4 months old and sneaky sister

Growing so fast! Scroll back to December to see other pics in her chair!

Annika hit the 4 month milestone on the 28th, and we had her check up on the 2nd. Shots, of course, were part of the appointment. Now that I've 4 months of experience under my belt, I've started to ignore the doctor who tells me to not get her dressed before the shots. Have you ever tried to dress a screaming infant? I have - 2x now, and it isn't very manageable.

Anyway, this time I had her completely dressed when the nurse came in and I simply adjusted her pants for the shots in both legs. Much easier.

The shots - at first she was screaming because it hurt, and did she ever give the nurse the Peruvian death glare! I had never seen that look on her face! After about 2 minutes her crying turned to simple rage. O, the inhumanity! She raged all the way through the office, at the receptionist while paying the copay, all the way to the car. And then immediately switched it off when I put her in the car seat and her 'little friends' on the car seat arm popped into view. "Oh, there you are" she seems to say, and starts her chirpy little chatting at them like nothing just happened. What a funny little girl.

She's still in the 95th percentile for both height and weight. As a result, I'm no longer carrying her around in the car seat. It stays in the car. She's almost 18 pounds. I'm so glad we opted to buy the Graco Safeseat over the Snugride as the Safeseat goes up to 30 lbs, and the Snug only to 22. All of her other progress is on track. She smiled, laughed and cooed for the doctor, holds her head up really well, 'standing' when supported, etc.

It also skews the sizes of baby clothes, most often listed by months. She's into 9-12 months clothes already. Dang it.

In other baby news, she is turning over front to back. It is hilarious. She doesn't intend to, doesn't know she's doing it. She gets a bit high-centered on her belly, moves her head a little off-center, and gravity takes over. Then there she is on her back looking up at me with a puzzled little expression. I cheer and clap and get her to smile - provide positive reinforcement. Now, back to front! She is ALMOST there! She gets completeley on her side - one hip/shoulder completely off the ground. However, her elbows are in the way as her little hands are competeing for top spot in her mouth. Any day now...and then it will be a whole new ballgame in the A house.

We got the go-ahead for rice cereal and she had her first serving the other day. What a messy little enterprise that is! She took to the spoon and rice immediately, but also felt she had to help. Her hands were everywhere - in her mouth right after a bite of food, then hands to the head, the ears, the side of the bumbo. Ergo, baby and 3 foot circumference around her is getting hosed down after a meal...lol. She loves the rice. We've been experimenting and letting her taste tiny little bits of our food. The other day I was eating some BBQ beans and put a tiny little bit of sauce on my finger for her to taste. She loved it. Her eyes got all wide and she started smacking her gums together. However, outside of small little tastes of food, we're sticking to the rice until 6 months.

What else is new....oh yeah. She's started blowing raspberries! And lifting her hips off the ground by planting her feet, and grabbing everything she can. Cats no longer safe. I'm having to keep my hair pulled back as she's gotten a good grip a couple times. She thinks its funny. Yeah. Funny kid.

Still sleeping through the night. In bed by about 8:30, and up around 6:30-7ish. Takes a small bottle, and back down for a nap (at her prompting) for another two hours. Funny, but not a big eater in the morning. Only will graze about 2-3 oz, but demands more as the day progresses. Her final bottle around 8 PM is about 7-8 oz. And she's stopped eating every 4 hours and eats every 3 now. And you know what? If that's the price for a beautiful full night's sleep, I'll pay it.

Her are some pics.

Oh yeah. Sneaky sister slyly snuck into town last Thursday to help me celebrate my 40th. I had an inkling she was doing this, but no firm confirmation. Even her sneaky kids were covering for her. Carolyn called me from the airport Thursday night and asked me to come get her. Ha ha. Anyway, on my way I called her house and got Scout, my niece. I asked to talk to her mom and she told me "She's at the mall". Reeeaalllly....funny kids.
I was so happy to see her. Annika loves her so much too! We did lots of great stuff. Went for a walk in HB on the beach, lots of Starbucks, went to the Farmer's Market/The Grove in LA, more Starbucks, and hit Downtown Disney as well. And more Starbucks. And the bookstore. Yeah. A perfect weekend! Cried when she left, though.
Did I mention she's also a cat whisperer? Fuego, the tailed Calico - likes no one but me, and well, Carolyn. Kept poking and headbutting her all weekend for attention. And Osa, of course, finds any sucker with a lap.
Home Invasion! Our little house is slowly being morphed into some primary color explosion!