Carter Oliver Months 1-5

Well hello there. Talk about being way behind on posting on this blog. I guess that's what happens when you have two kids. Life got way more busy than ever before. So let's try to catch up on the first five months of Carter's life. Carter started off from the beginning being a good eater and a pretty good sleeper. However things changed when he was about two months old and he started having symptoms that appeared to be like reflux. After that, we got a cranky (read: colicky) baby who often times wouldn't eat well and really didn't sleep well. That left me completely exhausted and drained me until about a month ago. We tried a couple of different medicines and what seems to help the most has been just time. He seems to be finally outgrowing it. Hooray! 

Now we have a growing and happy baby and I couldn't be happier. At three months old he was about 14 pounds. At his four-month appointment he was just shy of 15 pounds ( 4 months: 14.8 lbs, 25.25 in, 15.75 head). And then at five months he was over 15 pounds and a couple days ago (5 1/2 mo) he was 16 lbs. 6 oz.  So he's really been growing a lot recently and I think that's because he's finally feeling better. 

Anyways, this baby loves to smile and laugh. You can talk to him or tickle him and he just cracks up. He adores his big sister Audrey and she loves him so much. She is always kissing him and hugging him and playing with him... she just loves him. 

Things he loves: his sister, his mommy, his daddy, his papi, his play mat, grabbing toys, going on walks in his stroller and just being outside in general, being talk to and tickled.

Milestones: grabbing toys, rolling from his stomach to his back (4.5 months), sitting in his Bumbo, cooing and "talking", grabbing his feet, recognizing voices, turning his head when he hears his name.

Schedule: Carter is still breast-fed so he gets a combination of bottles with pumped milk and nursing. He does well with the schedule he eats at 7,10, 1, 4 and 630. He eats and plays and then after being awake for about an hour and a half he gets swaddled and goes for a nap. He goes to bed around 630. He now is only waking up a few times for his papi and one time to eat. This is a huge improvement from how it's   been the past 3-4 months. We've tried rice cereal twice but he's not quite ready so will reattempt that in a couple weeks.

Life with two children is busy.. Way busier than I thought! We are all adjusting and it's been a process but I feel like we are in a good place now!

Okay time for some cute pictures!

1 month old

2 months old 

3 months old

4 months old 

5 months old 

Introducing Carter Oliver Roberts

A belated post to welcome our new son, Carter Oliver.  He was born on Thursday, May 1 coming 3 days past his due date of April 28.  I guess he just really wanted to be a May baby.  He was 7 lbs 6 oz and 19 3/4 inches and arrived at 12:19 pm.  He took to breastfeeding right away and has been doing great since then.  He has lighter and less hair than Audrey did and blonde eyebrows and eyelashes.  I wonder if he will be dark haired initially like his sister, who stayed that way until her 1st birthday when she turned blonde.  We shall see.  We were soooo lucky to have all of his grandparents there to meet him on the day of his birth as well as his PROUD big sister.  Audrey adores him.  She loves to kiss him and touch his soft hair.  Carter seems to be ok with it!  Paul was able to stay home for 3 weeks which was great and we have had tons of visitors in the past 3+ weeks.  At his first pediatrician appointment, he weighed 7 lbs 3 oz (his weight had gone down to 6lbs 14oz when we were discharged from the hospital).  At his 2 week appointment, he was up to 8 lbs 9 oz, 20 1/2 inches long, and 14 inch head circumference.  He has outgrown several newborn outfits and is in a lot of 3 month onesies.  He is doing well with a flexible schedule of eating every 2 hours during the day.  At night, he goes anywhere from 4 to 8 hour stretches.  Last night was his best yet sleeping from 8 pm to 4 am.  I woke up before he did and went to check on him because I was shocked he had not woke up yet.  I'm well aware of an infant's ever changing sleep/eat pattern, but I'll take the long stretches when I can get them.  And I will GLADLY nurse every 2 hours during the day when that means longer stretches at night.  We swaddle him at night, as we did Audrey... we are big believers in swaddling! I'm anxious to get into a routine with balancing 2 children.  It's a different ball game with 2 and Audrey is going through an adjustment for sure.  3 year olds can be trying at times. 

Here's some pictures of the new man in my life!

Audrey is 3 years old!

A belated Happy THIRD Birthday to our dear Audrey!  She celebrated her birthday with a theme she picked all on her own.  Her first choice was Ariel, but we did that for her 2nd birthday.  Her next choice was Minnie, but we did that for her first birthday.  On the plus side, it sounds like she's consistent with her interests!  Her third choice was My Little Pony.  Very fitting considering she's a BIG fan right now.  She randomly came across the show on Netflix.  Side note:  on "mommy's IPad" AKA my Kindle Fire, I go to Netflix and she can navigate from there.  She is good about knowing what shows are "children shows" and which are "mommy/daddy shows" or even "big children shows" which are just ones that are a little too old for her.  So from her navigating ie Netflix giving her suggestions, she has come across many many shows with her favorites being My Little Pony, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake and occasionally Daniel Tiger.  Does this girl belong in the 80's or what? Pretty sure those were my same interests during that decade.  So anyways, she celebrated her 3rd birthday with our wonderful family and friends at our house.   Soon after the party, she went to her 3 year old well visit.  On this day, she learned that sometimes you go to the doctor for check ups when you are not sick.  The day I told her we were going to the doctor for this appointment, she looked at me very seriously and said, "mommy, am I sick?"  The doctor gushed about how good and smart she is.  She weighed 25.2 lbs and was 33.5 inches.  No need to even talk about percentiles... she probably isn't on the charts anymore but who cares!  In 3 months since she turned 3, she has increased her weight to about 27 lbs.

