4 Months Old

Cadence is growing so well, and I can hardly believe she's already 4 months old. (Taking her to her check-up was the first place I drove our new van...after bringing it home from the dealership, that is! Ah, I love my new Sienna!!)  Cadence weighed 11 lbs. 15 oz (14%), not quite a whole 12 lbs.  She's  now 25 inches long (63%) and has a 39.5 cm head circumference (12%).  She's just a petite little girl, and I think that's part of her charm...it's what makes her so adorable!  :)   I like how the doctor called her petite and not treating her like there's something wrong with her.  If you compare her to her cousin Evelyn who is 6 weeks younger, Cadence looks like a little peanut of a girl, not that Evelyn is too big...Cadence is just that small.  I think she's wonderful...wonderfully petite!

The doctor asked about certain milestones, and she was surprised to find out that Cadence is rolling over both ways.  She said that was a milestone they usually check for at 6 months.  Woo hoo!  When I lay her down on her back in the play gym, quite often she'll roll right over onto her belly.  She usually gets a bit frustrated because then she's on her tummy, but is a regular rolly-poley. I find her in all sorts of positions a while after I've laid her down.  Maybe that little head of hers has made it easier for her to learn to roll over sooner.

Then she got a couple vaccine shots.  She had a super delayed reaction to the first shot...about 3 seconds after she started crying, but she took it like a champ.  As soon as I picked her up she stopped crying.  I think she got out about 4 sobs and was done.  Way to go, Cadence!!  When I asked Canon to tell Daddy about the visit, Canon said that Cadence didn't even cry...so I guess it was so quick that Canon didn't even notice.

The other thing to mention is that the doctor said we could start experimenting with solid foods.  She said that if Cadence turns away from the food, spits it all out without really keeping any in the mouth, then I should give her a few more weeks and try again. So, I decided to give it a try.

She looked excited to see a box of food meant for her.

Wait, Mom!  What's on that spoon you're trying to shove into my face?

Whoa!  *kick kick kick* Give me more of that!!

She wasn't sure at first, but then she was grabbing at my hand and the spoon.  The hardest part about feeding her baby cereal was how she kept getting in the way.  I had forgotten how messy little babies are with eating, but it didn't surprise me, really.  It took about 3 times for each spoonful to get fully eaten, but she just couldn't get enough.  I hope she takes to all new foods this easily.  We'll see, but I'm excited for her to be getting solid foods.  The doctor said that it's when they're eating solids that they begin to sleep through the night and not need a middle of the night feeding.  *crossing my fingers*

Oh...by the way, while I was feeding Cadence, Canon was playing quietly in his room.  He seemed to be totally fine, so I didn't bother to check on him until she was done.  BIG MISTAKE, MOM!

Note to self: when you can't tell what they're doing, they're probably doing something they shouldn't!  Ugh!  At least it wiped easily off of the train table, toy food, wiffle balls, and other toys that he also colored on.  It came mostly off the skin, but it stained a bit and didn't come off until he took a bath.  Little boys...*sigh*

Cuteness- Alert! Baby Milestones

Cadence has been smiling for a while...looking totally cute and everything, but I couldn't get her to laugh.  Back on Sept. 15th I was telling my sister-in-law that I never heard her laugh, and then later that afternoon she DID IT.  I was pinning her arms up and tickling her armpits with my nose, and I heard a chuckle, then another, and another.  "Quick, Mark!  Get this on video!  These are her first laughs!"

Here's the video

I've been able to get her to laugh a bit harder more recently, but nothing works 100% of the time I try it.  Hopefully she will be laughing more and more in the months to come. :)

On Sept. 29th Cadence rolled over from tummy to back for the first time.  Ok, so she's been doing it for a while in her sleep, but I figure it was because she's all swaddled and can't get her hands free...and she kicks herself over using her legs.  Last Saturday she was playing in the baby gym and Mark watched as she flipped over.  Then, the next day she rolled from back to front.  This whole week she's been a little wiggle worm.  I lay her in one position in the gym, and when I come back to her a few minutes later she's in a completely different position, facing a different direction.  This morning I saw her roll a couple times and found Canon's toy hammer, grabbed it, and started gnawing on it.  I'm not certain that she was rolling to get to the hammer or if it just happened to be there when she was done rolling... but one thing is for certain.  She's learning to be mobile, and I have to be careful where I lay her down now.  She's not safe in her car seat on the floor unless we strap her in.  She squirmed her way out of it at the dentist office the other day!  I can hardly believe she's growing so fast!  :)

Oh yeah, and she's starting to grab things and put them in her mouth too.
Hopefully the binky will be one of those things soon...
so I don't have to fetch it for her in the middle of the night anymore.