Eating Troubles

Solid foods are going terrific. Night time feedings are now going poorly. I thought the theory was once the babies start solid foods they start sleeping longer. Our baby is doing the opposite. We've gone from getting used to 6-7 hours in between bottles to now going 3-5 hours if we're lucky. I don't understand it. We made the mistake of eating a ton of solid foods and then suffered the consequences the next day. Actually, the daycare had to suffer from it. In any case, I really don't know what to do to make her sleep better and longer. She'll eat and then go right to bed so I know she doesn't just get up to get up. Any suggestions are welcome.

New Ski Mobile

Last Saturday we traded in my beloved CRV for a Honda Odyssey. It was a process that went quicker than expected (we never stick to a timeline!) but was very well worth it. We are now able to fit everything and anything in our car - which we have named the Ski Mobile. I am still getting used to driving something 20 inches longer than my old car but it truly is a wonderful new car! We love it!!

Laughing

I am very happy to announce that our little girl now loves to laugh. In fact, when she laughs, she cracks herself up at hearing herself laugh which makes her laugh more. It is absolutely adorable. Her laugh is really funny and is more of a scream like "Ha" but you can tell it is a laugh. Squealing is also funny and fun to her. It sometimes hurts me because it usually involves pulling my hair (she finds that hilarious)...but sometimes it is worth it. =) I worry that no one besides myself and Jim will hear her laugh for awhile because she is a bit of a grump when it comes to just about everyone else except us and the daycare. We'll bring her out of her shell someday! The Dr said there is no way to fix this and she'll have to come out of it on her own. I hope she is wrong!

First Tooth!

Libby officially has her first tooth. It took 2 months of her "teething" but we finally have our first tooth sighting. YAY!

6 Month Checkup

Wednesday was Miss Elizabeth's 6 month checkup at the doctor. Unfortunately that means another round of shots. She took them like a champ though! She usually cries for a minute and then we can distract her with something to make her laugh. The key is making her laugh! Plus, then she gets to play with the very shiny bandaids!

The appointment went well. She is now 23.5 lbs (>97%) and 27.5 inches (95%) long. The Dr said she is the average size of a 9 month old. Considering she is wearing 18 month clothes comfortably that surprised me. Everything else went well too. She's meeting all of her milestones and the doctor said she is just perfect! We can even introduce meat now into the solids. I have to admit when she said that and explained to Jim that it was 'baby food meat' (aka, pureed) I gagged a little. If I thought the squash smelled bad, I can't wait to see what ham+apples smells like! Yuck!

Some housekeeping items:

Solid foods tried to date (We are a bit behind because of the antibiotics allergic reaction scare):

• Carrots - Libby says YUCK!
• Apples - Libby says YUM!
• Squash - Libby says YUM YUM YUM!
  

5 Month Milestones:
...should be able to do:

• hold head steady when upright - check!
  
• on stomach, raise chest, supported by arms- check!
• pay attention to an object as small as a raisin- check! (she's trouble!)
  
• squeal in delight- check! hehe too cute!
  
• reach for an object- check! Goodness, she loves to reach.
  
• smile spontaneously- check!
• smile back when you smile- check!
• grasp a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers- check!
• keep head level with body when pulled to sitting- check!

...will probably be able to do:

• roll over (one way)- nope! She is still being stubborn on that!
  
• bear some weight on legs- check!
• say "ah-goo" or similar vowel-consonant combinations- check!
• razz (make a wet razzing sound)- check!
• turn in the direction of a voice- check!

.... may possibly be able to do:

• sit without support- mostly...she can last about 15-20 seconds and then falls to the left or right.
  

...may even be able to do:

• pull up to standing position from sitting- hmm...not really. She likes to stand and we can do this but it is not comfy for her.
  
• stand holding on to someone or something- no way thank goodness! I don't want her standing yet =)
  
• object if you try to take away a toy- check! makes things more interesting =)
  
• work to get a toy out of reach- check! it is pretty funny!
  
• pass a cube or other object from one hand to the other- check!
• look for dropped object- check!
• rake with fingers a tiny object and pick it up in fist- check!
• babble, combining vowels and consonants such as ga-ga-ga, ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma, da-da-da- can definitely say ga ga ga or ba ba ba but not ma or da!

