Watch Me Grow - Six Months

How are we half way to her FIRST birthday already?! Cue the tears - it's going by so fast!! This past month Lauren has grown so big, and is getting so strong. Last month she had JUST started rolling over constantly onto her tummy, and she is still pretty much doing that all of the time. She STILL hasn't really figured out how to roll back onto her back once she's there though. The few times that she manages to (or, rather, accidentally) do it she starts crying and I think gets really scared. During the day this is all fine but at night time. Ohhh at night time. This is a problem when she wakes up on her tummy and starts freaking out. She finally started rolling over on her tummy to sleep this month, though we have seen mixed results with it. Some days/nights she sleeps on her tummy all day and night long, with minimal problems. Some days it results in crying fits, 20 minute naps and multiple wake ups a night. I've said it from the beginning and it's still true - she loves to keep me on my toes.

Night sleeping has its good weeks and its bad weeks. A good week looks like sleeping from 6-6:30pm until 4-5am, a quick feed and then back down to sleep until 6:30am or so. A bad week looks like waking up at 1am, 3am, 4am, and then up for the day at 6am. Please send me all of the coffee those weeks. She has been swaddle free at night time for a few weeks now and still gets mixed results. Naps are a different story. Sometimes she is swaddled sometimes she is not. I wish I could say that swaddling = long nap and/or no swaddle = short nap but it's never really the same result. The good thing is that - most times - she wakes up happy as a clam whether she has had 25 minutes rest or 2 hrs.

Lauren has also started doing raspberries with her tongue, although they are a bit weak :) She is still the happiest, smiliest baby but no one can make her laugh like her big sister. Kaitlin loves to play with her and is so good at distracting her or trying to get her to stop crying. Any time Kaitlin pays attention to Lauren she just lights right up and starts smiling and laughing like crazy. I would be lying if I said it didn't melt me into a big puddle every time. 

Watch Me Grow - Five Months

Only a week late this time...that's totally acceptable, right?! Ladies and gentlemen - we have a roller! Within a week of turning four months old Lauren started rolling over tummy to back. A few days later she learned how to roll from back to tummy. I couldn't believe it! Just a week or two before and she didn't even show any interest in rolling over and then all of a sudden here she was! I will say, the rolling was very inconsistent for a while. Some days she would roll a few times, some days not at all. She kept this up for the whole month and then right on her five month birthday she started rolling over really consistently. Pretty much any time you lay her on the ground now she immediately rolls over onto her tummy. Unfortunately, once she is there it seems that she has forgotten how to roll onto her back so she usually ends up crying and getting mad. She also has yet to roll over on the bed and/or in her crib. I'm sure that won't last long though!

She is getting bigger and stronger, but she hasn't made much progress on sitting up yet. She could probably use a bit more time in the jumperoo and bumbo....slacker mom over here! As you can tell, this time around I'm not in any rush for her to reach these milestones :)

We have had a lot of success getting her digestive system back on track over the past month. She remained pretty much symptom free all month. I had cut all dairy and all soy products out. I am just now starting to incorporate soybean oil and soy lecithin back into my diet, as most people who have an intolerance to soy can actually handle them (something to do with the way the soy protein is broken down?? I don't really understand, but OK!) This is pretty exciting for me - for now, I am waiting with baited breath - as a ton of processed foods contain one of these two things or both. Everything from regular sandwich bread to enchilada sauce to granola bars. It has definitely been eye opening to read ingredients lists for nearly everything that I buy. It has easily doubled my shopping time and you wouldn't believe some of the things listed in the every day foods you buy.

Laurens naps and night sleeping are still all over the place. Lately she has been on a streak of terrible sleeping for two nights (like, up every 1.5 hrs) and then having an awesome nights sleep. Two more terrible nights then one awesome night. It's as if she knows juuuuuust how far to push me before I am totally loosing my mind from sleep deprivation and then she gives me a break. This one. She is going to be the one we have to look out for ;) I have managed to get her feedings down to one time during the middle of the night, so at least that is an improvement! We are starting some minor sleep training (more like...adjusting her sleep habits) to see if that helps at all with the night wakings.

Once she hit four months old the drool started and it hasn't stopped! Drooly McGee over here now needs a bib constantly and is always chewing on her hands, feet and/or toys of all shapes and sizes. Her little squeaks of laughter are now turning into full on giggles and that bright, cheerful smile hardly ever leaves her face. She is just so dang happy and it makes me so happy. She brings a smile to all of our faces and it is impossible not to give her a million and one kisses every day.

Watch Me Grow - Four Months

Eeekkkkk - and we're halfway to five months before I had a chance to write and post this.

