Josephine's 4 month doctor's appointment did not go so well today. The doctor, through no real fault of his own, wanted to look in her ears & she was simply not in the mood. So, he had to "force" her head from side to side & she did not appreciate it one bit. She let out quite an ear-shattering squeal followed by the longest, loudest crying fit that we have ever seen - great big tears running down her cheeks and all. Unfortunately, she was totally inconsolable, and this was before she even got her vaccinations. After the shot & oral vaccine, she was beyond upset. We couldn't even get her dressed. I pulled my shirt up & nursed her for a while, but she was so upset that she couldn't even calm herself down enough to suck. We ended up just wrapping her in a blanket & taking her out the car. Once we got her in the car, I finished feeding her and singing along with the Elizabeth Mitchell cd seemed to do the trick. We finally got her calmed down enough to get her in the carseat (still not dressed) and she fell asleep about half of the way home. Today has been filled with nice long naps & bouts of big tears. She just feels icky (last night's "up every 2 hours" schedule didn't help either since none of us got good sleep). So, I'm already dreading the next appointment because today was beyond miserable. The doctor really did feel bad, and Louie & I have never felt worse (the look in her eyes definitely said "why are you letting these people hurt me?").
In better news, Josephine is growing like a champ. Her four month stats -
Weight - 16 pounds, 3 ounces (95%)
Height - 26 inches (95%)
She's still perfectly proportioned (the right weight for her height), which is what the doctor says matters more than height and weight alone.
And, although there isn't a scientific test to determine it, we're all convinced she is also the cutest, sweetest, most adorable little girl in the world.
Oh - I should also mention that the doc said "no go" on cereal before 6 months. He had lots of reasons (including the fact that giving rice cereal to babies to make them sleep longer is as outdated as telling people to smoke as a way to lose weight), but the most compelling reason to wait is that babies who get cereal before 6 months have much higher incidences of asthma, diabetes & skin conditions like dermatitis and eczema. So - okay - we'll wait.
Okay - baby girl needs me. Gotta run!
