Tag Archives: baby

Annabelle Lyn: 9 Months

8 Jan

Annabelle was 9 months old back on December 27 but just now had her 9-month checkup. Apparently, you have to wait a certain amount of time between shots and one of her earlier checkups got pushed back. We should be back on track now though!
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Size

At about 9.5 months, Annabelle is 19 lbs 11 oz (71%), 28 inches tall (57%) with a head circumference of 18.66 inches (99.5%!). At 9 months, Emma was 19 lbs 10.5 oz and 28 inches tall — pretty much the exact same!

Annabelle is wearing 9-12 month clothes and size 2 shoes. She has tiny feet and hands just like Emma did, but a big noggin!
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Eating

As of 9 months, Annabelle has figured out how to drink with a straw and bite down on a sippy cup so there is hope for weaning her someday! I plan to keep nursing until at least a year, probably even longer. I think 18 months is my cutoff point though.
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But before I can wean her, Annabelle needs to start eating a lot more solid foods! Ever since Thanksgiving when she got a stomach bug and we backed off the solid foods for a while, she has wanted nothing to do with them. She’ll eat a teething wafer here and there but refuses yogurt now and only tolerates a few bites of other purees she’s previously liked. Now that the holiday mayhem has died down, I’m going to focus on giving her more variety to see if she likes something else.

Annabelle did get two new teeth this month, so that brings her up to six! She got one on top and one on bottom to the left of the middle ones (when you’re looking at her). I would think that the right-side ones wouldn’t be far behind but who knows.
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Sleeping

Because of teething, that stomach bug and a nasty, crudy cold with horrible cough and congestion, this past month has been the worst nighttime sleep of Annabelle’s life for both me and her. Most nights, she’s been up 2-3 times. Some nights, it’s been 4 or more. Thankfully, I can just nurse her for 15-20 minutes and put her back down but it’s still hard having my sleep interrupted that many times. Unfortunately, the week of Christmas when we were down in Rochester was the worst week of all. Annabelle had a horrible hacking cough and couldn’t go more than an hour at a time between fits. And Emma had a cold that triggered her (what we think is) asthma. And Travis was wheezing and sneezing from his cat allergies (even though my parents haven’t had cats for years and got their ducts cleaned). And we were all in one room. It was awesome. So needless to say, I would appreciate a break from sickness and teething!
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On the bright side, Annabelle decided on her own that she was ready for the crib. A few nights when she was really congested, she took a couple hours to get down for the night and fussed whenever we put her in her swing. So finally, out of options, we put her in the crib and let her cry for 10 minutes. (I generally don’t do “cry it out” when they’re sick but we didn’t know what else to do.) She fell asleep and slept in there the whole night! And the rest was history. I am floored by how easy that transition was. We still do use the vibration pad in a pinch because it really helps lull her to sleep but even that isn’t a necessity like it once was! We did have to order a new one though because she burned out both the vibration on her swing and a vibration pad.

One benefit of Annabelle being sick this past month has been all the baby snuggles. Travis and I both (but him more than me) have gotten to rock Annabelle to sleep — something she hasn’t let us do since she was a newborn! Travis has especially loved it because it just creates a bond.

No matter how poorly Annabelle sleeps though, she always wakes up happy and smiley. Nothing gets this sweet little girl down! (Except maybe bonking her head.)

She still takes two naps a day, for about an hour in the morning and two hours in the afternoon.
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Development

Annabelle still has no interest in crawling, scooting, moving, rolling, whatever. She loves the jumperoo still and enjoys sitting up to play with toys. But she does not like her belly and does not appreciate being put on her hands and knees. Annabelle still tips over a decent amount while sitting up so we make sure to put pillows behind her. She’s not pulling up on her own, and can’t really hold herself up in a standing position either (she’s steady if we help hold her up). Our pediatrician has recommended that we get her evaluated by the Paul Bunyan Education Coop (same organization that evaluated Emma for speech) for delay in gross motor skills so we might do that. It’s free, they come to our house and we’ve had a good experience with Emma’s speech therapy.
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At 9 months, Annabelle’s favorite things to play with are:

* Things that fit nicely in her mouth for chewing on, like spatulas and teething rings, made of silicone, rubber, plastic or metal (so, everything)

* Things that crinkle or jingle, like plastic or metal keys on a ring or chain — she likes to slap them against her leg to make noise

* Sippy cups filled with water (mostly just for chewing on)

* Anything that looks interesting and not like a toy, including paper, phones, baskets, boxes, straws, food containers and lids, tablecloths, glasses, plates with food on them (not interested in eating it though), and pens. You can’t leave anything within 2 feet of her or she will grab it!

Annabelle is very tolerant of other people holding her but if she’s tired or hungry, she wants mommy. Several times, she’s been mildly fussy while others are watching her but once she spots me, she loses it. She has also started reaching/lifting her arms for me to pick her up.
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Other things that happened this past month:

* Annabelle’s second trip via airplane, this time to Denver
* Annabelle’s first Christmas!
* Annabelle seeing and feeling snow for the first time (not a huge fan) and taking her first sled ride around the yard (no pic, Mommy fail)
* Annabelle started using consonant noises and said “mama” as her first word! She got on a roll for a while but then stopped. Now she says “dada” a lot.

