Baby Kate

Dear Baby Kate - you are four months old! (4 months and one week to be precise).  You're a funny little thing.  You were born a big girl - those almost two weeks of extra cook time might have something to do with it - at just over 9 pounds.  (That sure surprised your mom). And you were long - 21 inches.  You are still quite long, 25 inches at your last check up, and you have a very large head - I think you must have a very big brain - you certainly are too smart for my sanity right now - more on that later.  Your check ups are always good - but, they prove you are stubborn.  You were stubborn when you were born - we had to force you out with an induction (you were supposed to arrive on April 28th, you didn't show up until May 9).  And you are stubborn still - mostly when it comes to eating.  You have been a great nurser since day one - for which I am very thankful for - we've had no issues whatsoever in that arena - but when it comes to other people feeding you - no way, uh uh, nope.  We've tried so many bottle / nipple combinations, all of them met with screaming - OH the screaming.  We tried mom giving them, dad giving them, people who were watching you giving them.  All with no success.  It's probably my fault - I should have started introducing bottles sooner, but I didn't want to jeopardize the great nursing you were doing.  And you were starting daycare, which stressed me out. You went 11 hours one day without eating at daycare.  You weren't unhappy at all - unless you were given a bottle - then you were VERY angry.  Take the bottle away - you played and napped and were generally happy. So we tried sippy cups.  While you don't hate those, you mostly just play with them, and we haven't had much luck with you drinking milk from them.  We've discovered that you will take milk via spoon. Which confounds me. But at least you are getting something.  Not enough to make the doctors happy, because your weight percentage keeps dropping, now you're at the 33 percentile.  My long lithe girl.  So we are starting you on solids - just at daycare (except when we introduce them first at home).  I'm dubious about rice cereal, so we started with one of mom's favorites - avocados.  You actually don't seem to mind them.  It's a messy business - we've just decided to put you in a high chair in a diaper and bib.  You make the most ridiculous faces when we feed you, and half the time you spit some of it back out (am I giving you too big of bites?) but you keep opening your mouth for more, and you eat what I consider quite a good amount.  And you ate it at daycare too, which makes Ms. Sylvia happy too.  So with your avocado and milk diet I hope you will gain a little more weight, because then I won't worry as much.  It just amazes me though - because you are hungry - but you are willing to wait for mom to come and feed you directly.  Hence the stubborn.  I think mom and dad are going to be in for some interesting times in the future, because we are both stubborn in our own ways - wish us luck, we're going to need it.  It's time for me to get ready for work now, so I can wake you up and get you ready for your day.

Love - Mommy