Three year stats ... and, an interview

Three-year well baby visit, check! (It was combined with Wesley's one-month visit, which allowed both Tim and I to be there with both kids.) Here are the stats:

Weight: 36.6 pounds (92 percentile)

Height: 39 inches (88 percentile)

And here is what Elle is up to in general these days:

Sleep: Sleeps 9 p.m. to 8:30 or 9 a.m., takes a nap almost every day unless we're doing something crazy exciting and/or fun - usually lasts 1.5-2.5 hours, although she definitely seems to nap more at home than at daycare. She definitely hasn't dropped her daily nap, but there are some days when she skips it ... and I can definitely tell, eek. She has this habit of covering her head at bed and naptime, with her blankie, with a sheet, with a quilt, which results in a super sweaty head, tangled hair and smelly sheets. She sucks her thumb when she has her blankie/when she's tired.

Sweaty thumbsucker.

Eats: Well - not a big fan of veggies, a lover of almost all fruits, hit or miss on almost everything else. Doesn't drink milk but loves cheese and yogurt and pudding. Drinks water and some juice. Meals can be a battle of bargaining with her, but overall, she's not the pickiest eater, and we can usually get her to eat a fairly balanced and healthy meal.

Eating out with her? Not as easy as it used to be. I feel like I have to steal the kid's menu from her quickly and return it for coloring, which lasts only a few minutes. Then the dropping of crayons starts. Sometimes the whining starts now, too. Then I just hope she'll actually eat whatever we decided to order. All of this is usually interrupted several times by requests to go to the bathroom. (Sometimes Tim just suggests that she goes to the bathroom, which is awesome because then she's like "Yes! I do have to go potty! Mommy, will you take me?"). This is a meal-ruiner for me.

Random: Potty trained, hates to poop, loves Halloween and anything spooky/scary, big fan of sea creatures, books and pop music. Wearing mostly 4T clothes  (some 3T depending on the brand) and size 8.5 or 9 shoes (depending on the brand/shoe). Loves Octonauts, Doc McStuffins, Sesame Street and Caillou. Master of the iPad. Hates swimming in the pool, loves bath time. Attends daycare four days a week for a total of approximately 20 hours (aside from only going two days a week during my maternity leave) - has been going to the same licensed, in-home daycare since December .

I don't know how to fully capture her likes/dislikes, habits, personality, etc. at this age. She's extremely smart and extremely maddening. I think we missed the Terrible Twos and she just stockpiled it for her third year. We're all learning how to deal with the mood swings and learning curve of a strong-willed, emotional toddler. I don't think she could have handled Wesley's arrival better than she has, and I am extremely grateful that she's old enough that she can play independently, be trusted and understands (keeping in mind that all of these things are relative to the fact she is only three - I don't leave her alone with a pair of scissors or anything). I'm in awe at how much she's grown and changed even since Christmas, and when I look at Wesley or look back at Elle's first few months, I just can't get over how fast time has gone.

Anyway, enough babbling before I start bawling. Here's something fun: We decided to start a tradition this year of "interviewing" Elle - asking her the same questions each year. This year's video is an extremely good representation of what she's like, and I love it. I've included a rough transcript of the video, too:

1. What is your favorite color? Pink

2. What is your favorite toy? Fire truck 

3. What is your favorite fruit? Juice

4. What is your favorite TV show? Caillou 

5. What is your favorite thing to eat? Oranges

6. What is your favorite shirt? Cupcake

7. What is your favorite game? Balling 

8. What is your favorite snack? Daniel (the kid from her daycare - um?). Apples.

9. What is your favorite animal? "Yion." 

10. What is your favorite song? "E.T." and "Trouble" (by Katy Perry and Taylor Swift, respectively)

11. What is your favorite book? "Halloween Sky Ride" by Elizabeth Spurr and "The Donut Chef" by Bob Staake. 

12. Who is your best friend? Mommy, and Wesley, and Daddy, and Mario and Sidney (pauses for cute loving on Wesley)

13. What is your favorite dinner? "Lots of tings!" - Scribble scrabbles, birthday cakes, blow out candles, sing guitars, and no going in fire, and coloring.  

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play chalk. And climb up the stairs.

15. What is your favorite drink? "Yemonade."

16. What is your favourite place to go? In the airport.

17. What do you like to sleep with at night? "You!" (to Mommy)

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Ride a scooter, and ride a bicycle. (Obviously losing focus ...) Crackers. And take a picture with cameras.

