Four months

Hello my supremely large child! You are a beast it's true, you are a lovable beast. While you're becoming more aware of the world around you, you don't seem to enjoy being made aware of the cold. For now you hate the breezes and the cold air that sneaks in at your hands and face when we go out. You seemed to be super duper into ripping wrapping paper, but I'm thinking that was just because you seemed to think it was deeee-licious and promptly tried to eat everything you ripped off. You were 17lbs 15oz and 28in at your check-up. Instead of continuing to grow at a rate that is perpendicular to the growth curve. You've now decided that parallel is more fun. You're still in the 95+%ile for head, height and weight. I will continue to blame your father for this since your projected height is now 5'10"-6'1". Now on to the lists!

Margaret can:

• stick out her tongue
• sit by herself
• grab her toes

Margaret likes:

• bouncing
• flying!
• Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes
• Christmas Lights
• cereal!
• the cats!

Margaret does not like:

• tissues
• having her nose cleaned

All in all it's been a fabulous time with you. You laugh at all of my jokes and you like it when I get silly- so I think it's safe to say we've got quite a ways to go until I actually scar you.

Snot

You're full of it. You don't like it. Buuuut you don't like me trying to get it out a whole lot more. So you sniffle and you suffer. We try to make you laugh as best we can, it doesn't always work.

I'm pretty sure this is the worst cold that any baby has ever had in the history of the world.

I'm fairly certain that by the time you read this you will be all too aware of my love of hyperbole.
I appologize.

BABY SITS ALL BY HERSELF!

This is what I've been typing to people for the last 15min. Because you did. It was epic.

the littlest Blue Bird

You were very obviously hungry, but you really didn't want anything to do with the bottle. But for someone who is on a pure liquid diet- this poses a problem. So I figured maybe we could give cereal a try.

By the third spoon you figured the game out. And you were going to do whatever it took to win. Everytime I got the spoon near your face, not even your mouth, you'd open your mouth up as wide as you could a tip your head back like a baby bird.

You more than liked it. You didn't make any weird faces. You just ate. So we'll try it again tomorrow and see how that round goes.

Thanks for your patience! ...or being easily amused

I needed to make Christmas Cut Outs in the worst way possible today and you weren't too keen on napping. So you had to sit and watch me for a while. I gave you a bunch of rattles and teethers hoping that would be enough to keep you happy.

It wasn't.

You would make these terrible grunting noises if I went what you thought was too long without looking at you. For the record, I was only looking away from you for about 30sec-1min to check the dough I was rolling out. So it's not like I was leaving you for 5-10min. I decided to change my apron to see if that would help your mood- and it did. You didn't so much care for the pink polka dotted one, which Bailey-Gates will have to come talk to you about in a few months. But I can't blame you too terribly much for your preferences, because the one you liked was black, red and cream. So there was a lot of contrast for you to look at.

The good news is I got all my cookies baked so Uncle Joe will be happy. The bad news is you were needy enough that I didn't get to frost any. Let's hope I can get your dad to watch you for even an hour or two this weekend so I can finish this project!

You, me and diapies

You're my daughter- it's true. When you were sick you started insisting on pulling the diapies off our shoulders when we burped you. After you snagged it you HAD to hold it. There was no taking it away.

Now? If you're sleeping or sleepy and I give you a diapie- you calm down AND mash it against your face.
I've decided that this is pretty much the best thing ever. Besides you.

Three Months

You are turning into quite the little stinker dear! You are developing strong opinions and you are making them known. Today was your first Thanksgiving. You slept for most of yesterday and quite a bit of today. I was hoping that that meant your dad and I could sit and have dinner together- something that never happens any more. The increase in sleep also makes me nervous because it can mean a growth spurt or you're getting sick again. If I get to choose, I'd like the spurt please!

You slept through the sweet potato boiling, the butter melting, the potato mashing, the stuffing stirring and the turkey carving. But as soon as we started putting things on the table- you woke up. We put you in the highchair and pulled it up to the table between our two chairs so you could see both of us. You were still groggy enough that you didn't notice you weren't being held for long enough for us to finish dinner.
I'm not sure how you feel about Thanksgiving since you spit up all over your Thanksgiving shirt and had to be changed before 2:00PM. Next year should be better for you though, you'll get real turkey and mashed potatoes!
We don't know your exact stats at 3mos because the next time you see the pediatrician is next month. But we do know that you were 15lbs15oz at your sick visit on the 11/15. So it's safe to say you're over 16lbs now.

