4 Months and 8 Pounds!

Happy 4 month birthday to you, little girl!

Today we had Eleanor's 4 month check up and I don't think it could have gone better! She's up to 8 pounds now, so while she's still only in the 3rd percentile, even adjusted for age, she has started growing and gaining again after the weeks-long standstill of last month. Although the pediatrician is happy with her progress, we did decide to give her 3 bottles of formula per day as an experiment. We'll go back in 2 weeks and if she's gained a significant amount of weight in that time, we'll know she needed the extra calories. Now that she's 4 months old, I feel much more comfortable with this plan. Except for about a week in the NICU, she's been on just breastmilk for the full 4 months. At this age, many parents start giving their children cereals and other foods, so I feel like it's all right for her to have formula now. And nursing her as much as she needs to be nursed to gain the weight has really been draining for me, as well, so this is a bit of a relief.

The doctor also discussed Ellie's developmental milestones with us and she's right about where she should be for her actual age - she's starting to catch up! Every well-visit, the pediatrician gives us a checklist to see how Eleanor measures up compared to other babies her age. At this visit, there were only two things we couldn't check off: laughing and rolling. Since she did manage to roll accidentally once a few days ago, I think that's coming soon and hopefully the laughing, too. Regardless, the pediatrician did say that only half of all babies her age can roll over, so she doesn't consider her delayed at all! Music to a preemie mom's ears, I tell ya!

Weight: 8lbs

Height: 20.75in

Size: Newborn

Milestones: Oh my gosh, tons! This has been the biggest month so far for her in terms of development. Since December 8, she has begun "talking" with us, smiling at us, has rolled once, and now has good enough head and trunk control to sit in her high chair and stroller! It's amazing to wake up in the morning and see her smiling up at me as she stretches.

Likes: She likes it when people stick their tongues out at her - that's what seems to get her to smile the most. She also loves bathing, but hates coming out of the tub to get dressed. She's learning to suck on her hand and likes to have one hand out of the swaddle now and if I don't leave it out, she gets it out!

Dislikes: She can still be a bit of a crabby-pants at times. I don't know if she specifically dislikes anything - she doesn't really care for most of the toys we offer her, but that's more due to her age/development than her actually disliking the toys. She doesn't like to be tired, that's when she gets the most cranky ;-)