This past month has been a full one for our little lady. We had our first call from daycare to pick up our sick kiddo. Whatever stomach bug she contracted quickly passed without much issue. A few days of a low grade fever, and some fun diapers later, the incident was a distant memory. Babies first fever of course had me worried out of my mind, but we made it through!
At her four month check up in January, we got the OK to start exploring solids. After Izzy showed obvious interest in our eating habits, I decided to give it a go with her. After much research, I started her off with oatmeal rather than rice cereal. The first day went great; she couldn't get enough of it. By the second and third day, she wasn't as interested. By day four, I noticed she had broken out in a rash on her tummy and chest. Needless to say, we were done with oatmeal. I waited a week before trying again with vegetables. We made it through three days each of butternut squash, green beans, and sweet potatoes. My girl loved herself some sweet potatoes (gets that from her mama)!
Luckily, none of those caused her to break out in a rash like the oatmeal did. However, after battling with some diaper rash issues, I decided to pause with the solids. While I think Izzy is ready to start on foods, I'm not 100% convinced her tummy is. I think we will give her system another month to mature, and start back up with solids at six months.
We are still on tooth watch. Every morning I check to see if those little devils have busted through her gums. So far, no sign of them, but the amount of drool such a small child is able to produce is astounding. Everything goes in her mouth these days; Andrew likes to ask Izzy how her "hand sandwich" is since she is constantly cramming her hands in her mouth. Her hands are certainly busy all day; same with her feet. Shortly before she turned four months old, we put together the activity bouncer we were gifted at her baby shower in November. The first few times she sat in it, she just sat there with her hands down by her sides. Now, she grabs at all the toys and has figured out how to spin herself around. We recently started the drop it, pick it up game. I used to say "there is no way I'm indulging my child in that game". Now, I find myself mindlessly picking up toys as she throws them on the floor for the tenth time. I have seen a saying on Facebook to the effect of "parenting was a lot easier when I was talking about my hypothetical children". I laugh every time I see this because the statement couldn't be more true!
We still aren't rolling over, but man we are getting dangerously close. Daycare says she has rolled over a couple of times for them. She does tend to get more tummy time at daycare, so I totally believe it. I think she is the only one at daycare now who isn't rolling over, so I fully expect she will get on the bus with the other babes here shortly. The baby closest in age to her at daycare was born about three weeks before she was, so I think they "hang out" together. Perhaps she will give into peer pressure. Just because she isn't rolling over doesn't mean she isn't mobile. While she hasn't figured out how to get herself across a room just yet, she can kick her legs hard enough to pull her whole body a fair distance. She has also mastered the full body rotation when she is down on the ground. She is working on sitting up unsupported at the moment; still needs to work on some core muscles (who doesn't)! I joked with Andrew this weekend that Izzy will probably skip crawling and go straight to walking; she always wants to stand. If she is fussy, stand her up and she is content. I can hold her by only her hands, and she will support her weight on her legs. From time to time, she will even take a step or two. Really this is all just too fast for me and time can go ahead and slow down. While I enjoy all the fun changes, sometimes I long to return to the days when she was in the womb and I carried her with me wherever I went. At least then I knew she was safe and protected.
I have my days where I struggle entrusting her care to others. I haven't had a full on melt down while leaving daycare, but it's safe to say I spend most of the day with Izzy on my mind. It's true what they say about your child being a piece of your heart walking around on the outside of your body. Some days, my anxiety gets the best of me and I have to remind myself that everything is fine and she is safe. Having Izzy has forced me to reflect on my own childhood. While I might have been annoyed with my mom at times, I realize now she was trying to protect me the best she could. Ahh, the mama bear instincts!
With the weather being so nice recently, we have been trying to get out on walks more (especially since I can't seem to find the time to get my butt back in the gym). While I was still on maternity leave and the temps were still high enough, we would go on walks in the afternoon. I tried putting her in her stroller and walking the dogs at the same time; that was a total cluster. I have since found wearing her and walking the dogs is much simpler for all of us! Luckily, she is pretty cooperative with me wearing her, and I have figured out how to get her strapped in without a second set of hands. Her mood dictates if I wear her facing me or facing out, and I quickly know if we picked the wrong direction. Have I mentioned this child has quite the attitude already (stop laughing, mom). She has no problems letting you know what she does and doesn't like.
This past month we have tried to master the art of a bedtime routine. I finally got wise and realized by putting her to bed at 8 or 9:00, she was overly tired and I was just causing more drama for all involved. I bumped her bedtime up to between 7 and 8:00 and we are all much happier as a result. She usually goes down without a fight as long as I catch her at the right moment. At the first sign of her rubbing her eyes, we are off to start our nighttime routine. Some nights that means we are getting ready for bed at 6:30 and some nights we start our routine at 7:15. It makes me sad when I only get to spend an hour or two at most with her at night, but I also don't want to suffer the wrath of an overly tired kiddo.
Our current battle is getting her to sleep in her crib without her arms being swaddled. We were making progress until she got sick with a cold. Right now, we are just doing whatever we can to get her to sleep as well as possible, which means sleeping in her rock and play. We don't want to make a habit of letting her sleep in her rock and play, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get a sick babe to sleep. Once she gets past this hump, we will be back to working with her on sleeping in her crib with her arms free.
I'm amazed how fast our baby is growing both physically and emotionally. She has darn near busted out the bottoms of her six month sleep and play outfits. She has a few one piece outfits in 9 months, but we will probably just move straight to 12 month outfits. Granted, she will be swimming in them for a while, but at least I knew she will get to wear some of them more than once. She has some adorable outfits I have only been able to get her in one time before she outgrew them. I was sad this weekend as I pulled the last of her three month pants out of her dresser. But, I decided she shouldn't have to suffer through wearing high water pants when she has a slew of six month pants waiting to be worn.
We are five months in on our parenting adventure, and can't wait to see what's in store for us this next month!
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