J Turned 1... a few months ago

So, Baby J reached that 12 month mark back in the end of November.  It is CRAZY to think that she is already well past 1.  At 1, she was, in many ways, much more baby and less baby than I remember Little A being (possibly because I found out just a few days later that Baby J was on her way).  

Baby J's biggest achievement between 11 and 12 months was learning to walk!  She took her first little step in early November, and has only gotten faster since then.  Being able to walk has made it MUCH easier to chase Little A, one of Baby J's very favorite things to do.  

This isn't the most thorough update, but here's what I wrote as a short description of Baby J in her baby book at 12 months, "You are so happy.  You're curious and smart.  You are very active.  You love to watch the big kids and try to play.  You like to take things out, put them away and deliver things to us."

9 Months

My baby girl is 9 months old! I love this age. Her personality is really showing now. She's mobile and can explore a little on her own, but she also loves to snuggle! She loves singing songs and little rhymes, and is starting to play with some of Little A's music toys, the shakers and xylophone especially.

Big girl got her first two teeth this month.  Her first tooth popped through on August 7, and the other followed shortly after (bottom front teeth).  She's also grown a bunch again.  At her 9 month appointment today she was 19 pounds, 2 ounces (63rd percentile) and 28.5 inches long (78th percentile).  Most of her clothes are still 6-12 and 12 months now. 

In addition to crawling around EVERYWHERE now, Baby J is also pulling herself up on everything.  Seriously, anything her hands can reach she tries to use to stand up.  Thankfully, she also gets herself back down without much trouble.  Her crawl is still kind of funny.  Most of the time she has one foot down and the other knee drags along the ground.  If she doesn't like the feel of the ground (especially cement) she'll do a bear crawl. 

Her fine motor skills are developing too.  She finds every little thing that falls on the floor and tries to eat it.  She also likes to point at people and toys which is funny and cute!

See that look?  That's the look that makes me thing we're in for trouble with this little lady. 

We still have a super smiley baby, and our smiley baby is also very ticklish, so it's easy to get her laughing. Besides some adorable laughs and squeals, we hear, "Da, da da, da" quite a bit, and occasionally, "Ma, ma, ma, ma." It's pretty sweet when Little A and Baby J have babbling baby talk conversations. Baby J also has what we call her Gremlin voice that is a raspy/growly voice she babbles with sometimes that makes us laugh.

We've reached a point where it is really hard to take Baby J's monthly pictures.  You can see her trying to get away in the picture above, and at one point during the photos, she wiggled her body under an arm of the chair and was standing on the ground.  Silly little girl.

8 Months

My little lady is now 8 months old, and now she's on the move.  She started crawling just a few days ago.  Eric had been saying she was crawling for a couple of weeks, but on Saturday she really crawled across a room.   Before, she was finding ways to get around, but not what I would call crawling.  Now... she's got it down.  She's still slow, and I think sometimes forgets about her new skill, but I bet a week from now she'll be exploring the whole house (and getting in to all of big sister's stuff)!  She also (finally) rolled over from her tummy to her back this month.  Silly girl took her time hitting that milestone.  

 We are continually seeing more of Baby J's personality come out.  She's still a sweet, happy girl, but we catch some glimpses of mischief in her eyes, especially now that she's mobile.  She's still going through some separation anxiety, but she can chase me now, which seems to make her a little happier.  She's also starting to make claims to certain toys and other objects.  We used to be able to exchange the toy she had for another, but if we take something away from her now, she'll voice her displeasure. 

This month she's been eating a lot more.  I'm not sure who she got this from, but she loves green veggies the most.  She'll tolerate the orange veggies most days, but she doesn't care for fruit.  She still doesn't have any teeth, so I feel a little restricted on what solid foods we can give her, but I did let her chew on some watermelon and cucumber.  She liked both of those.  We've also been giving her puffs when we eat to keep her busy.  More and more of them make it to her mouth every day.

Baby J is loving the summer.  We've spent a few days at the beach, which she thinks is great.  She likes to splash in the water and eat the sand.  In general, she loves being outside.  She'll play on the deck and be content to just be outside while we work on outside projects.  She's also loving her stacking cup toys, blocks and anything of Little A's that she can get her hands on.   

Baby J is 7 Months

 Look at my big baby girl. Sitting is no problem for Baby J.  In fact, I think she's thinking hard about crawling.  Baby J will reach so far out in front of her to get toys that have rolled away, and then manages to get back in to that sitting position.  Now, if Little A leaves her toys out, Baby J finds a way to get to them... and put them in her mouth.  Everything goes to her mouth.  And she tries to get the entire object in her mouth.  Sometimes she'll start to cry because she can't eat the whole thing.  Silly girl.

Baby J still gives out lots of gummy smiles... still no teeth in there.  She is still a happy baby most of the time.  She has a cute squealing laugh when she gets really excited.  She loves to play with her big sister!  Little A is good with her for the most part, but now that Baby J is more active, she gets a little rough sometimes.  One day while they were playing, Baby J managed to knock Little A down.. twice.  E and I had to laugh.