And that’s Annabelle at 9 months!

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Christmas Thoughts: On Memories

22 Dec

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Some of the best memories I have from my childhood are from the Christmas season.

I went to a Lutheran school through 8th grade and each year, the school put on a Christmas program. Each class spent hours rehearsing songs and a verse to recite. Finally, the big night arrived. It was exciting to see my classmates arrive in our classroom, outside the context of class, all dressed up in their Christmas outfits and dresses. We marched into the packed gym single file and each sat in the chair we had been assigned several weeks earlier. For the first time, we saw the whole program come together with lights, acting and music — and we each did our part to make it magical.

On Christmas Eve, my parents, three brothers and I ate a special dinner, the highlight of which was almost always meat fondue. We each had our two color-coded skewers and we drank “cold duck” (sparkling juice) in the wine glasses with the gold rims and berry garland that we had accumulated with copious trips to Arby’s.

After dinner, we opened presents in the living room by the Christmas tree decorated with white lights and handmade, memory-filled ornaments. A model train encircled the bottom of the tree, whirring quietly past the dimly lit ceramic houses of Dickens Village. I don’t remember the gifts, or even what I wanted, but I remember being together.

After presents, we went to the 10 o’clock candlelight service at church. The snow and cold at such a late hour made the trek brutal, but none of us ever questioned it — because it was just what we did. The hall of the Sunday school rooms was lined with winter jackets, their arms stuffed with hats and mittens, and small puddles of melting snow as the women and kids exchanged snow boots for dress shoes, and the men removed their rubbers.

Most years, at least a few of us couldn’t help dozing off during the service because of the late hour and comforting atmosphere, but once they started lighting our individual candles, row by row, in anticipation of the last song “O Holy Night”, we shrugged off our sleepiness and sat up straight. We lifted our voices with the words of the classic hymn as the glow of hundreds of candles flickered on the red brick walls and stained glass windows.

Christmas Day, we often got together with my mom’s brother and his family who lived in our town. Sometimes we went to a movie, sometimes we just hung out with us kids playing.

After that, we drove up to my grandparents’ house in Ada, Minnesota. We always arrived at night but we still stumbled out of our conversion van half-awake to sit at the kitchen table for cookies. Grandma Dee always had cookies — Captain Crunch cereal and marshmallows covered in almond bark and peanut butter, and “macaroons” (the no-bake cookies made with cocoa) were our favorites. And in the morning, oh man, we ate slices of homemade cinnamon bread and strawberry jam. There was nothing else quite like it.

Being the only girl, I was spoiled with my own bedroom while my brothers had to fight over a single couch and the floor of the living room. My room had a single twin bed and a fiber-optic flower that slowly faded from one color to another, working its way through the rainbow.

Many years, for the Christmas celebration with my dad’s parents, I put together a short Christmas program that included readings from the gospel of Luke and a handful of my favorite Christmas hymns. Together, we focused on the true meaning of Christmas before opening presents.

The rest of our stay at Grandma Dee and Grandpa Norman’s house was spent playing video games, Rook and 3-13, pool tournaments on the table they had in their basement (until they replaced it with a ping-pong table after the flood), and hide and seek with a wheeple. My grandma also had a box of old clip-on earrings that I loved to play with.
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At some point, we’d head over to my mom’s parents’ house in Hendrum to spend the day with them. My cousins from Rochester were often there and the minute we arrived, we’d race out of the van and bolt for “The Fort,” a small closet located in the wall on the second flight of stairs from the main level to upstairs. You could lock it from the inside, so whoever got there first could control who entered, and who didn’t. And you could only fit about 3 of us kids in there at a time so it was an elite group.

Those of us not in The Fort amused ourselves by playing card games and spying on the people down on the main level through a hole in the upstairs bedroom floor, meant for allowing heat to travel from there up into the room.

I don’t remember opening gifts there. That’s not to say we didn’t — I’m sure some gifts were exchanged. But it was never the focus — more of an afterthought. What mattered was being together.

All of my grandparents are gone now, and have been for several years. And with me and my brothers having spouses and our own children, Christmas looks quite a bit different than it used to. But we’re still making memories together, and I hope that my girls will look back one day and have just as many wonderful memories of Christmastime as I do.

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Evansville Trip, Fall 2015

28 Nov

My oldest brother, Jeremy, and sister-in-law, Jen, live down in Evansville, Indiana. My (and Travis’) last visit to their house had been when my nephew Jensen was a couple months old — he’ll be 4 in January. So we were due for a visit.

Timing-wise, it worked out best for me and the girls to go while Travis was going to be elk hunting in Colorado during October — which obviously meant he wouldn’t be joining us this time. I had a hard time deciding whether we should fly or drive. Flying sounded challenging because I’d be on my own with two kids. Never mind Emma’s craziness or Annabelle’s dependence — the sheer logistics of getting all our crap into the airport by myself were mind-boggling.