19. What is your favorite sports team? Random babbling, including "baseball, and tennis ... and play with Daddy." End answer: "Go winners!" 

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? (She didn't really understand what this meant, but I gave her some options ...) "A chef. And a worker."

Two year stats

Two years old means two-year well baby visit, yay?

Since I try to blog about Elle's personality and development on a regular basis, I thought I'd just do a quick breakdown of her stats and habits now, so that when she's 15 and mouthy I can remind her that she used to be nice and thank me for simple things like getting her something to drink. Or when she goes through a picky eating stage and demands peanut butter and jelly for every meal I can remind myself that she's been picky before and ended up eating and thriving and life will go on.

Can we talk about my super tall toddler? OK. Here are Elle's stats:

Weight: 30 pounds (76 percentile)

Height: 37.25 inches (off the charts, apparently, at more than the 95 percentile -
this is also a FOUR INCH increase from her 19-month stats)

Head: 50 cm (95 percentile)

Giving a post-church concert with a lint roller and hanger.

 Sleep: Sleeps 9 p.m. to 8 or 9 a.m., takes a nap every day unless we're doing something crazy exciting and/or fun - usually lasts 1.5-2.5 hours, although she definitely seems to nap more at home than at daycare

Eats: Well - not a big fan of veggies, a lover of almost all fruits, getting much better with chicken (I think it was a texture thing), loves sausage. Doesn't drink milk but loves cheese and yogurt and pudding. Drinks water - some juice, but mostly water. Does well with utensils but often prefers to eat yogurt or pudding with her fingers. She asked to try cucumber the other day, and after starting to take a bite of it, she took it out of her mouth, handed it to me and said, "Don't like it. Here you go." At least she tried, right?

Random: Cloth diapered for the most part at home - disposables at daycare. Wearing mostly 2T and 3T clothes and size 6 or 7 shoes (depending on the brand/shoe). Still waiting on the last of the molars. Hates pooping. Loves Teletubbies, Sesame Street and Caillou. Can float like a champ but doesn't like to actually swim. Loves to play outside and sweats A LOT (she got her mother's perspiration genes).

A sweaty mess.

 Counts to 20, knows pretty much every animal (how many two year olds know what a boar is? Elle does!), knows her colors (we thought she might have a red/green color blindness, but lately she's been doing much better), can identify various letters and numbers, sings a ton of songs, super polite (lots of 'pleases' and 'tank ous'), very opinionated and strong (nicewayofsayingtantrumssuck), in to everything. Also, might be writing?

.
She got this cool bath tub coloring set for her birthday, and it has two sides - a blank one and one with an octopus/ocean scene. Last night I had the blank side up, and she started to draw ... then she said: "I made an E. I made a L. I made another L, Mommy." After I took the photo, she made a better "E" - for a girl who could take the easy way out and claim that she wrote her name with a simple "L," I was shocked and impressed.

Elle's 15-month stats

First of all, when did I become the mother of a 15-month-old?! (And how do you like that she's almost 16 months old by the time I'm publishing this? Sigh.)

Secondly, I'm pretty sure this is the first well-baby visit I've missed :( Elle's appointment was at the beginning of the month. Tim seemed to think I was coming, even though I couldn't take the time off work and he was already going to be home with Elle. Alas, he reported back from the appointment with the following info:

Weight: 24 pounds, 6 ounces (72 percentile)

Height: 32.5 inches (92 percentile)

Head: 48.5 cm (92 percentile)

Current developments include walking (?!?!), which just happened around her 15.5 month mark, sporting eight teeth (four top, four bottom) and accepting the molars as they slowly arrived (in the last three weeks, I think, all quadrants of her mouth have been invaded by the molars breaking through - bottom gums were swollen with what felt like pebbles, poor baby).

