9 Month Stats

We finally had Kylah's 9 month well child checkup.  She's still tiny, growing along her 5% curve for height and weight.  Weight was 15lbs2oz and 25in long.  Not sure what her head circumference was, but it was in the 50th percentile.  Basically she's a tiny girl with a big head, our little bobblehead.  (She takes after daddy with that big head).  She had to have a finger prick to check some blood stuff, and we found out she's a little low on iron so we started a multivitamin today.  It smelled horrid, but she sucked it down like a champ.  She didn't even cry for the finger prick.  Her shot on the other hand, she cried a bit when the nurse stuck her, but a couple hugs from daddy and she was good to go.

The doctor was impressed with her babbling and her milestones.  He felt her gums and doesn't think it will be too long before we finally see some teeth.  The good news is, her ears are clear from her last ear infection!  We talked about transitioning to whole milk after her first birthday and adding some red meat into her diet to help with her low iron.  Guess she'll get some ground beef when we make burgers or tacos or spaghetti from now on.  When he found out she's not a fan of water, he was concerned that we were giving her juice until he realized I'm just as much of a juice nazi (his words) as he is.  He explained to Kris that they don't need juice and the sweetness in juice can sometimes make them only want juice/sweet things.  Score one for mommy!!!  I'll eventually give her juice, but will be used as a treat more than a normal occurrence. 

We've tried some new foods recently.  I scrambled up some egg yolks on Sunday for her and let her eat them off her high chair tray.  Tonight we tried blueberry puree, and then mixed some of that puree with plain yogurt.  She loves her food.  But blueberries are messsssyyyyyyy but so much fun! 

vb  n                  szxfvbgzfxsdxgxfxgzzszb chcss  (<~~~that's what Kylah wanted to add to the blog post)

9 MONTHS!!!

What a difference 8 months make.  Those pictures don't even look like the same baby! I can't believe my sweet girl is now 9 months old.  She has officially been outside more than she was inside.  She's getting sooo big!  We haven't been to the doctor for her 9 month check-up (that's scheduled next week), so I don't have any stats, but I'll be sure to update when we do.  I noticed this morning a 3-6month old size dress was a little tight across her belly, so maybe we'll be moving into 6-9 month clothing soon!

FOOD:
She's still taking 5 5oz bottles a day, but for the last 3 weeks we've had to use formula for one of those bottles.  When I had mono the beginning of the year, my milk supply tanked and I wasn't making enough to sustain her.  So formula for a bottle it was.  I'm getting back to where I was and we should be able to stop the formula completely soon.  We tried carrots again a few nights ago, and they were a success.  We have also tried quinoa, which the texture through her off a bit, but mixed with some veggie or fruit puree it was fine.  We added in baby yogurt (pear flavored) and while the first night she wanted nothing to do with it, she's taken to it fine since then.  We're going to try egg yolk, pasta, mango, and blueberries soon. 

ACTIVITIES:
She's still crawling like a champ and pulling up on things with ease. She's also getting pretty good at getting back down to her knees/seated position after pulling up on things.  She can push her ride on car across the floor walking behind it (although I'm not sure she does this on purpose to move it, just she likes leaning on it and playing with it and ends up pushing it along).  She is also quite good at patty cake/clapping.  I'm still trying to get it on video, but its definitely so cute to see!  Still only babbling and no real words yet, but I am still working on that "mama"!

SLEEP:
Still on the same sleep cycle.  Going down between 8-9pm and up between 4-5am to eat.  Weekends its back to bed, and during the week if she wakes up closer to 4am its back to bed until time for Kris and I to start getting ready for work.  We're working on naps in her pack and play, and have a few successful naps, but I'm still pretty content on cuddling on the couch with her for naps.

TOYS:
She's still really partial to her bath toys and her ride on car.  We started introducing a small stuffed Hello Kitty when we're trying to get her to go to sleep at night.  It calms her down to just lay on us and feel it/play with it quietly on us.  We're hoping this can become a calming bedtime toy for her.

Happy 9 months to me!

Patty Cake!