Right after her birthday, like literally days after, she had a BIG transition.  We finally moved her out of the crib.  Paul did a fabulous job of refinishing her full sized bed and dresser for her big girl room.  We prepped her for this change for a long time.  We talked about how she is going to be a big sister and we will give her crib to the new baby.  The other big change was that we told her big girls don't use papis which means there would be no papi in the big girl bed.  GASP! I was very nervous.  Paul gets all the credit for combining these 2 transitions.  It was seriously the best idea.  For her, it just made sense and it became a thing of fact.  Big girls sleep in big girl beds and don't use papis.  She did fantastic.  She was sad to be without her papi for a couple of sleeps and that was it.  I wanted to cave because I felt we took away her best soother and she had no replacement, but Paul kept me from doing so.  She seriously impressed me.

Speaking of transitions and of her impressing me, Audrey has been potty trained since November.  I was again nervous and stressed about this process.  We bit the bullet and went straight to underwear one weeekend and that's all it took.  She had 2 accidents, which she really didn't like and got upset about and then bam, that Monday, we went to daycare armed with LOTS of underwear and changes of clothes.  She has had no more than 5 accidents since.  She uses the insert on the big potty from the beginning.  She amazed me.  For sleep, we used pull ups until about a month ago, however, she was ALWAYS dry.  We just still put her in pull ups... who knows why.  So a few months ago, we stopped the pull ups at naptime and then about a month ago, stopped at night too.  No problems at all.

In other news, we still have a very picky eater.  It's a constant challenge and we try to incorporate new foods using every tactic I can research online but with limited success.  Audrey does really well at school.  She's transitioning to the 3 year old room.  She likes her teachers and her friends and we haven't had any major issues.  She's a bundle of fun most of the time.  I can understand probably 98% of what she says and everyone else probably understands 90%.  I don't have to translate as much anymore :)  She loves to play at the park and can do everything from swinging herself, climbing, sliding.  She wants us to play with her but is much more proactive overall.   We have a few bird nests outside and she loves to go out with Daddy and check on her chicks.  She is so caring and so maternal.  On occasion, she acts like a total 3 year old and gives us sass, sass and more sass.  She is becoming quite a negotiator and everyday, we are giving her time limits to something.  I say 3 minutes, she says 5 minutes.  I say I'll read one book before bed and she says, no 3.  Any parent of a 3 year old knows how it is. 

Audrey's newest transition this year is the one that occurred 2 weeks ago tomorrow.  She became a BIG SISTER.  She has talked about the arrival of baby Carter for quite sometime.  When he first came, she told everyone SHHHH the baby is sleeping!  Don't touch!  When she saw me in the hospital bed, she was very concerned about me and the fact that I couldn't walk.  The next day when she came back to the hospital, the first thing she did was ask me "mommy how is you feeling? can you walk now?"  She is always checking on me and asking how I'm feeling.  So sweet.   She adores her baby brother.  She loves to kiss him and hold him.  She is concerned when he cries and nearly cries herself.  She plays with him on the play mat.  I knew she would be good because she is so maternal, but I had no idea how great she would be.  She again impressed me with her awesomeness! 

It's beyond hard to believe that Audrey is on her way to being 4.  After having Carter, she seems so big and grown up.  Where did my baby go?  We are soaking up every minute of our beautiful daughter and loving watching her grow. 

Sara

Audrey is 2 years old!!

How exactly is my baby girl 2 YEARS OLD?? She is so much fun... a little chatterbox and I love it. Here's what's going on with the big girl.

Stats: We just had her 2 year old well visit on the 8th. She weighed in at 22 lbs (5th percentile), 32 inches (10th). Her head is 18 inches I think and in the 25th percentile. She didn't have any shots this time and so the appointment was relatively uneventful, except for the fact that she has an ear infection in the left ear. 5 days of antibiotics and it cleared up.

The day before this appointment, she began the first of what would be 5 days of diarrhea. All day, every day. She was a trooper though, despite not wanting to eat and clearly not feeling good.

The next day, the 9th, was Audrey's birthday party! It was an Ariel theme because that was her first Disney princess doll (it goes in the bath with her) and she fell in love. A few of her friends came and she had a great time with everyone. She played, blew out her 2 candles by herself, and ate a whole piece of cake. She even sat through all the present opening too!

