Sunday, October 23, 2011

::7 Months::


Um, what? Are you kidding me? I know I sound like a broken record, but I SWEAR this time that this month serrrrriously flew by. Like, barely even blinked, maybe half of a blink, and Lola is 7 months old. UN. REAL!

I don't know if we are just getting more in the swing of things, or if Lola truly is just getting more amazing by the day, but I L-O-V-E-D this month. And I have a hunch that this next month will be even better. Lola is a true gem-- just so happy, giggly, cuddly, smiley, and wonderful. Her personality comes out more and more everyday, and it gives this mama sooooo much joy. Like whoah. Am I getting too cheesey? Probably. Sorry. I can't help myself.

So anyways, Lola has still been sleeping a mind-blowingly amazing 12 hours at night. Usually from 8pm-8am, but sweet little girl is so flexible that she'll pretty much sleep 12 hours from whatever time we put her down. We happened to have an excess of events this week (like one every night), and I have to say that she did exceptionally well. We obviously had later bed times this week due to all the partying, but she handled the change very well and gave us very little fuss and slept the same amount at night. For example, she didn't get down until 10pm on Saturday night b/c of my cousin's wedding shower, and she woke up at 10:15 am the next morning!! Thank you punkin'!

Speaking of nicknames, mine for her are getting OUT OF CONTROL. And they usually include the word "punkin' " in them. Here are some, but not even all, of my recent nicknames for her: punkin' bottom, punkin' brains, punkin' booty, punkin' pie, punkin' pants, precious poo poo, doodle bug, love buggy, sugar butt, need I go on or are you sufficiently embarrassed for me yet? Yeah, I thought so...

She has gotten MUCH better with her baby foods this month. She eats solids 2 x's a day now, and it is so much easier and less stressful than last month. And, thank goodness, she will now eat pretty much anything. We added a few new things this month like chicken, turkey, corn, mixed berries, and more. She still eats 4x's a day, and will take 6-7oz of formula at each feeding as well.

At Lola's 6 month doc appointment, we found out that she is in the 90th percentile for weight and 92nd for height!! That is a BIG change from her one month appointment when she was in the 5th percentile. It is crazy how everything really does work itself out, because I was pretty emotional when we had a slow start at the beginning. But I think it's safe to say she's growing now!

Her other tooth popped through this month, so she has 2 teeth on the bottom! It seems like we may have some others working their way through right now, but I guess we'll see!

Lola still only says "da da", but I have been hearing some "b" syllables occasionaly, and rarely, but still sometimes, an "m". Still waiting for that mama word...

And crawling does seem to be right around the corner! She now gets up on her knees and rocks when I lay her on her stomach, which I know happens just before they start crawling. We better get to baby-proofing, eeek!

Lola has now been consistently taking 2 naps a day, usually 2 hours each which pretty much makes her schedule as follows:

8am-wake up and eat
8:15-9:45--play
10am-noon- nap
12pm--wake up and eat
12:15-1:45pm- play
2:00-4:00pm- nap
4:00-7:00pm--play
7:15-7:45pm--eat some solids and bath time
8:00pm- bottle and bed time

It's pretty great! No complaints here! I can only imagine all the new things I'll blog about next month--I have a feeling they'll involve crawling and more talking.

I cannot begin to express my gratitude to the Lord for giving us this most precious gift. I never imagined how our lives would be blessed through her, but she is the sweetest thing to us. Words cannot express.












"See ya mom! I'm wayyy too busy for this!"

Thursday, October 6, 2011

::6 Months::


I have a 6 month old?!?! No way that is possible. Time continues to fly by and Lola continues to grow and change so much!

This month was probably our biggest month as far as changes go. It seems that so many things finally started clicking this month making life a little bit "easier". One of the biggest changes this month was that I am done with breastfeeding! Woo hoo! I never thought (before I had Lola) that I would be so excited for this day to come, but I so am. Of course, I didn't get to have the "magical" experience that most moms get to have since I had to basically have a relationship with my pump instead of my daughter, so maybe that has something to do with it. But I couldn't be happier that I made it 6 months--that was my goal!

So Lola is now on formula and is doing great! It has really been a blessing. Thanks to the switch, she now only eats 6oz. 4 times a day (8am, 12pm, 4pm, 8pm) and sleeps from 8pm-8am with NO dreamfeed! Yes, we were able to drop the 10:30pm dreamfeed, and that is A-mazing. It has really freed up our nights and allowed Jono and I to spend more time together, because once she is out, she is OUT...and doesn't wake up until around 8am! It makes such a HUGE difference in our lives and I am so pleased.

She also started eating some solids this month. We started with rice cereal and worked our way through different fruits and veggies. She is not really a fan of rice cereal or oatmeal, and the only way she'll eat SOME of it is if it's mixed with fruit. And even then, not so much. She eats best at night time right before bed. So far her fav is definitely the butternut squash, apple, and oat mixture! She has had sweet potatoes, pears, bananas, peaches, blueberries, apples, carrots, and peas. We are still trying to figure out what works best for her, so hopefully we have it figured out by next month. But at least no allergies so far!

Lola takes between 2-3 naps a day each lasting from 1.5 -2 hours. She is a good little sleeper and that is a good little blessing. I just lay her in her crib with her paci (she still LOVES her paci) and she puts herself to sleep. Good baby!

Lola has cut one tooth, and has another one about to pop through (although I'm pretty sure both of these appeared AFTER her 6 month bday, technically). They are both on the bottom middle. I, like most parents, would agree that the teething process is NOT fun and I wish it didn't exist. It definitely makes Lola fussy and uncomfortable, and it's a miracle how much better things get once that little guy pops through the gums.

All in all though, Lola is a very happy baby that smiles A LOT. Strangers are always so blown away that she smiles at them (all of them), and I have to pretend like that doesn't happen every single time! I don't want them to feel less special or anything:).

Lola is not quite sitting up all by herself yet, but she is getting close. And still no signs of crawling yet--which I am happy about!

Her new favorite word is "da da" and she says it almost all day long everyday. It is so adorable and I love it. The "b" and "m" syllables haven't come around yet, but I can't wait for the day she says mama!


She has figured out how to put her feet in her mouth and now does this ALL the time! She also knows how to put her paci back in her mouth on her own, which is amazing!! Makes nap times and sleeping much easier:).

She typically wears size 6-12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

We count even our hardest days as truly joyful because of Lola. We are so in love!