4 Month Stats

Yesterday we had Annalise's four-month check-up. It started quite well since they called us in right on time. Bubbie didn't scream when they measured her, which was an improvement over the last two times. Our sweet sweet girl is in the 75th percentile in both height and weight, at 25 1/4 inches long and 14lb. 7oz. Her noggin is in the 90th percentile, but she comes by that honestly since her mother has barely been able to squash the pumpkin atop her own shoulders into regular-people hats for years.

I was VERY, read VEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY pleased that Mushy-Face is exactly average proportionally and not too skinny or anything. Such are my neurotic fears that may never go away even if she ends up obese.

When the doctor came in, she just held out her hands and took the baby from me before I knew what was happening. Dave and I both sucked in breaths of apprehension. This is not, after all, a small girl who is particularly partial to any folks that did not specifically supply the sperm and egg to her existence.

Instead of being upset, she stared at the doctor in wonder and kept her eyes trained on her for five straight minutes. When the doctor would move her head so Annalise couldn't see her eyes very clearly, the baby would crane her own head immediately, making sure her eyes never left the doctor's. It was extremely precious and probably exhibiting brilliance, and Dave and I grinned and grinned, charmed beyond measure.

The doc said she has seen other four-month-olds that exhibit stranger-anxiety even though it's young for it, so Annalise is not alone although she has been doing it for months now. She suggested I don't let people hold her right away when we go somewhere and maybe she'll be more comfortable with them if we wait about a half hour after we've arrived in a new environment and I keep her on my lap while Those-That-Want-To-Hold-Her sit next to me and wait until she reaches for them. Not really sure thaaat's going to happen but we'll give it a try.

The poor tiny girl definitely stopped being a fan of the doctor when she checked her ears and mouth though. She howled miserably and it was weird because why did she care? But she is very particular and having her mouth opened and her ear touched were clearly the worst thing you could do to her and she wanted to be clear she standing for none of it.

Annalise has had no vaccines yet because I wanted to do more research and learn about each one and see if there were any that could be avoided and the bottom line is I barely have time to change my clothes each day, much less read hefty novels about vaccines. So with a heavy heart I just decided to do them without knowing anything at all. The truth is that I don't feel great about vaccinating but I don't feel great about not vaccinating. Anyway, the poor innocent chubbo had never had a shot. They made us lay her on the table, hold her arms down and while I kissed her head, the nurse did three in her thighs in rapid-fire succession. The Bub was looking around contentedly and watching her face change with the pain was so sickening I almost lost my breakfast.

We both cried (I may or may not have cried just typing about it) but within two or three minutes the screams died down and I looked at her guiltily and sorrowfully tried to smile and even with huge tears still in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks, her face lit up and she smiled back at me. My poor poor poor sweet baby.

Thankfully, she had no ill effects. No fever, no sleepiness, no bruising, no soreness. She will have another appointment in two months.

She truly is my sweet sweet scrumptious angel. I love everything about her. It's weird that you can love someone so much that it's uncomfortable. Exquisitely painful. I want to shriek when I think about her. I want to bite her. Chew on her face. Squeeze her til we pop. I love her sooooooooooooooooooooooo much.