With each of my kids, there has been something so special about that four-month mark. I think they really turn a corner at this age and just become such interesting, unique little people with personalities and opinions. They can communicate a little bit, they are so interactive and playful, and they learn new skills every day. You can literally see this light in their eyes that wasn’t there before; they’re starting to understand the world and their place in it. This is when the fun begins!
Watching any baby grow is miraculous. Watching THIS baby grow? It’s beyond words.
Our little Pria is doing so many fun things these days. Laughing and babbling, grabbing at toys (and my hair – OUCH!) with her little hands, starting to roll from back to side and allllmost to her tummy. She loves watching her brothers play; Luca can make her laugh without even doing anything. He was eating ice cream the other day, and she thought that was the funniest thing in the world. I LOVE hearing her laugh at the boys, and I love when they ask to hold her. Sibling relationships are so special, and I am so hopeful that they will be good friends.
She has again met every developmental milestone for her age! I always feel like I have to qualify this with “I know anything could happen further down the road and there are no guarantees, yadda yadda.” I do know that. But it is such a blessing each time I’m able to say that she’s right on track for her age. It’s just incredible that she’s had such a great start.
Pria is very much her own person, but she does remind me of both of the boys at this age, too. Her physical characteristics are similar to Luca’s in that he was also small and could always fit in the clothes that corresponded to his age. (Meaning that when he was 3 months, he fit in 3 month clothing. When Sawyer was 3 months, he was wearing 9 month clothes!) Pria is the same in that regard, and there are other similarities to Luca, but her mannerisms remind me of baby Sawyer quite a bit. After every sneeze, she says, “ahh,” and he did that too; she also kicks her right foot when she’s tired, and he did the same. It’s totally fascinating to have three kids and watch their similarities and differences unfold.
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Okay, so. Another medical update:
I wrote about this here, but Pria’s head shape has been a little strange since birth; it’s just kind of long and narrow. Here’s the parade of expert opinions I’ve gotten:
Pediatrician: She has torticollis and plagiocephaly. She needs physical therapy and a helmet.
Plastic surgeon: She definitely has torticollis, but not plagiocephaly. Maybe she has craniosynostosis. Let’s do some x-rays. (She doesn’t.) She doesn’t need a helmet; the shape of her head is what we’d like to see a baby get to after helmet therapy.
Physical therapist: She does not have torticollis or plagiocephaly. She does have a tight shoulder because she also has reflux and whenever she spits up, she’s pulling her shoulder up instinctively, which is making it tight. But her head shape looks fine.
Chiropractor: She doesn’t have torticollis. She does have that tight shoulder the physical therapist mentioned. And she may have mild plagiocephaly. But look at alllllll these other things she has wrong. She’s severely tight on her right side from head to toe. Two of her ribs are out of place. Her hips are asymmetrical. And her head shape is bizarre. Let’s fix it!
Craniosacral Fascial Therapist: I don’t know about torticollis or plagiocephaly, but have you noticed how small her feet are?? She has newborn-sized feet in a regular-sized body. And her ankles are very weak.
Back to the Chiropractor: Her feet are a totally normal size. They’re small, but so is she; they fit the size of her body. And it’s too early to judge whether her ankles are weak. Now let’s keep working on all her other issues.
Back to the Physical Therapist: There’s nothing abnormal about her feet, and her ankles are strong for her age! Look how she bears weight when you hold her in standing. Look how she pushes herself completely over the Boppy pillow in tummy time. She’s remarkable!
E X H A U S T I N G.
It is absolutely exhausting that every expert has a different opinion. And not just different; sometimes completely contradictory. Who to believe? What advice to follow? How to best help my daughter? I’m so tired.
Anyway! Re: the head shape, I’m trusting our chiropractor the most since she’s spent the most time with Pria, and even though I made her sound a little harsh up there, she’s actually really great. She’s fastidious and super knowledgeable, and she’s confident that she can resolve all the issues she has found.
