Harper Joy turned 4 months old on Valentines Day! She is living up to her name and filling our lives with JOY!! It's hard to believe that this time last year we found out she was on her way, and today she's a giggling baby girl!! All of you just finding out that you're pregnant this month will have a cutie like this next year! :) It's time for a Harper update, so I can remember all this one day!
If you read our blog two years ago, you might remember that Tatem had Torticollis, which means that because of her position in utero, the neck muscles on one side were short and tight, and the other side were stretched out and weak. Her head tilted only to one side. Left untreated, it can cause severe facial asymmetry as it pulls the soft tissue to one side and of course it's pretty hard to go through life with a tilted head that can only turn one way! We did a YEAR of physical therapy with Tatem. Harper was in that same position in utero, but only for the very end of my pregnancy. At her two month check up with our new pediatrician, she confirmed what this mamma's heart already knew!
She was SO knowledgeable about Torticollis and all the things I could do to help. It turns out her little one had it too!! I nearly hugged her when she told me it would be crazy to drag 3 kids to PT each week, since I already knew the exercises and since Harper's was not as severe! Landrie took this one of me stretching Harper. :)
As long as I promised to do her stretches 6-8 times a day each day at home (like this one!), and Harper made good progress, we would not have to do formal PT. Well, at her appointment yesterday, after 2 months of stretching at home, the doctor said she looks fantastic!! Halleluiah! One other concern is that because Torticollis babies always turn their heads the same way, their skulls get lopsided and they need helmets, like Tatem did. We've done everything humanly possible to avoid that! Harper has slept on her tummy from day 1 and rarely sits in a swing or car seat, since those things put pressure on the one side of her head. She does LOTS of tummy time for her head shape and to strengthen her neck, and I wear her when we are out and about instead of having her in her car seat. I am SO thankful to hear it's working!! We will keep on doing what we are doing until she's nice and strong on both sides!
Harper likes a lot of the same things, like her big sisters! These girls can't get enough of Harper, and love to hold her and try to make her smile and laugh! They love to bring her toys and tell me what she's "saying." Like, Tatem says, "Harper say her want MILK, Mamma! Her does!" Landrie knows every possible thing that might make Harper cry, and helps me go through the list when she's crying. "Ummm...I think she needs to burp. Let me burp her for you...I think she has a stinky diaper. Can I do the snaps and undo it??"
Harper is DONE with her colicky days and is so easy to make smile! She is really laid back, and goes everywhere with us. I am much less scheduled with her! She ends up eating a little early or late a lot, since we have to work around the other girls. :)
She was 14 pounds and a few ounces at her check up, which is the 50th% for weight. She's in the 90th% for her height. Looks like we'll have 3 tall girls! She still breastfeeds about every 3 hours during the day and usually once in the night. She's slept all the way through a few times! Harper is starting to grow out of her 3-6 month clothes, which makes sense now that we know how tall she is!
If you are feeling a bit blue today, you must watch this one! It's a little clip of Harper's first baby belly laughs!!
