My Laynie bug is 1 year old! Geezers this year has flown by but at the same time, Corey and I feel like it has been more than a year. Probably because it has been an extremely busy year!
Ok, on to the good stuff! Laynie's 1 year check up was on her actual birthday. Yes, I'm the mean Momma who had her baby get shots on her birthday! She did really good though! My same strong, resilient little fighter that she has always been! She weighed 18 pounds 14 ounces and measured 28 inches long. She is in the 10-15th percentile for her height and weight (I left the sheet with the definite numbers in my car and don't want to go get it! LOL!). So it's looking like she will be just like her big brother and be a tiny little thing. Her head, on the other hand, is still on the larger side! It is in the 80 something percentile! She is coming down in the percentile ranks though because she used to be in the 90's! My poor baby and her big noggin. You know, I blame it all on her Poppa Jerry but the truth is, judging from pictures, I had a rather large head myself as a little one. She'll balance out at some point I'm sure!
She is wearing between 9 and 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers. The clothes size depends on the clothes or brand...sometimes she even fits into 6 months still! Most 12 month stuff still fits her a little big but it's wearable. She has a tiny foot and is wearing a size 2. We transitioned completely to cow's milk about a week or 2 before she turned 1. It was a very easy and smooth transition with no problems at all. She has been somewhat of a finicky eater. Sometimes she only wants to eat baby food. Sometimes she doesn't want me to feed her at all but doesn't really feed herself either. I can't tell if she wants to feed herself or if she just isn't hungry or if she doesn't like what she's eating. She also enjoys dropping her food off the side of her high chair and she likes feeding Sadie! I'm trying my best not to have another picky eater but so far, I'm not feeling too optimistic. Any feeding tips for raising a good eater will be very welcomed!! Some of her favorite food items are chicken, watermelon, bananas, apples (soft kind from Gerber), cheerios, goldfish, mum-mum crackers, arrowroot cookies, Mexican rice, yogurt, grapes, and mashed potatoes.
Laynie's biggest milestone over the last month was that she started walking! She has done so so good! She was doing pretty well with holding just one of our fingers. Just before she started walking around on her own pretty good, Rex loved holding her hand and taking her for walks around the house. It was the cutest thing! I had to watch closely though because when she would fall, he would try to pick her up by the arm! She started walking independently really good on July 21, just a few days before she turned 1. I heard her little feet coming down the hallway from my bedroom and I assumed she was walking with Corey because it was a bunch of steps I was hearing (she was wearing her little white sandals). When she came around the corner by herself, I couldn't believe it!! She was really walking by herself! I'm not a crier and I got pretty teary eyed with that milestone! I think it was one of those moments that made me realize how fast this is all going. Over the last couple of days since she has turned 1, she is going from sitting to standing very easily on her own without having to pull up on anything. She is still such a wiggle worm! We've had to do a few nebulizer treatments with albuterol and pulmicort over the last 2 weeks because she had a cough that wouldn't go away. I have to keep her in her highchair for the treatments because she wiggles too much with holding her! She LOVES walking around on the couch (we are right next to her of course, when we let her walk on the couch!). So far, she knows no danger. If I didn't keep super close to her, she would probably climb over the couch or off the bed. We're going to have to teach her how to get down safely on her belly!
She LOVES to dance! Anytime Laynie hears music of any sort, she instantly starts dancing. I love it!! She is also trying to sing already! She hums along with ABC's and she was trying to sing Happy Birthday when my sister Leanne was singing it to her! She knows what she wants and points her little finger very well in the direction of what she wants! She also does her hands in a grabbing motion when she wants me or wants something I have. She is doing really well with putting items away, such as putting Mommy's purse back together after she takes everything out of it! Anytime someone familiar walks into the room, she says "Hiiii gu-gu!" (Yes, that was my best effort at spelling something in baby talk!) She gets excited when me, her Daddy, Rex, or Sadie come into the room! She also gets very excited to see my mom and still sometimes wants Nini over me! As soon as I pick her up from Mrs. Anna's, she knows it's time to go leave and instantly starts saying and waving "bye-bye" when I pick her up. Her and her brother play well for the most part but he can sometimes have a hard time sharing. He's at that stage where he wants anything she has, which does not go over well with Laynie. He tries to appease her by giving her another toy but it usually doesn't work. This is something we're definitely working on with him but I know these little fights will probably go on for at least another 12-15 years!
We hosted Laynie's 1st birthday party here at our house on Saturday, July 26. We had a great turn out and had a taco/tostada/nacho bar which was a huge hit! I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a reasonable and easy meal for a party! We had a couple of little pools set up and Aunt Pam and Uncle Buddy let us borrow their blowup water slide, which the kids absolutely loved! We had kids everywhere and I LOVE LOVE LOVED it!! It was exactly what I envisioned for this party! Growing up half way an only child and in between generations, I didn't have very many playmates my age growing up, so for my kids to have as many cousins and close friends the same age means the world to me. We had 20 kids total, mostly family! Those who aren't family might as well be! When I looked in the backyard and saw all the kids running around like crazy having a blast, I had a huge smile! It couldn't have been better!
My sister Leanne (Also Laynie's Godmother) and niece Valerie came down from Denver for the party which meant more to me than I can describe! Just their presence was enough but they helped me so much with getting things ready and with the kids. They are seriously two of the most amazing women I know with the kindest and most caring hearts. Our late night chats are the best and I learn things from both of them every time I'm with them. If only the distance from here to Colorado wasn't so great! I couldn't have pulled the party off without the help of my amazing mother, either. The list of things she did to help me from getting the house ready to picking up balloons at the last minute is endless! I know I've said it 5 million times but there is no way I will never be able to express the gratitude I have for her and everything she does for my family. I love you so so much, Mom and I can only hope I am half the mother to my children that you are to me!
I'm sure the next year will be as fast moving as the last one was. Having two kids, it seems to happen even faster! We are enjoying every bit of our little Laynie Magdalena. She is an absolute joy and her and her brother are the brightest spots of my everyday!!
Monday, July 28, 2014
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Wiggles is 11 months old!
My little "Wiggles" is 11 months old today! Panic mode to plan a birthday party is setting in!! Yikes!!
I swear sometimes it seems that Laynie grows between the time I drop her off at Ms. Anna's to the time I pick her up! Her personality has definitely come out more this month and it's so fun to watch!
She had tubes put in her ears last monday, June 16. She did really well and bounced back very quickly! She was groggy, of course, immediately after the surgery. I was afraid she would cry any time she burped because that's what Rex did when he had his tubes put in. She did but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. She fussed for a bit then settled down. We left for home about 30 minutes after she came out of surgery. She slept for most of the morning and woke up rested and ready to play with her brother! One thing I've noticed about Laynie is how much of a fighter she is in the sense that if she's not feeling well, she's going to still smile and play rather than be fussy. Even Ms. Lorena, one of Ms. Anna's helpers, told me once that Laynie "es una "guerrera" meaning she's a fighter. She is definitely resilient and the surgery for tubes proved that!
The day of the surgery she weighed 19 pounds but I swear it seems she has gained some weight in the last week! Her little belly is sticking out much more than usual and it's so cute! So I'm leaning towards thinking she is probably at or right over 20 pounds. She is wearing size 3 diapers and is growing out of 6 month clothes for sure. Sometimes I think I'm the one that's in denial that she is growing and I try to keep her in smaller clothes. But in my defense, there are some 6 month outfits that fit her perfect but the majority are too small. Saying she is wearing 9 months is safe to say for sure :)
I've given Laynie the nickname "wiggles" because she is quite the wiggle worm and she always has been. I seriously used to be afraid she was having seizures in my belly because her movements were so erratic. She crawls around everywhere and is still pulling up on everything. Any chance she gets, though, she is wanting you to hold her hands to walk around with her. If I'm sitting anywhere with her, she looks for my fingers so that she can grab them and then scoots off my lap so we can walk around. She gets very upset if I don't comply with her demands! I've tried to loosen her grip and have her hold on to the very tip of my fingers but she is not having it! She wants a good grab and will not go on if she doesn't feel secure. She also knows exactly where she wants to go when she's walking. If you try to move her in a direction she doesn't want to go, she will drag one leg to get you to turn back! We're going to start working with her more on letting go a little and walking between 2 people.
