MY GOSH how did I end up with such perfectly gorgeous children?!
I am going to do another comparison between Venily and Haven as well, but that will have to be another night! :)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Haven's 1-9 month collage
MY GOSH how did I end up with such perfectly gorgeous children?!
I am going to do another comparison between Venily and Haven as well, but that will have to be another night! :)
Sleep Training... Night 1
(Warning, very boring unless you are also attempting or thinking about attempting sleep training! :) )
We brushed teeth with Venily and did Venily's bedtime routine (read 2 books, sing 2 songs). I could tell Haven was tired. So then Haven and I read 3 of Haven's books together while Venily was sleeping. I turned off the lights, brought her in her room, and sang her a song.... told her I loved her, kissed her, said "Good night" and put her in her crib. I put the timer on for 5 minutes. She cried the whole time a little, but wasn't screaming or anything.
When the 5 minutes was up, I went in there. She was of course standing in her crib crying. I told her I loved her again and that it was time to sleep and I put her back down and left the room, setting the alarm for 7 minutes.
Her crying escalated a bit after I left, but went back to just a little crying. There were periods of time when I'd hear finger sucking in between the crying as well. I wasn't sure I should go back in, but I did. I found her sitting in there. I shushed her and tried to lay her back down. She wasn't having that. As soon as she saw me, the crying escalated again for a minute. I left the room and set the alarm for 9 minutes.
I could hear longer periods of time of quiet... and then some crying... then some quiet... then some crying... at the end of 9 minutes, I went in again. She was sitting again. The crying escalated again. I tried to lay her back down and left the room, setting the alarm for 12 minutes.
After only 3.5 minutes, silence for 5 minutes straight!!!! YAY, success! Or maybe not? The crying continued then. I didn't know if I was supposed to start the timer over or not... so I just waited. After a few more minutes, silence again. Then some more slight cries...then silence... more cries... and finally complete silence!
The HARDEST part was not picking her up when I'd have to go in there to comfort her! I did get off pretty easy though since there was no real screaming, just sad crying, which is hard enough! Hopefully it does in fact get easier, but overall, it went a LOT better than I thought it was going to! :) I'm excited to have a baby that sleeps on her own again! Fingers crossed!
We brushed teeth with Venily and did Venily's bedtime routine (read 2 books, sing 2 songs). I could tell Haven was tired. So then Haven and I read 3 of Haven's books together while Venily was sleeping. I turned off the lights, brought her in her room, and sang her a song.... told her I loved her, kissed her, said "Good night" and put her in her crib. I put the timer on for 5 minutes. She cried the whole time a little, but wasn't screaming or anything.
When the 5 minutes was up, I went in there. She was of course standing in her crib crying. I told her I loved her again and that it was time to sleep and I put her back down and left the room, setting the alarm for 7 minutes.
Her crying escalated a bit after I left, but went back to just a little crying. There were periods of time when I'd hear finger sucking in between the crying as well. I wasn't sure I should go back in, but I did. I found her sitting in there. I shushed her and tried to lay her back down. She wasn't having that. As soon as she saw me, the crying escalated again for a minute. I left the room and set the alarm for 9 minutes.
I could hear longer periods of time of quiet... and then some crying... then some quiet... then some crying... at the end of 9 minutes, I went in again. She was sitting again. The crying escalated again. I tried to lay her back down and left the room, setting the alarm for 12 minutes.
After only 3.5 minutes, silence for 5 minutes straight!!!! YAY, success! Or maybe not? The crying continued then. I didn't know if I was supposed to start the timer over or not... so I just waited. After a few more minutes, silence again. Then some more slight cries...then silence... more cries... and finally complete silence!
The HARDEST part was not picking her up when I'd have to go in there to comfort her! I did get off pretty easy though since there was no real screaming, just sad crying, which is hard enough! Hopefully it does in fact get easier, but overall, it went a LOT better than I thought it was going to! :) I'm excited to have a baby that sleeps on her own again! Fingers crossed!
Tooth #3
*Another thing*
that I thought was interesting from Haven's appointment is that the doctor said that Haven still had her umbilical hernia! I had thought she just had an outie belly button, but we won't know for sure until it's gone. Her doctor said that they usually go away by 3 years old.