You are a true champion

People joke that moms have nothing to talk about except for poop- you my dear haven't been giving me much in the way of other material.
You've succeeded in pooping out of your diaper at least once a day for the past 4. Today was different. The only holes it didn't escape from were your arm holes. And I'm convinced that had I not checked to see why my lap felt so warm you could have in fact worked it out your arm holes.
I had to cut the outfit off of you. I'd say I hope you're happy, but I witnessed the giggle fit you had first hand. So I'm pretty sure you were quite pleased with yourself.

The insatiable beast

Tonight you got cereal in your bottle. I'm fairly certain that the pediatrician will scold me when I inform them at your next visit, but I really don't care. You were taking 8oz bottles every 2 hours and you were managing to finish them in about 15-20min.

That's a lot of food for such a small person. I hoped that adding cereal might make you feel full longer, but we'll see.

Just so there's no debating later..

You are a beast.
We took you to the pediatrician because you were still acting and sounding sickly. They measured and weighed you just like they do at every visit.
26in, 15lb 15oz
When your dad took you to the pediatrician 6 days ago you were 15lb 10oz, so it's pretty safe to say I don't need to worry about you losing weight when you're sick- because you most certainly are not.

RasssssssPberries

At some point while home sick and miserable- you learned how to make raspberries. And you think they're hysterical. To be fair, I think they're pretty funny too. You just keep blowing spit bubbles while you make them, soaking your shirts.

We're rotting your brain, but we love you I swear!

People say that TV rots your brain. And your dad and I agree with that to a point. But we know that there are good shows out there for you and us, so we figure a little every now and then can't hurt right?

You like the flashing lights and music combination that your swing, soother and bouncer have to offer, so tonight we showed you Fantasia 2000. You seemed to like parts better than others which is fine, because honestly you can't love everything all of the time. But you watched, you smiled and you talked to the Flamingos, so I'm pretty sure you won't be scarred from your first 20min exposure to the Disney Empire

This is harder than it looks.

Tomorrow I'm leaving you with someone other than your dad for the first time. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried or scared. Miss Meg and Miss Erica are both more than capable of taking care of you- I'm just worried you'll start crying and they won't be able to get you to stop. Or you'll spit up all over the place and they won't be able to get you out of your clothes because you'll be too squirmy.

Just tell me that you'll behave yourself and everything will be fine.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.

I'm not so sure what you want though. People keep asking me. So I went ahead and made you a Christmas Wish List at Toys R Us.

Your dad might not be too thrilled with me though- most of the toys are noisy toys. >.<

Thanks for the scare!

Today I had to pick you up from day care in a near panic. You had a fever. You threw up. You weren't acting like yourself.

So I came to get you and then daddy came to take you to the pediatrician. They said you had a cold and it was no big deal. So we brought you home and snuggled you as much as you wanted. You didn't want to be held- you needed to be held. Any time either of us put you down you whimpered. It was hands down the saddest noise I've ever heard.

We'll probably keep you home from day care on Thursday too, we'll have to wait and see. For now I just hope you feel better. Because this is the pits.

Two Months

You madam are a trooper. You didn't even really fuss about your shots, you cried until I picked you up and then you stopped. You're still in the 95^th%ile for Head, Height and Weight. But I've been told once again that you're being fed too much and that they'd like to see your weight come down on the curve by your next visit. Between you, me and the internets- I doubt it'll happen. You're now 15lbs 7oz and 26in, and I'm ok with that. Now lets get on to the list of Margaret cans!

She can:

• belly laugh!
• 1/2 roll
• sit with help
• reach for objects

You didn't do too many new things this month, but that's ok. You're still figuring this whole place out- it's a lot to take in.

UPromise

Miss Margaret Moo has a UPromise Account, that means that you can shop online and help save for her college education!

Want to know how you can help? Just ask Mom!

Happy Birthday Poppa!

It doesn't sound like you'd expect- at least for me. But Miss Margaret laughed and it's pretty hysterical.

One Month

Today was your 4 week check up. You're in the 95^th%ile for Head, Height and Weight. There was a HUGE jump on the Weight Curve. Which didn't really surprise me, since you'd been taking 3-6oz every 2-3 hours. Eat that much food with a lazy life style and you're bound to see some poundage. You went from 7lb 11oz at birth, to 8lb 8oz at 1 week and then 11lb 7oz at 4 weeks.

