4 months old!

I swear, time is going even faster since I went back to work. Aubrey has had a busy month. Her firsts for the month:

*Rolling over from back to belly-happened at day care (5.18) Todd and I first see it on 5.25
*Attended her first wedding (Congrats Lesley and Steven)
*Attended her first concert -Lifehouse, not a great show
*Attended her first dance recital
*Moved up to 5.5 ounces of milk per bottle
*Realized that her voice is hers and loves to use it
*Started teething (2 on the way)
*Could finally wear 3 month old clothes
*Started reaching for things and holding things in her hands

I love watching her make the milestones and watching her grow, but it's bittersweet. While I don't miss the newborn stage, it is sad to know the first 4 months are gone. I know there is so much more to come and I am excited to watch, but yet a little sad at what has passed. My little girl is growing up and it is THE most amazing thing I have ever seen.

4 month check up

Todd had the pleasure of taking Aubrey to her 4 month appointment since I had to work. Our little munchkin weighs 11 lbs, 15 oz and is 24 inches long. All the milk she has been chugging since she started day care is starting to make a difference. She moved up to the 30th percentile in weight and 5oth in height. Her doctor wants us to start her on rice cereal since she is eating so much and wants her on baby food by her next visit, but I am not quite ready for that. Plus, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breast milk only for the 1st 6 months. I might start trying her out on it next month, but we'll see. She is sleeping through the night and gaining weight, so I don't see a major need to change things up, yet. The other lovely news the doctor gave us is Aubrey has 2 teeth coming in. Lovely. We knew she was starting to teeth because she is chewing on everything and is wanting her paci more than her thumb so she can chew on it. She's also been a bit more fussy lately. While I am happy that she is making progress, I am not looking forward to those teeth coming in. The first time she bites me while she is nursing is not going to be a pleasant time. Ok, back to the appointment. The doctor said she looks great as far as tummy time and said she should be rolling over shortly. Which she has done at day care, but I haven't seen it yet so it doesn't count. She said she should also be working on sitting up, so we are trying to put her in the Bumbo more often to work on those ab muscles. Then, Aubrey got her 4 month vaccines and Todd said she did great. We also learned that giving her a bottle right after the shot made a big difference because it gave her something else to focus on. She got a cool pink camoflage band-aid to cover her leg this time, but I forgot to get the picture. So, all in all our little girl is doing well and growing so fast. She'll be 4 months on Tuesday and I can't believe it.

Dance recital

May 16th was my dance recital. At the beginning of the dance year, I think I was around 20ish weeks pregnant, so it made time seem like it had flown since Aubrey is over 3 months old. Of course, we had to bring her to dress rehearsal and the actual recital. I am sure the music sounded pretty familiar since I am sure she heard the songs a million times inside my belly. Amazingly, she slept through most of both shows, but we had kept her out well past her bed time so I should not have been surprised.

Sleeping during dress rehearsal

With me at the recital

Drinking with us at the Sports Page

Mother's Day

I had a fabulous first Mother's Day. Instead of buying me a gift, Todd decided to do all of my work for the day so I could just hang out. So, he cleaned the house, made me breakfast and lunch, did my laundry, plus took care of Aubrey most the day. Then we went to his parents' house for a steak dinner. It was awesome to just be able to chill for a while and enjoy having a clean house I didn't work for. I hear so many mom's that say their husbands let them down for Mother's Day so I know I am very fortunate that Todd took care of me. It's still amazing to me that I am a mother now. It still seems surreal that I am responsible for another human being like that. But, I love every minute of it. I can't wait until she's older and can make me those wonderful handmade Mother's Day cards and pictures. Those are the best and I am sure I will cry when I get one. I remember how proud I was of the projects I made for my mom and I hope she enjoys it just as much.

Aubrey exercising her lungs

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on over the Memorial Day weekend. I have been so busy I haven't had a lot of time to sit at my computer for long periods of time. So, until I can get everything caught up, here is a video I took of Aubrey learning that she has control of her voice to hold you over.

Bath time

It amazes me how much about being a mom is trial-by-fire. For the past 3 months, Aubrey has hated the bath. I mean, full on turning-purple-in-the-face-screaming hated it. Evidence from her 1st bath at 5 days old.


We have the baby tub that has a shower bucket in it so the water showers over her. Normally, I started the bath by spraying her down all over starting at her belly and then wait 30 seconds to let the initial screaming end. Sunday, I started spraying the water on her feet first and waited for the screaming and then my jaw dropped in amazement because she didn't scream. I went on the with the bath and brushed off the no screaming as luck. We don't put her in the tub every night because it dries out her skin, so she gets sponge baths on the no tub nights. The next time I put her in the tub, I started with her feet again and was thrilled that there were no tears again. The proof:
That's actually a little bit of a smile. Next time I'll have to get video because she actually started splashing her feet in the water. It was actually fun to give her a bath.

It doesn't take much to amuse a sleep-deprived mom.

Cloth diapers

I made the decision while I was pregnant that I would use cloth diapers for Aubrey. And most people gave me the wide-eyed "Really?" comment. I knew what they were thinking. The old school fold up cloth diapers that use pins to hold them closed and a diaper service. Neither of which I planned to use. Cloth diapers have come a looong way since even I was a baby. Today there are so many styles to choose from it is mind boggling. When I first decided to use cloth diapers, I decided to use pocket diapers. These diapers are fleece on the inside and you stuff the pocket sewn inside with inserts that absorb the fluids. The outside is made of PUL, which is a waterproof material that holds everything in. These are the most like disposable diapers and are so easy to use because you just close it with snaps or velcro and go. But, once we determined that Aubrey is a munchkin and the pocket diapers don't fit well until 12 lbs, I decided to use fitted diapers. These are made out of different absorbent materials like fleece or bamboo and fit much more snugly. You have to use a cover with these to hold everything in because they have no outer cover sewn on. These are working great for us right now because they fit her little bottom the best. There are also the classic prefold diapers that are the traditional cloth diapers and all-in-one diapers that are a combination of fitteds and pockets, but I haven't tried either of those. We still use disposables for day care and trips, but hopefully we will be using them a lot more as she gets bigger. After she wears one, it gets thrown in a big bag and the entire bag goes in the wash when its time. And any poop just gets scraped into the toilet. It only creates 1 extra load of laundry for me right now which is not a major deal. It's so easy!

Bonuses of cloth diapers:
Much cheaper--the pocket diapers are one size fits all so they will last us hopefully until she's potty trained. One diaper is 18 dollars and we have 14 of those, so $250 for diapers that will last till she's 2-ish is not a bad deal.
Much better for the environment--less yucky diapers being thrown away.
Better for her tushie--less chemicals coming in contact with that sensitive bum
Cloth diapers are sooo much cuter than sposies

This is a fitted diaper


This is the cover over the diaper


See, so much cuter than a white sposie