Irelyn {6 Months}

6 Months Old, January 5, 2013

Sweet baby girl,

I can hardly believe you are six months old.

We have had you in our lives for half a year!

6 month stats:

Height: 26.2 in., 64th%
Weight: 15 lb. 1 oz., 30th%
Head: 42.5 cm., 51st%
Diaper: Size 2 sposies, most of your cloth dipe snaps are fully out length-wise

The infant stage of unpredictability (well, maybe some infants are predictable but you weren't!) has passed.

I can usually predict your hungry/sleepy times now which makes going out loads easier.

I still haven't gone on long errands solo with you... Mommy's chicken :).

A few highlights of month six:

- Your first Christmas!

- You attended your first funeral, your Great-Grandma Quiring passed away and we celebrated her life New Years weekend.  You were in the nursery for the service but then everyone enjoyed holding you during the fellowship meal, such a little dazzler!

- Dec. 31 you found your feet and promptly started sticking them in your mouth.

- You are an observer, you study things carefully (and then stick them in your mouth).

- You LOVE your taggy blankets.

- You hate getting dressed, especially putting your arms in sleeves, and you fuss fuss fuss during the whole process!

- Tummy time has progressed significantly and you no longer cry when we put you on your tummy!  Hooray!  As a result, your neck muscles are getting so much looser and your arms stronger.  This has all but gotten rid of the plageocephaly/torticollis.  You are still tight turning to the right but it is hardly noticeable anymore!

- Mommy witnessed you rolling back to front a couple times this month, though not frequently.

- You are still loud and chatty and you make the funniest sounds!  We love hearing you talk to us!

- We have tried solids more consistently this past month.  I read it doesn't matter if you start your baby with sweet foods, so, figuring you would like fruit better than rice cereal I tried bananas and applesauce.  You don't like either!!!  Silly baby.  You do however like sweet potatoes and squash.  You like to feed yourself and will grab the spoon out of Mommy's hand (Grandma says Mommy was an independent feeder too :).

- We spent the last half of December packing to move as Daddy accepted a teaching job (yay!).  Mommy got to experience attempting to pack while caring for a 6 month old... I think I should get some kind of award for this!  You do not like being left alone on the floor or in your bouncer for too long so I packed in spurts!

- You still aren't sleeping through the night without eating... Mommy gets up at least three times a night... sometimes four or five :(.  SO ready for that to be over, but I remind myself that at least you go right back to sleep.

- You usually don't like to be held or rocked when you're going to sleep, you arch your back and fuss.  I guess we did too good of a job sleep-training you to put yourself to sleep!

- I still swaddle you for sleep time but you do not tolerate your arms being swaddled anymore, which is fine, except for the fact that you pull your binkie out which makes you wake up or cry.

- You still LOVE reading eating books!

You are changing SO much each month, can't wait to see what next month brings!

Love you bunches Ladybug!

Love,

Mommy

Irelyn {5 Months}!

5 Months, December 5, 2012

Sweet baby girl,

You are 5 months old!

Not sure of your "official" stats (no Dr. appt. this month).

Mommy's guess:

Weight: about 15 pounds

Height: about 25 inches

Diapers:  We've opened up all the snaps on most of your cloth dipes.

Here's what you've been up to:

You started noticing "strangers", Thanksgiving weekend, you cried at Papaw when he looked at you :(.  Silly baby.  You take awhile to warm up to people, but then you give your "DAZZLE" smile!  So beautiful :).

Nov. 27th (Mommy's birthday) you rolled from back to front!

Thanksgiving weekend- Mommy saw you grab your feet for the first time!

You know how to put your binkie back in your mouth, even though you get it backwards or sideways sometimes- you still "nom" on it- I think it feels good on those teething gums.

No teeth yet.

We can't keep shoes on your feet, you constantly kick your feet together like Dorothy...

"there's no place like home"!

You are belly laughing and squeal with delight!

You talk a lot, especially in the morning.

You have started smiling at the dogs and cat- you reach out to pet Aster when he rubs against you!

You anticipate being picked up and when you get a bottle.

You are sleeping in your own room now!

You LOVE baths.

You are putting yourself to sleep more frequently.

You still get up at least twice a night... SO fun for Mommy.

The car-seat is not your enemy anymore!

You smile easily and often :).

Daddy gets the biggest laughs out of you.

You LOVE when mommy's hair falls across your face- it makes you smile and coo every time!  Although, you are now grabbing mommy's hair which isn't so fun- luckily I have a tough head!

You are observing us eat a lot, and occasionally try to grab our plates.

We've tried rice cereal and are starting to get used to it, I think you like the spoon more than the cereal!

We attempted sweet potatoes once but they gave you a diaper rash.  We'll have to try again in a month or so because you liked them!

We're looking forward to introducing you to more family over Christmas!

Keep smiling baby girl :).

Love you Ladybug!

Love,

Mommy

27 on the 27th

Yesterday I turned 27 on the 27th.

I thought that was funny.