But the thought of driving 13+ hours with Emma was equally intimidating. And I had a $100 credit for Southwest, and tickets were very reasonable. So in the end, I decided to fly. We would fly from Minneapolis/St. Paul to St. Louis, where my parents would pick us up and drive us the last 3 hours.

After much thinking and strategizing, I pared our stuff down to a manageable amount: I had our jogging stroller with Annabelle’s carseat (and Annabelle), a single giant rolling duffel bag with all of our stuff, and one larger carry-on bag that contained toys/markers/iPad/snacks for entertaining the kids during the flight, as well as my small purse that contained only the essentials. For Emma’s carseat (that we would need once we got to STL), we ended up buying Annabelle’s convertible carseat early and shipping it to my parents’ house, so they brought that with them in their car (they drove the whole way).

Thursday morning, the girls and I left the house right on time. My plan was to park at an off-site airport lot so that the shuttle would pick me up at my car and drop me off right at the door. Well, right as we were driving through St. Cloud (after we had been on the road about an hour with 1.5 hours more to go), Emma puked up the copious amounts of applesauce she had just ingested. I pulled over at a gas station (soooo happy we were right by one!) and spent about 30 minutes wiping off her carseat, changing her clothes, and rinsing the dirty ones.

I didn’t feel like we had enough time for the off-site parking anymore so I decided to just park at the airport. It would mean more walking but less time waiting. We made it to the airport without further incident and got our stuff unloaded how I had planned. As we were walking through the parking garage trying to find the entrance/elevator, Emma got freaked out by all the loud noises so I pulled over and ended up putting Annabelle in the Ergobaby, Emma in the stroller and carrying the carseat in the same hand I was using to push the stroller (the other one was pulling our duffel). It was tricky to say the least.

Luckily, getting our bags checked and going through security were both a breeze. We had plenty of time so while we waited for boarding to begin, we played at the kids play area they have in MSP Terminal 2.
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The flight went well. Emma got a window seat and I sat in the middle with Annabelle. Emma started getting a little impatient on the jet way before we took off because she had to be sitting down and buckled in but I turned an iPad movie on and that solved that. It was tricky nursing Annabelle on the plane because the seats are so cramped and she really dislikes the nursing cover but we made do.

When we got to St. Louis, my mom met us at baggage claim to help with all our stuff. We got everything and everyone loaded up and hit the road after a quick lunch at Culver’s. Both girls napped almost the whole way to Evansville.

That night, we got settled in at J&J’s house, ate dinner and hung out. It was really warm that day — probably mid-70s — so our bedroom upstairs was hot that first night. Thankfully it cooled down for the rest of our trip and then it was very pleasant. Emma alternated between sleeping on the air mattress with me and in Jensen’s toddler bed.

The next day (Friday), we checked out the Evansville Fall Festival (what we Midwesterners call a fair). Emma went on the several rides, including the carousel, swings and train (Jensen was not interested one bit!).
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Jeremy and I went on a crazy ride called Freak Out. It didn’t look that bad from the ground but holy cow, it was crazy. I’m not a fan of roller-coasters so my mom was surprised that I was actually willing to go… she was right. I screamed so loud that my throat hurt the next day.
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We also tried a bunch of different foods at the Festival, including a deep-fried Monte Cristo, kraut balls, Creamsicle float, and deep-fried pickles. My stomach and esophagus hated me later.
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Saturday, we stopped by Ruby Moon winery on our way to Cates Farm in Henderson, KY. The winery had some of the best wine I’ve ever had. My favorite was a white called Stellar White. I definitely need to get some more sometime.

Cates Farm had a little of everything. They had a pumpkin patch, sandbox full of corn kernels, rubber ducky racing, slides, bouncy house, hay rides and a corn maze. We spent our first hour or 2 doing all the kid activities. Emma LOVED this big slide they had, which was just a 50-foot-long black, plastic culvert pipe. We went down it 5-6 times. She also loved the duck racing because it involved water.
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She did not love the bouncy house though. She wanted to jump in it but the two times she tried, she got scared by the bigger kids and had a meltdown so I had to go in and get her out.

The only bad moment of the day was when we couldn’t find Emma for about 10 minutes. We looked everywhere we had been in the kid area… she wasn’t anywhere. It felt very surreal. We started asking employees and other patrons if they had seen her; no one had. FINALLY, we found her. Apparently, she had wandered into the corn maze alone. A wonderful lady had seen her in there and heard me calling for her, and brought her back out. Thank the Lord!

After we walked through the minion-shaped corn maze (watching Emma like a hawk), went on a hay ride, and picked out our pumpkins, we called it a day.
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On Sunday, we went to J&J’s church and then just spent the afternoon at their house. Jensen and Emma painted their pumpkins and spent the rest of their time doing what they had been doing the whole trip: chasing each other around, wrestling, screaming, jumping off couch cushions, playing with toys. They had a great time together.
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Monday, we packed up, ate a quick breakfast and hit the road. When we got to St. Louis, we ate lunch at a hole-in-the-wall BBQ place called Mark & Wanda’s. It had great service, great prices and great food. We’ll definitely remember that place for the next time!