Honestly, I didn’t even expect that she could help with the head shape; I just took Pria there for her shoulder tightness, but I was pleased to hear that chiropractic care at this age can also address her narrow skull. Everything is still really malleable up there, and I’ve seen some progress already.
[Interesting note: We think the cause of her atypical head is just that she was in an awkward position in the womb due to her short umbilical cord, and then she was born VERY quickly (seriously, I pushed for maybe five minutes), so the shaping that normally happens during a birth just didn’t have time to happen. Also interesting: one of the soft markers on her ultrasounds was a very large nuchal fold, which is strongly associated with chromosomal abnormalities, so we were very worried about that. After she was born, the pediatrician commented that her atypical head shape (again, probably caused by her short cord and awkward position) made her nuchal fold appear larger than it actually was.]
Anyway, at this point, what I’m doing is a lot of stre-e-e-e-etching her neck and shoulders. Turning her head so she lies on the correct side and the flat spot gets resolved. Turning her head back when she flips to the wrong side. (Repeat this 95 times a day.) Trying to loosen up her hips. Making her do a whole lot of tummy time and trying to get her to lift her head to strengthen her neck muscles. Holding her all day in ways that stretch her tight shoulder. Thanking my lucky stars that the boys have each other to play with while I basically ignore them. Unsuccessfully tamping down my mom guilt. Drinking a lot of coffee.
In addition to all the head/neck/shoulder stuff, she’s just an all-around high maintenance miss!
From the very beginning, she had jaundice that just. wouldn’t. quit. Both the boys also had jaundice, but hers took weeks longer to resolve than theirs. The hospital was absolutely losing their minds over this; the pediatrician was mildly concerned; the maternal-fetal specialist said, “Eh, just keep her in the sun, she’ll be fine.” Experts disagreeing? Cool, cool.
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She’s also been my biggest spitter-upper right from the start. I didn’t think anyone could rival baby Sawyer, who also spit up like crazy, but Pria surpassed him early on. She’s improved a lot with time and chiropractic care, but I’ve also had to eliminate several things from my diet. I think it might help even more if I ditched caffeine completely, but I just can’t do it with three kids 5 and under. Don’t ask me to.
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Pria has THE most sensitive little tush I’ve ever known. The first couple months of her life, I COULD NOT get a handle on her diaper rash. I tried so many different diapers, wipes, and creams, including all my tried-and-trues that took care of the boys so well. Pria reacted badly to almost everything, even the most natural brands: Weleda, Earth Mama, Seventh Generation, Bambo Nature, etc. Finally, I found the magic combination: Up&Up diapers, Water Wipes, and this Grovia Magic Stick.
AND THEN, on the day I decided I’d better order another Magic Stick since it was the only thing that worked, it happened to be sold out on every single retailer’s site. Every single one! I was pretty panicked since it was the only thing that had worked for her, so when it miraculously came back in stock a couple weeks later, I jumped at the opportunity and ordered five more, just in case.
Ben, later that day, looking at our bank account: “Did you spend” (squints) “….$70 on diaper stuff?”
Me: “Yes.”
Ben: “Did you mean to?”
Yup, sure did.
I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to use cloth diapers again one day, but at this point, we need the moisture-wicking property of disposables to protect her little bum from constant, horrible rashes. It would sure be cool not to throw 15 diapers a day into a landfill, though.
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So overall, again, every issue we’re dealing with at this point is small. So small. She’s a really happy little gal and so much fun to have in our family. I’m so thankful every day that she is here and thriving and killing it in the milestone department.
The last Very Important Update is that we’re workshopping Pria’s official nickname. Contenders:
- Pria Pancakes (Sawyer’s favorite and I LOVE IT)
- Pria Tortilla (the rhyming factor is so good)
- Preezy (Luca calls her this most of the time)
- Pree-pree (Dangerously close to pee-pee, but it does roll off the tongue surprisingly well)
Please cast your votes.
Also she was a ladybug for Halloween. That is all.
xo!
Playful Rooted 
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