New Dog - New Tricks (10 months!)

This 10-month-old puppy learned a new trick this weekend...

I sat on the couch in hysterics yesterday as she yanked down the neck of my shirt... took a gander around, grabbed the edge of my bra and peeked inside....

"NIPPLE!" you could see it register in her brain, and she lunged for it, open-mouthed...


Weight: 16-6.5oz (we got weighed on the 12th - can't remember if I posted, but daycare called that day around noon saying she'd woken up from her nap with a 102.6 fever (taken under arm, which supposedly still needs a degree added to be accurate, so 102.5-103.5) and so I grabbed her, and went to the doctor where we discovered girl's first ear infections.  YUP plural - one in each ear... we just finished our 10 days of antibiotics this weekend!))

Height:(last measured at 9m - 27.5")

Eating: Everything still - except the Stage 3 chicken noodle stuff... lol won't eat it past a few bites... but loves her yogurt and banana in the morning.  Has gotten the hang of the sippy cups (she bites mostly, but can take down 2oz of milk FAST!) and gets her whole milk from there during the day (still nurses twice daily: morning as we get ready and right before bed)
I basically only send Stage 3 baby foods as a backup to daycare - she loves the food they prepare and offer - chicken lo mein last week! The baby food is for days like today - lunch is quesadillas which aren't so baby friendly...
We're also (still!) finishing up the freezer stash - I send a bag maybe twice a week, they mix it still (I think lol) with cow's milk... I definitely think she gets majority WCM at daycare, but whatev's - that means the BM lasts longer I guess.... just three bags left in the freezer!!!
Her favorite food may be cut up grapes and strawberries! (and her puffs... it could be mid-meltdown, but you shake the puffs container and she is hypnotized!)
** (I sent 3.5oz to a jewelry-gal, excitedly awaiting a necklace and some other pieces she's doing for free, as a "tester" for some new styles and metals she got!!!) 

Sleep: She's pretty much on one nap now (ugh) which is usually 1.5-2 hours, except yesterday when she only napped for under an hour... blugh
But as I said with Button, I guess I can't complain about naps when she sleeps 12 hours every night (basically without fail...)

Wearing: Size 3 diapers... we tried a 6M sleeper (Momma's in denial when it comes to cleaning out the drawers of clothes that are too small... she's ten months now!!) and it was basically a boat-neck/off-the-shoulder lol
so, 9M clothes - and even those pants can be a bit too short... ack!
(I just got a lot of 30+ pieces of 12M girl stuff off of Mercari for $20! so it's not like she doesn't have clothes to fit her... lol)

LOVES: being tossed in the air (lol), her brother's toys, and baths (she will positively DANCE in anticipation while standing at the edge of the bathtub watching it fill...)

HATES : having her (her brother's) toys ripped away by big brother...

Milestone: We discovered "piggies" (pigtails - see above picture on left!) and now need to stock up on those teeny little elastics!

 ALSO! she started walking with her (Button's old) walker this past weekend!

 E casually set her up with it (why didn't we try before now?) and she just started cruising around!!


We also had a tooth break through earlier this month! That sucker is the hardest thing to try and snag a picture of! Here's my best peek:

The next tooth, the other bottom one, has mounded up under the gums... hers seem to take forever to actually cut through, but once they're through - man they take off!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Daddy was away on a business trip from Thursday morning until Sunday, so we had crazy mornings in bed:

We did some lazy breakfast-for-dinner meals (where Mommy ate out of the frying pan, while standing up... this was Friday night and I was beat after a full work-week! and yes, that is spilled pepper... the plug fell out of the bottom of the shaker, and I didn't get around to cleaning it until the next morning!)

We also hosted a baby play/craft-date this weekend: Two friends and their boys came over to make "Bum-kins" (ok and drink and do some mommy-socializing... =P )

(What are "Bum-kins" you say?) 

With our finished little Bum-kins:

The kids all had fun, rotating between the bouncer, the travel highchair, and the floor...
While the dogs all tortured the babies (wouldn't stop licking their faces!), Button did great playing gently with them all!

The aftermath in the lower right picture... (this did not include the orange paint and newspaper we cleaned up before eating dinner!)

The kids were both exhausted by the time we were alone again (Button had skipped a nap, Ms. Mack basically only had about 45m worth....) so they were both down for the count by 8pm (YES!)

I was able to clean up and get the house back to decent shape...

Good thing, because Daddy arrived home Sunday morning around 7:45 (after a long night flying red-eye from the West Coast!)

We all had breakfast together, then he dragged himself to bed while I graciously took the kids with me food shopping...

