7 Months

 I swear I hit the baby lottery. We had our rough patch with the sleeping bit, but really, I know it wasn't that rough. I know that there are babies out there that sleep much less than B ever did. And now that she's sleeping??? This girl is so mellow. So easy going. So...dare I say it...EASY! I feel like I've had two easy babes in a row and I don't even want to think about what a third would be like. We're due for a wild ride, huh? 

Aside from that, B has been up to a lot in the past month. She's sitting up by herself so well now and has even graduated to sitting in shopping carts! This mama is LOVING it! Random shopping trips are so much easier now. 

Hey, mama! I have a secret...

I blew out my diaper in the shopping cart!!

Just in the past few days, she started making progress with crawling. I call this the Millimeter Worm (Instead of the Inch Worm, get it?) Ok, enough bad jokes for one post.
 

We haven't made much movement in her clothes. Mainly because I don't really have any footy jams for her in 9 month, it's still not warm enough to go without, and she pulls her socks off in the middle of the night.

She has now experienced the taste of avocado, lima beans, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, zucchini, banana, and I got her these organic puffs that are kale, broccoli, and cheddar and she goes to town on those.

 
 Her overall feeling about the taste of food is not very enthusiastic. Her first taste of everything elicits a response like this..

  

I mixed some avocado and banana the other night and after giving me the face, she was whining for more. And more. And more. Guess she liked that!
After moving to solids, I noticed that she was having more trouble pooping for a while, so I also introduced her to a sippy cup with water. While a good portion of the water ends up on her clothes, she thoroughly enjoys it and does a great job handling the cup on her own.
 

She has also managed to perfect her timing with sneezing while she's eating. Mama looooves getting sprayed with food! Grrrr!

You know what else mama loves? Cleaning up puke at 1 in the morning. I am actually surprised this hadn't happened sooner. Like, with J. However, I can honestly say that this being my first experience with a baby throwing up in their crib, it wasn't too horrible. The smell was the worst part. Sorry for the TMI. Other than that, I could tell she was feeling fine (must have been a fluke??) and I enjoyed getting to comfort her, bathe her, and enjoy that sweet little face in the middle of the night with no other distractions, but knowing we both needed to get back to bed.

Hey, mama, these middle of the night parties are a blast!

Another first came this past month and B came down with a virus called Roseola. The nanny had texted me while I was on my way home from work the Thursday before Easter and said she had a fever of 100.2. When I got home, she was very warm and I could tell she didn't feel well. I got a cold rag to put on her forehead and got comfy on the couch with her and let her nurse herself to sleep. She took about an hour nap and seemed a bit better, but was still warm. We went about our night as usual and she slept just fine. Luckily, I had Good Friday off, and she woke up acting completely normal, but as the morning went on, I could tell she was still droopy eyed and not her normal self. The fever was gone, but she he had periods of agitation, where you could tell something was really bugging her, and then she would go back to normal. Saturday was spent in La Jolla watching my cousin Georgie play soccer and as the day went on, B was getting more and more irritable. My mom pointed out some red splotches on the back of her neck and I thought nothing of it. I've seen that before after she's been in her carseat or laying down. A bit later, it seemed as if it was spread across her forehead, into her scalp, and a little below her eyes. I finally decided not to worry myself any longer and we packed up and decided to head to the doctor. I called on our way and they had just closed for the day, so I left a message for the on call nurse to call me back. When she had heard B's symptoms, there was no hesitation at all and she said it sounded like Roseola. There is nothing that can be or needs to be done. The rash just has to run its course. She welcomed me to come in the next morning, but she assured me that it really wasn't necessary unless B was having trouble breathing or if her temp spiked again. So, we rode it out and when she woke up Sunday, she was still not 100%, but was close to it. By Monday, the rash was completely gone and I had my happy baby back!

Oh and Mother of the Year Award....that goes to me. Not because I took great care of my sick babe, but because we sat out in overcast weather without sunscreen or hats and SHOCKER, both girls got sun burnt. J's wasn't so bad, just some pink cheeks, but when B woke up Sunday morning, the edge of her scalp was all bubbled up and oozing. Ughhh, I still feel horrible about it. 

