Rice Cereal

We have been so busy visiting with Kara and the boys I haven't had a chance to post. (More to come on their visit later!) Last month my old employer threw us a going away/baby shower. One of Johanna's gifts was an inflatable bathtub, just like her cousin Brynnlee has! Johanna has outgrown her baby bath chair so I decided to blow up the duck and give it a whirl. She seems to like it! It is so cute, reminds me of a little pool float.Seriously, Mom? I am enjoying my bath! Last night was fun for two reasons 1) Jeff came home from Canada after 16 days away so we got to pick him up from the airport! 2) Johanna got to try her first bit of rice cereal tonight. We had been waiting for her to show more signs of interest in grown up food and over the past few days she has been eyeballing my food like a hawk and grabbing for her own bite.She loves it! She would stare at the spoon anxiously waiting for her next bite.And she would get so excited when we put the spoon near her mouth! Maybe she was most excited to chew on the spoon?Yum!
Such a big girl we have!She loves her Daddy :)Out enjoying the sunshine on a walk. Don't be fooled by the shades- she took them off right after this picture was taken!

4 Month Pictures

Here are Miss Johanna's 4 month photos. Aren't they cute!

Raspberries

Johanna loves making raspberries. She discovered this noise last week and now it has been a non-stop thing in our house. I love it! She will make it any time I'm not looking (in the car seat while we're driving around, while in her swing, in her crib etc.) Every time I've tried filming it she stops as soon as she sees the camera. This time I snuck it on her. When the camera's not around she loves to mimick me when I make silly noises to her, she gets so proud of herself that she can talk to Mommy in a silly way. She's going to be so much fun when she starts learning words :)

Johanna also rolled over from her back to tummy on Thursday. She has been working so hard on this the last month but has always gotten stuck on her arm. This time she just pushed right through, good job Johanna!

Television, feet and other interesting things

Johanna is really turning into her own little person. She is starting to have her own sense of humor, and has shown a lot of interest in the different things around her.Yesterday we went to Babies R Us to take some photos with a friend of mine from my Moms Group. I won't get the photos for a few more weeks but I think they turned out pretty cute! While I was there I found this little outfit on sale for a dollar. I think it may be for a boy, can girls be little charmers? Either way I couldn't resist.As you can see from this picture, Johanna is starting to outgrow her bassinet aka the pack-n-play. She is about 15lbs which means I need to lower the mattress to the floor. I think I will still keep it in our bedroom or possibly move it downstairs, it is nice to have a safe place to put her while I am busy. You can also see Johanna's latest trick in this picture.She loves making funny noises with her mouth while blowing tiny bubbles.She thinks it is so funny!While I am getting ready sometimes I will plop Johanna up on my bed. Lori introduced me to a show that we have onDemand called Baby Genius. Johanna LOVES this show... it's a children's sing-a-long show with different animals and children playing throughout the different songs. Her favorite songs are "Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" and "She'll be coming round the mountain." She will scream and squeal when I turn this show on for her.Another thing that Johanna finds very interesting is her mobile above her crib. When I start cranking it up she gets the biggest smile on her face then will sit there mesmerized until it stops making noise. I'm not the biggest fan of this particular mobile because it will stop moving after a few minutes... she would stare at this thing forever it would keep going!Lastly, her other interest are those little tiny feet that she's discovered.As soon as I put her in her bumbo she makes sure to grab hold of them.Or while I'm trying to change her diaper.She is getting so big! I need to be careful while I am changing her now. She is like a little roly-poly with those things.

St. Patty's 5k

Tomorrow Jeff leaves for Canada for a few weeks. We aren't sure when he will be back but we know it will be the longest he has been away from me and Johanna. This trip to Canada begins his next rotation of traveling for work. It has been so nice having him home every night I have forgotten what it's like with him gone. We knew this day would come so I was prepared, but it still makes it tough. Jeff is working very hard to accomplish the goals he has set for himself and our family so I am very proud of him. I know it is a lot harder for him to be leaving than it is for me, I get to stay with Johanna and Fiona while he gets to work crazy hours in different states/countries. Thank you Jeff for allowing me to stay at home with our daughter, I love you. Hopefully the time he is away goes by very quickly and the time he is home goes very slowly...and that Johanna grows slowly either way :) But anyway...Today for some fun we went to our neighborhood St. Patrick's Day 5k run!I finished in 29:33 and Jeff finished 32:26 slow but hey, I'm happy to be out there! My goal for next month is to shave a minute off of each mile so roughly 26 minutes and Jeff would like to complete the next race with out walking. We will see if either of those happen because neither of us will have time to be jogging while Jeff is at work! Maybe I can run up and down our stairs while the peanut is napping...
Neither of us won a medal (I know, what?!) but I did win a pair of running shades from their raffle! They are green, slightly hideous and I am going to wear them every time I go jogging because I won them and I am proud of it!