9 month doctor appointment and MORE walking updates! :)
Haven's 9 month well check went great!!! The doctor was blown away by all the things she can do! Haven's measurements were: WEIGHT: 21lbs, 0oz (85th%ile), LENGTH: 30.5in (97+%ile), and Head Circumference: 46.5cm (97+%ile). Her weight is plateauing (she has only gained 2oz in 2m) and her length keeps going up!
The doctor couldn't believe that Haven was walking and was like "WOW! I was not expecting that! That's REALLY early!" and was even more impressed when we told her that Haven took 47 steps in a row yesterday! (Jason told me I need to stop counting, lol)
She was also impressed with all of the words that she knows and said that she is "very verbal". Which is great because I think that kids that are verbal get frustrated less as they get older because they are able to communicate their wants better!
And the doctor was happy that Haven is on mostly table foods now and not having any texture or gagging problems! She said I could pretty much feed her anything I want now except for egg whites and honey (which I already knew). I asked her about vitamins and she said I should buy the Poli-vi-sol w/out iron b/c the iron can lead to constipation issues (and we don't want to go down that road again!). Also, she wants me giving BOTH girls daily Vitamin D supplements (and gave me some samples) because the research shows that it helps with cardiovascular health as adults and that we do not get enough sun in Wisconsin, she said Jason and I should be taking it too. I had a different doctor with Venily for her 1st 10 months and he had told me that she didn't need them. I am happy that this doctor says to give it to them! :)
I also told her about how Haven needs to be nursed to sleep now and asked what we should do about it. I was SOOOOO happy that Jason was in the room with us so he could hear it for himself! First of all, she talked about how hard it was with her 4 kids and how she HATED to hear them cry. Then she told me to set up a bedtime routine and stick to it (we have one, but I am going to revise it and make it more concrete). Then she wants me to put her in her bed tired, but awake and let her cry for 5 minutes. Go back in and reassure her that we didn't abandon her and tell her everything is okay, etc. Then leave for 7 minutes. Go back in and lay her down, touch her back and shush her, but don't talk to her. Then 10 min... and 12 min, etc. until she falls asleep! She said it's going to really hard for like 3 or 4 days, but eventually it'll get easier! I of course knew I was supposed to do this, but hearing it from the doctor will help make it easier on me!!! So.... starting tonight we are officially sleep training!!!!
Haven didn't need any shots this time, YAY! And goes back for her next well check at 1 year. Her appointment is on Sept 28th and she will need shots at that time.
And walking update:
Yesterday Haven started walking everywhere like CRAZY!!! Yay! I'd say she's up to about 50% of the time walking, 50% crawling. I counted one time and she walked 47 steps in a row! :) She is getting better at turns as well. I wish she'd stop climbing up on things though, she is wanting a trip to the emergency room!!! Yesterday she climbed up on top of her chair and then up on TOP of her activity table and she climbed up on top of Venily's stool and up on top of the couch again!!! I have to keep my eye on that one! :)
The doctor couldn't believe that Haven was walking and was like "WOW! I was not expecting that! That's REALLY early!" and was even more impressed when we told her that Haven took 47 steps in a row yesterday! (Jason told me I need to stop counting, lol)
She was also impressed with all of the words that she knows and said that she is "very verbal". Which is great because I think that kids that are verbal get frustrated less as they get older because they are able to communicate their wants better!
And the doctor was happy that Haven is on mostly table foods now and not having any texture or gagging problems! She said I could pretty much feed her anything I want now except for egg whites and honey (which I already knew). I asked her about vitamins and she said I should buy the Poli-vi-sol w/out iron b/c the iron can lead to constipation issues (and we don't want to go down that road again!). Also, she wants me giving BOTH girls daily Vitamin D supplements (and gave me some samples) because the research shows that it helps with cardiovascular health as adults and that we do not get enough sun in Wisconsin, she said Jason and I should be taking it too. I had a different doctor with Venily for her 1st 10 months and he had told me that she didn't need them. I am happy that this doctor says to give it to them! :)
I also told her about how Haven needs to be nursed to sleep now and asked what we should do about it. I was SOOOOO happy that Jason was in the room with us so he could hear it for himself! First of all, she talked about how hard it was with her 4 kids and how she HATED to hear them cry. Then she told me to set up a bedtime routine and stick to it (we have one, but I am going to revise it and make it more concrete). Then she wants me to put her in her bed tired, but awake and let her cry for 5 minutes. Go back in and reassure her that we didn't abandon her and tell her everything is okay, etc. Then leave for 7 minutes. Go back in and lay her down, touch her back and shush her, but don't talk to her. Then 10 min... and 12 min, etc. until she falls asleep! She said it's going to really hard for like 3 or 4 days, but eventually it'll get easier! I of course knew I was supposed to do this, but hearing it from the doctor will help make it easier on me!!! So.... starting tonight we are officially sleep training!!!!
