John, Krista, & Brynlee: 4- month old Brynlee!

Brynlee turned 4 months on March 4th. Time goes by soo fast. At her 4 month appointment she:

Weight- 14.75 pounds (66th percentile)

Length- 24.75 inches long (58th percentile)

Head- 16.5 inches (71st percentile)

So basically she is a little short, a little chubby, and has a big head. Not really though, because it's pretty close to normal. Most of her weight is still in her cheeks and thighs.

She started eating rice cereal last week. It's interesting. She makes funny faces, but doesn't seem to hate it. The problem though is that she just spits it out most of the time. I don't know if that means she's not physically ready to eat or she just needs to practice more. It's messy and most of the cereal ends up being wasted so I gave up for a few days. I was really excited to start food because formula is so expensive and we were given about 15 boxes of cereal from a neighbor (and it will expire soon). And with Brynlee's appetite I thought it would make the formula go a lot longer. But she has actually started to eat less lately- sometimes going 4 hours during the day and only drinking 4 ounces (instead of the usual 6 oz. every 2-3 hours). I was a little concerned, but she is obviously gaining plenty of weight so the doctor is not concerned. I think she just has too many things to look at and explore so doesn't want to be bothered with sitting and eating.

She rolled over for the first time on March 9th. It was so fun we were all sitting on the floor one evening and she just decided it was time. I was afraid since I work a lot of hours that I would miss the big events, but was so happy I saw it. It probably sounds a little silly, but it's a big thing in her life and I even teared up a little bit (hormones???).

Just these last few weeks we have finally been able to get Brynlee on a regular sleep and nap schedule. People would ask what time she normally naps and my answer was always "Whenever she wants". I started to wonder if I was a bad mom because we had no schedule. She would go to sleep about the same time every night, but wake up at a different time every morning and only take a few 10-15 minute naps. Although it was nice she slept so long at night, it was seriously ridiculous having to entertain the needy little girl every second of the day. Parents need their kids to nap for their own sanity! She still fights going to sleep a lot, but generally sleeps 12 hours at night (8-8), then has a nap around 10:30/11 AM, 2 PM, & 5 PM.

Brynlee's favorite toys are anything she can put in her mouth and chew. She loves fingers- her own and anyone else's, her soft baby doll, elephant finger puppet, and burp cloths.

She grabs for anything that comes near her and puts it in her mouth. My hair has to be in a pony-tail every day because she grabs and pulls.

Brynlee gets so shy around anyone besides mom and dad. I am always trying to show off her smiling or laughing to other people but she acts totally different around other people. The other day she grabbed my throat and I made a choking sound. She laughed hysterically so I kept doing it over and over again. I couldn't get enough of her laugh. Then when I try to show John's family, she won't do it. She also doesn't want to be held by anyone else when we are around.

Sometimes she loves to be scared and it makes her laugh, other times a loud unexpected sound will make her cry. Last week at church someone coughed and Brynlee jumped a mile, then started screaming. But at the same time, me saying "Boo" makes her laugh so hard.

This last week has been our school's Spring Break. It was so nice to have time off and not have a million things to do. We slept in as much as possible, took naps, and just did whatever. We are kind of boring in that we didn't go anywhere, but it was just what I needed. The best part was being able to spend more time with Brynlee. Some weeks I work 50 + hours, so I feel like I miss a lot. Both John and I realized how fun Brynlee is in the morning. She rarely cries in the morning, just cooing/blabbering in her crib. When we go get her, she smiles and is so happy to see us. Then we bring her in our bed to hang out for a little while. She is sooo happy and giggly and won't stop "talking". It is priceless and makes the whole rest of the day better.