Father's Day

I realize this is a bit late, but I just wanted to show off the father's day cards that I made for my husband and dad. I feel kind of proud of myself. I kind of mastered infant art while I was 'teaching' in the infant room at my school, but it's somehow different when I make the art with my daughter for someone I love.
For my dad I made my daughter's handprint into a fish since my maiden name is a type of fish, and because my dad simply cannot wait until Laila is old enough to go fishing.

For my husband I xeroxed a copy of my hand over my daughter's hand.

Rolling Back to Front

Today Laila rolled over from her back to her front for the first time ever! And then she did it again, and again, and again. Of course, by the time I finally caught it on tape she was starting to get hungry and grumpy, but oh well! I'm so proud and excited!

Growth Spurt, Labia Adhesion, & Fever

Monday (the 10th) Laila had her 5 month doctors check-up (she goes every month). She got a shot, and was checked over in general. Laila has had a big growth spurt this past month! She gained two pounds and grew two inches! She weighs 14 pounds and 5 ounces. That puts her in the twenty-fourth percentile for the first time ever! Considering that she was in the ninth percentile two months ago, this is very impressive and I am very happy. She is also 2 feet, 3 inches long (27 inches) putting her in the ninety-fifth percentile. I have no idea how she is so tall! I am 5'2" and my husband is about 5'9". Maybe my father's tall genes skipped a generation (he is 6'1"). Meanwhile, her head is 16.7 inches, putting her head in the sixty-ninth percentile. That's my big ass baby right there! She is so cute - getting plumper and plumper with her little thunder thighs.

And now for the not so good news - Laila seems to have a labial adhesion. The doctor told me to bathe her everyday and after her bath to put some aquaphor where they are sticking together to hopefully try and unstick them.... if that doesn't work the next step is to try an estrogen cream. Hopefully this will work though! I was doing some research on it and it said that while it can go away, it may continue to come back until she hits puberty. I really hope that it goes away quickly and never comes back. Well, I guess that is obvious enough. I just hate that anything is wrong. I hate that it could continue to plague her. At this point the doctor said it isn't really that big a deal, and that it is more common than one might think, so I am just trying to stay positive and not let my crazy mama brain work itself up.

In others news, Laila is sick. Last night she barely slept at all she had trouble falling asleep and then she slept for three hours, waking at 1:30. She woke again at 3:20 and was awake until 4:45. She finally fell back asleep only to wake up at 6:50, and she was up for the rest of the morning at that point. Normally when Laila wakes up in the morning for good she is happy and smiling and doesn't cry because, well, she is wide awake and has nothing to complain about. Often I wake up to her smacking her lips and playing in her crib. This morning, however, she woke up crying and screaming and was completely inconsolable. She wasn't hungry, she was just sad. She didn't feel particularly warm to the touch, but I asked Enzio to take her temperature anyway. She had a fever of 101! I think she may just be having a reaction to her shot... but who knows. Maybe it is that and the teething, I'm not sure. Apparently she was fine during the day while I was at work (my husband and Mom were both looking after her), but this evening when I got home she was acting strangely again. I took her temperature but she was fine in those terms. She barely ate her sweet potatoes, and she got fussy during bath time! After her bath I took her temperature again and once again she had a fever. Poor little thing. So tomorrow I am staying home with her to (hopefully) nurse her back to health.

Painting

The day before yesterday Laila and I painted together for the first time! It was actually a lot of fun - and messy! By the end of it I just put Laila in a bath to clean her up - which she also loved because her new favorite activity is splashing in the bath. Afterwards I was covered in paint and soaking wet, but it was a lot of fun and very worth it! At first Laila was sort of shocked and didn't quite know what was happening, but then she started squishing the paint between her fingers and spreading it around on the paper and she really seemed to enjoy it. I can't wait to do it again!

Laila painting

Laila painting

The finished product

Post-painting clean-up bath with Mr. Crab

               

Eating Solids

Laila enjoying her sweet potatoes

So Laila is now eating solid food! She hates the rice cereal, and cries whenever I've tried to give it to her... but I've found two foods that she does like (so far) - pears and sweet potatoes! She likes the sweet potatoes best, and eats them more than she did the pears. When I first started feeding her the solid foods at just about 5 months (after that first try when she was 4 months where she cried I waited a few weeks before trying again) she didn't actually swallow anything. I would just put some of the food in her mouth and she'd hold it there and then spit it out after a bit... after two nights though she started swallowing most of it, and now she eats about 95% of what I put in her mouth. Right now she doesn't eat a lot at once (maybe 1/3 of one of the very small containers), but that's okay! Right now I'm more focused on having her get used to eating solids while she still gets the majority of her food from breast milk and formula.
Anyway - it has been exciting! I am having a lot of fun with it - probably more fun than her, though she definitely likes it. When I feed her she seems to concentrate completely on the funny taste in her mouth, she gets so serious! Unless I play a funny game with her while she eats, that is.