4 month movie!
Today Baby Bug is four months old. FOUR months! I can’t believe time is passing so quickly. She’s getting so big and has so much personality. She has different cries for different things. When I do something she doesn’t like, (for example: pick her up when she wants to be down or vice versa) she lets out this exasperated cry like, “Maaah-om! I was just getting comfortable! Why do you have to always mess things up?” or when she’s hungry or tired she squawks. And when she really doesn’t want to go to sleep, she moans at half volume.
She cracks me up. Just the other day she started laughing at me. I’m always going on and on about how much poop she can make while I’m changing her. Sometimes when I say something like “Oh my goodness! Look at the poop!” She smiles from ear to ear and lets out this funny guffaw like it must be the greatest achievement in the world to be able to make such quantities of orange foamy poop. I’m so proud of her.
Today was also her four month check up. She was a brave trooper. Either that or her memory isn’t long enough to know that going on a fun adventure to the doctor’s office also means four ouchie shots in the leg. Lately she doesn’t fuss so much about getting into her car seat. She used to scream bloody murder when I wrestled her wiggly arms into the tiny straps. But now I think she’s equating getting strapped in as “we get to go out!” and she LOVES going out. Anywhere besides staying inside all day long. She hates staying inside because our house is soooooooo boring to her. I don’t blame her. I think it’s pretty boring too.
The thing is we go out so much…. I take her on so many walks that she’s starting to get a tan like her mommy. I’ve been trying really hard to protect her perfect skin from the harmful rays of the sun but it’s impossible. She wants to be free in the sunshine with her fuzzy hair ruffling in the breeze. She doesn’t want to wear a floppy hat or worse a flannel blanket draped over her head. I try and I try… but I admit it: her head is a little bit browner than the rest of her body. Just like her mom. Seriously, I never try to tan. It just happens. I hate wearing sun screen and it’s going to be the death of me. When Baby Bug turns six months, I’m going to have to get over my aversion to slathering on the sticky stuff. I really don’t want her to grow up to be a wrinkled old raisin like me without choosing to be that way.
But back to her check up…
It turns out she’s going to be a little squirt. Here I was thinking all the other babies were so chubby when actually she’s just little and skinny. At her last check up she was in the fiftieth-percentile but now she’s dropped to the 10th percentile in height and 25th percentile in weight. At first I was shocked and worried that I haven’t been feeding her enough but the doctor said her growth pattern was very normal. She’s growing steadily. I guess when you think of all the babies in the world and these “percentile” numbers are based on averages it’s not so bad. She does have plenty of baby fat, just not rolls and rolls of it. And it’s not like her mom and dad are huge huge people.
The doctor also recommended we start feeing her solids. I’m so excited. I’ve been waiting for this day. I’m also a little bit scared. Can I do this? I barely remember to feed myself three meals a day. Am I responsible enough to remember to feed a baby every single day? Whipping out the boob is easy. She cries, I try all the multiple choice answers until I find the right one. The boob is usually the third thing I try. But feeding solids? That requires pumping 3-4 table spoons of breast milk and mixing things and making sure it’s the right temperature and then there’s the spoon and the bowl and …. and I have to feed it to her when she’s hungry so she accepts it. It all seems way too complicated to do when she’s starting to fuss because she’s hungry. I can’t even concentrate when she starts fussing.
But like everything else, we’ll probably figure it out in no time. The doctor says she’ll gobble it up. We’ll see. I wanted to give her some today but she was extra fussy because of her immunizations so I decided today was already too stressful to throw rice cereal into the mix. Tomorrow will be the big day. Maybe I’ll even film it for a movie.
Speaking of movies… I have one for you! (1.56 megs, quicktime) Or for me actually. I edited it like crazy to avoid boring everybody to tears but I’m starting to realize that these movies are always going to be fascinating to me and dull for everybody else because she’s my kid and I think every single drool bubble and eyelid blink is earth shattering. So view it if you will and skip if you don’t. I won’t be offended at all.
Happy Four Months Baby Bug!
18 Comments
Julie
Wonderful video Josephine! I’m up in the middle of the night, because I am having insomnia a lot in my third trimester. Ugh I hate this! But seeing the bug sure cheers me up!
Kathryn S
She’s the cutest!
american girl
Happy 4 Months, Baby Bug! You’re such a cute, cute little girl…and I’m sure your mama is happy that you’re not a huge lug like another 4-month-old we could mention (98th percentile for weight and 50th for height; can we say “short and fat”?).
Liane
I loved it! loved the music too..
Texas T-bone
Yay for a healthy, 4-month-old baby! That means you are doing a great job.
We’ve had the opposite problem with the Cutlet (who will be 4 YEARS old at the end of this year). He’s been in the 90th percentile for height and is normal for weight, so he is tall and slender … and outgrows pants in the length as they are loose in the waist.
