This was honestly the best photo McKenna would let me get for her 10 month pictures before she tried jumping off the futon. I didn’t push it. I foresee this happening at the next few check-ins until we hit 1…
This past month was no different than the last 10… Busy and full of development! Every day I look at McKenna and can’t believe how much she’s growing! She’s growing from a baby into this little person… And we’re going to have a 1-year-old soon. It’s unreal.
She is working on 4 new teeth! We’ve had our two cute lower teeth for awhile now (approx. 4 months), but this last month the two top front teeth have started coming in, and behind them are the two neighboring teeth (lateral incisors). It’s obvious she knows it, too, because she takes bites out of her Puffs and freeze-dried yogurt bites. Too cute!
She stands on her own – no hands! At least for 10 seconds or so at a time. She prepares for it, too. She’ll climb my leg or a piece of furniture, concentrate on balancing herself, and then take her hands off. Then she gets this HUGE grin on her face as if she’s saying “Look at my new trick, Mom!” and knows what she’s doing is so cool! I have yet to catch it in action because normally I’m what she’s standing next to.
She continues to be adventurous. If you’ve heard our latest announcement, we’re moving! That will get a whole post of it’s own once it’s all said and done. That being said, our house is a packing zone. There are boxes everywhere in anticipation of the move, and McKenna views them as her jungle gym – obviously. It didn’t take her long at all to figure out how to make them into toys. She seems to do that with everything that isn’t her toy, actually…
She’s still push walking. Thanks to her “push walking” that started around 9 months and an inspirational trip to the Hanson’s (where Miss Ellie Jane has so many cool toys), I purchased McKenna this V-tech Sit to Stand Learning Walker. Not only is she fascinated with all of the bells and whistles on the front of this thing, but she pushes it all around the living room/kitchen in our townhouse.
M’s friend Leo helping her around
She still loves the outdoors! Always has, and I hope she always will. We go on our morning/afternoon walks with Rigby and try to eat on outdoor patios as often as possible whenever we get the chance to go out to eat.
She also loves baths. I tried the shower for the first time last night (I took her in with me), and that was a big no-go. But she’s always loved baths. She’ll kick and splash and just smile the whole time. She went in the pool for the third time ever this past weekend and, once over the initial shock of her new floatie, seemed to enjoy it. She especially enjoyed sticking her fingers in the water and licking them… Silly girl!
We’re moving this weekend, and I will try to remember to blog about that experience when it’s all done. Wish us luck!
I’M NINE MONTHS! Height: 29.25″ Weight: Measurements 18 lbs., 11 oz.
Our little bean just keeps getting longer and longer. I think this may have been the first month I noticed how much she really weighs. I’ve been doing a lot of hip carrying around the house and on short errands and my biceps are benefitting 😉 This month – while baby wearing on our weekend trip to downtown St. Augustine – we also tried the “back carrying” on for size, and my lower back is really thanking me.
The perfect view for walking around downtown St. Augustine.
Since our last check in I’ve celebrated my first birthday and Valentine’s Day as a mother. I will admit my birthday weekend was very anticlimactic (my own doing) as it was the first of many years where I realized how unimportant my birthday really is now that I have a little one… Or I guess how much more important other things/dates/holidays are. That may not come across right, but ultimately it just made me realize how really unglamorous birthdays will probably be going forward. Admittedly I was pretty upset in the morning, but in hindsight I don’t mind. If anything I look forward to the year (maybe next year!) when McKenna blows out my candles before I can get to them.
As for McKenna’s updates…
She’s learned to clap. This has come about in the last few days. She started clapping when Mom & Dad would clap or say “Yay!” and now she claps when you simply say, “Clap, McKenna.” We’re working on waving hi & bye… She’s very close to “bye.”
Clapping!
She is quite the conversationalist. And with complete strangers. This little one is rarely shy with an unfamiliar face, which is great in one sense and very scary in another. Last night when we were sitting out on the patio at Carabba’s, McKenna had a full on conversation and giggle fest (for like 15 minutes!) with the young man and woman at the table across from us. I think it was mostly because she was interested in their golden retriever, but still.
