Hannah Dean is 4 months old!

We can’t believe you’re already 4 months old! These last few months have been quite the adventure. Your big sister spoiled us when she was a baby and you clearly decided we needed to work for it this time. Your tummy problems seem to be getting much better. You are allergic to milk and need special formula but you no longer get so sick and you stopped your reflux medicine about a month ago. Within the last 2 weeks you have rolled from your tummy to your back and had your first bottom tooth break through. Mommy and Daddy were not ready for either! You’ve slept through the night a few times over the past month but with all these exciting things happening it’s no wonder you want to be awake all the time. You still like to snuggle and you are now a pro at finding your thumb to help soothe you when you’re upset or tired. It’s only the thumb on your left hand though – not sure why that is. You just recently started sucking your thumb while cuddling with a blanket. You are a much happier baby than you were a couple of months ago. You are alert, talkative, playful and happy! It seems as though you now have a double name. We named you with the idea that Hannah was your first name and Dean was your middle name. It appears that Hannah Dean just comes naturally to a lot of people. There are some that just call you Hannah but 90% of friends and family refer to you with both names. I guess we will see how that plays out as you get older. Maddy has been gone to Texas for the past 3 weeks and we have enjoyed having this special time to bond with you. I know your sister has missed you though so we can’t wait to have both girls together again! We are so grateful that you are a happy and healthy little girl and we can’t wait to watch you grow!

6/27/2011 – Update from 4 month check up

Weight – 13 lbs, 15 oz (50-75%)
Height – 24 ¾ inches (75%)
Head circ. – 16 inches (50%)

The pediatrician said Hannah is right on track both developmentally and physically. She actually said that Hannah is displaying some advanced verbal skills – so funny how your reaction to statements like these change with the second child. With Maddy that was so exciting! With Hannah we secretly hoped she would be the quite one. Her tummy is not quite ready for rice cereal yet so we will hold off for another month or so and then give it a try. As you can see, her weight has leveled off a little bit. Now that we have her stomach problems under control, we no longer feel the need to feed her every time she cries. The result is a weight in the 50th percentile vs. a weight in the 90th percentile like when she was 2 months old! She received shots but seemed to handle them well. A little sleepy but not fussy. Next appt will be in August for her 6 month check up.

The latest happenings...

Yes, it's true. I've been neglecting the blog. A lot has been happening since my last entry so let me try to update you using the short version with a promise to do better :)

Maddy:
- Successfully completed her spring semester of dance and music class at school. She is registered for a great summer camp at her school and his having a really tough time deciding on her summer activity...dance, music, soccer or tae kwon do. Decisions, Decisions. I tried to explain to her that we just can't spend the money to do all of them so we will let this be her first big lesson in making a tough decision :)
- Tomorrow morning bright and early Maddy is getting on the plane with Mommy and Hannah to head to Texas for her 2nd annual summer vacation! 3 weeks in the Texas sun. She will return to Charlotte the first weekend in July. Maddy's excited, Mommy's excited and Daddy is a mess!
- Maddy continues to be a bright and witty ray of sunshine in my life. Her personality is really starting to show itself with her singing, dancing and WILD imagination. And luckily, she continues to be an amazing big sister with nothing but love and sweetness for little Hannah.

Hannah:
- Beginning to turn a corner. We had 2 really good weeks toward the end of May. She began sleeping through the night and seemed to be easing up on the fussiness. She's definitely a different baby than she was a month ago. We are back to waking up once in the middle of the night but she literally eats and goes back to sleep so I'm not going to complain.
- Personality is starting to shine! She's happy in the morning, prefers little cat naps throughout the day and like most of the Hennig's/Woodson's/Hecht's I know....she gets rather cranky if a meal is late. :)
- Definitely a thumb sucker! It seems to comfort her through the majority of the day and it appears as though we may be starting the teething process because her whole hand is being used frequently as a chew toy.
- 2 prescriptions and a pediatrician visit later we may finally have an EXTREME diaper rash that is on the mend. Her special formula for her allergy causes some unfortunate tummy side affects so we have been dealing with that now for about 10 days. Looks to be on the mend so we are grateful. 13 lbs. 8 ounces was the weight at the dr visit on Monday.

Matt and Holly:
- Both busy with work (I went back on May 9th)
- Starting to get into the groove of our new "two kid" routine. It's taken us a couple of months but we seem to hitting our stride.
- We will miss Maddy over the next few weeks but looking forward to some of conveniences of only having to drag one child all over the place :) Matt doesn't know it yet but I have lots of projects in mind for the month of June!

All in all, everything is going really well. Busy, hectic, exhausting and wouldn't change it for the world!