One of our new games with Baby J is to blow raspberries at her.  She tries so hard to copy.  Sometimes she's successful, but most of the time her tongue gets in the way.  Either way, super cute!

This month we've also seen the start of some separation anxiety.  She has days where she gets really upset if Mommy leaves the room, and sometimes cries if she even gets put down.  One day I tried to play peek-a-boo with Baby J and it led to tears. 

She's also not sleeping through the night yet.  She goes to sleep around 9, then wakes up most nights between 2 and 3 to eat.  She goes right back to sleep, and is up again most mornings between 6 and 6:30.  During the day she normally takes about three naps; one short nap in the morning, about an hour around noon, and another late afternoon or evening nap for half an hour to an hour (and pretty much any time we ride in the car). 

1/2 a Year!

Our sweet Baby J is 6 months old!  It's amazing how quickly the months have gone by.  She's starting to do some kid things now, but thankfully she's still very much our little baby.  

Thankfully I wrote a lot in her baby book at 6 months, because she's actually approaching 7 months now.  She is honestly still one of the happiest, most content babies I can imagine.  She cries when she's hungry, if she really needs her diaper change and occasionally to get somebody to pick her up. 

Her favorite thing right now is her big sister.  She gives Little A more smiles than anyone else.  Little A is having more fun playing with her now too... reading her books and giving her toys.  Baby J squeals and laughs when her toys come "get her" and Little A likes to make the animals get her.  It's super cute to watch the two of them together.  She's also playing with toys more now.  She has a little blue elephant with the crinkle paper in it that she loves, and she likes Sophie too.

Baby J's big milestone this month was sitting up by herself.  She started sitting up in mid-May, and now that's all she wants to do.  Sometimes when she reaches for a toy that's out of her reach she'll end up on her tummy, but most of the time now she's sitting.

Baby J has continued to be a good eater.  She's a big baby now, weighing 17 pounds, 12 ounces and she's 26.75 inches long.  That puts her in the 80th percentile for both height and weight. 

We introduced oatmeal cereal just a few days before 6 months, but Baby J had a bit of a reaction (eczema rash on her bottom and legs) to the cereal, so took a break and then switched to rice cereal and haven't had any more problems.  We're hoping she outgrows the oatmeal reaction.

One area that hasn't been going as well is sleep.  She rarely sleeps more than 4 hours at a time at night.  Which makes for a tired Mama.  But it's summer now, so that certainly helps!  Hopefully she'll be sleeping through the night before I have to go back to work in the fall.  One cute thing about her sleeping (well, I think my burrito baby is always super cute when she's sleeping) is that sometimes she snores.  It's not loud, just a sweet little baby snore.

Baby J is 5 Months!

One more month has flown by with Baby J.  She is much less of my snuggly little baby each day.  She is SO active.  Those little legs are always kicking, and she's constantly rolling.  She rolls from her back to her tummy and then lets out a little yell to let us know that she doesn't enjoy tummy time.  When she sits with E or me she loves to stand or sit up big to see the action. J at day care says Baby J just wants to be with the big kids.  We've gotten out our exersaucer and borrowed a door jumper so Baby J can really be our little jumping bean (as we like to call her). 

She still has such a happy, easy going personality.  She is so very, very smiley.  I love seeing those happy smiles, especially early in the morning and when I pick her up from day care.  We have seen a few pouty looks come out recently, and you can see her serious face in the picture below, but there aren't too many crying faces, which makes everyone at our house happy.  She's really starting to "talk" to us this month, which is a lovely little sound.

I don't have any official stats on Baby J's height or weight this month, but I can say she's getting bigger all the time.  She's still fitting in most of her 6 month outfits, but they're starting to get a little tight, and a little short.  We moved to size 3 diapers for both day and night.  They're not that much smaller than Little A's (though I remember Little A stayed in the size 3 diapers for about a year, so I'm not too worried that my baby is turning in to a big girl).  



Baby J is 4 Months Old!

Quick, before she reaches the 5 month mark, a few updates about my 4 month old, Baby J! First, the stats. At 4 months, Baby J was 14 pounds, 2 ounces! That's a big baby (81st percentile). She was 24.75 inches long and her head was 40.4 centimeters. She's in almost all 6 month clothes, but it seems like even some of those are getting to be too small. (Mommy says, slow down on the growing Baby J! SLOW DOWN!!)

Baby J is still just a sweet baby girl. Daddy and I love to see her big, gummy smiles. We also love how you try to "attack" us when we give you kisses. It's just the sweetest thing!! It's also pretty adorable to listen to you have little chats with yourself.

You had been trying to roll over for a few weeks, and right on your 4 month birthday you finally made it all the way over (and got that silly arm out of your way). We were all very proud of you getting your rollies. I think you're happy you can move a little bit. Her little legs are constantly kicking. Keeping socks and shoes on her is nearly impossible.