Her poor head a few days in. A lot of healing had already taken place.

After she had fully recovered from being sick, I got her back sleeping through the night (had a few nights of feedings around midnight) and she's sleeping from about 7 pm to 7 or 8 am. She will still wake on occasion, but she puts herself back to sleep.  For naps we seem to be getting one long-ish nap - and by long-ish, I'm talking an hour - and one or two 30 to 45 minute naps. 

In the past month she has started using me as a teether while she's nursing and it drives me nuts! She will nurse, nurse, nurse and then decide it's play time and chew, chew, chew! Mama don't play that!

Speaking of nursing...aside from the pure excitement and joy that she shows me when I get home from work, she also wants to nurse right away. Not a full meal, but she gets a little snack in and then she's golden.

When J was about this age, we used to sing the ABC's to her to calm her down. With B, she likes BINGO. She will go from crying and upset to wide eyed and smiley the second she hears me start singing it.

These hotel beds are amazeballs, mom!

Sun bathing beauty

You stay away from my milk stash, ya hear?

Lovin' the new wheels, mom!

I'm too sexy for my clothes. Too sexy for my clothes...

6 Months, 27 Days

SLACK-ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Yup, that's me. Some things just never change, right?

Well, here we are, nearing B's 7 month birthday and I'm just getting to a recap of her 6th. C'est la vie!

Happy Half Birthday, Brynnlee Bear!

Your 6 month stats were as follows:

17.10 pounds (76%), 27 inches (88%) and 43.5 cm (79%) head circumference

The doctor made her usual comment about how you don't look like you ever miss a meal and that she can't believe it's all from breastmilk alone, but it is! You are strong and thriving. 

You love your milk and that's all there is to it. Oh wait, except for that yumminess you started noticing me, your dada, and your sissy eating. You start thrusting your tongue, smacking your lips, and reaching for it all. You had your very first taste of real food at Disneyland. It is the happiest place on earth, after all, right? I let you have some smashed up steamed carrots from my rice and while most of it ended up on your shirt, you still enjoyed the experience. A few days later, I made you plain oatmeal mixed with breastmilk for your very first meal. I wouldn't say you loved it, but you definitely didn't hate it! It didn't take you long to get used to your spoon and learning how to keep some food in your mouth.
After oatmeal, you moved on to pureed carrots with oatmeal mixed in and then you went on to have peas. Nothing has really gotten you excited, taste-wise, but you definitely perk up when I put you in the Bumbo and you see me mixing your little bowl with your spoon!

When you are in a familiar environment, you are full of smiles, giggles, and tons of babble. Would you mind throwing a little shout out to the one that gave birth to you though?? This "dadada" stuff is giving Dada a big head ;o) On the flip side, when we take you out of your element (ie: out of the house), you are still adorable as ever, but your shy side comes out. Your stranger anxiety picked up quite a bit between 5 and 6 months and as long as those darn "strangers" don't get too close, you just like to sit back and watch everyone interact with an expression like you see below.


To you, anything your big sissy does and says is pretty much the best thing ever. I love watching the two of you grow and play together and I know the years to come are going to bring such amazing memories for all of us.
Just before you hit 6 months, you started sitting up by yourself a little bit. I would get you balanced and see how long you could manage. It was my own little baby bootcamp for you, in hopes that you would be able to safely sit by yourself for some professional pictures (post on that to come soon). The practice didn't come in to play for our photo shoot, but your strength and balance definitely improved.


Rolling has never been something you are fond of. You are able to roll front to back, but would rather complain and throw a fit for someone to turn you over. I have yet to see you roll back to front, but Auntie Meghan found you on your belly at Grandma's house during her baby shower and I found you on your belly one time a few weeks later. Other than that, this is the most of what I have seen...
 
You're still somewhat fitting into your 6 month clothes, but your sleepers are getting a bit tight in the length. Your 9 month clothes fit great and your closet has exploded with options because of this. A lot of it is for summer weather though, which is why I'm still holding out on packing up the 6 month stuff.
Retiring your swaddles was flawless and I'm so proud of you for that. Now that you can move freely, though, you sometimes move all around your crib and like to sleep with both hands behind your head or one hand behind your back like this...