Miss Independent

*tear* my baby is growing up.  For the past few days she's been consistently holding her bottle.  Granted, she's been able to hold her bottle for awhile now, she just always chose to let me cuddle her and hold it for her.  Now, she's doing it herself.  AND she's now feeding herself.  She hasn't gotten the concept of scooping the food out the bowl, but as long as you put her food on her spoon, she'll take it from you and does a very good job at making it in her mouth.  Its quite a mess, but so cute all the same.  The past few meals we've shared feeding.  I feed her some, and let her do it.  Tonight at dinner, I was not allowed to feed her.  She wouldn't open her mouth for me, she would smack the spoon if I came near her mouth until I gave it to her and let her feed herself.  I'm glad she's learning this new skill, but I'm not ready for my baby to grow up. 

*ANOTHER* Ear Infection

My poor baby.  I hate when she is sick and there is nothing I can do about it.  However, for being sick, she's still in a pretty good mood.  In fact, you really can't tell that there is anything wrong with her.  She's had a sniffly nose for a few days but our weather here in Virginia is pretty wonky.  One day its 60s and the next its 30s.  Although, I think the cold is here to stay for awhile.  She started a small cough yesterday, but it was very random.  She did cough a few times overnight and it somewhat woke her up, but she would resettle and go right back to sleep.  She woke up earlier than normal to eat and then woke up again at 5AM just crying and whining for no reason so it was clear something was off with my normally calm and happy baby.  She was just clingy.  No fever.  Luckily we have an awesome pediatrician's office and Kris took her there first thing with no appointment and they fit her in right away.  She's got another ear infection.  She just had one the week before Christmas and again at the beginning of November.  Add to the ear infection an upper respiratory infection.  Poor baby.  Lots of TLC and cuddles are the perfect medicine.  Hopefully she gets a good night sleep (and we do too) tonight and the meds start to kick in and make my sweet little baby feel better.  I hate it when she's sick. 

8 Months!

Some more catch up...Kylah turned 8 months old on the day after Christmas.  We didn't have a well checkup scheduled, but since she went to the doctor a few days prior, I do have her weight.  She is still teeeeeeeny weighing in at 14lbs1oz.
Food:
She is taking 5 5oz bottles a day and has 2 meals of homemade solids of about 2-3oz of food each meal.  So far her favorite is sweet potato, followed closely by apples.  We haven't tried carrots again after her last refusal and she still doesn't care for peas, but she will eat them.  We added in cheerios to work on those fine motor skills (and to keep her busy in her high chair while we get our dinner finished).  At first she wasn't too sure of the cheerios or puffs, but now she's quite the pro.  Fisting them into her mouth as quickly as we put them down.  No teeth yet, I'm sure its only a matter of time.  Kris and I make her own baby food.  Its so much cheaper and better for her.  Its really quite easy too.  Bake a couple sweet potatoes, scoop out the innards, throw it in a blender, put in ice cube trays and freeze.  We typically do baby food making one day a month and that lasts us for quite some time. 
Activities:
Kylah is really cruising and mobile.  She's mastered crawling and pulling up on furniture, toys, etc.  She can cruise across furniture and can transfer from one person/item to the next.  She's so careful though.  I always thought babies had no fear, but she seems (in my mind) to think things through before doing them.  She hasn't mastered sitting back down after pulling up on stuff, and she'll cry for help instead of falling.  She's a pro-sitter and has even figured out how to crawl into her chair for her monthly pictures.  She's learning the art of waving, but not quite sure when to do it.  She's babbling, but no real words yet.  She says hi, babababa, and whines mammmmaaammmm. I joke that I won't count a first word until its a real "mama".  
Sleep:
We've been lucky in that Kylah has always slept through the night since about 6-7weeks.  She has a few hiccups here and there, but for the most part, is a great sleeper.  She goes down between 8-9pm and is unfortunately an early riser at 4:30-5am.  However, I'm up at 5AM on work days anyways, so the only real issue is on the weekends.  On weekends, she wakes to eat, and then either she and I, or she and Kris take up residence on the sofa for a few more hours of shut eye/cuddle time.
Toys:
She still doesn't have any real "favorites" as she's pretty content playing with just about anything.  She got a ton of cool new toys for Christmas and has enjoyed playing with them all.  She still loves her bath toys.  She'll hold onto them after the bath and likes to take them places.  She likes her stacking rings and her ride on car a lot.  In her pack and play, she's content playing with her laptop or phone.  She likes to open and close the laptop mainly. 

