One Year

Dear R,

Reese,

Last week, on July 29th, you turned one year old.  Did I know this day was coming?  Surely.  I was cautioned by moms who have walked before me that this birthday would come tumbling toward us, fast and furiously, and boy they were right.  I've tried to articulate the experience that your first year of life has been like for me but words tend to fail me.  Bliss.  Magic. Chaos. Exhaustion. Joy. Love. Love. Love.   The year has been all of those things, and then some.  From the moment I knew you were on our way to us I have cherished, prayed for, and celebrated you.  I don't need a date on a calendar to remind me to celebrate how wonderful you are and how you have made us a family.  I hope you always know that I put you first and that your happiness and well-being are at the core of every decision I make.   We have all learned together this year and figured it out as we went along.  Some months were clouded in a fog of sheer exhaustion (particularly months 1-5...OY VEY CHILD.)  Others...endless joy that I didn't even know was possible.  No matter how hard or easy things are, it never changes the way we feel about you.  You're like Christmas morning every day.

 

We've had quiet a year, you and me.  We've spent endless hours snuggling, reading, soothing you while nestled tightly in your baby wrap, and exploring our city together.  We celebrated all of your "firsts" and I'm still surprised at how bittersweet they are.  You are such a fun loving and curious little girl that you can make any ordinary outing fantastical (groceries! library! walks!).  Your personality continues to come bursting through and your fiesty and independent streak is something your dad and I applaud and try to foster every day.  It can make things challenging at times (as in....you want what you want and you want it NOW!) but I know it is a trait that is inherent to you and will serve you well as you grow into a strong and assertive woman.

 

I look back on this time last year and remember myself feverishly researching every parenting topic and coming up with a plan for how I was going to do things.  Sleep training?  Check.  Breastfeeding? Duh. Co-Sleeping?  You know it.  Do you know how funny this is to me now?  Things did not go according to plan.  Not one little bit.  Some things went way better than I could have hoped for. Others...not so much.  But the good stuff is in all those little details.  Like how you would get up every 2-3 hours for months and months when everyone told me you "should" be sleeping through the night.  I knew in those quiet moments, as I was rocking you that this too would pass whether I liked it or not.  And despite my bleary exhaustion, I clung to those moments because I knew that they would be over in the blink of an eye.  That eventually you would sleep through the night (thank you) and before I knew it you would be launching yourself out of my arms, ready to play and take on the world.   Even on the weekends when your dad would take over the middle of the night wake ups, I would be sad that I missed out on that special time with you.  

On your birthday eve I soaked you in, just like I did in our first days together.  I shed a few tears after we laid you down in your crib that night, knowing that in the morning our world will have shifted just the tiniest bit.  Maybe it's because of the long and crooked road it took to reach you, but you have healed holes in my heart that I didn't know were there.  You've become my most important contribution to this world and I couldn't be more grateful.

Happy Birthday my sweet little monkey monkey!

Love,
Mama

11 Months!

On June 29th my peanut turned 11 months old...officially her last month as an infant.  I would be lying if I said this one didn't hit me a little hard.  I have enjoyed her first year so much and I can't believe she's tip toeing into toddler-ville.  Once again, this has been another fantastic month. Her not so little personality continues to explode and she is so, so FUNNY.  We've spent a lot of time together as a family this month and my shift to working out of the house part time has gone smoothly, for the most part.  You have gone from having 2 teeth to a whopping 6 teeth, all in the course of ten days.  We didn't even know you were cutting the other teeth until I popped my finger in your mouth one day and felt them.  Not a single cry or whimper from you...so impressive.  Although I miss your gummy little smile, this one will filled with tiny baby teeth is awfully cute too.

These days my wild woman is crawling, pulling up, standing, and cruising around...all at warp speeds.  Since I now have a set schedule, we've been exploring the city on my days at home and have recently started attending story time at the library on Wednesdays.  It is such a joy to watch her interact with other babies, wave her hands dramatically and everyone who walks by, and shake her little self as you "dance" along with the music.  We've also become pool regulars, although it takes us way  more time to get packed and out the door than we actually spend swimming, but that's neither here nor there!

