What's new with Samantha...

Mommy and Daddy's wedding flower...the Daisy!

Hi! Yes, we are still alive and well. Yes, I have been a bad blogger :)

So much is new with Sam! She's getting so big! We were at the doctor's on Friday for her 4mth shots and she now weighs 10lbs 13oz at almost 5 months old! She is 22 3/4 inches long. So she's growing but is still our little peanut. Growing out of her clothes so quickly though. It was sad putting away her preemie stuff, then her newborn stuff and now some of the 3mth size is getting small! I cannot believe she is going to be 5 months old in a few days. O. M. G.

Topless sunbathing! 

Taken about a month ago...

4 mth shots were awful as expected! She got three shots and one oral vaccine. Like last time I hovered over her (about to cry myself) thinking that if I try to cover her with my body that it will take away the pain somehow. Didn't work. The doctor is pleased with her progress. She's been smiling soooo much and cooing like crazy!!! The doctor held her up to see if she would try to stand (and since I know she is a champ) she stood right up with her strong little legs! The doctor was pleasantly shocked  surprised! That's our girl! :) She hasn't officially rolled over yet, but is trying like hell! And gets pretty upset with herself about it! I'm thinking any day now she is going to do it! She's still in love with her hands and is sucking on them constantly! No teeth coming through yet, but her gums are pretty tender. So we offer her teethers and tylenol sometimes.

Samantha vs. Sophie the Giraffe

Her reflux was getting pretty bad there for awhile. So the doc started her on some rice cereal in her bottle. And at our last appt she upped it to a tbsp and a half. As well as upping her prilosec dose to 3ml. I hope this helps. She gets visibly upset when she spits up lately. Still on the special formula Neocate. But only eats 3-4 ounces at the most in one feeding.

We got a second opinion on her hemangioma the other day. It's so much better (not ulcerating or hurting her much anymore) but still really big! So we saw a dermatologist and a pediatric dermatologist and they both think we should go see this specialist in Boston. Just to get his opinion on things. I guess they said he's a genius with birthmarks and hemangiomas. But we don't know what we're going to do yet. Still need to think about things. I also have been a little worried about her head, as it seems a little flat in some places. But the pediatrician on Friday said it didn't look bad at all. She did though notice that one part of the back of her head was a little pointy and that's because she favors turning her head to one side. The doc said that could be because of the hemangioma, that it's more comfortable for her to turn it one way. So she told us to switch her position on the changing table and to move toys so that she will look that way towards them. I'm interested to know if she will need physical therapy (as a lot of preemies do). Her appt with the developmental doctor is at the end of August.

The dress Sam is wearing was mine when I was a baby! My Aunt "Rhodie" (Roselyn, where her middle name came from) had given it to my Mom as a gift. And the pillow next to Samantha was in my nursery! How cool is that? :)

Sleeping. Sleeping has been pretty great. At night that is. This girl doesn't nap during the day! She only catnaps here and there anywhere from 10-30 min at most. But has been sleeping like a champ at night. I think I've mentioned this before but we transitioned her to the crib awhile ago. I'm back in my bedroom with my husband and the video monitor. And she's been doing great in the bouncer. The bouncer that's INSIDE the crib. I know, it's crazy. But before the crib she slept at night in the bouncer. She seemed to sleep better and longer this way because it was on an incline. With her reflux she isn't a big fan of sleeping flat. When she does fall asleep on a flat surface, she wakes up shortly after! So to get her transitioned to the crib we just put the bouncer inside the crib. It was working great! We had a routine going that around 7ish she would get a bath and then a bottle and then between 8-9 she would go right to sleep in the bouncer in the crib! She would get up just once to eat in the middle of the night (which I can deal with!) and then would go back to sleep for a few hours. But then just this past week I decided we need to stop this bouncer craziness. I had visions of her at two years old still sleeping in a bouncer!! So my mom bought us this wedge for the crib. You put it under the crib sheet and it gives the mattress a slight incline. The first night she slept 3 1/2 hours and then woke up screaming and I ended up putting her bouncer in the crib. Second night she slept almost 6 hours on the wedge in the crib! So I was excited that we were making progress! But then last night when we put her down she was really restless on the wedge and woke up a lot. And I ended up putting her in the bouncer (in the crib) so we could all get some sleep. And then tonight, she only lasted about a half hour on the wedge before freaking out. I know I should probably let her cry it out longer, but I don't know if I'm ready for that! I think she likes the bouncer because she feels cradled in something. We do still swaddle her but with one arm out. She's been going down earlier too around 7:30 ish. I don't know, I guess we will just keep at it and see what happens! She is SUCH a happy girl in the morning though! It's so fun to go get her and unwrap her out of that swaddle! Right when she sees me or my husband in the morning she smiles the biggest smile! There is NOTHING better :)


I didn't ever want to be the parent that sits their kid in front of a video too often. I mean, yeah, sometimes it's good for them to just chill out and relax and watch something fun! So I'm definitely not against letting your kid watch some TV or movies. However, I didn't realize I would be starting her this young! A few weeks ago I bought her this cartoon sing-a-long DVD. I put in on for her thinking "Eh, she won't really care about it." Um, I was WRONG. She lovessssssssssssssss it! Locks her eyes in on it and smiles! It's the cutest thing ever. I think she really loves all the different colors. And her fav song is "Old McDonald had a farm." For some reason she smiles the most when this song comes on the DVD or when we sing it!

In other news, my BFF Kristen had her baby shower a few weekends ago! It was so perfect!!! She is in the homestretch now! Here is a picture of the castle diaper cake her sisters and I made for her! It was a princess themed shower!

More pics...

Me and my princess

Mets Fans! My husband and his mini-me

Favorite binky

Couple hours after shots! Tutu's make it all better...