Haven didn't need any shots this time, YAY! And goes back for her next well check at 1 year. Her appointment is on Sept 28th and she will need shots at that time.
And walking update:
Yesterday Haven started walking everywhere like CRAZY!!! Yay! I'd say she's up to about 50% of the time walking, 50% crawling. I counted one time and she walked 47 steps in a row! :) She is getting better at turns as well. I wish she'd stop climbing up on things though, she is wanting a trip to the emergency room!!! Yesterday she climbed up on top of her chair and then up on TOP of her activity table and she climbed up on top of Venily's stool and up on top of the couch again!!! I have to keep my eye on that one! :)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Haven is 9 months!!! (3/4 of a year!)
This month has been the fastest one yet!! She's definitely grown up so much this past month, I think moreso than any other month! And she's officially toddling around, so I think I can no longer refer to her as a baby, but have to call her a TODDLER instead! CRAZY!
Here are her 9 month stats:
Weight: 21lbs, 0oz (as of 9/30/10)
Length: 30.5in (as of 9/30/10)
(Venily was 19lbs, 9oz and 29.25in at 9m)
Haven's updated growth charts:
Clothes size: mostly 12m & 18m (I still put her in some 6-9m dresses as well)
Diaper size: 3
Shoe size: 3 or 4 still (some 3's are too small, some 4's are too big!)
*and a new measurement to document hair growth*
HAIR LENGTH: longest top pieces- 1.25 inches
longest bottom/back pieces- 1.5 inches (and these are the fullest on her head and get super curly when she's sweaty!!!) :)
Here's what Venily's hair looked like: She had much longer top hair strands, but also a bald spot in the back- and her swirl of course (wet & extra swirled in pic below)! :)
SLEEPING: Oh, where have I gone wrong, lol?! Will no longer put herself to sleep, for naps or at bedtime!! I have to nurse her to sleep or hold her and pat her back and then put her in her crib carefully! :( If I try to put her down drowsy but awake, she stands right up and yells and cries! That was always the problem I had with Venily (though Venily NEVER put herself to sleep since day 1). I was so hopeful for Haven! I attempted sleep training one day... that didn't go over so well. I will try again though someday soon, maybe after we pop all these teeth through! I SHOULD do it next week while Jason is out of town doing work b/c he does not handle it very well... I will ask her pediatrician about it on Wednesday!
Haven also pushed her bedtime to much later, usually around 10pm now, sometimes even later. For some reason she gets a huge surge of energy after Venily goes to bed. She wants to walk around and play!!! When she does go down though, she usually wakes up between 4:30 and 5:30 to nurse and then sleeps until around 7:00- 8:00am.
2-3 naps a day, though lately she is fighting her morning nap! In the summer it's hard to get on a solid schedule since we are always running around places! Unfortunately, the girls rarely nap at the same time anymore! But on the now rare chance I get them to, I feel like the most amazing mom in the world! :)
EATING: Still breastfeeding throughout the day- 5 times maybe? I have no idea, I'm going to do a 'day in the life' soon and will keep track! Still eating 3 solid food meals and some snacks. We are usually doing 2 "real" food meals a day now, with one meal of baby food or baby cereal, sometimes all 3 "real" food meals and no baby food! This week she has just started to refuse her baby food. She'll eat a few spoonfuls and then start spitting it out when she doesn't want any more! She thinks baby food is for babies and that she's a big girl now!
But she LOVES anything she can eat with her fingers! I gave her her own spoon and bowl of oatmeal a few days ago to eat all by herself for the first time and she went NUTS!! Thought it was the greatest, funnest thing in the whole wide world! She did pretty good with spoon feeding herself. Stupid me, forgot that we had SUCTION CUP BOWLS though!!! haha. (we've been using the suction cup one since then and it goes a LOT better). She also ate it with her fingers as well. She ate 2 BIG bowls of it, and was literally trying to eat every last speck! I should do this every day, but it's just such a mess and she is only supposed to get a bath every 2-3 days (though almost impossible to wait that long in summer)! So we are trying to do it on bath days from now on!