I thought I would go ahead and put the 6 month milestones to remind me where we need to be before the month ends. =)

6 Month Milestones:
... should be able to do:

• keep head level with body when pulled to sitting- check!
• say "ah-goo" or similar vowel-consonants combinations- check!

... will probably be able to:

• bear some weight on legs when held upright- check!
• sit without support- against mostly but not 100% yet!
• turn in the direction of a voice- check!
• razz (make a wet razzing sound)- check!

...may possibly be able to:

• stand holding on to someone or something- nope
• object if you try to take a toy away- check!
• work to get a toy that's out of reach- check!
• pass a cube or other object from one hand to the other- check!
• look for dropped objects- check!
• rake with fingers a tiny object and pick it up in fist- check!
• babble, combining vowels and consonants such as ga-ga-ga, ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma, da-da-da- can definitely say ga ga ga or ba ba ba but not ma or da!
• feed self cracker or other finger food- she cannot have finger foods yet so we cannot do this yet =)

... may even be able to:

• creep or crawl- nope!
• pull up to standing position from sitting- nope!
• get into a sitting position from stomach- nope!
• pick up tiny object with any part of thumb and finger- check!
• say "mama" or "dada"- nope but cannot wait!

So we are well on our way. =)

We're Still Here!

We're still here! I haven't forgotten about this site - promise! Libby is almost 6 months now (24 weeks!)...she's just thriving and is such a bundle of fun. She is now trying to sit up on her own and does not enjoy tummy time that much. Sadly, she just wants to sit and grab at anything and everything. She does love rocket baby A LOT. We just hoist her in the air and pretend to drop her and then raise her up. It is quite a workout at 22lbs! The girl loves her some Daddy too! She just laughs and laughs with him. I'm definitely used as a shoulder to cry and sleep on but I won't complain at all. =)

Solid foods are going well. She loves her cereal but we have introduced carrots and apples. Carrots weren't a hit but boy oh boy does she love her apples! She'll just gobble them up (after a sour face or two!). We were not able to introduce anything for awhile when we were giving her antibiotics a week ago. Given that we didn't know if she was having an allergic reaction to the medicine, we opted to wait on giving her new foods until the medicine was out of her system. Since then all systems are in full force! Feeding her solids is one of my favorite things...even though it is really messy.

Daycare is getting easier for me to stomach too. We have our bad days but those women really care for my little girl. They get concerned when she's sick. It is really a good place.

I'm still trying to struggle work and personal life but I'm still trying. =) It would really help if she could sleep through the night! Just to know I could sleep all night would mean I could stay up past 8pm each night. I always liked going to bed early but not at 7:30/8:00 pm! It is crazy!

We're also getting a minivan Saturday! I am very excited about all of the extra room. Oh, and no matter what Jim says, we are not getting flames on it. =)

Magazines

We discovered tonight that the baby loves paper. I'll just let the video show the fun!

Grabbing

Libby's favorite game right now is yanking on just about everything from ears, nose, hair, etc. She finds it hilarious and we find it adorable...and painful. =) There is also the dropping the toys and then picking them up. So yay for that milestone being met! Consider this your warning that she will hurt you now. =) She's like a ninja!

Antibiotic Problems

Libby has been sick for the past month and a half. On Tuesday the daycare called me to tell me that Libby wouldn't stop screaming so I took her to the doctor. They gave her an antibiotic. It was her first prescription and I was really nervous about giving her it. They assured us that it wouldn't be a big deal. That's where it fell apart. =( On Thursday the daycare called again to say that she's having some kind of a reaction on her face. So I called the doctor and they said she might be allergic to penicillin. Well, that was enough to make me terrified for her. So we stopped the antibiotic and gave her Benadryl and that seemed to have clear up everything. Yesterday her face flared up again even with the Benadryl and so I called the doctor again and took her in. The doctor thinks she might be allergic to the lotion that we are using on her face...so, we'll be experimenting a bit more to see if she is really allergic to the antibiotic or not. =(