So what's new?

Today is Piper's four month birthday. Unfortunately for her, we celebrated with another trip to the doctor and more shots. She definitely does not like shots--we'll have to work on that. She showed off to the doctor by rolling all over the exam table and talking to and smiling at that cute baby on the other side of the mirror. Our pediatrician, who I really like, asked me if Josh and I were planning on Piper being an only child. I said that I hoped not, and he told me I might want to reconsider. He jokingly said that our next child would undoubtedly be a big lazy boy who couldn't even hold his head up at 16 weeks. He said I'll be calling him every week because I'll be so worried about this second child's "late" developments. Piper is hitting many of the physical developmental milestones early simply because she has a lot less mass to learn how to get around. She's still small and mighty, but her growth is very steady according to her own growth curve.

Her new stats:
Weight: 12 pounds (14th percentile)
Height: 24 inches (41st percentile)
Head circumference: 16 inches (19th percentile)

I knew she was gaining weight and getting longer, but these numbers confirm why she still can't wear pants that should fit her. That's ok--she looks cuter in dresses anyway :-).

Other tidbits:

• Play: Piper is becoming a master at entertaining herself. Last night I was able to not only cook dinner but also eat it as she played on her mat. We love watching her talk to her toys and roll around to get a new one. My favorite is when she looks up behind her to see if there is anything interesting back there. She grabs everything within reach and takes it immediately to her mouth. Even though she loves her toys, her favorite playthings are still Mommy and Daddy.
• Eat: We are in new territory here. I finally broke Piper of her two-hour nursing schedule, but that came with a price: no more seamless nights. Here lately it's as if she can't be bothered to eat; there are way more interesting things to do than snuggle with Mommy for 30 minutes. I'm lucky if I get 10 minutes out of her during each nursing session. This also adds to the wakeful nights. Josh and I decided to start supplementing with formula for convenience-sake every now and then, but Piper will have none of it. She literally spits it out. I can't say that I blame her; the stuff smells awful. I don't have it in me to make her get to the point where she'd rather eat it than starve, so I guess I'll just always have to have some pumped milk with me wherever we go. We now have the go-ahead to start solid foods, but I am planning to wait on this until she is 6 months old because of her food allergies. The research I have found shows that if more time is given for the digestive tract to mature, the child will have less chance for allergic reactions when given new foods.
• Sleep: As mentioned above, Piper has decided she no longer needs to sleep through the night. I'm fairly certain she's probably getting most of her calories during the nighttime hours since she can't be bothered to eat a full meal during the day. I really hope she sorts this out soon! Also, she still refuses to take decent naps. Most babies her age regularly take three 1-2 hour naps a day. I'm lucky to get 30 minutes out of Piper. It's exhausting, really. However, when she DOES nap, she has learned to put herself to sleep. I simply put her in her crib when I can tell that she's tired (rubbing her eyes, cranky, and/or yawning), and she is out within 5 minutes. Being able to flip over and sleep on her tummy helps this process.
• Babysitter: Piper has now been left with two non-family babysitters. To say she's not a fan is an understatement. I purposely don't call home to check on things because I don't want to hear how bad they are going! We'll have to work on this, too.
  

This is the coolest book! All the illustrations are in black and white, and Piper loves the contrast. I swear I didn't pose this picture. When I set the book up to read to her, she immediately grabbed ahold!

Piper is good friends with Baker, the son of one of my friends from work. Baker is 7 weeks younger than Piper, and they are exactly the same size :-). Baker's mommy and I like to get together once a week for adult conversation.

Piper is definitely sweet on her daddy. I don't blame her!