A Growing Family: FOUR MONTHS

FOUR MONTHS

The past month was filled with more travel and summer fun. We went to Orlando, FL to spend the weekend with the Newberry Family. Friday night we celebrated Kindell’s (Morgan’s cousin) 8th birthday. Saturday we went to Islands of Adventure during the day and Emeril’s Restaurant at City Walk for dinner. Morgan and Regan (Morgan’s other cousin) spent the day in the stroller; however, Morgan did get to enjoy her first ride, the Carousel in Dr. Seuss Land. I don’t usually enjoy theme parks because of the heat and the lines, and they can become boring after going year after year, but I had a whole new experience this year. The ‘skip to the front’ passes my parents bought helped with the lines and heat, and the excitement a child brings to the simplest rides (like the tea cups) makes me look forward to the next trip to a theme park. Sunday we went to the Disney Village for shopping and lunch. I got Morgan a set of four teething toys: Winnie the Pooh, Eeyor, Piglet, and Tiger too. She doesn’t maintain enough of a grip to chew on them yet but give her a month. We had lunch at the Rainforest Café which is a restaurant that is decorated from ceiling to floor to look like a Rainforest. They have a ‘show’ every 20 minutes or so and the elephant and monkeys move and make noise (very loud noise) and the waterfalls start flowing. The first show woke Morgan up, and she didn’t really like the elephant that was right next to the table. We joked that she was going to have elephants and monkeys chasing her in her dreams. We went back to Clearwater after Orlando and spent two days. I went biking with Dana (my sister-in-law), and we had dinner with my Grandma, and Uncle Mark and Aunt Susan. At the end of the week, everyone came up to Panama City. Carl took Kindell fishing although they got rained on so it didn’t last very long. We spent the next day on the boat tubing, and Carl did some wakeboarding. Kindell had a blast on the tube which made me really look forward to when Morgan can enjoy tubing and going on the boat.
-Carl’s work has been going well and he continues with his MBA (he will finish in April). I have continued training for my Triathlon on August 22nd. I am still doing the baby swap with my friend and really enjoy having Morgan and Beckett at the same time. I am glad I enjoy it because Carl and I are trying to get pregnant again! This time next year I will have two little ones to take care of everyday. We try to get Morgan in the pool a couple of times a week, and I shower with her every night. She loves the water and is really good about going under. She usually sticks her tongue out to close off her mouth; however, when she does accidentally get a mouth full of water she is really good about spitting/coughing it out. She is becoming very mobile although she can’t fully roll over yet. She likes to bridge her butt up and then move it over a couple of inches in order to move herself around on the floor or in her crib. We have started to strap her into her bouncer/swing because she can bridge her way out of them. She sits really well in her Bumbo chair and has started standing in her Baby Einstein Activity Center-she loves to spin the frog. I had to borrow my parents' bouncer because Morgan is bored with ours after getting use to my parents'. It has a mirror, things to flip, a place to attach rings (her favorite toy right now), music, and lights--the perfect toy for a baby with ADD.

Morgan had her 4 month check up and the Doctor said she looks great. She is 12 pounds exactly, 23 and ½ inches long, and her head circumference was 41 and ½ cm. I will probably have to put away most of her newborn clothes because they are not long enough for her and are also getting a little snug. The 0-3 month clothes are starting to fit length wise however are a little big in the midsection. Her hair has stopped falling out but has not started to come back--she still has the same patch of black hair at the base of her neck. Her eyes are pretty much a dark brown now. She is taking a 6 oz bottle every 5-6 hours (the bottles are half breast milk and half formula). She had to have all formula bottles in Orlando and it did not go well at all. We have since started making her bottles with the Nursery Water (Distilled water with added Fluoride vs. tap water) and adding a couple of drops of anti-gas to help dissolve the gas created from the formula. It has worked really well and we have our happy Morgan back. The doctor said I can start introducing First Foods which is baby food that is processed almost to the point the baby can drink it off the spoon. She only wants me to feed her about a tablespoon a day so that Morgan can sample all the different foods to make sure she doesn’t have any allergies. Then when she is 6 months she can start really eating baby food. Morgan still wakes up one time at night to take a bottle (usually around 7-8hours after her last feed) but goes right back to sleep. I timed it and it usually takes less than 15 minutes and 5 of that is getting the bottle ready. She does like to get up between 5 and 6am however, but is content with going back to sleep in the swing until about 7am-then she wants to play! She takes cat naps (15 to 45 minutes) every two to three hours and then every other day or so will take a long 3-4 hour nap in the late afternoon. She giggles and will all out laugh if you really get her going. She has also started to laugh and then tuck her neck and head like she is being shy. She is going to be a big flirt! We continue to thank God for blessing us with a happy, healthy baby.

Family Divided-Go Gators!