Your Baby Can Read!

I know Roselyn is only 4 1/2 months old, but she is learning how to read! In December we purchased for her the "Your Baby Can Read" system. It includes DVDs, books, and word cards. There are five levels to the program and you can begin it as young as 3 months. Roselyn began nearly a month ago and seems to be getting into it. The program is simple. The baby watches the DVD twice a day and you supplement with the books and flashcards. The DVD shows the word with an arrow pointing left to right. The word is spoken a couple times. Then an image of the word is shown along with someone using a sentence with the word. There are also songs on the DVD. The DVD is only about 20 minutes long. It seems to keep Roselyn pretty well entertained. The first couple of weeks she couldn't focus well, but she seems to be enjoying it now. We watch it with her and repeat the words as well. We also point out what it is describing if the word is a part of her body (like mouth, eyes, nose, etc). They say it takes until about 9 months to notice the babies acknowledge the words. I think Rob and I have the DVD memorized by now. We will keep you updated on how it goes. Hey, something is better than nothing, right?:)

Doctor, Doctor, Give me the News!

This is the week of going to the doctor. Roselyn went to her pediatrician Monday and Endocrinologist Wednesday. I went for my pap smear Tuesday. Even Mac is going to see the vet today! As for Roselyn- she is a trooper! Monday's appointment went great. She currently weighs 15lb 3oz and is 26 1/2 inches long! Yes, she is still in the 90-95th precentile for both. Her head circumference is in the 75th precentile. Overall, a good healthy size. Dr. Cheeks did the normal examinations (place her on her stomach, lift her by her arms, mover her legs, etc). She was impressed with how strong Roselyn was! Because of her good weight, Dr. Cheeks would like me to continue breastfeeding exclusively until 6 months. We will discuss starting solids at our next visit (March 12th). The hardest part of the appointment was the vaccinations. She definitely does not like shots (but who does?). It was doubly hard since she has a cold and a real stuffy nose). Most of the day she did fine, but she definitely had a low grade fever at night and fussed throughout the night. We got through it and she is just fine now!
Wednesday was a trip to see Dr. Van Meter. He did the same sort of exams Dr. Cheeks did (which makes me wonder- why am I paying to see him?). At least it confirms to me that Roselyn is healthy and doing great. I was surprised that he asked me how often do I forget to give Roselyn her synthroid. Do people actually forget to give medicine to their children often??? He gave her a new prescription for three months and gave me an order to have blood work done. Here is another question- the blood work is to check to see if her dose of synthroid needs to be changed- so why does he give me a three month prescription I have to pay for BEFORE the results come back? Anyway, we went to Newnan hospital for the blood work. That was not fun. Roselyn definitely did not like the needle in her arm and they could not get the blood. They tried both arms without success. She was screaming and crying and there was nothing I could do to console her. We eventually pricked her heel. She actually didn't mind that much. I am not sure why it was so hard for the ladies to get blood from her arm. I have seen people do that when she was a month old- but not at Newnan hospital (that might be the difference- Newnan hospital is not known for the best quality).
On a good note- my doctor's appointment was super easy. Most people now I HATE pap smears. I have even taken Valium in the past to keep calm. I guess having a baby makes the difference. It was super easy and no discomfort:)

Happy New Year!

It is officially 2009! No longer are we in the year of Roselyn's birth. New Years was very low key for Roselyn. We went to visit Grandpa Steve and Grandma Kim in Birmingham, Alabama. This was the first time Grandpa Steve had seen Roselyn since she was born and Grandma Kim had never seen her. We reserved a suite at the La Quinta Inn to give us plently of room to relax on New Years. Relax is exactly what we did. Roselyn went with us to Locos for lunch New Years Eve, but got to relax in the room the rest of the day. She received plenty of love from Grandma and Grandpa all day long! We returned to Newnan on New Years day. Rob and I suddenly came down with a sickness. We determined it was food poisoning from the pizza we had New Years Eve night. All four of us were sick, but luckily, Roselyn was spared (I was worried because I am breastfeeding). Mimi came down Friday, January 2nd to help us take care of Roselyn since neither Rob nor I were in a state to entertain her. She really enjoyed Mimi's attention. Now we are all better and look forward to a great 2009:)