Elle knows when she's in trouble and tries to cute her way out of it. She'll look down and then pop up with a big "HI!" and her smile is so big her eyes will twinkle. If she's in trouble, nervous, super excited or scared, she'll say "Hug?" and reach up to you. (Perhaps the cutest thing ever, yes.) The UPS guy delivered a package the other day with a loud knock, and Elle scampered under Tim's chair and said "Hug? Hug?" Tim told me it took eight hugs to get her shirt on one day (she seriously asks for one when you get the clothes out, when you put it over her head, when you put each sleeve on, etc.) She says "mommy!" any time Tim's phone rings and I'm not there. She likes to try to sing "Twinkle Twinkle" and the ABC song (she chimes in with the "W" and "Now you know your ABCs" parts). She says "hereyougo" like it's all one word. Any time you sing Old McDonald and ask her what is on his farm, she'll tell you "kitties." (Poor farmer dude has a farm full of cats.) She'll bid you farewell with a "Buh bye, see you!"

Little girl is so stinking smart. We haven't pushed potty training, but we've worked on getting her familiar with the potty and trying to establish a connection between peeing and pooping and what the potty is for ... the other night I had her on the potty as I ran her bath. I took her off and was inspecting what looked like a dry patch of skin behind her ear as we headed for the tub. Elle said "potty" and suddenly I felt a warm patch on my shirt ... where she had peed on me. Not cool, but the bright side? She obviously knows pee AND poop go in the potty, we just have to work on her alerting us a bit sooner.

When we run her bath water, she yells "Yay, bath!" and claps as soon as she hears the faucets turn on. She can be in the other room, and she acts like it's Christmas each time.

She can identify the letter O and circle and heart shapes. She's pretty good at figuring out when something is "yay-yow" (yellow), too. 

She says "Dokey dokey" if you ask her "Okey dokey?" She'll sing "booty" and "shake your booty" if you start to sing it to her. She'll often say "bless you" when you sneeze. She says "tawwy" (sorry). She likes to dance. She loves puzzles. And still loves books (although she shows no remorse when she rips them, grrr). Loves fruit. Loves pizza (like, LOVES). Likes black beans. Likes breakfast for dinner.

Still hates milk.

She loves to watch "ideos" on the computer - we watch videos of her, other baby friends, music videos on YouTube and the Wiggles/Elmo/Sprout/etc.

The three of us often call back and forth (Daddddddy. Mommmmmy. Babbbbby. Or Ellllleeee-Bellllleee) - it's so, so cute to hear Elle do the calls. She's adorable when she says goodbye, too - we go grocery shopping on Saturday mornings so Tim can sleep in, and Elle calls out "Byeeeee, Dadddyyyyyy."

She's getting so much more interactive (read: exhausting) at church, too - she plays with a little girl who is 2 and then two little girls who are in elementary school. She giggles at them, chases them, "shares" toys with them and basically keeps us on our toes the entire time. (And this has all been while she was only crawling, so I'm sure it's just going to get more interesting.)

Current nicknames include Belle, Belle Belle, Elle Belle, Ellie Bean, Baby Boo, Boo Boo, Mimi and Baby Bear.

Current habits remain pretty much the same - three square meals, one or two snacks (we often do a snack about an hour before bedtime now) a day and sleeping 10-12 hours a night. She naps after lunch for about 2 hours. 

In summary: The awesome continues.

Updated 12 month stats

We had Elle's 12 month well-baby appointment yesterday. Here are her updated stats:

Weight: 22 pounds, 6 ounces (60 percentile) 

  

Height: 30 inches (75 percentile)

Head: 47 cm (90 percentile)

And now, some random photos of Elle eating - action shots of how she has earned those stats :)

Mini cupcakes: Not a great source of iron.

Mmmm, applesauce!

Popsicles with Daddy:
A staple in a Florida summer

Brief, general Elle update: Elle needs to eat more of her leafy greens (translation: she's slightly anemic). She did great during the appointment, right up until the actual vaccinations, and really I can't blame her for yelling and crying at that point. Her sixth tooth is preparing to break through. She has added several words since my last update, including oops (from "Blue Hat, Green Hat," haha), neigh (like a horse), baaa (like a sheep), down ("dow"), potty (sounds like "boddy"), "dis" and "dees" (for "this" and "these") and "mo" for "more," which she also signs. She's been signing "please" and tries to say it, too, but it comes out as "geese," which is pretty much the most adorable thing ever. She's starting to move around the furniture a bit more while standing and continues to work on her strength and balance every day.

And now, a video of more and please:

And since this isn't really a "monthly update" post - just one that is supposed to update her stats after her well-baby visit - that's where I'll stop :)

Elle's twelve-month (!?) stats

My dear sweet baby is 12 months old. (Well, 12 months and five days old.) HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?! Her well-baby visit has been rescheduled twice now, and the newest appointment is not for another 2.5 weeks, so I'll have to update the length and big ol' head size then. We stopped by the pediatrician's office today for a weight check, though, so that's at least current.

