they are the cutest!
Thursday, November 14, 2013
FOOD!
Sister Sue loves to Eat! Seriously, the first time we gave her actual baby food she ate the whole container of carrots!
We were told at our four month appointment awhile back that we could start rice cereal out of a bowl anytime or wait until 6 months. I decided to wait. I wasn't ready and between her not having the best head control yet and the fact that we had just started supplementing breast feeding with one formula bottle a day, I didn't feel like she was ready either.
About a week before her 6 month appointment I noticed she was taking an interest in eating. She watched us very intently whenever we were eating.
We started with doing rice cereal 1-2 per day for a week. Then this past weekend we added carrots. She is now eating rice cereal in the mid morning and then a veggie in the evenings at dinner. We are adding different veggies one at a time, three days at a time (to make sure there is no food allergies). First we will try 3 different orange veggies and then do different green veggies. We want to introduce lots of veggies before fruit so that she doesn't develop a sweet tooth and not like the veggies (like her momma!)
Eventually she will be eating yogurt or rice cereal in the morning, a fruit and veggie at lunch and a veggie and meat at dinner. YIKES, she is growing up!
I plan on making all her baby food but right now as we are "taste testing" I am buying organic jars of food. I don't want to make a whole batch of something and discover she either doesn't like or is allergic to it.
This has been such a fun milestone!
We were told at our four month appointment awhile back that we could start rice cereal out of a bowl anytime or wait until 6 months. I decided to wait. I wasn't ready and between her not having the best head control yet and the fact that we had just started supplementing breast feeding with one formula bottle a day, I didn't feel like she was ready either.
About a week before her 6 month appointment I noticed she was taking an interest in eating. She watched us very intently whenever we were eating.
We started with doing rice cereal 1-2 per day for a week. Then this past weekend we added carrots. She is now eating rice cereal in the mid morning and then a veggie in the evenings at dinner. We are adding different veggies one at a time, three days at a time (to make sure there is no food allergies). First we will try 3 different orange veggies and then do different green veggies. We want to introduce lots of veggies before fruit so that she doesn't develop a sweet tooth and not like the veggies (like her momma!)
Eventually she will be eating yogurt or rice cereal in the morning, a fruit and veggie at lunch and a veggie and meat at dinner. YIKES, she is growing up!
I plan on making all her baby food but right now as we are "taste testing" I am buying organic jars of food. I don't want to make a whole batch of something and discover she either doesn't like or is allergic to it.
This has been such a fun milestone!
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| Ready... |
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| First time! |
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| I got this mom, I can do it myself! |
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| Carrots at Nana's for Sunday dinner. |
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| Shirts are over rated when feeding a baby :) |
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| Yum! |
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| She is getting so big, so fast! |
Her Ears Are Pierced!
From the moment we found out we were having a girl I had told Noah that we were going to get her ears peirced when she is a baby. Orginally I was going to get them done after her four month appointment but timing just didn't work out. However, this past month I had a friday off of school so my mom,cousin, and her kiddos headed to the mall to get some earrings!
She did really, really well! Only cried for a few moments, but they were a pitiful few moments! She has done great since, they haven't bothered her and they haven't gotten infected because she doesn't have the fine motor skills to touch them!
She did really, really well! Only cried for a few moments, but they were a pitiful few moments! She has done great since, they haven't bothered her and they haven't gotten infected because she doesn't have the fine motor skills to touch them!
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| The Before.... |
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| Hard Core Mommy Guilt setting in... |
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| "What have you done to me?" |
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| Aren't they pretty?? |
6 Months...That's HALF A YEAR Y'ALL!
6 Months Old! How can it be? I know, I know...I wonder the same thing every month, but seriously the time is flying!
We had her six month appointment so we have official stats! She had to get 3 shots so Daddy Noah went with us. It was his first experience with shots and he would be lying if he said there weren't tears in his eyes :) It was precious.
Weight: 13 lb 7 oz (8th Percentile)
Most babies double their birth weight between 4-6 months. At 6 months we are still 1 lb and 8 oz from doubling birth weight. Hopefully we will have doubled by our 9 month appointment. I think she is just going to be a bitty one :)
Height: (49th Percentile)
This was an area of growth for Miss Blakely. At her four month appointment she was only in the 35th percentile!
Head Circumfrence (73rd Percentile)
Little Miss is finally starting to grow into her massive head! When she was born her head was in the 99th percentile and then at 4 months it was in the 93rd and now its only in the 73rd. HOORAY! This is probably why she can hold her up head better!
I had a lot of anxiety going into this appointment. At the last appointment we talked a lot about her flat spot on the back of her head and the possiblity of wearing a helmet, her neck muscles being tight on her left side, making it so her head doesn't turn as easily that way and also how she doesn't tolerate tummy time well.