When we returned, the dogs caused enough of a ruckus barking that they woke him up... so we finished off the beautiful day with a nice walk down our dead-end street...

You'd think it was 30 degrees outside from the way we bundled them up (Button took his hat off for the picture)
It was only in the 50's... lol

5 Months... Holy 'ISH

Can't believe this girl is...

Eating: no more 100% boob juice... she's a mean-eating-machine! While she still gets 3.5oz bottles (three each day) sent to daycare, and will eat anywhere from 1.5 to all 3 bottles, she's also getting two meals a day of Banana Oatmeal cereal (2-3Tbsp) and an oz or so of a fruit or vegetable (our repertoire so far includes apples, bananas, peaches, carrots and avocado - tonight we'll be trying butternut squash!

 (and I recently got those cool freezer storage "jars" to make our own food - not to say "boo-store-bought-baby-food" or "we're so crunchy-hippie" but more to save money!!! A jar of baby food averages $1 each, but I can get a bag of carrots/butternut squash/peas for the same price, boil/steam and puree them and get a large batch of baby food made!)

(I still have Wednesdays off, so then and weekends we still nurse on demand! (averages every 4 hours during the day around food...)

Sleep: her naps can be hit or miss (she took a great 2-hour nap recently at daycare!) and I think eventually she'll settle into a nap schedule (thanks to daycare) but nighttime?? Three consecutive nights she recently slept 11 straight hours!!!! (And then followed that up on the fourth night with three wake-ups, the first she was rocked back to sleep... and the fifth night with two wake-ups, again the first she was rocked back to sleep for another 3.5 hours before waking to eat... It's like, I know now you can make it 11 hours! Growth spurts aside, you can do it little girl!!! SLEEEEEEP!

Weight: no clue right now, next doctor weight is at 6 month appointment (AGH! SIX MONTHS NEXT?!?!)

Length: same as for weight...

Wearing: size 2 diapers (daycare had her in 1's the other day, which resulted in a huge blow out. lol) a few larger-brand 3M onesies, like when Mommy is in denial that she is moving up a size, and still wants to get wear out of that cute pair of 3M pants/outfit... (she can only wear 6M sleepers or larger, and 3M pants are definitely too short. lol)

Hates: getting dressed/undressed, hates having her nose/face wiped

Loves:bathtime (non-stop feet kicking and splashing!) and loves to watch her big brother and doggies play, loves being worn (ring sling, moby, ergo - it don't matter!)

Doesn't mind getting her nails did (still filing, haven't tried clipping yet!) and likes to play with her feet (happy baby yoga pose!)

Milestones: Can pretty much grab toys/hands/mommy's coffee on the first try, and with determination! She also reaches out and plays with her carseat toys all the time!

FIVE @ FIVE
1. When you nurse, you get all kinds of crazy - kicking feet (still) to grabbing and playing with my necklace to making sure the other boob is still there...

2. Your hair has recently gotten long/thick enough to make some really cute hairstyles (As we also saw in the very first picture of the post)

 3. Your baptism is this coming Sunday, and I cannot wait to see you in the cute white dress and bonnet! (complete with monogrammed bloomers... lol)

4. You and I love to occasionally go to a Saturday ballet class together - you snuggle tight in your carrier and usually snooze out a few minutes into class!

5. You love your foods! Each meal time we get you situated in your MamasPapas chair and bib, and you intently watch Daddy or Mommy prepare your food, and as soon as the spoon's airborne, your mouth is baby-bird-wide open!



BIG BROTHER:

Button has been having a blast at daycare, enjoying things like Monarch butterflies visiting and getting ready for the summer camp: water play, yoga, FitKidz - we're ready for the warm weather to come with it!!! (Swim lessons possibly soon!)

sleep training... (and 4 MONTHS?!)

yea no, I'm not talking about sleep training my 4 month old (who slept from 11pm to 6am last night!!)

No, I am in need of sleep training!! Because even when SHE was sleeping, I couldn't sleep through the night and was up at 3am! (Wonder why - 4 straight months of waking... lol)

I'm hoping last night's great stretch wasn't just a fluke/reaction to her shots that she got yesterday morning... She definitely fussed at daycare afterwards - 2 hour nap and some tylenol, she was feeling better and up to eating...

And speaking of - yup, we had her FOUR MONTH CHECK UP yesterday...

I'm almost sitting, Mom!

