She's on a Roll!

I am really tired as I am writing this post and I have Kate's new skill to blame! She started rolling over from her back to her stomach last week. It took a few days for her to get her arm out from underneath her body, but once she did, she was on a roll! There she goes...

We have video proof too:

We applauded her tenacity and let her practice rolling over a lot during the day, but then nighttime came around. The problem was Kate kept rolling over in her crib all night long and when she did she woke herself up and cried when she was stuck on her stomach. This is what I have been seeing a lot of on her video monitor:

And, here is what I find when I get to her crib:

The first night she started rolling over, she woke up seven times! The past few nights have been better, but there still have been three or four roll over wake ups. You might remember that Kate rolled over from her stomach to her back very early (see "One Month" post ). That skill has now disappeared. Until it comes back (or Kate gets bored with rolling over), I guess we are going to continue being tired.

Kate Fix

Nana and Papa Williams took the train up from San Diego this past weekend to stay with us and get their Kate fix.

The weekend was pretty low key. It involved walks up to Montana for breakfast sandwiches and coffee, the guys shopping for new cell phones, more shopping for Halloween decorations, and hanging around the house watching Kate be cute. We did have a nice dinner out at Laconda Portfino on Saturday night that involved a Conan O'Brien sighting. 

Nici also stopped in on Friday night for some Kate time before she headed out on Monday for two weeks of travelling.

We also used the weekend to try out some of Kate's hair accessories. What do you think?

P.S. We are fairly confident that these blue eyes are staying put!

Bath Time Fun

Our girl is only getting bigger and I know it won't be long before she no longer fits in her baby bath tub. Before that day comes, I wanted to capture what has become one of our favorite nightly routines: bath time!

Steve always takes on hair washing duty while I cover everything else.

It really is quite a process. Around 6:30 pm we start setting up. This involves clearing the sink and counter; getting the tub and water bowl out and filled up; and putting all the necessary supplies in place, including Kate's sponge, blue bird rinse cup, wash cloths, shampoo, body wash, towels, and the most important thing -- the blow dryer (keep reading).

Once Kate is in the water, we do the front side first, then Steve turns her over and holds her up so I can thoroughly clean her backside.

Once she's out of the tub, Steve moves quickly to get her wrapped up in a towel. He starts drying her and when she starts getting cold and cranky (it always happens), I move in with the blow dryer! We started using the blow dryer when Kate had her first diaper rash to dry her bottom and found out that she loves the noise and warm air. As soon as it turns on she calms down.

After we get Kate's body dry and a diaper on, it's time to focus on her hair. She has so much of it that it requires careful drying and styling.

The final part is getting her jammies on and saying goodnight.

One final touch up for the hair -- We don't want any bed head!

We had extra help with bath time this weekend when Nana and Papa were here.

We always pause for one last special goodnight for Otter and dad before heading up the stairs to bed.

Steve and I have both done Kate's bath time by ourselves, but it's much better when all three of us are there to do our parts!

It was perfect that Del was here last weekend so he could capture the whole bath time process on video for us. Here it is:

4 Months

We have a 4 month-old who has doubled in size since her birth!

Kate had her 4 month check-up on Thursday. We accidentally missed her original appointment with Dr. DiMundo on Monday so we saw another pediatrician at the office. After I got over being really upset with myself for missing the appointment, I was actually happy to be able to see someone else and get a second opinion on Kate's progress. I think we're doing just fine. This doctor used the words "wise" and "advanced" to describe her. She noted how Kate pulled away when she tried to put her stethoscope on her chest, something she said babies don't typically do until they are 6 months old, and she immediately recognized Kate's strength. She told me to keep two hands on her at all times! It was definitely more difficult this time around to keep her still on the exam table and from destroying the sheet they put her on. Thank goodness her toes and her favorite mirror were there to keep her occupied:

 

Kate is moving right up the middle of the growth chart. She is still in the 50th percentile for everything.

Here are her latest stats:

Height: 24.5 inches (1 inch gain from last month)
Weight: 14 lbs. 3.5 oz. (1 pound 5 ounce gain)
Head Circumference: 41.3 centimeters (1.3 cm bigger)

At 4 months old, here are some of the things Kate is up to:

Books: Kate is now interested in reading her books with us. She will sit in my lap for nearly 30 minutes trying to turn the pages, looking at and touching the pictures, and, of course, putting the books in her mouth and chewing on them.

Happy Baby: We do Pilates together, but she has mastered the Happy Baby yoga pose and she really thinks her toes are delicious once she gets a hold of them.

Ready to Go: Forget Tummy Time! If you put her on her belly now, she will work with great determination to move around the floor. Take a look:

We might have an early crawler on our hands!

The marks on her legs in the video are from where she got her shots. The vaccines were a little harder on her this time. She cried pretty hard for about an hour in the evening. But, after she fell asleep in my arms on the couch for a bit and had a warm bath she was back to her normal self.

Speaking Up: Kate has really discovered her voice. She gets especially vocal right before she is about to drift off to sleep during the day and she fights to keep herself awake. I had to capture it on video because it is one of my favorite things she does:

Morning Routine: I really love our mornings together. It is pretty standard now that Kate will wake up between 7 and 7:30 am. She is up for about an hour and a half before she is ready for her morning nap at 9:00. During that time, if we don't have anywhere to be, we play on the floor downstairs for a bit and then walk to Pete's coffee. She's the best company!

A Walk in the Park

We woke up super early this morning for a very good reason. At 4:30 am we carefully lifted Kate out of her crib, loaded her in the car, and headed to Disneyland for the CHOC "Walk in the Park." We were there as part of Team Sinatra. 

Sinatra is my friend Jenn's little girl who was diagnosed with leukemia 10 months ago.  I have known Jenn since middle school and once she expressed how much she wanted to give back to the hospital that has provided top-notch care for her daughter, I knew I wanted to be there to support her. The morning was extra special because for the first time in months Sinatra's counts were high enough for her to be around people and to join us for the walk.

The 5K walk started at 6:30 am (they needed to get the thousands of walkers out of the parks before they opened) and took us through both Disneyland and California Adventure. Kate handled it great. She slept through some of it, but really liked looking out from her stroller and hearing the music coming from the bands along the route. 

Many of you who read this blog contributed to the walk and it made a difference. Team Sinatra had 32 members and we raised $8,380 for CHOC! 

 We are wiped out from the early morning, but it was totally worth it!