Gymboree

Carolyn and I signed up for Gymboree last week. It is about an hour of activities and songs for little ones. It is pretty much just like the Modern Family episode so I think it is hysterical. The place is full of bright nauseating colors. The mascot is a creepy clown called Gymbo. Despite these drawbacks, I think it is very good for her to be in these situations. She can interact with other infants around her age. Most in this group of birth – 6 month babies are around 6 months. It will take me a while to memorize some of the songs. The first time she went she seemed to be totally overwhelmed and went to her “happy place” by staring at me and sucking her fingers nervously. She seemed more comfortable at the second visit. The best parts were when they bring a big mirror to the center of the room and the babies lay on their stomachs at the edge and look at each other. There are bright balls rolled on the surface to keep their interest. The first time she held her head up for awhile and then it came crashing down. She does this for a long time at home with no problem, I guess it is performance anxiety. The second time she held it up for a long time checking out the rest of the group. She also loved the brightly colored parachute being raised and lowered above her and the breeze it creates. Although most of the activities involve disinfected toys there are quite a few parts that freak me out germ-wise. Rolling my daughter on the large rolling toy after all the other drooling babies, yuck! I learned that you should sit very close to the instructor so your child can participate as one of the earliest when it is drier. The best part of Gymboree is that it is 3 minutes from my house and worth the outing to expose her to these social and stimulating situations. No I will not buy a Gymbo doll and yes she smiles at him that is great, but she also smiles at odd things at our house that are far less creepy.  🙂

4 Month Checkup

Carolyn got a great report again today at the doctor. She received quite a few more shots and handled it very well again. She is in the 78th percentile for weight at 15 pounds, 60th percentile for height at 24.5 inches, and 94th percentile for head circumference! The doctor was impressed with her motor skills and strength. She recommended to keep applying the magic cream to her skin all over and not just her face and head for the dryness. Because she is doing so well with the bottle she does not recommend rice cereal or any other solids any time soon, maybe not until her 6 month checkup. She said her gums feel pretty solid so she may be working on some early teeth and may be tender at times and perhaps why she cries when about to finish her bottle at the end of day. She smiled at her doctor and was a perfect angel today at lunch. A bit restless at dinner but that is because she wants out of the car seat to be part of the group and social. We are very happy that she is doing so well!

Within Her Grasp

Carolyn is really enjoying her playtime and interacting with her world more by reaching and grabbing toys. It is very fun to see her more active and interested in her surroundings. Her playtime is a triad of experiences in the bouncer seat with toys for stimulating her senses and mind, time on her tummy for holding her head up and rolling, and time on her back playing with dangling links and kicking her favorite toy that makes music when she hits it. She loves light up and musical toys like her artificial flowers that make music when she hits them. The Fisher Price musical band toy is so much fun for her. She will bang on the keyboard and symbols. She grabbed the tags on the taggie ball. Today she was rolling from side to side by pulling on the links on her playard. Smart girl. Took a walk with Chobe and Carolyn before the rains today and used her new her carrier which she enjoyed very much. I like the look on her face when we try something new. She looks at me as if to say “WOW.”  Chobe likes to join in her playtimes and it is tough to keep him busy with his toys and not grab her toys.

Carolyn’s First Wedding

Carolyn and our family attended the wedding of Cindy and Bjorn Nelson on Thursday night.

It was fun to celebrate with the Moore family and friends who flew in from Texas. The couple was full of great energy and love for each other. Carolyn loved the dancing lights and music and looking at all of the people. She had her first dance with Daddy on the dance floor. The drive to the mountains was a little hard on her for part of the time, however, she slept most of the time, thank goodness. Carolyn got to wear her fancy taffeta dress and matching coat that I found for a few dollars in one of the sales. Her fancy shoe socks with bows coordinated perfectly and completed her outfit. She was great in the ceremony, as soon as the organ cranked up, we gave her the bottle. Blessings to Cindy and Bjorn the couple for continued happiness for many years to come!

Cures for Constipation and Facial Rash

I learned how to solve two important issues that were making Carolyn miserable, constipation and a face and head rash and flakiness.  Her doctor and nurse recommended juice. Pear by Gerber is doing the trick. 2 oz in am and 1 oz in afternoon. She is going regularly daily now. Poor dear, she went almost 3 1/2 days last week without relief!

