Week in Review - First Tooth, Exercise & Face Paci

While I work this is my little secretary.

 You can just barely see her first tooth (circled below), but you can feel it if you run your hand over her bottom gum.

She is a wee bit vain. She loves to look at herself in the mirror.

Seriously. It is her favorite toy on the exersauser

 Jake came upstairs after I had finished working out, and wanted to show me some of the dance moves they do during PE. I found some YouTube videos of the videos they dance to. 

Sometimes in the afternoon, if I have some work to finish up, Jake plays babysitter. 

Which might include getting a car ran upside your head

This is Hollon's face usually when Jake asks her if she wants him to pick her up

He does it anyway

She sure does love him though. I wish the quality was better in this picture
She will just look at him and smile. She loves to watch everything he does.

 Hollon cannot crawl (or even roll over) but she is mobile when upset. She made it across her mat & on the carpet. I've found her completely off the mat before. We certainly don't leave her alone on the bed.

"What? You are looking me? Are you going to pick me up? If you do, I'll stop crying."

One day Hollon was taking her nap in her crib and through the video monitor, I could tell something was on her face. (She likes to put her luvee over her face, which scares me, so I'm always checking her face when she sleeps.) I go to take a better look and realize it was her pacifier. It had fallen out of her mouth and was stuck to the side of her face.

 On Thursday, Jake got a much needed haircut. I always mean to take a before & after, but never do. I usually forget to take the before. This day, I forgot to take the after.

 On Friday, Mimi & Granddad took Jake to see Paddington at the movie theater. He loved it!

We spent the weekend knocking out some projects around the house. I had laid Hollon on the mat in her room. I walked by and saw this. Jake had gone in her room and was reading to her from his Lego magazine. 

She was getting a little fussy (it was time for her to eat). Jake thought she was crying because she needed a nap. He picked her up and got her to the rocking chair where he was rocking her (and about the drop her, but I don't want to ruin a sweet story).

Work in progress, but some of the projects we've been working on.... 

Desk in my office/bonus room/guest bedroom/craft room

Rob built this so I could keep all the clutter off the desk

For the wall above the secretary

Revamped the coffee table

Curtains in the breakfast nook

Week in Review - Jeans, Tummy Time, Birthday & First Food

Question: Are skinny jeans appropriate for a 4 month old with chunky thighs?

I'm not a fan of jeans on babies. But Hollon had a top that I couldn't find leggings to match. So I bought a pair of skinny jeans (size 6-12M). When Hollon wore the top, I ended up not paring it with jeans. I had already had torn the tags off the jeans & washed them, so heaven forbid we not wear them at least once. So on Monday, when we went out to run errands, I put them on her with a different little top that I had picked up.

Awkward from this angle 

Awkward from this angle too.
Not sure if it's the jeans or the fact she looks like she has no neck in pictures.

Trying to sit up. Still awkward. 

We'll just make it a head shot.

Verdict: No. Skinny jeans do not work with 4 month old chunky thighs.

Jake's legos got taken apart a few months ago when we had some friends over. We left them apart, so he could build other things with them. The way they make legos today, it's hard to build a house out of legos that built the batmobile. So Jake ended up just not playing with them. Since Christmas break, Jake & Robbie have been hard at work rebuilding everything and adding the new ones he got. Final results...

On Tuesday, Hollon had her 4 month check up.

After our failed report of rolling over, I've tried to put Hollon on her stomach more.

She is fine as long as you are down on the floor with her

But the minute you get up, she just head plants

And eats the pillow

Wrestling with brother while I cook dinner...

Obviously I need to buy larger size clothing for my children
Both of their bellies are hanging out

Jake's class celebrated his birthday. 2 weeks after his actual birthday.

#christmasevebirthdayproblems

Friday night (1/9) we tried cereal for the first time. 

She like it...

Saturday night, we watched movies upstairs

Hollon's 4 Month Checkup

On Tuesday (1/6) Hollon had her 4 month old checkup.

Weight: 16 lbs 10 oz (80th percentile)

Height: 25 in (60th percentile)

So at her 2 month appointment, for height she was in the 30th percentile and then just 2 months later, she jumped up to 60th? I personally think both are incorrect and she is probably somewhere in-between. Both measurements, she was squirming around. Or maybe she is just learning from her mom, that sometimes you have to fudge on your height. 

The appointment went well. Hollon is growing and healthy. As for milestones...

