4 months, 2 days

 

Kerala had her 4 month appointment today. Poor girl - she had to have four shots. Other than her face turning beet red and crying for a few seconds, Kerala did really well. She calmed down as soon as we held her and was actually even smiling before we left the exam room. The doctor said she is doing great - she is steadily gaining weight and is still 25% for weight. Her percentage for height dropped from 75% to 50-75% but the doctor said she kind of expected that Kerala wouldn't be as tall as her initial measurements indicated. We also go the go ahead to use an exercauser with her. The doctor also gave us some tips on getting her to nap longer - basically Kerala will only nap for about 30 to 45 minutes if she naps in her crib. If I let her nap in our bed she typically will nap for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The doctor said to go ahead and let her sleep in the bed because it's probably just her signal that she wants to be close to me rather than be in a crib. The doctor also said that she thought this would probably pass when I go back to work. After the appointment, Kerala slept from 11:00am until about 2:30. When she woke up she was really fussy so I gave her a bit more tylenol because it seemed like her legs were really bothering her. She took two more naps and then went down about 8:15. We heard a couple of whimpers out of her, but she seems to be sleeping pretty well.

The last two nights we have tried to put Kerala down while she is still a bit drowsy rather than rocking her completely to sleep. Last night worked a bit better than tonight, but overall she seems to be getting better at going to sleep on her own.

I forgot to mention in our last blog that Troy made his own root beer. He is still working with recipes. The first batch was a bit strong and we really couldn't stomach it, but he is going to try again.

3 months, 4 weeks, 1 day

 
 

We have had a pretty eventful weekend with Kerala. On Friday, we attended our yoga class. We were super happy to discover that our friend Jessica and her son Gabe were also enrolled. Kerala had a pretty good class - she got a bit fussy after some of the moves, so we sat out a portion of the class. On Saturday, we met one of my old colleagues for brunch - Kerala was wonderful at the restaurant. She only fussed when we were leaving. After brunch we headed over to our friends JT and Tamra's for a bit. Today, Kerala attended her first farmers' market - she was perfect the entire time. We finished up the weekend at my parents' house for dinner.

Kerala has been sleeping really well the last couple of days. For the past two nights she has slept in her crib the entire night (I usually end up bringing her to bed with us if she wakes up past 3am). She still wakes up during the night - but only at 11:00pm, 2:30am and then sometime after 6:30. On Saturday, she took a 2 hour nap in the late afternoon and went to bed so easily. Today, it seemed like she napped the entire day. Troy even got her to go to sleep on her own - I usually rock her to sleep. I don't know if she is getting into more of a routine or a growth spurt - but she definitely seems to be sleeping better. Also, her napping better during the day helps with getting her to bed at night - she normally screams before she goes to bed, but I think that may be because she has been overtired. Finally, I forgot to mention that Kerala has begun to really like her baths. She has been splashing like crazy lately leaving me and the bathroom wall sopping wet. It's been fun to see her go from hating her baths to actually enjoying. I think she is offically ready for water fights - so Jim come back (he claims to be up 2 to 0 against Kerala in water fights).

Tomorrow Kerala turns 4 months - I can't believe it! It's kind of sad because it means I'll be heading back to work soon.

3 months, 3 weeks, 5 days

 

Kerala has been rolling like crazy lately. Up until today, she had only rolled from back to tummy once, but today she did it about 10 times in a row. It was pretty darn cute. Also, Kerala has learned to suck in air and make these crazy sounds. I am happy she did it during the day because if I heard it at 4:00am over the monitor it would have freaked me out. She is also giggling more and today I got a belly laugh out of her.

Since our last post, we went to our first pilates class. Kerala seemed to enjoy it a ton until she got a bit tired towards the end. For most of the moves, Kerala sits on my tummy so we can look at each other which she likes. On Tuesday, we had another music class. Kerala did really well - we went through the entire music class and dinner at Chrissy and Sean's without any crying. Also, during class Kerala was talking a ton - usually she is pretty quiet during the class, but this week she squealed a lot. Again, this week I had to sing in front of the class! On Wednesday, Troy's mom came for a visit. It was great - she cleaned our house and did our laundry in between playing with Kerala. Tomorrow we head off to yoga class with our friend Lara and her son Andrew.