The flight home went well. My mom helped me get our stuff into the airport and stood with me in the security line until I got to the TSA person. We had just enough time after getting through security to buy Emma some candy (she chose Swedish Fish), change diapers and go to the bathroom, get our stroller tagged for gate-checking, and fill up my water bottle. Then it was time to board!

When we got on the plane, I was worried that I was going to have to ask someone to move because only middle seats where left. But there were two rows on one side in the back that had a middle and aisle seat open so we sat in the very last row. Again, both girls did well and it was definitely easier to nurse Annabelle sitting in an aisle seat and not the middle.

It took us over an hour to leave the airport after we landed. First, I thought I should try to nurse Annabelle a little more so she didn’t get hungry on the way home. So we stopped at the kids play area for a bit and met another little girl named Annabelle.

Then we made our way down to baggage claim but we had taken so long, they had already moved our bags back to their offices. We walked over there, found our bag and Annabelle’s carseat, and then Emma had to poop. So we stood around for 10 minutes waiting for her and then changing her diaper.

We were finally on our way to the car except then we took the wrong elevator, so we went up, got out, got back in, went down, walked to the correct elevator, got back in, went up and got out. All that while pushing a stroller, pulling a duffel and wrangling a toddler. Ugh.

Emma then discovered moving sidewalks, which she thought were pretty fun. So we rode it a couple more times than necessary (that part of the airport was dead) just for fun.

Then came the fun of finding the car. In the midst of the chaos of getting to and into the airport, I forgot to take specific note of where I parked. I knew the general area but we had to walk around a bit before finding the car. Emma was walking and wearing her backpack leash, and she kept whining “Emma’s car. Emma’s car.” I was relieved when we finally got loaded up!

Both girls slept the whole way home and it didn’t mess with their bedtimes too much either. So all in all, it was a very successful, enjoyable (albeit exhausting) trip!

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Annabelle Lyn: 7 Months

2 Nov

Little Miss Annabelle was 7 months (30.5 weeks) back on October 27.

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Annabelle is still wearing 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers. I only used cloth diapers for about 3 weeks before getting frustrated that they kept soaking through her clothes. Maybe I’ll try again but for now, we’re doing 100% disposable.
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In the past month, Annabelle:

* Got her first two teeth — the ones in the bottom middle
* Started sitting up on her own, still with lots of supervision because she tips over a lot
* Went on her first (and second) airplane rides with mommy and big sis to visit her cousins in Evansville, Indiana (post coming soon)
* Hit her head for the first time 😦
* Got her first cold with a runny nose and cough 😦
* Started eating solid foods 1-2 times a day (new foods she tried this month were oatmeal cereal, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, apple blueberry and grape banana plum purees, and banana Baby Mum Mums — she’s liked everything but I did mix some of the veggies with applesauce)
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Annabelle likes:

* Jumping in her jumperoo
* Sitting up and playing with toys
* Eating and nursing
* Watching big sister’s antics (she laughs at her often, which makes my mommy heart swoon)
* Taking baths
* Playing peekaboo
* Grabbing everything she can get her hands on (we call her Grabby McGrabberton)
* Playing with my hair and face while nursing
* Sucking on everything, including her toes (it seems like it took her longer to develop this habit than Emma but she’s definitely there now!)
* Smiling and sticking her tongue out
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Annabelle does not like:

* Getting her sleep sack put on when she’s hungry and/or tired
* Sleeping in her crib (she’s still in her swing folks)
* Going to sleep sometimes (I think might be a result of teething and/or being sick)
* Getting her face/nose/hands wiped
* Sleeping through the night (she almost always wakes up once now to nurse, sometimes twice — ugh)
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Annabelle is a favorite at the church nursery and MOPS because she is so easygoing and smiley. Such a little sweetheart. We love her to pieces!

My favorite moment this past month was when Emma was playing in Annabelle’s crib and Annabelle was playing in her swing (also in her room). I ran to the kitchen to jot something down but could still hear them. Emma said “Baby look” and then did something that made Annabelle totally crack up. It was the first time they had bonded without me present and it was so sweet!
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Emma Grace: 30 Months

7 Oct

Emma is officially 2 1/2 years old today! She won’t go back to the doc until she’s 3 so these are just a few rough estimates by me, but she’s now 27 pounds and 3′ tall. This BabyCenter percentile calculator puts her in the 10-20th percentile for weight and 25-50th percentile for height.

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Fun with chalk

Here’s what Emma has been into the past 3 months (July, August, September):

* Peach tea — She’s obsessed. One day, we had run out of peach tea. While we were playing outside, she wanted to get in the car and be buckled in her carseat. As I’m doing it (hey, she’s asked for weirder things), she says “Peach tea buy.” I laughed, and we went to the store and bought some more. Who was I to turn down that determination?

