Friday, March 22, 2013

Emma: 9 Months




Sweet little squishy,

I am thrilled to say that you are FINALLY feeling better!  You were sick for nearly your entire 8th month of life, so this was a welcomed change.  You are back to napping pretty well (2x per day) but nights have continued to be a struggle.  We started letting you cry it out a little in the middle of the night this month.  The first night we started you woke at 3am and I nursed you for a very short feed and you went right back to sleep.  Then you woke at 5am and Daddy tried to rock you back to sleep and changed your very wet diaper.  That didn't work so we let you cry for 15 minutes or so, which was SO hard to listen to!  I decided to give you a small bottle of pumped milk (in hopes of breaking the nursing for comfort habit) and you drank only a little bit of it.  I put you back down and you cried for about 10 more minutes before falling back to sleep around 6:15am.  It was so hard hearing you cry and knowing that if I nursed you, you would fall back to sleep peacefully.  However, this was one of those moments where I had to focus on the bigger picture and choose the harder option.  The following night we decided it was time to drop to only one middle of the night feeding.  It was a tough night with some crying, gas drops and a bottle of water, but you did it!  On the third night you woke only one time to eat and slept the rest of the night peacefully!  AMAZING!  Unfortunately this was not the end of 2 middle of the night feedings forever as you still had a few nights where you needed 2 feedings, but this was definitely a turning point.  Last night you made it the whole night with no feedings for the first time in your life!  You still woke up once, but I just held you for a few minutes and you went right back to sleep.  Huge progress!

At the beginning of this month we started giving you only finger foods and squeezy pouches of baby food.  You LOVE feeding yourself and eat much more when you can do it all yourself.  The only bummer with this new found freedom is how messy you get, often requiring a bath after mealtime.  Some of your favorites are sweet potatoes, green beans, mango, any carb, peas, and blueberries (not your favorite, but this was your first month ever trying them).  You have a horrible habit of throwing your sippy cup of water onto the floor after every single sip.  This creates a fun game of go fetch with mommy at every meal, which you seem to enjoy.  Stinker!  :-)

Your second tooth broke through this month (bottom left), which explains why you are chewing and sucking on everything these days  You learned how to climb up several steps with no help, have been cruising along the furniture, finally started crawling on your hands and knees, and scoot everywhere on your bottom.  You are a mover!  You are absolutely obsessed with the tv cabinet - always opening the sliding doors and pulling things out.  You started saying the "p" sound this month and have been very noisy the past few days.  I'm guessing that you will be getting another tooth soon, based on how fussy you have been the past couple days.

Baby girl, you are absolutely precious.  You remain a serious baby with limited smiles and giggles, but when you do show us that gummy grin, it melts our hearts.  Your open-mouthed kisses are my favorite and your crazy hair that sticks straight up reminds me that you are still just a little baby, which I love. 


9 Month Stats
- Clothes: 9 & 12 Months
- Diaper: Size 3 during the day & size 4 at night
- Schedule:
7 or 7:30am - Wake, Nurse (5 min), Solids, Play
2 Hours after waking (9 or 10am) - Nap
1.5-2 hours later (11 or 12pm) - Wake, Nurse (4-5 min), Solids, Play
2-2.5 hours after waking (1 or 2pm) - Nap
1.5-2 hours later (3 or 3:30pm) - Wake, Nurse (4 min), Play
6pm - Solids, Bedtime Routine (bath as needed, pjs, diaper)
7pm - Nurse (3-5 min), Bed

Monday, March 11, 2013

Hannah: 3 YEARS OLD!







Happy 3rd Birthday to our "Little Peanut"!!

3 years old....how is that possible?  This past year has FLOWN by!  Your third year of life was filled with so much excitement and so many changes!  The biggest of all was that you became a big sister.  And let me just say that I am so proud of you!  You are such a wonderful big sister!  Emma is blessed to call you "sissy".  I can't believe how big you seem this year compared to last.  There is a huge difference between 2 and 3 years old.  You are truly a little girl now, no longer a "baby".  I have so greatly enjoyed watching you grow this past year and look forward to many more years to come!!  You are such a sweetie, learning to explore your independence (this can be hard at times, but we know it is a necessary skill), loving, cuddly, happy, and full of energy. 

Here's what makes you YOU at THREE....

You are officially POTTY TRAINED!  I honestly didn't think I would be saying that for a LONG time.  We have struggled so much with potty training!  But at the beginning of this month, we tried again and succeeded!  The first few days were HARD...lots of screaming and tantrums and more holding episodes, but by day 4 things were much better!  Peeing is not an issue at all now (AMAZING!) but pooping is.  This doesn't bother or surprise me much as I have always heard this is a struggle when potty training.  Your issue is not that you are having accidents, but that you are holding it for several days saying you are "scared".  Breaks my heart.  You have resorted to pooping in your diaper in the middle of the night which is annoying because of the middle of the night wake up call, but honestly I'd rather you do that then hold it continuously.  I know you will figure it out eventually!

You can now identify nearly every letter of the alphabet (capital and lowercase), although there are some that still trick you up.  You also know every color and shape without a problem.  Your vocabulary is nearly on par with an adult and you are understandable 99% of the time.  You still have trouble pronouncing certain letter sounds correctly, but that is very normal for a 3 year old....and cute! :-)

You are such a wonderful big sister, always trying to help and make Emma happy.  You do all kinds of silly things in hopes of seeing Emma crack a smile...precious!  In the beginning of the month, Emma was very sick and you were just so incredibly sweet.  I spent several days taking care of Emma, meaning you got very little attention.  But you were such a champ and a wonderful helper.  I'm just so proud of the little lady you are becoming!

Your favorite activity is swinging on the swings in our backyard.  You are a bit obsessed!  The only downside is that you refuse to pump your legs and if we can't push you, you have a meltdown.  Not fun.  :-(  You also LOVE the show 'Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood' on PBS. Your other favorite activity is being tickled. :-). Your still obsessed with the color pink, so that was the theme of your third birthday party. :). Pink everywhere!

One negative effect of turning 3 seems to be the whining and sass that come with this age.  I've always heard that 3 is worse than 2 and I definitely believe it.

3 Year Stats
Height - 39.5"
Shoe Size - 8.5 or 9
Clothes Size - 3T-5T (varies by brand)
Diaper Size - 6 overnights & 3T-4T pull-ups for nap time

Today, on your third birthday, I conducted your very first birthday interview which proved to be rather funny.  You didn't quite understand the concept and simply answered the questions with whatever first popped into your head. But isn't that what being 3 is all about anyway?  Here are some of my favorite answers:
- Favorite thing to eat for lunch? "Peas"
- Favorite outfit? "Lovie pants with the kitty cat shirt" (your pjs)
- Favorite game? "Matching game because I do really good and that makes me happy."
- Favorite song? "I Love You", "Lullaby" and "Goodnight Sweetheart" (your 3 bedtime songs)
- Best friend? "Emma" (melts my heart)
- Where do you like to eat? "Pamera" (Panera)
- What is Mommy's job? "Feed Emma and me"
- What does Daddy do at work? "Work, work"
- What makes you happy? "Mommy & Daddy"

Precious girl, YOU make us happy!  Your smile brightens up a whole room and your laughter is contagious.  We love you all the way to the moon and back...that's a lot of love!!!!