September 30, 2021 by Stephanie

Walter-10 Months

Weight: 18 pounds. We learned at his check up last week that he is in the 9%, which is significantly down from where he was at his 6 month check up. There were a lot of concerns about how he is not gaining weight like he should. So cue the mommy guilt…But looking at George and Daph’s updates for this month they were both 19 pounds. Seeing that one pound difference makes it not feel as earth shattering as it did last week.

Health: He is cutting the top four teeth. The front two just popped down this week, and the incisors are coming. He did not seem to be having any health issues, but obviously his weight is now a concern.

Diet: Here is where the stress lies. I had been increasing his feedings to almost every 2 hours since he was only spending at most 10 minutes feeding (2-5 mins a side). He was also waking up in the night to feed. Shortly after he turned 9 months, we did add a formula bottle to help with the night feedings, but he was still waking up 2 hours after that bottle. So when I explained this to our pediatrician, she was concerned that this was all signs that he was not getting the calories that he needed during the day. My mom brain heard that I was starving my kid through nursing. She said that she wanted to have us bottle feed him so that we could visually see what we are giving him and see if the sleeping patterns changed. I refuse to exclusively pump though. The pump and I do not do well, and my mental state dramatically declines the more I have to depend on it to make this work. So we are going to move ahead and still nurse every 4ish hours, but follow it shortly after with a 4-6 oz formula bottle. After a week, it seems to be helping as we have only had a couple nights where he has woken up. As for nursing, Walt feeds about 5 times a day, and on average it adds up to 1 hour of nursing. My app says that we have had 147 feedings over this last month, and spent around 24 hours nursing him. I have also pumped 32 times over the month. I do know that I have nothing to feel guilty about with all of this We are feeding him 3 “meals” a day, and he is really getting the hang of real food. We added a squash, salmon patties, blueberries, watermelon, turkey, hamburger, shredded cheese, meatballs, and meatloaf this month. His favorites are peas, meatballs, and blueberries.

Clothes: He is in size 6 month in clothes and size 4 in diapers.

Sleeping: Bedtime is around 8:30. I wake him up around 5:30 and do a quick nursing session before putting him back down. He usually wakes up officially for the day around 8am. He does take a couple naps during the day.

Likes: He loves the “That’s Not My” book series. He has these little egg musical shakers that he loves. Honestly, he loves to put anything in his mouth so everything becomes a toy to him.

Dislikes: I can’t really think of much that he dislikes right now besides when I leave the room.

Nicknames: Walt, Wally, Wally Bear, Wally Olly, Waller, Wallace, Butters, Sweet Bean, Stinkerdoodle, Waltie baby, Cutie baby, Sweetie baby, Baby guy, and Baby Walter.

Milestones: He has taken a few scooches with crawling. He likes to plank for a long time, and just this past week has started figuring out how to move his arms to crawl. He has also figured out how to walk forward sitting in his walker. He also holds his own bottles now to feed. He has said Dada and Mama, but I am the only one in the house that has not heard him say mama. Tom won on this one that Dada was his first word, but I got George and Daphne’s first words.

Quirks: he does this fist pumping/waving motion with his arms stretched out wide when he is excited about something. He has a dimple on his left cheek only.

We parents are: We seem to be in survival mode this month. With the start of school and more activities, we seem to be always on the go. Tom has been really sick this past month, and he changed his diet up completely to help with some severe heartburn issues. Come to find out some acid reflux he was experiencing due to the heartburn actually caused pneumonia. Only Tom… Work for me has been flat out nuts, but in all the best ways. The start of a school year is always busy with new student meetings, programs, and settling into a new schedule. I am teaching a first year orientation class, which isn’t new to me, but it does add some things to my plate that I don’t have during the spring and summer. Right after school began, I was tapped to supervise a new department that our institution received a grant for. This is all really exciting, but it is a lot of work to try to squeeze into an already busy schedule. I just keep reminding myself that this is just a season and trying to make sure that I have some balance some days. I still don’t have email on my phone so I call that a win!

Big kids are: doing alright! We are month into school, and they seem to be really loving it. We also really ramped up the after-school activities. They are both in soccer, and they are getting better at it every week. George started Scouts, and he is so excited about all that he is going to learn. They have their first camp out this weekend, and you would think that they were going to space. I think it will be a really good fit for him. Daphne is starting to make some friends at school, and it has been fun to hear her talk about her day. I do think we are starting to see some regression from her with all the transitions of school and of being a big sister. She has had trouble communicating her emotions at home recently, so we are trying to make intentional sister time to see if that helps fill her bucket up more. They both still love Wally and dote on him whenever they can. They both have their own way of trying to teach Wally to crawl which is hilarious to watch.

In case you are curious, here is George at nine months and D aphne at nine months.

Wally, you are such a delight!

