Moving up to "Normal."

I don't have any pictures to post today...Just a quick update. Kylie had her 4 month well baby check up yesterday with Dr. Ness! :) She has officially been moved from the preemie growth chart on to the full term growth chart. Here are her new stats: Kylie weighs 13 pounds 14 ounces, which is the 55th percentile for a "normal" 4 month old baby. She is 23 inches long, which is the 12th percentile and her head circumference is 40.3 cm (15. 9 inches), which is the 29th percentile. Considering she is gestationally 8 weeks younger than the 4 month old babies she is being compared to, I'd say she is doing a pretty good job catching up! Way to go, Kylie Bean! I'm so proud of my big girl!

4 Months

On her 4 month birthday, Kylie looked adorable in her "biberalls."
(That's what my brother called bibs/overalls as a child!)

Kylie turned 4 months old this past Saturday, March 19th. I am a few days behind in posting her update because it was quite the busy weekend with all of our families in town for her baptism, which was on Sunday (But that's a whole other post that I'll get to soon).

I say this every month, but I can't believe how fast she is growing and how much she is changing so quickly. She is showing more and more personality with each passing day. We love our little Bean so much...I had no idea I had so much love to give to one little person.

As for her 4 month update: Kylie has grown to love her swing, her bouncer, and her play mat. She is content to hang out, "talk" herself and look around for fairly long periods of time. She is a happy baby who really only fusses in the evening when she is tired. She still likes taking baths and cuddling with Jon and me. She seems to like music and being sung to. She also still likes to look at lights. She likes her pacifier, though she still doesn't do a great job keeping it in her mouth. We are contemplating trying a different kind of pacifier with her to see if that helps. Clearly, she also really likes to eat!

Kylie no longer minds having her diaper changed, and actually seems to enjoy when it's off. She wiggles and kicks her legs like crazy when her diaper is off. She still hates having clothes pulled over her head. So putting onesies on is quite the adventure. I recently learned that Kylie doesn't like having her hair combed or her ears cleaned. She wildly jerks her head around when I try to do either of those things.

Kylie has reached many new milestones this month. My favorite is that she is finally smiling a lot. She smiles when she sees us or hears us. She smiles when she is playing. She smiles at her mobile and her toys. Kylie is stating to giggle sometimes too. The giggling doesn't seem to be as purposeful as the smiling, but it's still fun and cute. She is slowly getting better at holding her head up. She can softly set it down now, rather than drop it. She is "talking" a lot...She coos, gurgles, and grunts. Kylie has found her hands and her mouth. She holds onto her hands like she is praying...She usually does this when she is hungry. She puts her hands and fingers in her mouth...I have actually seen her with her whole hand in her mouth a couple of times. She grabs on to her clothes. She holds onto toys when we put them in her hands. Another great milestone that Kylie has reached is that she is now officially sleeping through the night. She sleeps from around 9:30-10:00pm until 7:30-8:00am. It is wonderful! She has also transitioned herself into eating less frequently. She is now eating 6 times per day...about 4-6ounces each feeding. She is continuing to grow like a weed. She was nearly 13 pounds on March 1st, so I'm guessing she has put on a pound or two since then. We will find out tomorrow when we go see Dr. Ness again! Lastly, she is starting to transition out of 0-3 month clothes and into 3-6 month clothes. She is also going to be moving up to size 2 diapers within the next week or two.

If I had to guess what Kylie is going to be like when she grows up, I would say that she is going to be a happy, talkative, outgoing girl with just enough attitude to give her a little flare!

Smiley Kylie

Kylie and I had a little photo shoot yesterday. She looked so stinkin' cute in her little tutu outfit (Thanks, Ruthie!). She is also starting to smile A LOT, and I wanted to show her off to all our bloggy friends. My dad calls her, "Smiley Kylie," and that nickname is becoming more and more fitting as you can see in the pictures below!



The next one is a good picture of the whole ensemble. It's a little big because it is 3-6 months, but I wanted her to wear it now before we are in warmer weather.