She is also getting too smart for her own good when it comes to food. If she wants something that I'm eating, I used to be able to give her something of hers to eat and she'd be fine. Now she knows better and wants what I'm eating!! Oh well Haven, you ended up with one of those crazy moms that wants you to eat healthy all the time, haha! (You'll thank me when you're older! ♥ ) Seriously though, I'm a slight bit more relaxed with Haven than I was with Venily. With Venily I'd almost have a panic attack every single time someone so much as gave Venily a piece of white bread! It still gets me a little panicky with Haven, but I can breath through it now! :) But sorry Haven, no candy, chocolate, Popsicles, salty, over processed or otherwise unhealthy food until you are 2, and only then in moderation! People can judge me as they will, but I handled it fine with Venily and will do so with Haven too!
I still haven't found anything she won't eat! I actually go out of my way to try and find things too! Onions, peppers, boiled egg yolks, broccoli, spicy vegetarian chili... you name it, she literally eats anything!
Drinks from a sippy cup, from a regular cup (I even give her her big girl Tylenol in the little cup now), and from a cup with a straw!
PLAYING: Her push toys are still her favorite (or anything that CAN be pushed). She loves to be standing while playing with anything! And she loves pushing them through the house! She is also really into books right now. And will happily play with all her books and is so captivated while I show her pictures and tell her what everything is! I make it a point to read to her every single day (she also listens in on Venily's books, but Venily usually picks really long books). We are currently working on naming animals and what sounds they make, since that is her favorite thing!! She knows what a duck, dog, and kitty are! Paper is also an obsession of hers! She can detect paper from a mile away and will shred it to pieces and eat as much of it as she can, given the chance! Her absolute favorite toys though are her ducks!! Her face just lights up when she sees them! :)
She also loves songs and dancing! Her favorite songs are "Pat-a-cake" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" because she likes doing the motions! And she loves dancing to music. She can dance better than I could ever dream of! ♥ Nothing is better than hearing a song and watch her break out into her booty shaking dance! ♥ ♥
Naming body parts: Haven loves when we work on naming body parts every day as well. She can point out teeth and sometimes eyes (especially on dolls). She likes pointing at different things on my face while I tell her what they are.
Loves playing peek-a-boo and burying her head and popping back up when you ask where she is! ♥
APPEARANCE: She continues to get longer and thinner! EVERYONE comments on how tall she is! And when people guess her age they usually guess around 18m! haha! We are still waiting on more hair! (see hair length above). Eyes are still blue (YAY!)... hoping we are past the possibility of changing point! ;)
TEETH: 2 bottoms still, and all 4 of the tops are really swollen and ready to come through soon! Her right lateral incisor is almost through, hoping they all come quickly! They don't bother her too much until nighttime! :( We've been doing Orajel, cool teething rings, chewing on ice pops in the plastic, and Tylenol!
SPEECH: She is definitely verbal like her sister! Her favorite words as of right now are "this" and "that" (referring to pretty much anything that she points to, lol, Jason was eating one day with his shirt off and Haven came over and pointed at his nipple and says "THIS?" She's so funny!!), "duck", "Dada", "teeth", "more", "hi", "Mama", "ball", "dog" and she also can say "eat","up", "kitty" (kkkkk), "ick", and will attempt to say other words!
-signs:
*previous-"eat", waves, claps, does "so big", gives high fives, pats her legs for "pat it", puts her hands up to be picked up, points at things she wants or when asked where something is
*new- "water" (she made up her own sign for it, she waves her hands up and down like she's splashing every time she sees water!), and she copies me for "all done"/"all gone" (which I made up a sign for, I have no idea what it actually is, it's the same I used for Venily though, haha!)
*working on- "roll it" and blowing kisses
PERSONALITY: She is very silly and LOVES to laugh and make other people laugh!!! She is a very content child, but she gets very frustrated when she can't do something. Before she was mobile she was getting VERY frustrated, but now is a much happier little girl again!!
