Alexis Monthly Posts – Page 3

Lexi Five Months

May 4, 2013June 1, 2013 peanutsmiles

Dear Lexi,

What a month it has been! As I look over my ‘notes’ for the month, it’s hard to believe how interactive you are now!

One of many key milestone to remember this month is the ability to continuously suck on your nuk. Previously, you would suck on it for a minute or so and then accidentally push it out with your tongue. Now, you keep it in your mouth even when you’re smiling and can successfully take it in and out of your mouth, which is great, but you’re so proud you’re able to take it out, you do it VERY often and drop it or can’t find it and then get upset.

You’ve also discovered the ability to feel different textures with your hands. You’re a little Davy Crocket on a mission to explore the world around you by opening and closing your hand on anything within reach. You love to feel the texture of the couch, your rocking chair, blankets, your clothing, carpet, rugs, skin, the rubber on your changing pad etc… When you first started ‘exploring’ my shoulder and back while I carried you, it felt like you were trying to tickle my back. It always made me smile as it reminded me of you moving in my tummy.

Throughout the month you’ve gotten pretty good at sitting up with help from Daddy and I and often try to get from a sitting position while on your back. You lift your head off the ground and it falls and then you lift it again and your eyes just plead, ‘Help me sit, mama.’ And once you’re there, you have instant happiness and gratification.

One of my other favorite milestones this month is your fake cough. You had a little cold at the beginning of the month (mostly just a running nose) but subsequently learned how to cough, even when you didn’t need to. You would be sitting in the stroller or in your car seat and I would hear a little ‘cough cough’, look your way and see a little smirk. It always made me chuckle and shake my head at our little attention queen.

Other notes:

Sleep: There were a couple of wakings throughout the night at the beginning of the month, but you would fall asleep within minutes of rocking. Throughout the month we also weaned you from the swaddle–you officially outgrew the largest size they made! Napping continues to be a mystery with three to four 20-40 minute naps per day. We’re also working on sleeping in different environments to make you comfortable sleeping in the Pack N’ Play and in rooms that aren’t pitch black.

Snuggling and napping with Daddy during your cold

Development: From a physical standpoint, you’ve rolled back to tummy a couple of times, roll on your side and pivot your body to get different toys and constantly want to be sitting up with help from Daddy and I. Intellectually, I feel like you understand what I say when I talk to you, which sounds crazy, but you seem to know what ‘hungry’, ‘all done’, ‘more’, ‘change your diaper’, ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ all mean. I try to do baby sign language, but need to do them consistently.

Eating: You continue to nurse really well. You’ve gotten so accustomed to your morning routine that if I walk out of your room before you eat, you get very upset. You still eat about every two to three hours and about four to five ounces. By the end of the month, you were holding bottles by yourself. You hold it near the top with both hands and suck away. When you need a breathing break, you push it to the side take a few breaths and continue eating. You have also started to show much more interest in the food Daddy and I are eating so we’re going to give you some rice cereal early next month. We tried giving you a sippy cup with water, but you just chewed on the mouth piece so we bought a trainer cup and you’re learning to suck on it pretty quickly. Whenever you successfully get water, you look so startled and disgusted, but continue to repeat the process. I love seeing you grab both handles of the cup and bring it to your mouth, it’s just amazing how quickly your growing and learning.

Other favorites: Tick-Tock and Elevator song from ECFE, but you really love any song, You love new noises we make. Kissing, eating, clicking, ticking, gurgling and chomping sounds–all make you laugh. You also love to grab my hair, my necklaces, touch my face, pat my back and suck on my shoulder. We’re still waiting for those teeth to make an appearance. I can’t feel them, but you continue to show many signs of teething. The weather in April was pretty crappy. LOTS of snow and just overall cold and windy. We were able to sneak in a couple of walks and by the end of the month you even sat in your stroller without your car seat. We also finally removed the head piece from your car seat this month.

We’ve started to notice a little seperation anxiety from you. You’ll cry when we’re not in sight, but usually forget pretty quickly and continue playing well by yourself, sometimes for 20-40 minutes! It is amazing!