3 months, 3 weeks, 1 day

 

The family has a very busy past few days. On Friday, Kerala and I headed for another mommy and me yoga class. Kerala did really really well. The first class we attended she was hysterical for half of the class, but this class she was pretty content throughout the entire class. The class was really fun and I think I am going to sign up for an 8 week session. On Saturday, Troy surprised me for our anniversary (seven years!) by sending me to a local spa and then arranging for babysitters so we could head out for a quick dinner. We actually made it back in time from dinner to give Kerala her bath and get her to bed. Thanks to Todd, Brandy, Jim and Karin for babysitting again! On Sunday, we took it easy because it's so hot her (sorry Kim and Heather - I know it's not as hot as where you guys are). We didn't really go out until we headed to my parents for dinner. Kerala was really fussy at mom and dad's because she was really tired. She only took one real afternoon nap. When we tried putting her down for her later afternoon nap she refused to go to sleep. Fortunately, she did sleep a little bit at my parents and she went to bed at her normal time.

Lately, Kerala has been screeching really loudly when Troy kisses her cheek and neck. She seems to be enjoying the kisses although the screeching is super super loud. She is also raising her butt off the ground during tummy time which is pretty cute. We have attempted to get her to like tummy time a bit more by reserving her flower toy only for tummy time, which seems to help a bit. Kerala has also begun to stick one of her fingers in her nose - when she puts her two fingers in her mouth a third sometimes ends up in her nose. She seems to be a bit confused about whatever is in her nose. While it sounds gross, it's actually really cute. Tomorrow we are going to pilates with Jessica, Gabe, Tamra and Silas.

3 months, 2 weeks, 4 days

 

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Yesterday Kerala and I went to her music class - I actually had to sing in front of the whole class! I was not so psyched about that given that I am tone death and there is an opera singer student in our class. Other than that, Kerala and I had a great class. It was the first year in awhile that we did not head down to see the fireworks in person - we did watch them on tv though (not the same at all). Troy didn't have to work today which was very nice. We went on a super long walk to check out a new organic pizza place. Unfortunately, it was closed. Kerala enjoyed the walk a lot - she was in her baby bjorn so she got to see a ton of stuff on the walk. Once we moved her to her stroller she fell right to sleep and stayed asleep until we got home. The three of us wrapped up Fourth of July with a bbq at our friends Heather and Stu's. It's crazy the difference a year makes - last year on the Fourth we had just found out we were pregnant and now we have our little girl!

3 months, 2 weeks, 2 days

 

Since our last blog, Troy and I had a night out on the town, we celebrated my dad's 70th birthday and Kerala rolled from back to tummy (well, almost the whole way)! On Friday night, Troy and I attended a work function of Troy's at the planetarium. Kerala was in good hands - we had four babysitters for her! Our friends, Brandy, Todd, Jim and Karin agreed to babysit for Kerala - they even gave her a bath and got her to bed around her normal bedtime. According to the babysitting crew, Kerala was even kicking in the bathtub and having a ton of fun! Troy and I had a really nice evening out - it was great to meet all of Troy's coworkers. The last time Troy and I had a date night (or at least, non Kerala evening out) was when she was about 6 weeks old. While I do love spending every minute with Kerala, it was nice to get out.

On Saturday, my Aunt Anne and Uncle Don hosted a 70th birthday party for my dad. We saw a whole bunch of relatives and friends from down state. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos - the only photo I have is of Kerala in the lap of Larry, a family friend. Kerala was pretty fussy during the party because she was a bit sleep deprived - she usually sleeps in the car, but for some reason she was up for most of the ride out to my Aunt Anne and Uncle Don's.

On Sunday, the most exciting event of all occurred - Kerala rolled most of the way from back to tummy (check out the blogged photo). Up until Sunday, Kerala had only rolled from tummy to back. Sunday was her first day of rolling back to tummy - we took the advice of our friend Maureen and placed her favorite toy out of her reach and she rolled for it. Let's see if she keeps it up. Kerala has also been sitting really well and bearing weight on her legs. Tomorrow we are going to try to go to a mommy and baby pilates class at 9:00 and then our music class at 4:30.