedtime seems to be around 8:30 to 9:00 these days and she is sleeping anywhere from 8 to 12 hours each night. This is especially nice since I have returned to work. Thank you Anna Claire! Honestly I wish she would stay up a bit longer so we could have more time to play, but when she is ready, she is ready!

She is a growing gal! 26 inches long, which puts her in the 96th percentile and 13.3 lbs which puts her in the 44th percentile. She is long and thin, but you would never know because of her fabulously full cheeks! Dr. Childers said now is the time to introduce rice cereal. We tried a couple of times this weekend and I have posted a video and a few pics of the mess! She is not really a fan of the spoon, but we will keep trying!Dr. Childers again assured us that the catheter/dye test showed normal results, however he did refer us to a Pediatric Nephrologist (Kidney Doc) just as a precaution. This is a specialized doc who can just ensure that we haven't missed anything and will most likely monitor her as she grows. We go on
Jan. 28th. Dr. Childers seems to think that the dialation will subside with age. We certainly hope so and continue to believe she is healthy and happy!

As I suspected, she has some swelling in the gums - so we think teeth are on the way! She is drooling all the time and chewing on anything in arms reach. I am starting to encourage teething rings, rattles etc. but she seems to prefer her hand or my fingers! She is really, really working on sitting up and rolling over. I think she will master the art of rolling within a few weeks! Hopefully we will get the hang of the rice cereal soon and can start adding some veggies into her diet. I cannot believe she is growing so fast!

See below for some pics from this past weekend and a video of the attempt at rice cereal!









**sorry no video... for some reason it will not upload. I will try again this evening, so please check back - it is so funny!**