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Having a living room picnic on a rainy day

* Beach — Even though it is no longer beach-going weather, Emma still asks to go on a regular basis. We went to the beach quite a bit this summer. Probably at least once a week. At the end of summer, we started going in the evening. I loved it because it was still warm but we didn’t need sunscreen, didn’t need to worry about baby getting burned, didn’t need to pack food and we usually had the place to ourselves.

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* Being outside — In addition to the beach, Emma’s favorite things to do outside have been: gather acorns and leaves to throw in the river, ride her truck/trike/bike in the driveway and down the hill in our front yard, play at a playground or swing set, play with water and/or the hose, and go down to the dock and “poke the water” with a stick (there’s lots of algae and weeds to entertain her).

* Taking care of her baby — Emma has started wanting to take her baby doll with her everywhere. She wants baby to swing, go in the stroller, sit in the Bumbo, come in the car, and she’s even asked me to “tick Baby” at night (by that she means rubbing her foot or back). She also likes taking care of Annabelle, but since she is real, I obviously limit what she can do with Annabelle.

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* PINK everything — Emma is so obsessed with pink that she is adamant about getting or using the pink version of anything — even if it’s just a CD of 70s music she wouldn’t like. She even suggested that instead of replacing our roof with gray shingles, we should use pink shingles. She’s also started using pink to describe things that have no color, like the booms we can hear from artillery hitting the ground on the military base near our house (“pink booms”) or the beach (“pink beach”). What a silly girl.

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* Watching TV — Right around 27 months, Emma started getting interested in watching movies and shows on TV, and now she is obsessed. I have to admit that she watches quite a bit now because it’s just so easy to turn a show on while I’m nursing Annabelle and/or putting her down for a nap (and other times, I just don’t feel like fighting Emma over it). But she only sits down for about 20 minutes before running off to do something else, then comes back to watch for a bit, then runs off. She also stands right in front of the TV and jumps up and down during her favorite parts. Emma’s favorite movies/shows so far have been: Ratatouille, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (1&2), Despicable Me 2, Minion mini movies (specifically Banana, Puppy and Training Wheels), Gnomeo and Juliet, Super Why, Horton Hears a Who, Finding Nemo, and Flower Power and Farm Feet from a Little People DVD we got with a toy.

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* Playing games on my smartphone or the iPad — Emma’s favorite games are painting, puzzles, counting, fish in a koi pond, and tea party. I think this could end up being our incentive for potty training…

Speaking of which, no, I have not potty trained her yet. I think about it often, but I am just dreading the time commitment and hassle of it. I’m thinking we might wait until the winter when we’re hunkered down inside and have nothing else to do…

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We’ve had success on the toddler bed front though! For the first 2-2.5 months that Emma was in a toddler bed, we laid with her on her bed until she fell asleep — which sometimes took 1.5 hours! It was not sustainable. Not only were we losing precious “me” and “our” time, we almost always emerged from her room frustrated that it took so long, and too tired to do anything but stumble to bed ourselves.

Finally, about a month ago, I decided enough was enough, so at bedtime, I explained to Emma that we wouldn’t be staying in her room until she fell asleep anymore, that she needed to be a big girl and go to sleep on her own again. Then I went through Emma’s usual nighttime routine of put on pajamas, drink peach tea, watch moons, brush teeth and rub her back/arms/feet/legs (what she calls “tick”). Then when we got to the point where I’d just lay there until she fell asleep, I explained to her again that I wasn’t going to stay until she fell asleep, but that I’d be right on the other side of the door, and would leave it cracked. I gave her extra kisses and snuggles and then went out of the room, leaving the door cracked.

The first few nights and naps, I sat in the hallway outside her room, watching her on the video monitor until she fell asleep. She did get out of her bed a few times, but I just went back in her room and told her that she needed to get back in bed. I kissed and hugged her again, and left the room. That was it. We really haven’t had any problems since. Sure, there are nights when she rolls around in bed for an hour, putting her feet on the wall, and throwing stuff on the floor and then reaching for it with her body half off the bed (really testing the limits). But we are so happy to have “our time” back!

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Now that it’s fall, we’re back into our rhythm of MOPS on 1-2 Mondays per month, daycare on Tuesdays, ECFE and speech appointment on Thursdays, with Wednesdays and Fridays open for play dates, errands or chilling at home. It’s a good mix for us!

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And that’s Emma at 2.5 years!

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Annabelle Lyn: 6 Months

6 Oct

Our sweet little Annabelle is already 6 months old (back on September 27)!

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It’s hard to believe that much time has gone by already. At her doctor appointment today, she was a little over 27 weeks, 19 lbs 5 oz (91%), 26 inches long (50%) with a head circumference of 17.76 inches (98%). She’s wearing 6-9 month clothes, and has been wearing 9 month sleepers and shirts for about a month already. She has a long torso and short little legs!

Annabelle has rolled over from her belly to her back a half dozen times but a week will pass between rolls, and she hasn’t done it at all for the past 3 weeks. It’s like she forgets that she knows how to do it. (Our doctor said that she is probably just choosing to not do it, and that we won’t worry about it until 9 months.) She has good neck control during tummy time though and is getting close to being able to sit up on her own. She’s also stronger standing up. No attempts at rolling from back to belly, though she does roll onto her side quite a bit.

