11 Months

This month has really flown by, as the last few weeks I have been busy planning Auntie L's baby shower (we can't wait to meet E's cousin in a month!), and E's first birthday party! E is walking all over the place now, and is constantly on-the-go. Ahh, I remember the days before she could walk or crawl, and you could plunk her down in one spot, and there she would stay... *sigh*

Her personality is really starting to take shape. For the most part, E is an easy-going, laid back little one. But she is really showing an independent streak. She likes to do things on. her. own., and if you try and help... well, Lord help you. She is also a bit impatient... like her momma :)

E LOOOOVES her Kitty, and tortures him with rough love any chance she can get. Thank goodness he is so laid back (and stupid); he takes all in stride.

I think we have officially finished with breast feeding, which brings some mixed emotions. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't ready and excited to have my body back to myself, but I do miss those quiet moments, rocking and nursing her, and knowing that I could provide this comfort and nourishment that nothing else could. But I am so happy that we made it almost a year, which is much longer than I ever thought I'd make it. But I learned so much, and there are so many things I'd do differently the next time around, and would most definitely breast feed the next baby. Speaking of the next baby...

As E's first birthday approaches, I have been getting a certain question more and more... "When is the next baby coming?" Ok, I'll admit that I always pictured having kids close together in age, since I am a middle child, with my older sister 11 years older than me (my parents tried for a long time after my older sister was born to get pregnant again -which begs the question, was I an "accident"? Because, c'mon, if you're trying to get pregnant for like 4-5 years and nothing happens, you would probably think that it is never going to happen, right? And kind of stop "trying", and maybe just forget about it? It's not like you are EXPECTING to get pregnant 10 years later, right? Well, my mom swears I was planned.), and my other sister 4 years younger than me. Needless to say, my older sister and I were not close, and my younger sister was just young enough that we didn't really have anything in common growing up, and fought all the time. So I figured that having kids closer in age would enable them to get along better (I have now heard from several women that have kids close in age that this is just not true; kids fight no matter what the age gap). Well, this was all before actually having a child, and experiencing the life change and all that goes into having a child. And frankly... the thought of having another child currently scares the crap outta me. So I take this as a sign that I am not ready for Baby #2:) So C and I have decided to wait until E is two, and re-evaluate the situation at that point. Plus, I feel that there is so much I want to do with E, and I don't want to spend any part of the next year pregnant and preparing (stressing) for another baby. I want to give E my full attention for awhile yet. And I want to be selfish with my body, and have it aaaaallllll to myself again!

I can't wait to celebrate your FIRST BIRTHDAY next weekend with you, E! This year has gone by soooo fast, and you are growing up way too quickly. I am trying to cherish every moment I have with you, for I know that all too soon I will be looking back on these days, wondering where the time went.

10 Months

E and her favorite toy -the TV remote

This month has been a fun month for us...E took her first steps! We were over and Gma & Gpa N's house, and E was playing with Gma, and Gma held out a toy for her and she took about 3 steps towards Gma before falling over! We all cheered and clapped, and she lit up like a Christmas tree :) She then proceeded to take a few more steps that day, but in the days following, she seemed a little unsure of herself and resorted back to crawling around. Then, about a week later, she started taking a few steps here and there, and since then she has just taken off with walking! It's amazing how fast she went from a few steps to toddling all over the house. It's hilarious watching her walk around the house, because she walks with a wide stance, her legs spread apart, like she just got off a horse.

I'm super excited that she is walking; that means as soon as the weather warms up we can go outside in the yard and she can explore on her own. This spring and summer are going to be lots of fun!

I'm going to have to cut this post short; E just walked by and I smell a diaper that needs changing... boy do I miss the breast milk-only diapers :)

9 Months

Ok, so I'm finally getting around to writing E's 9 month update, and she is two days away from turning 10 months. Sigh. This blog has kind of fallen by the wayside ever since right around the holidays, when life got a little hectic. Christmas was fun for us all, even though E could have really cared less about the presents... or even the wrapping paper and bows. She got a lot of interactive (read: noisy) toys, which I have to laugh because I can distinctly remember saying to myself a few years back, 'When I have children, they are NOT going to have any of those annoying toys that make noise and play those obnoxious songs.' Oh, little old naive me.