April 18, 2018 by Stephanie

Daphne-11 Months

This month has been so fun with this little Daffodil.

Weight: 21lbs.

Health: She has been pretty healthy this month. She is still working on some teeth; two dropped, which brings her to four total teeth. But I think she is working on a few more.

Diet: I can hardly believe that I am one month away from breastfeeding for a whole year. Shocked really. Now that I am this close, I will do whatever it takes to get there. Our routine hasn’t changed a lot this month, but I can tell that the more actual food she eats the less she wants to nurse. During the week, I nurse her in the morning and before bed. Her morning nursing session is the best that she does all day. She still only has two bottles during the day while I am at work. Some days, I do not make enough for two, and she will have one formula bottle. Depending on how well she nurses at night, she may get a 2-4 oz formula bottle before bed as well. On the weekends, for the most part we avoid the formula and nurse the whole time. She isn’t super interested in nursing on the weekends, and will generally still only last for 5 minutes. I do still pump once before she goes to bed every day to keep up with the two 5 oz bottles she has during the week. She is eating three full meals now. I have kind of lost track of new foods she has eaten, but I know she ate lo mein and raspberries for the first time. This girl loses it whenever we bring the raspberries out! She is a really good eater! She often eats all of her food plus whatever George doesn’t eat.

Clothes: She is in 6-9 month clothes. I am going to pull some 9 month clothes out soon, just because we don’t have a lot in 6-9, and I don’t feel like buying anymore. She is in a size 4 diaper, and size 2 shoe. Everything is growing but her feet…

Sleeping: We have been putting her to bed around 7:30/8. She generally stays asleep most of the night. Lately she has been waking up around 4 am. I can usually nurse her back to sleep until I wake her up at 7am. It sucks for me though when you have a 5:15 alarm. She still has two naps a day, and she is really sticking to two hour naps. I really should do a post on why I think she is a good sleeper. Someday…

Likes: She loves getting things out of boxes and laundry baskets. She is always emptying containers. She also likes to stretch clothes. She loves to be dipped upside down. She loves her jeep walker; she is so funny whipping around in that thing. She also gets stuck in our hallways, which she does not like. She loves to pull things off the fridge. She thinks “No” is hilarious. She laughs so hard when we are telling her to stop getting into things.

Dislikes: She does not like to be done eating. She still has a general disdain for most people.

Milestones: She stands for much longer periods of time on her own, and she can squat down without falling. She climbs the stairs on her own. She hasn’t figured out how to come down so we definitely have to keep an eye on her.

Nicknames: Stinkerbug, Daphie, and Daphie Girl. The two most common are Daph and Sister.

Quirks: She likes to pass things to people. She also likes to use books to crawl faster. She will put them under her hands and use them to slide, kind of like an ab roller. She will do downward dog. She has been sticking out her tongue lately, which is one of the cutest things I have ever seen.

We parents are: drained. This has been an incredible hard month on us. Tom is going through some thing at work that has been exhausting and unpredictable. I have been shocked and disgusted to be on the sidelines and try to support him through this, all the while trying to stay afloat at my own job and as a mom. We are still trying to make our relationship a priority throughout this situation and make sure that our family is the focus right now. We find that when we are going through stuff or hit milestones in our marriage “The Office” is a great common ground, so we are making our way through the series for the umpteenth time.

George is: three. Remember that time when I said we weren’t having the threenager stuff going on? Oh yea about that. It is like clockwork, at 5pm everyday, he turns into this raging tornado. He is screaming like a banshee just to see how loud he is, and he swirls around literally banging into everything. Like he for real thinks he is a walking tornado. It is exhausting. He is super sweet the rest of the day…but man are the evenings hard. He just got a piggy bank, so we have started incentivizing with pennies. So we’ll see how that goes. He is still in love with his sister. He loves being part of her bed time routine. They also have started sort of playing together, which melts my heart.

The dogs are: losing their minds with this weather. One day they can spend the whole day outside, and then the next we are looking at snow. Crosby is barking non-stop which is exhausting. They only really pay attention to Daph when she is eating.

Daphie, you are more precious than silver, more costly than gold, and more beautiful than diamonds. I love you sweet girl.

Here is George at 11 months.

March 18, 2018 by Stephanie

Daphne-10 Months

It is so cliche to say, but how in the world is this girl two months away from being one?

Weight: 19lbs. At her 9 month check up she went from the 7% to the 46%, so food has been good to her.

Health: This month her health has been fine until today. Tonight, she is working through a stomach bug. She has been barfing about every 30 minutes for a few hours now. Not sure what is going on, but hopefully she is almost done! She is working on FOUR teeth, possibly SIX. There are 4 coming in on the top, and it looks like there may be others coming soon after. They are taking their sweet time coming out though.