Another day in Casper

Casper, Wyoming. What do you know it's not so flat after all!DowntownThere were a ton of antelope in the open fields. I was excited to finally try out my zoom lens. you can't tell from this picture but we were actually pretty far away!On Tuesday Johanna and I went to visit the Fort Caspar museum. I don't have any pictures of this because the Fort was closed for the season. Afterward we drove around Caspar to check out the city. Look at this old drilling rig made out of wood that we found!For dinner Monday night the three of us headed out to eat at Sanford's for some burgers. The theme of the restaurant was vintage gas station meets Loony Tunes. The entire place was lit up with so many different neon lights and there was so much stuff to look at Johanna had little bug eyes the entire meal! At the hotel I also gave Johanna her first bath in a sink. She was a little confused with what we were doing at first, but once she was able to splash around in the warm water she had fun!The weather was much better on our drive back so we made it home a lot faster than on our way in. We were anxious to get home and make it to Brian and Lori's house for dinner. Russ was in town for work and we wanted to make sure we were able to see him! Even though Johanna doesn't look very thrilled in this photo, she was super excited to meet her Uncle Russ ;)

Kiss me I'm Irish

Well okay, maybe only 1/10 Irish...but still doesn't this face deserve a kiss?Johanna's serious face.Cutest socks in the world, thanks Mom!We're going to a party? Alright!Johanna's latest trick has now become her favorite thing to do. I know it isn't the best for her once her big teeth start coming in...but I can't help but think it is so adorable!Who doesn't love St. Patricks Day? Today we went to our Moms Group St. Patty's party to decorate cupcakes and make crafts. Seeing how I gave up sweets for Lent and Johanna isn't old enough to particiapte in arts and crafts it was more for the social hour. But it gave me an excuse to dress Miss Johanna up in green and take some photos!

Casper, Wyoming

This week Jeff had a refresher class he needed to take on wild well control. The class was being held in Casper, Wyoming so Johanna and I decided to tag along. I had never been to the city of Casper before so I was interested to see what it was all about. We left yesterday around 1:30 expecting to make it to our hotel around 6. Johanna slept for the first 2 1/2 hours then woke up hungry. We decided to make a stop in Cheyenne, Wyoming for some dinner at Old Chicago. While Jeff and I ate some pizza Johanna got to wiggle and stretch her legs out on the booth next to me. The weather turned a little crummy after dinner so we had to slow it down some on the road and at 8:30 we finally pulled into our destination!We woke up to about a half foot of snow, grey skies and 20 degree weather. So for now I am still not sure what Casper has to offer as far as scenic views. If I had to make a guess I would say probably open prairie and a whole lot of nothing. The weather didn't stop Johanna and I from finding some stores to shop at. That and our coffee maker in the room was sadly missing the coffee pot and I was in desperate need of a cup of decaf coffee. How it is still possible to be addicted to something even after it's been removed of it's addictive substance still boggles me. After getting my coffee we headed to the town's hotspot, Walmart. There I found Johanna a new chew toy...err baby doll.Johanna loves her new baby doll, Samantha just as much as Cynthia.So far our trip has been a lot of fun! Jeff's class is right next door to where we are staying so on his lunch break he was able to join us for lunch at the hotel restaurant. After lunch Johanna and I put on our bathing suits to go for a dip in the pool. This was the first time Johanna had been in a pool and she loved it! We floated around while she kicked her legs under the water.Isn't this bathing suit adorable?! Look at the back! Hehe...mini bathing suits are by far the cutest thing in the world. We found it at Target for ten bucks, in fact all of their bathing suits were ten bucks which is cheap compared to the 30-40 dollar suits at Babies R Us. The smallest size they had were 12 months but after putting her little swimmers diaper on it fit perfectly.After swimming in the pool we came back in our room and I gave Johanna a bath in the sink to clean off the chlorine.After her bath she zonked out for a nice long nap, shopping and swimming sure wore her out!

4 Months Old

We love this little girl more than anything in the world!Today Johanna had her 4 month checkup. Our little peanut is 14lbs 6oz and 24.75 inches long, so according to the breastfed World Health Organization charts she is in the 59% for weight and 55% for height. She is consistent with her previous height and weight which means she is growing just as she should be.

Johanna is still exclusively nursing and hasn't shown much interest in eating solids yet. She will watch us eat our food but has not grabbed at our plates or anything we're eating. My plan is to continue watching her for signs of interest before I introduce solids. I am not in a rush because I know I have until the recommended six months and I am really enjoying the ease of nursing!

The last few nights Johanna has been waking up every 3-4 hours which isn't typical of her previous sleep pattern. It could be teething but my motherly hunch is telling me it is probably Johanna just wanthing to eat and cuddle. I did bring this up today and his opinion was with still being breastfed you don't want to deny the baby food if their weight is still consistent with where it should be. But as I type this I wonder if that means she isn't getting the calories that she needs in the daytime...so maybe I should introduce solids? So many decisions! I've also read about a 4 month sleep regression that some infants go through as their sleep cycles change. As a child goes into a more adult cycle of sleep they go in and out of light and deep sleep. Just like we wake up several times a night to change positions or drink a sip of water, they wake up as well but the problem is they need to be able to soothe themselves back to sleep! So that could also be our problem. Whether it be teething, needing extra calories or change of sleep cycles either way I hope she grows out of it quickly. But in all reality it isn't a big deal for her to have a few bad nights here and there.

Wow have these last four months flown by, we love you Johanna Banana!

*Update on last night's sleep: Johanna fell asleep around 7:45. She woke up at 11:30 and I let her wiggle/grunt/pant it out. (Johanna doesn't cry very often but she likes to make these panting and whinning noises while kicking her legs desperately in the air until she circles around in her crib.) After about fifteen minutes of this she fell back asleep! Then she woke up around 4 and I fed her and she fell asleep. Then she woke up again at 6, but wiggled it out again and slept until 8:30. Now she may have been more tired because of her shots, but I take this as a step back into the right direction :) Good job baby girl!