Happy 8 months to me!!!

Sitting is for babies! I'm a big girl!

HIIIIIIII!!!

My First Santa Visit

It has been a tradition for both Kris and I ever since we were both little to go see the Legendary Santa.  Legendary Santa used to take residence in Miller & Rhoads downtown, but now his chimney he calls home is located at the Children's Museum of Richmond.  We decided to take Kylah during the week to try and avoid some long lines.  Santa arrives at 9AM and we got there around 8:30.  We got in line and were there in time to see Santa come down the chimney.  Although, Kylah was more interested in a bottle than what was going on around her.  We waited a short 20 minutes and were up next and chatting with the Snow Queen.  Finally! it was Santa time.  She did great, not even a tear.  She was in awe of everything and although we didn't get a smile, we didn't get any tears either.  Right as it was time to tell Santa what she wanted (which according to dad is toy cars and pacifiers, mom thinks she wants baby dolls and more girlie stuff), she noticed his beard and *almost* got a handful!

My First Visit with Legendary Santa

Christmas Day

Kylah's first Christmas.  Time has flown, I can't believe she is 8 months old and we're celebrating her first Christmas.  She went to bed normal time and slept through the night and of course being the early riser she is, we got a 4:30AM wake up call. She ate and Kris and I were contemplating whether to get started on the festivities since we had a couple places to be later or go back to sleep.  Typically on the weekends when she awakens at 4:30-5AM, its back to bed after eating. She decided for us.  I was finishing up pumping and she kept crawling between Kris and I and getting in our laps trying to lay down and go to sleep.  So, we took her cue and back to bed for us.  Fast forward to 8AM and we started our family Christmas.  Santa came and must have thought Kylah was a good girl (I tend to agree). 

I'm not quite awake yet...

What a haul!

After Christmas at home, we went to Kris' mom's house for a late breakfast (blueberry pancakes!!!) and presents.  Kylah got an awesome new toy box from Uncle Aaron and Auntie Kiersten (which she ended up getting another toy box from my mom - its ok, the child has enough toys to fill both).  She was also super excited to give her new soon-to-be cousin Asher his first present.

my new toy box!

Merry Christmas cousin Asher!

Afterwards, we headed home to drop off a carload of stuff and headed to my mom's, where Kylah was yet again spoiled.  She loved playing with her cousins and was happy to see grandma one more time before she heads south for the winter.

Christmas Eve

What a busy holiday weekend we had.  4 days before Christmas, Kylah ended up with a double ear infection.  Needless to say, that put our last minute plans of lots of staged pictures and finishing wrapping presents on hold.  We got all the presents wrapped the evening of the 23rd since the next 2 days were full of traveling from place to place.  Christmas Eve we went to Kris' grandparents for a lunch and present exchange.  It was right in the middle of naptime and a meltdown occurred.  Kylah wanted nothing to do with anyone but dad.  After calming down, Kylah watched everyone open presents and got to open a couple presents of her own.  She did pretty good at ripping paper, but she really just wanted to eat it, and the bow.

mmm. paper.

 

 

Uncle Aaron teaching me how to use my new phone.

Afterwards we went to Powhatan to visit Kylah's Uncle Rusty and Aunt Gina and cousins Trenton and Macie.  It was a nice, relaxing visit and the kids enjoyed playing with Kylah.  We headed home pretty early since we had a big day ahead of us on Christmas.  After we bathed Kylah, we started the tradition of new Christmas Jammies.

I'm becoming a pro at this unwrapping stuff

Holiday PJs!

Down and Out

I've fallen behind, but yet, I've just started.  How can that be?  Well last week I was laid up in bed with mono.  Yuck.  I hope to catch up real soon as Kylah is growing and learning every day! But for now, I'll add a couple new pictures...
Last night we took a trip around the house in her ride on car.  She *LOVED* it!

Getting ready to start her engines! (AKA Daddy)

Happy Girl!

Wheeeee!!

So.Much.Fun.