Speaking of your sleep...THANK YOU my little chunk! We are finally getting more sleep in this house. At about 5 and a half months you started making it through the night without feeding. I never expected to do this, but one night I had nursed you and then topped off your tank with an extra bottle and when you woke at around midnight, I let you FUSS it out. Ok, you did cry a bit at some points, but it was nothing horrible and about 20 minutes later.......SILENCE! Pure, beautiful, peaceful, SILENCE. You went back to sleep and did not make a peep till around 5am the next morning. You woke up, played with your feet and babbled for a bit and you'll never guess what happened next! YOU WENT BACK TO SLEEP AGAIN! Yup, I swear. This is no joke. From then on out, I knew it was possible. As long as I know that you have a full tummy and we're not spending the night away from home, I pretty much just let you do your thing and see you the next morning. You go down a little after 7pm and are up between 7 and 8am. It's awesome. It really is. Keep it up sweet girl!
Naps, on the other hand......naps are a different story. You are a total cat napper. You consistently get three naps each day, but the majority of them are only 30 to 40 minutes with the occasional 20 minuter or rarely something more than an hour. Your morning nap is about an hour and a half to two hours after you wake up and your midday and afternoon naps are about two and a half to three hours after you wake from the previous nap.  
The cradle cap is still holding on and I am trying to be consistent with applying coconut oil about 30 minutes before wash wash. Hopefully it will be gone soon.

I can't wait to get home from work each day and smother your face with kisses. Your face lights up when you see me and it fills my heart with so much joy. Being able to have you in my arms and stroke the silky soft skin on your hands is heaven for me. You are my sweet and sensitive one and I'll eat up all the time you need to cuddle up with me and hold on tight. As we celebrate your half birthday, I cannot believe it's already come and gone, but I am so anxious to see the little girl that you will become when you start moving and talking!

Happy 6 Months, Chunk A Monk! Here are a few more of my favorite pics from the past month. 

I Love You!

B turns 4 Months Old...and then 5!

The title of this post was almost, "B Stops Sleeping!" No joke. I don't know if it was the 4 month wakeful period, teething, the transition of me going back to work, that she was not eating enough during the day, all of the above??? But good heavens, this mama needed some solid ZZZzzzzzzZzZs! We spent a solid month or so dealing with an off the wall sleep schedule and once she was about to hit 5 months, she fell into her groove. We still have the occasional night of more than one wake up, but for the most part, she may fuss for a bit, fall back to sleep, wake around 2 or 3 to eat, fall back to sleep, fuss for a bit around 5, and fall back to sleep till 7:30 or 8. I can handle this!

She still napping multiple times a day for about 30 to 40 minutes, with the occasional 2+ hour nap. I have to remind myself to leave her in her crib when she wakes around the 30 or 40 minute mark because sometimes she will lay there and talk a bit or fuss a tad and 10 minutes later, she's asleep again.

She goes to bed between 7 and 8 and is up for the day around 7 or 8.
We do wash wash (bath) with both girls every other night.

 

 

It's so fun having them in the tub together and getting them all snuggly warm in their jams on our bed before I take Brynnlee to bed and Bobby takes Jordan to bed. 
About two weeks ago, I couldn't be bothered to swaddle her back up after she had wiggled one arm out, and I started leaving her right arm out of the swaddle from the get go. She took to this as if she knew no different, so after a week, I went for both arms. I still wrap the swaddle around her body because I really think she uses the swaddle as a hug sleep cue. Again, she took to both arms out seamlessly, so now I just need to pull the trigger on the whole thing and stuff those swaddles in one of the tubs under her bed!

