Trying Cereal & Four Month Photo Shoot

When we were at the doctor on Monday, Dr. Brian told us that we could start Kerrigan out on rice cereal and baby food. But he said most families wait until 6 months to start baby food. So I think that we will go ahead and wait as well. After the appointment, when Kerrigan and I went to the grocery store, I went ahead and picked up the cereal. We tried it out on Wednesday night. She did not seem to like it so much...

After we tried it with the spoon, I put the rest in her bottle to feed her. She ate it in the bottle. I guess the spoon threw her off a bit...

Here's the first try:


Not really into swallowing it :)




Let's try it again...




Okay, I think she was done...





We will try again soon, but I'm not sure she's quite into it yet. :) She's sleeping fine through the night, so I see no real rush.

Yesterday (October 15) was Kerrigan's 4 month birthday! I can't believe that she is already 4 months old. Time sure does fly by. We did her monthly photo shoot last night. Here are some of the pictures from it:













Here are some other pictures from the week:

Kerrigan & Marley


Kerrigan in the Bumbo


Hello down there!


Checking out her red socks... she's used to white and light pink ones :)


There's those red socks again! Daddy dressed her in Reds gear during the playoffs... it didn't payoff.


Holding on to Daddy's arm




Already talking on the phone...




Luckily, Kerrigan is feeling better. Her fever only lasted the day after her shots and she is not coughing or congested anymore. Her schedule was altered a bit this week, so hopefully she can get used to it soon. She was at Jenni's Monday and Tuesday (left early since she was sick) and then stayed at my parents' house on Wednesday. Then she stayed at home Thursday and Friday. Our childcare circumstances have changed, so it looks like she'll be staying at home with her sitter for the rest of the year. I just want everything to work out for the best for my daughter. She's my #1 priority.

We are getting ready to go to a birthday party this afternoon.

Until next time...

lj

4 Month Doctor Checkup In the Books

Kerrigan and I went to the doctor this past Monday to see Dr. Brian for her 4 month checkup. She weighs 12.12 pounds (50th percentile), is 24.5 inches long (80th percentile) and has a head circumference of 15.5 inches (25th percentile). Dr. Brian was happy with her growth. He asked about her development and asked if she was laughing (yes), holding her head up when she's on her tummy and pushing her arms up in a pushup position (yes), rolling on her side (yes) and I threw in that she's rolled over from tummy to back... he was impressed. He didn't have to ask if she followed objects around and focused on things because she didn't take her eyes off him once he came in. I told him that she had had congestion and some coughing/sneezing. When he looked in her ears, he saw "goop." She had the beginning of an ear infection. So he prescribed her to amoxicillin. He thought we had caught it early enough and that the medicine should do the trick. We go back to get checked out on November 1. He said he was okay with her getting her next round of shots even though she had been a little sick. So she had to get DTaP #2, Hib #2, Prevnar #2, IPV #2 and Rotateq #2.

Here's Kerrigan after we met with Dr. Brian and were waiting on shots:


The nurse came in and gave her the oral vaccine first. That went down okay... then on to the big shots. :( Kerrigan had a delayed reaction, got a super red and wrinkled face and let out a big cry. But it wasn't one of those ongoing cries. There were 4 separate ones--one for each shot. Mommy held up strong, though, because it probably lasted a total of 20 seconds.

We went to the grocery store and got Kerrigan's prescription filled. She did okay Monday night after we got home. But she did NOT like the medicine. Pink dribbled down her chin and she had the most unpleasant look on her face. Tuesday's 2 doses were about the same, but this morning, I think she finally started to get used to it because she got most of it down.

Tuesday my class went on a field trip and I got a text from Angie that Kerrigan had a 101.4 fever and was crying really hard. We were about to get on the bus to come back to school so I got a sub and left work early to go get little KJ. I took her home and she napped for a bit. I took her temp again and it was 101.7. I gave her some Tylenol and her fever came down to about 100.4 a couple of hours later. I had to go back up to school for our 1st grade PTO Performance, so Kerrigan stayed with Bebe and Pop while I was there. Last night, we skipped out on bath night because you could just tell Kerrigan did not feel well... poor baby. But luckily her temperature was back down to 98.8 right before bedtime. We decided to have Bebe and Pop watch her again today in case she were to start feeling bad again. But she had no fever and did much better today. I think it was just a combination of the vaccines and having the ear infection that made her feel so crummy. But I think we are getting back on track to feeling better. It's hard to see your baby sick.