I like this last picture because you can really see her eye color...Big, beautiful, blues!

Two New Quilts

Kylie is a wonderful baby, and has been sleeping quite a bit lately. So I decided to use my free time to work on a few more quilts since it's still too cold to go outside and play. I made two for my friend Rebecca who will be giving them to some of her friends as gifts. And I am in the process of making one more for my friend, Beth...She is due with her second baby in June. After I finish Beth's, I am going on a quilt-making sabbatical until July. Then I will (hopefully) be back at it because I have several more friends who are having babies this summer...Plus I am thinking about opening up an Etsy shop...We'll see.

The two that I have posted are the ones that I made for Rebecca. Beth knows she is getting a quilt, but she doesn't know what it looks like, so I am not going to post that one in case she happens to check the blog.

Obviously, this one is meant for a baby boy with the blues and browns.

And this one is meant for a baby girl...I think we called these colors purple and raspberry with a touch of brown! I really love these fabrics...Luckily I have some left over, so maybe I will make something for Kylie!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Kylie wanted to wish her daddy a "Happy Birthday." So she made a sign and posed nicely for the camera. BUT Huey also wanted in on it. After all, Jon is his daddy too! So....

He hopped up on the couch, gave Kylie a kiss and made himself comfortable. Of course Kylie and Huey would not look at the camera at the same time....It only took 53 shots to get this one of Kylie looking. And after 27 more shots....
Huey sort of looked too. After this shot, Huey got bored and Kylie got mad so that was the end of that!

Anyway, we miss you, Jon! We hope you are having a great birthday! We can't wait for you to get home tonight so we can eat...

THIS!!!

Mmmmmm...A delicious carrot cake from the one and only Daube's Bakery! Happy Birthday, Jon!

Car Seats and Viral Infections

Like most babies, Kylie loves her car seat. She is especially a fan of the "moving car seat." She might fuss if you stick her in the car seat, but as soon as you pick it up and start walking she is as happy as a clam. She really, REALLY loves when we drive in the car. She will sleep for hours, forgetting that she is hungry or sad when we are driving. It is wonderful! We went shopping on Tuesday and when we got home, she just kept on sleeping...The secret is keeping the blanket over her so she thinks it's dark. I had to wake her up when it was time for her to eat. Here is a picture of her from Tuesday snoozing in her beloved car seat!

Last week, Kylie had her first illness. It was miserable...for her AND her parents. It started on Monday night with a half an hour episode of wailing...I mean screaming! Clearly her stomach was hurting. (TMI Alert) Eventually she squeezed out some diarrhea and felt much better. Tuesday went well, but Wednesday was horrible. I think it was the worst day of her little life! She was fussy all day...She couldn't sleep, and she cried and screamed A LOT throughout the whole day! She also had a low grade fever all day...It varied between 99 and 101. I gave her some Tylenol, which helped the fever but not the fussing. She had another episode of the "squirts," and seemed to feel a little better. She finally fell asleep for the night around 11:00pm (usually she goes to bed around 9:30pm). I was able to sleep for a couple of hours and then I was awoken by more painful screams. I ended up holding Kylie until she fell asleep again, which took a looooong time. At some point, she ended up falling asleep for about 4 hours. Thursday was more of the same, but a little better. There was lots of fussing, a low fever, but no diarrhea, and a little more sleep. When she wasn't better on Friday, I finally took her to the doctor. Unfortunately, Molly was not in clinic, but we saw another excellent doctor named Dr. Derauf. He did a thorough exam, but could not find any obvious reasons for the illness. So we were sent for a blood test. That came back showing signs of a viral infection. So, that is what the doctor determined was the problem. Notice the "was." She is feeling much better this week...back to normal (knock on wood). I'm not sure where she picked it up...Probably one of her "dirty" parents! :) Although it was horrible, and I hope Kylie doesn't get sick again for a long time, it is a bit of a relief to get that first illness out of the way. Now we know that she can fight these bugs off and she is building immunity.

Winter is almost over...Stay healthy through these last few weeks of cold and flu season!