I'm loving her little personality that's developing. This morning she was humming to herself and swaying side to side to her own music! She loves to dance and will dance to whatever music comes on. She still loves Pat-a-cake and points her finger to her palm to sing the Mexican nursery rhyme "pinion."
She is definitely a chatty Cathy and tries to say a few words. "Uh-Oh" is still her favorite along with dropping something and having you pick it up...over and over again! She has mastered "bye-bye" over the last month. When I pick her up from Ms. Anna's, she starts saying "bye bye" or "baaaa!" to everyone! When we went to the ENT for her first visit, they conducted a hearing test to see if the fluid in her ears was affecting her hearing. We learned that her hearing was slightly effected but the audiologist noted that it seemed she would be an early talker because she was trying to say "puppy" when the puppy showed during the test. She does more of a "puh" sound with puppy. She has also said "oh wow!" a couple of times and it sounds like she is trying to say "thank you," and "good girl," (she hears this lots because of the dog). She also shouts "BA!" when Sadie comes around so she might be saying "Bad!" which is frequently said to our dear little puppy!
Corey gave her a bath in the big tub for the first time this last month. Again, trying to keep my baby a baby, I had not attempted this at all and intended on switching her to the bath seat before doing the open bath. Well, Daddy took the reigns on this one and it ended up being perfect timing. She loves the water and loves taking baths! She also loves swimming and splashing around! She's shown us how careful we have to be with her around water because if there's water around, she's reaching for it for sure! We have to make sure we close the bathroom doors all the time and cover the toilets. If she is in the restroom while I'm bathing Rex, she will try her hardest to either reach the water coming from the faucet or the water inside the tub so we definitely have to keep a close eye on her around water!
Her two front teeth poked through this month! They are so stinking cute!! She looks like such a big girl with her big teeth! We're trying to introduce more solids but she's kind of hesitant to them. It took awhile for her to get used to the stage 3 foods because they have bigger chunks of food in them. She is doing well with the Gerber pick-up apples. I believe Ms. Anna also has given her banana's. Aside from that, she's still on the same routine for the most part: bottle either at wake up or at Ms. Anna's around 7:30. Cereal around 10:30, lunch (one jar food, 6 ounce bottle) around noon, bottle at 3, dinner (2 jar foods and 4 ounce bottle) around 6, night time 6 ounce bottle around 8:30.
Her and Rex still play so sweet together! Everyone always told me what a joy it would be to see my babies play together and it is even better than I could have imagined! They have little fights and Rex has gotten a couple of spankings here and there for hitting his sister but for the most part, they do really well. Rex likes to dance with Laynie to the music on her Laugh and Learn Playhouse. They love making a mess in Rex's room. In the mornings, Rex walks into Laynie's room with me to get her dressed and he turns his sweet high-pitched voice on saying "Good morning Mama!! How you doing?!" And she gets so so excited when she sees her brother! The night before Laynie's surgery, Rex spent the night with my mom so that we didn't have to get him up in the morning. When we got back to the house after surgery, Rex went straight to Laynie, totally ignored me, and started kissing her feet and hugging her because he missed her! He will make silly noises and she will just crack up! If Laynie is fussy in the car he tells her "It's ok Mama! I'm right here!" It is seriously my dose of joy every single day to see them play together!
Can't believe my next post will be for her 1st birthday!! Ahhh!! Slow down time!!
I swear sometimes it seems that Laynie grows between the time I drop her off at Ms. Anna's to the time I pick her up! Her personality has definitely come out more this month and it's so fun to watch!
She had tubes put in her ears last monday, June 16. She did really well and bounced back very quickly! She was groggy, of course, immediately after the surgery. I was afraid she would cry any time she burped because that's what Rex did when he had his tubes put in. She did but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. She fussed for a bit then settled down. We left for home about 30 minutes after she came out of surgery. She slept for most of the morning and woke up rested and ready to play with her brother! One thing I've noticed about Laynie is how much of a fighter she is in the sense that if she's not feeling well, she's going to still smile and play rather than be fussy. Even Ms. Lorena, one of Ms. Anna's helpers, told me once that Laynie "es una "guerrera" meaning she's a fighter. She is definitely resilient and the surgery for tubes proved that!
The day of the surgery she weighed 19 pounds but I swear it seems she has gained some weight in the last week! Her little belly is sticking out much more than usual and it's so cute! So I'm leaning towards thinking she is probably at or right over 20 pounds. She is wearing size 3 diapers and is growing out of 6 month clothes for sure. Sometimes I think I'm the one that's in denial that she is growing and I try to keep her in smaller clothes. But in my defense, there are some 6 month outfits that fit her perfect but the majority are too small. Saying she is wearing 9 months is safe to say for sure :)
I've given Laynie the nickname "wiggles" because she is quite the wiggle worm and she always has been. I seriously used to be afraid she was having seizures in my belly because her movements were so erratic. She crawls around everywhere and is still pulling up on everything. Any chance she gets, though, she is wanting you to hold her hands to walk around with her. If I'm sitting anywhere with her, she looks for my fingers so that she can grab them and then scoots off my lap so we can walk around. She gets very upset if I don't comply with her demands! I've tried to loosen her grip and have her hold on to the very tip of my fingers but she is not having it! She wants a good grab and will not go on if she doesn't feel secure. She also knows exactly where she wants to go when she's walking. If you try to move her in a direction she doesn't want to go, she will drag one leg to get you to turn back! We're going to start working with her more on letting go a little and walking between 2 people.
I'm loving her little personality that's developing. This morning she was humming to herself and swaying side to side to her own music! She loves to dance and will dance to whatever music comes on. She still loves Pat-a-cake and points her finger to her palm to sing the Mexican nursery rhyme "pinion."
She is definitely a chatty Cathy and tries to say a few words. "Uh-Oh" is still her favorite along with dropping something and having you pick it up...over and over again! She has mastered "bye-bye" over the last month. When I pick her up from Ms. Anna's, she starts saying "bye bye" or "baaaa!" to everyone! When we went to the ENT for her first visit, they conducted a hearing test to see if the fluid in her ears was affecting her hearing. We learned that her hearing was slightly effected but the audiologist noted that it seemed she would be an early talker because she was trying to say "puppy" when the puppy showed during the test. She does more of a "puh" sound with puppy. She has also said "oh wow!" a couple of times and it sounds like she is trying to say "thank you," and "good girl," (she hears this lots because of the dog). She also shouts "BA!" when Sadie comes around so she might be saying "Bad!" which is frequently said to our dear little puppy!
Corey gave her a bath in the big tub for the first time this last month. Again, trying to keep my baby a baby, I had not attempted this at all and intended on switching her to the bath seat before doing the open bath. Well, Daddy took the reigns on this one and it ended up being perfect timing. She loves the water and loves taking baths! She also loves swimming and splashing around! She's shown us how careful we have to be with her around water because if there's water around, she's reaching for it for sure! We have to make sure we close the bathroom doors all the time and cover the toilets. If she is in the restroom while I'm bathing Rex, she will try her hardest to either reach the water coming from the faucet or the water inside the tub so we definitely have to keep a close eye on her around water!
