Get a grip

First - off topic - one fun anecdote from the beginning of our visit to the U.S. a few weeks ago that I have forgotten to share:

I have many fond memories from my childhood of growing up with many first cousins – the children of my mother’s many brothers and sisters. I was quite close to some of them because we are close in age, but others are quite a bit older and quite a bit younger than I am.

One older cousin I have been close to is Lynn, the eldest of my mother’s older sister. While in Seattle, we visited her and her family and brought Lexi to meet them. Lynn loves babies and was recounting to me that she was thrilled to meet me as a baby in 1973 (when she was about 11) and sort of “claimed” me as her own. So, just a day or so later, just as Lynn told me she remembered me as a baby, I caught myself saying the same thing. My younger cousin Meghan, the youngest of one of my mother’s brothers, came over to meet Lexi, and I told Meghan, who is now 22, that I remembered holding her as a very little baby.

So even in the same generation, there is such an age spread that some of us can remember the others as babies, and now we’re holding each other’s babies, the next generation. So I’m happy that Lexi already has two first cousins and that they are all the same age. But, as I said earlier, I just don’t know how often these cousins will see each other because their parents may never choose to live in the same city.

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In other news, Lexi’s ability to play with objects with her hands has progressed even since the last update just a few days ago. It’s clear now that she loves to take hold of something in her hands, especially a small piece of paper or an envelope, and crumple it up and play with it. She seems to get more enjoyment out of these things than she does from toys (and she’s enjoying opening the mail as much as her daddy does).

She has become a better gripper recently too. Now a phrase that’s frequently heard in our house when we’re holding Lexi and pick up something else like a glass or measuring cup and hold it in front of her, or when we bend over her if she’s lying on the diaper changing table, is, “Let go, Lexi! Let go!”

Lexi is also entertained a lot by touching my face. Sarah thinks she likes touching my goatee. We’re having to teach her, however, that when she touches someone’s face, she needs to do it gently. She can sometimes hit or scratch (which is sometimes our own fault when we don’t get around to clipping her fingernails often enough). Yesterday I caught Lexi touching and exploring Sarah’s face while Sarah held her up almost at her eyelevel. The look on Lexi’s face – one of wonder – was just priceless. I wish I had a camera. And what a great moment of connection between a parent and baby.

Traveling with and without Lexi

A week ago Thursday, I went to Kampala, Uganda for a meeting for the day. I left for the airport at 6 in the morning and didn’t get home until 10 pm. It was a long day and the meeting was ok – somewhat interesting though a bit slow moving. It was a long time to be away from the baby. She drank from the bottle just fine and Stephen reported that overall, she was a very good girl. We had finally figured out that she likes her bottle warm. If the milk is too cold, she is NOT interested.

I am still getting up once a night to feed her. I am wondering if I should try just getting her to go back asleep without feeding her – though she always seems hungry. It would be nice if she would sleep through the night, but the doctor said some babies continue not to as that is just their rhythm.

One of the nights we were in Mombasa (see Stephen's post of today), she was waking up every hour. I was not feeding her every time; I just don’t know why she kept waking up though. I wonder if she wasn’t cold, but even wrapping her up didn’t help her to go much longer than 2 hours. I was pretty tired the next day.

Roll over, Lexi. Good baby!

Lexi hit another milestone on Thursday. Just two days after rolling over for the first time from her back to her tummy, she did the opposite for the first time!

Unfortunately, this means we’re losing control of her. No longer can we lay her down in her crib to amuse herself and expect her to lay in the same position quietly. She can now manage to rotate herself around completely while lying on her back and move all around the crib – and now roll over. When she’s awake and alert, she loves to kick, especially when she’s excited.

I’m also amazed at how suddenly she is starting to grab on to things with her hands. In just the last several days, she has started to take things we put in her hands and either move them to her mouth to try to taste them or move them around in her hands – things like the bulletin at church or a cloth napkin. Doing this can suddenly hold her attention and entertain her for a few minutes. This sort of curiosity seems to involve not only more coordination of her hands, which she has gained, but more keen observation with her eyes. It’s as if suddenly she can see more and fix on something enough to know that it would be interesting to touch or taste.

She’s also noticing more when we’re eating. The other morning when we went to a restaurant for breakfast, I told Sarah to give her a taste of her orange juice by dabbing the end of the straw in her mouth. She tasted it and made an awful face from the acidic taste of the juice. When I had a coffee-flavored milk shake for lunch at the beach resort where we spent a couple of days last week, I put a few drops of it on her lips. She didn’t seem to mind the coffee flavor and might have recognized the creamy milk taste from Mama’s milk.