Weight (at 12 months): 21 pounds, 6 ounces
(showing that my estimate last month was probably total crap)

As of 12 months and three weeks old:

Weight: 22 pounds, 6 ounces (60 percentile)

Height: 30 inches (75 percentile)

Head: 47 cm (90 percentile)

Current developments include pulling up to standing and having improved balance and leg strength, talking (Mama, Dada, Baby, no, hi, bye bye, kee kee (kitty), giggle, ta-da, eye, hey, yeah, go, doggie, woof, meow, quack, hello, good girl, pretty, done, love you, bath), blowing kisses, lots of waving hi and bye, signing (milk, eat, more, done), pushing up on all fours, rockin' FIVE teeth, growing almost enough hair that I might be able to actually give her a little Pebbles Flintstone-like ponytail sometime in a month or two.

I am absolutely shocked at how fast her verbal skills are developing. Many of the words she says can probably only be understood by Tim and I, and they're often just parroted versions of what we just said. But doggie, baby, yeah, hi, go, giggle, eye ... words like those come out crystal clear. "Pretty" sounds a little bit more like "Bissy." "Good girl" is a bit hard to understand, too, unless you know what you're listening for. "Bath" is "baff." "Love you" is "wuv wu." "No" is finally sounding more like "no" and less like "naw." "Ta-da!" is "Da-da!" - she uses the right inflection, though, so we roll with it. (I've got a ton of videos of her talking, too, that I'll share in a future post.)

I've heard and read countless times that babies usually surge on their verbal OR motor skills at one time, and not usually both at the same time. I've seen this demonstrated by numerous kids Elle's age in our playgroups over the last few months and find it absolutely fascinating. Most of the kids we know that are 11-13 months old aren't talking all that much but are walking like they've been doing it for years. Elle, on the other hand, has no interest in walking yet but seems to pick up a new word or three every day.

At first, every animal Elle saw was a "kee kee." Every animal went "woof!" or "eow." But now, she almost always knows what a puppy looks like. She's such a little sponge, and although I know I might not be the most impartial person on the subject, I think she's a total genius. She's picking stuff out of books - pointing to certain animals, requesting that certain books be read again ... and again ... and again.

These teeth have been anything but fun. Elle (and therefore, Tim and I) had a few nights of rough sleep - crying out, waking up, etc. One night, she woke up and decided she missed us. (It was soon after our return from Ohio.) So she stayed up from 12:30 a.m. until about 5 a.m. She was playful and happy, but if you so much as looked at her with the possibility of sleep in your eyes, she screamed bloody murder. For a few nights last week, it was obvious that she was having a hard time sleeping because of the pain. The drool from the teething also brought MASSIVE AMOUNTS of poo. One day, she pooped seven times. For about five days in a row, she woke up with a poopy diaper. This was not a fun time in our household. Fortunately, things seem to have (temporarily, at least) returned to normal.

The crib mattress was lowered to it's lowest setting on the day before her birthday. Coincidentally, that was also the day I kind of taught her how to pull up completely on the crib rail, so if I hadn't been planning on lowering it, I had to after that stunt. Oopsie. I actually moved all of the nursery furniture around on that day (it's like baby feng shui!) and made a new craft - I'll share the new set up in a post in the next few days.

Current loves include "patting" the cats, "motoring" around the condo (this involves having an object under one or both hands and pushing them around while crawling), having "conversations" with her toys, pressing buttons to make the toys sing, getting in to the pantry and kitchen cabinets, playing with magnets. 

Current nicknames include Elle Belle, Ellie Bean, Baby Boo, Boo Boo, Mimi and Baby Bear. 

Current habits include nursing/taking a bottle three to four times a day, sleeping 11-13 hours a night, napping two times a day for a  total of 1.5-3 hours, eating solids three times a day with an occasional snack.

Random randomness: Baby edition

Mouth full o' watermelon. But closed!