If I am holding her or if someone else is holding her and I am not in sight, she is very happy. However, if someone else (including Jason sometimes, lol) is holding her and she sees me, she cries for me. Makes me think I should let Jason (or someone else) watch her more often so she overcomes some of that, but it causes me physical pain to even think about being away from her, lol! I have been away from her for probably a total of 7 hours since she was born (and all of those hours were her Dad watching her)! Wait, no, my sister did watch her for an hour one time, though it was at night and she was already sleeping in bed for the night... haha.
OTHER:
All her constipation issues cleared up, thankfully!
I wish we had our central air hooked up b/c Haven still gets really sweaty! She wakes up from her naps drenched in sweat, even if it's not that hot. And when I nurse her, I look at her head and see that her whole head is covered in beads of sweat!
Haven is able to follow simple instructions like "Go get your ball" or "give your baby a kiss".
AT 9 MONTHS...
Haven's LIKES:
Haven's DISLIKES:
* Not being able to communicate something to me. I can see her little face get so frustrated, as if she's yelling "Why can't you understand me?!"
*Teeth coming in! :(
*Sleeping... there is just TOO MUCH TO DO!!
HAVEN/ VENILY COMPARISON: (Venily's 9 Month Update)
Pics: Venily at 9 months!
Here are her 9 month stats:
Weight: 21lbs, 0oz (as of 9/30/10)
Length: 30.5in (as of 9/30/10)
(Venily was 19lbs, 9oz and 29.25in at 9m)
Haven's updated growth charts:
Clothes size: mostly 12m & 18m (I still put her in some 6-9m dresses as well)
Diaper size: 3
Shoe size: 3 or 4 still (some 3's are too small, some 4's are too big!)
*and a new measurement to document hair growth*
HAIR LENGTH: longest top pieces- 1.25 inches
longest bottom/back pieces- 1.5 inches (and these are the fullest on her head and get super curly when she's sweaty!!!) :)
SLEEPING: Oh, where have I gone wrong, lol?! Will no longer put herself to sleep, for naps or at bedtime!! I have to nurse her to sleep or hold her and pat her back and then put her in her crib carefully! :( If I try to put her down drowsy but awake, she stands right up and yells and cries! That was always the problem I had with Venily (though Venily NEVER put herself to sleep since day 1). I was so hopeful for Haven! I attempted sleep training one day... that didn't go over so well. I will try again though someday soon, maybe after we pop all these teeth through! I SHOULD do it next week while Jason is out of town doing work b/c he does not handle it very well... I will ask her pediatrician about it on Wednesday!
Haven also pushed her bedtime to much later, usually around 10pm now, sometimes even later. For some reason she gets a huge surge of energy after Venily goes to bed. She wants to walk around and play!!! When she does go down though, she usually wakes up between 4:30 and 5:30 to nurse and then sleeps until around 7:00- 8:00am.
2-3 naps a day, though lately she is fighting her morning nap! In the summer it's hard to get on a solid schedule since we are always running around places! Unfortunately, the girls rarely nap at the same time anymore! But on the now rare chance I get them to, I feel like the most amazing mom in the world! :)
EATING: Still breastfeeding throughout the day- 5 times maybe? I have no idea, I'm going to do a 'day in the life' soon and will keep track! Still eating 3 solid food meals and some snacks. We are usually doing 2 "real" food meals a day now, with one meal of baby food or baby cereal, sometimes all 3 "real" food meals and no baby food! This week she has just started to refuse her baby food. She'll eat a few spoonfuls and then start spitting it out when she doesn't want any more! She thinks baby food is for babies and that she's a big girl now!
But she LOVES anything she can eat with her fingers! I gave her her own spoon and bowl of oatmeal a few days ago to eat all by herself for the first time and she went NUTS!! Thought it was the greatest, funnest thing in the whole wide world! She did pretty good with spoon feeding herself. Stupid me, forgot that we had SUCTION CUP BOWLS though!!! haha. (we've been using the suction cup one since then and it goes a LOT better). She also ate it with her fingers as well. She ate 2 BIG bowls of it, and was literally trying to eat every last speck! I should do this every day, but it's just such a mess and she is only supposed to get a bath every 2-3 days (though almost impossible to wait that long in summer)! So we are trying to do it on bath days from now on!