Lexi Lou, you continue to be the happiest little baby I know and wedge yourself deeper and deeper into my heart with your gummy smiles, delightful giggles and big beautiful blue eyes.

Love,

Mom

Finally some sunshine and breaking in my new hat while Mom takes down the Christmas lights outside

Trying on your new bike helmet for the bike carrier.

Checking out the damage of the monster snowstorm on April 19th! Over 9 inches!

Peeking out of your winter jacket for next year... it was a tag big :) — Peeking out of your winter jacket for next year… it was a tag big 🙂

Lexi Four Months

April 4, 2013April 9, 2013 peanutsmiles

Dear Lexi,

This has been a big month with lots of changes for you and for our family. The month started off with me going back to work and you staying at home with Daddy. Coincidentally, the first day I went back, Daddy had a photo shoot, so you also had your first baby-sitter, Great Grandma and Grandpa Sampson. The first week was a little rough, but just as everyone said, it got easier everyday. And it was very reassuring knowing you were home with Daddy having lots of fun.

After being back for only two weeks, I was laid off. Work had been pretty slow for many months and there wasn’t enough for me to do. It was a big surprise especially after all the nice things my work had done for us while on leave and welcoming me back. But, I know there is another great opportunity out there and am LOVING my extra time at home with you!

In addition to all of the changes for our family, you have changed SO much in the last 31 days! At your four month check up you weighed 15.3 lbs (75%) and were 25.75 inches tall (95%). You laughed for the first time near the beginning of the month. Daddy was pulling the little froggy on your car seat down and rubbing the vibrations on your nose and you laughed several times, of course we failed to get it on camera 😦 As the month went on, you laughed a couple of additional times like when I tickle your tummy and neck or shake my head above your face and my hair tickles your face. Hearing your laugh is by far one of my favorite moments/milestones this month.

You continue to be a phenomenal sleeper, God knew you were my child! You consistently sleep through the night for 8-12 hours. We usually swaddle and put you to bed around 10 and you wake around 9. There have been a handful of times when you sleep until 11 and even noon! Although you’re a great night sleeper, your naps are somewhat questionable. For the first three weeks of the month, you took four to five naps a day for 30-40 minutes, making it difficult to get anything done in the day. However, the past few days you’ve slept for longer stretches so we’ll see if that continues. We put you down for your naps awake and wrapped in a receiving blanket. At the beginning of the month, you would cry for about 10 min before falling asleep and now you might cry for two or three minutes.

You have rolled over from belly to back on a couple of different occasions, but not consistently yet. You’ve also gotten much better at tummy time. You can push yourself up to 90 degrees and can hold it there for much longer stretches of time. You’ll also just lay on your tummy with your face on the floor and ‘talk’ for over 10 min. Additionally, you have really strengthened your left side and lift your head in both directions on a daily basis.

Throughout the month you began swatting and grabbing toys on your play gym ad bouncer. Nearly everything that is placed in your hand is brought to your mouth with your favorite items being the hood strings of our sweatshirts and your thumb. You try to suck on your thumb with your pointer finger wrapped around your nose (it does look very cute), but we take it out as much as possible trying to avoid you becoming a thumb sucker. You’ve also gone back to liking the green ‘soothie’ pacifiers, but will only take it right after eating or right before bedtime.

I think you’re beginning to teeth. I think I see a couple white nubbins in your mouth, you bit or chew on everything (verses just sucking), drool, drool and drool some more and are a little more fussy at night than normal. You love music and reading books. Your favorites books are: Brown Bear Brown Bear, Guess Who and Good Night Moon. It’s hilarious to watch you being read to because you just sit on our lap, look at the pages and are still as can be so it’s like your actually understanding what is being read. You’re favorite songs are: ABC’s, 3 Little Fishies, Patty Cake and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. You especially love the ‘LMNOP’ part of ABC’s. I think the ABC’s is the only song Daddy knows, so he sings it to you a couple times a day.