Over the past two months we have began receiving infant toddler services and we have been working really hard! We have been doing our best to keep her off her back to eliminate the flat spot, introduce stimulus (people, toys, noises) to the left so she will have turn her head and strengthen those muscles and provide her with lots of opportunities to be in tummy time to build up her toleration.
I am happy to report that all the interventions are working and we are seeing huge imporovements. She is turning her head perfectly to the left and right, her muscles in her neck are now strong enough to keep her head in midline (not tilting to either side) when she is sitting up and her flat spot is decreasing, NO HELMET NEEDED.
I feel like I can finally breath a sigh of relief. Now we are working really hard to sit up independently and bear weight on her arms in tummy time in preparation for crawling.
SIZES
She is a little one, our Blakely. 3 month shirts, onesies, jeans, and dresses fit really well. 3 month
leggings are getting a little short. She can wear 3-6 month clothing but they are still a little big.
SOCIAL
Good Lord is this child social. She loves to be talked to and loves to talk. Usually in the car while I am driving she will just jabber away in the backseat. And boy can she giggle! Watch this video of her play with her Sissy (by bestfriend from highschool, Jillian). She likes to be held facing outward so she can see everything and everyone.
ON THE MOVE
She is quite roller and now when she is sitting in her bouncy seat she will try to lunge forward and sit up on her own to reach the toys. She is able to sit up independently for a few seconds. When she is in tummy time she pulls her knees up under her like she is going to crawl. However, we need to keep building her arm strength before she can crawl!
SLEEP
Well, she has always been a great sleeper! Up until the past few weeks she has even been sleeping through the night for 10-12 hours. However, this whole teething thing has thrown quite the kink in our sleep schedule. She has been waking up 2-4 times a night just screaming in pain! I have been giving her tylenol to ease her pain during the night and that has seemed to help. We do have two teeth to show for the lack of sleep!
FOOD
Up until her 6 month appointment she had still only had breastmilk and her one formula bottle a day. However, after her appointment we began feeding her rice cereal and now she has even had carrots! We are going to try sweet potatoes next! She loves, loves, loves to eat! She likes to bite down on the spoon as you go to pull it out of her mouth.
LIKES
EATING!
Talking to others
Laughing and Smiling
Pulling Mommy's hair and Daddy's beard
Watching Veggie Tales (during tummy time)
Playing with Sawyer and Olivia at daycare
Sophie the Giraffe
DISLIKES
Tummy Time (not sure she will ever really "like" it)
Not sure what else she doesn't like right now, she is such a happy baby these days!
We love you Miss Blakely and can't imagine life without you!
Weight: 13 lb 7 oz (8th Percentile)
Most babies double their birth weight between 4-6 months. At 6 months we are still 1 lb and 8 oz from doubling birth weight. Hopefully we will have doubled by our 9 month appointment. I think she is just going to be a bitty one :)
Height: (49th Percentile)
This was an area of growth for Miss Blakely. At her four month appointment she was only in the 35th percentile!
Head Circumfrence (73rd Percentile)
Little Miss is finally starting to grow into her massive head! When she was born her head was in the 99th percentile and then at 4 months it was in the 93rd and now its only in the 73rd. HOORAY! This is probably why she can hold her up head better!
I had a lot of anxiety going into this appointment. At the last appointment we talked a lot about her flat spot on the back of her head and the possiblity of wearing a helmet, her neck muscles being tight on her left side, making it so her head doesn't turn as easily that way and also how she doesn't tolerate tummy time well.
Over the past two months we have began receiving infant toddler services and we have been working really hard! We have been doing our best to keep her off her back to eliminate the flat spot, introduce stimulus (people, toys, noises) to the left so she will have turn her head and strengthen those muscles and provide her with lots of opportunities to be in tummy time to build up her toleration.
I am happy to report that all the interventions are working and we are seeing huge imporovements. She is turning her head perfectly to the left and right, her muscles in her neck are now strong enough to keep her head in midline (not tilting to either side) when she is sitting up and her flat spot is decreasing, NO HELMET NEEDED.
I feel like I can finally breath a sigh of relief. Now we are working really hard to sit up independently and bear weight on her arms in tummy time in preparation for crawling.
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| Family Time at the Dr. Office |
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| Before Shots.... |
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| After Shots...Sweet Baby! |
SIZES
She is a little one, our Blakely. 3 month shirts, onesies, jeans, and dresses fit really well. 3 month
leggings are getting a little short. She can wear 3-6 month clothing but they are still a little big.