The only time in my life it will be that way!

I celebrated by putting up Christmas decorations.

It was fun showing Irelyn the Christmas tree for the first time! 

She just stared and stared.  

I should have taken a picture but I didn't- I will have to do that soon, luckily she reacts the same way every time she sees the tree :).

I am now apparently old enough that I actually had to think about how old I was... seems like I just turned 25.  

Where did the last two years go?

I was looking through old Facebook pictures from college, and for the first time I thought "Wow, I look so young!".  

Yeah, it was a weird feeling.

Last year I was pregnant on my birthday, we just hadn't told anyone yet!

It was a special birthday having my baby girl here-

I look forward to celebrating her birthdays and trying to forget how old I am!

Here's to year 28... I mean 25 ;)!

A few years ago I had scanned some pages from my baby book into the computer.

Little me on my birthday when I was 4, 5, 6, and 7!  So fun :).

Irelyn {4 Months}

Sweet baby girl,

You are 4 months old!

Stats from your four month check-up:

Height: 24 in. (38th %)

Weight: 13 lb. 5 oz. (41st %)

Head: 40.6 cm. (40th %)
Diapers: Size 2 sposies and mid-snaps in cloth.

You seem to have evened out across the charts!

Although, I think length-wise your torso keeps getting longer but your legs seem to have stayed the same, I'm still rolling up your size 3 month pants!

We switched pediatricians this month due to insurance conflicts, and we couldn't be happier!  You smiled at her the whole time during the appointment, and then the nurses came in to give you your shots.  They had you grinning and then in went the shots and out came the tears!  Poor baby :(

So sad after shots, but so cute with your little Kermit the Frog band-aid and shoe-socks :).

This past month we have really been working on tummy-time and head rotation.  Your head has really improved and the Dr. says no helmet will be needed!  You still tend to turn to the left but not nearly as much as you used to.  Now you have a bald spot on the back of your head :).

Your hair has started growing this month, although most of it is in the back, you finally have some fuzz on top too!

You can roll from tummy to back if we get your arms up under you during tummy time- it's fun to watch your shock when you end up on your back! 

We have started "sleep training"... it is a process.  I lay you down for your naps while you are still drowsy to try to get you to fall asleep on your own without Mommy bouncing you or patting your back.  This has been successful a few times and other times I still have to pat your back while you lay in your bassinet.  The Cloud B Giraffe cousin Easton loaned us is working wonders at helping you get to sleep and stay asleep!  It is so cute to watch you hug Mr. Giraffe in your sleep :).  We have also started a bedtime routine (bath, bottle, story, bed) which I think is really helping you wind down at night, as evidenced in that we can get you to bed between 6:30-7:30pm every night!  Wahoo!
The downside is you are still getting up 3-6 times a night... which means some tough night-time sleep training is in store :(.  We'll see how that goes!

We roll up bibs or blankets behind your head to keep you from turning to the left!

The Kindle Pandora app. is our nap-time friend.

I think the colic has gone BYE-BYE.  You are not as fussy this month as you were the past two months.  It has been a gradual decline, but we are thanking God daily for that- the crying was driving Mommy and Daddy crazy!  We did find out from the Dr. that you are teething... at four months... which explains a lot of your current fussiness during day and some crying in the evening.  We can't see any teeth yet but the bumps are there.  Now we just try to give you things to chew on to keep you happy!

You went to your first birthday party this past month.  We drove down to Oklahoma for Easton's first birthday party.  The drive down was, let's just say, not fun.  We stopped six times (it's a four hour trip) because you kept pootering your pants and I didn't want you to sit in it in the carseat, and then you SCREAM-cried the last hour of the trip.  It was BAD.  Mommy and Daddy had pounding headaches by the time we got there... and Mommy may or may not have had a little breakdown at the end.  Ahh, the joys of parenting!  You did pretty good the whole weekend and you slept almost the ENTIRE trip back home so God heard our prayers for sanity.

Birthday boy!

Grandma getting smiles out of your cheeks :).

Grandpa cuddles!  So nice to have family to help hold you when you're being Miss Fussy Pants (look at that cranky face)!

You have started jabbering to yourself, when you wake up in the morning we hear you "talking".  You like to say "m's" and sometimes say "mamamama" even though I know you're not correlating that with me yet, it's still pretty cute!
You also have been laughing daily now, especially when Daddy is playing with you!
We LOVE hearing you giggle- it is the cutest thing!
Sitting you on our belly's always gets a laugh out of you!

Some other photos from this past month:

Helping Daddy figure out the new washing machine.

Napping with Aster, he loves you! 

Bath-time is happy time!

First Halloween
"Pirouette" the Beanie Baby Ballerina Bear
We didn't actually take you trick-or-treating, but it was still fun to dress you up!
Maybe next year!

Little Beanie Baby cutie :)

It's been amazing watching you grow and change this past month!
Here's to a new month... hopefully with more sleep!

Love you Ladybug!
Love,
Mommy