Nineteen Weeks!

Weight: Baby girl's becoming a bit of a heavy weight (at least to us, anyway, since she started out so tiny)! I'm guessing she's around 12 pounds now.

Sleep: As mentioned last week, baby girl has hit that four-month sleep slump. I've read quite a bit that it's very common for babies to have this change at four months, even after being good nighttime sleepers previously. Anyway, Lizzie continues on this sleep slump track, typically waking up two to three times each night. I've tried to just give her her pacifier and help her go back to sleep, but she is really genuinely hungry... so we're eating throughout the night. I keep wondering if she's having a brain-growth spurt right now (physical growth spurts usually happen at four and six months, so I'm not anticipating that's what's going on right now, but you never know). Daycare has mentioned that her napping has shifted, and we've noticed that at home over the weekend, too. She's now taking a cat-nap for her morning nap (as in, 15 minutes!), but then taking a very hefty afternoon nap, as well as another cat-nap (about double her morning nap) one other time in the late afternoon/early evening. Regardless, she's one happy baby, even in the morning without much of a nap.

I will also mention that Lizzie is still sleeping in our room in her bassinet next to our bed. Initially the purpose for this was because she was just a little babe... and then it was because I wanted to wait to move her until four months because that's when the SIDS risk decreases -- but at this point, I have no excuse :) I know I'm just prolonging her time there and that it's probably more for me than it is for her at this point. But she still fits in it! And she's still waking to eat at night, so it's perfect for us right now.

Buuut I know I'll shed a few tears when she does finally move out.

So prolong it, we will :) At least for now.

Medical Issues: Nada :)

Clothes: Still in our 0 to 3 month clothes. She doesn't look like she'll be growing out of them any time soon, though when she does, I know it'll be because of her length.

Socialite!: Aside from hanging out with her daycare babies, baby girl got to hang out with grandmas, grandpas and even a great grandma and grandpa last weekend to celebrate her daddy's birthday last weekend! Too bad the party didn't start until around 8:00, so that was just about the time she checks out for the night and goes to sleep. We tried to keep her up, but poor baby's eyelids were just too heavy :) She also got to spend an afternoon with Great Grandma earlier this week when daycare closed early due to an issue with construction nearby. From what I heard, she was a sweet baby (no surprise there, of course ;)) and had a great time!

Diet: Still nursing Lizzie exclusively (lucky mommy -- even after I've gone back to work!).

Baby Gear Love: Lizzie girl loves her O-Ball, as mentioned over the past number of weeks. She's also loving books, especially a black and white book sent to us from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. She gets ridiculously excited and kicks her legs whenever we read it :)

Crying: She is one sweet baby. She's only fussy if she's hungry or tired :)

Mommy News: Not a whole lot to report. I'm still getting used to shedding hair again (my poor bathroom floor!) and I'm trying to ramp up my eating a bit again, as it seems I'm losing weight, which isn't what I'm wanting to do. I continue to research how we'll start solids with Lizzie girl. I'm pretty sure we've made a decision about it, but it basically omits using baby food altogether -- and I'm still adjusting to that idea, because I always thought that could be kind of fun (though I know it can be a struggle, too).

Milestones: Baby girl is starting to sit pretty tall in her Bumbo seat and obviously feeling more and more confident in it! She's finding her toes more and more, but seems to lack caring about those silly things attached to her legs :) She's also starting to reach for things on her left side with her right hand (or vice-versa), which results in her rolling onto her side -- which means she just might get the hang of rolling from back-to-front coming up (though who knows if it'll be soon!)... she's already got the back-to-front roll down :) Her giggles seem to be easier and easier to elicit (all it took over the weekend was to touch those little feet!), but sometimes it seems she's less smiley and less chatty than others -- my mom and I think it's because she's busy working on developing another skill, so she's preoccupied, because I know I've read that.

My favorite thing that she's been doing lately has been what I honestly believe is singing along with me. At night, we rockabye to sleep, and I sing Lizzie different songs. It seems her most favorite recently is one based on John 3:16 that we sang last year with the kids at school during the Lent season, because whenever I sing it, she smiles wide (no matter how sleepy she is) and her little voice chimes in at just the right pitch at certain times in a little "aah". It's beautiful, and I believe she's trying to sing along. And I wish, I wish, I wish, I could just keep those moments in my pocket forever. She is a sweetie.