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.  

Deck the Halls

Since Thanksgiving was so late this year we wasted no time buying our tree and beginning to decorate.  We still have some work to do (everything takes so much longer with a baby, am I right?!) but for the most part we are in the full swing of the holiday.  Although we decided not to host our annual Christmas party, we will be hosting dinner on Christmas day and we're very much looking forward to celebrating R's first Christmas together.

First Thanksgiving

Last month we celebrated our sixth(!) Thanksgiving and R's first.  We split the day with both sides of the family and we had a wonderful time.  The first half of our day was spent with Tom's side and the second half with mine.  I don't think R was ever put down throughout the day!  Here are some pictures from the day...

Snow Day!

Yesterday we were hit with our first real snow of the season.  I tend to have zero faith in our weather forecasts but it was actually accurate.  Although Fridays are one of my days in the office, snow storms and good  client attendance do not mix, so I had unintended time home with R.  Looking out at the snow from the comfort of her room was about as close as she's getting to snow this year.  BUT, next year you'll find us suited up and making a snowman.  Until then we'll stay warm :)

Gouda and Lily love the snow so much we pretty much have to drag them back inside!