Ms. Madeline Mack:

Eating: 100% boob juice!  She gets 3.5oz bottles (three each day) sent to daycare - sometimes she will eat 1.5 bottles, sometimes she'll suck down all three by 2pm... (that's more a rarity)
otherwise (Wednesdays and weekends) she nurses on demand! (averages every 3 hours during the day...)


 we like to take morning selfies... lol
(and yes, after her 5/6am nursing session, she still comes into bed with me -
I need that last hr of sleep too bad to risk her fussing and being awake in her cradle...)

Sleep: her morning nap is still decent (yesterday after getting to daycare, she slept 2 solid hours post-shots!) afternoon ones, she likes to catnap about 30-45 minutes... nighttime sleeping is - eh... she most regularly averages a first stretch of 3-4 hours, and then is up about every 2, maybe 3 hours... oiy vey... (last night she fell asleep on daddy around 8:15, woke at 10:30 to eat, and then slept til 6!!!)

Weight: officially - 12lb6oz (butt naked! lol) and at first, that number disconcerted me, but then - she jumped up to the 25th-ish percentile! from the 10th! GO BABY GIRL! (I got a "good job" from the doctors! wooooot!)

Length: 24.5" - 50th percentile

Wearing: she can maybe fit in her 3M onesies if we stretch the snaps... otherwise, this long girl is in 6M (especially feetie-sleepers!) and size 1-2 diapers (just using up the last of size 1 huggies in the house, alternating with a pack of 2's that we have - both fit/hold it all in...)

Hates: waking up. lol first thing in the morning (her 8am ish wakeup) she fusses and cranks for about 5 minutes, and then is as happy as a clam...

Loves: when you shake your head side-to-side and make CRAZY noises. (lol)

Milestones:More laughs (best sound EVAR) and rolled over (from tummy to back) in her crib Thursday morning! (we need to do more tummy time, I know, so hopefully we can get some more of that rolling soon!)  Also got cereal (Oatmeal+Banana) last night for the first time!!! While the concept of eating off the spoon is (obviously) very new and foreign, she liked the taste and by the end was opening her mouth wide!

Hanging at the park on Wednesday in the beautiful weather...


and thank goodness it was nice, cuz Little Miss Mack decided to blow out her diaper (which was impressive - I got her out to change her mere SECONDS after I heard it...)


Since we were on a walking path, I'd only carried some wipes and diapers and left the spare clothes in the car


And so, we rode toga-style the rest of the walk!

















FOUR @ FOUR
1. It might take me longer in the morning to decide what YOU'RE going to wear, than to pick out my clothes for work... "what color bow with this?" or "are there matching leg warmers clean?!".

2. You wore a romper for the first time last weekend, and it was the cutest thing ever - I cannot wait for really warm weather to come and stay, so much fashion!

3. I said I would NEVER co-sleep (how dangerous! You'll never get them in their own bed/room!) And now, I have a hard time imaging you sleeping on your own in the crib in the nursery! (Of course, not until you sleep through the night more consistently either!)

4. You are the happiest baby - we stopped by the lactation consultant's office to return the Medela Symphony pump (PISA now at work!) and to weigh you, and you just held her finger, and watched her as she and your momma chatted... she even asked, "Is she always this good?"
Yup!



Big Brother!
We took a walk earlier this week in the gorgeous weather (as Daddy had a dentist appt after work)

Button loved it, as did Ms. Mack!

We also went and visited E's old fire house! (Last time Button was there was... well, take a look!)

we've got a busy weekend coming up (tomorrow I have a dentist appt at 10am, we have a kid's birthday party at 11:15, and then I have a long-awaited-for massage at 2pm... AND THEN - we head into NYC to meet up with my brother-in-law who is out from SoCal for a Navy class this weekend - we'll be bringing the kids, so we're going to have a LOOOONG day... (I think the kids will be fine, it'll be Mom and Dad that'll be worn down! We can hopefully spent Sunday recuperating!))

The Actual 2 Months Post

whew - now that the BF and Weight Chronicles are recorded, the fun stuff!

TWO MONTHS OLD!

Eating: during the day, nurses on average every 2-2.5 hours (some days it's more frequent (whew!) other days it's closer to 3 hours... If she's napping after being out, I will wake her at 3 hours to eat... Wake a sleeping baby?! (one that we're sensitive about her weight gain? YES!)
At night, she'll go 3-5 hours between feeds (which does not necessarily translate to sleeping for that long...

