Julianna - 18 week progress

Julianna is 18 weeks today (she was 4 months this past Thursday)
We have hit a few milestones in the past 2 weeks...

Doctors Visit - Julianna went for her 4 month checkup on Friday and vaccinations (Arrrgh!) - I assumed she was going to handle the shots as badly as last time. She cried a lot for her 2 month shots. (Truth be told, I thought I was going to handle it as bad as last time too! haha!)
First the good stuff - She weighs 14.5 lbs (50th -75th percentile) and 24.5 inches long (50th percentile). Dr Thomas said Julianna is thriving and she is very healthy. She is taking about 28-30 oz a day. The doctor said we should start her on cereal when she gets to about 32 oz, and starts crying because she is hungry in between feedings. Maybe 2 weeks? We'll have to see how it plays out. Could be sooner, could be later. No rush. She is sleeping 9.5 hours through the night and I know she can give us another hour if we pushed it - but I just have to figure out how to arrange her feeding schedule to get us an hour more right now. Going to move to 4 hours soon - in the next week or so.

Now the shots - actually like I said - not too terrible. She cried of course. It sucked. But it was not screaming where her voice went hoarse and she couldn't breathe like last time! She cried for a minute or so and once it was over, and I picked her up, she was smiling. I was ok too - no crying from me at all this time probably because Julianna handled it better. (I take my cues from the baby!)

This is the way she likes to nap sometimes (below) - what a bizarre child. She kind of lays on her side & back but crosses her legs. SHe has been doing this for a couple months now. Hey, who am I to argue - she is comfy! She still does sleep on her back, but turns on her side like this sometimes. (Yes I know she doesn't match! haha!)

Stay verrrry still - POPP - Wahhhhhhh.
Yes we got her ears pierced. Brian and I wanted to do this for the last month and we finally did it. I know some are against it but too bad- this is what we wanted for her and I am glad we did it. She looks pretty cute too! She cried real hard for about 60 seconds -  We went to Salon DeJaVu in Rockaway, NJ. Everyone in the salon gave me dirty looks & thought I was murdering my child - but hey whatever, not like I gotta see those people ever again so I gave them all dirty looks back! As soon as Julianna was done cryng, she started smiling & laughing at Debbie (my good friend & owner of Salon DeJaVu that pierced her) - it's like she forgot all about it right away! What a tolerant kid we have! How lucky we are.

Milestones - She is now grabbing everything with 2 hands. She looks a bit like a drunk but at least she is using both hands now & grabs at everything! Her motor skills are really improving. This is a huge milestone for her. She grabs her toys but especially loves her bunny & her "taggy" blanket and pulls it right to her mouth with both hands. (no blanket while sleeping of course)

"Yes my feet are attached to my body!"
This is the best thing she has done lately - She is now sticking her cute little feet straight up in the air & has figured out that they are hers! And she has learned how to grab her feet & toes and hold on! This just happened yesterday and now every time I change her, she sticks those piggies in the air, wiggles them, and grabs on for dear life! So cute to watch. Yeah yeah I know, no one else cares really - but Brian and I sure do love it!

Other things-

• She is starting to really giggle, it's this high pitched squealy giggle that sounds like a little bird noise. So cute.
• She can prop herself up on her elbows and push herself (like a girl pushup) and look around when she is on her stomach - she tries to roll over but she just does not have the core strenth yet (maybe Pilates' would fix that?)
• Her head & upper body strength is very good. She is sitting up strongly with us supporting her.

That's it for now. Adios & Goodnight. Time to watch the Jets game & the Yankees game.