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Every once in a while, it smacks me in the face. Jenna is real. She is here and she is real. Most of the time it feels like she has been with us forever, but some days it feels like she just got here. Sometimes it's just so surreal...I went through 39 weeks of pregnancy and brought a baby home this time. A real, living, breathing, smiling baby. And she is mine.
Overall, everything is going so well!! The only problem we have had was bedtime. For several weeks, Jenna was in the habit/routine of staying up until between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. She was sleeping 6-10 hours at a time, but staying up until the wee hours of the morning, then getting up at 6 a.m. was getting old. But the problem seems to have been solved. I am a mean mom...about two weeks ago I enforced two days of limited daytime sleeping, especially deep (coma-like) sleeping, so she would be tired at bedtime. We have started a bedtime routine at a set time every night for the last 10 nights; every night but one she has been asleep within 1 hour of start time, sometimes as quick as 15 minutes. We have had 3 or 4 nights of sleeping straight through for a minimum of 6 hours, and the rest of the nights (except one) she has been up only once to eat during a period of 8-10 hours...and then right back to sleep! As a result, mama and daddy are much happier campers!! Jenna seems to be a much happier camper, too. Instead of waking up screaming in the morning, she babbles to herself for about 20 minutes and saves the screaming for when she feels like we are ignoring her. But seriously, there is nothing better than being greeted, even in the wee hours of the morning, but a smiling baby.
Jenna had her 4 month check-up on Monday January 17th. She weighed 15 lbs, 3 oz, which puts her in the 80th percentile for weight. She was 24" long, which puts her in the 39th percentile for length/height. I think they shorted her a little bit on height, though, because she was pretty wiggly on the scale. She got a few vaccinations, and we were on our way. No visible sign of teeth yet, but she is definitely chewing on stuff. Her favorites are toy links and Take-A-Long Taggies toy. And I love listening as she develops her voice. It's amazing. :-)
During the week between Christmas and New Year she started reaching and grasping with purpose and intent, especially at things placed in front of her on the swing tray. New Year's Eve day was a busy, busy day for her. She rolled over from her belly to her back without any help...and the worst part is that no one saw her do it. Later that day she moved a soft toy from the tray of her swing to her mouth. We had to put the crib bumper on this week, because we kept finding her with her feet and legs sticking through the slats on the side of the crib. A couple weeks ago I put her to bed, in her crib, on her back...and this is what I found when I went in to get her up the next morning...
Overall, everything is going so well!! The only problem we have had was bedtime. For several weeks, Jenna was in the habit/routine of staying up until between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. She was sleeping 6-10 hours at a time, but staying up until the wee hours of the morning, then getting up at 6 a.m. was getting old. But the problem seems to have been solved. I am a mean mom...about two weeks ago I enforced two days of limited daytime sleeping, especially deep (coma-like) sleeping, so she would be tired at bedtime. We have started a bedtime routine at a set time every night for the last 10 nights; every night but one she has been asleep within 1 hour of start time, sometimes as quick as 15 minutes. We have had 3 or 4 nights of sleeping straight through for a minimum of 6 hours, and the rest of the nights (except one) she has been up only once to eat during a period of 8-10 hours...and then right back to sleep! As a result, mama and daddy are much happier campers!! Jenna seems to be a much happier camper, too. Instead of waking up screaming in the morning, she babbles to herself for about 20 minutes and saves the screaming for when she feels like we are ignoring her. But seriously, there is nothing better than being greeted, even in the wee hours of the morning, but a smiling baby.
Jenna had her 4 month check-up on Monday January 17th. She weighed 15 lbs, 3 oz, which puts her in the 80th percentile for weight. She was 24" long, which puts her in the 39th percentile for length/height. I think they shorted her a little bit on height, though, because she was pretty wiggly on the scale. She got a few vaccinations, and we were on our way. No visible sign of teeth yet, but she is definitely chewing on stuff. Her favorites are toy links and Take-A-Long Taggies toy. And I love listening as she develops her voice. It's amazing. :-)
During the week between Christmas and New Year she started reaching and grasping with purpose and intent, especially at things placed in front of her on the swing tray. New Year's Eve day was a busy, busy day for her. She rolled over from her belly to her back without any help...and the worst part is that no one saw her do it. Later that day she moved a soft toy from the tray of her swing to her mouth. We had to put the crib bumper on this week, because we kept finding her with her feet and legs sticking through the slats on the side of the crib. A couple weeks ago I put her to bed, in her crib, on her back...and this is what I found when I went in to get her up the next morning...
This is how we find her almost every morning now, regardless of how we position her when we put her to bed. She’s rolling both directions independently, but we rarely actually see it. She is working on building her sitting muscles, and can use her hands to support herself for a few seconds before toppling over. :-)
A few days before Christmas, Jenna, Aunt Nikki and I ventured to the mall to do a little last minute shopping and to meet Santa. Jenna did so well with Santa! She didn't smile for the camera, but she didn't cry, either.
Of course, she received lots of wonderful gifts from family and friends. One of the best gifts this year was her I Spy quilt that my sister made before she went to Namibia, expecting that there would be another baby before she came home from her assignment. I can't wait until Jenna gets a little bigger so we can spread the quilt out on the bed and play baby I Spy (minus the cats, of course - they're like vultures!)!!
Last, but not least, we took a few Christmas pics of Miss Jenna....