I also decided to ditch the pacifiers too. While she took to one and used it on occasion, she was never dependent on it and is more apt to suck her thumb {ughhh} or hand when she needs that extra comfort to fall asleep. So, into the drawer they went. 
Through her fourth month she was getting three 6 ounces bottles while I was at work (every three hours) and in the last couple weeks, I have slowly added more to hopefully help with her night sleep and avoid having to nurse her and give her a bottle at night (I was doing that for a week or so). Now, at 5 months I am leaving three 7 ounce bottles. Yes, I said SEVEN! Dear god, this child is an oinker! It's like a daily challenge with myself to try and pump more than she takes while I am gone (HA!) or to be home before she takes her third bottle so that I can nurse her instead. While I'm at work, I have gotten myself (not that this post is about me...) in a decent routine and I pump three times a day. At 8, 11, and 2. On the rare occasion that I didn't nurse her after 5am or so, I will also pump on my way to work and if I'm being a good girl, I will pump after I put her to bed. Every little bit helps, but dang, my nipples get sore!!

Right around four months, she finally started standing on a regular basis and thought she was so funny while doing so!

She's giggling SO much these days and I find myself in hysterics just listening to her!

The birthmark on her head is now a huge bump that causes her hair to stick up a little, but as with the others, it doesn't raise a cause for concern and should go away on it's own.

At her 4 month appointment she was 15 lbs. 13 oz (82%) and 26 inches (97%) head is 42 cm (79%)

Going back to work was a huge transition for the both of us. Just like her sister, she would get frustrated with the boob when I was home because she liked the instant gratification of the bottle. I ended up ordering these and whether it was the bottles or time that helped, it took a couple weeks for us to find our rhythm. Her sleep was thrown off a bit and she was majorly struggling to put herself to sleep. I was SO upset over this. I am such a sleep nazi and seeing all of my hard work go out the window because I had to go back to work was incredibly frustrating. But, like always, that hurdle was overcome and we got back to where we left off and she seems to nap better for the nanny than she does for me now.

At four months she was wearing all 6 month clothes and now at five months, she has broken into some 6-9 month stuff as well.
She is in size three diapers and, I can't believe I'm saying this, I have already contemplated putting her in fours! AYKM??? I can't do it. I seriously can't. She's not even 6 months old yet. Good grief!

I have been wearing her in the moby with her feet hanging out instead of all bundle up in the fetal position since about 4 months. She stopped sleeping as well in it, but I think that has more to do with how aware she is now, as opposed to the position.

We put the jumparoo together just after she hit four months. It took her a few days to really get it going, but she enjoys it.

Nursing has become an Olympic event in the last couple months. Between her clawing at my chest, craning her neck to watch the TV, coming off the boob to see what her big sis is up to (as I then spray milk all over the both of us!), the days of leisurely nursing are long gone!
Just like J, she enjoys wrapping her tiny little hand around my thumb while she nurses or falls asleep in my arms. This is one of those things that I soak up every bit of. Feeling her silky soft skin wrapped around mine, looking at all of the beautiful knuckle creases and her tiny little fingernails....I wish I could bottle it all up and save it forever.

The cradle cap is still hanging on, but it's not noticeable unless you really inspect her scalp. The bit between her eyebrows (you can see it in the pic below) can be tamed with lotion for now. Just the other night, I tried out some coconut oil before bath time and it seems to have help to get a bit more off, but I'm sure she will still need a few more rounds of it.

For the past two months, she has been trying to sit up on her own while lying down or while in her lounger on the couch, so as of this past weekend, I have officially put the lounger away. She can sit on her own temporarily, but needs a bit more work!
She enjoys laying on our Mickey Mouse blanket in the front yard on sunny afternoons while J chases bubbles, plays with acorns, or draws with sidewalk chalk.

She discovered her feet big time over the past two months and loves hanging out on her back, grabbing her toes and rolling back and forth and watching them move. I just love seeing her feet dance around in front of her face and her chunky thighs getting in the way of everything!

Chunk A Monk,
You have been an absolute joy in these first five months. Your calm, sweet nature is so fun to see and we can't wait to see more of your personality blossom in the coming months. You love to smile and laugh and are so curious about the world around you. Don't you worry, your big sis is so ready to show you the ropes and help guide you along the way. As you approach your half birthday, I can hardly believe we've already known you for almost six months. Keep sleeping, eating and thriving as you have been. Your family loves you to the moon and back, Brynnlee Bear.
XOXOXOX