First Cold

So, I'm a little late with the post this time - last week was not a good week!  Grace started getting a cold last Saturday and woke up almost every hour that night.  That was not a fun night!  The next day we were scheduled to go to the Toledo Zoo with Jeff's mom and his brother and their family.  We debated whether to go or not, but Grace seemed in a decent mood and it was a nice day so we still went.  Grace didn't seem too impressed with the animals, but she did really well in the stroller.  So, she may not remember it, but it was her first trip to the zoo!  Jeff's brother has three kids - 2 girls that are 9 and 8 and a little boy who just turned 1 in June, so it was fun watching them at the zoo.  Hopefully we will be able to go again next year and Grace will enjoy it a lot more. 

Last Monday night I started feeling pretty crappy and it turned out that I had caught Grace's cold.  We had a meet on Tuesday and I dragged my way through it, but I did not feel good.  Unfortunately, there really wasn't any cold medicine that I could take since I am nursing Grace, but I was able to take Claritin.  I'm not sure if it really helped, but I was able to sleep pretty good on Tuesday night and started feeling better by Thursday.  Hopefully I can stay healthy this winter - taking care of a baby when you're sick (especially if the baby's sick too) is not easy! 
We had another cross country meet on Saturday, and we have a home meet today so we spent Sunday getting the course ready.  I can't believe that there is only a few days of September left - I still look around and wonder why the leaves are changing on the trees! 

Grace is getting cuter every day - she is handling tummy time a little better and is still rolling occasionally.  She still LOVES to stand when you hold her hands - I'm getting ready for her to try to start walking any day :)  Sometimes I think she gets mad because she can't walk - I secretly think she's a 30 year old trapped in a 4 month old's body and that's why she gets so cranky sometimes!!

Our Little Four Month Old

Yesterday Grace celebrated her four month birthday.  It is still unbelievable to me how fast time has gone.  When she was a few weeks old we decided to buy a stuffed animal to pose her next to at each month to track how she is growing.  Here is the latest one.




She looks so different from that first picture!  Yesterday was the first time where she was able to sit up pretty well without having to worry about her toppling over.  She was also reaching for the stuffed dog and trying to put it in her mouth :) 

We had a pretty good week, although Grace kept going back and forth between sleeping well at night and not sleeping very well.  Thankfully the last few nights have been pretty good. 

We broke out the exersaucer the other day to see how she would do - let's just say it would have been better if her feet actually touched the bottom!  She wasn't too impressed with it.  Hopefully she'll be able to reach the ground soon. 
Today she went in for her four month checkup.  She weighed 13 lbs, 5 ozs (41st percentile), she was 23 3/4" long (30th percentile) and her head was 41 cm (49th percentile).  So her head is the biggest part and she's still short!  I hope she's not destined to be really short.  She had to get her shots, and that is the worst part of going to the doctor.  I feel like the worst person in the world when they give her the shots and she starts screaming.  I made Jeff go with me this time so he could hold her down and I wouldn't always be the bad guy!  I also always get nervous when she gets shots because of all the media about vaccines being unsafe.  I know it's the right thing to do but it always worries me. 

I'm still not sure when I want to start her on solids.  I think she's getting close to being ready, but I'm not sure if I want to start this early.  The doctor said anytime to start is fine and made it sound like it would be a good idea, but breastfeeding is free, and minimal mess!  So, we'll see. 

This week is another crazy week - tonight we have volleyball at 9 pm (yuck), tomorrow is another cross country meet, and Thursday we're meeting with our financial planner.  No rest for the weary!!

Sixteen Weeks Old Already!

I cannot believe that Grace is 16 weeks old already - where has the time gone?  I used to think that having a baby in the spring was the best because then we could have all summer enjoying the weather but now I'm not so sure....I don't really remember this summer because it's been such a blur :)  I think we'll have to try to have our next baby in Jan or Feb so the yucky winter months fly by! 

So, what have we been up to?  Well, in the last few weeks Grace has started rolling a little.  It's still pretty random.  She hates being on her stomach so it's hard to give her enough time to practice.  I've been trying to put her on her tummy a little bit each time I change her diaper.  She first "officially" rolled on August 25th.  She also started laughing a little bit - her first real laugh was on August 31st.  She's still a pretty serious baby - I'm hoping the belly laughs start for real soon.  I think it's one of the best sounds in the world!
I think Grace has changed the most in the last 3 weeks so far since she's been born.  It's amazing how much more alert she is and how much more she pays attention to everything around her.  I love watching her change almost daily.  It's also been great that she's in a good sleeping pattern right now - she usually sleeps for 7-8 hours at a stretch at night.  It has definitely helped me to feel more human again!

She is also freakishly strong.  We put her in a SwaddleMe each night and somehow she is able to get at least one body part out, and somehow she can move herself from one end of the crib to the other and usually also turns herself sidways (as you can see in this picture).  This morning she had found a way to work one of her feet out of the sleeper she was in by forcing it through two of the buttons at the the ankle.  She might be small but she sure is mighty!!
Cross country has started up for good now - last Wednesday we had our first real meet.  It was my first time away from Grace for more than about 4 hours.  I think I had a harder time than she did!  Our friend Jill watched her from 2-5pm and then Jeff's mom, Sharon, watched her from 5-7:30 pm.  Jill had a bunch of kids at her house and Grace loved it.  She is fascinated by kids.  I was really glad she did so well while I was at the meet.  I was a little nervous because we had never given her two bottles in a row before but she took them like a pro!
Today we went to Jeff's mom's for a Labor Day party.  It was nice for Grace to see her cousins.  It was the coldest it has been since before Grace was born - I could hardly remember what it was like to be cold!  Grace tried out the swing at Grandma's and loved it - she fell asleep in it.  I think we need to get one of these!

We have a busy week ahead of us - tomorrow I have to take my stuff to enter in the Saline Fair (hopefully Grace's picture wins the Baby Beauty contest!) and we're also going to my friend's son's first birthday party.  Tuesday we start playing indoor volleyball, and on Wednesday we have another cross country meet.  I also have to get the house ready for a diaper party for a friend of ours who is expecting twins.  If only Grace could help clean :)