Milestones

This post is more for my memory then your enjoyment. I’ve kept some of these things written down or in the back of my mind and I need to put them all in one place so I don’t forget anything because she does more and more each day and my memory is officially on overload. I need a fresh mind for the next 4 months because she is going to be talking and walking a lot before she turns a year old and the 1st year is so important and goes by so fast!



SLEEP
I knew from the beginning I wanted Elle on a schedule. Some people are for it, some against, but I’m a total schedule advocate. Some people just say, “listen to your baby”. Well, you can still do that and be on a schedule. Everyday wasn’t perfect, but having a schedule relieves some of the guessing games associated with babies cries. Especially when they are hungry and tired. Elle is still on a feeding and bedtime schedule. It’s easy for me, John, and Cindy because we know when she’s hungry and it’s very obvious when she’s ready for a nap. To get her on a bedtime schedule I gave her a bath every night @ the same time up until she was about 4 months old, that way she associated bath time with bedtime. Now I know this is a total “no” to some people but it was easy for us to give her a bath because it was summer and she was the worlds sweatiest baby. Her skin didn’t suffer one bit. Now, if it were winter, I couldn’t have done that because she has such dry skin. I’m constantly putting lotion on her body and Aquaphor on her cheeks! Anyways, I fed her a bottle around 7:30 and till this day she is sleeping by 8:30PM. When she was a little itty bitty baby, she would sleep until around 2AM and then wake up every 2 hours for feedings. Her nights got better around 4 months when I spread out her bottle schedule and she stopped being swaddled and slept on her stomach. Now she goes to bed anywhere from 7:30 – 8:30 and wakes up anywhere from 5-6:30AM. It would be amazing if the girl would sleep more than 10 hours, but I don’t see that day anywhere in my future. To be honest, the only time I wish she’d sleep in is on the weekends. During the week it gives me a couple hours with her so her waking up early works out perfect, but if I could just sleep in one Saturday… life would be great. Until then, I will continue to live off caffeine. I never use to be a big coffee drinker until about June 19th, 2010.


ON THE MOVE
Boy is she ever! I just can’t believe how fast she picked up on everything considering she had such a “slow” start. Elle HATED tummy time. She would last maybe 20 seconds and then scream and we have plenty of video to prove it. I was kind of worried at first because she took so long to even show an interest. Finally around 3 months (September 8th, to be exact) she tolerated maybe 4 minutes of tummy time, this lasted all the way until 1 week before she turned 4 months. I know this because she had her 4 month check-up a week early and the doctor asked me how it was going. Well it was a no go and she said it was OK as long as she started doing it by 6 months. Well, the day she turned 4 months she successfully rolled tummy to back. By 5 months she was rolling both directions with no hesitation. By time she was around 6 months (Dec 14th) she got in crawling stance. She army crawls all over the place till this day. She just can’t seem to get where she needs to go fast enough on all 4’s so she takes the easy way out. When she crawls on all 4’s she is SO cautious. John describe it as if she was crawling through a field of landmines. It’s very entertaining and although she’s getting better at all 4’s, she’d much rather drag herself everywhere. Now she is successfully pulling herself up on furniture and walking along it. She is 8 months and I feel like she should just be learning to crawl. Why do they start so early now-a-days? My nephew Dylan started walking @ 9 months! I have a feeling if Elle keeps up on this pace, she’s not going to be too far behind. All I wanted was her to not walk until she was around a year old. Maybe she’ll just chicken out and stay along the furniture? FINGERS CROSSED. However, she is already letting go of the furniture… if you hold out your hand, she’ll just let go. A brave little girl I tell ya! She’s fallen quite a few times, but last night she had her first total face plant into the floor. I was sitting on the couch and she was holding herself up. I had my leg propped up on the table so she wouldn’t fall backwards but something possessed her to let go and try to walk and she fell the opposite direction, face first. Now, thinking about it today, makes me laugh pretty hard because it happened so FAST, but at the time I felt terrible and she cried so hard. I just think she was more scared than hurt, but there will be plenty more falls so I might as well start getting use to it because I can’t prevent every single one. Oh and even better, she leans over her crib and tries to look at her fan on the floor. She was standing on her bumper pads for extra leverage, so those had to go. I guess they were cute while they lasted. Now her crib just looks like a jail cell. I had her bumper pads in her crib for a total of 4 months! I couldn’t keep them in while she was little because I wasn’t confident in her slowly acquired rolling skills, and I was terrified she would suffocate. Now she uses them as a latter. She is very mischievous and its really cute... for now that is.


EAT
I usually keep these posts separate since I started making baby food, but overall Elle has such a tiny appetite. She drank 2oz every 2 hours for the LONGEST time. Everyone thought I was starving her, but I tried to give her more and spread out her schedule, but she wouldn’t have it. Around 3 months I finally spread it out to 4 oz every 4 hours and now she is drinking 6oz every 4 hours. She will not drink more than 24oz of formula a day, especially since she eats big girl food on a more consistent schedule. Which there are even times when we have to skip her morning cereal or night time veges so she’ll finish a bottle, its crazy. BUT if you saw her thighs and cheeks, she is clearly not starving. Out of all the guidelines you are given you cannot follow the amount of food your baby should be eating at a given age. Elle eats 2/3 of what is recommended for an 8 month old. She is not a picky eater, she just doesn’t eat a lot.


CHIT CHAT
Oh how I love her voice. It’s so sweet and squeaky. I think about it all day long. She started saying “Dada” around 6 months and now its her favorite word and she looks at him and says it which is the cutest. She says, ”mama”, but never to my face and usually only around John. She just started saying, “hi” the other day. She is also waving hi and bye. So cute. I try and show other people but she clams up. Definitely not a show baby, but when she’s by herself with us, she’s a machine and every time I try to get it on tape she stops and stares at the blinking light on the camera. One thing I do know is she’s not going to be an actress. She’s not signing yet, but knows what the signs mean. I sign bottle and she gets extremely excited. Yesterday I signed for “drink” and she smiled and picked up her cup. Coincidence… possibly, but I’m thinking she’s just that smart ;)


MY FAVORITE STAGE
This may sound selfish, but “stranger anxiety” is my FAVORITE. I do feel awful when she rejects family, but at the same time knowing she wants me or her Dad is just SO CUTE. There’s just something so magical when they cling on to you. I hate sharing.