The latest and greatest

Janie had her 4 month doctor's appointment a couple of weeks ago. She was still skinny at 12 lbs 8 oz in the 25th percentile. But oddly enough, she's not quite as tall any more at 24 1/4 inches, down to the 50th percentile from the 75th previously. Kind of strange. We were expecting the opposite since she has a tall (and handsome!) freak of nature for her dad, meant in the nicest way possible.

The poor girl got more shots. We learned last time that it's the day after her shots that she doesn't do very well so we expected Saturday to be a rough day for her and we weren't disappointed. It seemed like her tummy was upset all day and she just wanted to be cuddled. There were a couple of times she was pretty happy though and we got the amazingly cute video above of her giggling during one of those times. She sure smiles A LOT but she doesn't seem to use her giggles that often. She's getting better though.

One other thing about her appointment that surprised me a little was her doctor's assertiveness about starting her on solids. She's had a few problems with me eating dairy and peanuts in her first few months so I was anticipating him suggesting to wait a little longer because of it. The few books I've read about this stuff have talked about waiting until 6 months and after to really get going on them when there's a sign of food allergies too. But then he starts talking about all these more recent studies that have confirmed the best time frame to start babies on solids to reduce the risk of food allergies down the road is between 4 and 6 months. So this is her first go at her rice cereal. She hasn't done too bad either the last couple of weeks but it's been really hard finding opportunities to feed her. Most of her baby sitting has been with other babies this last week and they haven't tried that level of multi-tasking yet. And the evenings have been a little crazier with me having to work late and having mutual or other things that have come up. If she's too hungry she won't do it because she's VERY impatient about having her hunger satisfied. But if she's too full she won't do it either. So finding that balance between all the insanity has been challenging. We tried giving her apples once but she just really wasn't so sure about it. It was pretty cute.

As for other news, her aunts have enjoyed spoiling her with hair bows and new toys. She even comes home with her hair moussed and curled.
There was one day I went to pick her up from Amy's (her sitter) and there she was plugging away on her binky. I was shocked! My anti-binky baby was enjoying a binky!!! I've been able to get her to take it a few other times too so maybe she's not the binky-hater she once was. She has become an EXCELLENT snuggler. She still prefers hanging out on the floor for general play time. But when she's a little tired or just in a mellow mood she loves being cuddled now. It's so sweet. Grandma sure doesn't complain either.
She also used to be quite uptight during bath time but has now gained an appreciation for cleanliness. She even looks forward to it now. As soon as those clothes start coming off she just smiles. And with how talented she is at kicking those legs all over the place, the splashing sure gets a little crazy. It's pretty fun.