Other changes/favorites: You don’t always fall asleep in your car seat now. You have great head control and LOVE to stand. You rub your eyes when you’re tired. You love to look at yourself in the mirror. Watching hockey really entertains you. You discovered your voice and make high-pitched squeals; its hard to tell if you’re upset or just making noise. About half way through the month we stopped putting prune juice in your bottles since you were pooping much better. We no longer burp you, just sit you up for a little bit and you burp on your own. You’ve also gotten very good at playing by yourself.

My favorite moment of everyday is getting you out of your crib. When you wake up, you’ll chat and coo for sometimes over 10 minutes. It is so fun to watch you on the monitor just looking around and making noise. The moment we walk in the door, you get very quiet and we lean over your crib and see the biggest smile on your face. Once you see our faces your smile gets even bigger and your eyes close and you wiggle your head back and forth while smiling. It is so sweet. After I undo the swaddle flaps you stretch your arms above your head and arch your back. I pick you up and you nuzzle into my shoulder and cuddle for a few moments and then we settle into the chair to nurse. There are no words to describe how wonderful those moments are every morning and it makes my whole day.

Happy four months my sweet pea! You continue to grow to be a beautiful, strong and kind little girl. We love being your parents and you make us so happy!

Love, Mom

The many faces of the munchkin

Easter

Alexis Monthly Posts

Lexi Three Months

March 4, 2013April 5, 2013 peanutsmiles

My sweet sweet Lexi,

Today marks your three month birthday as well as the day I had to return to work. So far, the day has gone pretty well. It helps knowing you’re home with Daddy but I still had a hard time leaving you. I knew you were going to be in great hands, and that you wouldn’t miss me (out of sight out of mind for you for another couple of months), but the milestone that it represents was difficult. I enjoyed my time at home with you so much and would LOVE for that to be an everyday reality, but it just isn’t in the cards right now. And since it is something that I’ve always wanted it’s hard for me to just watch that dream slip out of my hands. Last night was much more difficult than today. I didn’t want to lay you down and every time I thought about me not being with you everyday and doing the things I did growing up, I choked up.

On to your Three Month Update

This month, a new 2nd cousin, Paxton, and a friend, Memphis were born. While visiting with them, it was incredible to see how much you’ve grown and hard to believe how little you used to be. I’m not sure how much you weigh or how tall you are, but I’m guessing around 14 lbs and 25 inches. At the beginning of the month, you weren’t a big fan of tummy time and would only last a minute or two without fussing. You also were showing a strong preference to your lift your head only on your right side. By the end of the month you increased the time you spent on your tummy to five+ minutes and will lift your head to the left a little bit. You still prefer your right and will always switch it to that side after we let go of holding it to the left. You’ve also rolled over from your tummy to your back two times. The first time was by complete accident. The second, you lifted your head up a bit and were turning it sideways to see the TV, got your arm under yourself and rolled over. You continue to get that arm under you but are a little hesitant on going too far.

Your hands continue to be your favorite toy and are always chewing on them. You often chew on my hand when you are held facing out (which is definitely your preference). With the constant hand chewing is a constant dribble of drool all over your face. About half way through the month you got a nasty rash on your neck from a lack of air exposure as well as drool, spit up and milk not getting cleaned well. It was pretty red and then turned into little bumps, but it cleared up in about a week with some baby powder, A&D and Desitin.

Like your mommy, you enjoy your sleep, and late into the morning. We usually put you to sleep between 9 and 10 pm and you usually wake up between 9:00 and 9:30am. This past weekend, you even slept until 10:30! I couldn’t believe it! However, you aren’t the best napper. You usually take about four naps a day. The first is about an hour after you wake up, the second is just after noon, the third is around dinnertime and the forth is just before you go to bed all lasting between 30 and 60 minutes. This month you’ve also developed a nice little bald spot on the back of your head from laying on your back. You’re a little squirmer at night. Most mornings when you wake up, you’re facing the complete opposite side we lied you down at, but you’re head rarely moves. You just pivot your whole body. Additionally, sometimes when you wake up, you’ll just lay in your crib and talk to yourself and look around for 5-10 minutes before you start crying. It is so fun to watch you on the monitor just being happy.