She is a daredevil. This girl loves an adrenaline rush. She gets an instant smile from “Superman,” being tossed in the air, swung side-to-side and from hanging upside down. I am also convinced one of her top priorities is to go down the stairs. We don’t have a large living area, and every so I catch her staring at the stairs. This light goes off and she bolts (crawling) in that direction… And this chick is fast!
Of course we have a photo of her being a “Supergirl” and she doesn’t look slightly thrilled… Maybe that’s a testament to how much she loves the rush. This is just not exciting enough for her!
She is eating REAL solids. Not like pureed, not-formula/breastmilk solids, but REAL solids. We started on Puffs (cereal bites that dissolve in your mouth) and organic freeze-fried yogurt bites, and this weekend we moved on to chopped strawberries, sweet potato, pancakes and scrambled eggs… Yum! It’s fun being able to feed her bits and pieces of what we’re eating. She’s becoming less of a baby (always my baby, of course) and more of a little person!
Sunday breakfast. Scrambled eggs and pancakes.
She giggles a lot now! She loves to giggle. She’ll even have a giggle war with you. She’ll laugh a little, then you laugh, then she laughs. And some of her laughing is fake and completely intentional. It’s pretty hilarious.
McKenna and Mike at lunch in St. Augustine
We’re standing with one-hand assistance and “push walking.” She stands very confidently and gracefully only holding onto something with one hand. She also “walks around” by pushing an object around the room (i.e., Rigby’s food dish stand around the
kitchen) or by using the edges of furniture as guidance.
Helping Dad out in the kitchen.
It goes without saying that she gets into everything, and everything she gets into goes straight into her mouth. She definitely keeps us on our toes. I can’t imagine the adventure we’re in for when she’s walking in just a short while. It’s a constant struggle of “can wait/can’t wait,” but it’s exciting!
Oh, and we FINALLY got some decent family photos, thanks to my mom 🙂
McKenna is growing like a weed and is already encountering some of the problems I had to deal with in middle school and high school. Poor thing just keeps growing taller and taller (wonder where she gets that from) and is staying pretty thin (we have a few cute baby rolls, but she’s pretty lean) so we’re running into the problem of pants that fit are too short and pants that are long enough are too big. Poor girl. Welcome to #tallgirlproblems, Baby.
A lot has happened in the last month… Or at least it feels like it. And now I’m thinking I say that in every post. (I’m not willing to go back and look to see if I need to change that sentence to something more original, so we’ll go with it.) I’m pretty sure that’s how being a parent to a baby is. Time flies when you’re having fun… Or chasing a speedy crawling baby around the house. Or both.
In the last month McKenna celebrated her first Christmas (my favorite time of the year) and New Year. I kept telling myself to “Write a blog post about it, already!” but time got the best of me and here we are, 3 weeks past Christmas and it just doesn’t seem as important anymore.
So here is a brief (just kidding, not brief at all) synopsis for anyone who is curious:
Christmas Eve/Day: We were fortunate enough that my dad (who lives in Nebraska) was able to come down for a week during the holiday.
We visited Santa the night before Christmas Eve at Westshore Plaza. Luckily we arrived when he was due back from break, so we got in line before it got too long. It was still about a 30-45 minute wait time, but McKenna loves looking around and people watching, so she was entertained. The entire time we were in line Michael and I were planning a stealth mission of how we were going to sneak pictures of McKenna on Santa’s lap on our phones. You see, the information page they handed to us while we were in line asked that no personal photos were to be taken. Instead you could view your photos immediately after and pay $25.00 for 7 of them. Seven photos?! Uhm… No thanks. Anyways, we were fortunate enough the photo paper ran out just before it was our turn. Apparently it is a huge process to switch it out, so, since McKenna was starting to get antsy (it was feeding time), they let us discretely take some photos on our phones. Santa wasn’t happy about it, but I could care less because I have much better plans for my $25 than 7 photos of Santa. In the end, I was sort of hoping for the classic screaming baby photo, but McKenna could care less that she was on Santa’s lap (in fact, I don’t even know if she realized she was).
McKenna with Santa. Westshore Plaza, Tampa. 2014
Christmas Eve morning we woke up and Michael and I exchanged gifts. He worked Christmas Day and since he works 24 hours at a time, we decided to do everything on Christmas Eve. One of my favorite gifts was a collage photo throw blanket Michael got me covered with pictures of McKenna’s first 6 months. I started crying instantly… I’ve definitely got those mom hormones now.