Right after fun Christmas, came not-so-fun Losing My Job. Yep. Not so fun. The company I worked for decided to make it mandatory this year for all employees to receive the flu shot. I did not receive the flu shot. Therefore, buh bye. Ok, there is LOTS more to the story, but it is kind of long, and probably deserves it's own post, because there is LOTS I have to say about the subject, and I don't know how much longer E is going to nap, so.... I'll save that for another day.

So I guess you could say I am currently a stay-at-home-mom (SAHM)! It's only temporary, because I'm not sure I could really be a SAHM. 'Cause, I get kind of overwhelmed pretty easily. And E is not even a difficult baby. Sometimes I think there is something wrong with me. But that, too, is a post alllll on it's own.

Back to E:

Weight - 21.5 pounds (85%)

Height - 30 inches (92%)

She has 8 teeth, 4 uppers and 4 lowers. She LOVES any kind of pasta, and raspberries and blackberries. We are still nursing, though only a few times a day. She cruises along the furniture like a pro, and just in the last few days she has started cruising one-handed, and standing for brief seconds on her own. I can't wait to see her take her first steps all on her own! In the last month she started saying Dad-Dee, and something resembling Kitty, I think (Thit-Thee?). I can say, "Where's Momma's nose/mouth/eye?" and she can point them out on my face.

I cannot believe that in two months we will be celebrating her first birthday. How time has flown!

8 Months

8 months. Wow.

I don't have any official stats this month... heck, I don't even have un-official ones. All I know is that she's big. And tall.

E. started crawling in her 7th month, much to her utter delight (freedom!), but after a few weeks of that, she decided that was no longer good enough. She pulls herself up on every object that she can - and lots of objects that she shouldn't.

Along with her newfound mobility has come a new set of challenges - for me. It is amazing (and unsettling) how fast a baby can crawl. And what you will turn around to find that baby getting into. Today it was chewing on the cord of the vacuum while I was vacuuming. And trying to eat paper, lint, and a dead bug off the floor. Oh, and trying to chew on the toilet plunger. AAAHHH!

I'm totally going to be gray by the time I'm 35.

I remember someone telling me, "8 months is a fun month. They really start getting a personality then." Boy do they ever. It is sooo funny to watch her crack up when the cat runs around the room. It is sooo NOT funny when she gets pissed about something.

But seriously, overall she is a pretty happy-go-lucky little girl. Just don't tell her 'No'. :)

Ready for Christmas!

Practicing her stance

Love. Love. Love.

7 Months

As I said in last month's post, I would use the official stats from her 6 month doctor visit for her 7 month stats, since her doctor appointment was only 2 weeks ago. They are:

Height - 28 inches (96%)

Weight- 19 lbs 11 oz (92%)

She has been consistently in 12 month clothing for awhile now, though I am finding that some of those (depends on the brand) don't have much more room to grow - yikes!

We introduced her to solids last month! I heard about this book, Baby Led Weaning, and wanted to give it a try, so her first foods consisted of whole pieces of banana and avocado. The concept is great; no having to puree any food for baby (which is great for me because I have the best intentions - but I'm so lazy!), or feed from a jar.... but E. didn't seem all that thrilled about the idea. She mostly just pushed the pieces around on her tray and didn't eat. They say that is fine, that means that baby is just not ready, but when I did puree up a batch of avocado, (ok, that was more for me. To eat with chips. Ha.) she loved it! So... purees it is, for now. So far she has eaten banana, avocado, sweet potato, pear, green beans, peas, carrots, applesauce, potato, and squash... oh, and she loves to suck on pickles!

Can you smile for Momma?

That's better!

No, you have to sit still!

No, you cannot chew on the camera!

6 Months

Oh. My. Goodness.

6 months. I can't believe it.

If you truly want to grasp the concept of how time flies, have a baby. Oh sure, there are days that feel like they will neeeever end. But sitting here, writing this 6 month update felt like YEARS away. I can't imagine how the next 6 months will fly by...

I am going to wait until next month for official height/weight stats, seeing as her 6 month checkup isn't until a few days before she turns 7 months. But I will say that C. tried for another "unofficial" weight, and he said she weighed 20 lbs. Say WHAT?!? I know 1 year olds that don't even weigh 20 lbs!!