Her two front teeth poked through this month! They are so stinking cute!! She looks like such a big girl with her big teeth! We're trying to introduce more solids but she's kind of hesitant to them. It took awhile for her to get used to the stage 3 foods because they have bigger chunks of food in them. She is doing well with the Gerber pick-up apples. I believe Ms. Anna also has given her banana's. Aside from that, she's still on the same routine for the most part: bottle either at wake up or at Ms. Anna's around 7:30. Cereal around 10:30, lunch (one jar food, 6 ounce bottle) around noon, bottle at 3, dinner (2 jar foods and 4 ounce bottle) around 6, night time 6 ounce bottle around 8:30.
Her and Rex still play so sweet together! Everyone always told me what a joy it would be to see my babies play together and it is even better than I could have imagined! They have little fights and Rex has gotten a couple of spankings here and there for hitting his sister but for the most part, they do really well. Rex likes to dance with Laynie to the music on her Laugh and Learn Playhouse. They love making a mess in Rex's room. In the mornings, Rex walks into Laynie's room with me to get her dressed and he turns his sweet high-pitched voice on saying "Good morning Mama!! How you doing?!" And she gets so so excited when she sees her brother! The night before Laynie's surgery, Rex spent the night with my mom so that we didn't have to get him up in the morning. When we got back to the house after surgery, Rex went straight to Laynie, totally ignored me, and started kissing her feet and hugging her because he missed her! He will make silly noises and she will just crack up! If Laynie is fussy in the car he tells her "It's ok Mama! I'm right here!" It is seriously my dose of joy every single day to see them play together!
Can't believe my next post will be for her 1st birthday!! Ahhh!! Slow down time!!
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Laynie Bug is 10 months old!
My Laynie Bug is 10 months old!! Holy Guacamole, it's time to start planning a birthday party! I swear she is growing so crazy fast right before our eyes!
Laynie is weighing 17 lbs, 7 ounces. We went to the doctor the day before she turned 10 months old. She had her 4th ear infection within about 2 months so we're going to visit the ENT next week. We will see the same doctor Rex saw for his tubes and aftercare. About 3 weeks ago, we did antibiotic shots because she had her 3rd ear infection in about a month and a half. I actually had not even taken her for her ears that time in particular. I thought she had pink eye and they checked her ears anyway, which is when we discovered the 3rd infection. A few days later after her finishing her 3rd shot, she started with a runny nose and coughing so I knew it was only a matter of time before she got another ear infection. She continued with runny nose and cough for about another week and a half. This last saturday, she was very fussy and had thick, green mucous so I decided to take her in since it was a long weekend. Dr. Gray confirmed that her right ear was bright red and that it was time to see an ENT. I'm not upset one bit at this point...I knew that was where we were headed so I'm just ready to get it done and taken care of! Once Rex had his tubes in, he did not get sick for the next year and a half. God willing, the tubes will have the same effect on Laynie.
Her routine is still the same for the most part: She wakes up and has a bottle or cereal. She has lunch around 12, a bottle around 3, dinner at 6 then night time bottle at 8:30. We're trying to give her the stage 3 foods now but she hasn't taken too well to them so she eats mostly stage 2 foods. I'm going to keep trying with the stage 2's. I also plan to give her more tables foods this next month.
She is wearing mostly 6 month clothes (some 9 month) although she's starting to stretch out of the 6 month footy pajamas. The waist on 6 month clothes is a little big but the length is getting too small. Sometimes I put 3-6 month leggings on her since they still fit at the waist then pull the pant leg up so they're more like capris. She is still wearing size 3 diapers. Her hair is still growing like crazy! She still has her little "rat tail" in the back and a whole bunch on top that I have to pull back everyday so that it's not in her face.
She is quite the chatter box! Some of her favorite words are: Momma and uh-oh. She has said "Hi" while waving a hand full of times as well as saying bye bye. She also says "Da-da" and "Bubba" (at least it sounds like it).
Laynie is very loving. She's quite the cuddler. Yesterday I was hugging on Rex and she crawled over to us and gave her brother hugs too by putting her head on his back. It was the sweetest thing! I love watching her and Rex interact together. They play pretty well for the most party, at this point. Rex can sometimes get possessive of his toys and not want her to have things. She sure does not like it when something is taken away from her! Even the tiniest thing! But if you give her something in place of what you take, she is usually ok. Her and Rex play together often in his bedroom. There's tons of stuff for her to get into in there!
She is still very attached to me and is definitely still a Momma's girl although, her bond with her Daddy has definitely strengthened over the last month. She gets very excited when she sees her Daddy but if Momma tries to hand her off after I've been holding her, she gets pretty upset! She is also very attached to my mom. My mom and Eli had gone out of town for a bit and hadn't seen the kids for a whole week (which is an eternity to my mom and Eli!) so we took the kids over as soon as they got home. Laynie was so so excited to see my mom! I tried to take her back and she cried so much! Broke my heart but also warms it at the same time to know she has such a tight bond with my mom!
She is crawling around pretty fast these days! She pulls up on everything possible and walks around things like the couch and coffee table. I don't think it will be too long before she takes those first steps but time will tell! I'm not in any rush! She had her first swim this month at Cody & Ashley's neighborhood pool. She LOVED it and was splashing like crazy!! I had a hard time trying to keep her head dry (because of the ear infection) because she was splashing so crazy! I'm sure it will be an exciting summer!
Time to start birthday party planning!! YAY!!
Laynie is weighing 17 lbs, 7 ounces. We went to the doctor the day before she turned 10 months old. She had her 4th ear infection within about 2 months so we're going to visit the ENT next week. We will see the same doctor Rex saw for his tubes and aftercare. About 3 weeks ago, we did antibiotic shots because she had her 3rd ear infection in about a month and a half. I actually had not even taken her for her ears that time in particular. I thought she had pink eye and they checked her ears anyway, which is when we discovered the 3rd infection. A few days later after her finishing her 3rd shot, she started with a runny nose and coughing so I knew it was only a matter of time before she got another ear infection. She continued with runny nose and cough for about another week and a half. This last saturday, she was very fussy and had thick, green mucous so I decided to take her in since it was a long weekend. Dr. Gray confirmed that her right ear was bright red and that it was time to see an ENT. I'm not upset one bit at this point...I knew that was where we were headed so I'm just ready to get it done and taken care of! Once Rex had his tubes in, he did not get sick for the next year and a half. God willing, the tubes will have the same effect on Laynie.
Her routine is still the same for the most part: She wakes up and has a bottle or cereal. She has lunch around 12, a bottle around 3, dinner at 6 then night time bottle at 8:30. We're trying to give her the stage 3 foods now but she hasn't taken too well to them so she eats mostly stage 2 foods. I'm going to keep trying with the stage 2's. I also plan to give her more tables foods this next month.
She is wearing mostly 6 month clothes (some 9 month) although she's starting to stretch out of the 6 month footy pajamas. The waist on 6 month clothes is a little big but the length is getting too small. Sometimes I put 3-6 month leggings on her since they still fit at the waist then pull the pant leg up so they're more like capris. She is still wearing size 3 diapers. Her hair is still growing like crazy! She still has her little "rat tail" in the back and a whole bunch on top that I have to pull back everyday so that it's not in her face.
She is quite the chatter box! Some of her favorite words are: Momma and uh-oh. She has said "Hi" while waving a hand full of times as well as saying bye bye. She also says "Da-da" and "Bubba" (at least it sounds like it).
Laynie is very loving. She's quite the cuddler. Yesterday I was hugging on Rex and she crawled over to us and gave her brother hugs too by putting her head on his back. It was the sweetest thing! I love watching her and Rex interact together. They play pretty well for the most party, at this point. Rex can sometimes get possessive of his toys and not want her to have things. She sure does not like it when something is taken away from her! Even the tiniest thing! But if you give her something in place of what you take, she is usually ok. Her and Rex play together often in his bedroom. There's tons of stuff for her to get into in there!