She is also getting too smart for her own good when it comes to food. If she wants something that I'm eating, I used to be able to give her something of hers to eat and she'd be fine. Now she knows better and wants what I'm eating!! Oh well Haven, you ended up with one of those crazy moms that wants you to eat healthy all the time, haha! (You'll thank me when you're older! ♥ ) Seriously though, I'm a slight bit more relaxed with Haven than I was with Venily. With Venily I'd almost have a panic attack every single time someone so much as gave Venily a piece of white bread! It still gets me a little panicky with Haven, but I can breath through it now! :) But sorry Haven, no candy, chocolate, Popsicles, salty, over processed or otherwise unhealthy food until you are 2, and only then in moderation! People can judge me as they will, but I handled it fine with Venily and will do so with Haven too!
I still haven't found anything she won't eat! I actually go out of my way to try and find things too! Onions, peppers, boiled egg yolks, broccoli, spicy vegetarian chili... you name it, she literally eats anything!
Drinks from a sippy cup, from a regular cup (I even give her her big girl Tylenol in the little cup now), and from a cup with a straw!
PLAYING: Her push toys are still her favorite (or anything that CAN be pushed). She loves to be standing while playing with anything! And she loves pushing them through the house! She is also really into books right now. And will happily play with all her books and is so captivated while I show her pictures and tell her what everything is! I make it a point to read to her every single day (she also listens in on Venily's books, but Venily usually picks really long books). We are currently working on naming animals and what sounds they make, since that is her favorite thing!! She knows what a duck, dog, and kitty are! Paper is also an obsession of hers! She can detect paper from a mile away and will shred it to pieces and eat as much of it as she can, given the chance! Her absolute favorite toys though are her ducks!! Her face just lights up when she sees them! :)
She also loves songs and dancing! Her favorite songs are "Pat-a-cake" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" because she likes doing the motions! And she loves dancing to music. She can dance better than I could ever dream of! ♥ Nothing is better than hearing a song and watch her break out into her booty shaking dance! ♥ ♥
Naming body parts: Haven loves when we work on naming body parts every day as well. She can point out teeth and sometimes eyes (especially on dolls). She likes pointing at different things on my face while I tell her what they are.
Loves playing peek-a-boo and burying her head and popping back up when you ask where she is! ♥
APPEARANCE: She continues to get longer and thinner! EVERYONE comments on how tall she is! And when people guess her age they usually guess around 18m! haha! We are still waiting on more hair! (see hair length above). Eyes are still blue (YAY!)... hoping we are past the possibility of changing point! ;)
TEETH: 2 bottoms still, and all 4 of the tops are really swollen and ready to come through soon! Her right lateral incisor is almost through, hoping they all come quickly! They don't bother her too much until nighttime! :( We've been doing Orajel, cool teething rings, chewing on ice pops in the plastic, and Tylenol!
SPEECH: She is definitely verbal like her sister! Her favorite words as of right now are "this" and "that" (referring to pretty much anything that she points to, lol, Jason was eating one day with his shirt off and Haven came over and pointed at his nipple and says "THIS?" She's so funny!!), "duck", "Dada", "teeth", "more", "hi", "Mama", "ball", "dog" and she also can say "eat","up", "kitty" (kkkkk), "ick", and will attempt to say other words!
-signs:
*previous-"eat", waves, claps, does "so big", gives high fives, pats her legs for "pat it", puts her hands up to be picked up, points at things she wants or when asked where something is
*new- "water" (she made up her own sign for it, she waves her hands up and down like she's splashing every time she sees water!), and she copies me for "all done"/"all gone" (which I made up a sign for, I have no idea what it actually is, it's the same I used for Venily though, haha!)
*working on- "roll it" and blowing kisses
MOVEMENT: Crawls up on all fours most of the time, rarely now she'll drop down to an army crawl still and make me laugh! She is FAST too when she wants something, especially if she knows I'm on my way to get it away from her!
Can walk across the room all by herself now too!!!!! I have counted her take 24 consecutive steps in a row now! She looks like such a big girl walking, I know it won't be long before she is walking more than crawling! She can also walk all around while just holding onto one of my fingers! She also climbs like crazy! She can climb all the way up our flight of stairs, and is always climbing up on anything she can! I had thought I had a pretty good arrangement to keep her in my living room, but that too did not last long, she just climbs over the whole thing now! She can not be contained, lol!
