Too Cute Tuesday

A couple thoughts about this picture...

During a sermon on the fourth commandment, our pastor said he saw a bumper sticker once that read "My kids think I'm the ATM".

Kristin had a Facebook post recently that said to ''guard your wallets, Alexa's crawling.  Either Alexa taught Megan another thing or don't wait until they're crawling to start protecting your assets! 

Megan at 4 Months

Even though Megan turned 4 months old almost 2 weeks ago, I still wanted to give a quick update on how she's doing.  Here are her stats from her 4 month well check on the 16th:

Weight - 15 lbs 8oz - 90%
Height - 25 inches - 75%
Head - 16 1/2 inches - 75%
 
I guess I have to apologize for giving Megan false information for her last letter to you all.  I was pretty sure she was a little heavier than 15 1/2 pounds.  She had been gaining weight at a rate of a half pound per week, but all of her recent activities including rolling over probably helped her burn off some extra calories.  Rolling over was just one of her big accomplishments for her fourth month.  After her 3 month growth spurt ended she was ready for her 3-6 month clothing, right on schedule.  She then discovered how much fun it was to roll around on the floor and found out how to use her legs in assisting her to rock her body and then turn herself over from front to back and soon after, back to front. 

 

The other big happening during Megan's fourth month was cutting her first teeth!  Even before she turned 3 months old she started to suck her fingers.  I thought it was really cute that she found them until I realized that it meant she was getting teeth.  She was a trooper through the whole process.  The only time it was a little bad was at bedtime.  She was a little harder to put down, maybe took about 20 minutes and she usually had gone down right away.  Also, about a week before they popped through she had to have some night feedings.  She must have woken up and felt the pain making it impossible to settle herself down again.  Daddy was the one to notice that they came through just a week before her 4 month birthday!  They are coming in nicely and are so cute!  I just heard a wive's tale at church yesterday that babies who get teeth early have bad teeth.  Any truth to that?

 

Megan continued to be a little fussy during the last month.  But once the teeth came through she was all smiles and hasn't stopped since!  Her hair slowly continues to get redder and thicker.  She has a crazy long tongue which she uses to play with the suckey in her mouth.  Her fingers are quite good already with getting that thing in and out!  She is starting to get on a good schedule.  Most of the time it's an eat, play, sleep schedule and she lets us know when she's tired by rubbing her eyes.  Just recently she is waking up from naps and not crying as bad as she once had.  She is able to entertain herself a little before needing us!  After her growth spurt ended we upped her to eating 6 ounces of milk 6 times a day.  I wanted to start her on cereal while she was having her growth spurt to keep her satisfied longer but once it ended she has been very content with her servings of milk. 

 

Like I said, Megan got really fun to be around and I really am starting to miss my baby girl while I'm at work.  It's good for me to get out, though, and the grandparents and Daddy are having lots of fun with her.  In case you haven't seen them already, here are a few 4 month pictures of our little one.  Enjoy!

Too Cute Tuesday

Megan and cousin Alexa at the Arboreteum...

Still one more muppet smile left before heading to bed...

All smiles on this relaxing Saturday morning...

 

Not Me Monday - 4th of July and Forth

I wanted to get this posted last night, but such is life with a 4 month old and a full-time job.  She is not a handfull - but worth every effort.

Megan was not full-blown teething during the 4th of July this year.  Her bottom two teeth came in on the 7th, but she had pretty bad diarrhea almost the entire time.  So bad that she did not have a diarrhea blow-out while celebrating at John's cousin's place on the 4th.  She was crying so hard and I when I checked her diaper I didn't see anything (because it was all in the back).  I was trying to calm her down while the mess was dripping out of the top onto the floor of the little girl's bedroom.  This is not one of my most embarassing moments, but with a kid now I'm sure plenty more like this will pour in.  Thanks to Grandma Lewis for helping me clean it up!

The last few years we've just been watching fireworks from our bedroom window.  This year, however, I was so tired that I did not sleep through almost the entire fireworks show.  I woke up just in time to catch the tail end of the grand finale.

The Hoppers did not finally win a game last Tuesday.  Too bad the other team didn't have enough players (which was an automatic forfeit but they played the game anyways) and John switched teams to play against the Hoppers.

