This morning we dropped Izzy off at her new day care--Beech Tree House. It's right next door to the old day care, but might as well be miles away. We're very excited about it and so far are thrilled. This is a privately owned day care that was started by a woman thirty years ago for her six kids. It is a great place, seems very clean and secure, yet comfy at the same time. The school also has a private elementary school that takes kids all the way to seventh grade, which is a nice option. Two Fridays a month they provide care from 6-10 pm for $15 so the parents can have a night out! The women taking care of Izzy are very nice and seem very calm and nurturing...they are both grandmas :)
Mrs. Beech Tree herself was there this morning, and was greeting all the parents and kids with refreshments when they came through the door. She had some crazy shimmery bronzer on! I bet if you turned off the lights her little smiley face would have appeared iridescent. I don’t mean that in a mean way, more endearing. I think she’s adorable and sweet, and just the kind of person I would want taking care of my baby. Anywho, we dropped Izzy off and she was fine. She smiled at the ladies and went to them willingly—very subdued though, I think just taking it all in. Can I tell you how nice it was when they told me I could take my huge pile of carefully laundered and stacked according to size bibs home with me? Apparently they use their own and just launder them there. And their own sheets and blankets. All I have to bring are diapers, wipes, and milk. I can even bring frozen milk! I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but every Monday morning I looked like I was moving her in at Goddard and now I only have to bring milk.
We took Izzy for her 4 month check-up and shots last week. In the last 2 months she only gained 1.5 lbs. They like for babies to gain 1 pound a month, so she's not too off. Breastfed babies tend to gain weight slower. Of course they would have liked for her to continue on her previously adopted growth curve, but I don’t think she could continue her “pound a week” curve for very long. Anywho, she’s right at the 50th percentile now and the doctor would like her to pick a curve and stick to it. So we’re now on a mission for the next two months to try to make sure she gains 2 lbs. First I talked to the ladies at Goddard on Friday. Apparently, Izzy wasn’t really getting all 4 ounces a feeding that I packed for her. When I asked, the ladies told me that she lost “a lot” of milk each feeding either by not gulping it down or by the bottles leaking. Now, I’ve used the Dr. Brown’s bottles many times “practicing” with her (so has Jeff) and I never had one leak, but that’s what they said. So now the 4-5 soaking wet bibs I was taking home at the end of each day make sense. We're a little irritated that they never mentioned that little fact before. We also feel a little guilty that Izzy wasn’t getting all of her feedings. However, she always acts content and never acts hungry, so that makes us feel a little better.
Oh, and another reason her weight probably didn’t go up as much is because she has been sleeping through the night and not having nighttime feedings. We decided after the doctor’s office visit that I would give her one late (10:30-ish) feeding a night too. As if on cue, though, she seems to be having a growth spurt…for the first time in 2 months she is waking up hungry in the middle of the night. Growth spurt aside, we’re totally on a mission now. We’ll show that doctor and her annoying little growth curves, yes we will!
On Saturday afternoon we went to the State Fair. It was such a nice mild day so we walked down the Monon Trail to the entrance to the fairgrounds at 38th Street. It was packed! The Midway was crazy and you could get anything imaginable fried while you watched :) Jeff and I each tried a fried peanut butter cup! They were yummy. We've decided that we should get a booth, buy every Hostess product we can find, and then fry them up for next year. They were charging $4 for 2 friend pb cups. With that kind of mark-up, we could quit working and just become Carnies! Aside from the food, we also watched a Horse Pull contest in which 2 Belgian Draft Horses weighing in at around 3500 lbs (combined) pulled a sled weighing over 7500 lbs 27.5 feet! I've never seen anything like it. It was amazing. Plus, the handlers couldn't use any whips or even smack the horses with the reins. All they could do was "ask" them to pull...and pull they did! It was nice to see horses doing exactly what they were bred for. (Okay, they weren't bred to pull cinder blocks, but you get what I mean.)
We took Izzy for her 4 month check-up and shots last week. In the last 2 months she only gained 1.5 lbs. They like for babies to gain 1 pound a month, so she's not too off. Breastfed babies tend to gain weight slower. Of course they would have liked for her to continue on her previously adopted growth curve, but I don’t think she could continue her “pound a week” curve for very long. Anywho, she’s right at the 50th percentile now and the doctor would like her to pick a curve and stick to it. So we’re now on a mission for the next two months to try to make sure she gains 2 lbs. First I talked to the ladies at Goddard on Friday. Apparently, Izzy wasn’t really getting all 4 ounces a feeding that I packed for her. When I asked, the ladies told me that she lost “a lot” of milk each feeding either by not gulping it down or by the bottles leaking. Now, I’ve used the Dr. Brown’s bottles many times “practicing” with her (so has Jeff) and I never had one leak, but that’s what they said. So now the 4-5 soaking wet bibs I was taking home at the end of each day make sense. We're a little irritated that they never mentioned that little fact before. We also feel a little guilty that Izzy wasn’t getting all of her feedings. However, she always acts content and never acts hungry, so that makes us feel a little better.
Oh, and another reason her weight probably didn’t go up as much is because she has been sleeping through the night and not having nighttime feedings. We decided after the doctor’s office visit that I would give her one late (10:30-ish) feeding a night too. As if on cue, though, she seems to be having a growth spurt…for the first time in 2 months she is waking up hungry in the middle of the night. Growth spurt aside, we’re totally on a mission now. We’ll show that doctor and her annoying little growth curves, yes we will!
On Saturday afternoon we went to the State Fair. It was such a nice mild day so we walked down the Monon Trail to the entrance to the fairgrounds at 38th Street. It was packed! The Midway was crazy and you could get anything imaginable fried while you watched :) Jeff and I each tried a fried peanut butter cup! They were yummy. We've decided that we should get a booth, buy every Hostess product we can find, and then fry them up for next year. They were charging $4 for 2 friend pb cups. With that kind of mark-up, we could quit working and just become Carnies! Aside from the food, we also watched a Horse Pull contest in which 2 Belgian Draft Horses weighing in at around 3500 lbs (combined) pulled a sled weighing over 7500 lbs 27.5 feet! I've never seen anything like it. It was amazing. Plus, the handlers couldn't use any whips or even smack the horses with the reins. All they could do was "ask" them to pull...and pull they did! It was nice to see horses doing exactly what they were bred for. (Okay, they weren't bred to pull cinder blocks, but you get what I mean.)
On Sunday, we went to get pictures taken at JC Penney’s. We printed out a coupon online and got a good deal. They did a really good job and the pictures turned out adorable. We should get the link for them online in about a week and then of course I’ll send it to everyone so they can see how cute she is too. Cousins Courtney, Eric, Claire, and Cal sent Izzy adorable gifts last week! A perfect little Baby Gap sundress with her initials embroidered and some original artwork as well :) On the way home we were talking about what we would want her to wear in her pictures. Imagine our surprise when there was a box on the porch with the perfect outfit inside! So Miss Izzy modeled her sundress for her pictures and I think you'll see that it was the perfect choice. Thank you Courtney and Eric for the dress and picture album and thank you Claire and Cal for Izzy's artwork! (Another aside, I knew it the box was from Eric when I saw the CNH packaging :)) We miss you guys, hopefully we can see you all soon!
That's about it for the update! I don't have any new pictures to post today...so my words will have to tide you all over :)
