Rice Cereal, Squash, and Peaches, Oh My!

The past couple weeks mark another huge milestone for Kaylee. We started her on solids on the advice of her pediatrician, since she was showing signs of being interested and acting hungry despite drinking 32-40 oz. of formula each 24 hours. She is eating from a spoon like a champ now, though it took a little practice. Also, since eating food is MUCH messier than drinking bottles, we got her a booster chair that attaches to a regular chair. It's made by Fisher Price and is really easy to keep clean (no cracks for food gunk to build up in) and has a food tray and lid that snaps into the tray table portion - they're even dishwasher safe! Plus it will turn into a regular booster without a back or tray later, when she's older but still needs to sit higher. Here are a couple movies and pics of her chowing down:

Kaylee's very first taste of rice cereal.

Kaylee's second time eating cereal, this time on
the kitchen counter in her Bumbo chair + tray.
Easier than holding her in our arms but we need
something stable and safe that has a safety belt
to keep her strapped in! You can see she's happy
to eat food, though!


Kaylee's shiny new booster chair!

Kaylee eating some sweet potatoes for lunch
the other day, in her chair. She's got the whole
spoon thing down pretty good now, and she is
digging the sweet potatoes, just like her daddy!

In the world of play, Kaylee got a cute little dinosaur ball pit from her Grandmother for Christmas this year, and we have played with the balls with her so far, even though she's still too little to sit inside the ball pit part of the dinosaur. She seems to like it when Daddy covers her in the brightly colored balls... we got lots of giggles and smiles out of her when we rolled the balls all over her body and all around her...

Whoah! Check out all these balls!

Just hanging out with Mom after
playing in the big pile of balls...

We still spend a lot of time in the rocker/recliner chair snuggling. One new development, however, is that we've started to put her down for naps and evening bed while she's still awake. If we get it right, it only takes her a few minutes to fall asleep, and it's so cute to hear her contented sleepy sighs as she drifts off. She has also started waking up and talking and playing rather than crying and fussing...

Kaylee playing in her crib after waking up...

Here we are, assuming the snuggle position...
Usually it's only a few minutes from this point
when Kaylee starts to nod off and we carry her
into her bedroom for sweet dreams...

Here we are in the chair again for more
snuggle time. We seem to do this a lot -
but we all enjoy it, so that's what matters!

Something else that's really taken over in the past week is the teething. When her gums are really itchy and she's chewing everything in sight, she starts fussing and whining usually by late afternoon and all evening. A little baby Anbesol rubbed on her gums and some Tylenol for inflammation usually take the edge off so far. Sometimes she wants to chew on a cold wet facecloth, which feels good. We have a couple really cool teethers, as well - I found these RazBaby silicone teether/pacifiers that are berry shaped at Walmart.com. They are a little big for sucking, but great for chewing on, and they're soft and kinda sproingy and she has been really chewing on them in the last few days. Sometimes she chews on the berry part, and sometimes she chews on the leaf or the ring - it's all silicone, so she doesn't seem to care which part makes it into her mouth. We also have a vibrating teether, a teether hippo (stuffed animal with teether feet), rubber ring teethers, and the traditional water filled teething ring you keep cold in the refrigerator. She has also started going for my face and her Nana's face - we'll think she's wanting a snuggle and instead she grabs us around the head and starts biting us on our jaw line or chin. At first it was just funny, but she's actually biting pretty hard now and I know that as soon as those teeth are anywhere near the surface that it'll be pretty painful, so we'll have to try redirecting her chewing to her teethers.

Trying to take a bite out of Nana's face!

Kaylee is also starting to show some preference for some of her toys and books over others. Monkey is currently one of her favorites. He came from Aunt Courtney, and we all love him. We might have to pick up another one to have a spare on hand just in case this one gets destroyed (read: loved to death!) or lost or something...

She attacks it when she's in a giggly teething aggressive mode:

And she likes to play with it quietly when she's laying on the floor or practicing sitting in her Boppy pillow:

Sitting on the floor in her Boppy
pillow, having some monkey time!