Other developments this month include holding up her little index finger whenever we ask her how old she's going to be, waving, and giving us a kiss on the cheek when we ask if we may have one. I am continually amazed at her wit, sense of humor, and general joyful demeanor.  I love this little nugget so endlessly and I cannot WAIT to celebrate her FIRST BIRTHDAY!

10 Months!

Dear R,

In an effort to catch up here is your 10 month post...only 2 months late!  What can I say, we've been busy having a lot of fun.  You turned 10 months old on May 29th and this age is proving to be so much fun!  You babble all day long and mama and dada are some of your favorite words.  You absolutely loves dogs, with Lily being your favorite, and is currently obsessed with the 'Dogs ABC' book that dada bought for you.  This month we have made trips to the zoo and spent a lot of time at various parks.  Your dad ran his third (!) half marathon and we celebrated my first Mother's Day. At 10 months old you are cutting your third tooth, sleeping about 11 hours a night, taking 2 naps a day, and enjoying all kinds of food.  You love yogurt, fruit, grilled meat, puffs and string cheese.  You continue to be very independent and driven, crawling and pulling up all over the place.  I love how much you love to be close to your mama and dada, giving hugs and kisses, and going on walks.  We are having so much fun with you and enjoy every minute.  We love you so much little reesie pie!

Love,
Mama

 

7 Months!

Dear R,

Since there was no 29th this month, we celebrated your 7 month birthday on February 28th.  You have really had a great month and your personality continues to shine.  You celebrated your first Valentine's Day and got a couple of cute gifts from both sets of grandparents.  This month was a bit of a doozy as you began cutting your first tooth on February 23rd.  Within a couple of weeks you had two bottom teeth!  Unfortunately this caused you a lot of discomfort so you and I had some late nights cuddled in mom and dad's bed.  Luckily as soon as each tooth cut through the gum you pretty much returned to your happy self.  You started sitting in the child seat in shopping carts and you absolutely love it.  You are still so alert and active and every bit a busy body.  When we're out shopping you love to give out big smiles to strangers passing by and you make so many people smile.  We also tried you out in your first restaurant high chair, which didn't go so well...(but for the record this was likely because we were too close to bedtime for you to enjoy yourself!)  You love to hold on to your bottle when I feed you but as soon as I let go you do the same.  You still try to constantly take whatever I'm drinking and you love taking sips of water from a cup.

We had a couple of nice days and we made a bee line for the park.  You love swinging in the baby swing and in general you just love to be out and about taking everything in.  I continue to offer you pureed baby food, which you tolerate, but just don't seem to be into.  I have been offering your more table food and you seem much more content to feed yourself.  We've been trying an unintentional baby led weaning route (God that needs to be called something else!)  and so far it's working well.  You have gotten the hang of picking up food and beginning to chew it, but you don't end up swallowing too much.  You've tried black beans, bread, (tasted) bacon, pasta and avocados.  You recently started enjoying rice puffs and teething "cookies" so I've been giving those to you frequently.  Right now you drink about 28-30 oz per day and you're finally drinking bigger quantities at once.

 

You are continuing to become so silly and opinionated!  When you become frustrated you ball up your fists and squeal very loudly.  I try not to laugh but it is beyond adorable.  You are making an effort to crawl; you scoot sideways and backwards, just not forward yet.  You lift your leg and booty up and try to inch forward.  You'll be crawling before I know it!  You're getting a lot more hair and it seems to be a dark blonde color....just like your dad.  With the exception of cutting a tooth, you are sleeping about 11 hours a night, going to bed at about 7:30.  You have certainly discovered your voice and you squeal in excitement and frustration.  You are babbling and right now all we can really make out is "na na na".

Reesie, you make us laugh every single day and we've decided you're one of the funniest people we know.  I love you so, so much and you make every day a dream come true.  You sweet and fiery little girl...never change!

Love,
Mama

6 months!