Music continues to be a favorite for you. You love it when we sing to you, your star plays or we just have music on in the house. You squeal, smile and are just very content when it is on. You haven’t quite started grabbing for things intentionally yet. You’ll hit a toy, grasp my necklace, clothing or hair often, but it is still unintentional.

I’ve found the baby bathtub to be very awkward. It’s hard for you to stay in the little seat so I always have a hand on you which makes it difficult to wash you well. As a result, I’ve started getting in the tub with you and you love it! You’re able to kick your legs and love “floating” on your back and looking up at me. It is also much easier to make sure I get you clean.

There were a couple of moments this month that stuck out to me as favorites. One of them actually happened almost every morning. After you had nursed, I would bring you into our bed to see Daddy and play. The three of us would lay in bed together, play and adore you. It was such a peaceful way to start each day. Another favorite moment(s) was while changing your diaper in the morning, you would kick your legs, squeal in delight and chatter away to me. Your voice soothes my soul and your smiles melt my heart. Another favorite moment was just before you went to sleep. You were bundled up in your swaddle, had just eaten and we were rocking while you were sucking away on the nuk with your eyes wide open staring at me. We rocked and stared at each other for a good five minutes. Finally, it was as if you decided “I’m going to sleep”; you spit out the nuk, nuzzled your head into the crook of my arm, closed your eyes and went to sleep. It was so sweet and loving and it is a moment I will never forget.

Love, Mom

Alexis Monthly Posts

Lexi Two Months

February 4, 2013March 19, 2013 peanutsmiles

Dear Lexi,

You are two months old and have officially stolen my heart with your beautiful smiles and sweet demeanor. You continue to be a dream of a child—so good that I’m already ready for you to have a brother or sister, but we’re still going to wait awhile! This past month feels like a fairytale and that life is just too good. The beginning of the month started off with a clogged duct for me—which may or may not have lead to mastitis. I also had a nasty cold, so I’m not entirely sure I had the infection or not, but took some antibiotics just in case.

Then at around 6 ½ weeks you began sleeping through the night. You had always been a good sleeper, only getting up once a night with you, but now you sleep anywhere from 8-12 hours every night. At your two month checkup the Dr. couldn’t believe that and said it was very rare for a baby that young to be sleeping for such long stretches. Although, you sleep for a long time during the night—you still sleep quite a bit in the day. You haven’t developed a consistent schedule as far as how long or when you sleep, but after you wake up in the morning, you usually eat, we change your diaper and you play for about an hour and then you’re ready for nap, which we always try to lay you in your crib for. The only reason you wouldn’t sleep there is if we have somewhere to go, which then you sleep in your car seat. You usually sleep anywhere from an hour to three hours and then wake up and repeat the eating and changing. This time, you usually stay up for about 2 hours and then take another nap. Sometimes you sleep in your crib, but your afternoon naps are usually a little shorter sometimes just 30 minutes—especially if you are in your crib. You prefer to be held for your afternoon naps and usually wake up pretty quickly if we lay you down. You take one more nap in the evening before we put you to sleep for the night somewhere around 11. We’ve also started putting you to sleep awake from time to time. About half of the time you’re already so tired that you fall asleep without a peep, the other half you cry for about 10-15 min. and then fall asleep. I had a really hard time (and still don’t like) listening to you cry it out, but I know it is for your own good.

This month you have also mastered smiling. At the beginning of the month we would get an occasional smile out of you, and by the end of the month it’s hard to find a moment without you smiling. Whenever you see Mom or Dad’s face we see that beautiful smile of yours, and have even noticed a little dimple in your right cheek. You also began cooing and it is the most precious noise I’ve ever heard. Rachel barrowed us a play gym that had a toy on the top that plays music and lights up and you absolutely love it! We turn it on with you in the bouncer and you smile and squeal in delight. It is so fun to watch and listen to you have fun!