Diet: Y’all I am still breastfeeding! I never would have imagined making it this far after my experience with George. Our routine hasn’t changed a lot this month, but I can tell that the more actual food she eats the less she wants to nurse. During the week, I nurse her in the morning and before bed. Her morning nursing is the best that she does all day. She wasn’t finishing her three bottles during the day, so we cut back to two breastmilk bottles while I am at work. Some days, I do not make enough for two, and she will have one formula bottle. Depending on how well she nurses at night, she may get a 2-4 oz formula bottle before bed as well. On the weekends, for the most part we avoid the formula and nurse the whole time. She isn’t super interested in nursing on the weekends, and will generally still only last for 5 minutes. I can tell my supply is dipping because of her increased interest in real food. I do still pump once before she goes to bed every day to keep up with the two 5 oz bottles she has during the week. Actually she isn’t really interested in drinking anything. She will sip at a formula bottle for awhile too. She would just rather be eating than drinking. Usually, she has oatmeal or yogurt for breakfast, eggs and fruit for lunch, and then a sample of whatever we are having at dinner. She has tried all kinds of new things: sloppy joes, mac and cheese, pork, olives, crackers, cucumbers, salmon patties, and oranges. She is a really good eater! She often eats all of her food plus whatever George doesn’t eat.

Clothes: She is in 6 month and some 6-9 month. She is in a size 4 diaper, and size 2 shoe.

Sleeping: Teething has been rough on her sleep. It is all over the place. She still does have two naps, but you never know how long she will stay down. They can vary from 30 mins to 2-3 hours. She goes to bed around 8pm. She will wake up anywhere between 3am-6am. I will nurse her then put her back down until I am ready to leave for work. Usually that does the trick.

Likes: She is getting a little more adventurous, and is really into pulling things down like all the things on the fridge or the kitchen chairs to the floor. She is more into music and loves dancing. She is very intrigued by my in-laws cat, Albert. This girl thinks it is hilarious when I high kick-the best giggle fits ever!

Dislikes: Public changing tables. She is not a fan of most people unless you are in your immediate circle. (She did let my best friend hold her this weekend which is a miracle.) She is either standing up or trying to stand up, so this girl doesn’t like being kept down. She hates when I leave the room-definite mama’s girl and is going through severe separation anxiety when I don’t have her.

Milestones: She can get to a seated position on her own. She has said Buba (in reference to George). She started clapping this month. We have started giving her a real sippy cup to drink water in. We are just skipping over the soft tops, which I am ok with.

Nicknames: Stinkerbug, Daphie, and Daphie Girl. The two most common are Daph and Sister.

Quirks: She pulls at her hair when she nurses. This girl is so fast crawling. I don’t know if she will walk anytime soon because she knows she can get there so much faster by crawling.

We parents are: trying to make more time for each other. In the past we have both done our own things at nights, which can be nice, but we have so many weeks out of the year when Tom isn’t home at night, so we really needed to make a better effort when he is home to be Tom and Steph and not just Mom and Dad. We started a marriage devotional, and we are attempting to go on more dates. It can be hard, especially with breastfeeding, but it is important for us to make the time.

George is: just the best little boy. He just takes my breath away every day. He is just the sweetest and has such great enthusiasm for every day. However, he has less and less patience for Daphne these days. She is fast and likes to put everything in her mouth, which George does not approve of. On the other hand, he does love her and tries to take care of her when she is crying. Or he just alerts us that we need to deal with it…

The dogs are: needing spring to be here. They bark at every moving thing outside, so I need the weather to warm up so they can stay out there for extended amounts of time and run their little hearts out. They do love Daphne and her passion for food. Other than feeding time, they don’t really pay attention to each other.

This girl has us wrapped around her pinky.

Here is George at 10 months.

June 26, 2015 by Stephanie

George-10 Months

Seriously? 10 months?

Weight: 19 lbs and 4 oz which is the 40th percentile. Height is 27.75 inches which is the 20th percentile. His head is 47 inches which is the 93%. Considering everything but his head was under the 11th percentile at 6 months, he definitely grew this month to catch up to his peers! Always be bulking…His head is just huge. Big brains we hope!

Health: He has been pretty healthy this month. We have been battling some pretty awful diaper rash, and we cannot seem to find something that helps cure it. (We have tried coconut oil, bourdreaux’s butt paste, and baby powder.) He has been a little raspy and snotty this week so there may be another tooth coming soon since this is what proceeded the last two. We are still only at 2 teeth. He is still spitting up after he has formula. He doesn’t do it with anything else, just that dang formula. (He did it with breastmilk too.) Our doctor thinks he is just a happy spitter, and he will eventually grow out of it. He doesn’t seem to be effected by it; it just dribbles out 5-10 minutes after he has finished a bottle. And it doesn’t matter if he has 2 oz or 6, so it is not a matter of being full. It’s obnoxious, not happy.