SOCIAL
Good Lord is this child social. She loves to be talked to and loves to talk. Usually in the car while I am driving she will just jabber away in the backseat. And boy can she giggle! Watch this video of her play with her Sissy (by bestfriend from highschool, Jillian). She likes to be held facing outward so she can see everything and everyone.
ON THE MOVE
She is quite roller and now when she is sitting in her bouncy seat she will try to lunge forward and sit up on her own to reach the toys. She is able to sit up independently for a few seconds. When she is in tummy time she pulls her knees up under her like she is going to crawl. However, we need to keep building her arm strength before she can crawl!
SLEEP
Well, she has always been a great sleeper! Up until the past few weeks she has even been sleeping through the night for 10-12 hours. However, this whole teething thing has thrown quite the kink in our sleep schedule. She has been waking up 2-4 times a night just screaming in pain! I have been giving her tylenol to ease her pain during the night and that has seemed to help. We do have two teeth to show for the lack of sleep!
FOOD
Up until her 6 month appointment she had still only had breastmilk and her one formula bottle a day. However, after her appointment we began feeding her rice cereal and now she has even had carrots! We are going to try sweet potatoes next! She loves, loves, loves to eat! She likes to bite down on the spoon as you go to pull it out of her mouth.
LIKES
EATING!
Talking to others
Laughing and Smiling
Pulling Mommy's hair and Daddy's beard
Watching Veggie Tales (during tummy time)
Playing with Sawyer and Olivia at daycare
Sophie the Giraffe
DISLIKES
Tummy Time (not sure she will ever really "like" it)
Not sure what else she doesn't like right now, she is such a happy baby these days!
We love you Miss Blakely and can't imagine life without you!
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| Life Group Buddies. We like hanging out with our buddy Effie. |
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| The shirt...tru dat. |
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| Blakely's thoughts on waking up most mornings. |
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| Rock Chalk in honor of the start of basketball season. |
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| Chillin' with her homies at her crib (get it??) |
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| Happy, Happy, Happy Girl at Nana and Papa's |
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| Lights+Lights+Lights=Baby Heaven. |
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| Ummmm.....the cutest, ever! |
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| just hanging out on a sunny day. |
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| First MNU football game with Uncle Ryan and Aunt Karissa and The Millers |
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| Church Besties |
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Baby's First Halloween!
We had a great first Halloween with our sweet flower! We borrowed a cute costume from some friends. We had lots of visitors including Aunt Karissa and Uncle Ryan who ate supper and hung out with us, Nana and Papa drove all the way from Shawnee to smell the sweet flower and about 150 trick or treaters!
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| Blakely's outfit to Momma's Halloween Party. (Thanks Mrs. Chrystal!) |
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| A pirate came to visit! |
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
3 Month Photos
I know, I know...it is less than a week til she turns 6 months and I am just now posting 3 month pictures. But life has been crazy for us and our photographer, so here they are :)These were taking almost 2.5 months ago and her 6 month session is in two weeks. Time flies! It is fun to see how much she has grown and changed since these pictures were taken/ Here are just a few of our favorites!
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Five Months Old!
Ahh!! I can not believe my kid is 5 months old!
Where has the time gone?
This has been a super fun month for us. After a long 4 months, Blakely has finally exited the colic stage and she is such a joy to be around. Don't get me wrong, I have always loved my child unconditionally but lets be honest a fussy baby is not always enjoyable :)
Height: Unofficial
We didn't have a doctor's appointment this month, well at least not one where they measured this but I can tell she is getting taller because her 0-3 month sleepers are getting to be too short. I am going to need to go buy new sleepers when it starts to get colder and she isn't sleeping in just a onesie!
Weight
We went to the doctor on Wednesday September 11th because little miss had her first cold and since she had a temperature we wanted to make sure it really was just a cold. At this appointment she weight 12lbs 10 oz, so she gained 1 lb, 2.5 oz since her 4 month appointment that was less than three weeks ago, which is AWESOME for her!
Head Circumference
As mentioned in the last post, this was an area I was super concerned about last month. We have been working really hard at increasing her neck flexibility and keeping her off her back to help the flat spot disappear.
Her head control is getting really good and she loves sitting in her bumbo seat. She will sit in this in the evening for about 15 minutes while I get dinner started before her daddy gets home. She will also sit in it in the morning if she gets up before I am done getting ready.
We had a PT friend look at her and she gave us some good exercises to do to help Blakely and also referred us to Johnson County Infant Toddler Service.