She is still very attached to me and is definitely still a Momma's girl although, her bond with her Daddy has definitely strengthened over the last month. She gets very excited when she sees her Daddy but if Momma tries to hand her off after I've been holding her, she gets pretty upset! She is also very attached to my mom. My mom and Eli had gone out of town for a bit and hadn't seen the kids for a whole week (which is an eternity to my mom and Eli!) so we took the kids over as soon as they got home. Laynie was so so excited to see my mom! I tried to take her back and she cried so much! Broke my heart but also warms it at the same time to know she has such a tight bond with my mom!
She is crawling around pretty fast these days! She pulls up on everything possible and walks around things like the couch and coffee table. I don't think it will be too long before she takes those first steps but time will tell! I'm not in any rush! She had her first swim this month at Cody & Ashley's neighborhood pool. She LOVED it and was splashing like crazy!! I had a hard time trying to keep her head dry (because of the ear infection) because she was splashing so crazy! I'm sure it will be an exciting summer!
Time to start birthday party planning!! YAY!!
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Laynie 7-9 months
I'm excited to say these last couple of months have not been nearly as eventful with hospital stays and such as months 5/6 were! My little wiggle worm hit a lot of milestones between 7-9 months so it's all fun, happy stuff!
Laynie turned 7 months old on February 25, 2014! She's in size 2 diapers and is still wearing mostly 3 month clothes.
She had been rocking on her knees for sometime between when she was 6-7 months but she gets so excited she ends up on her belly with her arms and legs kicking like crazy! It was the funniest thing to watch! Around early March, so at about 7 and a half months, she finally started moving a little. During Spring Break, she was officially a full blown crawler! She was all over the place! It has been a whole new experience for me because Rex never crawled. He was a booty scooter and even that took a little longer to get to. She has always been incredibly active, even in utero so I expected that she would progress a little quicker with her gross motor development than Rex did. Over spring break she also started pulling up to standing in her Laugh and Learn Car. She just loves that thing!
At 7 months, she started to become a little more emotional. If you take something away from her she cries. If I tell her NO! In a firm voice, she gets upset sometimes. Usually she just gives me her cute little smile and keeps doing what I said not to do. When she is fussy or upset she says "mama." I LOVE it! She is definitely a mama's girl! She loves her Daddy but she doesn't like to be taken away from her mommy.
She stared eating mum mums at 7 months and she LOVES them! Rex loves them too so I can't give Laynie one without giving Rex one. She has a 6 ounce bottle in the morning when she wakes, cereal mixed with 2 ounces of formula around 9:30 then she drinks the remaining 4 ounces of the bottle, 6 ounce bottle and food (usually a fruit) around noon, bottle at 3 and dinner (veggies and fruit) at 6. She has a nighttime bottle with cereal around 8:30 and is down for the night. Her first tooth came in just before she turned 8 months!!
Laynie turned 8 months March 25 and is weighing about 16 pounds if I remember correctly. Her eating pattern is pretty much the same but we have moved up to stage 2 foods. For dinner she eats a meat/veggie combo along with either a fruit or vegetable and she typically eats the whole thing. The amount of formula she has varies. Sometimes she'll drink 4 ounces, sometimes she only drinks an ounce or two.
Laynie LOOOOVES to play Pat-a-cake! She has gotten to where every time she interacts with me, she claps her hands wanting to play/sing it. Even first thing in the morning when I get her out of her crib, she is ready to hear it! She also claps when she hears "Yay!!!!" She has started imitating more sounds, especially "uh-oh!" She drops things on purpose off of her tray and says "ah-ah." Ms. Lorena, one of Ms. Anna's helpers, has taught all of the kids a Mexican nursery rhyme called "Pinpon." At the beginning of the song, you point your finger to the palm of your other hand. Recently she started doing this, even without hearing the song or she will start clapping her hands with pat-a-cake then change to pointing to her palm. I didn't know for sure if she was pointing to her hand by default or because of the song. Ms. Anna confirmed that they had been singing it to her and that's where she picked it up! I love how interactive she's being and how she's picking up on songs and such! She loves to dance too!! She will start bouncing around when she hears music on her toys. Maybe we will have another music baby on our hands!
This month she also got her second tooth! She wasn't fussy with either tooth coming in and Rex was the same way when all of his teeth came in. I never knew they were coming because they weren't fussy, which I am very thankful for!
She has started pulling up to standing in her crib so we need to lower it to the bottom level. She is still quite the wiggle worm and I'm sure that is something that will never change! When she becomes fussy while crawling around, she comes to me whiny saying "Mama!" until I pick her up. It's quite possible that we have our athlete in her. Anytime she is playing with a ball of any sort, she will go after it when it rolls around. I've heard stories of Corey doing this as a baby as well and we all know what an athlete he is! Before we ever even have kids, I always joked that we would have a boy who was calm, mellow and a musician like I was and we would have a girl who would be little Corey and be an athlete and a pistol as a teenager! We'll see if my thoughts prove correct!
We got our first puppy as a family during Laynie's 8th month! She is a lab/Weimaraner mix that we got from Ms. Anna. Corey is planning on training her to be a hunting dog but she will be our family dog as well, of course. Laynie has done really well with the puppy and Sadie is good with her for the most part too. She tries to nip at Laynie but we keep a close eye on them together.
She had her first Easter at 8 months! She got some mum mums and yogurt melts from the Easter Bunny. We went to mass in the morning where she was a total ham making faces with the people behind us. In the afternoon, we went to my Aunt Martha's to spend the day with family. The kids did an Easter egg hunt and had a blast! Rex had his first swim of the year with his cousin Olivia since Uncle Gilbert turned the heater on for the pool! It was a great Easter Sunday!
Finally at her 9 month appointment, She weighed 17 lbs (18th percentile), measured 27.6 inches long and had a head circumference of 48 cm (93 percentile)...Yes, I said 93rd percentile for her big noggin! She definitely looks like a Romero but her head size is ALLLL ROBINSON!! :) just kidding! Love you, Poppa! She is finally fitting into 6 month clothes and is wearing size 3 diapers. She can still squeeze into size 2's but they're a little snug.
She loves laughing at her brother when he is being silly. He plays pretty well with her for the most part but is still working on sharing with his sister and not freaking out if she grabs something of his. She is still definitely a momma's girl! She gets so so excited to see me when I pick her up every day. I just love it!
I can't believe we are only 3 months away from planning my baby's 1st birthday party! It's crazy to me! I'm looking forward to a fun new month with my wiggles!
Laynie turned 7 months old on February 25, 2014! She's in size 2 diapers and is still wearing mostly 3 month clothes.
She had been rocking on her knees for sometime between when she was 6-7 months but she gets so excited she ends up on her belly with her arms and legs kicking like crazy! It was the funniest thing to watch! Around early March, so at about 7 and a half months, she finally started moving a little. During Spring Break, she was officially a full blown crawler! She was all over the place! It has been a whole new experience for me because Rex never crawled. He was a booty scooter and even that took a little longer to get to. She has always been incredibly active, even in utero so I expected that she would progress a little quicker with her gross motor development than Rex did. Over spring break she also started pulling up to standing in her Laugh and Learn Car. She just loves that thing!
At 7 months, she started to become a little more emotional. If you take something away from her she cries. If I tell her NO! In a firm voice, she gets upset sometimes. Usually she just gives me her cute little smile and keeps doing what I said not to do. When she is fussy or upset she says "mama." I LOVE it! She is definitely a mama's girl! She loves her Daddy but she doesn't like to be taken away from her mommy.
She stared eating mum mums at 7 months and she LOVES them! Rex loves them too so I can't give Laynie one without giving Rex one. She has a 6 ounce bottle in the morning when she wakes, cereal mixed with 2 ounces of formula around 9:30 then she drinks the remaining 4 ounces of the bottle, 6 ounce bottle and food (usually a fruit) around noon, bottle at 3 and dinner (veggies and fruit) at 6. She has a nighttime bottle with cereal around 8:30 and is down for the night. Her first tooth came in just before she turned 8 months!!
