Bree at 4 Months

Bree had her 4 month checkup on April 22nd. Even though she has been to the doctor many times in the past several months due to her RSV, this is her first “official” well-baby checkup. We missed her 2nd month checkup due to the whole insurance switching around that time and her 3 month birthday was spent in the hospital followed by many RSV checkups so we wanted to take a break from the doctor’s office. So, at 4 months, she received her first immunizations and official stats.

• Height: 26.75 inches. The doctor indicated her percentile is “off the chart”. She’s a tall little babe.
• Weight: 14 pounds, 11 ounces. 75th percentile.
• Head circumference: 16.5 inches. 75th percentile.

Today, on her 18 week birthday, she finally figured out how to get her arm out of the way so she could complete her roll from back to tummy. I guess it is time to get her out of her bassinet and into her crib.

She still has a reddish tint to her hair. I sure hope it stays! She also has the typical bald spot on the back of her head that most back-to-sleep babies have at some point.

One thing we have discovered is that she does NOT like drinking formula from a bottle. I am not sure if it is the formula or the bottle itself she does not like, but it makes her very mad if we try to feed it to her. We had previously fed her pumped milk in a bottle and she drank it fine, so maybe we will need to try that again to see if we can rule out which one, the formula or the bottle, she has an aversion to. I hope it is just the formula, because exclusively breastfeeding doesn’t seem to be hurting her growth so far and that would be my preference anyway. I just would like to have some option to leave her with a sitter or Greg for a few hours so I can get out of the house by myself more often.

We are waiting until she is 6 months old to start her on baby cereal. The wait until 6 months was something I had been considering and Bree’s doctor also recommended the wait based on Bree’s already large size.

Now if only Bree would sleep longer periods during the night! She was starting to do better at night but for some reason she is back to waking every 2 hours again between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. I am trying to wean her off of her “need” for the 4 a.m. feeding since we are feeding at 2 and again at 6:30ish, but that seems to be easier said than done. Last night, after an hour of rocking, bouncing, pleading and crying (by her and some by me), I finally gave in and fed her.

Naps seem to not be working too well either. Some days she naps great but other days, like today, she doesn’t nap at all. It is 2:00 p.m. here and she hasn’t had one nap. I know she is exhausted. I have tried laying her down multiple times, swaddled and unswaddled, with no luck. *sigh* All that she wants is for me to hold her and she is happy and quiet.

In spite of the not sleeping so well, Bree is a pleasant and easy-going baby. At least when I am not trying to force her to sleep. She is quick to flash me her adorable toothless grin both day and night. She loves to watch Adrianna, gurgle and coo, blow bubbles and be held. Even in the middle of the night when I am about to fall over from exhaustion and frustration because she won’t give in and fall asleep, it is difficult to be too angry with her when she looks up at me with those beautiful blue eyes and smiles at me.