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The best part about the past month is that her personality has really started coming out.

Things she loves:

* Making funny noises with her mouth — squawking, gurgling, sighing, spitting, farting
* Hearing other people make fake fart noises — one of the things that has made her laugh the most so far was the air being let out of a partially inflated balloon. We did it over and over to hear that cute giggle.
* Watching big sister’s antics
* Having raspberries blown on her belly and (almost nonexistent) neck — this also makes her laugh, but only sometimes
* Hanging upside down
* Swinging and stroller rides
* Taking baths — she splashes herself in the face because she’s so excited
* Nursing
* Chewing on rubber/plastic spatulas and spoons
* Jumping in her jumperoo — it took probably 3 weeks but she’s finally doing some jumping!
* Sitting in the Bumbo or bouncy seat watching mommy do stuff in the kitchen
* Playing with toys that jingle and/or are a good thing to chew/suck on — she’s gotten good at seeing toys she wants and reaching for them. One of her favorite toys is a jingly blue and yellow ball that reminds me of a cat toy.

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Helping mommy with laundry

Annabelle does NOT like:
* Being put down when she’s tired or hungry (she’ll be fine being held for a while though)
* Solid foods — so far, we’ve tried rice cereal mixed with breastmilk, banana, avocado, applesauce and rice rusks. 99% of it came right back out but she really liked the applesauce. We’ll keep trying! Next up will be probably sweet potatoes or butternut squash.
* Bottles — still won’t take one. I’ve pretty much given up on that — we’re going straight to a sippy cup instead!
* Sleeping flat — she will now sleep without vibration so we have made some progress (though I do still revert to vibration on occasion because she definitely sleeps better/longer with it on)!

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Annabelle is still such a happy, easygoing sweetheart. It takes a lot for her to get worked up and when she’s starting to get upset, her pitiful little whimper just pulls at my heartstrings! There have been a handful of times when she was tired and hungry as we were driving home after eating dinner at a restaurant. She would cry for about 5 minutes and then just fall asleep. In contrast, Emma at that age would’ve screamed harder and harder and harder all the way home, falling asleep right as we were pulling in the driveway. 😉

She takes 2 good naps a day, and sometimes a third catnap in the evening. I can almost always time her afternoon nap for when Emma is taking hers so I get a glorious break! She had been sleeping through the night up until about 3 weeks ago, but now she wakes up hungry between 3:30 and 4:30. She goes right back down after nursing though. She also might be teething (who knows?) because she’s had a few nights of waking up 3-4 times and being unhappy (which is unlike her). She still squawks instead of crying 90% of the time. When she actually does cry, you know she has HAD IT and needs to nurse/sleep NOW. What a sweetheart.

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Annabelle likes stroller rides!20150902_192848

Annabelle fell asleep with me holding her during dinner one night. We didn’t realize it until Emma looked over and said “Baby’s sleeping!”
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Annabelle’s passport photo attempts (for our trip to Mexico this coming Feb) — the top one was the winner.

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And that’s Annabelle at 6 months!

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Annabelle Lyn: 5 Months

1 Sep

Annabelle was 5 months (22 weeks) on August 27. At her well-child visit on August 11, she was 17 lbs 2 oz (90th percentile) and 25 inches (59th percentile), with a head circumference of 17 inches (99th percentile!). To compare, at 6 months, Emma was only 16 lbs 6 oz and 26 inches. Annabelle is a cuddly little chubbers!

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This little girl is so smiley and happy. It seems like she loves everyone, though if a bunch of toddler strangers surround her carseat, she’s not afraid to voice her disapproval!
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This past month, Annabelle had a few ‘rough’ evenings of not wanting to go to sleep. She usually nurses to sleep for naps and bedtime (I think it’s mostly just a comfort thing because she nurses plenty of other times too) and every once in a while lately, she is too squirmy or distracted to nurse. I chalk some of it up to her age and just being more interested in what’s around her. But other times, it seems like something’s bothering her. I remember one night, I couldn’t get her to nurse anywhere except when I sat on the floor, so I thought maybe she didn’t like feeling cramped. But the next day, she seemed fine with nursing in a chair where her feet touch the side, and has seemed fine since then, so who knows.
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Speaking of nursing to sleep, that’s the main way she likes to go to sleep. Emma wouldn’t fall asleep nursing to save her life, but Annabelle prefers it over bouncing, rocking, anything. She doesn’t have to nurse to fall asleep, but does about 90% of the time. Proof that the child’s personality and temperament really make a difference!