Laynie turned 8 months March 25 and is weighing about 16 pounds if I remember correctly. Her eating pattern is pretty much the same but we have moved up to stage 2 foods. For dinner she eats a meat/veggie combo along with either a fruit or vegetable and she typically eats the whole thing. The amount of formula she has varies. Sometimes she'll drink 4 ounces, sometimes she only drinks an ounce or two.
Laynie LOOOOVES to play Pat-a-cake! She has gotten to where every time she interacts with me, she claps her hands wanting to play/sing it. Even first thing in the morning when I get her out of her crib, she is ready to hear it! She also claps when she hears "Yay!!!!" She has started imitating more sounds, especially "uh-oh!" She drops things on purpose off of her tray and says "ah-ah." Ms. Lorena, one of Ms. Anna's helpers, has taught all of the kids a Mexican nursery rhyme called "Pinpon." At the beginning of the song, you point your finger to the palm of your other hand. Recently she started doing this, even without hearing the song or she will start clapping her hands with pat-a-cake then change to pointing to her palm. I didn't know for sure if she was pointing to her hand by default or because of the song. Ms. Anna confirmed that they had been singing it to her and that's where she picked it up! I love how interactive she's being and how she's picking up on songs and such! She loves to dance too!! She will start bouncing around when she hears music on her toys. Maybe we will have another music baby on our hands!
This month she also got her second tooth! She wasn't fussy with either tooth coming in and Rex was the same way when all of his teeth came in. I never knew they were coming because they weren't fussy, which I am very thankful for!
She has started pulling up to standing in her crib so we need to lower it to the bottom level. She is still quite the wiggle worm and I'm sure that is something that will never change! When she becomes fussy while crawling around, she comes to me whiny saying "Mama!" until I pick her up. It's quite possible that we have our athlete in her. Anytime she is playing with a ball of any sort, she will go after it when it rolls around. I've heard stories of Corey doing this as a baby as well and we all know what an athlete he is! Before we ever even have kids, I always joked that we would have a boy who was calm, mellow and a musician like I was and we would have a girl who would be little Corey and be an athlete and a pistol as a teenager! We'll see if my thoughts prove correct!
We got our first puppy as a family during Laynie's 8th month! She is a lab/Weimaraner mix that we got from Ms. Anna. Corey is planning on training her to be a hunting dog but she will be our family dog as well, of course. Laynie has done really well with the puppy and Sadie is good with her for the most part too. She tries to nip at Laynie but we keep a close eye on them together.
She had her first Easter at 8 months! She got some mum mums and yogurt melts from the Easter Bunny. We went to mass in the morning where she was a total ham making faces with the people behind us. In the afternoon, we went to my Aunt Martha's to spend the day with family. The kids did an Easter egg hunt and had a blast! Rex had his first swim of the year with his cousin Olivia since Uncle Gilbert turned the heater on for the pool! It was a great Easter Sunday!
Finally at her 9 month appointment, She weighed 17 lbs (18th percentile), measured 27.6 inches long and had a head circumference of 48 cm (93 percentile)...Yes, I said 93rd percentile for her big noggin! She definitely looks like a Romero but her head size is ALLLL ROBINSON!! :) just kidding! Love you, Poppa! She is finally fitting into 6 month clothes and is wearing size 3 diapers. She can still squeeze into size 2's but they're a little snug.
She loves laughing at her brother when he is being silly. He plays pretty well with her for the most part but is still working on sharing with his sister and not freaking out if she grabs something of his. She is still definitely a momma's girl! She gets so so excited to see me when I pick her up every day. I just love it!
I can't believe we are only 3 months away from planning my baby's 1st birthday party! It's crazy to me! I'm looking forward to a fun new month with my wiggles!
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Laynie's 1st hospital stay & 5/6 months old
Well...I was on a 5 month roll and lost track! What can I say? I am who I am! One day, Laynie will read these and see who her mother is for who she is...a busy procrastinator! Although she is actually 9 months as of the date I'm writing this, I'm going to break it into segments since so much has been going on!
A little after Laynie turned 5 months, my poor baby had her first hospital stay. She developed this little rash on her bottom that looked like little pimples. We went to Austin for my birthday in early January and I remember her having it then but it would come and go with diaper cream so I didn't think much of it. On Monday, January 13, when I dropped her off at Ms. Anna's the bump didn't seem bad...nothing to worry about. It was on her left butt cheek. By the time I picked her up, it had gotten bigger and redder. I knew we probably needed to go to the doctor but was planning on taking her the next day after work. I decided though to go ahead and make her an appointment for Tuesday morning. Monday night, she became increasingly more fussy and the spot was continuing to redden and she started running a little fever. By Tuesday morning it was firm, had come to a white head, and was warm to the touch. It was also painful when it was touched. Thank God I had decided to take her to the doctor instead of waiting! We had to see Dr. Onhaizer, one of the other pediatricians at Pearland Pediatrics, because Dr. Gray (her regular pedi) was on maternity leave. He took one look at it and said it was an abscess that needed to be incised and drained meaning they would have to poke it with a needing and apply pressure to push the infection out. Sorry for the gory details! He contemplated sending us to Texas Children's right then. I really appreciated how much thought he put into it (I could tell he was really pondering the best decision) so I asked him what he would do with his own children. He said that's exactly what he was thinking about and said that he felt that we had caught it early enough to handle in the office. They moved us to a larger room in the office so that he had more room to move. He sprayed lidocaine on it to topically numb it but aside from that, there was no anesthetic. As soon as he sprayed the lidocaine, the abscess opened on its own but he still had to puncture it with the needle to make sure it was open enough to push all of the infection out. He applied a lot of pressure and there was quite a bit that came out. Needless to say, this was absolutely horrible to experience! She cried so so much! I felt so so bad. At the end, he placed a large band aid on it and gave us an antibiotic cream to apply. He also said she would need to sit in warm baths a few times a day to continue pushing the infection out. We went home and spent the rest of the day with lots of cuddles of course!
By the next day (Wednesday), the spot looked a little bit better and she had broken her fever so we were crossing our fingers we were on the right track. However, by the end of the night, it wasn't really looking much better and she was still in pain. I called all of my nurse friends/family possible to see if anyone could provide any tips. My cousin Lorie who works in cardiology at Texas Childrens ended up being my life line and offered the best advice! I explained everything to her and she said from what I was explaining that it may be closing back up and that unfortunately, with cases like this, they often have patients who tried to take care of it in office but ended up in the hospital anyway. She said they would probably end up admitting her to the hospital and perform surgery and to keep her on strong antibiotics. I thought this was crazy!! I was freaking out and praying that it was in fact healing rather than worsening. As the night progressed, the area was still very red, hot to touch and was becoming firm again. I called the on-call doctor and he said it did sound like it was closing back up and that she would need to be seen again. He didn't feel it was severe enough to need to rush to the ER because ER's at night are a mad house but he suggested that we take her into the office first thing Thursday morning. We went ahead and did that and by the morning, it had come to a head again meaning it definitely need to be opened and drained again. Dr. Onhaizer said they could do it again in office but we decided to go ahead and take her to the ER.
We got to the ER and there was only a few other kiddo's there waiting, thank goodness. We still had to wait quite a long time in the ER room before we knew what was happening. The worse part was that we could not feed her anything in case she had to have surgery. We finally got confirmation around 5 or 6 in the evening that they would in fact perform surgery to incise and drain the abscess and that she would have to be placed under general anesthesia and everything. Everything Lorie had told me was spot on! She definitely knows her stuff! I'm so glad she had told me all of that before because I probably would have been beside myself had I now known that was a possibility in advance. They started IV's to get her some fluids to keep her hydrated since she could not eat anything. Putting the IV in was so difficult because her little hands are chubby and her veins are hardly visible. The nurse had to put a light under her hand to illuminate her veins. He missed the first time and had to stick her again. Daddy had a VERY difficult time watching this and became very impatient! I stayed holding her head and trying to console her while he was on light duty to help the nurse see her veins. Ultimately, we had to turn the lights off with the small light under her hand until the moment he pushed the needle in to allow visibility as long as possible. Once it was in, and she calmed down, my sweet happy baby was her typical happy self! She was even trying to wiggle around and roll like she always does. My baby was so so strong! My mom came around 8 in the evening to bring us clothes and some other things we needed and stayed until Laynie was out of surgery and into a room.