I student taught with Infant Toddler Services of Johnson County for my Master's, the summer before we got pregnant. We had an evaluation on Thursday October 26th. They went back and forth but eventually they did decided to go and head and qualify her based on... 1. the fact that she doesn't tolerate tummy time and 2. she has a mild case of tortecollis, as found by Dr. Hilary and myself. However, they aren't as concerned about her ability to turn her head left and right, they said that was good ( we have been working really hard the past month on that!) but more because when she is being held or laying down her head tilts to the left which means her neck muscles aren't strong enough to hold her head up and need to be strengthened. They said we probably won't receive services for long.
I have mixed emotions about it all. Part of me is so glad that there is free and appropriate help out there for us (seriously, I don't think enough people know about ITS and the wonderful work they do) and the other part of me is heartbroken that we are having to receive services. I feel like I have failed my child, I mean for crying out loud I am qualified to be an ITS service provider and I now my kid needs their help.
Some things they told me that were very helpful and put me at ease is 1. her head shape is looking OK and will improve with time if we keep doing a good job of keeping her off her back like we have been doing the past month. 2. Her tortecollis is very mild and easily "fixed." and 3. When it comes to tummy time it isn't about duration but instead frequency. So we just need to be providing her with a ton of opportunities to be on her tummy even if it isn't for long and eventually she will be able to tolerate it longer and longer.
I have mixed emotions about it all. Part of me is so glad that there is free and appropriate help out there for us (seriously, I don't think enough people know about ITS and the wonderful work they do) and the other part of me is heartbroken that we are having to receive services. I feel like I have failed my child, I mean for crying out loud I am qualified to be an ITS service provider and I now my kid needs their help.
Some things they told me that were very helpful and put me at ease is 1. her head shape is looking OK and will improve with time if we keep doing a good job of keeping her off her back like we have been doing the past month. 2. Her tortecollis is very mild and easily "fixed." and 3. When it comes to tummy time it isn't about duration but instead frequency. So we just need to be providing her with a ton of opportunities to be on her tummy even if it isn't for long and eventually she will be able to tolerate it longer and longer.
Sizes
Blakely has grown out of most of her 0-3 month clothes and she can wear some 3-6 month clothes. Clothes that are labeled "3 months" fit just right. Not bad, just two month behind :)
Social
She is quite the social butterfly and is so very talkative, she coos and giggles and smiles at the littlest things. Blakely and Sawyer have lots of good conversations during the week :)
On the Move
We haven't seen her roll much lately but we have been focusing so much on keeping her off her back to help the flat spot on her head that she hasn't really had much time to practice her rolling. She does however love to stand up while you hold her hands or under her arms.
Food
We haven't tried "foods" yet. I think I am going to wait til 6 months. She just doesn't seem big enough, but you can tell on her gums where a few teeth trying to push through!
We are still working hard to make breast feeding work. I am still not producing enough. I pump three times at school during the day and only get a combined 8-9 oz! So I get up in the middle of the night and pump. During the night I was able to get 5-6 oz but I am now getting 7 sometimes, so that is an improvement.
However, it is still only 13-16 oz per day and Beemer is now taking 3, 6 oz bottles during the day, making it impossible for me to produce enough. So we are doing two 6 oz breast milk bottles and one 6 oz formula bottle. Even on the weekends we have been giving her one formula bottle a day.
It isn't ideal, but it is the situation we have been given. I get frustrated that I am working so hard and still not able to fully provide. But I keep telling myself that some is better than none and that I am so thankful I live in a time where supplemental options like formula are available. I mean, what would happen if we lived in pioneer times when there was no formula options?
Sleep
My kid is the sleeping champ! She goes down at 8-8:30 barely making a peep. Unless we try to put her down early, then she will scream and cry til 8-8:30, so now we don't even try to put her down earlier. She will sleep until 6:40 am, and I mean 6:40 on the dot. On Saturdays and Sundays I can feed her and put her back down til 9 am!
She usually wakes up once to eat in the middle of the night, but lately there a have been a couple nights per week when she makes it all night long. I have to admit as much as I like her sleeping through the night that when I wake up and realize she slept all night long and I start to miss her really bad and can't wait for her to wake up!
Likes
She loves to talk, giggle, and coo.
Play with her toys (I mean, put them in her mouth)
Music and being sung too
Sawyer :)
Her Daddy
Her mommy's hair and necklaces
Dislikes
Still not a huge fan of tummy time, getting stronger though!
We love this kid more than we could ever imagine possible and can't believe our next post will be 6 months, that's half a flipping year! YIKES!
My 5 month picture montage is lacking as you can see. My phone broke this week and I lost all my pictures! Note to self, transfer pictures to computer more often! Hopefully I can steal some off my mom's phone soon and add some more for memorie's sake!
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| One of my favorite summer outfits! From a former student and her family. Such Sweetness! |
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| We went to a wedding in Salina, KS and little miss kept herself entertained. Playing Peek-A-Boo all by herself! |
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