At least she has manners: Elle shoves huge pieces of food in her mouth. It's kind of ridiculous, but it's what she does. Sometimes I'll watch her eat and just see her little eyes start to water because she realizes she's bitten off, literally, more than she can chew. Five minutes later, she'll be ready for more food. But we went out to eat with a friend the other night, and Elle crammed half a banana in her mouth. And then just stared at us while she worked on it. She looked like a monkey, and my friend and I laughed at her - and she just kept chewing, mouth closed. The next day, I had a few friends over, and Elle did the same thing with a pepperoni roll. My friends all noted how polite she was, though - she always chewed with her mouth closed!

Not the norm: We're not having a big first birthday bash for Elle. I have deep, mixed feelings about this and could go on and on for days, but it boils down to this: I desperately want to plan the party, I just don't want to have a party. My friends (the ones who commented on Elle's impeccable manners) noted that this isn't how most people feel - most people want to have a party but dread the planning part.

Makes sense: I've recently realized why Elle doesn't like going to the pediatrician's office, aside from the obvious (shots). In the last 10 months, the doctor has called her head big and deemed her "lazy." It's kind of cute, although I'm sure Elle doesn't see it that way - Dr. P. asks about milestones that baby's Elle's age should be hitting. Elle has almost always met them ... or shown signs of being close. The most recent example is a month or so ago when I told the doctor Elle didn't seem really interested in walking. Dr. P. asked if she was at least pulling up or standing up, and I said "Kind of, but she really doesn't seem to like putting her full weight on her legs." The doctor's response is always (in a Puerto Rican accent): "That's OK, she's just lazy. She can do it, she's just a little bit lazy and will get around to it eventually." If someone called my head big and told me I was lazy, I'd be a little miffed, too. 

Twangy: Elle has an accent. Yes, she only says about half a dozen words, but when she says "No" it comes out "Naw." An example of her using the new word: She heard me telling the cats "no" the other morning and repeated "Naw. Naw. Naw, naw, naw." It's cute, but I have no idea why she has an accent as an infant :)

Stealth pooper: You know how most babies have a tell-tale "poop face"? Yeah, not our baby. Tim, the babysitter and I have joked that Elle is a stealth pooper - she almost never makes a face or shows any sign of "going #2" ... which means we're often surprised when we change her diaper and find that we've gotten more than we bargained for. It kinda stinks (literally, but ...) - I'd love to change her ASAP after she poops. But when you don't know that it's happened, it's hard to remedy right away. Sure, sometimes the smell gives it away, but not always. When she *does* make what we think is a poop face, she's usually just farted. Classy.

Eye Heart This Baby: Elle can now identify our eyes. This involves getting close to our faces, violently jabbing at gently touching the outside corner of our eyes and saying, "Eye. Eye." I'm trying to work on identifying a body part that doesn't leave me flinching and fearing for my sight every time she gets near me, like nose, ear or belly.

Simple humor: The easiest way to make Elle laugh is to turn her upside down. It's our "thing" :)

Elle's nine-month stats

Elle turned nine months old while we were in Colorado, but she had her well-baby appointment on Monday, so I waited to post this until I had her stats. And then, in a matter of 48 hours, she started pulling up and clapping, so then I had to update this (super long) post :) (And now I'm having to re-post this because the Great Blogger Crash of 2011 ate it.)

Weight: 19 pounds (50 percentile)

Height: 28.5 inches (75 percentile)

Head: 46 cm (90 percentile)

And this is where our routine well-baby check history takes a slight detour. Elle's head has always been big. But while the rest of her body's growth has slowed a bit and stayed fairly proportional, her head has been full steam ahead. So because her head is still measuring large, the doctor wants us to come back in about a month and a half for a recheck. If it's still uber large (I imagine Pinky and the Brain proportions when I think about it), Elle will have a head ultrasound just to make sure there's no extra fluid in there.

The plus side is that Elle is on track or ahead on everything developmentally. The doctor said that if she was behind, there would be reason for immediate concern, but since Elle is a freaking genius doing well then we can wait a few weeks. The doctor also noted that Elle's got a very defined bone structure in her skull - Tim has an odd-shaped noggin, so I'm leaning toward the fact that Elle probably just inherited her daddy's big head :) I also contend that if our kids are going to inherit Tim's big head, then HE should be the one going through labor, delivery and recovery from here on out.

Action shot:

This was before she remembered where she was
and she started the frantic hysteria - poor baby!