We spent the rest of the day with my dad, Mike’s parents and my mom and her husband at Mike’s parents’ house in Bradenton. I’ve always had (large) family gatherings on Christmas Eve, so it was nice for that to continue. We had a great afternoon/evening and exchanged gifts – which McKenna napped through… Including her own!
Christmas Eve, 2014.McKenna drumming with Grandpa.Hanging with Grandpa
Christmas Day was spent relaxing at home with my dad and McKenna. It was totally a “do nothing and stay in your pajamas all day” kind of day. Very peaceful.
Reading her “Hello, Boston!” book her Aunt Stephanie bought her for Christmas while waiting on breakfast.Lounging on her new lamb chair from Grandpa.Napping with Grandpa.
New Years’ EveMike also worked New Year’s Eve (and got off at 8 a.m. New Year’s Day), so McKenna and I spent the day at home relaxing and were both in bed by 8:30 p.m. Something tells me this may be a recurring thing in the years to come…
Now that we’ve gotten the holidays out of the way, back to the world of child development…
Sleeping. We had a rough patch of about 3 weeks where McKenna was waking up 3-4 times a night. Most of it was resolved by re-situating her in her crib, giving her the WubbaNub (pacifier), and/or changing her. Of course, there were moments right around 4 a.m. where she absolutely would not go back to sleep, which is when we caved and put her in the bed with us. It wasn’t the most relaxing sleep for Mike or I, but it was still an extra 2-2 1/2 hours of quiet. Mike and I would sometimes complain of lack of sleep but were constantly reminding ourselves how lucky we’ve been with McKenna’s ability to sleep through the night. (Fortunately, that no sleep phase is over and we are back to sleeping through the night again. Woohoo!)
Always happy after just waking up from a nap.
Crawling/Standing. Girlfriend is ready to rock. She’s got the crawling thing down pat and has even worked her way up the stairs a few times (while being closely monitored, of course). When she pulls herself up on something to stand, she’s a big fan of taking one hand off to bend down and pick things up. A few times she’s decided she’d like to try to stand up on her own (taking both hands off of whatever she’s using for support/balance) and every time it results in a bump, fall and tears. Poor baby. My current favorite is when she’s trying to reach something in the middle of the ottoman or activity center and she gets up on her tippy toes to reach.
Tippy toes!
Finding our voice. McKenna still airs on the side of being quieter, but she’s definitely found her voice in very recent days. She’ll babble to me while I’m preparing her breakfast, changing her diaper, taking her daycare or on the way home in the evenings. It’s so cute, and we love to babble back!
Toys. Toys are cool and all, and McKenna really likes them part of the time… especially her Baby Einstein jumper & Fisher Price Scout dog. But when she’s not playing with toys she’s playing with other fun items around the household.
Like Rigby’s food or water bowl… Especially while he’s eating.Or her diapers. Nothing is more fun than those!
We (McKenna & I) did get a new “toy” for Christmas… This Schwinn jogging stroller! We’ve gotten to use it a few times when it’s not too cold, and we love it!
Straight chillin’
Teeth. We now have two (both bottom teeth), and Mom and Dad think they are the cutest little things! It seems like she is working on more, but we’ll see when they show up.
Just her two front teeth!And another one because she is just too cute!
The upcoming month is bound to bring lots of fun, excitement and adventure. We are finally getting our first round of (professional) family photos taken this Saturday, which have only been rescheduled about 5 times (they were originally supposed to be taken in November in time for holiday cards, but it just didn’t happen) so of course I’m excited about those!(Update: these were set to be “rescheduled” again the night before, so I decided to get a refund. Very frustrating. I am currently debating whether to seek out another professional or ask my mom to take them with her D-SLR. At least I can depend on her to keep the appointment!)
My birthday is next week (an excuse for a date night for me and Mike), lots of wedding prep is going down and Miss McKenna will be 3/4 of the way to a year old in a short amount of time. I know I’ve said this before – and everyone says it all the time – but I really can’t believe how quickly time is passing!