OK, sitting lesson is OVER and it's just
monkey time now! Monkey is so fun!

Getting a few ZZZ's... Monkey is also
taking a break from some rough play.
You can see his nose isn't too far from
Kaylee's face, ready for when she wakes up!

Here are a couple more pics, just for the cuteness factor.

Kaylee sitting pretty on the couch...

Kaylee sitting kinda slouchy in Mama's lap after a meal.

Until next time!

Four Months!

We can't believe Kaylee turned four months old yesterday! She has changed soooo much. She can hold her head up with no lolling at all, she can stand up with assistance, she is starting to be able to sit up for short periods of time with minimal support, she laughs out loud, she's starting to roll over, she talks and coos, and she's just the most amazing, wonderful, cute little person!

We love her chubby cheeks, her chubby legs and feet and hands, her cute little fingers and toes, and her smiley face! When Kaylee smiles, she really lights up the whole room and you can't help but smile back at her! She smiles with her whole face, especially her eyes!

Kaylee taking a small nap in our recliner (we're in the room with her,
of course!). She used to be a tiny little ball of curled up baby in the
corner and now she is stretched out all the way across with her legs
flopped up on the arm, like most people like to sit in a recliner!

Kaylee and Daddy - quite a sight in her brown

fuzzy jammies with the pink polkadots!

Today was her four month checkup and vaccinations, so let's start with stats to see how big she's gotten:

Four Months: 1/6/09
weight 13 pounds 10 ounces 50th percentile
height 24 inches 45th percentile
head circumference 41.6 cm 50th percentile

Three Months: 12/8/08
weight 11 pounds 11 ounces

Two Months:
weight 9 pounds, 6 ounces 25th percentile
height 21 1/4 inches 25th percentile
head circumference 38 cm 25th percentile

Three Weeks:
weight 6 pounds, 2 ounces

Two Weeks:
weight 5 pounds, 10 ounces 5th percentile
height 20 inches 25th percentile
head circumference 35 cm 25th percentile

One Week:
weight 5 pounds, 7 ounces

Day we came home from Hospital (3 days old) 9/8/08:
weight 5 pounds, 8 ounces

Birth Day 9/5/08:
weight 5 pounds, 15 ounces 5th percentile
height 20 inches 75th percentile

So, she's catching up. I guess it's better to fall somewhere in the middle than to be on one end or the other, as far as having doctors being concerned about developmental stuff.

We're going to start Kaylee on rice cereal this week as well. I noticed her eyeballing my pizza slice last week and she has been kinda watching us while we eat for a while, so I think she's starting to make associations with food and our mouth. It will be fun to see what foods she likes and doesn't like over the next several months. Once we get the cereal thing under control, we'll move on to yellow veggies, fruits, and green veggies. One food at a time, just to make sure there are no reactions, and the green stuff comes last because it's typically the most gassy, and her digestive system will be more mature by then. At least that's the theory... I'm sure we'll get lots of pictures of her with different foods on her face. I guess it's time to get her a booster chair to attach to one of our chairs.



Some other new stuff going on here in the last week...

Kaylee's exersaucer arrived.... Here's a couple pics of her playing in it. It's so cute and so pink, and it looks like she enjoys it. It took a while to get it put together after it arrived... there were a LOT of pieces. But it's so fun and so girly, and Kaylee seems to like playing with the toys that are attached to it. Thank you, Nana!

Kaylee exploring her new exersaucer's toys...

Big Smile!

Also, we were surprised with a gift of a nice new crib for Kaylee. It's a gorgeous honey oak crib with a Pooh relief that's painted on one end, and it looks beautiful in Kaylee's room. It only took a little while to get it set up, as it was mostly together in the box. It even matches the dressers that are already in the room. Kaylee has been sleeping very well in it during the night time as well as nap time. Thank you, Grandmother!

Pooh's Place!

Kaylee checking out her new sleeping digs...

Another big smile...

So it's been a busy couple weeks! Until next time...

Ian, Georgine, & Kaylee :)