Until next time...

lj

So, it's been a while...

I realize it has been almost 2 months since I have updated my blog. Honestly, I'm disappointed in myself! :( I wanted to keep it updated regularly so I wouldn't come to this point and not even know where to begin!! I'm sure that I'll forget many things but I'm going to do my best.

Kerrigan is getting so big! This time is going by so fast! I can't believe that she is almost 4 months old. It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant and anticipating our sweet baby's arrival.

One of the many reasons I have not updated is because I started back to work on September 7. Working and having a baby really make you tired! Before I started back, Kerrigan was really close to sleeping through the night. But the night before I started back to work, she began to sleep through the entire night! It's like she knew that Mommy needed to get as much rest as she could! :) In fact, she has only woken up in the middle of the night one time since then! The first week, she was waking up before I was ready to leave the house. So Aaron would get her out of bed and feed her and get her ready to go. But after that first week, Aaron started to have to wake her up! Our routine was a little shaky at first, but we have now got it down pretty well. I get up, eat breakfast, get ready and then right before I brush my teeth and dry my hair, I wake Aaron up to get Kerrigan ready. He gets her up, holds her a bit and then changes her diaper and gets her dressed and puts her in the car seat. Then she eats after she arrives to Jenni's house.

Kerrigan stays at my friend Jenni's house with her twin girls, Libby and Logan. Our friend Angie, who kept Carson and Parker for a couple of years, comes to Jenni's and keeps all three of the girls while we are at work. It's so nice to not have to worry about Kerrigan being at daycare. Plus, Jenni lives 5 minutes from school, so I am really close. So far, we've been lucky and I haven't had to pick Kerrigan up early for getting sick.

Kerrigan is getting into more of a routine of her own too. She's been eating around 4-5 times a day. She eats between 6 and 8 ounces at each feeding. She's really growing and eating more at one time has been really helpful. Her sleep schedule varies during the day, but she always takes a late afternoon/early evening nap. Sometimes she gets SO tired after we get home from Jenni's that she gets really fussy until she finally falls asleep. But we have still been really lucky due to the fact that she rarely gets fussy unless she is really tired, hungry or wet/dirty.

She is babbling a lot more and she really entertains herself when she does talk. We love to talk to her and sing songs to her to see what she will do. She thinks that we are really silly! She really loves to soak in everything around her. One thing that we have found that she really likes is to watch football! Anytime we have it on, it seems we can't get her eyes away from the TV. She still loves her tummy time and occasionally rolls over. But more so, she just likes to hold her head up and look around. Angie says that she always has her eyes on the girls during the day. They are really active 1 and a half year olds, so you know she has lots to see! Her legs are also so strong. When she lies on her back or in her vibrating chair, she is usually always kicking her legs all over the place. When we hold her, she usually likes to stand on our legs. Her daddy is convinced that she will be a soccer player like him. Kerrigan is a thumb sucker too. She slurps on it and really goes to town on it. It's funny how she holds her hand up to her face when she does it:


Another thing that Kerrigan loves to do is put things around her in her mouth. She has a lot of "lovies" but her two favorites are her Meow Meow and her Ruff Ruff. She usually holds them in her vibrating chair and carseat. She also likes to put them in her mouth and slobber on them. :) She likes to pull her blankets into her mouth and sometimes even her shirts. We've caught her showing off her belly a few times. ;) She still loves her paci, too. She's even figured out how to take it out of her mouth and put it back in. She's only done this a couple of times, but it's so neat to watch her figure out new things.

Kerrigan had a playdate with one of my coworkers, Christin, before I went back to work. Christin's baby Jack was born about 6 weeks after Kerrigan. She is off the whole year, and I am SO jealous of her! :) They just laid on the blanket together and were kicking their little legs. Jack even tried to get fresh with Kerrigan when he stuck his arm up her dress. ;)











We've also been to 2 birthday parties--one for our cousin Avery's first birthday and one for our friend Addie's first birthday. Two occasions where I did not bring my camera. Sometimes I still think I have a case of pregnancy brain. I am so forgetful!