Couldn’t leave you without some bloopers from out “8 Month” photos. This happened about 1 minute in… Tell me how you really feel, McKenna.
I’m FOUR months old! Weight: 13 lbs., 13 oz. (56th percentile) Height: 25 1/2 inches (90th percentile) Eye Color: Baby blues I Cry When: I have to sit in one place for too long. I yell or talk very fast, loud and high-pitched when I’m hungry or when my diaper’s dirty. I Smile When: Mom and Dad make up songs and sing them to me. I also like kicking my legs around. What soothes me the most is: still walking around outside. This seems to do the trick 95% of the time. There’s just so much to look at! Can’t Leave the House Without: lots of food, lots of burp rags and a change of clothes.
Well, this was another months of firsts. Of course they all will be for awhile, but this particular set of firsts were not always the exciting kind…
McKenna got her first big injury. Her poor, sweet, baby leg met Rigby’s evil rope leash last week when they were on a walk with Mike. She cried for a few seconds at first, but then was fine. It doesn’t bother her a bit, of course, but there it is.
We battled our first stomach bug about 2 weeks ago. Can I just say how terrible it was? She was running a fever on and off for about 3 days while having lots of diarrhea which came with a major diaper rash. Oh, and she was congested. Poor girl just couldn’t catch a break! She was a trooper through the whole thing, smiling and being a goof. After a 5-6 day battle of this and a diet regimen of Pedialyte and soy formula and lots of Dr. Smith’s Diaper Ointment for the booty (I swear by this stuff now!) she was feeling better just in time for the Michigan State game…
Oh, yes, I did say soy formula. I haven’t breastfed since Week 10… Did I forget to mention that? I’m still trying to figure out when/how/if I feel like telling that story.
All in all, McKenna is thriving and doing well. She’s classified as a “bigger baby,” at the doctor’s office mostly because of her height and her strength. Because of this, our pediatrician mentioned the possible need to introduce solid foods a bit earlier than the usual 6 months. We may run into McKenna not feeling full enough. It’s like she was psychic or something seeing as how recently M’s been eating up to 8-9 ounces in one sitting (not every time, but still).
How McKenna felt about 90 seconds into our “photo shoot.”Seriously with these pictures? You’ve gotta be kidding me.
I’m THREE months old! Weight: TBD Height: TBD Eye Color: They’ll definitely be blue! We’ll see how light they get as I get older. I Cry When: I have to sit in one place for too long. I do more of a talking yell now when I’m stinky or hungry. I Smile When: I’M NAKED! Being naked is one of my new favorite things. I also smile when I’m playing with my mommy and daddy or grammy; I especially like being sung to. Sometimes I smile when my dog, Rigby, licks my face. He’s a silly pup! What soothes me the most is: walking around (inside or outside), listening to music or being sung to, and, when I’m in the mood for it, my WubbaNub. I have also started gnawing on my fist as a self-soother (see photo below). Sometimes I even gag myself because it’s s new feeling. At first this worried Mom a little, but it turns out it’s totally normal, so she lets me do it every now and then. Can’t Leave the House Without: a burp rag and an extra shirt. I’ve been drooling so much for the last month that sometimes I soak through my shirt 2-3 times a day. Often times when I’m at home, Mom and Dad put a bib on me to avoid this. I’ll probably start teething early (Sorry Mom and Dad!) like my mom did when she was 4 months old!
The past month with McKenna has been so much fun. Every day that she gets older she’s so much more animated and talkative. Her personality is really shining through. She’s such an easy, chill, happy baby (the first two that, admittedly, she definitely gets from her dad), and I hope those qualities continue as she gets older.
In the past 2 weeks, she’s mastered rolling onto her tummy from her left side only and scoot herself a few inches forward after that. She’s so determined to crawl (and somedays I think walk) that it’s comical. She does this little squealing, screaming cry into her play mat out of frustration that she’s gotten onto her tummy but can’t get anywhere else.
She’s one strong baby though. She’s been holding her head up almost completely by herself for a few weeks now, and when we practice standing up and walking, she supports most of her weight on her own.
