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 - Thirty Two Weeks

Merry (belated) Christmas! We are finally back home in Houston after spending the holidays with family in New York. It was super fun, super busy and super crazy but we had a great time. Kaitlin LOVED visiting with all of her family and is now used to getting tons of attention. She has a rude awakening coming this week when it's just me and her at home :) We all had a blast celebrating her first Christmas with her - even though she had no idea what was going on it was still really special for us. It was also pretty cool for Brian and I since this was our first Christmas back at home with our families since 2007! It was long overdue.

Kaitlin has grown SO much over the last few weeks. Maybe she put on a few holiday pounds like the rest of us - probably because of all those Christmas cookies she ate (oh wait - that was me). Literally over night she felt like she gained a pound or two, which for her size is a lot. We weighed her today and she is about 16 1/4lb. I can barely hold her for longer than fifteen minutes or so now because she is so heavy! I'm going to get some major guns from holding her - bring on the biceps! She is comfortably fitting into all of her 6 month size clothes and all of her 3 month clothes are now put away (*sob*).

I think the biggest developments that she's had over the last couple of weeks in her insatiable urge to crawl/walk/stand. She is standing up like a champ. She is now pulling herself up to standing, usually on our fingers but she has also done it on an upside down laundry baskets and toys. If she isn't standing she is trying to stand at all times. She must be burning a ton of calories because she has been eating a ton of formula and a lot more solids than she ever has before. She has also been sleeping really well (hopefully I didn't just jinx anything). While standing you can watch her try and figure out how to grab a toy or lift one of her hands. She looks like she's concentrating really hard and then makes a weird grunting or yelling noise and then will lift her hand or grab the toy. It's almost like she's saying "Heeeerrrrreeee we go!!!!" A couple of times she even decided to let go of the laundry basket she was holding onto and stood all by herself! Granted, it was only for a couple of seconds but I could hardly believe what I was seeing. Her Grammy bought her this Stride-to-Ride toy and she is obsessed with it. We usually stand her up and let her hold onto the handle, and a couple of time she has actually pushed the toy forward and taken a couple steps!! This is happening WAY too fast for me. Her legs and ankles are still too weak to walk any time soon but as soon as they get stronger she is going to be off and running. Literally.

When she isn't trying to standup she is trying to crawl. She loves to bounce while sitting down and has learned that she can bounce and launch herself forward to reach toys that are slightly out of her reach. She has learned to push herself backwards a little bit and manages to get around by sitting up, launching herself forward, rolling and then repeating the sequence. She isn't covering too much ground yet but I know it's only a matter of time. The baby gates have been purchased and are going up as soon as possible! 

I can't believe we are at this stage already...it seems like just yesterday she was an immobile blob sitting in her boppy. 

Watch Me Grow - Twenty Nine Weeks

Super late, as usual. Such is life as a new mom I suppose. Speaking of which - how much longer am I allowed to use the excuse that I'm a "new" mom? So what my daughter is almost seven months old - wait, what?! I am most definitely, probably still going to use that excuse when she is 15.

I can't even get her to stay still for 5 seconds so I can take a photo. On Saturday she absolutely, positively did NOT want to lay on her back long enough for me to take a photo. Thanks a lot kid. And since I'm doing this post on my phone (wayyy too lazy to go all the way downstairs to get the computer) I couldn't even make a speech bubble for this one. Not that I would have any place to put it since her head is barely even in this picture. So this weeks photo kind of stinks.

Last week Kaitlin learned how to sit up from laying down. And since she figured that out it is ALL that she wants to do. But she only does it when she's in her crib. Which is infinitely more exciting than taking a nap, obviously. So, not a lot of day sleeping going on in this house. I thought I saw one of her top teeth pop through last week but it quickly disappeared. I thought I was going mad but now I have heard from a few people of these mysterious disappearing teeth, so maybe I'm not so wacky after all ;)

Watch Me Grow - Twenty Eight Weeks

This little munchkin is getting ready for Christmas - are you??

If you're a regular around here you know that Kaitlin has been scooting, rolling and turning in circles for a few weeks now. She really wants to be mobile and she is super close to getting there. One day last week while we were playing she managed to lift her whole torso off the ground. It looked like she did one big, girlie push-up and then collapsed in a heap on the floor (kind of like me after I do one girlie push-up, heh). Later that day, when I was going to get her from her nap, I found her on her hands and knees in her crib! She has only managed to do each of those things a few more times since then, but I can tell she's getting stronger and starting to figure out that this is a step in the right direction. She is also super close to being able to push herself up to sitting from laying on the ground. Maybe I'll get her some baby dumb bells to work out those biceps - because once they are strong enough there won't be any stopping her!

In the mean time she continues to roll around constantly. She can now sit up by herself for longer periods of time. I am not using the Boppy to support her that much anymore. She has learned that if she falls over that it doesn't really hurt, provided she's on the carpet and not on the hardwood floor. That doesn't stop her from looking slightly nervous and startled when she does tip over, but she is pretty quick to recover (especially if we make a lot of noise like it is a good thing).

And finally - we had a swimming break through! We had her fourth lesson on Saturday and, even after a two week hiatus, she didn't hate it! She only fussed a few times - which was easily remedied by giving her a pool toy - and only cried after Brian dunked her under water a couple of times (rightfully so). We were shocked at how far she had come and even the teacher was giving us silent thumbs up (so we didn't jinx it). She's well on her way to becoming a little fish!

The Sixth Month

*warning - this is a long one!*

I'm pretty sure I said this last month, but the sixth month has been one of the most exciting months yet. Not only has Kaitlin grown and developed so much over the last 30 days (31? I don't know) but it has also been a very busy month - we had family in town, she celebrated her first Halloween, started swimming lessons, got her first tooth and started solid food!

