6 (and 3/4) Months Old

Hello there happy readers! 

On December 9, Hailey turned 6 months old!  I just can't believe it.  Half a year has already passed, and another half a year from now we'll have a walking, talking 1 year old!  Is it too soon to start planning her first birthday party?  :)

She is growing like a weed!!  At her 6 month check up, she measured 28 inches long, which is in the 99th percentile!!  On the doctor's computer screen the little "x" for her height was literally off the chart!  No idea where the height comes from.. because neither Rian nor I are tall people, and neither is anyone in our families.  She is 17 pounds, 11 ounces, which is in the 80th percentile.  She's moved into size 6-9 months for most clothing to accommodate those long legs! 

In the past month since I've posted, Hailey has had lots of fun and exciting milestones.  She has become a lot more vocal, saying things like babababa and wawawawa.  It's so adorable.  She also does this really cute thing where she opens her mouth as if a really high pitched squeal is going to come out but then its this high pitched whisper instead............. hard to describe, but so cute to witness. 

She has also become very interested in faces.  She just stares at Rian and I and loves to reach out and touch our faces.  It is so sweet...... except for when she goes in for my hair! 


Just lovin' on grandma!

She has taken a big interest in Bucky in the past few weeks, too.  She loves pulling his ears and tail and then laughing at him when he tries to get away.  She thinks he is just the funniest thing!  And he still enjoys pulling the socks off her feet and licking food off her hands!  Strangely though, she doesn't go for his toys too much and he rarely goes after hers.  Must be a smell thing.  It's really cool to see her interact with him, and he's really protective of her, too, snuggling near her when she naps in the living room, and always coming to sniff her hello when we get home!

A big milestone that she reached about a month ago was sitting up all on her own.  Its really opened up a door to a whole new way of playing!  She's pretty steady, too, and good at catching herself whenever she starts to fall.  And it made her 6 month pictures so much easier!

A few weeks ago Hailey started waking up in the middle of the night again because she was trying to turn herself from back to tummy in the middle of the night.  Neither Rian nor I like the thought of her sleeping on her tummy, so we kept turning her back to her back and that just made her more angry!  We consulted the doctor and she said to just let her go and let her sleep on her tummy............. so that is what we are doing (sense the anxiousness in my voice/words...)!  Crazily enough, it works!  We stopped using the fleece sleep sack and switched to fleece jammies instead so she can have access to her full range of movement when and if she wants to turn over in the middle of the night.  Rian and I often go in there to make sure her little head is turned to the side and that she is breathing :) 

Her sleeping pattern is still a little crazy right now - but NOW its because she is teething!  The most adorable little tooth just popped through on the bottom left side, which is causing her lots of pain these days.  She LOVES when I give her a "pop-pop" which is a piece of ice inside a popsicle-looking mesh bag thing - it must feel so good on her gums.  She is a happy girl when she is chewing on anything soft, especially wet wash cloths... weird!  We also received some Hyland's teething tablets for Christmas and those work like a charm!

Hailey's first Christmas was a few days ago and it was a great day!  Hailey was lucky enough to receive lots of toys, books, and clothes!  And, she wore the same dress I wore on my first Christmas back in 1983 :)  Even though she's only 6 months old, it was so sweet to see Christmas through a child's eyes.  It's been so special to experience all of Hailey's "firsts" this holiday season - visiting Santa, seeing a Christmas tree and Christmas lights, and of course opening presents!  Being a mother is just the most amazing experience in the world.  I love that little girl more than words can say :)



I can get a better look at my new clothes this way!

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

5 Months Old & Homemade Baby Food

Yesterday, Hailey turned 5 months old.  I say this every month, but I really just can't believe how fast time is flying by.  It seems like every day she is doing something new!  She doesn't go back to the pediatrician until she is 6 months, but I'm sure her height and weight are still right on track.  She fills out most of her 3-6 month clothing, thanks to that adorably round tummy of hers!  She still has her gorgeous bright blue eyes, and her hair is coming in blonde... which is so strange to me since almost every person in my immediate and extended family has brown hair.  But Rian did have white blonde hair until he was about 4 years old so I'm sure that's where she gets it!

We started putting her in the Johnny Jumper and the Excersaucer, and they are really helping to strengthen her legs.  She reaches for all the toys attached to them and jumps up and down squealing with excitement!  When we lay her on the ground, she just rolls and rolls across the room!  Also when she is on her tummy, she can push herself up with her arms straight.  Then she raises her butt up and pushes her feet off the ground, trying to propel herself forward, but hasn't quite grasped that she needs to get her belly off the ground if she wants to go somewhere!  I'm sure she'll be up on all 4s in no time ;)  We are also working on sitting up.  She can do it if she supports herself with her hands in front of her, but once she moves those hands, her body slides forward - belly on the ground (flexible like mama!)! 

As for her language development, she makes all sorts of sounds with her mouth (ooohs, ohhhs, aaahs, and high pitched squeals.  She also makes the fffff sound a lot).  But her favorite is still blowing raspberries and making spitty, drooly noises!  So cute!  She smiles all the time, and has even given us a few belly laughs!  The first time she laughed I completely melted.  It was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard! 

She is such a daddy's girl, too.  She gets a huge grin on her face when he gets home from work and loves it when he sings her silly songs and plays with her.  He also has a knack for calming her down when she is upset.  He just scoops her up and walks around with her singing her the ABCs and she is quiet in no time.  I am so grateful for all he does to provide for our family, and Hailey and I (and Bucky) just love him so much!