Like I said, Audrey is such a chatterbox! She knows evryones names (mommy, daddy, Stoney, Missy Jane, Brutus, Nana, Papa, Lala (Leila), Ryan, Andrew, Eli, Connor, Baby Gemma (Emma), Oma, DenDen, Mimi, Emmy (Emily), and Hannah. She knows her friends names too... Feerah (safeerah), Evin (evelyn), Brennan are her faves. She is a little bossy (where on earth did she get that from? ha) and loves to say "___ a mear (come here)!" She loves to say "hold you." when she wants to be picked up and carried. She tilts her head to one side and nods it when she's telling me something serious like "brutus night night or seeping(sleeping)" or "stoney outside poo poo." It's so sweet. She has soooo many words, I could never begin to even count them.

She still goes to daycare 4 days a week and moved up to the 2 year old room a few weeks ago. It seems to be a harder transition for her than I expected but she's hanging in there. The teachers did tell me recently that she doesn't talk to them which blew my mind. Hopefully, she warms up a little more once she gets her bearings. She's home with me 3 days and Paul as well, depending on which schedule he's on for part of that time. She naps 2.5-3 hours and still sleeps 12 hours at night. Her pickiness is still present but she is eating better. I feel like I'm constantly learning (and criticizing myself) for what works best for her. She is still drinking whole milk and I have no intention of changing her anytime soon. We have a list of things that Audrey will eat such as grilled cheese, quesadillas, pepperoni, salami, bacon, cheese, cereals, fruits. It's a constant work in progress.

Audrey and I do parent/tot gymnastics classes every Thursday after work/daycare which she loves. We started around September and it's such a great time! I would love if she continued with gymnastics!

Audrey is such a girl. She loves her Disney princesses and her babydolls. She still loves doing puzzles and reading books. Her favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

2 things that are in our future. 1. getting rid of the papis. They stay in the crib with the exception being long car rides. She still loves them so much! 2. Potty training. We have a potty. She talks about it and has even sat on it, but we haven't started training yet. Her parents need to get mentally prepared for both of these things.

Audrey brings so much joy and excitement. I look forward to picking her up from school every single day. She's not perfect and she sure does know what time out is, but she's so sweet and silly! She loves being goofy and silly.. she cracks me up. She gets more fun every day.

Last 2 things. 1. We are going to Disney World on Thursday!! CANNOT WAIT! 2. When we say GO!, she says HEELS! THAT'S MY GIRL!!!

Video!

Today's Cuteness

Reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear... Love this!!

Audrey's Words... a video for you

Audrey doing flash cards this morning with daddy before daycare. She loves doing them and she's so smart. She knows almost all of the words!  Sorry for the poor lighting! It was early and still dark out. Anyways, I love watching daddy/baby girl time. There's nothing sweeter. Watch for about half way in the video when Audrey looks at me and says cheeese! She had just realized there was an iPhone pointing at her.

Sweet girl!

I forgot! 18 Month Stats

This is such old news, but her official 18 month stats were: 20 lbs and 29.5 inches.

Vacation

Our little family of three just went on our family vacation to St. Augustine, FL. Last year at this time we went to Myrtle Beach and had a great time with our little 8 month old. This year we decided to venture a little farther with our 20 month old. We chose St Augustine because Paul and I love historic towns and we've never been that we can remember. We hoped the weather would be cooler this time o year allowing us to do lots of walking downtown. And it really was! We had weather in the low 80s with a nice cool breeze with absolutely no rain. We drove down Tuesday morning and checked into our hotel. We just recently got a credit card that earns Hilton honors points and we were able to use our points for our entire hotel stay at the Hampton Inn. The hotel as just ok, not quite as close to historic district as we would have liked. Luckily we did get a room upgrade, an advantage to being a gold member (another perk of the card) and got to be in a huge suite from the second night on. Gotta love a free upgrade! Anyways, we survived the drive down although peanut didn't sleep much, checked in, and headed to the beach.  We walked along St. Augustine beach for a few minutes.  The sand was so soft and pretty.  It was approaching dinner time so we headed downtown and ate at a little Greek restaurant. I'll take any excuse to eat tzatziki sauce! Audrey ate some mozzarella sticks we had for an appetizer. We called it an early night after that. That night we were still in the regular room that had 2 queen beds. Thankfully Paul is a genius and figured out how to make a fort with the mattress of the unused bed to put in front of Audrey's pnp. Basically our experience in hotels has been bad sleeping wise because if Audrey can see us, she just cries. Well this solution worked perfectly.

Day 2 (Wednesday) started bright and early ... Life with a toddler haha. We ate breakfast at the hotel and then took the shuttle to stop 1 of the old trolley tours. We chose to use the trolley tour as a way to see the city. It's inexpensive, the ticket is good for three days, it takes you to every tourist spot including the things at the beach, eliminates the need for driving and parking, gives history along the way and is fun. There are 22 stops and you can get off and on as you please. Another trolley comes every 15 minutes.

So anyways, we started by seeing the old jail and the old general store which gave tours in each. We also walked through the St Aug museum. Next, we took the trolley to St George St which is a pedestrian only street that is filled with shops, restaurants, and bakeries.  We ate lunch at an italian restaurant and after that continued to walk as Audrey napped in her stroller.  We continued to walk along the bay area on this beautiful walkway.  It was amazing to have the nice breeze and the view of the water.  Once Audrey woke up we went to the old fort called the Castillo de San Marcos.  It was awesome and we all loved walking around the top of the fort.  We went back to the hotel after that to rest and regroup and then headed to dinner at a place called Harry's in downtown.  Harry's had out door seating (I think we only ate indoors once the whole trip actually!) and live music.  Audrey was very into showing off some dance moves for all to see.

Day 3 we took the trolley toward the beach to the Alligator Farm.  We spent the morning there looking at the alligators, crocs, and other wildlife and even saw a feeding demonstration of the alligators.  It was actually pretty cool.  We took a family picture in which we held a baby alligator too.  Afterward we went to the Potter's Wax Museum which was small but pretty interesting.  I've always wanted to see what this museum was all about so I'm glad we went.  Next, we went to a winery in town that gives free tours and wine tasting.  Audrey at this point was T.I.R.E.D. but refusing to nap in her stroller!  The tour and tasting was disrupted frequently but one of us taking Audrey out since she was being little miss cranky pants.  We still enjoyed some wine enough to buy a couple bottles and then decided a nap in the stroller was not happening so we should go back to the hotel.  She took a small nap there and then we went downtown to dinner at an Irish Pub along the bay.

Day 4 was our last full day in St. Augustine.  We started our day at the Fountain of Youth which was fun.  Audrey's favorite part was feeding peacocks peanuts!  Paul's favorite part was seeing a demonstration of a canon being fired.  My favorite part was walking around outside especially out on the dock on the inlet which extended 100 feet or more.  We left there and went back to St. George St. for a light lunch at a taco shop and then to get frozen hot chocolate at Whetstone's.  I had been dying for this since seeing the sign a couple days prior and was excited to try it.  It was pretty good but not exactly what I expected.  Anyways, Audrey was in need of a nap at this point and did us the great favor of taking one in her nap.  Determined to keep her asleep for a decent nap, we walked.  A lot.  First we walked down St. George, then to the oldest street in St Augustine in the spanish quarter, then through downtown, over the Lions bridge (until we got stopped by the drawbridge being used!), then along the bay.  The walk was wonderful, the weather again being perfect.  And Audrey got a little more of a nap! Once she woke up we hung out outside of the Castillo again until the trolley came to take us to Ripley's Believe it or Not.  Well, we went.  I was not impressed.  Not worth it in my opinion.  It is in a very old home which was cool.  Anyways, that summed up our day.  We went back to the hotel, got refreshed and headed to our last dinner downtown to the Floridian.

What I am failing to include is that we spent a lot of time on the trolley, enjoying the tour and learning the history.  Anyways, our last day was spent going to an outlet mall where I could stock up on fall clothes for my little peanut! I love Carters and wanted to take full advantage.  I can't buy in advance for her b/c of her being so petite so she literally had 2 pair of pants for the fall.  I made sure to change that and bought her a whole fall/winter wardrobe, a Thanksgiving dress, Christmas pajamas, and a Halloween costume!  My little 21 lb, 20 month old is still in 12 month clothes!  The outlet mall also had a Stride Rite which I was pumped about because for some dumb reason, we don't have one here or in Augusta.  She got fitted at about a 3.5 so they advised going for a 4.  We got her 1 pair of size 4 sneakers and 1 pair of size 4.5.  Overall, a great success.

We had a wonderful vacation!  We did so much even with a toddler and still had a great time.  I'm sure as she gets older it will continue to get easier.  We just got back this evening and it is always nice to be home!  We all missed our kitty cats, our beds, and our Stoney (who is still at camp because we didn't make the 12 pm pick up so we will get him tomorrow)!

The rest of the year will be busy.  We will be in NC for Connor's 3rd birthday in 2 weeks!  Then again to NC for Thanksgiving and Christmas... something we haven't been able to do in a while!  Paul surely deserves these holidays off, as he has to work every weekend from now until January. :(

I'll be posting pictures from vacation soon!

16-17 month update

So so late! Shame on me! I don't know why I didn't blog when Audrey turned 16 months or 17 months... I just didn't :/. So I'll try to make up for that now

Audrey is really loving water! She loves baths, pools, and the ocean. We have a plastic kiddie pool in our backyard and when I ask her if she wants to go to the pool or swim, she gets really excited, nods her head, and gathers up her pool (beach) toys. It's so cute. In big pools, she still uses the same blow up float as last year. Best $8 purchas ever!
We went to myrtle beach the 3rd week in June with my family and Audrey loved it. She was fearless in the ocean and wanted to go in deeper. She couldn't stand firm against the current and waves but we held on to her ad she laughed and had a ball. She also loved playing in the sand with Connor and building (well knocking over) sand castles!
She still loves books, especially The Going to Bed book, big animal books,
Goodnight Moon, and Moo Baa Lalala. She also enjoys coloring (scribbling) with crayons. We play with puzzles, blocks and giant Legos too. At home, she really wants us to play with her which is fine. She more than deserves our undivided attention.
She is running more than walking and tries to jump. She squats down real low and then pops up. No real jumping yet butthe attempt is so sweet.
She understands a good bit and responds with uh uh or nodding yes
Audrey's vocab is increasing and she will repeat words when you ask. She loves saying mama, cat, bye bye and
Also says I love you and thank you to. Name a few. She hugs, kisses, blows kisses, points to body parts (nose, ear, eye, mouth, teeth, head, feet, hands), dances, says go tarheels, gives high fives, waves hi and bye to everyone. She lovesssss our kitties and spends her days looking for them then meowing at them, hugging, and kissing them. She still loves Stoney but he isn't as much of a challenge ;). Audrey has also learned many animal sounds including sheep, cat, monkey/gorilla/snake (acts it out too), horse, bear, lion, tiger.

Her schedule hasn't changed too much.
Wakes anywhere between 6:45 and 7:30. Has prune/apple juice mixed with vitamin and breakfast. Plays. Snack with milk sippy then nap around 10:30-12. Lunch and milk. Play. Snack then nap at 2:30 or 3 to 4:30. Small snack then dinner at 5:30 or 6. Bed at 7.

Audrey is still our picky eater. I've spent way more time worrying/stressing/panicking about this than I'd like to admit. I'm learning that no one can make it miraculously better and that it is what it is. She will eat when she's hungry. I have to remind myself of this. Thank God she's great at drinking milk an the smoothies I still make. On a brighter note, she is using a spoon and fork pretty well!

I will post her stats after her 18 (!) moth appt in a couple weeks.

Love you baby girl!!

15 Months

A lot of people have been telling me recently that this is the most fun age.  I'm starting to agree.  Here's why... I feel like Audrey understands so much more now.  I can ask her to get something and she does.  Or ask her to say something or do it and she does.  It's amazing what she already knows.  I can say, "Audrey what does a monkey say?" and she will do her monkey "ooo oo ah ah" and put her hands under her armpits haha.  She also will give a kiss, blow a kiss, say hi and byebye, and sit down or stand up just by asking.  Her vocabulary is growing and she says: mama, dada, hi, bye, ball, up.  Some other words like cat and dog are hit or miss.  We spend a lot of time reading books, mAuaking animal noises, practicing dance moves, building blocks, and playing with various other toys.  She loves to go outside and play too.  She's so happy and easy going.  I'm sure the next one will be a terror haha. 

We went to Audrey's well visit today.  She weighed in at 18 lbs 10 oz.  She gained 1.5 lbs from her last appointment which is good, but she's still only at the 3rd percentile.  The doc just wants us to give her more fat and suggested milkshakes (really?) and Pediasure (on the fence about this).  Since I was her size at that age, he isn't concerned enough to do any testing right now.  She is 28.5 inches long which is 5-10th percentile and her noggin is at the 25th percentile.  He found a double ear infection so we will be back on Amox for 10 days.  She's had ear infections at her 9, 12, and now 15th appts.  UGH!  She had her MMR and chicken pox vaccines and is doing well so far.  Poor babe!

Audrey has got some major teeth action going on.  She has more teeth coming in than I can count... seriously, probably 5-6 all at once and that includes molars!  She's been addicted to her papis which is not the norm, but it's hard to take them away when I know she hurts.  So I'm being a softy and letting her use them whenever.

Thankfully, she's doing a little better with eating.  She still drinks the same amount of milk.  I still give her a smoothie that I make in the evenings.  I've been adding rice cereal for iron and other sources of protein in addition to the yogurt such as tofu and even hard boiled egg yolk!  Yikes!  I use a variety of fruits and veggies and she likes them.
She seems to be eating bigger quantities and is willing to try more.  If I ask her to take a bite, she usually will.  She even likes more things too!  She's been digging cheerios in milk, strawberries, turkey, pepperoni, baked potato and sweet potato fries that she dips in ketchup, PB on crackers.  She still loves all carby snack foods.  But she so far doesn't like sweets.  She's tried chocolate chip cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and muffins and she doesn't like any of them!  Weirdo!  I'm doubting if we are related now...

See ya next month!
Sara

Audrey is 14 Months Old!

Happy  14 Months, Audrey!  Also, happy Easter!! Another month has come and gone and it's time for a monthly update.  I'm not sure how long I'll do these, I guess as long as there are things to say and as long as I still enjoy writing them.  :-)

This past month included a visit from Nana and Papa and celebrating with DenDen at his 60th Birthday party.  The weather warmed up reallllly quickly and now has gone back to being more spring like.  We are enjoying lots of time outside, especially since Paul has given us so much to enjoy!  He's worked hard at our back patio and with all the landscaping.  It looks great! 

Yesterday, we did a Easter egg hunt in our front yard.  Paul put out the eggs and we showed Audrey to pick it up and put it in her basket.  After that, she was a pro.  She found every egg and put it in her basket.  Then, we sat down on the grass and opened the eggs to see what was inside.  She was excited to find goldfish, cheerios, and fruit/veg melts!

Milestones/Interests:  Walking everywhere inside and outside.  Turning circles.  Mimicking us (clapping, shaking her head, etc).   She's learned to climb on her chairs and off the couch.  Tries to put on her shoes and it's so cute to watch.  Really into books.  She'll bring me a book and come sit on my lap.  She loves to turn the pages and point to things.  We are working on learning animals and sounds.  Building blocks as in the big legos... I didn't know if she was old enough but she really is!  She can build a tower by herself and take it all apart.  She is also learning how to work her shape sorter.  She loves her Micky Mouse music player and will keep changing the song until she finds one she likes, then hold it up to her ear, and dance!  She is quite the dancer!  She also loves to put her toy phones and our cell phones up to her ear.  We are sprouting lots of teeth.  She got 3 top teeth all at once... 2 front teeth and then right incisor.  So she now has 6 total.  I think I'm feeling a molar coming through too, yikes.  Audrey is good at brushing her teeth and will open her mouth and/or "help" us do it.

Schedule:  Wakes up around 6:30 during the week and as late as 8 during the weekends.  Takes 2 naps around 10 and 2, each for about 1.5 hrs.  She doesn't nap well at daycare.  She is about to transition to the 1 year old toddler room and they do a scheduled nap so I'm hoping that she gets into that routine well!  She goes to bed by around 7 and sleeps through.

Food:  She's a good milk drinker.  She drinks 3 sippies of milk a day for about 18 oz total.  She's a picky eater still.  She examines food and decides if she'll eat it based on appearance and feel... oy!!!  The list of foods she eats is much shorter than the list of foods we've tried and she won't eat:  bananas (doing better, still hit or miss), grilled cheese, peanut butter on crackers, baked potato fries, cheese cubes, cheerios, waffles, goldfish, pretzels, fruit/veg melts, dried fruit.  She still eats purees to help get her nutrition in.

Audrey has such a great temperament.  She is so happy 99% of the time!  She's really become more and more active and independent and it's fun to watch.  We love you, baby girl!!

A little update

Well I already announced that Audrey is walking and she is doing great. She's everywhere! Last week she also started wearing shoes to daycare and when we run errands or play outside. I never put her in shoes until now (that's the PT in me) and shes done great. Also last week she gave up bottles. She now does sippies only and cold milk! Such a big accomplishment!

Lastly she has a new tooth. Top middle left bringing the total to 4. I think many more are coming.

Ok that's all for now. So much more to write but I'll save it for the 14 month update.

Sara

We have a walker!

Audrey has been taking up to 5 steps for a while now... probably about 2-3 weeks.  Starting yesterday, she has become much braver and is walking everywhere!  She did laps around the family room holding her puzzle right before bed.  Here's the proof... :) 

13 Months Old!

Our little toddler (!) is 13 months old!  It's strange that she's not considered a baby anymore.  I'm positive she is still my baby though!
A little update on dr. visits.  On day 9 of her 10 day antibiotic, daycare called and said she had white spots  on her lips and was fussy.  Paul called the dr office and they wanted to see her.  Luckily, Paul was able to leave work b/c I was stuck.  It was a day that my whole afternoon was evals and there was no one to do them but me.  So, Paul took her in and she was diagnosed with thrush.  It's a side effect of antibiotics so that explains where it came from.  It's kind of funny b/c thrush is one of those things that I thought we had escaped since we never had it during the whole year of breastfeeding!  Oh well!  Luckily, it's easily treatable with an anti-fungal topical medicine.  Audrey's cleared up in about 3 days.  While she was there, the dr checked her ears and they were clear of infection!  Yay!  Also, she was weighed and he was pleased with her weight gain of about 4 oz.  He cleared us to not have to come back in until her 15 month well visit.

13 Month Stats:
Weight:  Around 18 lbs  (wondering if she'll ever hit 20 lbs!?)
Diapers:  Size 3
Clothes:  Anything from 9 month to 18 month

Food:  Audrey is 100% weaned.  She stopped breastfeeding right at the 1 year mark.  She is fully on whole cow's milk which she takes out of a bottle.  I intend to get her on sippies for milk soon.  She has been drinking water and diluted juice of sippies for many months now.  She seems to prefer the bottle warmed.  She takes 3 bottles, 6 oz each.
-Solids:  Still SLOW going, but I think we are doing better.  Here's a list of what she will eat:  waffles, french toast sticks, chunks of cheese, grilled cheese, oatmeal, purees, lil crunchies, cheerios, puffs, bites of banana, yogurt and fruit melts, cereal bars, smoothies.  Smoothies are the new thing I'm doing to get her some nutrition, especially protein.  She's not big into meat so she has to get it elsewhere.  My latest smoothie is: pureed strawberry, blueberry, and cauliflower (all fresh), combined with whole milk plain yogurt, and honey.  I've done carrots in them as well.  Foods she throws on the ground:  Everything else!  Being persistent is all we can do right now.  I'm not going to lie... it's hard somedays when your child won't eat, but you know she needs/wants to.  Some days I just stand there and think, "what do I give her now?" since I feel like I've tried everything.  We are just being patient... ok trying to be!

-Audrey loves to stand independently from a seated position.  She has taken steps... up to 5 on her own as well!  Her favorite thing is when Paul and I sit across from each other on the floor and she walks back and forth between us.  She always give us a hug when she gets to us!  So sweet!

-She's trying to say cat, dog, mama, dada, duck and is getting pretty good at all of these.  She can point to these things when asked as well!  She still says byebye.

-She loves to clap and of course wave hi and bye! 

-She loves skyping with nana and papa!  We've done it so often and she really gets it!  She lights up and smiles and laughs with them.

-Audrey is such an animal lover.  She wants to be with Stoney, Missy and Brutus whenever she sees them!  They *sometimes* let her pet/pat them :-)

-She's such a POINTER.  She points to EVERYTHING and says "Dat? Dat?"  It's so cute.  When we get her up from a nap, the second she sees us, she points at everything in her room that she wants haha!

-She sleeps great still... 12 hours at night.  2 naps on the wknds (Fri-Sun) that last about 1.5-2 hrs each.  Napping at daycare is NONEXISTENT!  I'm so ready for her to move up to the toddler room so she can have scheduled naps!  Who the hell can nap in a small room with the lights on and a bunch of crying babies?!?!?

-Audrey has 3 teeth.  They came in in this order:  bottom left, bottom right, top left incisor.  No front teeth yet!

-She loves to put things up to her ear.  Her play phone, my cell phone and her music players.  It's so sassy.. I love it.

-Her hair is getting fuller (thicker), longer, and curlier!  It's also this gorgeous shade of dirty blonde.  I seriously want to take her to my hairdresser and say, "make me that color!"   She is in no need of a haircut yet and luckily it doesn't get in her eyes.  So putting a bow in it is for cuteness only :)

-She is such a busy body.  No sitting still!  She's crawling, climbing, playing, demanding your attention, chasing an animal, trying to walk, pointing at things, squealing, laughing, etc.  She does not stop until naptime.  She sits in her high chair for meals b/c it's a good habit for her, but after about 15 min she loses interest.  She has better things to do!!

Until next month!

Sara

New Trick

Audrey is soooo ready to walk. She is so diligent at mastering her new skill of coming up to stand without holding onto anything. Then once standing she reaches for my hand to help her walk. She loves walking back and forth from mommy to daddy. It won't be long before she gets brave and walks alone. Her other trick is sitting on her Dino and climbing on top of it. She ends up standing on top of it! Kind of scary!
Makes me glad we have carpet. One of the few advantages!

Loving that baby!

12th Month Well Visit

Audrey had her 1 year check up today.  She had 2 shots and a finger prick and she did great.  She's on track developmentally and the pedi's only concern is her weight. 

Stats:
Height:  27 inches
Weight:  17.3 lbs
Head:  17.5 inches

Bigger than at 9 months but still small.  I'm not worried.  He also checked her ears and says she has a double ear infection.  It seems like everytime we go to the doctor, she gets this diagnosis.  The crazy part... SHE HAS NO SYMPTOMS.  That's what I told him... she seems completely fine.  He of course wants her on Amox so I'll go for that and we get rechecked in 2 weeks.  The whole treating ear infection thing is so up in the air.  If it doesn't clear up in 2 weeks, he'll want her on a stronger antibiotic but the last time she tried Augmentin she got sick, so we are not going that route again.  If this scenario plays out, then we will most likely take her to an ENT for a 2nd opinion. 
I'm feeling like we don't have a pediatrician that listens very well.  Frustrating.  Need to figure something out.

Ok, night for now.

Sara

TEETH!

This is more of a reminder post for me since these blog posts are what make up her baby book, so sorry if this doesn't interest you!  Audrey got her 1st tooth at 10.5 months.  It was her bottom left.  2 weeks ago (so at 11.5 months) she got bottom right.  Today, the top left incisor tooth came in and the matching one on the right is not too far behind it!  We're getting there! 

Also, I talked briefly with Audrey's daycare teachers and the director about her moving to the toddler room.  What I learned is the "rules" for the toddler room are:  1. No bottles (we just transitioned to all bottles since I've been weaning.  She's been drinking water out of a sippy for 3+ months.  I'll worry about getting rid of the bottle after we are weaned)  2.  No pacis (She still uses them in the car at while sleeping.)  3.  Walking well (Nope!  Except walking behind toys) 4.  Eating table food.  They eat meals cooked at daycare.  Clearly, she isn't ready yet.  However, luckily, they are totally agreeable to working on a transition in terms of the food.  I can look at the daycare menu and then request they she get lunch any day I want.  We talked about trying this soon since she's been taking awhile to adjust to new food ;)

Ok, that's all!

Sara

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2 days ago, our sweet Audrey Jillian turned one year old!  ONE!  She is now officially a toddler, BUT I think she still look like a baby so I'll consider her a baby for awhile longer ;-)  To say our lives have changed in the past year is an understatement.  It's been a whirlwind and I sometimes struggle to remember all the details.  I'm so glad I did monthly updates on here.  I plan to print out these entries and put them in her baby book. 

So, here are some unofficial stats.  We see the pediatrician this Friday and I will make a quick update then.

Weight:  18 lbs
Diapers:  size 3
Clothes:  9-12 months

Milestones:
-Cruising all over the place!  Pushing toys and walking behind them as well.  She has several toys intended for that which she likes, but she is really into "thinking outside the box" and likes to use other things like a stool and the Bumbo tray for this purpose.  She pushes them around the kitchen and it's hysterical. 
-Climbing.  She learned to climb up onto the fireplace, over our legs, and most importantly, on and over Stoney.  Her and Stoney play constantly.  She grabs at his paws and squeals in satisfaction when he responds. 
-Loving on everything.  When she sees a cat, she points at it or crawls over to it and lays her head on them and pats.  She loves all of our animals.  They do fairly well at tolerating her!  Stoney is so gentle with her and treats her like a puppy.  He sneaks in kisses and lets her hug, pat, slap, and climb all over him.  They are sure to be great buds.  She also loves her stuffed animals, baby dolls, etc.  And says "ahhh" as she hugs, kisses, and pats them.
-Audrey isn't saying a whole lot of words yet.  Mostly dada, mama, baba.

Food:
-Well, WE MADE IT!  We exclusively breastfed for 1 year!!  Audrey has never had formula.  There is nothing wrong with formula but my theory was if I can make it then why wouldn't I?  Saves a lot of money and is the best nutrition wise!  I have spent countless hours nursing and pumping.  I have pumped 2 times a day at work (and once at home) since I went back on May 2.    It's not been easy, but it was a sacrifice that I WANTED and I am proud of.  We have now started the weaning process which is bittersweet.  We started 2 1/2 weeks ago with her bottles at daycare.  I started giving 1 ounce of whole milk with 5 oz of BM in each bottle.  The next week, 2 oz to 4 oz, and then half and half.  I had continued  to breastfeed only on weekends until this past weekend.  I wanted to be consistent with what she did at daycare so I nursed morning and night and and gave mixed bottles during the day.  And as of yesterday, I've been able to just pump 1x/day.  I'm amazed how quickly this process has happened.  She will be fully weaned probably in 2 weeks.  I'm tearful thinking of her not relying on me for food and not having that awesome bonding time.

-On to solid foods.  Well, it's hit or miss still.  She just isn't the biggest eater.  She does oatmeal, purees, puffs, cheerios, yogurt melts, dried fruit melts consistently.  The hit or miss items are cheese, lunch meat, baked potato fries, bread.  I hope to have more to share about this next month!

We had Audrey's Minnie Mouse (pink version) themed party yesterday.  We had a great time and she was spoiled!  We had lots of yummy food including beef brisket and chicken cooked on the big green egg, potato salad, fruit salad, mac and cheese, and cupcakes.  Audrey had her own cupcake as well but she didn't like the idea of touching or tasting it ;)

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY MY BABY!  I LOVE YOU FOREVER!

11 Months Old!

How can our sweet baby be 1 year old in just a month?  This year has really gone by way too fast.  I can't believe she will soon be a toddler, and not a baby.  Although, she will always be my baby... 2 months old or 20 years old.  We had a busy month.  Audrey celebrated Daddy's 30th birthday which we did with a small bash at our house.  We had lots of family and friends come (locally and afar) and Paul cooked lots and lots of bbq and chicken on his Big Green Egg.  It was a great time all around.  1 week later, Audrey celebrated her first Christmas.  We went to NC 3 days before Christmas to see most of our family.  Audrey got lots of gifts including a mini rocking chair, a red wagon, a baby doll, clothes, toys, books, and a push toy.  She loves to push her dino around and walk behind it.  She can also ride on it and loves for us to push her.  We came home on Christmas Eve and celebrated Christmas at home the next day.  We kept our gifts low key and gave her a red car/buggy that she sits in and we push, and 2 recordable books, 1 from each of us.  She got a few stocking stuffers as well.  By the end of it, she was starting to get the hang of ripping paper.  Audrey then spent New Years Eve with Paul's dad and Bunchie and celebrated Christmas there as well.  We were so glad to get to see everyone!

Here are some unofficial stats:
Weight:  Just shy of 17 lbs
Height:  not sure
Diapers:  size 3
Clothes:  9-12 months
She's just a little peanut!

Food:  She still nurses 5x/day on weekends, and 2x/day during the week.  At daycare, she gets 3, 6 oz bottles of BM.  We will soon start the transition to whole milk.  My pumping days are coming to an end.  Thank God!  I will miss nursing but not pumping!  Audrey eats prunes and oatmeal for breakfast, drinks water out her sippy, snacks on puffs, cheerios, shredded cheese, yogurt melts, and veggie sticks.  She eats baby food for each meal and is digging the pouches, which is good since they combine a fruit and a veggie.  I try to introduce new foods to her and she is not a big fan or trying things haha.  We are just being persistent.  She'll give in eventually.

Audrey can pull up on anything.  She has also stood independently for a couple seconds.  She walks around with her push toy.  She still says bye bye to everyone and has occasionally said other words (dada, mama, baba).  Byebye is definitely her signature word right now.  She has started pointing to things she wants which is so sweet and cute.  She likes to play shy to strangers but ends up loving everyone.  Audrey dances (bops up and down), claps, squeals, laughs all day long.  She loves stuffed animals and her baby doll.  She gives them hugs, pats, and kisses all the time.  Audrey started taking "big girl" baths and really loves spending time in there.  Basically, she's a ton of fun.  I can't get enough of her.

So, here I am planning her 1st birthday.  :(  :)  See ya next month when I write the 1 year post!

Sara