Searching for Serendipity: 4 Month Check Up and Our First Shots! (and mommy survived!)

Today was Nicolette's 4 month check up...baby girl is still "long and lean" - up to 13lbs 14 1/2oz (38th percentile) and 26 inches long (94th percentile) :) The doctor said not to be surprised if people say that she's a little baby but that she really isn't. She's obviously "big" height-wise. I did ask if she was healthy since her weight was below 50th percentile and she said, "Oh my goodness, yes. Her rolls are BEAUTIFUL!" Ahhhhh, if only it were still beautiful to have rolls at the age of 35. :)

*The Italian was convinced that we're going to have a 7 foot tall daughter so out of curiosity I looked back in my baby book and I was 26 1/4" at my 4 month check up, so she's about on the same pace as her mama was at her age.

Mommy was super nervous about this appointment because we've chosen to go with a delayed vaccination schedule along with our Doctor's guidance and today was the first of the vaccines. The Italian was traveling for work so I was going through this alone...or so I thought. About 10 minutes after we checked in and were still in the waiting room guess who walked through the door??? DADDY! I literally had tears in my eyes when he walked in. We got to the end of the appointment (i.e. time for the "shot") and Nicolette was totally passing out asleep in my arms. I felt so guilty knowing what she was getting ready to endure. The nurse prepped the area and went ahead and had the bandaid placed on her chubby little leg and said "One, two, three..." and in the needle went. It didn't take long for it to register with Nicolette...her little face turned red and out came the bottom lip. She looked at me like, "You TRAITOR!". As soon as the nurse pulled the needle out, I popped Nicolette on to nurse and she immediately forgot all about it. She whimpered a little bit when I put her back in her carseat but was fast asleep by the time we pulled out of the parking lot.

I know that people have a LOT of opinions about vaccinations and I hope that we can agree to disagree when it comes to this topic. I'll certainly respect the opinions and choices of those who choose to follow the proposed schedule and hope that I'll be given the same respect. I would encourage EVERYONE to do their own research on the topic and to research BOTH sides of the matter so that as a parent you can feel confident that you are making an INFORMED decision. I literally spent 7-8 months researching vaccinations and talking to parents who have vaccinated per schedule, parents who are not vaccinating at all and parents going with the delayed schedule. Some books that were helpful to me were:

"What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations" Dr. Stephanie Cave

"The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for your Child" Dr. Robert Sears

Knowledge is power - you shouldn't just blindly trust the medical industry...remember that it is a business as well and there are BIG BUCKS being made by these vaccines so that has to be taken into account as well. There...off my soap box now.

This week I started trying to work harder at getting Nicolette to nap on her own. I was able to get her down for 3 naps on her own yesterday for about 30 minutes each. The doctor said that we could/should work towards 2 naps per day. I'm not sure exactly how to make that happen but we'll see. Any tips would be appreciated. Nicolette currently naps 4-5 times per day anywhere from 20-30 minutes (on her own) up to 2 hours (if she's on me). The goal is to get her napping longer on her own. She currently goes to bed between 7 and 8 at night and sleeps until around 7 in the morning. As I mentioned earlier, we bed share so she'll fuss maybe twice per night and I'll feed her and she goes right back out. Hoping to be able to cut out the night time fussing/feeding over the next few months as well. The doctor thinks that getting better with the naps will help with that.

Nicolette "found her feet" this weekend. It's so cute how she grabs her toes, especially at diaper changing time now! She hasn't really gotten them into her mouth yet but was really working on it yesterday :)

She is a PRO at rolling from her back to her belly! I can't leave her on her back for more than a minute before she's already flipped onto her tummy! But somehow in the meantime she's forgotten how to roll from her belly to her back. So she'll be on her tummy "playing" for 10 minutes or so and then all of a sudden go all "Hulk" on me. When she's finished, she is FINISHED!

We've also started using the Exersaucer and she LOVES it!!!! This girl has loved standing since she was a month old so now to be able to "stand" on her own in the Exersaucer she's in heaven! The Exersaucer has a mirror on it and she REALLY loves staring at that beautiful baby in the mirror. Every time we look in a mirror she smiles and I tell her to look at that pretty baby in the mirror....that baby must really like us because she follows us everywhere! All over the house, to Gramma and Grampa's, in the car...she was even at the doctor's office today :) Speaking of that pretty baby....here are a few photos from the past week!