They finally took us up to the Pre-Op surgery area around 8:30 or 9. The 3 of us got of course got to sit there with her until they took her back around 9:30. I'm surprised how well I did through all of this! I never cried once. I guess knowing that I was at one of the best hospitals in the world with the best doctors and also having the heads up from Lorie before all of this actually happened was comforting. The procedure was very quick. She was out in about 20 minutes. They made two incisions, basically poked two holes and drained it out completely. A loop drain was placed between both holes to keep it open. The "loop drain" looked more like a twist tie used at the grocery store and allowed for infection to continue to exit if there was any. It would need to stay in for a week then could be removed. Once she was in recovery, they fed her right away and boy was my poor baby hungry! She was a little groggy and fussy but once she was awake, which was only after about 15 minutes, she was smiling like crazy!! The nurses couldn't get over it! We were in recovery for a bit then were moved to a room for the night. They continued her on IV fluids and antibiotics. She did great through the night so we were able to head home by about 11 the next morning. She would continue to need to sit in a warm bath a couple of times a day so Nana (Corey's mom) came to the rescue and kept Laynie for a few days so that I could go back to work. Gammie (Corey's step mom) also kept her one day. I am so so thankful for all of the help we got from our parents during all of this! She healed perfectly from everything and now has a little scar where each hole was...nothing major that anyone will see anyway.
I asked the doctor over and over again what we did wrong that caused this. I will be the first to admit that I am not a germ-o-phone at all...if some food falls on the floor, pick it up and eat it! I just don't freak too much about germs and I can honestly say I am hardly ever sick. So I asked if it was possible that I was not clean enough...should we have done something different with the rash?? What did we do to cause this?!?! I was assured by multiple doctors that it was just bad luck. There was nothing I did "wrong" to cause this. He said some kids just get these and that the diaper area is a very common area because it's warm and confined. He said they sometimes see kids who get them over and over. I'm praying our case is not one of those! Needless to say, if I see any little rash or bumps on her, I am on it like white on rice! We keep a tube of the antibiotic cream just in case. Lab results later confirmed that it was staph with MRSA. We're still not certain where it came from but the doctor explained that staph can easily be carried and "live" in various places of your body without infecting the area, like nostrils. He had us put antibiotic cream in our noses as well to kill the infection in case it were there. Fortunately the antibiotics she was on were effective and she has been perfectly fine since then!
The week all of this happened was also my first week of classes for grad school. I swear it seems God was testing my limits with all of these things going on. I kid you not...life has been non-stop since our episode with the hospital! It is finally slowing down a little but only temporarily!
Now the fun stuff about my little Wiggles! I tried to jot down notes as much as possible in my phone so that when I finally had the time to blog, I would remember it all!
At 5 months she was still taking 2 naps: 1 in the late morning and one late afternoon. We finally transitioned her to sleeping in the crib January 5 and she did wonderful! She LOVES her blanket and likes to have it on her face when she goes to sleep. At first this was a little scary but she's been fine. Over the weekend while we were in Austin (before the hospital), she found her tongue and sticks it out most of the time!
Laynie officially turned 6 months old on January 25. She weighed 14 lbs and was in the 14th percentile for weight. She was 25 inches and in the 22 percentile for height and came down a little in percentiles for head circumference at 43 cm which is in the 63rd percentile!
She is still wearing size 3 month clothes and size 2 diapers. Laynie is drinking Gentlease formula (we buy the store brand) and has cereal with a bottle in the morning and eats stage 1 foods for lunch and dinner in addition to her formula.
She is sitting up really good and started getting to her knees as if she may crawl. She also experienced her first Super Bowl and cheered on the Denver Broncos! We spent super bowl sunday at Lacey & Casey's house.
Laynie is such a good and happy baby! She smiles so much and is just so content! She loves her jumperoo and the bouncy seat. She also loves playing in her Laugh and Learn Car. Rex loves it too and has to be reminded that it is Laynie's car, not his! Watching the two of them has continued to be so exciting!
Friday, January 3, 2014
Laynie is 5 months old!
My sweet baby girl turned 5 months old on Christmas Day, December 25, 2013. The last month has definitely been an eventful one! I'm a little delayed in writing this because of all of the festivities as well as some technical difficulties! But at least I'm sticking to my monthly blog! yay!
Laynie weighs 14 pounds, .02 ounces. We were able to weigh her when we took Rex for his 3 year check up. She is wearing 3-6 month clothing, but mostly 3 month. Some of her 3 month jammies are getting a little tight but some still fit. Most of the 6 month clothes are still too big. I found yet another box of size 1 diapers in her closet (even though I "knew for sure" we were out of them as of my last blog!) so I'm hoping we get through that box before she grows out of them. They fit but they're getting snug!
She has quite a healthy appetite! Dr. Gray had us go ahead and start with fruit solids including pears, apple sauce, and prunes due to Laynie's constipation. She preferred food over juice or Karo. It got pretty bad a couple of times so I'm try to be very strategic about what she eats. I still typically put dark karo syrup in 2-3 bottles per day to assist with keeping her regular. Sometimes I feed her cereal with juice instead of formula. For lunch she eats either cereal with formula or cereal with juice. For dinner she eats a fruit with cereal. She still takes about 4 ounces of milk for all other feedings. She adjusted very easily to taking solids. She's just very nosey and looks all over the place which sometimes makes it difficult to feed her. I typically sit her in her bumbo and feed her but I'm putting her in her high chair more often now.
Over the last month, I slowly produced less and less milk. For awhile I was only feeding her in the middle of the night but even doing that one feeding, my supply dwindled and I wasn't able to keep up. The last time I breastfed her was around mid December. I had hoped to make it to Christmas with feeding in the evenings but it just didn't work out. I am proud though for making it to where I did. It was one of the most rewarding experiences and I strongly encourage any mom who is able to breast feed to do so. I miss the bond more than anything but I'm so glad I got to experience it this time. On a happy note though, I never engorged or had pain when I stopped. I'm assuming it's because it was a gradual stop rather than all at once. The same thing happened with Rex. Yay for no pain! It has been nice not having to worry about what I'm eating or taking or drinking, especially through the holidays!
She sleeps pretty well at night! She typically has dinner around 7 or 7:30 then she'll play a little bit then take a 4 ounce bottle. After that, she'll play a bit then go to sleep around 9 or 9:30. This is about the same time Rex goes to sleep. Laynie will sleep until about 3 or 4 for a feeding. She'll have her bottle then go right back to sleep. She typically wakes up around 7 or 7:30. Of course, when I'm back at work, I have to wake her around 6:30 to get dressed and head to Ms. Anna's. During the day, she takes a morning nap which is typically about 30 minutes then she takes a long afternoon nap starting anywhere from 1:00 to 3:00.
She still sleeps in the co-sleeper next to our bed. My plan was to transition her to the crib over Christmas break and it has yet to happen! Yes, momma is having some separation issues! Seriously though, I couldn't find the plug to the monitor so I could not imagine moving her in there without a monitor! That was excuse #1. Excuse #2 was that she's had a stuffy nose for a week or 2 and I didn't want to move her until it passed so that I could closely monitor her. Good excuses, right?? :)
She is definitely quite the roller! She rolls both ways-back to belly and belly to back. She typically only rolls to her right and keeps rolling the same direction. When I lay her on her play mat, its usually not long before she rolls over. A lot of times I'll step away for a bit and she's rolled off the mat and onto the floor. She is very active and very wiggly! I call her wiggles all the time and even Rex has started to call her Wiggles! She was the exact same way in my belly...to the point that I was concerned she was having a seizure or something sometimes because she moved so much. One day this month, she was wiggling so much while she was playing on her mat that she somehow managed to get her foot out of her footie pajamas!