I should also mention a few of Baby J's nicknames. We call her just about everything but her full name. Some of our favorites are Jophajean (Little A), Jumping Bean, Phenom, JoJo Bean (Grandpa R), JJ (Papa), Smiley.

3 Months!!

Baby J is now 3 months old, and while I don't know how much she weighs right now, I know she's growing, because her 3 month outfits are getting so tight. We took her to dinner with another couple and their 1 month old, and there is a HUGE size difference. Baby M made Baby J look like a monster! She's still spitting up a lot. By the time we got done taking these pictures she was soaked, and I had to find her a new outfit (or do a costume change as we like to call it). But the spitting seems to bother me more than her, so we're just waiting for her to grow out of it. As I write, she's sitting on my lap, cooing up a storm, and now I just felt a whole lot of slime hit my legs. See how smiley she is in these photos? That's how she is most of the time. She's so sweet and content. She cries when she's hungry, or sometimes when she needs her diaper changed, and occasionally we'll hear a little dinosaur noise when she needs a little more attention, but other than that she is relaxed and happy. When she sees Mommy, Daddy or Little A her whole little face lights up! She has the cutest smiles, and we even hear a few little baby giggles. She's also cooing like crazy!

Our day care provider tells me that Baby J is a "gem." She told me she's always nervous when a new baby starts, but that Baby J is super easy and sweet, and gives out her big, gummy smiles to the rest of the kids.

Baby is starting to have more control over her body now. Her neck is so strong, and she loves to watch what everyone around her is doing. She's starting to grab for the toys on her play mat too. I think it's pretty adorable to watch her try to get her pacifier back in. Sometimes her little birdy mouth even manages to get it! This month we took a big trip with Baby J to Cancun (Little A stayed with her grandmas and grandpas in Wisconsin while we were gone). She was such a good little traveler! No problems on the flights, no problems sleeping, no problems hitting the town with Mommy and Daddy (well, hitting the town to the extent you can with a baby along). She went to her first wedding (congrats, K & C!) while we were there, and dipped her little body in the Caribbean Sea.

Baby J is 2 Months!

My baby girl is getting so big! We went to the doctor last Friday, and she's up to 12 pounds, and 23.25 inches. No wonder so many of her 3 month clothes are getting snug. She's even fitting nicely into some of her 3-6 month clothes.

She continues to be a spitter, but not as bad as I was from what I hear. Our doctor calls her a happy spitter, and she's growing well, so I try not to worry about it too much. But it's hard not to worry when I'm soaked in baby spit after feeding her. I want all of that good stuff to stay in her tummy!

She's sleeping pretty well, but still a bit of a night owl. Her first sleep stretch is around 5-6 hours most nights, and she'd probably go about that long for the second stretch, but I wake her up to eat when Little A gets up most of the time so we can get started with our day. In this last picture, Baby J isn't looking at the camera very well, but you can catch a little glimpse of her big, gummy smile. She is so, so very sweet. She is so content and easy going, and she flashes that smile all the time now! We absolutely LOVE it! Her smiles are our favorite thing she does right now. I also like her baby stretches, and when she tries to get her pacifier back when it falls out. She looks like a little baby bird using her mouth to try to find where the pacifier went. And occasionally she is successful.

Baby J is 1 Month!

Baby J celebrated her one month on Christmas. In some ways, it feels like the month flew by, and in other ways, it's difficult to remember what life was like without her here. I can tell you on thing, it is MUCH busier at my house now. It's hard to find time to get things done, and even simple tasks take a lot longer (in order to get ready in the morning, I have a newborn and toddler with me in the bathroom. Baby J in her swing, and Little A in the shower with me. It's rare that I can get us all clean and dressed in under an hour.) There are many days I think it looks like a toy (and blanket) store exploded in my living room.

Baby J has been such an easy going baby for the most part this month. It seems to me that as she's added awake time, that awake time seems to be when Little A is sleeping. I think they have a pact to keep Mommy and Daddy busy all the time. At night, Baby J doesn't like to go to sleep until after midnight, and sometimes much later. When she does sleep, her preferred place to sleep is on Mommy. Which means I'm not getting the best rest, but I do love the baby snuggles. Little A was the same way for awhile, so I think she'll grow out of it soon. I think it will help if we can figure out how to get her spitting up under control. It seems like Baby J has filled out a lot in the past week or so. It's time to pack up all the newborn clothes again, because Baby J is too big. She wears a lot of 0-3 month outfits, and even fits well into a lot of 3 month size outfits. Mommy and Daddy are worried that she's going to grow up fast, just like her big sister did, so we're getting in all of the baby snuggles we can while she'll let us!Because Baby J's 1 month birthday fell on Christmas, E had to bake Baby J's birthday cake. What a sweet Daddy!