Growing Baby!

Sophia's doctor's appointment went very well yesterday! She measured in at a whopping 27" and 15 pounds! Woweee! I was a little nervous that she was gaining too much weight because she seems to eat a ton...although she doesn't look big, I was still being the nervous mother! He said that she is the 95th -100th percentile for height and the 75th for weight, so no need to worry because her body can handle that much food. Charlie said he's happy as long as her percentile for height is always higher than her weight.

We also talked a lot about her spitting up. If you haven't had the pleasure of feeding Sophia, you may not know this, but she is the Queen of Spew! I tried a formula that was specially designed to help with spitting up and although I was a bit skeptical, I think it really helped. I was nervous that her doctor would immediately try and put her on a drug like Zantac, and I'm not so into that. It was the contrary, however, he gave us some good tips on how to see if we can help her control the spitting before we go to drugs. In fact, he even said that Zantac, and the like, are the most over-prescribed drugs for babies right now. I believe it, I've heard from a lot of people that there baby is or was on it. If it is medically necessary, I will be okay with it, but I'd like to save it as the last option.

She did have some adverse reactions to her shots again, but we tried to pre-empt the strike by giving Motrin immediately after the doctor visit. It helped...a little. Overall, the doctor was very pleased with her progress and commented on how strong and cute she was. He also said that she was the happiest baby he'd seen all day...hooray for that!

Brrrrrr!

Even Walter likes to spend time reading!

Due to the frigid temperatures of late, we have been spending lots of time indoors. One of Sophia's favorite indoor activities is reading. Today I read her a book and when we finished, she cried. So, I read another, and another, and another! She is generally just riveted and looks at all the pictures as I read and turn the pages! Hopefully this baby will take after those of us who love reading! Aunt Cathy got her two books for Christmas that we just adore, Go Dog Go being one of the favorites. Aunt Ellyn sent some books too that have a few too many words yet, but we love looking at the pictures. Plus, one of those books was my dad's favorite story growing up so Sophia really has a special treat waiting for her! Yesterday on a shopping trip with Pam I picked up three great books at Gordman's all for $0.99 each...love a bargain! I realized I should really hit up more close-out type stores because they have new things for great prices!





Well, on another note, I have officially stopped the pumping. I had a mini-breakdown about it yesterday and did cry, but I'm doing better today. I realized that it was time when it was taking more than a day just to get one bottle's worth of milk. So, I have a small stash in the freezer that we're going to use up and then it's going to have to be 100% formula. I feel good that I went as long as possible and there really wasn't much else I could do to help stimulate my supply, I tried many things, but I still feel sad. I really shouldn't worry, Charlie and I were both formula fed and I've talked to a few moms recently who have always done formula, and by the looks of her, my child is not malnourished! :) I suppose it is just another example of how things change when your child actually arrives, nothing ever really does goes as planned, does it!





Sophia has her 4 month doctor's visit on Tuesday, so I'll post again soon with updates from the doc! I can't believe she's already four months old...oh how time flies!

I Am So High-Tech!

Well thanks to Jill, my personal tech-support, I have figured out how to take short movies with my camera since we do not yet have a video camera. The only downside is of course that there is no sound, but the up-side is that all of you can now see her live in living color! I hope this is especially nice for those of you who don't get to see her very often.

The first video is of her new trick, rolling over! Go, go go! The second video is just sheer cuteness. Without the sound, you don't get the full effect, but it's still pretty cute!

Shelby

Shelby with Rachel in the background

Where's the baby? She's camouflaged!

Sophia and Aunt Bess

Shelby is Sophia's very proud big cousin and she just turned 12!!! Yikes, now this does make me feel old! It was also a somewhat humbling experience for Charlie to realize that his little girl will also some day be 12 and he refrained from making too many jokes and giving Stacy a hard time about his little girl.



We had a nice party at mom's house and Shelby was graced with family and presents, which are more exciting to a pre-teen anyway.

It's Official!

Well, I am happy (okay, a little sad at this sign of my baby growing up already) to report that Sophia has officially rolled over! Yay for my big girl! Sadly, both Charlie and I missed it! :(

Charlie had taken Walt to the dog park and I took this opportunity to pick up a bit around the downstairs area. So, I put Sophia on her play mat and puttered around the rooms tidying up when I heard her fussing. So I walked back into the room and there she was on her tummy! Wowser! My days of leaving her in the middle of the bed while I do something are now over, I guess...darn it! She was just as happy as a clam and did it again a few minutes later, and I did manage to see it this time!

She is also teething which is a great joy! She has been very drooly and her gums are still very hard, as I think I mentioned, but yesterday she had two major meltdowns that absolutely broke my heart! The only explanation has to be cutting teeth. She had another meltdown this morning and then Charlie ran out and got the essentials: teething rings, Baby Orajel, and Motrin. She's had some of each today and seems to be doing a bit better than before. I will admit however, that I'm a bit nervous because I can't imagine this kind of anguish every time. That's a whole lotta teeth and tears to go through! Ugh!

A Chip Off the Old Fluff

Can you say adorable?!

Nothin' like some brotherly love

Any of you who really know me, know that I love matchy matchiness. I love to be twins with my friends and family any given day of the week. In fact, recently I encouraged Jill to buy the exact same jacket as me, not only because it's warm and adorable, but because we could be twins! Pam and I ordered the exact same shoes in the exact same size and color off the Internet, because again, great shoes, but I also love to match! I'm not sure exactly why I have this need but perhaps it stems from being the youngest child/grandchild in the family and my constant yearning for someone younger than me...? But, I digress...



So, when Kathleen's daughter Lily sent this outfit to Sophia for Christmas I was really beside myself with joy and delight! It is absolutely too cute! I'm not sure how she stumbled upon such a gem, but I love it. The slippers are a little hard to see in the pictures, but they match the hat and are little mini-doggies. Some pictures were difficult to take because Walter was afraid he would get in trouble if he came too near Sophia, so I ended up holding her, sitting next to Walt and taking the picture myself...yikes! Also, since these pictures were taken, Walter has had a hair cut. In fact, Walter has a had a rough go of it the past few days, but that's a whole other story all together!

American Babyator

One tough family!

Sophia and the Little Bears

Charlie and I are very excited about the revival of the reality show American Gladiators. Both of us watched it every Sat. morning as kids and loved it! Who didn't, really. Anyway, when they hype began last month we got pretty excited. Our good friends Jill and Matt were excited too, or should I say Matt was excited and Jill's just a good sport! :)



Anyway, we celebrated the show's premiere with a private launch party and in true Hirner fashion, came dressed to impress! Sophia's very stylish red headband is actually an armband, but we figured, hey, her head is small! She didn't dislike it as much as I think it squeezed her little head. As soon as we put it on she made a kind of disgruntled, confused face. The second it came off, her face lit up with a smile! I guess that was our sign to stop torturing our child! Later on, feeling left out without her get-up, she asked Daddy to borrow his headband and this look was equally cute!



I'm a girl who loves a theme party, what can I say!?