We did not bring Megan to the Mall of America a couple Saturdays ago.  It was fun and she got a lot of stimulation.  I never knew how loud the entire mall is.  My ears even hurt just from walking around.  We ate at the Rainforest Cafe and got some good deals at Old Navy.  She needed to eat before we left to head home.  I did not use the hot air from the hand dryer to warm up Megan's bottle.  It actually worked really well.

Megan did not tumble out of a chair while taking some pictures at the arboreteum last Thursday.  She is just fine, just got a little scared.  Momma learned her lesson that we really do have a little wiggle-worm on our hands.  She cried a little.  She's not good with pain, especially when sleepy.

John was not 20 minutes late for work on Saturday because he had to stop and wait for a race.  He was the 3rd car in line and they wouldn't even let cars through when there was a break in the cyclists.

I did not finally bake cherry dessert out of the cherries that came from the Lewis' tree.  After 2 weeks of being in the fridge they were still good - and worth the wait!  Finally had enough time to get to it this weekend.  Thanks Mom and Rachel for watching Megan for me!

John did not burn his finger on the warming tray of our new grill.  He'll be fine, just not used to all the extra grilling surfaces quite yet.

She Likes It, She Likes It!

At Megan's 4 month check-up (more about that coming soon), we got the go-ahead to start solids. First on the list is rice cereal. I heard that most babies don't do well at their first feeding so I just made up the tiniest amount so I wouldn't waste so much milk if we had to throw it out. It will take some time for her to get the swallow part down, but she knows already that the spoon has food and that the food tastes good. Megan really wanted it bad, but her tongue kept getting in the way, pushing it back out. She actually got kind of upset once it was gone so I'll make a bigger serving next time. We'll try again tomorrow night and maybe more will get in Megan's mouth and into her belly.  Overall, I think this was a wonderful first attempt.

 

New Grill

Let's face it.  John is not Bobby Flay and I am no Rachael Ray, and while it's pretty tough now, we still enjoy cooking together when we can.  John loves to grill during the summer months (and I don't mind keeping the mess outside) but it was just getting too tough with our old junker.  The old grill had been on the fritz since the beginning of the summer and the heating element was almost completely corroded.  Since they're clearancing out a lot of grills at Home Depot right now, John was able to get the grill below for a pretty decent price.  It helps to know people at the store, too.  We christened it tonight with chicken wings, drumsticks and potato pouches.  It turned out well!  I think this new grill is a good fit for us.

 

Why we needed a change...

 

Little Megan, Start Your Feeding

Ready...

Aim...

Swallow!

 

There's no doubt in anyone's mind that Megan knows exactly what her bottle is, what it is for and what is inside.  She will often guide the bottle into her mouth and will help hold it while eating.  If the bottle is in sight, I never have to wonder if she's hungry because she is not shy in motioning towards the bottle.  Some nights she will even throw a little fit if it's close and she can't get to it.  Even so, it's nice to have a happy, healthy eater. 

I See How Mommy Rates

Me Again

Hi Everyone!  It's me again.  Me.  Megan.  I wanted to write to you sooner, but I have been sooooo busy growing.  I am 16 going on 17... pounds, that  is.  I don't know what's in that milk Mama's been feeding me, but it is making me so big and strong.  I just love it!  And when Mama doesn't get the bottle into my mouth fast enough I like to use my own hands to help it along.  I overheard Mama telling Daddy that I am going to start eating something new next week.  Something with a spoon.  I'm not sure if I'm going to like it, but, I tell you, it can't be worse than those vitamin drops.

So now I can play with my piggies, roll over from tummy to back and back to tummy, and hold my head up really high.  I wish every part of growin' was that much fun.  Today, my first two bottom teeth came in.  I felt something funny in my mouth for the last month but just couldn't put my finger on what was really happening.  Until today.  It did hurt quite a bit for them to pop through.  I was so brave and didn't even cry much for Mama and Daddy.  I don't want to do that again, but there's a whole lot more mouth to fill up.

Well, I really want to stay and tell you about more of my big adventures and accomplishments, but Mama says it's time for bed now.  And she's the boss. 

But before I go, here are a few pictures for the road.  Bye, bye!