Update Part 3: Scarlett

So much has happened in these past 4 months.  I can't believe how fast she's changing!  These are just a few of the many fun things we've learned about our little lady...

Playing the air guitar

Chillaxin' with Uncle James

Hanging out with her cousin (she made Scarlett that blanket!)

Showers
Once her umbilical cord fell off I started showering with her.  I just put her little tub in the bath while I shower.  She loves showering!  She gets so excited when she hears the water running.  I have these little foam pictures that stick on the wall and her favorite game is to knock them down off the wall.

When I put the water on her she likes to reach up for it or she twirls her leg up in the stream.  Sometimes she even licks the water!  The only part she doesn't like is when I suck out her boogies - fortunately I kinda like that part (weird, I know)!  Only a few times has she gone potty in the tub, and it's a quick clean up.

Sleep
For the past few weeks she's been sleeping for a good 6-7 hour segment at night! Which is great cause we don't get a lot of sleep with her during the day.  She's a power napper.  She just loves being awake - to much to do!

After a few weeks of sleeping in our room when she was first born, we moved her to the crib in her room.  I didn't realize how much I woke up just because she is a noisy sleeper. 

When she's falling asleep she'll smile and sometimes even giggle - so cute!  (she's always done this, that's how we got the smiling picture when she was 3 days old).  She also sleeps with her hands held our flat and sometimes with her eyes slightly open (like mommy).   When she's tired she twirls her hair, my mom said I used to do the same thing.

She is such a happy baby!  When I go get her from her crib in the morning she just smiles at me!  Her new thing is rolling over.  I put her to sleep on her back and I find her in the morning on her tummy and in different places of her crib.  She scoots all over in her sleep.  One time she even rotated 180 degrees!

I can't believe she used to be this small!

Sleeping with her eyes open - freaky!

Sleeping with her hands out flat

Playing
Once she was able to control her hands she started playing by herself.  In the morning when I put her under her hanging toys she's so excited - I think she misses them.  She loves her toys - especially her links... well, really anything that she can maneuver into her mouth.  She loves chewing on everything.  Especially her thumb.  Neither Jake nor I sucked our thumbs as babies, but Scarlett loves her thumb! 

She claps her feet when she's excited.  She loves to use her ab muscles and she tries to sit up.  I have to be careful where I set her with her rolling/ab skills.  One of her first tricks was opening her eyes really wide whenever it got dark.  She's really loud and squeals/talks/giggles a ton.  I have to go in the hall at church a lot just cause she's talking really loud!

Berlyn and Braxtyn were playing dress up with her

Buddha baby!

Playing with Grumple

Fell asleep playing (these links are her fav and she often falls asleep holding them)

Doctor
We've been to the doctor several times. We went when she was 6 weeks old cause she had blood in her stool.  They said it was the milk in her formula that was ripping the lining of her colon.  So we switched to soy formula and it went away.  But now we don't use any formula which is even better!  She's had 2 sets of immunizations.  The first time she screamed so loud, but the second time wasn't nearly as bad. 

At her checkups these were her stats (I think she's got my chunkiness and Jake's height):

• 2 Months: 11 lbs 13 oz (75%), 23 in long (75%), 39 cm head circumference (50%)
• 4 Months: 15 lbs 0 oz (80%),  25 in long (90%), 16.25 in head circumference (55%)

She had a follow up visit with the Cardiologist.  They loved her!  All the nurses kept peeking in our room to see her little chunky legs.  Most of the babies they get there are real skinny and sick.  So they loved on her chunk.  She still has 2 holes in her heart.  But neither of them effect the quality of her heart.  We'll continue going every year just to make sure they stay small and hopefully heal.  But even as they are now she won't need surgery or special medication.  I'll have to have an echocaridiogram during my future pregnancies to check for heart issues (they said there's no way to know if our other kids will have issues).  But even if I had one with Scarlett they wouldn't have seen these holes in the womb cause they're so small.  In fact, one of the holes is really common - like 25% of people have it and most people don't even know it.  The cardiologist was really nice and explained things very thoroughly.  When he found out I was an engineer he told me about how these holes cause small pockets of turbulent flow (where it should be laminar) and that turbulence is what they can hear when they listen to her heart.

It's ironic.  I wanted an ultrasound when I was 8 months pregnant.  I kept asking the doctor for one cause I felt like I needed one, but since there wasn't a "medical need" they wouldn't do one.  Now I'll need several ultrasounds to make sure my baby doesn't go breach.  In addition, I'll have to have a fetal echocardiogram.  Too bad mother's instinct doesn't count as "medical need".

At the cardiologist

The two holes in her heart: #1 is common (it's a flap that closes to change the direction of the flow from when you were in the womb and it's common for the flap to not completely cover the opening), #2 is uncommon (and her hole is closer to the base of the heart, not in the middle like on the picture)

We love Scarlett so much and feel so blessed to have her in our little family!!!  She's so much fun and we're so grateful that she is healthy and happy.