Kristina
The frog went a-courtin’?! That’s awesome, I haven’t heard that song in ages! Sorry – always get distracted by the music. I totally loved your video. BB is such a vibrant little girl – very aware and active. Lovely! Happy 4th month, BB!
Rae
She’s so cute! Don’t worry, my kids were always on the lean side as babies, and then when kids usually kinda thinned out, at 2 yrs or so, they’ve gone back to being in the average percentiles. I think that most babies are chunky, while they always had toddler bodies or something. Whatever. It doesn’t matter. But she’s cute and this is such a fun stage, isn’t it?
Photographer Lori
Great movie! What do you edit on? And what is that song? I want to add it to my library for clients to chose from for their videos! Have you heard Mark Harmon sing? I will email you one or two. His voice is great and go great with kid videos! :)
LORI
Jennifer
Awww. I loved the wiggly kicking feet on the changing table. We just started rice cereal a couple of weeks ago and my monkey doesn’t really gobble it up. I think her swallowing reflex needs some work. Can’t wait to hear and possibly see how it goes for Baby Bug.
Leah
If I were Baby Bug and you were my mommy, I would smother you with hugs kisses for capturing the shot of you tugging on the parasol mobile. Its those little details from daily life that will be the most treasured in the future. Milestones like crawling and walking and first words are great and all, but something as unique as the mobile is truly special.
nessa
if the rice cereal makes her constipated, don’t hesitate to switch to baby oatmeal. if you want to go the cereal, route that is. don’t be afraid to give her mashed bananas, avacado & sweet potatoes. the first foods you give her, you want to be highly nutritional (and rice cereal is just empty calories, basically). if you thing baby bug is ready, by all means try the solids. BUT, if it doesn’t go well, feel free to continue to nurse her exclusively until you think she’s ready (and she shows you she’s ready). you & baby bug will figure it, just like everything else, in your own time. :)
[I have to say, i started my own munchkin on solids early because she was clearly ‘ready’ and willing. however, her digestive tract had other idea, even getting just a bit once every few days. we went back to exclusive nursing until she was a little more than 6m and when we tried again, we tried the foods i mentioned above. except for my early dabbling, we skipped the jarred food phase all together. offering a baby some mashed up foods or tiny cubes of thoroughly steamed veggies & fruits is just as fun, if not more fun (less mess!) than the bowl & spoon situation. also, also, there is no reason you can’t mix baby cereal with water, given that it’s such a small amount of water. i mean, if you have the ebm available, that’s obviously better, but don’t break your back trying to get a pumping session in).
and thus ends the unsolicited advice. heh.
she really is adorable., though/ and you really seem to be diggin’ on the whole mama thing. well done. :) :) :)
Gretchen
Four months is so much fun!
My ever-so-humble-advice on starting solids – nurse her first. Don’t try her first feed on an empty stomach. I second Nessa on sweet potatoes, bananas, and avacado – my kids loved all of them. I’d just steam a sweet potato and mash it up – freeze whatever they couldn’t eat in an ice cube tray, and save it for later. Banana and avacado can also be frozen – but you don’t need to cook either first, just make sure they’re very ripe.
You’re doing a great job!
margalit
Boring? No way! If you made a movie a week it wouldn’t be boring. She’s such an expressive baby filled with funny faces and even funnier noises. She’s NEVER boring. Keep making those movies!
PJ
My grandpa used to sing that to me! AW! No movie that Baby Bug is in could be boring – ever!
^_^
I love the whole toes thing – that was the best!
~PJ~
Gabriella
I remember when my daughter was 4 mths!!! Now she’s 9mths and it’s so hard to believe. Your little babybug is adorable!!!! My daughter too is in the “low percentile” as they like to say…but it doesn’t matter. If you’d like my advice on the feeding issue, I started at 5mths on the advice of dr. and she would eat but not too interested. I was sooooo discouraged, until all of a sudden after 6mths everything finally clicked and she enjoyed eating, but she’s still a small eater. Don’t get discouraged if baby bug doesn’t look interested yet, keep nursing as long as you can!!!!!…
Sorry for the long post!
carrien
I nursed both of mine exclusively for 9 months, the first was very skinny for his height, he still is, but they grew steadily and were VERY healthy on a breast milk only diet. Just an encouragement that if Baby bug doesn’t like solids yet that she’ll be fine for several more months on what you make. SHe is the prettiest baby girl I’ve seen since, well, since my baby girl was born, and she was beautiful.
carrien
ps. I had to play the video several times in a row for my two year old. She was enthralled.
Jen Zug
Wow, I lost track of your blog for awhile and when i came back you had a real live baby! Congratulations! She is adorable, and I will NEVER find your movies dull. It’s so cool to see you doing this because I just discovered Windows Movie Maker on my computer and was thinking about making movies of my kids for the family. Thanks for inspiring me to follow through on that idea!