We are currently working on sitting up. She's almost there. She still needs some support but I know it will only be a matter of time until she's sitting up on her own.
This month I transitioned to giving her a bath in her tub in the big tub rather than in the kitchen sink. It's easier and she does well with it.
Laynie is such a happy baby. She smiles at anyone and people just love her! My favorite smiles are her morning smiles when I peek into her bed and say good morning. She gets so excited! I'm going to have to get it on video and share it! These last 2 weeks, she's become a little more demanding of my attention but for the most part, she is pretty content most of the time. She loves her bouncy seat, activity mat, and jumper exersaucer thing. This month she has also discovered spitting and making raspberry sounds so that is fun for her! Not so fun when I am trying to feed her but still kind of funny!
I definitely have a drooly baby on my hands! She constantly has her hands in her mouth and is chewing on her fingers. Unless she has a bib on most of the day, I have to change her outfit often because the top of her shirt gets completely wet with drool. I have a feeling teeth may be right around the corner!
Watching her and Rex bond more and more over time is one of my favorite things to witness. Although I have brothers and sisters, I did not grow up with any of them so I've never had a first hand experience with a sibling bond in regards to growing up together so I'm loving watching their relationship grow. Rex loves her so much and is so so sweet with her. He talks to her and calls her "mamacitas" and says "Yaynie" instead of "Laynie." He often says "Hi Laynie! We have so much to do today!" or says "You ready to go bye-bye Mama?" when we're getting ready to leave. He LOVES to lay with her on her play mat and loves to touch her head. I know as they continue to grow together, they will teach me so many lessons about love and that sibling bond. I'm so excited to watch them grow together.
Over the last month she had her first Thanksgiving, celebrated her big brother Rex's 3rd birthday and celebrated her 1st Christmas. It has been a busy busy month but a blessed one for sure! She got the laugh and learn car for Christmas from Santa and a multitude of toys from all of the grandparents. We spent Christmas Eve at Nana and Pop's (Corey's parents) and (hopefully) started a new tradition of having my mom and Corey's dad over at our house for Christmas morning breakfast. Later in the day, we went to my moms for Christmas dinner with my family. It was a wonderful first Christmas for my baby girl!
I'm excited to see what the next month holds! Maybe sitting up?? Maybe starting to crawl??? Time will tell!
Laynie weighs 14 pounds, .02 ounces. We were able to weigh her when we took Rex for his 3 year check up. She is wearing 3-6 month clothing, but mostly 3 month. Some of her 3 month jammies are getting a little tight but some still fit. Most of the 6 month clothes are still too big. I found yet another box of size 1 diapers in her closet (even though I "knew for sure" we were out of them as of my last blog!) so I'm hoping we get through that box before she grows out of them. They fit but they're getting snug!
She has quite a healthy appetite! Dr. Gray had us go ahead and start with fruit solids including pears, apple sauce, and prunes due to Laynie's constipation. She preferred food over juice or Karo. It got pretty bad a couple of times so I'm try to be very strategic about what she eats. I still typically put dark karo syrup in 2-3 bottles per day to assist with keeping her regular. Sometimes I feed her cereal with juice instead of formula. For lunch she eats either cereal with formula or cereal with juice. For dinner she eats a fruit with cereal. She still takes about 4 ounces of milk for all other feedings. She adjusted very easily to taking solids. She's just very nosey and looks all over the place which sometimes makes it difficult to feed her. I typically sit her in her bumbo and feed her but I'm putting her in her high chair more often now.
Over the last month, I slowly produced less and less milk. For awhile I was only feeding her in the middle of the night but even doing that one feeding, my supply dwindled and I wasn't able to keep up. The last time I breastfed her was around mid December. I had hoped to make it to Christmas with feeding in the evenings but it just didn't work out. I am proud though for making it to where I did. It was one of the most rewarding experiences and I strongly encourage any mom who is able to breast feed to do so. I miss the bond more than anything but I'm so glad I got to experience it this time. On a happy note though, I never engorged or had pain when I stopped. I'm assuming it's because it was a gradual stop rather than all at once. The same thing happened with Rex. Yay for no pain! It has been nice not having to worry about what I'm eating or taking or drinking, especially through the holidays!
She sleeps pretty well at night! She typically has dinner around 7 or 7:30 then she'll play a little bit then take a 4 ounce bottle. After that, she'll play a bit then go to sleep around 9 or 9:30. This is about the same time Rex goes to sleep. Laynie will sleep until about 3 or 4 for a feeding. She'll have her bottle then go right back to sleep. She typically wakes up around 7 or 7:30. Of course, when I'm back at work, I have to wake her around 6:30 to get dressed and head to Ms. Anna's. During the day, she takes a morning nap which is typically about 30 minutes then she takes a long afternoon nap starting anywhere from 1:00 to 3:00.
She still sleeps in the co-sleeper next to our bed. My plan was to transition her to the crib over Christmas break and it has yet to happen! Yes, momma is having some separation issues! Seriously though, I couldn't find the plug to the monitor so I could not imagine moving her in there without a monitor! That was excuse #1. Excuse #2 was that she's had a stuffy nose for a week or 2 and I didn't want to move her until it passed so that I could closely monitor her. Good excuses, right?? :)
She is definitely quite the roller! She rolls both ways-back to belly and belly to back. She typically only rolls to her right and keeps rolling the same direction. When I lay her on her play mat, its usually not long before she rolls over. A lot of times I'll step away for a bit and she's rolled off the mat and onto the floor. She is very active and very wiggly! I call her wiggles all the time and even Rex has started to call her Wiggles! She was the exact same way in my belly...to the point that I was concerned she was having a seizure or something sometimes because she moved so much. One day this month, she was wiggling so much while she was playing on her mat that she somehow managed to get her foot out of her footie pajamas!
We are currently working on sitting up. She's almost there. She still needs some support but I know it will only be a matter of time until she's sitting up on her own.
This month I transitioned to giving her a bath in her tub in the big tub rather than in the kitchen sink. It's easier and she does well with it.
Laynie is such a happy baby. She smiles at anyone and people just love her! My favorite smiles are her morning smiles when I peek into her bed and say good morning. She gets so excited! I'm going to have to get it on video and share it! These last 2 weeks, she's become a little more demanding of my attention but for the most part, she is pretty content most of the time. She loves her bouncy seat, activity mat, and jumper exersaucer thing. This month she has also discovered spitting and making raspberry sounds so that is fun for her! Not so fun when I am trying to feed her but still kind of funny!
I definitely have a drooly baby on my hands! She constantly has her hands in her mouth and is chewing on her fingers. Unless she has a bib on most of the day, I have to change her outfit often because the top of her shirt gets completely wet with drool. I have a feeling teeth may be right around the corner!
Watching her and Rex bond more and more over time is one of my favorite things to witness. Although I have brothers and sisters, I did not grow up with any of them so I've never had a first hand experience with a sibling bond in regards to growing up together so I'm loving watching their relationship grow. Rex loves her so much and is so so sweet with her. He talks to her and calls her "mamacitas" and says "Yaynie" instead of "Laynie." He often says "Hi Laynie! We have so much to do today!" or says "You ready to go bye-bye Mama?" when we're getting ready to leave. He LOVES to lay with her on her play mat and loves to touch her head. I know as they continue to grow together, they will teach me so many lessons about love and that sibling bond. I'm so excited to watch them grow together.