I am slightly embarrassed to admit, though, that Annabelle still sleeps in her swing with the vibration on for her naps and bedtime. My plan had been to get her used to sleeping in the swing without the vibration first and then transition her to the crib, but she hasn’t liked that idea much. Plan B was buying a vibration pad to put under her crib mattress to see if we could get her to transition that way, but she hasn’t been a fan of that either (she’ll wake up after only 15-30 minutes). We’re going to keep trying because I just think she’s too old to still sleep in a swing. Seems like she might be missing out on some developmental benefits or something. She has ditched the swaddle, so at least there’s that. (It helps when they find their hands.)
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These days, Annabelle usually wakes up around 7, takes an hour nap around 8:30, take a longer afternoon nap (1.5 – 3 hours) around 1, sometimes takes a short catnap in the evening (depending on how long her afternoon nap was), and goes to bed around 8:30. She sleeps straight through the night 99% of the time. A few times, I’ve had to nurse her around 5 am, but that’s not typical. I have appreciated her going to bed earlier because that means I can get her to bed and then focus on getting Emma to bed. Putting them both down at the same time is usually a disaster!

Annabelle has gotten better at tummy time — she can hold her head, neck and shoulders off the floor — but has only rolled over from belly to back once. She hasn’t rolled the other way (back to belly) at all. I’m trying to be more intentional with mat time but it’s hard with a toddler! That’s another reason I want to move her out of the swing.
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We like to joke about how mild Annabelle’s crying is. She just has the cutest, most pitiful little cry, and it takes a LOT for her to get worked up. She’ll be woken up from a nap early, kept up an hour past bedtime, wait 45 minutes to eat, play by herself while I chase Emma for a diaper or clothes change, chill in the Bumbo watching me make dinner, swing in the infant swingset swing while we go down the slide with Emma and just take it all in. She squawks a lot (especially when she’s getting tired), laughs and coos at Emma’s antics, and reacts with surprised disgust when anything plastic or rubber goes in her mouth…

Which means she won’t take a bottle. Her only flaw. We’ve tried a handful of times now with a few different bottles — no luck. Since I stay home full-time and she’s on the verge of starting solid foods, I’m not too worried about it. I gave Annabelle a taste of mashed banana while making banana bread one day and she revolted. So I might try baby cereal mixed with breastmilk in a few weeks.
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One other notable thing, we finally bought an Ergobaby. Zulily had them for half off, which motivated us to pull the trigger. So far, I love it. It’s comfortable to wear (no more hurting shoulders!) and Annabelle seems to like it fine. It’s a little tricky to get on by myself, but I think I’ve figured it out. I didn’t get the 360 version because I didn’t think that being able to wear her on the front facing forward was a big enough reason for me to pay more (the Classic still has 3 different positions).

At 5 months, Annabelle:

LIKES
* Watching Emma and the dogs
* Swimming / taking baths
* Sleeping in her swing with vibration, or in the baby carrier
* Sticking her tongue out
* Squawking and cooing
* Grabbing whatever’s in her reach
* Sucking on her fingers
* Drooling

DISLIKES
* Spending very much time in her carseat
* Being left alone (in a safe place) for very long
* Getting her feet tickled, nails trimmed or face/neck washed
* Tummy time, for longer than a few minutes
* Sleeping flat on her back
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Annabelle’s Newborn and Emma’s 2-Year Pro Photos

19 Aug

Way back when Annabelle was 7 weeks old, we had professional photos taken of her and our family (since Emma was just past 2 years old too). It was kind of chaotic and took us meeting 2 different times, me nursing Annabelle several times mid-session to calm her down, and Emma holding on to a plastic baseball she had found in the photographer’s car (random) in our family photos to stay happy. But all you need is a split-second of everyone looking happy!

Here was the result:10475445_980834938594907_3082657565790053818_o 10914950_980828621928872_1653972813925739179_o 11145270_980828665262201_297409411428702661_o 11265574_980828611928873_5341966412947857647_o Kluthe (13 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (22 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (27 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (28 of 1) (Large)

Kluthe (38 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (41 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (50 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (56 of 1) (Large) Kluthe (68 of 1)-2 (Large) Kluthe (73 of 1) (Large)In the past, we used our friend Jen Jacobs from Kitestrings Photography for our photos. But since she’s all the way down in Minneapolis, we decided to try out a local recommendation, Sarah Larson Photography. Sarah was great and worked well with Emma and Annabelle. She also has a lot of props, backgrounds and lighting options. My only frustration was that instead of getting rights to all the photos like we did with Jen, we had to either buy prints from her, and or buy the rights to the digital files. So we ended up buying the rights to 10 photos, and ordering a few more prints of the ones we liked, but not enough to buy the file for. It ended up working out though and I love how the photos turned out!

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Annabelle Lyn: 4 Months

29 Jul

Annabelle was 4 months old on Monday!
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She doesn’t have her 4-month well-baby checkup until August 11 so I won’t know her measurements until then. But I can say that she has adorable, chunky thighs!
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Annabelle is such a good sport. She is so easygoing and happy just to take it all in.

This past month, she has gone swimming at the beach 4 times and in the pool once. I had almost returned a little swimsuit we got for her as a gift, thinking we would never use it before she’d outgrow it, but I was wrong! Annabelle has gone swimming more in her first 4 months than Emma did her first 2 years. But we are living in the Land of 10,000 Lakes now — swimming is just what you do in the summer!
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Each time Annabelle went swimming at the beach, I changed her from her swimsuit back into warm, dry clothes and set her down in her carseat — and she just drifted off to sleep on her own! That should tell you what an easy baby she is. The complete opposite of Emma.

