Four Month Doctor's Appointment

Yesterday we had Emery's four-month doctor's appointment, which included shots again (boo!). She did great, however! Her two-month shots were awful, she cried for a long time and was really fussy the entire day afterwards, so I was absolutely dreading this appointment. I am pleased to report that our little girl took them like a champ, only cried for a minute and then was smiling again.

The appointment was pretty standard, and her pediatrician is very happy with her growth. She is 14 lbs (still 70th percentile) and 24 inches long (60th percentile). Her development is right on track - Dr. Christian was actually surprised at how well Emery holds her head and neck, and marveled at the fact that she is almost sitting on her own! She said that she isn't worried that Emery shows zero interest in rolling, but encouraged us to keep trying with the tummy time. Even if she isn't rolling by 6 months she won't be too worried...but I hope that isn't the case! I didn't know this, but she told us that some babies just never roll for some reason.

She also gave us the go-ahead to start solid foods. I was originally going to wait a while before beginning cereal, but my dad (who went with me to this appointment since Adam had to be in Charlottesville) was so excited about it that we stopped on the way home and bought a box. When we got home, we just gave her a teaspoon's worth for fun - and she loved it! She sucked it off the spoon and kept looking for more. It was adorable. Below is a picture from my dad's cell phone since the batteries have run out of Adam's camera! I wish the quality is better, but at least we documented her first solid food:


Adam was a little disappointed that he missed it, so we repeated the experience last night at dinnertime. Emery did even better with Adam! She seemed to really know what to do when the spoon came towards her - she opened her mouth wide and moved towards it. And rather than sucking the spoon, she actually seemed to want it put in her mouth the correct way. Adam was amazed. I know that four and a half months is still a bit early (at least in my opinion) to start on cereal - let's face it, she was doing just fine on breastmilk alone! - but she enjoyed it so much that I suppose we'll continue with it.

Unfortunately the doc didn't have a lot of advice about the napping issue...she just recommended that we try to let Emery "cry it out" and I'm really not comfortable with that. I guess we'll keep doing what we've been doing, just trying to help her sleep as much as possible during the day (which isn't much). She sleeps pretty well at night for the most part, so I am really not too worried at this point.

The good news is that yesterday afternoon she took an hour-and-a-half nap and she slept through the night! I am sure that has to do with the shots, but sleep is sleep so I'll take it!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!