Over the last month she had her first Thanksgiving, celebrated her big brother Rex's 3rd birthday and celebrated her 1st Christmas. It has been a busy busy month but a blessed one for sure! She got the laugh and learn car for Christmas from Santa and a multitude of toys from all of the grandparents. We spent Christmas Eve at Nana and Pop's (Corey's parents) and (hopefully) started a new tradition of having my mom and Corey's dad over at our house for Christmas morning breakfast. Later in the day, we went to my moms for Christmas dinner with my family. It was a wonderful first Christmas for my baby girl!
I'm excited to see what the next month holds! Maybe sitting up?? Maybe starting to crawl??? Time will tell!
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Laynie is 4 months!
Laynie Magdalena is 4 months old!!
Laynie turned 4 months on Monday, November 25. Her 4 month check up was the next day (today). She weighs 12 pounds, 11 ounces and measures 24 inches long. Her head circumference is 42 centimeters! She is in the 25th percentile for weight, 39th for height and 75th for head size! haha!! I still think it's so funny that she is in the 75th percentile for her head. It really doesn't seem that big to me! She's got the cutest chubby cheeks that make her look much chubbier than she really is. Rex was typically in the 25th-ish percentile for weight so I'm still thinking she's going to be on the small size like him. She got 4 shots today and was definitely more fussy than usual. My poor baby!
Laynie is wearing 3 month clothes and size 1 diapers. We found another big box in the closet so that got us through even longer. I know now, we're on our last box of size 1's so we'll switch to size 2 when we run out of the 1's. Over the last month, my milk supply has slowed down dramatically so she is mostly formula fed now. When I went back to work, I had a feeling I would do good with pumping until that extra busy week of things going on hit. And sure enough...it hit! I had 4 ARD meetings in a week so I was very busy getting those prepared and started pumping in the afternoon right after school instead of around 11 like I had been. Once that happened, my production slowed big time and I ran out of the supply that I had in the freezer. So for about the last 2 weeks, she gets formula all day and I went ahead and stopped pumping. I nurse her either when I get home from work or at night to go to sleep and when she wakes up for her feeding in the middle of the night. It's been a very bittersweet thing for me because I really wanted to at least make it to 6 months so I didn't meet my goal. It's also been nice, though, not to stress about pumping at work. I'm enjoying continuing to nurse in the evenings so we still get to have that bond and at least she is still getting some breast milk. I'd like to continue doing at least that through 6 months, or at least through Christmas! Time will tell...
This month I discovered for sure that Laynie is sensitive to milk. I drank a good size milk shake and it made her very gassy and fussy. I felt so bad! She is drinking the Gentlease formula and that seems to fit her very well.
Starting this month, we will start introducing solids. We tried rice cereal for the 1st time today. She wasn't too crazy about it! We'll keep trying, of course :)
She is still sort of random with naps during the day. She still takes her little catnap around 7 every night and is ready for bed between 8:30 and 9. She wakes at night around 3:40 AM and sometimes more often but typically she only wakes once.
At 3 1/2 months, Laynie rolled over for the first time!! She didn't do it again, though, until this last Sunday (the day before she turned 4 months). She gets so close all the time but doesn't quite make it over. I'm sure over the next month she will be rolling all over the place
We went on our first road trip this month! On November 9, my cousin Adrian got married to his beautiful wife Lindsey in Wimberley, Texas, about 3 hours away. We took the kids with us but Ashley went to her moms that weekend as well so that they could keep the kids while we went to the wedding. Laynie did pretty well on the road. She fussed here and there but over all it wasn't bad. We are planning on going to the deer lease the first weekend in December which will be a longer drive so I'm anxious to see how she does then.
Right after she turned 3 months, we celebrated Laynie's first halloween! My niece Valerie bought her first costume and she was Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She looked sooooo cute!! It was the cutest little onesie costume! We went trick or treating in Cody and Ashley's neighborhood. Laynie was asleep by the time we got around the block!
Rex has continued to be a wonderful big brother to his little sister! Aside from waking her up from time to time, he is so so loving with her! He mimics the way I talk to her in his little high pitched voice and Laynie just smiles away at him! I'm so excited to watch them bond more and more as she grows older.
This next month will be so exciting with all of the holidays coming up and a mountain of birthdays! I'm so excited to celebrate her first Christmas! Rex is at such a fun age for Christmas so it's even more exciting.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!
Laynie turned 4 months on Monday, November 25. Her 4 month check up was the next day (today). She weighs 12 pounds, 11 ounces and measures 24 inches long. Her head circumference is 42 centimeters! She is in the 25th percentile for weight, 39th for height and 75th for head size! haha!! I still think it's so funny that she is in the 75th percentile for her head. It really doesn't seem that big to me! She's got the cutest chubby cheeks that make her look much chubbier than she really is. Rex was typically in the 25th-ish percentile for weight so I'm still thinking she's going to be on the small size like him. She got 4 shots today and was definitely more fussy than usual. My poor baby!
Laynie is wearing 3 month clothes and size 1 diapers. We found another big box in the closet so that got us through even longer. I know now, we're on our last box of size 1's so we'll switch to size 2 when we run out of the 1's. Over the last month, my milk supply has slowed down dramatically so she is mostly formula fed now. When I went back to work, I had a feeling I would do good with pumping until that extra busy week of things going on hit. And sure enough...it hit! I had 4 ARD meetings in a week so I was very busy getting those prepared and started pumping in the afternoon right after school instead of around 11 like I had been. Once that happened, my production slowed big time and I ran out of the supply that I had in the freezer. So for about the last 2 weeks, she gets formula all day and I went ahead and stopped pumping. I nurse her either when I get home from work or at night to go to sleep and when she wakes up for her feeding in the middle of the night. It's been a very bittersweet thing for me because I really wanted to at least make it to 6 months so I didn't meet my goal. It's also been nice, though, not to stress about pumping at work. I'm enjoying continuing to nurse in the evenings so we still get to have that bond and at least she is still getting some breast milk. I'd like to continue doing at least that through 6 months, or at least through Christmas! Time will tell...
This month I discovered for sure that Laynie is sensitive to milk. I drank a good size milk shake and it made her very gassy and fussy. I felt so bad! She is drinking the Gentlease formula and that seems to fit her very well.
Starting this month, we will start introducing solids. We tried rice cereal for the 1st time today. She wasn't too crazy about it! We'll keep trying, of course :)
She is still sort of random with naps during the day. She still takes her little catnap around 7 every night and is ready for bed between 8:30 and 9. She wakes at night around 3:40 AM and sometimes more often but typically she only wakes once.
At 3 1/2 months, Laynie rolled over for the first time!! She didn't do it again, though, until this last Sunday (the day before she turned 4 months). She gets so close all the time but doesn't quite make it over. I'm sure over the next month she will be rolling all over the place
We went on our first road trip this month! On November 9, my cousin Adrian got married to his beautiful wife Lindsey in Wimberley, Texas, about 3 hours away. We took the kids with us but Ashley went to her moms that weekend as well so that they could keep the kids while we went to the wedding. Laynie did pretty well on the road. She fussed here and there but over all it wasn't bad. We are planning on going to the deer lease the first weekend in December which will be a longer drive so I'm anxious to see how she does then.
Right after she turned 3 months, we celebrated Laynie's first halloween! My niece Valerie bought her first costume and she was Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She looked sooooo cute!! It was the cutest little onesie costume! We went trick or treating in Cody and Ashley's neighborhood. Laynie was asleep by the time we got around the block!
Rex has continued to be a wonderful big brother to his little sister! Aside from waking her up from time to time, he is so so loving with her! He mimics the way I talk to her in his little high pitched voice and Laynie just smiles away at him! I'm so excited to watch them bond more and more as she grows older.
This next month will be so exciting with all of the holidays coming up and a mountain of birthdays! I'm so excited to celebrate her first Christmas! Rex is at such a fun age for Christmas so it's even more exciting.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)