Margaret can:

• hold up her head
• smile!
• do push-ups
• support weight on her legs
• follow objects
• grasp and hold
  
• coo

We had a bit of a scare yesterday, Similac issued a voluntary recall of 5 million cans of powdered formula. The formula may or may not have been contaminated- I'll leave it at that. The formula that was contaminated was said to cause infants GI distress/discomfort and potentially result in a refusal to eat. Well, you had tummy troubles starting your second and third day home- they never seemed to let up. As I sat entering the lot numbers off of our cans I found out that every one of the SIX! that we had was in the recall. I started to wonder if that was the cause of all our problems. While I know that it's common for babies to be gassy and spit up- I was a heck of a lot calmer knowing that I could eliminate the formula as a potential cause just by switching formula... again. Since we'd changed it three time within your 4 short weeks here I decided to just stick with the kind you were on now but get the liquid instead of the powder.

Twelve hours after the first bottle of the liquid formula it was like I had a different baby. There was no inexplicable screaming, no burps stuck in your tiny belly, and something I'm sure everyone was worried about- normal diapers.

It's been an interesting and exciting month, who knows what next month will bring.

Happy Anniversary to me!

Today you smiled your first smile. Not a gas smile. And honest to god hitheremom smile.

Thanks for that.

: )

So far, so good

Today was your 1w Well Child Check Up. I was hoping you'd be above your birth weight so I'd know we were headed in the right direction- boy oh boy were you ever.

8lb 8oz 21 3/4in

I'm thinking at this rate you'll end up taller than me.

Hello Miss Margaret

How did you get here? Well, it was easier than we thought, but harder than I expected.

They all thought that I would have a hard time getting pregnant- but I proved them wrong. They all thought that I would have a hard time with labor and delivery- but you proved them wrong.

You were late. Just like me. Just like I am damn near everywhere I go, but that's ok. We went to Sister's Hospital on Tuesday night. I got checked in and changed. Then we waited for the Doctors and Nurses. They took some blood, checked my blood pressure and your heart rate. I had to have an ultrasound to make sure that there was enough fluid and that you had enough room. Thankfully the answer to both questions was yes and they started the induction. If the answers had been no I would have been prepped for surgery- and I wasn't really looking forward to that.

They gave me Cervidil to help get things moving and an Ambien to help me sleep. The Ambien didn't work but boy oh boy the Cervidil did. The Cervidil started contractions and eventually they got painful, so that meant Nubain for the pain... which did not work. Your Dad sat in the room reading and occasionally napping while I watched a Law and Order marathon. I was supposed to relax and sleep for the next 12 hours but it just wasn't happening. I couldn't get comfortable.

Every time I had to go to the bathroom I had to call a nurse to come unhook me. I had to have my IV and the monitors unplugged so I could get out of bed. The combination of Ambien and Nubain made me feel like I was drunk- which wasn't so great. I almost fell over a few times which gave me a good scare so I decided to try to stay in bed from there on out.

Some where around 2:30-3:00AM I sent your Dad home. He needed more books to read as well as coffee and snacks. It didn't make much sense for me to have both of us there when nothing was happening. After he left things started to pick up, I got more uncomfortable and I started to feel... funny. I asked to go to the bathroom again, that's when my water broke. So there was a very panicked call to your Dad telling him he needed to stop whatever the hell he was doing and come back.

I kept getting more and more uncomfortable so I eventually asked for an epidural. I surprised myself, I thought I'd be crying asking for pain medication early on- but I managed to keep it together for quite sometime.

I will freely admit that there were a few times where I lost it. Once in my head and once out loud. I lost it out loud when they told me to stop pushing. My doctor wasn't there yet and they couldn't get a hold of him. No one knew where he was. That was unbelievably uncomfortable. I cried. I grabbed the sides of the bed and squeezed. And then I cried some more. At one point during this whole ordeal I heard my nurse Jen say "meconium." Then she called the nurses station and asked them to page someone from Neonatology. It was at that point that I lost it in my head. I was so worried that something was going to go wrong.

I closed my eyes- and I waited. I kept trying to tell myself that there was nothing I could do to fix it, I would just have to wait it out and hope for the best. I opened my eyes when they told me that a doctor was there- because I wanted to see who it was. I quickly closed them again and went back to trying to calm myself down.

I didn't open my eyes again until I heard the Neonatologist say that everything was fine and the nurses asked your Dad if he'd brought a camera. I kept my eyes closed hoping that I wouldn't see something that would make me panic more.

You were born Wednesday, August 25 2010 at 10:18 in the morning- after what felt like the longest hour and a half of my life. You weighed 7lbs 11oz and you were 21in long.

Welcome to the world baby girl, it's going to be a long trip.