Ruth is doing great. She's 15.4lbs and 25.5 inches long. Shes in the 80th percentile for weight and the 87th percentile for height. And her head is 42cm, the 75th percentile.
Ruth is wearing anything from a size 3-6 month to a size 12month, depending on the outfit. 6-9months seems to be the best fit. Though some smaller and larger onsies fit, too. And she's yet to fit a size 1 shoe - though she's close. She's just recently moved up to wearing size 2 diapers.
Ruth still has dark gray eyes, that are slowly turning brown. And still has no teeth (I'm not complaining!!). She's still a great sleeper - sleeping 11-12 hours a night, straight through!! What a blessing!!! She takes 2-3 20 minute naps throughout the day and one 2-4 hour nap in the afternoon - I try hard to make sure that overlaps with big brother & big sister's nap, too. So far, so good :)
Ruth takes 6-7 bottles a day. She eats every two hours when she's awake. The doctor thought this was abnormal... he warned me that she should only be eating every 3-4 hours at this age. Then he learned her sleeping habits... 12 hours at night, 2-4 in the afternoon.... no wonder she eats so often!! hehe Then he assured me there's no reason to mess with her schedule - it's working for her, and sleep's working for me ;-)
Ruth usually eats 6 oz at a feeding. Although sometimes she wants up to 10 first thing in the morning (or nurses and still wants a bottle). And sometimes in the evening, all she wants is 2-4oz. But, on average, she takes about 38oz a day. 50% formula, 50% breastmilk - I'm still thanking God that, even though I don't make enough to fit all her needs, I can make half! That's awesome since I didn't make that much for Nathan or Faith. Our budget is happy, too - less pricey formula ;-)
Ruth is a spit-upper. She goes through 6-8 bibs a day. I don't remember the other kids spitting up this much. She doesn't spit up a lot at a time, just little bits here and there, all day long. It doesn't matter what she's eaten, or what I've eaten. And it happens most often right BEFORE she gets hungry - as though she's making room for food. Ironic. Part of me expects that maybe a tooth may show up soon?? Both Nathan & Faith drooled a LOT when they were teething, too.
And Ruth has had the unfortunate privilege of battling thrush.... twice. A week ago, Tuesday, I spotted the white on the inside of her cheeks. And it finally made sense why I was hurting some, too. We skipped the doctor's all together... cause it's a pain to drag everyone there, and I knew he'd just write me a prescription for nystatin.... no thanks. Nystatin didn't work for the 5 weeks Faith was on it when she was little. And I've yet to meet a mom who said it did work for them. So we went straight for gentian violet. Faith was on it for 10 days and cleared up great. I figured since Ruth had a very mild case, 5 days should be good enough - a few days more than it took for the thrush to seemingly disappear. We stopped meds on Saturday. And guess what showed it's ugly head Wednesday morning?? Ug.
Since Ruth had her 4 month check up the same day thrush returned, I waited to see what the doc would say. And he told me he wanted to put her on nystatin.... NO!!! I tried to explain my hatred for that medicine. And he assured me that it would work, eventually. I explained it was the "eventually" part that is most frustrating.... so he gave Ruth a prescription for diflucan. The same stuff I take, just in a safe dosage for babies. So maybe this time it'll get knocked out. Worst case scenario, we go back to turning purple again... but we'd do it for 10 days instead of 5. First, I'll give diflucan a chance though :)
Other than thrush, Ruth is in perfect health. She still has the slight birthmark under her nose... it seems to be fading, but it also could be that I just notice it less. And she still has the sweetest gummy smile you'll ever see :)
She refuses to take a pacifier. Which, in a way, is nice. We don't have to keep track of the pacis, and one less thing to wash and buy replacements of. Instead, Ruth prefers her fingers. She'll suck on 2-4 at a time. She's learned to pacify herself that way. I worry about how hard it will be to break her of the habit... but we'll cross that bridge another time.
Ruth does love to talk. Neither Jacob or I remember either of our other kids being this verbal so early. She makes a number of sounds - including one that sounds JUST like "Mmmmommm-ma". I've tried to video tape it, but as soon as the camera is in her face, she stops. Of couse. Mmmmmomm-ma usually comes when she's hungry - just before she starts into a cry. Think that's close enough to count as her first word?? :)
Ruth is rolling front to back and back to front. She's starting to grab at things near her, though still not too interested in doing more than watching toys. She still loves to watch people, or anything that has a face (stuffed animals, toys, etc). Her favorite people, though, are her big brother and sister! She's mesmerized by them. And her Daddy... she loves him too. It's sweet to watch her recognize her Daddy's voice and light up when she hears him. I notice this particularly at the dinner table - we'll set Ruth in the bumbo seat on top of the table. Everyone will get quiet, hold hands, and get ready to pray. And then Jacob starts to pray. Ruth stops staring at her toes, looks up at her Daddy and smiles from ear to ear. She loves her Daddy!
Ruth is no where near ready to crawl. And she doesn't yet stand well when I hold her up by her arms. And she's still not ready to sit up on her own. But none of those things are skills an average 4 month old has, either. Ruth does sometimes push herself across the floor with her legs. And she's starting to enjoy the exersaucer. Sometime this month I'll get the johnny jumper out, too. She'll like that soon.
That's all the fun stuff about our four month old, Ruth! She's a joy to our lives and definitely a blessing straight from God. How did we ever deserve such a sweet, wonderful little girl? We thank God for her, that's for sure!
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