Four Months Old

Dear Sophia,

You turned four months old today. Tomorrow you'll have your doctor's appointment where they will tell me how wonderfully you've grown and (hopefully) how well you are doing. You will get your next round of vaccinations and my heart will break when you cry. I will want to punch the nurses for hurting you, even if it is their job. It's hard to believe that four months have already flown by. So much has happened in the past four months, and I'm constantly contradicting my own thoughts by thinking that it's going by so fast, but that it seems like only yesterday that you blessed our lives. You change and grow with each passing day and I can spend hours watching your face and kissing your cheeks. Let's see how much you've changed this month.

Size

You weigh 13 pounds 13 ounces and you are 23 1/2 inches long. I believe it! You love to eat. Three month clothes are a tight squeeze and you are pretty much in all six month clothing now. You have the most deliciously chubby arms and legs and I can't get enough of them.

Sleep

I'm a little scared to say in fear that I may jinx it. Oh well...here we go. You take three regular naps every day. One in the morning, one after lunch (your longest) and one in the evening. In just the past two weeks you have been keeping a pretty regular bedtime of 9:30. You usually wake up 1-2 hours later and need to be comforted. A hand on your chest and hearing our voices usually does the trick. You alternate between waking up around 4:00 or 5:00 and will sometimes surprise us by sleeping until 7:00 or later. It has been great. Please don't change it...

Eating

Your doctor switched you to soy, which definitely smells better than your old alimentum formula. It must taste better too, because you immediately started wanting more. You are taking six ounces every 4-5 hours. We can tell that you are going to be ready for cereal soon because you stare us down at dinner. Your mouth hangs open and you never take your eyes off of our forks. It's pretty sad and cute all at the same time. We know that you are going to love eating solids. We are also predicting that you are going to be a very messy eater. we seem to be at a good place with your reflux right now, so solids may come later. I'm not one to fix it if it isn't broken.

Favorites

You have really started forming opinions this month. You definitely have your favorites. Your favorite toys are your pink musical giraffe and your crinkle book. You get downright mad when your giraffe stops playing music and Daddy, Emma, and I all scramble to start it again quickly. Your favorite song is "Where is Thumbkin?" You especially like it when Emma joins in.

You've moved past tummy time and want to spend most of your time standing or playing in your jumper. I still make you play on your tummy even though you fuss at me. You are really close to rolling from your back onto your tummy.

Above everything else, your favorite thing to do is to try to fit as many things into your mouth as possible. I don't know if you're teething or if you're just exploring, but there is nothing in this house that hasn't been christened with your slobber.


You continue to astound us daily with how much you change. You have a smile that can melt hearts and you're not above throwing one out after an hour long fussing fit...at the exact moment Mommy and Daddy have done everything short of handing you cash to stop crying.

I can't wait to continue to watch you grow and learn, little one. I am blessed beyond belief to be your mom.

Love,
Mommy

Children's Museum

Today I took the girls to the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge. Emma had gone before but I had never been. I was really surprised at how big it is. It has tons of interactive exhibits about science, Appalachian culture, and history. Some of Emma's favorites were the music exhibit, the Doll House and the train exhibit.

Sophia really enjoyed looking at everything too. I carried her around in the Baby Bjorn and she was as happy as could be. Today was the first day that they were open on a Monday, so we were the only ones there, which was really nice.

Dancing to the banjo music!

Out of all the seats in the classroom, she chose to sit at the teacher's desk. Like mother, like daughter!

This Doll House was my favorite part. This is an actual little house that is kid-sized. Everything in it is also perfectly sized and realistic. Adults aren't even allowed inside. The back is open, just like a real dollhouse.

Emma cooked in the kitchen, built a fire in the living room, and rocked the babies to sleep in the bedroom.

Running the register in the toy shop

Mickey!!!

Watching the trains go by

Recipe- Chicken Zucchini Burgers

A couple of months ago, I began doing Weight Watchers again to help me lose my baby weight, as well as to just start eating healthier. I love Weight Watchers. I know some people don't like calculating point values, etc., but it seriously takes a week or two to memorize most of the food in your house, and after that, it's a breeze. I loved doing it the first time and had great results until I got pregnant with Sophia.

Andy also likes it because he inadvertently eats better, resulting in a smaller waistline for him too! My biggest challenge is finding recipes that we all love; A hubby that doesn't like vegetables, a toddler that doesn't like anything, and a mom that loves good (but bad for you) food.

Occasionally, I'll post some of our recipe "keepers." If it pleases my picky family, than your normal family should love it too. I'll always post where I got the recipe, but I usually change it to fit our needs, which is the recipe I'll post. If you try it yourself, let me know what you think!

