Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Hyper Piper Turns Four Months Old

It's my 4-month birthday!!!
So much has happened over the past week in Piper's development, it almost seems unfathomable.  Just a couple of weeks ago she was still just doing simple roll-overs and sitting with her Boppy.  All of a sudden last week, however, she has shot up from being slightly ahead to bounding right off the charts.  Last Tuesday, Piper went in for her 4-month check-up and vaccinations.  I knew she was pretty advanced, but the pediatrician confirmed it all for me.  She was amazed how Piper flew through the 4-month development questions and stated she was definitely on a 6-month level.  I was proud of my little go-getter baby, but I know this means I am going to have my work cut out for me considering she's going mobile a lot sooner than expected.

All smiles with my cousin Haven!
I can no longer leave her alone for a second unless she is strapped into something.  She crawls in her silly commando style to go wherever she wants, unless she's having a stuck-in-reverse moment, which happens every so often.  She gets so frustrated when this happens, and I understand.  There is nothing worse than trying to get your favorite toy in front of you and ending up further and further away from it.  That would definitely piss me off, too!  Besides being able to sort of crawl/scootch her way around, she's also just about able to maneuver out of her swing.  I have always used the seat belt with the one at home, as it sits more upright.  The one at the office, however, lays flatter and is more cradle-like, plus I'm always right there with her when she is in it, so I have never used the seat belts...until now.  Now she wriggles her way right down to the bottom by bouncing and squirming around.  If I left her to her own devices, she'd bounce herself right off the end.  So, needless to say, I now have to lock her in so she won't Lemming herself off the far edge.  She can now literally bounce the whole seat contraption off the ground.  She has earned herself the Hyper Piper moniker!

Still smiling!

With my cousin, Larkin!
Having a moment!
Besides her mobile ways, she also has advanced in her sedentary ways.  She just started, all of a sudden, sitting on her own last Wednesday evening.  She is mainly using the tripod stance to keep herself upright, but she is constantly learning how to balance whilst trying to play with her toys.  I love watching her go for one of her balls and toppling over because she refuses to let go as it rolls away under her grasp.  She has yet to master rolling it to herself, but I'm sure that will change very quickly.  Along with sitting upright on her own, she now also has the ability to stand while holding onto objects.  Yep, her legs are way strong and she likes to stand all the time.  I have bragged before about her holding her own weight on her legs since she arrived home from the hospital.  She has been standing with help for forever.  But standing while holding on to such things as the arches on her play mat, her Nana's knees, with her hands against the mirror, whatever can help her maintain her balance works.  Don't get me wrong, she is not pulling herself up on these objects as of yet, well except for Nana's knee, but she does like to be placed where she can hold on to them, it gives her great joy to plant her two feet firmly in place and explore her world from yet another angle.

I can sit on my own!!!
Hog fan all the way!
Such a big girl!

Checking herself out in the mirror.
Speaking of joy, she now gets the giggles on a daily basis.  They aren't always in response to something we're doing with her, but sometimes now she amuses herself and gets the giggles while examining one of her toys or staring at something in her crib.  Whatever is going on inside that little head of hers most assuredly is funny at times.  I really do wonder what goes on inside her head.  What is it that makes her laugh when she is alone?  And speaking of little heads...

She cracks me up!
(Youtube link)

Her measurements at her check-up were nothing unexpected.  She weighed 14lbs 7ozs (73%), which was a wee bit more than I expected, especially since she is so physically fit underneath all her clothes...well except for them cute, chunky baby thighs!  She was 24 1/4" (55%) in length and had a very tiny head at only 15 1/4" (5%).  I think the head measurement was slightly off as my mom and I kept getting closer to 16", but either way I'm not worried about her small head and neither was the doc.  My mom has a tiny head, and Piper is probably going to have a petite (skinny) frame like my mother, which includes a smaller head.  I'm so happy she doesn't have a giant baby noggin.  I have seen some babies with massive heads, and just looking at them hurts my vagina!  Her little head fits perfectly with her size and shape, I wouldn't want her any other way.

I'm perfectly proportioned!
At her visit she also received her next round of vaccinations.  I was utterly shocked that she didn't cry more. She screamed, turning bright red when the needles went in, but as soon as I picked her up she quieted right down.  It was less than 30 seconds from mad to okay with it all.  She did have a bit of the grumps later in the day, probably when the soreness from the shots kicked in, but I gave her a bit of Tylenol and she settled down.