Current developments include standing more, trying to pull up, clapping, going from tummy to sitting. Elle's doing more "real" crawling - mostly forward, but some backward. She's making new noises and almost sounds like she's carrying on conversations now, with inflections and pauses like the babbles are real words (which to her, they probably are). I think we're *thisclose* to having an actual first word. Of course, on my birthday I kept trying to get her to say "Happy birthday, Mama!" or "Mama." Each time, I got a sly "Dada" or "Da ... da." Little twerp.

The doctor went through a short checklist of things, asking if Elle was crawling, babbling, pooping regularly, etc. She asked if Elle was clapping yet. We told her that she wasn't, but she did a kind of excited hand motion that we figured was her version of clapping. The next morning, though? I was changing Elle after she woke up, and she started to clap. She did it several times during that wakeup time. I excitedly told a sleepy Tim, and although Elle wasn't quite as coordinated in her efforts to replicate the earlier clap, he saw that she *was* clapping. She's been clapping a lot the last three days, and it. is. awesome. Every time we say "Yay" and clap, or clap and say "Yay," Elle claps. Sometimes we clap and say "Yay" because she's clapping. (I told Tim it reminds me of our play group - there are little ripples of clapping and cheering as the kids learn how to clap - and do so for a response. It's really cute to see the kids' milestones recognized by other moms in such an enthusiastic way.)

Elle does this really cute, funny sway that I call her "happy dance." Whenever she eats or hears music, she sways back and forth and just seems so happy. She also likes to pound her palms on tables or trays while she's waiting for food or when she's bored with her food. Not so cool thing she does when she's bored with her food? Deliberately dropping it on the floor. She just stares at me, almost daring me to stop her, and she'll just let it slip from her fingers. Seriously. Don't know where this girl gets her attitude :)

Elle holds court.

Elle likes to make sweeping arm gestures and babble - I call it "holding court." She really seems to "speak" with authority, and it cracks me up when she does it around her toys or toward the cats.

We're dealing with some separation anxiety. She's still pretty easy going and is totally fine if she's a) well-rested, b) not hungry, c) not teething and d) somewhat familiar with you. But if any of these factors are off, there's fussy and crying and frantic "WHERE DID YOU GO COME BACK HERE RIGHT NOW" antics. It's hard when she can see Tim or I and still has a meltdown because we're not right. there. with. her. or holding her, and even though she has the ability to travel to us, she refuses.

Current loves include reading, her "Cat" book, trying to roll off the changing table, trying to wiggle out of my arms, playing Peek-a-boo (especially on the bed or while on the changing table), bananas (scarfs them down like they're an endangered species), anything with cheese (tortellini, broccoli in cheese, etc.), pears, sippy cups with straws, shoes, chasing painted toenails, crawling under coffee tables, getting in to anything and everything.

Reading her "Cat" book - a gift from Aunt Marti

Current nicknames include Baby Boo, Boo Boo, Baby Bear and all of the ones from the last eight months.

Recent conversations of note: When I asked Tim if we've had any funny conversations with or about the baby lately, he said, "Yeah, like every day." (Think "Napoleon Dynamite.") Soooo apparently the baby is funny.

Here's a funny story, though - as we got ready to leave for Elle's appointment, Tim strapped Elle in her car seat and she stared at us expectantly. Tim walked down the hall, asking me why the baby could clap her feet but hadn't clapped her hands yet. I adjusted the straps and called to Tim: "You want to know why she's not clapping her hands yet? Come see your daughter." He came to look at her and quickly saw what I had spotted - he'd buckled one of her hands in to the car seat straps. I don't know if Houdini could clap like that.


Current habits include nursing/taking a bottle four or five times a day, sleeping 11-13 hours a night, napping 2-3 times a day for a total of 1.5-3 hours, eating solids twice a day (although since the appointment we've started introducing a third meal of solids - Elle hasn't fought it).

Elle's six-month stats

Elle had her six-month well-baby visit today. (It was largely the motivation for me to catch up months 3-6 in Elle's baby book last night, haha.)

Weight: 15 pounds, 8 ounces ( 45 percentile)

Height: 27 inches (85 percentile)

Head: I swear they said 17 inches again.

The visit went much better than last time - she got a little pouty and teary when the doctor was poking around and checking her ears, hips and mouth, but there were no full-blown tears until about a second after her first shot. I think those were largely because she was startled and upset that she was pinned down. About 45 seconds later, she stopped crying, and about two minutes later, she was smiling again. This was the first time she got shots and Tim wasn't there, so I'm glad she handled it fairly well. Made it easier on me!