Sleep: morning naps are on point... after noon? touch and go. lol as long as I catch her in time, she'll nap great. If we don't (catch her in time) she'll pull an awake-stretch of 5ish hours... (OIY!)
She goes down at night anywhere from 9-10pm and usually wakes between 1:30-3am, will eat and go right back to sleep (yay! - momma's been taking 10 minutes to pump at this time of night to get some more freezer stash built up!) and then will wake 5:30-6a. She'll again eat and if I need, will go back to sleep for another hour or so... SCORE!

Weight: 9lb3oz (butt-naked official weight as of doctor's appointment on 2/15)
            or the more impressive 9lb12oz (unofficial weight at BF Group on 2/25)

Length: 22"
 (Head - 14.5")

her headband falls down, and I call her Ms. Justice

She got two shots at her official 8 week appointment, and that night was so grumpy and whiny - for lack of better description... She would whine a bit, and then out of nowhere give a big wail, just one, and then be quiet for awhile... poor girl!
We gave her first dose of Tylenol ever, gave her a warm bath, and nursed her (that's not a "we" thing... lol) and she settled down, and eventually conked out in her swing...

The next "official" measurements won't be until her next dr appt - at FOUR MONTHS OLD!!!

Wearing: mostly 0-3M sizes (some brands do 0-3M, some are just 3M - the 0-3M fit better than 3M right now... and some of our hand-me-downs are so worn, washed and shrunk she totally fits in the 3-6M!) long and lanky girl!

Hates: getting dressed/undressed, as soon as we finish with the socks, she is chill!

Loves: being naked... =P strip her to just a diaper and she'll lay there and be all, heeeeey! also likes a good bath, as long as momma can keep both hands moving independently, one with a constant stream of warm water on her belly while the other is soaping and washing...
Also loves to lay in the crib and watch her mobile (originally Button's!) she'll even smile at the animals when they stop moving...
She likes glasses! She'll smile more easily and quickly at people in specs!

Also loves her big brother's chair! 

(Yes, that's her watching TV... She likes Locked Up and Myth Busters)

Milestones: smiles now in response to our faces! (started a week or so before she hit two months) and can hold her head up like a rock-star!

TWO @ TWO
    1. You do this dancing jig when nursing now - your little legs start kicking and you start kneading me like dough... it's the cutest thing (until you pull off - I'm NOT MADE OF TAFFY...)

   2. You love your big brother! you love to watch him play, and will track him all the way from across the room... I can't wait to watch your relationship with him develop as you both get older!!!



 Ms. Mack -

no long letter, because you're actually beginning to stir from your morning nap (1.5 hours! Thank you girlie!)
Here comes some boob!

Ten @ Ten

(A little late (ok almost a week late...))
And a quick summary of the past week that I've not been posting - I had a therapy session.
Saturday night.
With My Circle - my 5 girls, my sisters! - with wine, and with tapas.
We laughed so hard, we cried.  The pregnant one peed her pants. 

 We over ate and over drank, which led to over sharing - but not really, cuz there's no such thing as over sharing on Girls Night!

What a session... The next is scheduled for June 14th...


More therapy this weekend - 3 nights in Seaside Heights with our three little sand crabs for Memorial Day Weekend...

And now, 10@10...

1. You growl... I'm actually not even sure it's technically a growl, maybe a mix of a zombie growl?  But you know how to respond when asked, "What do the monsters say??"
It's your latest trick, and we pull it out everywhere we go!

2. You're hopefully at the tail-end of the "I-Hate-Baths" phase... it's taking less and less time to get past the "GET-ME-OUT-OF-HERE" crawling and scrambling out of a slippery tub...

3. STILL NO TEETH.  Mommy doesn't want you to grow up TOO fast, but you're gonna be a real-life Benjamin Button with all those 10-month-old gummy smiles!

4. You're liking daycare a little bit more each time I drop you off... and while I like doing it, I hate being the one you see walking away from you in the morning... (Thankfully, Daddy has fallen down on pick-up duty lately, so I also get to be the face you see rescuing you in the afternoon!)

5. While you have mastered the stairs going UP, you haven't quite gotten down the understanding that you CANNOT, mid-climb, try to sit back down! Mommy's hands may catch you now, but they won't always be there!

6.You think sneezing is hilarious, and growl back at us, laughing behind our tissues...

7. You're eating (everything in sight I might add) like a 4-year old.  Pizza? YUM!
Meatballs? DELISH!  (Mommy's doing her best to stop daddy from too much ice cream time, but that's another of your favorites!)

8. You're walking with your little walker - and just like crawling, god help the poor couch - or dog! - that gets in your way!

 9. You LOVE the sand and beach - barefeet and all:

10. You're now less than two months from your birthday (OMG OMG OMG) and planning is Under Way: