Christmas with AJ - 8 months old

So AJ had a wonderful first Christmas - and a very long celebration!  It started Thanksgiving weekend with a celebration with my family, and ended on the 26th with Pete's family.  She definitely didn't need anything before Christmas, and now the only thing we need is more space to accomodate all the new things she has! 

She's still a peanut at 8 months old - 17 lbs and 24 7/8 inches.  She continues to grow and chance so much.  Although I can't remember what is new since my last post she now does
 - pulls to standing
 - little bit of "cruising" (taking steps while holding on to furniture)
 - bounces like a crazy person when there is music on....bounces more if you cheer "dance, dance, dance!"
 - claps her hands (The BEST thing yet!)
 - sort-of waves bye-bye, on occasion
 - eats people food in small doses!  so far she has had pita bread, cantelope, sausage, chicken, turkey, chicken nuggets, french fries (oops!), cheese, yogurt, cheerios....the girl ahs not met a food she doesnt like yet!

Life with a baby is busy, so the posts have become rather infrequent, but here are some great xmas pics!

I will post pictures later - or check out facebook!

6.5 months

So alot has happened since the last posting
 -sleeps through the night consistently 9-12 hours a night
 - sits up forever....or at least a really long time...without tipping over

 - crawls pretty fast and far!  This video is of the first time EVER that she crawled - she was so serious about it
 - reaches for things she wants
 - has a clear preference for me (ha! yes!) and will reach for me when others are holding her

and i think thats it for updates....she still has a toothless grin, no sign of teeth yet!

I havent uploaded pictures to this computer in a while, so I owe some updates, but will do so soon!  We just did a professional photo session at a local place and tons of great pictures - cant wait to share!

Creeping up to the 6 month mark!

I cannot believe that almost 6 months has gone by!  AJ will turn 6 months on October 23rd.  I think after these many months, I can finally say we are all adjusted and have figured things out as best we will for a while!  She had her 5 month checkup last week and she continues to stay on the 25% trajectory for height and 50% for weight.  Her head measurements are all over the board - ranging from 25% to 75%, so I think it has to do more with normal user error, than actual variance, but regardless of her head size (ha!) she is pretty cute.  So she is 24.75" and weighed 14lb 10.5oz.

Other magical moments in her existance include her ability to consistently and strongly roll front to back, and back to front.  She also uses this ability to scoot around - she looks ready to crawl but not quite there yet, so she gets around by rolling back and forth to move towards things she wants.  We put her down in the crib "normal" and by the time we get her in the morning, she is usually on her belly and head in the opposite direction.

Speaking of crib, sleep is getting better, we have had 1 or 2 nights of 10 hour stretches.  A handful of nights where she wakes up once for a pacifier or some soothing, and then of course some other nights where there are multiple wakeups - but we have come a LONG way from where we started!

She giggles and smiles constantly, she has eaten green beans, green peas, carrotts, pears, and rice cereal. 

So thats her story.....

Me and Pete are doing well as parents.  Although I have regained 99% of my emotional sanity (as I was a little roller coaster for a while), at times  (not always!) i find myself developed into that hovering, control freak mom.  So being a control freak is somewhat in my nature, so I am trying to let go a little bit, but all in good intentions at least.  AJ thinks Pete is hilarious (watch out everyone - he might come up with new jokes as a result), and she seems to share his love for music and TV!

The dog and AJ get along pretty well - we have to be careful with her little pincher graspers though, as one time she really got a tight hold of Athena's ears, and she yelped like the wounded puppy she was.  AJ thinks the dog is great, and loves (ick!) face licks.

So thats all for now - she is going to be a cow for halloween - the costume is amazing!

This website changed how to upload pictures and doesnt seem compatible with my computer, so until I figure it out, links to the albums that I also have on facebook

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2280317&id=14306913&l=cbc35eda6e

 

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2277175&id=14306913&l=6283c12768

 

 

Keep Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

AJ hit the 4 month mark on August 23rd, and weighed in at 13 lbs and was 24 inches long.  So she doubled her birth weight in a mere 4 months, rather than the average of 6 months!  She did come into this world as a little peanut, so it was nice to see her grow so fast!  She is 50% on height and weight, and even on head - i only mention that because my side of the family (myself included) is known for our large noggins.  So far she is faring well in that regard

Lots of milestones have happened
 - Rolled from back to front on Aug 12th - she looked quite surprised and didnt attempt again for about a week, but she proved she could do it!
 - Rolled from front to back Sept 2nd - she was on the brink of rolling for several days, so it provided some much needed entertainment for me and Pete
 - Ate cereal (rice cereal looks like fish flakes) - August 30th


She has developed into a very happy, delightful baby!  She is not quite sleeping through the night but we are very close.  She goes throughout the night (8p-5a) without a feeding, and is waking up once or twice but falls back to sleep easily with a pat on the head or a pacifier.  We were sort of doing ferber method sleep training, but since she is falling asleep pretty quickly it hasnt been too painful (knock on wood!)

Aj is also quite the traveller - with several of our friends getting married this year, she has been all over the place.  She has already been to 6 of the 50 states - quite impressive!
 - Illinois
 - Wisconsin
 - Minnesota
 - Massachusetts
 - New Hampshire
 - Missouri (coming soon on Sept 20th)

So thats the quick update - for anyone who is curious, we are NOT planning another for a little while - despite being a delightful little thing, we are still so tired and definitly have our hands full!!

Smiley girl at daycare

So I went back to work about 2.5 weeks ago and the transition has gone really well.  It felt good to be back into a "normal" routine of getting up in the morning, showering, dressed, mentally stimulating conversation.  Of course I miss her so my new schedule is so far so good - i talked my boss into trialing a 7-4 schedule, which means i leave quite a bit earlier than most of my coworkers, so I worried there would be a perception issue, but seems to be good.

So went to her 3 month check-up and she was 11 lb 6oz....so she is 50% weight, 50% head size, and 25% height....nothing of note, which is always good at the doctor!

So life is busy with work, weddings, and baby.....a link to some pictures to see the little munchkin!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2247930&id=14306913&l=998b005426

Going back to work....

So I go back to work tomorrow and it amazes me at how fast the past 12 weeks went by!  If you had asked me at week 6 when we had a cranky baby with undiagnosed acid reflux who cried all day, I was totally ready to head back then and there!  Since then, I have found out that I have a really good baby who LOVES to smile at me, and that just totally brightens up my day!  So although I am excited to go back to work and I look forward to the mental and intellectual stimulation that goes along with having a career, I am very sad to leave Ashley behind. 

Since the last post we did a visit to Mishicot to hang out with pete's dad and had some visitors from Arlington (Naomi, Mezzi and Allie).  We had a great visit with them, although it was VERY hot out.  They volunteered to hang out with Ashley from the 10p-6a hour so me and Pete could catch some zzzzz's!!!

2 months - almost doubled her size!

So her 2 month check-up was actually 2 weeks ago, but we've been busy!  Ashley's been doing planes, trains and automobiles....traveling from Boston to downtown Chicago to rural Green Bay.  Her 2 mo check-up went well - she has gained a ton of weight (which is good since she started out so tiny!).  At 2 months she was 10 lb 9 oz, which puts her about 50% for weight, and her height is still about 25%....she was near the 10% mark at birth, so she is catching up fast.  She got all her vaccine shots - so 3 needles and 1 oral.  Immediately after the shot she screamed (of course!) but then seemed fine.  However, hours later, she had mild fever and swelling in her leg, so we had a cranky baby that couldn't really sleep for about 3 days!

Speaking of sleeping, we are still not through the night, but are pretty much at 10p, 2a, 5a....and for the next two weeks until i go back to work, me and AJ nap together from about 7a-9a.  In 2 weeks I go back to work - I think I am ready for it, but I am sure I will be nervous about having her in daycare ALL DAY once the day rolls around.  We are really happy with the place we picked, but still, from friends I have heard its hard!

So we have been all over - just got back from Boston where AJ got to meet alot of her family and friends, and we had ANOTHER baby shower.  So if we didnt have everything we need before now we definitely do!  She did great on the plane, her ears didnt seem to bother her at all.  She didnt really sleep on the plane which was fine, but required constant entertainment to keep her happy.  As long as she wasn't wailing I didn't mind!  Now we are up in Green Bay for the holiday weekend, and AJ will meet some of Pete's friends so he is very excited.  She also met alot of Pete's extended family in a little get together earlier in the month. And in other news, we got her ears pierced!  The doctor said it was fine to do after her 2-month vaccines but the policy at the mall i 3 month old baby -not that we want to make a habit of ling here, but we were 2 weeks shy of it, so we just stretched the truth a little!  She cried for maybe a minute, got a bottle, then seemingly forgot.  The redness went away after just a few minutes.  It looks adorable!

Some pictures....

ears pierced (hard to see cause of the resolution)

cubs brewers game in milwaukee

the collins ladies

 c

cutie pie