4 months! Deutsch. Evil Hats.

These pictures have nothing to do with the 4 month check up, (except that she is getting way big for the co-sleeper) but she has a lovely new crib from my mom and a mobile we bought on a break from pre-natal classes. (So dangerous to take pre-natal classes at a store, breaks are ALL temptation, we also got her a dinosaur on wheels which I really like.) Because the mobile is a German toy I feel obligated to speak German while she lies in her crib. Die Vögel fliegen auf der Himmel. oops! dem Himmel. die? No, dem, dem, dem. Let's just say I am rather out of practice and gender and case were never my strong suit. I find myself saying rather silly sentances, the bird is blue, the bird is orange, the bird is yello, and this one is green. However she seems to love it. Especially when I hit the birds and make them spin. Also when I wave my fingers down to her face, Die Sonne scheint und die Vögel singen für Katya.






Katya had her four month check-up on Wednesday! She is healthy and lovely - the text book baby - in terms of weight gain, etc. We talked to the pediatrician about spreading out the vaccination schedule, which he wasn't thrilled with, but was respectful of. (Even if he did insist on doing round number two a week from Wed, not a month.) 

After her vaccination (two sticks) she cried for about 30 seconds. After I put her hat on to go, she cried much longer. Apparently hats are still her nemesis.

 

Age

Sadly, we realized that we no longer tell people how old Katya is in weeks, or days. She is now 3 1/2 months old. Actually, closer to 3 3/4 months. Not weeks. We are also adjusting to other people having smaller babies (as if having babies stopped when she was born.) We hate it. All the straps on all her chairs have been adjusted so they are higher. She is growing out of her green stitching diapers and grew out of the yellow stitched ones long ago. Sigh. She is so big now that we can hardly believe it. (She also wears size 6 month clothes and has since she was three months old.) Sooooo big. We never understood before why people get sad when their babies get bigger. Sigh.

We have rollover

Last week she learned to roll over. There were a few days of angry grunting and squirming before she finally figured out how to do it. Once she had she rolled on to her tummy several times and then quit after two or three days of rolling constantly. She can't do tummy to back yet. Though she is much less cranky about being on her stomach, if you push on her feet she can sqirm across the mat.

First Solid Food

We didn't plan her first food since we're supposed to discuss the issue with the pediatrician in a couple of weeks. Katya decided herself that it was time to sample food. We went to our favorite restaurant a few days ago, Rami's in Brookline. They serve middle eastern food and the restaurant is one of those great small places which are always full. Even on a freezing blustery day you can expect to see the five tables packed and several people ordering take out. We don't get there often, sadly, because it's across the river in Brookline, and Bostonians for some strange reason will drive an hour to get to something on their own side of the river but won't drive 30 minutes to the other side of town.

Katya was sitting on my lap while I was eating (Falafel, Hummus and Salad) At one point she reached out, very purposefully stuck her hand in the hummus, painted my sweater with it and then sucked the rest off her hand. She then ate a little bit of it off my finger before we decided there is probably a reason rice cereal is usually a first food and so we probably shouldn't feed her anymore.

But as a first food we think she couldn't have picked better.

3 months old! and cool new blanket.

Katya is already 3 months old! It is very weird to go out in public and see people with babies younger than she is.

The day before yesterday she spent most of the day mad that she can't roll over yet. She would get about half way there and grunt and complain, struggling to get all the way onto her stomach before giving up and flopping back on her back. She is also very insistent on sitting all the way up and will get very frustrated if seated reclining on a pillow, often manages to get all the way up only to topple forward and be caught and put back.

We also bought a really wonderful product this week (for anyone with a new baby out there). It is called a Nekkie Blankie - which is a silly name but a very cool thing for any new parent to have. The bottom is a water proof fabric which is still very soft and the top is a layer which wicks moisture away from the skin, inside is a super absorbent very thick cotton layer. It is great for diaper changes, letting baby's skin dry out between changes or after baths, learning to drink out of a cup, basically anytime a kid might wet, spit up or spill.

Julia face

This is a face which has almost dissapeared. We think she looks a little like her cousin Julia when she does this. (though this isn't the best picture of it.) She does this when she is annoyed, though we have rarely seen the actual Julia look annoyed. She especially did this when I had to blow on her face alot when she was very little to wake her up and get her to eat. It never worked.

Snow dog

We had tons of snow here in December. Phoebe love it even though she can barely walk in this much snow; up to her belly at least.

A nap with Daddy

A nap at about 10 weeks. That little bug rattle on her foot didn't really interest her much at the time but she has discovered her hands now and stares at her feet sometimes as if ready to play with them but not sure quite what they are for.

holding her head up

These are from the beginning of December when she was about 8 or 9 weeks old. She was already holding her head up very well and loved to fly.

Approximately 6 weeks or so

One month of growth - wow

Here she is at the end of November...








.....and the end of December

The blue wraps are actually very different sizes, she can't wear the one with the boats anymore. She is getting very healthy and round.

No photos for a while.....

I have been reminded that we haven't posted ANY photos for a very long time. So I will be posting more in the next couple of days - starting with some older ones so you can see how big she is getting.

Immunizations and other baby drama

This was a big week for Katerina who had her 2 month immunizations on Thursday. Four big needles - ouch! We ended up with a very sleepy baby for the rest of the day, who woke up, about 2:30 and cried for 5 or 10 minutes straight. I realized how lucky we are to have a baby who doesn't scream for hours on end. She usually (usually) cries only when she needs something.

Saturday we had our first parental nightmare when her stroller tipped while we were shopping. She is fine. SHE IS FINE. But we are rattled and much chastened and will never ever put a diaper bag on the handles of the stroller again. Fortunately a bunch of blankets were piled on the boot of her carseat and she basically fell into them. We then had an E.R. visit - just to get her checked out. Children's Hospital was impressive and wonderful to both of us, but even when they said they were 99% sure she was fine it was terrifying and I became convinced I was the only mom to knock over a stroller with such a little baby. (Apparently I'm not.) She is fine - as I mentioned already but I can't say it too many times. She actually enjoyed the hospital and laughed and cooed at everyone who came to see her or even just walked by.

She is generally a very very happy baby. But cranky today - Dan is trying to get her to sleep right now. She sees no need for sleep, especially at night. No pictures today, sorry, but we'll get more up soon.

One advantage of cloth diapers

This is my favorite diaper wrap. It fit beautifully a week ago and now she has almost grown out of it.
 

Holding her own head up. Kind of scary because as soon as she is sleepy she can't hold it up anymore.

An attempt to nap

6 Week photos

If she could talk she'd say "wow is this hat dorky."

First Christmas Outfit

Nap

The cutest Bunny Suit
 

Church visit...in Sage's Baptismal/Christening gown

Everyone other than Sage looks very dressed up...but I have the new mommy stretch pants and uncombed hair.

 

 

Click on picture for bigger picture and album.

Child labor laws already violated

Some photos of Katya when her Grandmother Dorothea visited. I'm not sure that this counts as touch typing...

dorothea's ibaby pictures

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First photos of Katerina

She is here! Katerina (Katya) was born on Oct 7th at 1:21 p.m. Please forgive us being self-indulgent new parents as we steal a few moments while she sleeps to upload our photographs.

Album One First days in the hospital and at home

Photos of Katerina (Katya) meets the new world and has visits from some of her family.

Katerina

Click above for more photos.

Album Two First Bath

We discovered, happily, that Katerina loves the water.

First Bath

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More later, Sage is going to eat something before going back to sleep.