The most fun part of this past month for me has been Hailey eating solid foods.  The first couple weeks we did cereal only, and then I started phasing in simple fruits and vegetables.  I'm starting with the milder yellow/orange fruits & veggies first: apples, pears, bananas, yellow squash, sweet potato, and carrots. The next phase will be adding in green veggies (peas, green beans, avacado, etc).   I am making the baby food myself, so it makes me feel good to know that she is getting wholesome, organic fruits and vegetables with no extra ingredients or fillers.  Plus it is so easy, fun, and cheap to make the food myself!  I use the Baby Brezza baby food maker, which is essentially a food processor with a steaming component built right in, so I just peel and chop the veggies/fruit, throw them in the bowl of the machine, and hit go!  It steams and purees the food, so then I just dish the puree out into individual 1oz or 2oz cubes and throw 'em in the freezer! 

Yummy sweet potatoes, apples, carrots, pears, and squash!

Mommy's little helper!

Stand back!  Or I'll poke you with this carrot!

Ta-Da!

I can't forget another big happening this past month - the Cardinals won the world series!!!  Hailey is a huge Cardinals fan :)  She sported her Cardinals tee for each game of the series (even while she was sleeping!).  We went downtown for the championship parade and even though she slept through it, I know she had a great time ;)

For Hailey's first Halloween, she was the cutest little lady bug you've ever seen! 

I have a feeling Hailey is going to have lots of milestones in the coming month, plus her first Turkey Day!  Stay Tuned!

4 Months Old

Little Miss H is now 4 months old!  Since I last posted in mid September, we have done lots of fun things as a family of 3. We've gone apple picking at Eckerts, gone to the Zoo, to the wineries (one trip with the baby, one trip without!), to Rombach's pumpkin patch, and to Chicago! Here are a few pics from those adventures:

I have noticed such a big change in her in the past month - she is really starting to grow up and develop a cute little personality.  She squeals with excitement when she plays with her toys and makes lots of other funny sounds with her mouth.  She can roll over and grab her feet now, too, which is so adorable! 
 

At her 4 month check up, she weighed in at 14 lbs, 14 oz (80%).  Still a little big for her age, but mommy doesn't mind the adorable chubby cheeks and chubby thighs one bit!  We also got the 'ok' to start solid foods, so for about 2 weeks now we've been doing rice cereal twice a day.  She is actually really good with it!  She ate the whole bowl the first time we tried it and every time since.  Probably because mommy buys the yummy organic whole grain brown rice cereal :)  Also a few days ago I started mushing up some bananas into her morning cereal - and she loves it!  This diet change has made a dramatic difference in her diapers, too... which is the not-so-fantastic part of solids!  She's really a stinker now! ;)

She is just so much fun to watch and play with.  Rian and I love her so very much!  And I've loved my first month of being a stay at home mommy, too.  It has been amazing to be with her every day!!  Next up - playdates!!

3 Months Old

Our Little Miss is growing like a weed.  Sadly there is no 3 month checkup with the pediatrician, so we won't know her new stats for another month.  But I can just tell she is getting so much longer! 

She is so alert these days and aware of her surroundings.  She babbles and coos like crazy.  We have some really cute conversations :)  And I love when she looks at me after waking up from a nap and gives me a big grin.  Makes me feel so special!  She is a pro at sitting in the Bumbo chair.  She loves sitting in it and playing with toys.  It's so interesting to see her brain working when she holds the toy with one hand, then slowly brings her other hand up to hold it with 2 hands then stares at it like "what is this!?"... then puts it in her mouth to give it a taste!  Also over the past few days I've seen her staring at her feet.  I bet she's thinking "how can I get these in my mouth?..." 

She still eats 6 times a day and sleeps all night long (in her big girl crib!).  We are still cloth diapering, too, which is going better than I anticipated.  We are using both the Flip system and BumGenius.  Those BumGenius diapers are just amazing!  They are pricey, but man do they work.  I got lucky in that I am borrowing about 20 BumGenius that my sister used with Collin, so those added to the 10 I bought plus the Flip System and we are more than covered!  I am leary to use them when we go out of the house... sometimes I do, sometimes I don't... it just depends on where we are going and how long we are going to be gone.  But when we are home, it is all cloth, all the time!  Gotta do my part to save the planet, but even more than that it has saved us SO much $$$.  And they're really cute :)

Her baptism went great.  She looked beautiful and behaved so well during the ceremony!  Here are some pics:

Last weekend we had some professional pictures taken of her - that was quite an experience! You never know what you're going to get with a baby... and we definitley got puke, screaming, and sleeping during our photo session! Still managed to get some keepers though :)

In other news (kind of), I quit my job last Friday.  I went back to work on August 29, but only lasted 2 weeks.  I just missed Hailey so much and wasn't feeling right about being away from her.  Especially with the job I had, I was often at the hotel for 12 or more hours per day and 1 or both weekend days, and I'm just not willing to be away from Hailey that much.  I am going to stay home for a while and focus on being a mommy.  I'll look for some part-time work at some point, but no more full-time Corporate America for this girl!  (Did I mention how good it felt to gather up all my stuffy suits and give them to Goodwill!? Amazing!)  Hailey is my number one priority, and she deserves all my time and love.  She is growing up right before my eyes!   LOVE THAT GIRL!