As a result of the love for the music toy, we’ve been playing more music for you, and you really seem to like it, especially when we dance. We’ve played a few nursery rhymes for you, but have mostly listened to the Killers. Overall you really enjoy any kind of movement. You instantly fall asleep in the car, and almost always settle down if we pick you up and just carry you around the house with us as we do our business—especially if you are facing outward and can watch what is going on. We’ve tried putting you in the baby carrier a few times and you do OK in it, but I find myself always holding you if I bend over to grab something and sometimes it feels a little awkward. Also, when you’re upset and tired you like us jiggling our arms a little bit to help you fall asleep. The only movement you haven’t seemed to love is the swing. In addition to movement from us, you are quite the little kicker. You love to kick your legs and flale your arms—especially when you’re diaper is off. Whenever we set you down to change your diaper, you usually begin to cry but as soon as we undo the diaper and wipe you, you’re a happy kicking little girl!

You continue to get bigger and stronger everyday! At your 2 month check up you weighed 12 lbs. and 5 oz., which is in the 75% for weight an were 23.5” long which is in the 97% for height. You’ve also gotten pretty good at holding your head up on tummy time. You can push yourself up so your head is at 90 degrees, which the Dr. said is normal for a 4 month old.

You continue to be a good eater. We give you a bottle about once a day and have never questioned it. With the bottle you’ll down 4-5 ounces without a question, and I’m sure would drink more if you could. We always need to put a nuk in your mouth as soon as you’re done with the bottle to satisfy your sucking need and so you don’t get upset the bottle is gone. Since I began nursing you, I always put a burp rag under you chin to help keep you clean and now when I do it, you know you’re going to get to eat. If you’re crying you settle down and look at me and smile while open your mouth and kind of bob your head like you’re ready. It is very sweet! With that, you’ve had some constipation problems this month. You would go 3+ days without pooping, when you were previously going a couple times a day. Additionally, if you were awake, you were grunting, pushing and generally very uncomfortable. The Dr. recommended we add a little prune juice to your bottle and that has seemed to help a lot. The overall consistency has changed from yellow-mustardy and seedy to something that resembles peanut butter.

I can’t believe you’re already 2 months old. You have brought more joy and happiness into our lives than we ever thought was possible. We pray for your safety and health everyday and thank God for blessing us with such a beautiful, healthy and happy little girl. You truly are the sunshine of our everyday!

Love,

Mom

Alexis Monthly Posts, Lexi

Lexi One Month

January 1, 2013April 5, 2013 peanutsmiles

Dear Lexi,

I can’t believe you are already one month old! This past month went by too quickly, and I’m shocked at how much you have already changed.

At about the week and a half mark, we transitioned from sleeping in the family room to you sleeping in your crib and me in my bedroom. The first night was a little touch and go. I leapt out of bed every time I heard you make a sound, but as the nights went on, I learned more about your sleep patterns. You’re a loud little sleeper. You grunt and make all sorts of noises, even let out a couple loud cries only to fall back asleep. By the end of the month, I would only get up when you were waking to eat. This has made a big difference in our ability to sleep and not wake ever 10 to 20 minutes from your noises.

We’ve now developed a somewhat predictable schedule. As soon as I’m done feeding you between 12 and 1 am, I go to bed and then Daddy puts you to sleep. About 6 hours later, you wake up to be changed and fed and then go back to sleep for another four or five hours. This time, Daddy gets up changes your diaper and plays with you for as long as he can before you need to be fed so I can get a couple extra minutes of sleep. So, I really only have to get up once throughout the night, which isn’t too bad. I’ve tried to be really good about keeping the lights off and not talking to reinforce night time is for sleeping. We’ve also developed the pattern to only swaddle you at night, which seems to help cue that it is night time. Overall, you’re a very good sleeper. You love to sleep in people’s arms but will sleep in your Pack ‘N Play, crib, bouncer or car seat.

This past week, you’ve started to get a little fussy, especially at night, so we’re hoping this isn’t the beginning of colic. When you’re awake, all you seem to want to do is eat, even right after you’ve finished eating, you continue making the eating signs. Right now we’re giving you the pacifier to help sooth you. Sometimes you like it, sometimes you don’t.