Over the last month she has become even more of a woman on the move. She is scooting and rolling and turning in circles like a champion. She is still lunging for everything in sight and wants to touch/grab/chew on anything and everything. This month she got her first TWO teeth (both bottom teeth have arrived) and we got to learn about the joys of teething. I think she lucked out pretty well with the teething thing. We had a few days of disrupted naps, definitely some irritated gums and an urgent need to chew/gum on anything wet and/or cold. But other than that she handled it pretty well, especially considering she had two teeth coming in at the same time.

In addition to moving around the floors like a wild woman, Kaitlin also learned how to sit up on her own. I still use the Boppy to help balance her but she is geting better and stronger at sitting on her own every day. She started off staying upright for a few seconds and can now sit for a few minutes on her own at a time. If she wasn't constantly trying to reach for something she could probably sit for a bit longer, but that would be too boring. I started putting her in her high chair at the beginning of the month to get her used to it because by the end of the month we were going to start solid food! We started off with some oatmeal baby cereal and it was a rousing success. She made a few funny faces and pushed the majority out of her mouth the first time around but overall she seems to really like it! Actually, what she seems to love is chewing on the spoon. But if it helps encourage eating and she gets excited about it then I am all for it!

We also had Kaitlin start swim lessons this month. Although they haven't been too successful - most of the time is spent with her crying and mom/dad trying to distract her - I think she will love being in the pool eventually. We got her a new bathtub that allows her to sit in the water and splash around. I'm hoping that helps get her used to being in deeper water. Of course her little ducky tub is a lot different from the giant community pool, but hopefully it will help a little.

Our little pumpkin loved Halloween. I hosted a Halloween party with all of her (my) friends and she had a grand old time. She didn't even seem to mind being in costume, she was too busy watching all the other babies and playing with her toys. We took her to a pumpkin patch (she was not impressed) which rounded out our fall activities and started to gear up for Thanksgiving. It was a super busy and very exciting month, and to say I learned a lot would be an understatement.

A few (more) things I have learned...

Look Up
Kaitlin has always been very inquisitive about the world around her. From the day she was born she was constantly looking around, taking it all in and trying to figure out everything that was going on around her. Now that she is a bit older and can filter out more of the "stuff" that is going on, she can hone in her concentration to things that really interest her. One of her favorite things to do lately is look up. She is always looking at the ceiling when I carry her around - although what, specifically, she is looking at I'm not sure. Whenever we go outside she always, always stares at the trees and their leaves. You will very rarely find her outside with her head down. Sometimes I think she must be getting a neck ache with all the looking up that she is doing but she perseveres. Often times she is staring at something so intently that it causes me to look up to see what she's looking at. I've seen some beautiful sights this way - birds on a wire, leaves rustling in the wind, beautiful fluffy clouds - and I am thankful that she has caused me to pause, look up and observe these everyday, yet special scenes, that I might otherwise miss.

It only gets more expensive
Everyone always says that having children is expensive. But, at first, I didn't really believe them. As Kaitlin gets older I am finally starting to understand. Now that she is on formula and starting solids her food budget has increased (not hard considering it used to be free). As diapers get bigger so does their price tag. Clothes are the same way. And toys...don't forget the toys. In the beginning there is very little that babies need and what they do need you will have probably received as a baby shower gift. But after the first few months the well dries up and this little, smiling, stinky bundle of joy starts to make a dent in your bank account. And it only gets more expensive as they get bigger. Soccer teams, rollerskating parties (umm, do kids still do that?), prom dresses - I can hear my bank account screaming as we speak. Now - finally - I understand why my parents were always on me about getting a college scholarship ;)

Babies are strong

Sure, they may look cute and innocent - but babies are freakin' strong! Kaitlins little legs kick with all their might and I am always surprised at how strong they are. I can't see a six pack but her abs must be made of steal. She is constantly trying to sit up when she's in a reclined position. I started pulling her up to sitting from laying down and now when she sees my thumbs she automatically grabs on and starts to pull herself up. I barely have to help her. And man, does she have a good grip. Your hair is only safe when securely tucked away in a tight ponytail, and even then it's not a guarantee. Your ears, eyes and nose aren't safe either. I'd guard your cheeks and chin too, just to be safe.

I will always think she is the best/brightest/smartest...

I think every mom/dad/parent/grandparent must think - at one time or another - that their child is gifted. Just think about all of the new things that baby learns in the first year of their life. When is the last time you have seen someone learn so much in such little time? Especially during the middle of their first year, they are mastering so many amazing tasks and learning new things every day. Personally, I don't really know much about when babies are supposed to learn what. I know rough timelines of when certain milestones are supposed to be achieved, but the time frame is usually so wide and varied that it isn't really much help. The phrase "every baby develops at their own speed" gets thrown around a lot and for good reason - it's true. I am continually amazed at what Kaitlin learns and accomplishes on a daily basis. I am almost always certain that she is ahead of the curve, mastering things many babies her age aren't learning yet. Sometimes I am right, sometimes I am wrong - but I don't really care. In my eyes she will always be the best, brightest, most talented, funniest, sweetest, intelligent baby/child/person I  have ever known. It's hard not to compare your baby to someone else's, just as it is difficult not to compare your pregnancy to someone else's. But in the end it doesn't really matter what Johnny, Jack and Jane are doing. What matters is what your baby is doing at that moment and how proud of them you are. Just rolled over for the first time? Shout it from the rooftops! Found her fingers/toes/fist for the first time? Blast the news out on facebook/twitter/newest-social-media-too-cool-for-me. I hope I never get over the excitement of my child(ren) learning and accomplishing new things - big and small.