We started crib sleeping at 2 months old, and she’s aced it like a champ. We put her down for bed between 8:30 and 10 every night. I’d say she sleeps through the night about 50% of the time now, and on the nights she does wake up it’s only to change and eat and go right back to bed. This morning I found her like this (below). She really does love tummy time!
We’re right on track with growing! She is 2 days past the 3 month mark and is still wearing some of her larger 0-3 month clothes but can also now wear some of her smaller 3-6 month clothes. I’m excited about that as most of her newborn and 0-3 month clothes were hand-me-downs. These were a blessing as they were mostly onesies and some footie pajamas, which is pretty much what she’s lived in since Day 1. However, most of them were also pink, which wouldn’t have been my first choice — or at least not so much of it! I am excited to start dressing her in the clothes friends and family have gotten us. Mike shares my excitement in this to some extent… IT’S FOOTBALL SEASON! so we get to break out all of the Michigan State/football gear we’ve been slowly collecting for her since we found out she was coming.
The “What’s with these monthly photos, Mom? So boring!” face
I’m TWO months old! Weight: 11.56 lbs. (up 1 lb., 11 oz. – 69th percentile) Height: 24 inches (up 2.25 inches – 96th percentile) Eye Color: They’ll definitely be blue! We’ll see how light they get as I get older. I Cry When: I have stinky diaper or am hungry. And also when I’m tired of sitting on your lap. I really like walking around and looking at everything around me! I Smile When: I’m laying facing my family – my daddy and my mommy get my smiles a lot! I also like talking and cooing at them, although I’m sure they have no idea what I’m saying… All they do is make funny noises back at me. What soothes me the most is: rocking in my rocking chair, walking around the house (and when it’s not too hot I LOVE walking outside and feeling the breeze blow across my face!), and listening to music. I am becoming a big Beatles fan. Can’t Leave the House Without: My WubbaNub (Mom still hasn’t bought me another one, but it’s on the list!) and extra diapers – sometimes I see how many I can make Mom & Dad change in a short period of time.
Some days I wake up and still can’t believe I’m a mom to this sweet little pea. She’s absolutely perfect. She is still such a chill and happy baby… Mike and I are so grateful for that and tell ourselves how lucky we are every day.
McKenna’s second month brought many new experiences for all of us.
For one, she went “swimming” for the first time on her daddy’s birthday – read about that here. She seems to have no problem with water whether it’s in the bath or in the pool, so I’m hoping she’ll be a little water baby like her mama!
McKenna also was introduced to formula two weeks ago – a blessing if you ask me. I won’t delve into the controversial topic of breastfeeding too much, but I will say this: I applaud all of you mamas who do it ’til your baby’s 1 or even older. Heck, I applaud you mamas who do it at all. I’m going to keep forging ahead with pumping at work and breastfeeding when I’m home. I’ll consider it a personal success if I can make it another month, but of course I strive for longer. I know and understand all of the benefits of breastfeeding from a nutritional standpoint. I also know that I was formula fed (as were my sister, my dad and both my aunts) from birth and we all turned out just fine! Anyway, if I were to estimate, we are doing about a 70/30 breastmilk to formula ratio. We introduced formula to her only at night right before I started going back to work – another new event in the past month – to try to help us all get a little more sleep at night. She was a pretty great sleeper to begin with so the formula has just made it a little better.
Which brings me to my maternity leave ending. Such a sad day (sort of). It’s hard being away from her during the day and missing out on the smiles and the cuddles and the ease of life (don’t get me wrong – having a newborn and raising children is a challenge in it’s own, but there’s something sweet and simplistic about it, too), but I know by going back to work I’m providing for my family so that she can have everything she needs growing up (see how I said needs and not wants ;))Coming back to work has been crazy and busy and cluttered. I was lucky enough to be able to come back part-time for my first two weeks, and it’s still been hectic! Not to mention pumping feels almost downright impossible. I still have to master making time to not only pump while at work but also to eat enough so that when I pump there’s something there!
Our most recent event is the most exciting: McKenna’s Grandpa and GREAT-grandparents are back in town. I’m so lucky to have my grandparents in my life – two of my favorite people on the planet – and even more lucky to have them here to meet their first great-grandchild. We get to spend the next 3 days with them making fun memories!
Our Little "Whoops!" 