4 months of parenthood

Hallelujah - we are surviving parenthood!! Samantha is now 4 months and two weeks old per babycenter.com...the time is flying by and we are finally getting the hang of being mom and dad. It's weird, but I don't even remember life much before her....well, let me restate...I don't miss my life before Sam. Sure Phil and I joke about moving back into an apartment and having no responsibility...but we would never trade for where we are now with our little girl. After 4 months, we do not miss going out every Saturday night or going to bars and for the most part (speaking for just me)...I don't really miss all the free time I had on my hands. [Phil has no free time since he's doing grad school part-time, taking care of Sam and working].

In 4 months, we've got entertaining a 4-month old down to a science. We haul her everywhere, not worried about how to handle a fussy period, feeding or any other baby related thing. We are such confident parents now! Until she got a cold.....On Sunday, Sam woke up with congestion and a runny nose/cough. We feel so helpless, since an infant can't have any meds, except for infant Tylenol...I rushed out and scoured Target for a humidifier...which ended up being in the first area that I looked, but I missed it. I realized this after about 30 minutes in Target of walking around searching for this humidifier - why can't I ask for help in these stores????? This is supposedly helpful with her congestion. I ran into her room about every 15 minutes last night to see if indeed the room felt more damp. Phil thought I was crazy. I am.

The reason I mention her cold, is that it's introduced a new element to being a parent...taking care of a sick child. Today, we kept her out of day care...and we both tried to work at home for part of the day...we didn't get much done, but we got to hold Sam all day. We were so confident as parents, but now we realize we still don't know what we are doing sometimes :-) We look at Sam who is stuffed up, fussy and is uncomfortable sleeping and don't know what to do. She can't even blow her nose...I know how crappy I'd feel if I was sick and couldn't do that. So hopefully this cold runs itself out soon...She will be back to day care tomorrow...and hopefully we won't get a call to come get her. At least it's another thing off of our list of firsts!

On another note, the doc officially said Samantha is still a big baby! Her measurements at her 4 month appt confirmed....25 inches long (75th percentile), 14.6lbs (70th) and head 70th% - can't remember the number. So she's good to go...clearly we are feeding her enough, so we rock in that department. Phil and I love food, so never thought that Sam would have an issue with that either.

Samantha is still developing like crazy....right now, she is twisted on her play mat, trying to watch Monday night NFL (Phil is so proud!)...She loves watching TV..although I am a little disturbed by the fact, she's already addicted, I keep thinking it's the bright colors and movement she sees....who knows. I don't want to obsess about that right now :-) She is constantly reaching out to grab objects...they will go straight into her mouth if she can get it there. If it's not an object, it's her hand or thumb. She's enjoying tummy time now, and is actually pushing up a bit. On Sunday, she actually rolled from her back to her stomach. Phil and I stood there cheering for her, since to us this is a great accomplishment. She has yet to do it again, but at least I can say she's done it :-) She is also still being really vocal. She just looks at us and starts to make sounds. It's really cute. We timed it one time and it was about 10 minutes of straight vowels sounds (I guess that's what you would call it).

So I gave a list a while back of how I know I'm becoming a Mom. Adding to that...I have a $100 gift card to Target for a "good work" award...and I spent the entire thing on Sam. She got a new play mat/activity area, spoons, new rattles, bowls (for starting rice cereal soon..yippee!), and clothes. I LOVE being a Mom! Now I understand why my Mom passed on buying things for herself and got things for me while I was growing up. I always wondered as a kid why she did not treat herself more to new clothes, jewelry, etc. When we were shopping I'd ask her why she didn't get anything just for her...she said she didn't need anything else. I understand her now...I would rather buy something new for Samantha instead of me any day. Thank you Mom for doing that for me.

Speaking of...Samantha is calling. She wants me to join her to watch some football!

Have a good night!!