She has also added a new noise to her repertoire. It’s not any sort of grunting or gurgling in the back of her throat like the old noises, but is more of a repetitive singing sound on the same note.

At this beach resort last week, Lexi had a couple of other firsts. She saw her first ocean – the Indian Ocean. We dipped her toes in the surf and had her feel sand on her feet. And she went swimming in the hotel’s pool. She sometimes enjoys taking a bath, and she felt the same way largely about being in a pool.

Just four months old, but growing up so fast!

New home, new doctor

We took Lexi to her new pediatrician this afternoon for her four-month checkup or "review," as they call it here. The office is clear on the other side of the city, in the area of the U.N. compound and the U.S. embassy (I went back to get my passport renewed while we were over there). We drove past many ambassadors' residences to get there.

Lexi had to continue with her immunizations, so she got two - one in each leg. She cried for a few seconds after each, but then was very brave and calmed down (better than her daddy is with such things).

It had been a while since her measurements were taken, and we were eager to see how much she has grown. She is:

62.5 cm long (24.61 inches) tall
6 kg (13.23 lb) heavy

Lora (my sister) noted from a recent photo that she is starting to put on some baby fat.

Sarah and I had a long list of questions to ask the doctor. He noticed a plugged tear duct in one eye that causes it to water and for junk to accumulate throughout the day. It's not an infection, he said, so there's nothing to really worry about. Also, since early after her birth, we've been giving Lexi vitamin D drops that her other pediatrician prescribed. We asked if we still needed to do that. The doctor said that is done in some countries that don't get a lot of sunlight (I didn't think Switzerland was that deficient in that area), but in Kenya, living on the equator, he said, we get plenty of sunlight all year round, so there isn't so much of a need for supplemental vitamin D, but giving it to her won't hurt - it builds strong bones, he said. The doctor asked us several questions about her development - her hearing and grabbing at things.

Lexi also passed a threshhold today. We had lain her on her tummy on our bed, and she pushed herself up high enough with her arms that she rolled onto her back!

So, with a health checkup and new abilities to move, we have a healthy, growing baby!

Becoming more of a delight

In addition to what Sarah wrote about in her last posting, I wanted to add some of my own updates about how Lexi is developing:

Like Sarah said, she seems to mind less - and even enjoys - riding in the car now. Every time I put her in the car in her car seat, when I lift her up into the car, she looks up at me and smiles. I don't know what this smile is saying to me, but it's funny and heart-warming at the same time. Sometimes I think she is saying, "Oh, hi! When did you get here?" like she's seeing me for the first time that day, even though I was the one who put her in the carseat. Or maybe she's saying, "Thanks for putting me in the seat and lifting me way up here. You know, as a baby I can't do that myself. I appreciate it." Mostly, however, I just think that she's saying (for some strange reason at that moment every time), "Hey, Daddy, I love you."

Since we arrived in Nairobi, I have noticed that Lexi is getting more control of her hands. She notices more when you hold something in front of her and responds most of the time by reaching for it. She can hold on to things most of the time but isn't a really strong gripper, Sarah notices. She's still not grabbing at anything and everything yet like a really curious baby, though. She also notices sometimes if things make noise, like the crinkling of the bag for my sandwich buns. She's slowly becoming curious about things like this that make noise and is figuring out how to make noise with them. She is definitely figuring out that she can hold something and move it with her own hands. It's fun to watch her discover these things and find things for her that will entertain her.

A Birthday

Alexandria is 4 months old today! Where does time go?? We have our first appointment with her new pediatrician tomorrow. He was recommended to us by the person I replaced. I am interested in seeing how much she weighs now. She is really feeling heavy. We also have a list of questions to pose to him including: when does she start on solids and why has her poop been green lately??? We also want to know if we should continue with the vitamin D drops that were prescribed to us in Geneva.

Her latest ‘trick’ is that she seems to be laughing! You can be playing with her and she lets out what really sounds like a chuckle to us. Maybe its just another form of cooing, but we think she must be laughing!

We think she really enjoys riding in the car here because the roads are very bumpy. She hasn’t been fussy at all once we get going; while we were in the U.S., she protested riding in the car several times.

Growing

Alexandria is certainly getting bigger - we notice she is getting quite heavy to carry around and her hair is longer. We also seem to always have to cut her finger nails...someday she will appreciate these long nails! She had outgrown a lot of her things in October so we are in the 3-6 month outfits, but it doesn't feel like she will be in them long.

She is grabbing at things like she knows that she wants to touch them. And she smiles at everybody. That makes her a big hit.

She wasn't wanting to drink from the bottle when Mom is away, but we are hoping we have that licked. Cross your fingers for us!