Ahead of the Curve

Alyssa had a checkup at the doctor's today and she's definitely ahead of the curve. She'll be 5 months old on May 5th and is growing like a weed. She's at the 89th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height. She weighs 18.4 pounds and is 26.25 inches tall. Thanks to my department chair, we got a new car seat for her, since her current car seat only holds up to 22 pounds. The new car seat should work for her until she doesn't need a car seat anymore (it's a convertible that holds 5-65 pounds). I'm definitely excited to not have to buy one - they're expensive!

Alyssa started eating from a spoon last week. We've been putting it off because we're super busy, but I got curious and gave it a try. And she loved it. It took her a couple of times to get the hang of it, but eventually she took to it and was gulping down the cereal as fast as I could get it to her mouth. I'm not sure if she liked the cereal or wanted to chew on the spoon, but she sure wanted that thing in her mouth. The only thing that saved us was the kitchen towel that covered both her and the Bumbo - it saved an hour of cleanup and an outfit. It was a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself (it might have been my idea).

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...

Alyssa is growing up fast. Her new favorite pastimes are to lay on the floor and rolling back and forth, kicking her legs and waving her arms, scooting herself around in a circle on her back, and grabbing anything within arm's reach. She's becoming more mobile and inquisitive and I'm afraid our peace is slipping away quickly. She's already working hard on learning to crawl, pushing herself up onto her knees, so that's not too far away either.

She's outgrowing clothes faster than we can get them too. She's 4 1/2 months old and we think over 20 pounds (we haven't been to the doctor in a while, so we're not sure). She's getting taller and (I hate to say) pretty chunky, but she's a healthy and happy baby. I was giving her a bath last night and she wouldn't lay down on the reclining side of the tub like normal, so we moved over to the toddler side where she can sit up. She liked that because it let her splash even more (she loves getting mommy's shirt all wet during bath time).

We went to Utah for spring break the week before Easter so the rest of Mike's family could meet the baby. She was a big hit and I felt like I didn't see her much the whole week (except when she was crying or sleeping, of course) - everyone wanted their turn holding her. She wasn't too happy when we got home and no one was holding her all day.

Work has been pretty crazy for Mike and I recently. My hours seem to keep getting longer, and now I have class 2 nights a week. I feel like I'm running around all day working and my to-do list keeps getting longer. Mike's still working in special ed during the day and he's trying to get his real estate career going in the evenings and weekends, so he's super busy too. Thank heaven for babysitters.

In good news, Alyssa slept through the night last night for the first time!!!!! Hooray!!!!! She started fussing a little at 5:30 and when Mike said he hadn't gotten up with her, I realized what had happened. And I was so happy. I'm having a great day today.