Diet: He eats what we eat. We have dubbed him Carbisaurusrex. He eats pretty much anything in sight. His hanger issues have gotten so bad that we have to hide food as we are preparing it or he gets a fruit/veggie pre-dinner while we are cooking. And forget him seeing a bottle without it being in his hands-tantrum galore. Then you have to ignore him as he pitches a fit when meal-time is over. It’s hard to keep track of all the new things that he has eaten now, but he is basically eating like an adult. People think I am kidding, but he eats as much as I do at meals. He can pack that food away. There hasn’t been anything this month that he hasn’t liked. He was a BIG fan of Red Lobster. All the other patrons got a dinner and a show from George’s eating antics. He is down to only three (4-6oz) formula bottles a day (morning, before afternoon nap, and right before bed). He has three traditional meals a day, and several snacks throughout. We are also transitioning him to a sippy cup with water and milk.

Clothes: He is wearing 6 month and 6-9 month clothes. Some are getting a little snug so I may be digging out the 9 month stuff here in the upcoming week. He is in size 3 diapers. For as much food as he is eating, I am really surprised he hasn’t had to move up clothes faster.

Sleeping: He is still doing fairly well with sleeping through the night. We put him down at 7:30, and I would say 90% of the time he is asleep within 5 minutes of being laid down. Then he stays asleep until 5ish am, even on the weekends. He does NOT want to sleep in, unlike his parents. And normally during the week he is my alarm clock instead of the mechanical one I have set for 5:40. He still is napping pretty well twice a day, although one is typically much longer than the other. You can definitely tell when he is getting tired; he starts rubbing his eyes. And when I am singing him his nighttime songs he has to stick his hands in my mouth. Then he giggles when I sing long notes as he is trying to hold my tongue. I guess it is his new bedtime game because he doesn’t really do that any other time that I am singing with him.

Likes: Food is still pretty much his favorite. He loves his new walker and trying to make it light up. He loves to stand and try to climb on things. He loves his little play mirror. He loves to dig in his laundry basket. I may have to hide it in the closet he loves it so much. His singing books are really fun for him. He loves to get his teeth brush. I think it tickles him, so he just giggles the whole time.

Dislikes: Diaper changes. It’s like a wrestling match trying to get a diaper off and on. I am surprised we don’t have poop smeared everywhere. He also tried to dive off the changing table the other day, little wiggle monster. He hates seeing food that is not his. At Miss Brenda’s, he does not like his sippy cup to be empty. He throws it across the floor when it’s empty. Generally, he does not like it when he doesn’t get his way so hearing no is not his favorite thing. (He may have gotten a little anger streak from him parents.)

Milestones: At the beginning of the month he was flip-flop crawling, but two weeks ago he actually started crawling. And he hasn’t stopped moving since. He can fully bring himself to a standing position too. He can’t stand completely without holding on to something, but he is making a lot of efforts to do so. So I think solo standing is going to happen here very quickly. You can tell he wants to so badly. Also seeing him standing in his crib on the monitor has to be one of the most terrifying things. He isn’t talking yet, but he yells at you and sings. He is also throwing temper tantrums, so his cognitive level is rising. We aren’t using the pacy too much now. Most days he only has it when he goes down for his bedtime. I don’t even remember the last time Brenda has used it with him during the day. She is much more hard core than we are, and we use it more on the weekend because we are softies at this point. We do take a pacy still with us when we are out of the house just in case he throws a fit, but generally at home he doesn’t have it until bedtime. Unless we are taking pictures…

Quirks: He pants like a dog when he is trying really hard to stand. When he sees other people, he will bury his head in my shoulder like he is trying to hide. He has figured out how to turn on the radio and is pulling all the books off the shelves. Needless to say, he likes to change the landscape of his room.

We parents are: pretty great. I am losing hair due to George’s pulling it all out. We are actually having to parent George now that he is more mobile. I think I say, “No” or “Stop” more than any other word in my vocabulary. We are trying to teach him there are many things he can’t do yet…Tom’s schedule has been pretty great this month, so I feel like we have gotten more time together.

The dogs are: sooo sweet and patient with George. His relationship with them has changed dramatically since he can crawl and climb. He is all over them ALL THE TIME. Crosby just sits there and takes the abuse, even the innocent ball pinch…Grace tries to make out with him hoping for some food/spit up remnants in those baby folds. George also tried to eat their dog food yesterday, and is very made that we would not let him. They share the dinner we give George which I think has solidified their BF status. George thinks it is funny to feed them his food. (But then he gets mad at us when there is no food on his plate.) The dogs have done a really good job leaving George’s toys alone, even though George now thinks the dog bones are his toys.

In two months, we will have a ONE YEAR OLD! I have his birthday already planned out. We just have to make a few things and then wait for the day. I am already so excited to see it all come together. But I also want to freeze time because there is no way I am actually ready for that.