I had no intention of putting Annabelle on a schedule, but she kind of did it herself! Here’s her general schedule/routine:

6:30 — Wake up and nurse

7:00 — Back to sleep

7:45 — Wake up, hang out in the Rock n Play while Big Sis and Mommy eat breakfast

8:00 — Nurse

8:30 — Play on playmat while Mommy gets herself and Big Sis ready for the day

9:30 — Naptime, either in the swing or carseat if we’re going somewhere

11:00 — Wake up and nurse

11:30 — Hang out, Mommy and Sis eat lunch around 12/12:30

1:30 — Nurse in Emma’s room while Mommy tries to get her down for a nap

2:00 — Down for afternoon nap

5:00 — Wake up and nurse

5:30 — Play in bouncy seat or on playmat while Mommy makes dinner; Hang out in Rock n Play while family eats dinner

7:00 — Down for a short nap, sometimes just in the Baby Bjorn while we play outside

7:30 — Wake up; Play a little before getting ready for bed (which usually just consists of changing her diaper, putting on pajamas and wrapping her in the same swaddle she uses for naps)

8:00 — Nurse

8:30 — Bedtime!

This is a very general schedule, and since Annabelle is so agreeable, we push her naptimes and feedings around a little depending on what we’re doing. I often nurse her until she’s sleepy, then quickly swaddle her and put her down. She still loves the Baby Bjorn, so if we’re out and about during her naptime, I can just put her in there and she looks around for a while before falling asleep. We’re planning to buy an Ergobaby or Boba carrier soon, since the Bjorn is killing my shoulders now that Annabelle is heavier! I know we’ll get a ton of use out of it — just hesitant to spend the $150.
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Besides swimming, this past month Annabelle has:

* Gone on a hike with Mommy and Daddy in Crow Wing State Park (no Emma)
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* Gone garage sale-ing for her second time

* Watched Mommy and Daddy eat dinner outside on the patio at Jake’s
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* Started grabbing for toys with her hands a lot more
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Annabelle Lyn: 3 Months

28 Jun

Annabelle was exactly 3 months yesterday (she was 13 weeks last Friday though).

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She is still such a delightful baby! Annabelle has really redeemed the whole newborn experience for us. I am able to enjoy her so much more than I enjoyed Emma at this age. That sounds horrible but I was just so far at my wit’s end with Emma that I couldn’t help but be ready for her to get older — and easier.

Miss Annabelle on the other hand is so easygoing and happy. She doesn’t cry over much — mostly just when she’s hungry, though she does get a little fussy when she’s tired. She still loves the Baby Bjorn but she has slept for several longer naps in her swing this past week, which I really appreciate! It is so much harder doing dishes, laundry and tidying up when you have a baby strapped to your chest!

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Me holding Annabelle and a friend’s baby while she made lunch

I can usually swaddle Annabelle in a blanket, put her in the swing, turn it on and she’s asleep in 5-10 minutes. She also likes to be held vertical on our chests, or lying in our arms if she’s swaddled, but she seems to sleep best either in the Bjorn or swing. The other night, we went out to eat and even though Annabelle was awake when we got there, she fell asleep in her carseat and slept until it was time to go. What a champ!

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At night, Annabelle usually sleeps from around 9:30 pm to 6:30 am. My new morning routine is reading the Bible on my phone while nursing Annabelle. She goes back to sleep for an hour or 2 but I stay up and exercise (or take care of Emma if she woke up early). Having some time to myself each morning makes a surprising difference in my attitude. Plus, it’s a great feeling having my workout done by 8 am!

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Annabelle is still nursing well — we’ve hit our nursing stride, I guess you could say. She nurses about every 3 hours during the day. In the evening, she often nurses more frequently for comfort. She’s doesn’t like a pacifier and so far, has only taken a bottle once. We’re going to keep working on it, but maybe she’ll go straight to a sippy cup?
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Despite all the ways that Annabelle is the opposite of Emma (hence her nickname “Anti-bisk” — we call Emma “Bisky” short for “Biscuit”), she has Emma’s smile and sunny disposition. Annabelle smiles often and wide when she sees us. What a cutie!
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Her hair elicits comments from anyone and everyone. It is a thing to behold.

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Things that Annabelle has done the past month are going to the beach twice, spending a week down in Rochester (and meeting uncle Brian), hanging out in our living room fort, having her two first major poop blowouts, getting her first tick pulled off her, finding her hands (yay!), and taking a bath with Big Sister (mommy held her). So much fun!

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Annabelle doesn’t have her next checkup until 4 months but as of right now, she is on the verge of moving on to size 3 diapers, wearing some 6-month clothes but mostly 3 month, and rocking the cloth diapers when we’re hanging at home. Yep, I’m doing cloth again. Mostly because I have them,  and why not? They’re really not that much work while she’s exclusively breastfed and it saves on disposable diapers. Not sure what I’m going to do when she starts eating solid foods but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

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And that’s Annabelle at 3 months!

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