The big milestone this month (actually it happened shortly after I posted the 5 month update) is... teeth! Both front bottom teeth, to be exact! (I guess to be really exact, they are called central incisors. I do not know teeth names.) I didn't even know they were coming until, well... they were there. I do remember on a Sunday morning E. woke up wailing - which is extremely unusual for her. She is always happy and smiley when she wakes up. But this particular morning she woke up quite unhappy, and she wouldn't open her eyes and seemed sensitive to light. Her face was all puffy, too. My first thought was, Oh boy, here we go. E's first sickness. We took her temperature, and it was only very slightly elevated. And like the first-time mother dealing with her first child's first sickness, I thought, OhmyGod she has meningitis she is going to die we have to go to the emergency room!!!! Ahem. Don't laugh. After frantically texting my bestie O. (who is on her second child, so has a much more level head), who reassured me it was 99.9% likely NOT meningitis (stop laughing), I managed to calm down a bit. After nursing her, she fell back asleep for a few hours, and woke up in a much better mood, seemingly feeling better. So, I didn't think much of it, until about 3 days later when E. was munching on a toy, and I caught a flash of white in her mouth! So, that's apparently how she reacts to teeth.

You're still laughing, aren't you.

Happy 1/2 Year, E! Momma loves you lots!

4 Months

My little girl is not-so-little anymore! This month, E. weighed in at 16 lb, 10 oz (92%) and 26.5 in (95%). She barely fits into 6 month clothes; I have been buying mostly 9-12 month clothes for her!

E. had a few big accomplishments this month. The first being that she started rolling over! She can (and usually does) roll from her back to her belly whenever she is laid on the floor. Once she is on her belly, she tries so hard to inch herself forward -or backwards- usually without much luck. Then she begins to wail. I think she is so happy that she is finally beginning to be mobile, but frustrated that she still can't do what she wants to do - MOVE! She is one determined little peanut, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was crawling (or something resembling it) in a month or two.

Her next big accomplishment has been... going to bed without a swaddle! This feels like more of an accomplishment for C. and I, actually - I had begun to think that we would be driving to her dorm room at college to swaddle her every night! I did some searching on the internet and read some forums about other mommas who swaddled their babies, and how long they did it. The majority said their babies "let them know" they were done being swaddled around 5-6 months, so I figured I had a few months to go. However, a few weeks ago E. started fussing when we swaddled her at night (she usually seemed to really like it; she would calm down if she was fussy or agitated), and a few nights in a row she woke up several times with her arms and/or legs out of the swaddle. I decided that E. was telling us that she didn't need to be swaddled anymore, so we tried putting her to bed without it. The first night was a little rough; she woke up almost every two hours, and I had to go into her room, give her a pacifier, and stroke her while saying "Shhhh" for a few minutes before she would calm down. At times I would barely make it out of her room when she would begin to cry again. But as the week went by, she settled into her brand new sleeping freedom, and these days she wakes up once or twice wanting her pacifier and she will go right back to sleep. It's funny how she went from sleeping through the night very early on, to waking up a few times at night. Well, it's not funny, actually. (Though I bet those of you whose babies didn't sleep through the night early on are not feeling sorry for me at all!) Everyone kept saying, "Enjoy that while it lasts, because it's not going to!" Looks like they were right. *Sad face*

E. is cooing, gurgling, shrieking and smiling like crazy these days! I love it! She is also DROOLING like crazy, which I don't love so much. Bibs are now a permanent wardrobe staple. I totally get those people who say their lives now consist of just sitting around, looking at their baby all day. That's me. She is so entertaining, and she makes me laugh every day. I love her so much!

3 Months

Today marks the official transition from newborn to infant, yet it seems like a lifetime ago that E. was a newborn. She has grown and changed so much from those first few days of life, that it's sometimes hard to believe she's only 3 months old. Sometimes it seems she even changes from the time we put her to bed until she wakes up in the morning! I can remember that first week with her, and as much as I hate to admit this (blame it on the raging hormones, the anxiety, and being extremely overwhelmed at such a life change), I wished that she would hurry up and grow up into someone a bit more manageable and predictable. As the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. Because now she is growing and changing every day, and my wish now is for time to slow down a little, so I can have more time with my sweet little baby girl.
We have no official doctor appointment this month, so her unofficial stats (as measured by me, so the accuracy is questionable at best) are as follows:

Weight - 15.2 pounds

Height - 25.5 inches

E. is thisclose to laughing, and I cannot wait for it! I try for hours on end to get a giggle out of her, but sometimes I think I'm just not funny enough. (She does give me plenty of what the heck are you doing, crazy lady?! looks, though!) She is sitting up with support, though I have a feeling she might be doing it on her own by month's end. She loves to stand up, whether it be on your lap, on the floor, or pretty much any hard surface that's available. She is still wearing 3 month clothing, but not for much longer, I'm thinking. E. loves her bath time, and she gets a huge kick out of splashing in her tub.

