4 Months Old!

At her check-up, our big girl now has the following stats:

weight - 11 pounds 7 ounces (9th percentile)
height - 23 1/2 inches (16th percentile)

Which means that although she is small for her age, she is growing along her own curve perfectly. She has grown 5 1/2 inches and has doubled (OK one ounce away, but it doesn't matter!) her birth weight.

But the best news is that she is ready for solid foods! She has been teething, though we won't see a tooth for a while probably, can hold her head up well, shows an interest in what we are eating, and can sit AND stand up with support. Sooo, our foray into "solid" foods has begun! Enjoy the video of her rice soup. :)

The aftermath

Cute Outfits

Now that Rylin is big enough to move out of newborn clothing, I can finally put her in some of the cute outfits everyone gave us! Hooray! Ok, really, she can still wear most of her newborn clothes, but I am sick of the same stuff for the last 4 months. :)

 This outfit I pieced together, but thought it was pretty darn cute.

 This outfit we got from her Omi (German form of Grandma) Wright. Thanks Patty!!

 More to come as she gets older!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I am a bit (read: a LOT) behind on making Rylin's baby book and journal. So I decided it might be a good idea to at least write down somewhere the little things I notice changing in her as they happen. Otherwise I won't be able to tell her when she first did anything!

I was starting to worry that she wasn't developing "as she should" since I didn't to much tummy time with her. She HATES it. I mean, her neck is plenty strong, she's been holding it up on her own since she was about two weeks old. But I didn't think she was developing her core strength that tummy time provides. I have been trying to get her to do it more and more, and keep trying to convince her that's how she will learn to roll over and eventually crawl. She will now push herself up with her fists and look around, and suddenly realize "Wow, I can see more than carpet when I do this!" So win there. I still don't do as much tummy time as I should though...shhh, don't tell her pediatrician.

But she has developed more quickly in other areas. She already can sit up well, supported of course, and prefers this view anyway. Lying down is just NOT her thing. She will do somewhat of a crunch in order to hold herself up, which often ends in toppling forward. She needs a bit more practice on the side steadying as well. But it has been fun to watch her explore the new world around her that she suddenly discovered.

For example, she has found her hands!!!! She has not really ever taken a pacifier, and thank goodness she found her fingers to chew on instead of me a few months ago. BUT those moments resulted from flailing limbs and hands that upon landing somewhere near her mouth, would trigger the rooting reflex and in they went. Now, she has discovered the utility of these objects. I would watch her mouth form sort of a duck bill in eager anticipation of the fist slowly making its way to slobbery doom. No more accidental encounters here! She carefully watched and studiedly moved the muscles necessary to bring her chubby little hand to her mouth. Amazing! 

Soon afterward she began batting at the toys dangling from her floor mobile. She is starting to learn to entertain herself! (joy for parents!!!) The batting turned into swatting, which would sometimes result in catching the rings, which she would close her fingers around and pull on. At first the ensuing music startled her, but how much more elation came from discovering she was causing said music! Now she not only reaches for the dangling rings/toys, she reaches for anything her little eyes rest upon in her 6" radius world around her. Blanket, check. Stuffed toys, check. Mommy and Daddy's fingers, check. Her cute dress, check. And they ALL go into her mouth. She has begun exploring her world with that pink tongue. Sometimes she gets mad because she can't fit all of Eeyore or Tigger into her mouth at once. Only their nose. It's not enough for her!

Nom, nom, nom!

As a result, one of my favorite things to do now is watch her catch something with her eyes, reach for it with her dimpled fingers, and drag it determinedly to her mouth. Endless hours of entertainment here, folks.

Today, she did something new! She has already figured out which cry to use when. Thankfully I have (for the most part) figured them out too. She had been getting more and more distracted while nursing by the world around her. Whether it's Daddy laughing, or music playing, something causes her to quickly turn and look, pulling on and hurting me as a result. Today she just took a pause in eating, and decided to bite down. Thank goodness she has no teeth yet, but those hard gums with the right amount of force can HURT. I took her off, looked her in the eyes and said firmly and slowly, "Rylin, no biting. That hurts Mommy." She immediately got this distressed look in her eyes and started crying a new cry. It was almost her 'sad' cry (because what has she to be sad about at this point in her life, really?), but different. And she kept looking in my eyes as if to say "I'm sorry, Mommy! I am crying because you hurt my feelings when you scolded me." 

Ahh the joys of parenting. And she's only three and a half months old!     

Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

So now that I am making the transition to stay-at-home-Mommy (yay!) I have been experimenting with various recipes and making them my own. I have always loved to cook and bake, but never really got the practice as an adult. I decided that once we came up with something that was now "ours," I would take a picture and post it here with the recipe. So...enjoy!

What you need:
1 Oreo cookie ready pie crust
1 pint (16 oz) fresh strawberries, washed and quartered
1/2 cup strawberry glaze
1 pkg 8oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar

What you do:
1. Refrigerate the crust at least an hour so it is nice and firm, it will break apart otherwise when putting in the cream cheese I noticed. While that is cooling, bring out your cream cheese to soften at room temp for an hour. Make sure it is not cold which makes it sticky, or it will break apart your nice crust.

2. Gently mix the glaze into your strawberries in a separate bowl.

3. Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar together with a fork or electric mixer until smooth. Using a spatula, carefully pour and spread over crust, making a nice thick bottom layer.

4. Spoon the glazed strawberries over the cream cheese layer without mixing!

5. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 an hour (not necessary but I don't like warm glaze) then top with homemade whip cream (recipe coming later) or cool whip and enjoy!

I've also added a 1/2 inch (maybe less?) layer of hot fudge on top of the crust, under the cream cheese mixture. This was delicious as well! You'll just have to be careful with piling the strawberries on top as they'll want to escape... into your mouth!!!