Crib Transition on Four Month Checkup

Ridley had her four month checkup yesterday, complete with shots/vaccinations. She did a lot better with her vaccinations this time around. Well, who am I kidding? What I mean is that I did much better with her vaccinations this time around!
She was enjoying herself the whole time, playing, smiling and playing with the doctor. And then when she was given the shots, I told her she was doing great; she was a strong girl! And she cried. But it was a short cry and she was over it pretty soon.
As for her stats: they're in and Ridley's lookin' good! She's 15.4 lbs, which puts her in the 90th percentile for weight. She's 25" long/tall (75%) and has a head circumference of 41.5" (75%). Basically, she's measuring like an "average" five month old. Healthy girl!
I talked to the doctor about her transition to the crib (which I've been attempting for about a week and a half now), and he made a few recommendations. I told him that I end up with Ridley in the bed with us instead of her crib for most of the night because she wakes up so often and I'm dead tired. The real problem is that neither one of us gets good sleep that way (neither does Phil for that matter).
After I told the doctor that Ridley wasn't taking the transition very well (she's had so many transitions to make recently!) and was waking up two or three times in the night, he asked me how long I waited to go to her when she started crying.
Wait?
No.
Ridley cries, I go. What was he talking about, "waiting?"
"I go to her!" I told him.
He told me I could give her an opportunity to soothe herself. "Wait ten minutes," he told me.
"Ten minutes?! But that's forever!"
He told me that it wouldn't hurt her or her psyche to go ten minutes. The attachment parent in me said that ten minutes was crazy. But I tried his suggestion last night...for five minutes.
She fell asleep early (without her night time routine) and so I put her to bed. I thought she may stay down for the night since she had her shots. They seem to really wear her out. But she was awake a half hour after falling asleep. She began crying. I waited five minutes. It was crazy hard! Thank God Phil was with me.
After five minutes I went to her (still crying hard) and picked her up out of the crib. She stopped crying immediately. She also was completely dry eyed.
Ah ha.
So I played with her for a little spell and then started our night time routine per usual. We read a book, said goodnight to the house by turning off all the lights, took a relaxing bath, and then got dressed and nursed. Except this time I took another suggestion from the doctor: I nursed Ridley until she was close to sleep, but not actually asleep. I put her in her crib awake and tired and told her goodnight.
I expected a crying fit since I normally nurse her to sleep. I was bracing for one. But she talked to herself for maybe five minutes and went right off to sleep! I attributed it to the shots and being extra worn out. I can't be sure. But she didn't wake up again until 4:45am (went to bed 10:45p) and I repeated the same routine. I changed her diaper, nursed her and put her to back to bed awake (but full). She surprised me by going off to sleep...without even a whimper.
Beginners luck? I hope not!

Here are a few pictures of Ridley after her well baby check up. I was trying to take her picture with her "report card." She wanted to hold it!

First try

Take two

Third time...isn't a charm, but that'll have to do!

Rolling Over

As I posted here, Ridley rolled over from tummy to back a while ago. Tonight, however, she rolled over multiple times in a row. She's also learning how to shimmy her way around on the floor while on her tummy. She moved 180 degrees on her blanket last night before she decided to roll over for the fourth time!
And she's very steady on her feet (as evidenced in the picture above). She can hold all her weight in her legs. It's just a matter of balance now!

Reading While Naked is the Best!

I caught Phil reading to Ridley before her bath. She seems to be enjoying her first Dr. Seuss book. Plenty more where that one came from!

Excercaucer Fun

Phil and I finally got Ridley an exercaucer. We don't keep her in it for long, but when we do, she seems to enjoy it. Here's video of the first time she experienced the bombardment of stimuli:

Making Cute Faces

Ridley and I have been busy making movies together. These were done while Philip was out of town last month.

There's No Place Like...Oz

It has been a year since Philip and I told our family that we were going to be adding to the family. We didn't know our little baby would be Ridley. We didn't know what adding a baby into our lives really meant. But we knew we were excited. We knew it would be interesting.
I could never have imagined Ridley up. My wildest, most hopeful imaginings of her are nothing compared to the real thing. She is so incredibly a combination of Phil and me and yet so uniquely herself all at the same time. Although I know she has many more years to show me who she will one day become, I can already see she is mostly uniquely herself. The very first thing I said when I laid eyes on her gorgeous face was, "She doesn't look like Phil or me. She looks like Ridley!" In those first few moments with her, her appearance was all I had to go on. I've certainly gained more to go on by now, almost four months later.
I've never experienced anything in my life more challenging than becoming a mother (such a cliche yet so so SO true). Having a baby took my life and everything I thought I knew and flipped it upside down. I felt like I'd walked into a tornado and found myself on the other side in an unknown location, trying to find my way, get my barrings. I was so grateful to other mothers who knew what I was going through and who offered support, guidance, perspective and/or just their company.
I may have found the early days of motherhood to be difficult, but being Ridley's mom is so incredibly rewarding. To know Ridley and to watch her personality shape and grow is to feel my world get bigger. To watch her eyes light up when she sees me, to hear her little voice growing, to smell her sweet scent and to feel her soft skin is to discover where the tornado dropped me off. I'm in Oz, but it's my new home. Judy Garland would agree: there's no place like it.

Pouting Picture

Another cute picture from Elena's iphone. I love getting updates via pictures! How cute is Ridley's pout here? We think she may be starting to teeth. She chews on her fingers ALL THE TIME and here she seems to be sucking her top lip like no tomorrow! I guess we'll talk to her doctor about it next week when we have our well baby checkup.