A warm bath several times a day allowed her to pass it along with the bit of fiber in the juice. At first she refused to take the juice from a bottle and we had to give it to her like medicine with a dropper. Thankfully now she has realized that it is great stuff and she will drink it from a bottle.

Her face was crusty and covered in rash worse than usual on Tuesday morning and we saw her doctor about it. She recommended acid mantle cream from a compounding pharmacy. It took a few hours to concoct and $60 later she had her miracle cream. We started using a humidifier in her room too. To our amazement on Wednesday when we woke her she had brand new baby skin! We have even put it on her scalp. What we thought was possibly cradle cap was actually dry skin. No wonder she did not like her head combed aggressively. Poor dear. Now she has perfect skin with a combination of this cream and Aquaphor on her senstive eye area. She has her 4 month physical next Tuesday, but glad I took her in to get a consult on these two pressing concerns.

Bubbles

Carolyn is such a cute sweetie. Daddy taught her make a noise while blowing bubbles / razzberries and she does that now to interact with us. It is her new favorite way of communicating with us. She uses it to communicate happiness and sadness. It is endearing and funny but we are spending lots of time wiping her chin!

Rollover and Progress at Nightime

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Carolyn has not scratched her face much lately as she is learning to cope with not being swaddled at night. We have kept a close eye on her with our infrared webcam. She is very active at night for about two hours before settling down. She sucks a few fingers on one hand and throws pitches with the other. She also lifts her legs in the air and moves around quite a bit.We asked the nurse and she said that we are doing the right thing and to let her have time to cope. She also reassured us that she is getting enough rest without getting swaddled at night.

We took a nice morning stroll before the rain today. Later we met up with a group of other Moms at Golden Corral today. (Something I never thought I would do or say) Carolyn enjoyed all the lights and the bright colors on the food display, had to loop twice with the stroller. She liked sitting at the table watching the other little ones.

I went to a market research study on baby swings this afternoon after another nice physical therapy treatment for my wrists. They asked me if I was opinionated when I called to express my interest in participating . Hard not to laugh at that question. I might be a permanent fixture in their database. I provided good input on Carolyn’s experience with swings and what features we like and don’t like. Tomorrow I am going there to do a stroller survey. This could be really fun if they have studies on toys and other baby items in the future when I could bring her to test them too. 🙂

She has done partial turns from her stomach to back using her head and legs and gravity to pull herself over. Every day I have worked with her a few times a day laying beside her to encourage her to lift her head higher and for longer periods of time. She enjoys being propped up on her forearms on the edge of the couch, a new vantage point of the dog from above. Today I placed her on her back on a blanket and gently rolled her onto her stomach. She held her head higher than ever before and almost immediately rolled over on her back. I love the look of “wow” on her face while the result of her actions are processed by her brain. We tried to document it with video too. She only did it three times before she got so tired she could not roll over and she got frustrated and started her swimming motion on all fours. I let her rest in between on her back. It is very fun to see her progress.

A few loads of laundry, ran/ emptied the dishwasher. Time for a TV program and bed, its been a long fun day!  — no bowel movement within 24 hours. It may not be a pleasant evening or early morning.

Scarface

Our poor baby! She is grasping her cheeks at night and causing them to scab up and bleed. She looks awful! The consultant said to cut he nails as low as they go today and that this stress reaction from not being swaddled should end very soon. She said not to cover her hands because she sucks her fingers to soothe herself. We hope it ends soon!

Wow – Carolyn Rolled on Her Side

Carolyn has advanced quickly in the past week. She is sitting in the bumbo seat, pushing up on her arms to do a push up, and just now she practiced lifting her legs together which leads to her rolling on her side. She did this without prompting and causes her face to turn red with exertion. She likes some of the light up musical toys. She is mesmerized by the flowers that light up when you touch them. When she landed on her side I would continue her roll to her stomach and back again. She did fairly well on the stroller walk this morning with Lisa, Lola, and Gwen. We found another great park with great playgrounds and trails. What a great area we live in, so many resources for children!

No More Swaddle at Nighttime

Carolyn is at the stage where she is ready to be sleeping without being swaddled during nighttime.

This has been an adjustment for her over the past few days. Her wailing at first was hard to take – thank goodness she does it less and less each evening.  She seems to enjoy stretching out at night. She has done better each evening, except for when she had an unfortunately timed number 2. This was also her first diaper rash. We are treating it aggressively and are making progress. The night vision camera Michael hooked up in the nursery is great because we can keep an eye on her from our phone and multiple locations around the house to make sure all is ok.