The doctor said she's doing great developmentally, and we discussed sleep training, feeding her solid foods and a lot of other random topics. It appears that Elle has no teeth on the immediate horizon - I'm OK with that!

She has officially grown out of her Size 1 diaper covers. It doesn't even seem to be such an issue with the weight limit for the diapers (typically up to 18 pounds), but she's soooo long (it appears she might have her mother's long torso) that we were having problems getting the covers to, well, cover the prefolds. And because of her height, we'll likely be getting a new car seat in March - I'll miss the convenience of our infant seat!

I don't recall Elle's three-month growth spurt being extremely noticeable. Perhaps it was because I was transitioning back to work, or maybe she just had her growth spurt on the sly. Whatever the case was, the six-month growth spurt was extremely evident. For a few days, she woke about two hours earlier and was ravenous. She ate every 1-2.5 hours. She was fussy. She took mammoth naps - one day I put her down for her afternoon nap and then left for work. Elle woke up 3.5 hours later - 15 minutes before the sitter was leaving. (I told Katie that was the easiest money she's ever made). Many of her naps during those few days lasted two or more hours, which is not common. Tim kept asking if I was drugging her. And at the end of that growth spurt?

Elle has started busting out of her 3-6 month sleepers. And her "small" size sleep sacks are also being retired to make way for "medium" ones, including this adorable "elle-phant" one.

Current nicknames include the old ones and Belle Belle (Elle Belle kinda morphed in to that), Sleepsacker, Booger Brain and Roller Girl.

Her nap schedule has gotten more predictable, and if I catch her at the right time, she'll go to sleep on her own, without any tears. If I don't, however, it isn't pretty.

She's sleeping well at night again, usually going for 8-11 hour stretches. She's quite mobile with her rolling and changes position within seconds - we have to keep a close eye on her! She sticks her butt in the air like she's thinking about going somewhere but has no idea what to do with her upper body. Her hand-eye coordination is improving every day, and she's making all sorts of fun sounds - raspberries and babbling "mamamama" and "babababa," sometimes sounding like "Obama," haha. She's been making excited shriek noises in the last few days.

Elle finally pooped last night (hooray!), too, almost a week to the minute since her last bowel movement. The girl has timing skill.

Elle's four-month stats

Elle had her four-month well-baby visit today.

Weight: 13 pounds, 14.5 ounces (60th percentile)

Height: 24.75 inches (75th percentile)

Head: The nurse said 17 inches. That seems a bit insane to me. I don't know how we went from centimeters to inches, either. But whatever the measurement is, she's in the 75th percentile, which is a good thing - her head was large to begin with, and now her body is starting to catch up to it.

*Someone* apparently had some not-so-fond memories of the office, and as soon as I put her down on the crinkly paper, she stuck the pouty lip out and started flailing and kicking, preparing for a full-blown cry. I rescued her before she completely lost it, but when we tried again, putting her back on the table but down on a blanket, and she launched in to a wail of epic proportions. It's a good thing we chatted with the doctor before the exam actually started because there is no way we'd be able to talk over Elle's cries :(

Everything is looking great with Elle - her development is still all on or ahead of schedule. She's growing slowly but steadily, and aside from her understandable terror at being in the place where she got her first vaccines two months ago, she is generally a happy, healthy baby. She spits up, but she's a "happy spitter," and it is within the realms of normal for a baby of her age.

Some pediatricians recommend that parents start solids with their babies between 4-6 months, and after doing some research, I really didn't want to start until after six months unless there was a medical reason to do so. Luckily, the doctor seems to be completely on the same page as us on that issue and told us to continue with her on breastmilk only unless she stops gaining weight or she seems to be constantly hungry. At her next appointment, we'll discuss introducing solids.

Elle's been drooling more lately and shoves everything in her mouth, so we asked what we might be looking at in terms of teething. The doctor said her gums are thickening, so things are progressing toward teeth, but we've got some time still before anything white shows up or pops out.

After the questions, examination and crying, it was time for the vaccines. She got one less than last time, and we had a different nurse this time who suggested that Tim hold Elle since she was already upset. The shots went a lot better this time - yeah, she was extremely upset and cried tears and screamed screams I never want to hear again, but she was quickly comforted and things went faster for her.