She spent her first night away from home this past weekend, too! C. and I attended a wedding in Green Bay, and E. stayed with Gma & Gpa N. on Saturday night. Gpa took her for a walk to the park down the block from their house to watch kids swimming in the pool. E. was fascinated with all of the kids playing and swimming, and I have a feeling she will be visiting that pool plenty of times when she gets older. She slept well for Gma, only waking up once at 2am when she managed to wiggle her way out of her swaddle. Gma re-swaddled her and gave her a bottle, and she went back to sleep until 6:30am.

This month also marked my return to work. The first night was so hard; I wanted to cry on my drive to work Sunday night. I also felt terrible that I wasn't going to be able to be home to wake up with her in the mornings, as I work 3rd shift and don't get home until about 8am. I think I averaged about 3-4 hours of sleep each day for my first week back to work... ugh! Needless to say, I have begun looking for a new position that doesn't involve working 3rd shift!

I am looking forward to more milestones in the next few months, and watching my baby grow into the amazing little person she will become!

2 Months

I can't believe E. is two months old already! How the time has flown by... (I have a feeling I'm going to be saying this every month). Looking back at her newborn photos, I can't believe how much she's grown. She is already in 3 month clothing, and I have a feeling she will have outgrown those by the time she is actually 3 months! She is so strong; she can hold her head pretty much on her own, and she loves to stand up on her legs (with momma's help, of course!). Some new accomplishments this month have been bubble blowing, blowing "raspberries", smiling all on her own, and in the last few days she has managed to roll over onto her side a few times. I am thinking she will be an early mover; as she always seems so frustrated that she can't just get up and go! She is still sleeping well at night, though some nights she is waking up once in the middle of the night. We are still using a swaddle sack at bedtime, however I don't know how much longer we will continue to use it. Once she is truly able to roll over, I won't feel comfortable having her swaddled with her arms inside. The stats for her 2 month checkup are as follows:

Weight - 13.3 pounds (Dr. K thinks the scale must have been off when she was weighed last month; if you remember she weighed in at 15.1 pounds, and we're pretty sure she hasn't been losing weight since then! We figure she was probably around 12 pounds.) which puts her in the 92 percentile.

Height - 25 inches (96 percentile)

E. checked out with a clean bill of health, as did I. I had my postpartum checkup also, and I must say how grateful I am to feel completely back to normal physically. Aside from the 5-10 extra pounds left yet, and a few stretch marks (that appeared -seriously - two weeks after I had E. I had no idea that was even possible - I was losing weight! Ugh.), I don't even feel like I had a baby (and I'm talking about "down there"). I heard so many horror stories about women who give birth and then have all kinds of bladder issues; Kegels really do work!

I am truly enjoying every minute I get to spend with E., she is such a sweet little girl. I can't wait to see what the next few months will bring...

Afternoon nap with Daddy

One Month

My goal is to post photos and stats for each month, to chart her growth. E. is actually more like 1.5 months now, but I started this blog late. We had her 1 month checkup on Thursday, and she weighed in at 15.1 lbs, which put her off the charts (100+ percentile) for weight, and she measured 23 3/4in. which put her in the 98th percentile for height! Not surprising, since both C. and I are tall and were pretty big babies, too. She can hold her head on her own really well, and this month she has started smiling (real smiles, not just gas) and cooing, which I absolutely love! She has also been sleeping

through the night for a few weeks (don't hate me!), although I suspect it is partly because we swaddle her for bed every night with the Halo Sleep Sack, and give her a bottle of formula right before bed (I've read that formula keeps a baby fuller longer than breast milk). So, whether she is sleeping through the night on her own accord, or with a little help from the above mentioned methods....I don't care! I love it! All in all this has been a pretty good month, and I love seeing her personality start to come out. I can't wait to see what the next few months will bring!