Lauren's fourth month certainly was an interesting one! I decided that we needed to cut the cord on using the swing for her naps. As much as I LOVED having her nap for a really long time, multiple times a day, I needed her to start sleeping in her crib in her room for naps. She was starting to become more and more awake and aware of things and the magic of the swing was starting to wear off. We were able to successfully wean me her off of it within about a week. Naps in her crib have been all over the map - sometimes they are 30 minutes, sometimes they are 2 hours. I'm trying to relax about the 30 minute naps and accept them as the new normal, and then whenever they go longer I do a little happy dance. 

Speaking of sleeping being all over the map, her night sleeping as been the same. We have gone from waking up every 2-3 hours all night long, to sleeping 8+ hour clips at a time. Often within the same week. It's a bit maddening, more than the naps for sure, but I'm trying to remain positive (this too shall pass - or so they tell me!) She is now at the age when we can sleep train her, although this time around it is a bit harder since we have a toddler that sleeps right next door and LOVES and excuse to wake up and not go back to sleep. Instead of letting her cry it out, just yet, I am trying to wean her off of the night feedings one by one. Usually a quick belly pat and a pacifier will buy me another hour of sleep before she is begging to eat. Sometimes that also backfires on me but I'm giving it a try. 

In addition to all of this, we discovered that Lauren has a bit of tummy trouble that we have been trying to correct over the past month. For some reason the 4950824309584 servings of dairy that I was consuming every.single.day did a number on her sensitive tummy. Over Labor Day weekend we discovered some blood in her stool. After a consult with her Pediatrician and looking at some events surrounding the blood in her stool (green poo! spitting up a lot more than normal!) we decided that she has a dairy/soy intolerance. Now, we cant actually check for this, the only thing we can do is eliminate the dairy and soy from my diet and see if her stools and spit up improve. She may not even be intolerant to soy but it is easier to cut both of them out at the same time since so many babies are intolerant to both. It has been challenging for me, as I mentioned I was consuming copious amounts of dairy all day every day, but I am starting to find a groove with substitutes and new recipes. I was beginning to get really discouraged as it seems like her symptoms were getting worse instead of better but, low and behold, the day before her four month check up her stools returned to a normal color. Hopefully we have turned a corner and she gets better and better from here on out. If they go back or get worse our next step is to see a GI specialist.

Apart from all of the up and down sleep, green poo for days and many trips to the doctor, Lauren has remained one of the happiest and laid back babies ever. She has the biggest, most contagious smile ever. She is starting to squeak out little laughs here and there and they melt my heart. She LOVES, loves her big sister (even though Kaitlin nearly steps on/falls over/dances on top of her 94538905284 times  a day). She is talking up a storm and loves to have little conversations with you. She only really cries when she is hungry or overtired. She loves baths and doesn't even mind getting her clothes or diaper changed. She pulls herself up to standing when she holds onto your hands, loves to sit up with someones help, thinks the bumbo is hilarious and even started to twist around and pretend like she wants to learn how to roll over right on her four month birthday (she totally has no interest in actually rolling over. Homegirl is so happy just to lay there and stare at the ceiling fan).

Little Lauren, you are such a blessing. I can't wait to see what next month brings!

Watch Me Grow - Three Months

A little late on this one but here we are - three months old! Officially out of the "newborn" stage, I can't believe it! Our little chubs is doing great, she is so sweet and adorable. This past month she started smiling and has developed such strong neck and stomach muscles. We have been working on pulling her up to sitting (which she loves!) and over the past couple of weeks she has been wanting to "stand" up on her legs. She's kicking around like crazy and lifting her legs in some very impressive reverse crunches.

This month she also started smiling, cooing and "talking" like crazy. She LOVES when you sit down and talk right to her - her face lights up and she starting making all sorts of noises. Recently she figured out how to say "mmmm" with her lips pursed and she is obsessed. Also currently obsessing over her hands - holding them out in front of her, inspecting them close to her face, clasping them together and (her favorite) shoving them in her mouth. Lauren especially loves it when her big sister plays or reads to her, and Kaitlin has been snuggling up to her and wanting to spend lots of time with her. 

She is still waking up 2-3 times a night, but it really just depends on the day. Sometimes she sleeps for 8-9 hours, sometimes she only sleeps for 5 hours at a time. She likes to keep me on my toes ;) We had to make a stop at the doctors office this past month and she is weighing in just around 13lbs! She has another well check up at four months so we will get the full measurements then. Lauren is such a good little baby. She really only cries when she is hungry or over tired. She has such a sweet disposition. It makes all the night wakings well worth it :)