She's been great all day - fussed a little more than usual if I wasn't able to hold her (I tried to explain that Mommy and Daddy needed to eat dinner, too, but she wasn't up for logic) and has been running a slight fever, but she was cheerful and chatty tonight and alert and talkative on a walk earlier. I even got some laughs from her tonight. I'm hoping her reaction is mild like last time, but I'm grateful that Tim is off tomorrow and will be with her all day to monitor things.

Elle's belated three-month stats

Wellllll, I don't really have any. Which is why I didn't really post this earlier, but as her four-month well-baby visit approaches I realized I wanted to make sure I documented this month on the blog. I didn't even make it to her pediatrician's office for an official weight check, so I'll tell you all that we estimated her to be about 13 pounds on her three-month birthday. And as always, she's long. Her big three-month fell on Halloween, so she wore some fun hats during her photo shoot :)

This hat was knitted by the sister-in-law of one of my coworkers. She made two for his son because she wasn't sure what size his head would be, and Elle's huge noggin barely fit in to this one, the smaller one :)

And for some comparison, here are her first two month shots:

She's definitely a little taller, porkier and stronger in her most recent monthly photo! (And perhaps has a little more attitude!)

Elle's two-month stats

Elle's two-month pediatrician appointment was supposed to be last week, but since we were out of town it got pushed to this week. I had her weighed on her two-month birthday, though, and she was 11 pounds, 9 ounces (which put her roughly in the 60th percentile for two month olds). Here are her stats as of today:

Weight: 12 pounds, 5 ounces (88th percentile)

Height: 23.5 inches (90th percentile)

Head: 41 cm (92nd percentile)

The doctor said she's doing great, and her head/neck control while on her tummy was at the level of a three month old. She nearly rolled over on the exam table! 

She also had her first round of vaccines, which was probably harder on me than her. I made Tim come to the appointment and hold her down during the shots, and I stood behind him where she couldn't see me ... then I swooped in to comfort her after the shots were over. We think she screamed and cried more because the nurse and Tim were restricting her movement than from the pain. So far, she's been great - she's been in a fantastic mood all day except for the during the shots, and we're just watching for possible reactions. They gave her two cute bandages, too - one of which is already gone because she got poop all over it.

Elle has been sucking her fist like it is going out of style - it is funny to see/hear, and it is nice that she can self-soothe when we're not able to pop a pacifier in her mouth. She is very chatty with her toys - she's a big fan of an aqua elephant, a pink flower rattle, a Tigger rattle and a yellow giraffe. She sleeps extremely well at night, although her nap times and lengths are still a bit unpredictable. Every morning, when she wakes up, we hear her grunting and making little noises. When we go in to the nursery to get her, she looks at us and gives us a huge, cheesy smile, despite the fact that has been hours since she had her diaper changed or ate. She's on a pretty steady eating schedule and eats about every three hours, and in just the last few days she's been spitting up a lot less, which is a nice change :).

Basically, she's a fantastic, happy little baby - when she's crying, I know why 98% of the time. She's very good at going with the flow as long as she can eat and sleep, and although we're slightly biased, we think she's extremely advanced (and when the doctor tells you she's got skillz of a three month old it just adds credibility to our prejudice!).

She traveled fantastically to, in and from Ohio - I'll be posting more about our trip when I get a chance. For now, here is a video of her from Ohio, holding a rattle for the first time (and bopping her Uncle Doug in the face, too!):

Elle's one-month stats

Elle had her one-month pediatrician appointment today.

Weight: 9 pounds, 4 ounces (60th percentile)

Height (I don't think this is exact - she was wiggly and I don't think lined up properly): 22.25 inches (90th percentile)

Head: 39 cm (95th percentile - it was in the 90th percentile at birth and is in proportion with her other stats, so baby's big head is still good)

Everything looks great for baby girl (new nickname: Porkibeth). We also got clearance for regular baths (instead of sponge baths), tummy time and advice on a few other issues (gas, dry skin, night-time bottle, etc.) and made our appointment for her two-month visit, when she'll start getting vaccines.

She was sleeping in some great 3- and 4-hour stretches for a few nights in a row but has since reverted to more 2- and 3-hour stretches. She's not currently cluster feeding (I'm sure the 4.5-week growth spurt is just around the corner), but she is eating every 2 to 2.5 hours during the day. She's got super strong legs, has lost the hair on top of her head and enjoys her vitamin D.