Dear Reesie Reesers,

On January 29th, you turned a whopping 6 months old.  HALF a year baby!  I have to say this is my favorite age so far.  You are sleeping  throughout the night and your naps are becoming a little more consistent.  You babble constantly and have discovered the art of shrieking.  You love hearing how loud your voice can get and squeal whenever you are excited.  It is absolutely adorable...and loud!  You had your six month well check and came in at 14lbs and 12.5 oz.  You are making your way up the full term growth chart and we are so proud of you.  You are eating anywhere between 26-30oz. per day in addition to the solid food we've introduced to you.  In the last month you have tried pears, apples, bananas, peas (hated them!), sweet potatoes (loved them!), peaches and blueberries.  I'm still trying to figure out a good way to add your solid food in throughout the day since you seem to be a bit particular about it.  You've also begun sipping water from my glass as well as a sippy cup and a straw.  You love to do things yourself (not surprising) and will often grab the spoon out of my hand when I'm feeding you.  You are still loving Sophie the giraffe, your lovies, peek-a-boo, reading books, bath time, your feet and a variety of other toys.  Some nights before bath/bed time we strip you down to your diaper and let you play around on our bed.  You love being silly with us and save all kinds of smiles for your dad.  Tummy time is going much better and you will stay on your belly for longer stretches of time before wanting to be picked up.

Some of your milestones including rolling from both belly to back and back to belly.  You respond to your name and grab all sorts of things.  You can sit up unassisted with your hands on the floor, but you are beginning to test the waters by lifting your hands off the ground.  I'm sure you'll be sitting up all on your own very soon.  No rush!  You are laughing and "talking" up a storm and love to hear your voice.  You still don't have any teeth, although the drooling has really picked up lately so I'm wondering if one might be on the horizon.

You are becoming quiet attached to mommy and daddy and we both just love it. I'm so grateful to have a work schedule that allows me to spend so much time with you, despite how hectic it can sometimes be.  I'm just so thankful for every minute with you.  You truly have the sweetest soul and I'm so lucky you are my daughter.  I never realized how bittersweet it is to watch your baby grow up.  Every day you do something new and exciting and it is fascinating to watch you grown and learn.  On the other hand, I look back at pictures from just a few months ago and I have no idea how my tiny baby grew so quickly.  I suppose that's just all part of how it goes, but boy does it go fast.

I have a sinking feeling the next six months will go by in a flash and before I know it you'll be dunking your face into your first birthday cake.  Keep growing my sweet girl.  You'll never know how much I love you.

Love,
Mama

Reese is 5 months!

Since I'm posting Reese's 5 month update in February you can probably guess I'm a bit behind. We've been so busy hanging out and having fun together that time has slipped away from me.   So here it goes...


Happy 5 months!  December was a great, crazy month and you experienced so many firsts!  This month was also one of our most challenging yet, as we seem to have some struggles with sleep.  BUT, we worked through it and lived to tell about it :)  During month 5 Reese continued to just explode in terms of her interaction with the world around her.  Current favorite activities include playing with my face, munching on Sophie the Giraffe, bouncing in the jumper, and "talking" to us.  Reese has slowly warmed up to tummy time more and more and we just kept at it!  She rolled over from her belly to back and she's about halfway to rolling over from back to belly (that darn shoulder keeps getting in the way).  This month her sleep patterns were all over the place and we really had not established a schedule that seemed to work for us day in and out.  I think we were still dealing with the tail end of a sleep regression so we just rode it out as best as we could. She wasn't really getting solid sleep (neither was I) so I knew we needed to do a little (gentle) sleep training.  I devoured the Sleepeasy Solution and for once a book finally clicked with me and seemed applicable to our daily life.  Once she weighed enough and with the blessing of her doctor, I started sleep training on January 14th.  The first few days...were not fun :(  Reese was getting used to having to put herself to sleep without having me rock and hold her throughout.  I checked in on her at set intervals and with every nap and bed time, she made great progress.  By the fifth night she was able to put herself to sleep with no fussing and made it through the night.  The next few weeks we worked to tweak her schedule and within two weeks she was sleeping 10-12 hours a night.  AMEN!  Sleep training terrified me but Reese became a different baby, so much more alert and active throughout the day.  She started rolling both ways and I really think it's because she was finally getting the rest she needed.  

                  

                      

She is a total wiggle worm and loves to engage with everything and everyone around her.  Taking her 5 month pictures was a hilarious endeavor that I essentially abandoned because she was more interested in eating the dreaded sticker.

On December 22nd, a few days shy of her 5 month birthday, we had our baby girl baptized.  We had a wonderful day with the whole family celebrating!
                         

                                 

Here are a few pictures from month 5!

The dogs are never far!

New Year's Eve 2013

Happy FIVE months to my sweet little baby girl...love to the moon and back.