written February 29th
Last month Thea still seemed very much a little baby to me. Sure she was doing more and is growing every day. But in just a few short weeks she has just changed so much! Seven months old, we'll be celebrating her first birthday in no time. I truly feel like she was just born.
I didn't attempt to measure her myself, but we had a follow up with the pediatric dermatologist last week, and Thea weighed in at 16lbs 12oz. My best guess is that she is 27 inches long. Still wearing a size 3 diaper and mostly 9 month clothing, with 6-12 month items as well as a few select 6 month items thrown in there.
Sleep has improved drastically over the last month. It still isn't predictable at all. But we are all getting more sleep and I don't feel like a zombie anymore. Sometimes Thea will wake up between 10pm and midnight and is pretty pissed until I feed her. Then she'll sleep until 5:30-6:30am. Sometimes she'll wake up between 2-3am, and then she'll sleep until 7am. She generally goes to bed between 7:25-8:30pm. Looking back at Elsie and Ryann's posts, they were both going to be earlier than that. But I think Thea naps better than they did. I would have never guessed that she could turn into a good napper. She still has her bad days, but for the most part one of her naps is 2-3 hours long, and the other is 1.5-2 hours long. So yes, sometimes she'll nap up to five hours during the day. Therefore I shouldn't be surprised that she sleeps a little less at night. It would be more convenient for me if she would move some of those napping hours to the night time, and just sleep later in the morning. But I don't really get to decide do I? I'm just thankful we are no longer waking up 3-5 times a night. That was pure hell.
So far my wishes for another baby who likes to eat have been granted. Thea has done great with eating different purees. It took her a week or so to really figure out what to do, but now she'll happily eat an ounce or so of puree. The biggest problem for us is remembering to feed her. We get caught up getting dinner for the big girls or ourselves or doing whatever and then I'm all oh whoops, did you want something? #thirdkidproblems But she is still nursing pretty much all the time so I'm not too worried about her caloric intake. She has tried peas, green beans, squash, sweet potato, carrots and spinach. The only thing she has refused to eat is cereal. Surprise surprise. But maybe we'll trying mixing a little in with some fruit this month to gain the iron benefits.
Despite the fact that I spend a fair amount of time carrying her around on my hip, Thea learned how to crawl in the last month. Not a standard hands and knees technique, and not really an army crawl per say, more of maybe, an inchworm? Haha, I don't know how to describe it. But she is definitely getting faster everyday. Nothing is safe now. It has been fun and miserable all rolled in to one. She is constantly getting herself stuck in places or ramming her head into things. And now that she can decide for herself where she wants to go, she generally makes a mad dash past all the baby toys I've laid out in favor of anything she shouldn't have. Her sisters' toys, small specks of trash, cords, etc, they are all her favorites. In the playroom I hear a lot of "NO FEEUH that's MINE!" Oh Elsie dear. We all knew your time was going to come. It's called karma. So far though, Elsie is doing pretty well understanding that if she plays with her toys up on a table Thea can't get to them.
Thea still isn't really sitting well on her own, but that doesn't stop her from trying to get into a seated position, and then promptly toppling over. For the most part she never really wants to be sitting anyway. If I do get her sat up she is trying to figure out how to get to her belly so she can crawl away. Or she immediately starts whining for my hands because she wants to stand up. Sitting must just be boring! Thankfully she hasn't figured out how to pull up on anything but my hands yet, but I'm sure that milestone is soon to follow. She'll crawl over to me and reach out for my hands, wanting me to help her stand. And she can pretty much pull herself up on her own. And then she tries to wriggle her hands loose as if she can stand on her own. Ha, not yet child, not yet.
She says 'da da da da' a lot, and will occasionally throw in some other sounds. But definitely no ma sounds yet. Typical. I just love hearing her repeat 'da da da' over the monitor at 3am. Elsie was the same way. Little stinkers. Thea is starting to give me big wet open mouth kisses, which I of course hate but really love. We think she might also wave, but it is kind of hard to tell. It isn't your typical wave. But often when someone comes in the house, especially when Christopher comes home from work, she'll throw one arm up and it kind of looks like a wave. She also blows some angry raspberries. That really isn't the best way to describe it, but I don't know what else to say.
The follow-up with the pediatric dermatologist went fine. We discussed her eczema and got a prescription for some cream to help. We've been lathering her up twice a day to try and stay on top of it. Her skin is so sensitive. Anything we had been using on the girls, who have somewhat sensitive skin, makes Thea's eczema go nuts. Sad story. Anyway, the doctor looked at her aplasia cutis spot and said it looked fine. Nothing to worry about. Now we just have to decide if we want to have it removed for cosmetic reasons.
I am so torn on this. When she was born that spot bothered me so much. I saw it every time I looked at her. Now I don't notice it. I hate to put her through surgery and general anesthesia for something that is seemingly vain. There is a good chance her hair will cover it when she grows up. But there is also a chance it won't. And I wonder what it will look like when she pulls her hair back. In the grand scheme of life that little spot is minor. However if it is going to be removed now is the best time to do it. And I don't want her to hate us for not having it removed, or be embarrassed by it when she is older. We have a consultation with a pediatric plastic surgeon coming up, just to see what they say and suggest. Hopefully I can feel better about whatever decision we make after that.
Thea, sweet girl, stop growing so fast! Just stay little. I love you!
