4 Month Update

Stats:

Weight: 10lbs 2.5oz
Height: 21.5 in
Head Circ: 37 inches   CENTIMETERS (Thanks, Kris...)
Percentile on Growth Chart: 1st

We really liked out new pediatrician but Abby REALLY did not like her shots :(  She starts physical therapy in a few weeks to work on her neck muscles since she's holding her head a little lopsided these days. I had no idea itty-bittys did physical therapy! Matt is off work this whole week so he was able to go to the appointment. Sooo happy to have my family all together this week :)

What a difference 3 months makes!

The day we brought Abigail home from the nicu in September 2009  vs. December 2009

When we brought her home, Abigail weighed 3lbs 12 oz and was 1 month old

Today, Abigail weighs 10lbs 4oz and is 4 months old!

Now we're getting ready for her 4 month appointment tomorrow and hoping she's finally on the charts!!

My Friends

Guest-post by Abigail - aka Gummybear

Hello Friends! I would like to introduce you to my newest favorite companion - we call him "Crinkle Puppy"!

He is my newest friend and the very first one I have been able to really talk to.  We talk about all sorts of things when I sit in my bouncy chair.
This is L.O.V.E, people!

Best Friends:

Silent Monks singing Halleluia

Love it!



Creative high schools students give a great rendition of Halleluia!

Guess that baby!

Sorry for the horrible quality - I have really shakey hands and no scanner.

Can you guess who these babies are? Matt or Jennifer?

Now compare again to Abby's bath pic here:

Freaky, no???

A Night on the Town...and Bathtub fun!

Last night was the annual lighting of the Grantville Christmas tree, so we bundled Abigail up to have her first Christmas holiday experience! After the fiasco at the pizza joint (see vent below), we broke out her jogging stroller and headed downtown to watch the Grantville Elementary kids sing (LOVED IT!! Can't wait to see Abby up there) on the old Train Depot stairs.  Abby decided she didn't want to stay in her stroller, so I held her where she could see all the lights and people - and she had a blast!  She didn't get to meet Santa this year (it was just too cold and crowded to wait around) but she is definitely on the nice list, so she can expect plenty of gifts!

Here are some pics from our night:

Getting all dressed up (she learned this expression from her daddy!)

Bundled up!

Are these not the cutest feet ever!?

Mommy's ready to go!

Daddy just got hime - lets roll!

Matt strolling along

Mommy and Abby in front of the Grantville tree

Look closely! Yup, that's Santa on a four-wheeler. We are nothing in Grantville if we are not klassy!

After the big eventful day, it was time for Abby to have a nice warm bath. She LOVES her baby spa!

Look at that outtie!!!

Let sleeping babies lie!

So we were at a local pizza joint when the owner - lets call her Kelly - comes over to the table to take a look at Abigail. Lucky for us, Abigail was napping, so I had high hopes of being able to eat my ENTIRE meal before her waking up and needing to be fed/changed/comforted. Because Abigail is not just a BABY, you see. She is a premature INFANT and infants need a lot of sleep. Likewise, when you wake a sleeping infant before they are ready to wake up, they are none too happy about it. How do YOU like being rudely woken up when you're in the middle of dreaming about your next meal?? (Note: Cheryl, this is not directed at you. That was a totally different situation on Thanksgiving and you are forgiven :) )

So "Kelly" walks up and starts chirping at Abigail. And this is how it went:

Kelly: Ooooh, such a cute BABY! Wake up, Baby!

Me: She's napping right now. Guess we got lucky. (HINT HINT)

Kelly: Well, wake her up so I can play with her! I wanna play with her!!

Me: No, she's napping right now. This is her nap time. She needs to nap. Hopefully she'll nap all through our dinner.

Kelly: ::insert baby talk:: Aw, I wish she would wake up. Itty Bitty one - wake up!

**Then she starts vigorously rocking the carseat and shaking Abby's mittened hands - all the while looking over at us as if she's not purposefully trying to wake our baby.**

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!! Call me overprotective, call me a first-time mom, call me WHATEVER, but a stranger trying to wake up my baby so that SHE can play with her?? Because obviously her need to "play" with an overtired crankypants outweighs my child's need to sleep and grow.

Woman, unless you spent 3 days in labor to push out this child, pray every night that she stays healthy, and get up every night with her to change her poopy diaper and rock her overtired little self back to sleep, you have NO right to try to "accidentally" wake up my baby.

So how did it end, you ask? Abigail - being the perfect angel that she is - continued to sleep away, much to the annoyance of said devil-woman. And Abigail's mama gave said woman the look of death, which apparently worked, since she went away and did not return.

I'm not here to make friends, people.

End of conversation, discussion, and post-modern diatribe.


