Turnaround

Even though I don't like to talk about it, Felicity has had the best week.  She was a real treat to be around.  She napped in her crib for good lengths of time, she laughs and smiles, she will sit down in her seat or swing for a few minutes without screaming, she fell asleep in the car instead of screaming, brag brag brag brag!  I already love her, of course, like crazy, but it is much easier to like a baby who isn't screaming in your face all day.  Also she is healthy but I didn't say that.  But I'm so happy about it, I have to mention how grateful I am.  I had pictured her in tubes already by this point and she is just fine.  We all love her so much!

Four months

I took Felicity for her four month appointment today. She is doing just fine. I'll tell you something, there is always a medical student who comes in before the doctor. They vary in terms of experience, and I assume the womn we had today graduated yesterday. She was really nice but, like, I had F lying on the table and she leaned over to look in her ears and she kept letting her hair fall all over that baby's face!

Anyways, her stats are thusly: 15 lbs., 6 oz., 25" long, 44 cm head circumference. She took three shots and did well, eventually. It's hard to see that sweet face scrunch up when she feels the needles, but did you hear there's been like 20 cases of measles in our area, including one at a school? Ugh.

19 Weeks

Ha, it didn't look that bad in real life, but in this picture it looks like she is barely perched on that ottoman. I wanted to get her picture in this outfit, it is from my mom and it's so soft and sweet, right? Well you'll have to trust me on the soft part. Felicity at 19 weeks is doing just fine. She was sick last week but is better now, she sleeps just fine and I can't talk about it because I don't want to jinx it. She is still being rocked to sleep for naps, which I'm sure I'll have to deal with at some point but what can you do? She does just go to sleep sometimes, but not always. Today is Monday so we are Maria and Veronica-free, which is such a pleasant time for us. It's SO QUIET in here! Then Wednesday comes and it all goes to hell, ha!

Seventeen Weeks

It just now occurred to me, at 10:00 at night, that she's 17 weeks today.  I didn't take her picture, as she is sick and has been a real pill.  My arms are so sore from holding her I can't stand it.  Every time she is sick, I think what do people do when their kids are chronically ill?  I am such a wuss, I can't stand to hear her cry, she screams like a banshee when she throws up, it's just awful, it's the worst, I think.  And then I think, no, not the worst.  The worst gets a lot worse.  And then I feel like a big baby and a demon besides.

But it's hard.  My house is a mess with just ONE day of her being sick.  My hair is getting really long but it's so short that instead of growing down it grows out and I look like an old, female, Justin Bieber.  I can never go to get it cut, though.  The place is only open so that it takes the last appointment at 7:00, and that's bedtime.  I am working on Saturday nights and it's hard enough on Mike to put them all to bed one night a week, I think, I can't get another night to go get my hair cut.  I think maybe I could find a babysitter for Felicity when I have the other three in school but who?  And how will she be?  Because she is pretty bad for everyone but me, still.  I'm going to buy some headbands, is what I'm saying, ha!

Anyways, say a prayer that she is better soon.  Dr. Pakistan (I don't know his name from he's from Pakistan, he's SO GREAT) at the Urgent Care said it's viral and keep her humidifier on, so we are.  We're trying but it took forever to put her to bed tonight, last night she was up all night and I'm afraid we'll have a repeat, so I have to go to bed.

BUT.  Outside of the sickness, she is doing great.  She is holding up her head so well and she is putting her hands together and meeting other milestones.  She is happy when she's happy and she's starting to really vocalize, it's fun as hell.  She's our good girl and hopefully she will get better soon and get back to normal.  Also her ears were fine!  Miracle!

Janet

That's Anthony's old Janet bib, a gift from my friend Janet when I was pregnant with Anthony. I used to tell her I was going to name the baby Janet whether it was a boy or a girl, ha! Felicity is drooling like a crazy person so she has to wear a bib. It's, like, pre-teething, I guess? She was so crazy and fussy this Friday that I took her to the doctor, I was so afraid she was sick again. She had been up a lot, like every 90 minutes in the night for the two previous nights. BUT he said her ears were fine and she was probably just overstimulated. I have to figure out a different system because Maria and Veronica bug me so much and so loudly when I am trying to put Felicity down for a nap, it feels impossible.

Everyone says, 'she's the fourth!', and that she is just not going to get to take naps and sleep well like the other ones. I have never really liked that, though. I am a big believer in kids getting the sleep they need when they are tiny. It's as important as food to them, I think, and I wouldn't keep FOOD from her just because she's the fourth, right? Because the other kids ate it all up before she was born? It's shoddy logic. And anyway it doesn't work with my kids because they are all sensitive little flowers, fussy poos, wretches, for the first few months, that's just how it is. She is the least fussy of the bunch but I guess even she has her limits.

Anyways, she'll be 15 weeks tomorrow, crazy, right? Onward to four months!

Blessed

Every time we are having a morning like this, when Felicity slept badly and I'm worried that she's sick, and I'm trying to get her down for a nap but her JERKSTORE sisters will not SHUT UP or LEAVE US ALONE, I think "I'm so blessed to be a stay at home mom" and then I laugh and laugh, like this:  ha ha ha boo hoo hoo.

Not really.  It does suck that she is sleeping badly but she'd have to go a LONG way to sleep as badly as everyone else, so she is still okay in my book.  It's so hard to get her to take a nap with these girls here!  They are so unbelievably loud, AND they have to be with me every second of the day, sooooo .. no naps.

I am worried that she is getting sick again, with all these wake ups.  She first woke up at 2:00, then 3:30, then 4:45 and then 6:00 for the day.  She seemed kind of gassy this morning, and I think maybe I'm not burping her enough when she eats in the night?  These damned bottles are killing me, they are such a pain, I feel like I don't know what I'm doing at all.  She usually falls asleep drinking, so I guess I should burp her and then lay her down but sometimes she won't burp or sometimes it wakes her up.  Ugh.

She is really getting super cute, thank God.  She holds her head up really well, she's bringing her hands together and she is cooing more and more.  She was 14 weeks on Monday, so we are really getting there.  I guess before we know it, she'll be four months and then six months and then we'll have a crawling baby, just in time for summer.  I can't wait!

Better

Oh jeez, she is doing better now. She had her third ear infection two weeks ago - three weeks ago? I can't remember, she was AWFUL on a Friday night and I took her to Urgent Care on Saturday and it turned out she had an ear infection in both ears. I am getting better at telling when she has one. She has been through all her antibiotic now and seems fine, so that's good. I took her for her two month shots last week, when she was three months old, because she was sick when she was supposed to get them. They would have given them to her anyway but, um, NO THANKS. She was pretty fussy that afternoon and the next morning but since then she's been fine, sleeping well, can't talk about it, you know the drill.

She is getting so big and starting to really hold up her head. She will sometimes drift off to sleep on her own, which is something no one else has ever done. She is getting sweet and funny.