You’re also very gassy. You’re constantly grunting, holding your breath, red-faced and overall uncomfortable when you’re gassy. Daddy works with you to help ease your pain. He moves your legs around and brings them up and presses them against your tummy. You will pretty much fart on demand for him when he does this. He thinks its hilarious and it helps you feel better so its a win for both sides.

Throughout the month, you’ve also developed a re-occuring blister on your top lip. It doesn’t seem to be painful for you, but eventually it ‘pops’ even though nothing comes out. The skin fall off and another one develops. The nurses say it is common for babies that have a strong suction and its nothing to worry about.

During the month, we also celebrated Christmas and New Years. You are one lucky little girl. You received many gifts from your aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and mommy’s aunts and uncles. You have lots of clothes to wear, books to read and a couple of new toys to play with. During all of the celebrations, you were just a jewel. You looked adorable in your little Christmas dress and just snoozed away as you were passed around to everyone. There were lots of compliments on what a beautiful baby you are.

We are sill overjoyed and feel incredibly blessed to have such a perfect and healthy little girl!

Love, Mom

Alexis Monthly Posts

Lexi Week 1

December 11, 2012March 22, 2013 peanutsmiles

Dear Lexi,

The first week home was pretty interesting. There were so many changes and things to learn about like when and how to feed you, when to change your diaper, how to sleep, drinking enough water, going to the bathroom and so much more.

Feeding you was by far my most challenging task, specifically getting you to latch. It always took you awhile to latch on, and I never felt like I was doing it right and would get frustrated that it took several tries to get a good latch. Then, when my milk came in, I was pretty engorged, and you had an even harder time latching. And for whatever reason, you couldn’t latch onto my left boob. You would try, and then scream while you continued to try. It usually took a good 5-10 min before you would finally latch. At about the one week mark, you were able to consistently latch onto both sides without a bloody-murder-scream fest. Additionally, I was pumping a couple ounces from each side before a feeding so latching was easier. It was pretty confusing because, the more I pumped, the more I produced, so there was this never-ending cycle I didn’t know how to break. Thankfully, a couple of calls with the lactation consultant helped with my frustrations. She believed I had an oversupply and suggested I only feed you from one side. She also said, I just needed to be patient and many of these frustrations would disappear with time.

I think one of the most frustrating things to me was, it felt like it should be a natural and easy thing to do. And the fact that it wasn’t, was frustrating. Daddy was a huge help to me during these times. I almost dreaded feedings because I would get so anxious that you were going to cry and it would take a long time for you to latch. Often, I would want to give up and just give you expressed milk with a syring, but Daddy was there to help and encourage me to not get frustrated. He would help get you into a good position and then have you suck on his finger to remind you how to suck the correct way.

In addition to the frustrations with feedings, I had no idea how much preparation was required. First was hydration. To ensure good milk production and continued recovery for me, it was important to drink lot and lots of water. The catch was drinking the water between nursings. And when it was close to nurse you again, I needed to go to the bathroom and empty my bladder. My uterus couldn’t contract down to its original size during feedings if my bladder was full. (I also didn’t realize you actually have small contractions while you nurse that help shrink your uterus back down).

Second was always changing your diaper before a feeding. You would often fall asleep while or just after you were nursed and would wake up if we changed your diaper. We also needed to feed you wearing only a diaper to help prevent you from falling asleep. As a result, we never put the swaddle on you in the day because we didn’t want to wake you once you were sleeping.

Third, Daddy and I developed a nice little sleeping schedule. I would sleep downstairs and feed you through the night while Daddy slept upstairs. Around 8 in the morning I would go upstairs and sleep while Daddy took care of you. The first night was difficult. I don’t think I slept more than 20 minutes. Every time you cried, I got very anxious because I felt like you were going to wake up Daddy and I didn’t have him to help keep me calm and patient. However, when it was my turn to sleep, i was able to sleep on my stomach for the first time in 4+ months and it was divine! Around night four, I was getting worn down and I asked Daddy to sleep downstairs with me. I missed sleeping next to him and just wanted him to hold me in his arms for a couple of hours. It was so soothing to have him by my side, and nice to hold him. I hadn’t been able to give him a real good hug in several months.

Love, Mom