Fist bumps!
Okay, now let's move on to the tooth update.  Yes, she is still drooling and gnawing and chewing and getting tooth grumps, but a tooth has yet to come to the surface and makes it's way through her gums.  I feel like she should cut one just any day now, but she may be walking before she has teeth if she keeps things up.  I've read that some children will have months of on and off teething symptoms before a tooth actually emerges, so I've quit holding my breath about it.  Some days her gums kill her, some days she's fine, it's always a crap shoot around here with all that.

Hanging onto Nana's knee.
Let's see, what else?  Oh yeah, we went out for her birthday to celebrate.  It was her official restaurant debut, and she behaved the entire time.  She didn't even get upset when the lights went out for a bit as a storm was rolling through.  She did throw a fit all the way home, though, as it got past her usual meal time and hunger kicked in.  The following day we continued the celebration and I gave her a few itty bites of ice cream.  She loved it and totally spazzed out wanting more!  Don't worry, I limited her intake.  She got just enough to know it was a treat, get a sugar rush, and get her face all sticky.  Good times!

Did you say ice cream?
The last thing I want to touch on is her current diet and digestive issues.  The doc asked if I had put her on solids yet, which I was completely honest about since I have had her on solids since just before three months, and the doc was actually happy with my choice to do so.  She said I had made the right decision as far as Piper went to have put her on solids already.  As a matter of fact, they were going to to tell me do so if I had yet to do so.  Piper is already on 2nd foods and began meats a couple weeks ago.  So far she has yet to meet a food she dislikes, which makes me so happy she's not a picky eater.  I'm a bit of a foodie, so I'm hoping she'll take after me and not turn into one of those kids who will only eat macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets.  As for her digestive issues, remember she had GERD, I took her off her meds last week and she hasn't had a single instance of reflux or major spitting up.  It seems her tummy problems have cleared right up, and a lot of that probably stems from adding solid foods to her diet.  Although she may be eating solids, she is definitely not missing her boob time!  She still treats me like a cow and never misses a feeding.

I have no idea how my belly button got wet!
Can I have some more ice cream?
Although her solid food is on a schedule, I still give her the boobs whenever she wants.  We have a new Sunday morning routine where I give her a boob while laying down when she first wakes up.  We then drift back off to sleep together, with her waking and nursing here and there whenever she needs or wants.  It's such a delightful way to start the day.  Last night we had some thunderstorms roll through and I had to bring her into my bed for a 5:30am feeding since she couldn't get back to sleep after all the thunder and lightning woke her up.  We did the lie in bed method and it worked like a charm.  We ended up being late to work because we both fell back to sleep so soundly we missed out usual wake-up time.  It was lovely!

Still the best feeling ever!
Well that about catches everything up to date with Piper's milestones.  A day does not go by where she doesn't astound me with something new.  Lately, however, her large newisms (good word, right?) are coming closer and closer together.  It's hard to believe that four months ago she was still inside me.  It seems like a lifetime has already passed since she's been in my arms.  People have always told me to hold tight to these first years as they fly by, but to me time has seemed to slow down remarkably.  Maybe it's because I have the privilege to be with Piper all day, everyday.  Or maybe it's her way of keeping me young.  For whatever reason, I hope time continues to slowly drift by, because I'm enjoying every second of it.  Life's good, life's really, really good!

And here are some extra pics, cause you know you wanna see 'em!


I die!

Sleepy face

Hanging with Papa!

With my cousin, Haven.
My many faces!
UPDATE (8/16/13):  Just this week Piper began cutting either the upper right canine or first molar!  So much for thinking those incisors were on the way like normal children, lol.  And yes I'm being serious, a part of the tooth has broken through the gum line.  She is also pushing up to all fours and lunging forward, so her crawling is getting much more regular.  I bet she's full-on crawling by 5 months, ugh!  She just last night finally started laying on her back and deliberately sticking her toes in her mouth, so her leg control is now spot-on. And lastly, she started saying "hi" yesterday.  I shit you not!  She has said it a couple of times before, but now it seems more intentional and she is consistently practicing that word.  I don't think I'm going to count it as her first word, but I certainly could.  What will my obviously alien child do next?  Stay tuned to find out!

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