Ps. She slept 8 hours last night, plus an extra 4 after fourthmeal :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Abigail's first Christmas Ornament

Mommy's first Christmas ornament

Mommy, Daddy, and Baby's stockings

Sideways stockings for Ginger, Lucy, and Jack-Jack

Stocking for our lost little one

Our tiny Abigail-sized Christmas tree!

Someone got their holidays mixed up!

Sick-o

Ever since Thanksgiving, my house has morphed into an advertisement for Purell hand sanitizer. Seriously. Matt's sick, Gummybear is sick...heck, even the cat is puking on my carpet.

DON'T PANIC (like I did) - the baby is FINE. She's not "really" sick after all. Turns out, her projectile vomiting has nothing to do with a fever or the flu and has everything to do with the thrush meds she's been on for a few days. I suspected this after taking her temperature every hour on the hour for the past 48 hours and wondering why my thermometer wasn't working - it kept coming up with 98.5! I even sent sick Matt out to the Hogansville Rite Aid (directly past the sketchy :Piggly Wiggly) to spend a fortune on one of those digital ear thermometers. Still, 98.5. How could this be? She had been spraying herself, myself, the couch, and the dog with sour milk after every other feeding...that we gave her the thrush medicine...It all started to make sense. Considering that her thrush meds are green and smell like old people, I don't blame her for causing them to forcefully exit.

So, crisis averted. For now. I know that one day (probably this winter) she will get her first "real" cold/flu and I will be a mess - but hopefully not for a few more months.

And how is Matt, you ask? Not so good. He's got quite a bit of nastiness going on and sounds an awful lot like Pooh-bear when he talks. And, worst of all, he cannot hold GB until he gets better. She misses her daddy. :(  My poor little bunny....

Dear Daddy,

Dear Daddy


1. I do not fit into my preemie pants anymore, so mommy put some HUGE newborn pants on me and pulled them up to my armpits. She thinks it's cute, but I think I look like a little old man. I also think Jack-Jack is laughing at me. I think you should have a talk with mommy about my "image" when you get home. She can't go messing up my "image" like that!!

2. I was so fussy this morning that mommy put me in the sling and I got to go to bed in the big bed! Then when we woke up mommy told me about the dream she had. She dreamed she had triplet boys who all needed their diapers changed at the same time. She said it was a nightmare and she's sooooo glad there's just one of me. Is this a compliment??

3. I am wearing my daddy's princess onesie today in your honor.

And now I think I'll go nap on mommy because it's more fun to sleep during the day and stress mommy out all night :)

Heart you, daddy!
Love,


GB
 
****************************************************************
 
Dear GB,


I am sorry that the preemie pants are too small, but think it now gives you the opportunity to wear all sorts of new ones. I don’t know if mommy would listen if I said to make sure pants only go up to your waist. Jack-Jack is laughing at everyone, but you just call him fatty and he will simmer down.

You should really attempt to be less fussy. I know things are new and exciting, and that being fussy is your only form of communication. Daddy is really glad that we don’t have to worry about triplet boys at the same time as you. It would be hard to budget the time for everyone. I think what mommy is saying is that she loves you very much.


Have a good nap, and let mommy nap some too.


Heart U


P.S. Mommy needs to get some extra sleep. Crazy Train is leaving the station. :)

Saturday. In the Park....

Posted by Abigail

Now that I have you humming the song (did you know Chicago is one of my mommy's favorite bands?), I would like to tell you about my first day at the park! Thanks to my Aunt Jessica, I have tons of pretty pictures to share. So lets get started - I have dinner reservations at 8.

I went to the park Saturday to meet my cousins! We were celebrating my Gigi's birthday. I'm not sure what a birthday is yet, but we still had fun. I hope we celebrate Gigi's birthday every Saturday!

Me with my cousins (Graham, Jake, Becca, Raine...and me!)

Becca and me!

This is Becca eating a cookie. I didn't get a cookie...

Instead, I got some milk! (But I still want a cookie!)

Here I am hanging out with Raine!

This is Baby Jake. He is two months older than me. (And he is a MONSTER! His shirt said so.)

Jake, Uncle Mark, and Uncle Andrew like to talk about these little boxes and then they talk into them.

Baby Jake took a nap in the sunshine.

He was REALLY sleepy! What a baby!!

Becca and Graham palyed on the playground. Look at that hair!!

Mommy says that one day I will be able to play with them too.

Right now I just play with mommy and daddy.

Here's the sleepy-head Jake again!

Here are my feet! Not sure what this picture is doing in my story... (But I find them to be very lovely.)

I told them to amuse themselves and Bocci is the best they could come up with.  That's ok, I will learn how to play another time.

This is my mommy's first attempt at PhotoShop, but daddy really did it.  (shhh don't tell)

Good bye for now, friends.  I have a dinner appointment to keep.