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I love these burgers because they taste great and sneak in some veggies, which is always a plus. The zucchini adds moisture and good flavor to these, as well as stretching out your amount of meat, allowing you to have thicker burgers.

If you're doing Weight Watchers, the burger is only four Points+. Add in a 1 Point bun, top with some veggies, and you've got yourself a 5 Points+ burger. This recipe makes pretty large patties, so one will be more than enough (you can also make 5 smaller patties at 3 Points a serving). We had ours with sweet potato fries and fruit and it was a hit all around.


Chicken Zucchini Burgers
recipe adapted from Gina's Skinny Recipes' Turkey Burgers

1 pound ground chicken breast
1 small zucchini, grated
1 T onion, grated or minced
1 garlic clove, grated or minced
slightly less than 1/4 C whole wheat bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, except the seasoning. Divide the mixture into four parts and form into equal sized patties. The mixture will be sticky, so you may want to work on small sheets of wax paper. Season the patties with salt and pepper.

Heat a large skillet to high heat. Once the pan is hot, spray with cooking spray. Add the patties to the pan and reduce the heat to low. Sear until golden brown and then flip. Once the other side is browned, continue to flip to prevent burning and to ensure that they are cooked through.

Conga-The Sequel

If you're a long time follower of this blog, you are sure to remember Conga. Who can forget my sweet, two-month old getting down to Gloria Estefan?

Well, she's at it again. Two years later, she's still got it.

Saturday Morning Scene

Today I'm linking up with Katie over at Loves of Life for my Saturday Morning Scene.

It has been hot here for the past week or so. And I mean HOT. We finally got around to getting Sophia her very first swimsuit so that we can try to make it the pool to cool off. It doesn't get much cuter than this folks:


Oh wait. It just might...

Stubborn

The food battle. If you are a parent, you know that meals can quickly turn into World War III. Especially if you have a toddler, who are known for their fickle palettes. Emma is a toddler in every sense of the word. She has perfected the fine art of table warfare. And she fights dirty.

Example: For the entire month of March she likes cheese. She'll eat it with no problem, whether it be mixed in with her eggs, on top of a pizza, or just cubed for a snack. She greets her cheesy meals with a sweet smile and an even sweeter "Thank you Mommy!" All is right with the world.

In April, you might make her a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. HOW. DARE. YOU. Tears spring from her eyes, fists began to pound, and that sweet little tot throws an emotional fit that would put any middle-school girl to shame. Through the wails and gnashing of teeth, you try to bargain, plead, and model just how good this meal is. You stupidly try to reason with your two-year-old (But you like this! I promise!) until you admit defeat and let her finish her meal that consists of the vegetables or fruit that accompanied the offending sandwich.

Fast-forward to May. You go to your mother's/sister's/friend's house for lunch or dinner. They tell you that they have graciously made your child a grilled cheese sandwich since she probably won't like the meal that is planned. After thanking your host for their thoughtfulness, you gently warn them about your April experience and brace yourself for the scene that is about to unfold. The plate is set in front of her and you look around for a place to duck for cover when she sends that sandwich flying. Without fail, she will smile, thank them, and scarf that sandwich down like she's starving. And she'll probably ask for seconds.

After experiencing the above scenario more times than I can count, I try not to stress about meals. However, we do have a hard and fast rule in our house when it comes to meals: You must TRY everything on your plate. If you don't like it, that's ok. Just try it and see. Another rule is that you may not have more of something unless you have tried all of everything. Emma will often eat all of her favorite thing on her plate, like watermelon, without touching anything else. This is the source of most of our "food fights."

Today I gave Emma her lunch of tuna melts, grapes and Pirate's Booty. She devoured her fruit in record time, then moved on to her popcorn. As usual, she asked for more grapes.

Nope, sorry. Eat some of your tuna melt (which she has had and liked before), and you can have more grapes. Please refer to "April" to see how she took this bit of information.

I told her that I was going to clean up and if she ate some of her tuna melt by the time I finished, she could have some more grapes. Otherwise, I know she isn't really hungry and lunch will be over as is.

This was her passive-aggressive way of telling me "No way, Mom." Please note the placement of the tuna melt.
Some might call this typical toddler behavior. I call it stubborn. My mom calls it payback.

Help is on the Way!

Emma is always looking for someone to help. She helps me wash dishes (closes the dishwasher), change diapers (hands me wipes),and make bottles (she's a good bottle shaker). Lately, she's developed her own catch phrase. After asking if you need help, she'll come running and yell, "Help is on the way!" She is such a crackup!