We took our first official road trip with Kerrigan a few weeks ago. We went up to Cincinnati for Aaron's friend Barry's wedding. Aaron and his twin brother Dave were both in the wedding, so we went up for the weekend (September 24-26). We left on that Friday morning after we dropped Marley off to stay at Pampered Pets. Yes, we spoil our dog. It was about a 7 1/2 hour drive and Kerrigan did great! We stopped a couple of times for gas and food and so Kerrigan could get a chance to stretch. She did such a great job on our way up there She slept most of the time and only got fussy about 15 minutes before we got to Cincinnati. Kerrigan got to meet a lot of people that weekend, too. She met her Uncle Dave and his girlfriend Lindsey. She met her cousin Gavan. She met her Aunt Tracy and her boyfriend Joe. She also met Barry and his daughters and lots of other people who were at the wedding. The wedding was early, 10:30, so she didn't get a chance to take her morning nap. But she did great through the wedding and for most of the reception. We were there a few hours, and she was a trooper! She started to get fussy right before it was time to go. She had a couple of poopy diapers during the reception. Mommy was not prepared because she has only been pooping once a day. Needless to say, I ran out of wipes from the diaper bag! I had a lot more at our hotel, I promise, but it was far from the reception site. So Lindsey and I had to make an emergency trip to Walgreen's. Our trip was short, but we got to see Aaron's parents for a little while and it was good that Aaron got to spend time with his brother (since he lives all the way out in Tucson!). Here are some pictures from our first weekend trip:

Devin & Kerrigan at the Rehearsal Dinner


Lindsey, Dave, Gavan & Kerrigan


Dave and Aaron at the wedding


Dawn and Barry


Dave holding Kerrigan


Family Photo!


Aaron and Kerrigan at the reception


Kerrigan with Grandpa and Daddy


Kerrigan and I at the reception


Cousins: Gavan & Kerrigan


Tracy, Kerrigan and I




Kerrigan was wiped out


We've all 3 been battling sickness. A few days after I started back to work, I got strep throat. Aaron started feeling bad while we were in Cincinnati with a cough and congestion. Kerrigan has had a stuffy nose, cough, congestion and sneezing. It hasn't affected her sleep though, and she still acts like she feels okay. We have been having to use the suction bulb a lot in her nose. We also got some saline drops for her nose. They seem to have helped out. We called the doctor and the nurse said it takes babies about 2-3 weeks to get over a cold since they really can't cough up all the stuff in their chest on their own. Poor baby. We go to the doctor Monday, the 11th, for her 4 month checkup. So maybe Dr. Brian will have some other suggestions for us.

My goal now is to try and not worry about writing long entries that cover multiple events, but more shorter ones with little updates so that I can write more frequently. I am just so exhausted at night and on the weekends. I just have trouble finding the time and energy to write. :( I know I have left out a lot. Maybe I'll do better if I just update after events that happen. I say that...

I do want to say that I really do love being a mom. There is nothing like it. There's just something about seeing Kerrigan smile when she sees me or when I talk to her that just melts my heart. She truly is a blessing and I couldn't ask for anything better. It has been extremely hard going back to work for more reasons than the obvious, but it gives me something to look forward to at 3:15. I'm already anticipating Christmas break so I can spend 2 weeks with my girl. :)

I am going to end by posting some pics of our sweet baby from the past couple of months.

This face cracks me up... her bottom lip tucked in. We see it a lot.












Kerrigan loves Marley


And Marley loves Kerrigan


Holding on to the paci by a hair


Kerrigan and her Ruff Ruff


One of the many times we've had to use the suction bulb


3 months old!!!






More thumb sucking...








Holding that neck up like a champ!


Angie is a great photographer and she has taken some pictures of Kerrigan while she's been staying with her. It was hard to just select a few...






Libby checking out "the baby"






Kerrigan sleeping with her Meow Meow




Pop and his grandkids


Parker, Pop and Kerrigan


While Jenni and the girls were out of town, Angie kept Kerrigan, Carson and Parker one day




looks like she's ready to fight :)




Parker loves holding his cousin


Until next time... and let's hope it's sooner than later...

lj