Rolling Over: failed

Sleeping Through the Night: failed

Social Skills: nailed it

Hollon is not rolling over. When she is on her back, she'll roll to her side, but then just stop. She is very content on her side and she'll sleep that way if we don't swaddle her. When she is on her stomach, she has absolutely no interest in rolling over. She won't even attempt it. She holds her head up great, and will look at you if she can see you. But once she gets tired of being on her stomach, she doesn't roll over or cry. She just plants her head face down on the blanket. 

Hollon is also not sleeping through the night. We were going 5-6 hours at night sometimes before the holidays, but since we got back, she has been waking up in the middle of the night to eat. Dr. Johnson said that we could start giving her rice cereal at dinner with some vitamin D and see if that helps. 

The one skill Hollon has down pat? Socializing. 

During the whole appointment, Hollon would just follow Dr. Johnson around the room. When the doctor would stop taking, Hollon would blabber back. She would laugh when the doctor would look at her. She was very engaged. Even her doctor was impressed. Dr. Johnson said that H was displaying traits that she typically sees in a 6 month old. 

So Hollon might be lazy, but she sure will socialize with you.

Things I learned at this appointment:

• Babies that are late movers (rolling, crawling, walking) tend to be early talkers and vice versa. (Not always of course)
• One nutrient that babies don't get enough of from breastmilk is vitamin D. So we are adding a dose of d-vi-sol to Hollon's cereal at night. And that might help with her sleeping longer periods at night.

Ready for my 4 month checkup

Week in Review - Last week of Christmas Break

After the Hollon family Christmas, Rob, Hollon & I headed back to Birmingham Sunday, but Jake stayed behind to spend a few days with Nana & Gran. Maddox & Marrell came over a lot to play and they had an inside camp out, rode the zip line, jumped on the trampoline and had a glow stick party (not to be confused with a rave that an young adult would attend). Jake asked if he could spend 100 nights before he had to come home. We settled on 3.

Wearing his pajamas & glow glasses from their glow stick party

Hollon wasn't her normal self the week after Christmas. We really didn't travel much and didn't get too much off schedule. She was held a lot and got a lot of attention the week prior, so I don't know if she was having attention withdraws? Maybe she just missed brother? She was just in a very weird mood Sunday. The only way she would stop crying is if she was swaddled and held exactly like this...

Poor little sad face
Poor little daddy & mommy's ears

I've spent the week trying to get her on a consistent nap & eating schedule. She doesn't usually nap on a boppy, but she & I were playing and she feel asleep suddenly.

The picture is super grainy because I was taking it with my iPhone and trying to make sure my face stayed out of the picture. But I love it when this sweet little girl falls asleep on me.

The rest of this post might as well be called "we got a new something huge tacky that takes up a lot of room toy" and we have taken too many pictures of Hollon in it. This was Jake's that we've had in storage from when he was a baby. I didn't think Hollon was old enough for it yet, but next time I turn around, Robbie had it out & put together. We put Hollon in it and she loves it. Anything that will entertain this girl and keep her out of our arms for a little while, I'll take it! 

First time in the exersaucer

We got Jake back the morning of New Year's Eve. That night, it was just the four of us. We hung out and had a very low key NYE. The next day Hollon & I went shopping while the boys watched football.

Ready to cheer on Auburn in his new jersey Mimi & Granddad bought him.
(He is wearing 3D glasses that came with a book)

Auburn is not #1 and unfortunately neither is Alabama anymore.
We won't discuss those game anymore.

Finally by the weekend, Hollon was getting back to her normal self.

Yeah! Getting smiles again!

I love her sweet little feet sticking out when I am feeding her

And back to more pictures in the exersaucer

Double cankles

We were taking down our Christmas tree and I turned the TV on a baby channel that plays music. Hollon loves music, so I was hoping that and the exersaucer would entertain her long enough for me to get everything down. I turn around and see this...

She has her head cocked back trying to see the TV
I had turned it on for the music, not for her to watch

One evening, Hollon kept almost falling asleep in her swing, but would wake up whenever we moved. I draped a blanket over the mobile on the swing, thinking that would keep us from distracting her. Of course she just pulled the blanket down. Here she is peeking out.

She wanted to make sure she didn't miss any fun

On Saturday, Jake, Robbie & 2 other boys and their dads all went to the Birmingham bowl game to see Florida play (one of the boys & his dad are big Florida fans and bought a group of tickets so they could all sit together). It was rainy, but they all stayed the whole game. By the time Jake & Rob got home, they were wet, cold & tired. Both were in bed by 8:00. But they had a great time and Jake loved getting to spend the day with Robbie and the boys.

Jake probably got at least $50 worth of food throughout the game
at the concession stand