The girls both slept and napped very well down there which was great. Casey is like a fish in the pool. All she wants to do is go under over and over again.
She just dives off the steps and lays face down. We're trying to teach her to get herself to the edge of the pool by kicking and reaching for the side. It is a mixed blessing that she is so comfortable in the pool. It makes it a lot of fun but you cannot turn your head on her for one second. We had her going under to get pool toys at the bottom of the steps, jumping off the side, doing a cannon ball when we throw her and lots of fun stuff. Check out the little video clip below here...
She is starting to exhibit a sense of humor and likes to play this game with James where she says two certain words incorrectly so that he will correct her. Out of the blue she'll say to him "sleep SLACK" and he'll teasingly say back, "no, no, no sleep SACK" (a sleep sack for those w/o kids is like a wearable blanket they sleep in). After going back and forth on that word for a minute she'll say "back wheels" and he'll correct her with "backwards". She does it intentionally to get a rise out of James and she thinks it is hilarious. The third of her two-year molars has just popped thru her gum so we are almost in the clear in terms of teething for Casey. Her last one will probably come in near when Julia's first does. While we were in Florida Casey had her first bite of ice cream. She licked her lips, and softly said 'that's good'. It was so cute.
Julia had her 4 month check up (which was really at 4 1/2 months of age) a few weeks ago and weighed only 11 pounds 3 ounces which is just the 4th percentile for weight. She's around the 50th percentile for height. Just like with Casey the doctor was not concerned about her weight, it just seems that we grow 'em long and lean. We have been doing some sleep training on Julia to try and make some improvements in her sleeping habits. About three weeks ago we just lay her down in her crib at 7 pm and let her cry. She is usually pretty good about going to bed at 7pm b/c she is pretty tired by then. The first night she cried for a total of 3 hours in the middle of the night. The second night it was only 50 minutes and continues to get better. I only go in now to feed her if it has been 4 hours since her last feeding. So as of now nights go like this, asleep at 7pm, feed usually around 11 pm and 3 am and then up at 7am. Most nights she goes right back to sleep and there is little or no crying in between feeds. Right now she is sick with a cough and very congested so it has not been great. I've stopped helping get her to sleep for her naps too and just let her lay in her crib and figure it out. Usually she cries for a maximum of 15 minutes or so before getting to sleep. Despite the improvements in her sleeping habits she is still a very difficult and high maintenance baby. She really cries a lot still and requires so much of my attention. She pretty much wants to be held all the time. We are starting her on solid food again today. We had tried it earlier when the doctor advised it for her reflux but only did that for a few days. Today we are starting up for real with some thicker rice cereal and we'll try some veggies tonight. Today she was leaning in for the cereal and seemed anxious for the next bite.
Julia still is not rolling over. She has done it a few times from her belly to her back but not the other way. She loves grabbing her toes now and if I recall from Casey that might mean she'll use her legs to swing into a roll over before too long. She has also started drooling a lot and putting her fingers in her mouth so I think she is starting to teethe. Julia also discovered her thumb and is officially a thumb sucker. I was not thrilled b/c it will be a habit I have to break later on, but with this kid I will take any help I can get, and she can find her thumb in the middle of the night without me having to go in and give her the paci.