A Few Random Things

First, I started taking Fenugreek, the herb my pediatrician recommended for increasing my milk supply.  Want to know how you know if you are taking enough?  When you start to smell like MAPLE SYRUP.  I kid you not!  I told Devin to let me know when he starts craving pancakes!

Second, Finley gave herself a bottle today!  I helped her a little, but she held it and pretty much fed herself.  So crazy!

Third, the picture of Finley's Valentine's Day gift is at the top of this post.  I absolutely love her little doll rattle.  There was a picture on our photographer's website of a little girl with her doll rattle that is completely precious!  I found out that the dolls were being sold by a lady on Etsy so I searched for two weeks (1,000 of pages) with no luck.  I called up the photographer's assistant, Natalie, and she promised that she would try to find out for me who made them (I'm nothing if not persistent) and to my absolute glee, she found time during hectic Christmas season to find out that the lady's name on Etsy was chickabiddybaby and that I wasn't able to find the dolls because she was completely overbooked with orders and wasn't listing them for awhile.  Long story short, Finley FINALLY has her doll.  It is even personalized so I'll have to take a better picture soon since this picture doesn't show it!  It is so sweet and the perfect size for her!

4 Months!

Yesterday was our 4 Month Well Baby Check.... which means shots!  Ugh!  One of my coworkers from last year said the only two things she didn't like about being a mother were shots and fingernail clippings and I couldn't agree more!  

Anyway, Finley was as usual in a super happy mood not knowing her upcoming fate.  Our pediatrician (who I really, really like) examined her and we discussed our concerns with him regarding her weight.  We haven't really been that worried about her weight since our pediatrician assured us from the beginning that she is going to be tiny.  However, I did read too much on the Internet and freak myself out this last weekend even though I knew she was fine.  When will I learn? =) 

He asked Devin and I the same exact questions we had asked ourselves in relation to whether or not she was getting enough milk... Is she alert?  Is she happy?  Is she sleeping well?  Is she having the appropriate number of diapers?  To which, we could answer a decisive "Yes" to all.  I discussed with him that the past week and a half she had begun to wake in the middle of the night as well as early from naps hungrier than usual.  I suspected she was going through a growth spurt , but based on all of the information, our pediatrician thought that more than likely she had actually already gone through a growth spurt and that my milk supply had not kept up creating the last week of "unusual" behavior.  He said this happens from time-to-time and that I should supplement her daytime feedings with a little formula afterwards.  He also said that I could pump and take an herb to increase my milk supply and then hopefully, I can discontinue the formula.  I was really relieved to know that this JUST happened and that it wasn't a big problem.  In fact, he said he would be much more concerned if she was overweight. Overall, he declared Finley to be perfect and commented on what good head control she has! 

After he left, the nurse gave her the shots and our happy little girl turned rather hysterical.  It truly makes my heart stop and my brain cease functioning.  I absolutely hate it when she cries like that.  She calmed down fairly quickly though and has been in her post-shot fog ever since!  You can so tell that she is "drugged", but by tomorrow I expect her to be back to normal.

All About Finley

Finley is four months old today! I have decided to post an "All About Finley" every month on her "birthday" so that I can remember all of her changes each month.

She has recently discovered her head and ears. She is pretty much obsessed with them these days. It is one of the funniest things I've ever seen because she looks at me like "Hey, mom, did you know I have a head up here?"

She has peach fuzz on her upper lip.


She understands cause and effect... if she kicks her play gym, the star overhead will start to play and she clearly waits for the song to end before she kicks it again.

She loves, loves, loves standing up.... so much so that we're unable to get her in her carseat.

She is still in newborn diapers... I TRIED to put her in size 1 and Devin laughed at me because it was so obvious that they were too big!


She's able to play on her own... not for very long, but she'll lay in her cradle talking to herself in the morning.

Her eyes are still blue... more of a gray blue than navy.

Her favorite song is Ride 'Em Cowboys... we sing it during diaper changes and she always grins.

Her little face gets all red and splotchy during nursing.

She is a morning girl. She is almost always happy when she wakes up.

She has really long fingers. I have had several perfect strangers comment on them.


She loves to fly like an airplane!

She is finally in 0-3 month clothing though she has newborn sized outfits that still fit. She is such a petite little girl.

She likes to put her fists up next to her face like she's going to box.

She loves to hula dance. It is particularly cute when she is naked!

She may actually like baths now.

She is taking naps in her crib and has managed to turn herself 180 degrees while swaddled.

She's never had her toenails clipped... they just haven't needed it!

Her hiccup frequency has drastically reduced.

She can move objects from one hand to another.

She enjoys sucking her hand and fingers... not as much as the binky, but they are much more satisfying than they used to be.


She looks like an elf. Beth made this comment one day while reassuring me that this was a compliment and the truth is that I've always thought that she looked like one. Her middle name (Ela) actually means Elf so it is quite fitting.

She loves the Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Her hair is growing over her ears, but doesn't really seem to be getting longer anywhere else. Her bald spot is as big as ever.

She is a kicker still... In the womb, she would kick and squirm constantly and she still does.

She LOVES t.v. I really try to prevent her from watching t.v. (hard to believe, I know), but there have been several times when she was really fussy and once her little eyes focused on the t.v. she became completely content.



She is NOT modest... she is always pulling her skirt up!


She is somewhat close to crawling. She can get her knees up under her and kick, but hasn't been successful at combining her front half with her back half.


And....
She is truly the most wonderful, beautiful baby ever and I love her more than I can stand!