Parker - 4 Months Old

Parker is 4 months old today!!  We had her doctor appointment yesterday and everything is great.  He asked about her ability to rollover (check), put weight on her legs when "standing" (check), and hold her chest off the ground when on tummy (check).  She is 15 lb 8.5 oz and 24.5 inches long.  This puts her at 90% for weight still, but only 75% for height.  The good Doctor was concerned that the ratio has gone in an unfavorable direction and to put it bluntly, our little girl is becoming a chubbs!  I told him how her appetite has increased so much in the last couple weeks.  For example, on Wednesday I nursed her at 5:30 am.  Then at daycare she had 6 oz bottles of breastmilk at 8:30, 10;30, and 12:30.  This was followed by a two hour nap and then another 5 oz bottle at 2:30.  Then I nursed her again at 6:30 and 9:00 pm before bedtime.  That's a lot of calories for this little girl!  The Doctor suggested we dilute the breastmilk with water, 75/25, so that she will still feel full but not be intaking so many calories.  He also suggested giving her clear juice, such as white grape juice, which also has less calories than breastmilk.  We are going to hold off on this option, as it seems too early to introduce her to something that sweet.  We also got the go ahead to start with rice cereal and Parker had her first solid foods this morning!  She did so great, ending up with a lot of cereal on her chin, of course, but she swallowed quite a bit too.

Some other notes on Parker these days:  She is becoming more and more aware of Otis and likes to "pet" (i.e. grab) his fur.  Otis is a sweetheart and doesn't mind it at all.  In fact, he likes to lay down right next to her when she is laying on the floor playing.  Parker loves music.  We have an ipod in her bedroom and always play something for her at bedtime...Norah Jones, Miles Davis, and Al Green are some recent favorites.  Sometimes if she is particularly upset, we will take her up there and just turn on some music rather loudly and she calms right down.  Parker is still not a fan of riding in the car.  She does not mind being in her carseat itself, it's being in the backseat alone that upsets her.  The drives to and from daycare are usually not very pleasant.

Here are some recent photos:

Parker loves to hold her knees and toes.  Just today, she started putting the toes in her mouth, mostly during diaper changes when her feet are bare.

We like to pull Parker up from laying down up to standing postion, she always makes this same face:

Parker loves to sit for the different point of view.  And while she can't sit on her own yet, she is getting better at sitting in this "tripod" type position before falling over.

Video of Parker laughing at Daddy:



The 4 month photo shoot:

Comparison: