Dad Was Right.

As a 32 year old woman, I never expected that my dad could have much more to teach me. Well, again...I was wrong. My dad has been trying to tell me for 2 months that I needed to give Taylor formula and baby cereal. He said that once she gets full she will sleep better. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend giving solids before 4 months so I decided to wait until then to start. She turned 4mo on Oct. 2nd.

I also decided to stop breastfeeding and switch Taylor to formula. She is only taking a bottle now. 2 of her feedings are formula and I am pumping the rest. Tomorrow I will bump her up to 3 formula bottles and increase to 4 in 3 days. By the end of next week she will only be on formula.

As a result of the formula and solids, Taylor is now sleeping almost through the night. She went to bed at 8pm last night and she slept until 5:30 in the morning. She woke up again at 7am. After eating, she still acted sleepy, so I brought her to bed with me and we woke up at 9:30am. IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!

So, this post is for my Dad. I wanted to say first that after all this time, you are still right. Second, I love you for sitting quietly by and letting me learn on my own. Now that I am a parent, I know how hard is. Even now I want to hand Taylor her toys instead of watching her get frustrated trying to reach for them.

Because Taylor is now on a bottle, I am finally regaining my independence. For the last 4 months I couldn't leave her for more than 2-3 hours b/c she was breastfed. Now, Brodie is keeping Tay so that I can get out again. I have joined a Mom's group and we have weekly play dates at the Park or someones house and many other weekly outings. We had our first play date at the Park today and Taylor loved it. She sat in a big-girl swing for the first time.

For the last four months I have felt like someone was holding my head underwater and now I have come up for air. So, thanks for your suggestion Dad. I wish I would have taken your advice when she was 3 months but I am glad I didn't wait till she was 5 months. Taylor and I are both happier girls...and that makes Brodie VERY happy! ;)

I LOVE YOU DADDY!!! ~your little girl~

4 Months Old

Today is a big day (9-10-09). Taylor started strictly eating from a bottle yesterday allowing me some much needed independence. She is also eating solid foods now. She has a little rice ceral, and as treat for eating that, I'll give her some home made baby food. Her first food was pear. It was too sweet for her so I tried some pumpkin and she loved it.

She also got her first tooth today! I had noticed a gray spot on her bottom gum at the peditrician's office on Wednesday but I just thought it was another nodule. She has a few of them as they are very common in babies. But today Brodie and I went out for the first time without Taylor and our neighbor was keeping her. She texted me that I didn't tell her that Taylor had a tooth. I couldn't believe it! We got home and I stuck my finger in her mouth. Sure enough, my little baby had a tooth at 4 months and 8 days old. She is really growing up fast now.

She loves to stand. We bought her a jumper and she has a great time bouncing in it. She is getting too big for her swing and that is sad. It is a very easy way to get her to take a nap. She is leaning forward in it now and it doesn't have a harness so I am getting less inclined to put her in it.

She was sick last Sunday. We had to take her the ER with a 102 fever. The peditrician said it was Roseola. About 2 days after her fever broke she broke out in a rash from head to toe. My baby was so sick and I was really scared. She felt so horrible and slept most of the day. Thankfully she is feeling fine now.

At her 4 month check-up, she received her immunizations and tolerated them very well. She weighed 16.5 lbs (94%'ile) and was 27" tall (101%'ile).

She still isn't sleeping well at night and never really has. Therefore, I have decided not only to introduce solid foods but to switch her to formula as well. I guess my milk is enough to fatten her up but it just doesn't stay with her long enough. She still wants to eat every 2-3 hours day and night. Due to this, I have discovered why isolation and sleep deprevation are forms of torture. It's amazing, we can't torture terrorist but Mom's have to live and be productive under both sets of circumstances.

My husband actually called me a Saint today! It made me proud...sometimes a new mom feels so lost trying to figure her baby out. I guess I am not doing that bad of a job. {smile}