She will walk without holding onto anything to transfer from object to object. And will take off walking after pulling up on things. Also, able to stand up in the middle of the room now without pulling up or touching anything!
She will walk without holding onto anything to transfer from object to object. And will take off walking after pulling up on things. Also, able to stand up in the middle of the room now without pulling up or touching anything!
PERSONALITY: She is very silly and LOVES to laugh and make other people laugh!!! She is a very content child, but she gets very frustrated when she can't do something. Before she was mobile she was getting VERY frustrated, but now is a much happier little girl again!!
If I am holding her or if someone else is holding her and I am not in sight, she is very happy. However, if someone else (including Jason sometimes, lol) is holding her and she sees me, she cries for me. Makes me think I should let Jason (or someone else) watch her more often so she overcomes some of that, but it causes me physical pain to even think about being away from her, lol! I have been away from her for probably a total of 7 hours since she was born (and all of those hours were her Dad watching her)! Wait, no, my sister did watch her for an hour one time, though it was at night and she was already sleeping in bed for the night... haha.
OTHER:
All her constipation issues cleared up, thankfully!
I wish we had our central air hooked up b/c Haven still gets really sweaty! She wakes up from her naps drenched in sweat, even if it's not that hot. And when I nurse her, I look at her head and see that her whole head is covered in beads of sweat!
Haven is able to follow simple instructions like "Go get your ball" or "give your baby a kiss".
*********
AT 9 MONTHS...
Haven's LIKES:
*Walking!!!
*DOGS- and all other animals too! She CAN'T WAIT to go to the fairs!!
* Toy ducks! :)
* Cardboard toy pieces- puzzle pieces, game pieces, Venily's flashcards
* Still loves her BIG sister more than anything!! ♥
*Eating big girl food
* Pushing toys around the house
*Water, sand, dirt, grass, sticks, leaves, flowers... anything outside!!
*Getting into everything and breaking out of Mommy's barriers! She learned how to open up the screen door today too!
*DOGS- and all other animals too! She CAN'T WAIT to go to the fairs!!
* Toy ducks! :)
* Cardboard toy pieces- puzzle pieces, game pieces, Venily's flashcards
* Still loves her BIG sister more than anything!! ♥
*Eating big girl food
* Pushing toys around the house
*Water, sand, dirt, grass, sticks, leaves, flowers... anything outside!!
*Getting into everything and breaking out of Mommy's barriers! She learned how to open up the screen door today too!
Haven's DISLIKES:
* Not being able to communicate something to me. I can see her little face get so frustrated, as if she's yelling "Why can't you understand me?!"
*Teeth coming in! :(
*Sleeping... there is just TOO MUCH TO DO!!
HAVEN/ VENILY COMPARISON: (Venily's 9 Month Update)
Pics: Venily at 9 months!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
9m Update!
Yes, Haven is 9 months old today!!
I finished her 9m update, but still need to finish up adding the pictures. I will probably have it up tomorrow night!
I finished her 9m update, but still need to finish up adding the pictures. I will probably have it up tomorrow night!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Birthday Party Updates!
Party is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, October 3rd and will be a combo party for both girls. I figured this gives us 3 days to celebrate! On Haven's actual birthday, the party, and then on Venily's actual birthday! :) We'll have a whole month of celebrating! :)
Not sure where it will be. Last year it was a tight fit having so many people in our small house (plus it's looking like our yard will STILL not be done!), but that may be our only option!
And here is the cakes the girls picked for Grandma to make them! ♥
For Venily's 2nd birthday she picked out a castle cake and LITERALLY talked about it for months and months beforehand... and continued to talk about how awesome it was months and months after, lol! :)
HAVEN's:
(Oh course it had to be a duck! lol)
VENILY's:
(Though I'm sure she's going to want the dress to be BLUE! haha! Venily literally wanted every single cake we showed her and each new picture we showed her was the new one she wanted, lol. Sooooo.... we ended on this one and that was the one she wanted! She's really excited that she gets to keep the Barbie when the cake is done!)
Not sure where it will be. Last year it was a tight fit having so many people in our small house (plus it's looking like our yard will STILL not be done!), but that may be our only option!
And here is the cakes the girls picked for Grandma to make them! ♥
For Venily's 2nd birthday she picked out a castle cake and LITERALLY talked about it for months and months beforehand... and continued to talk about how awesome it was months and months after, lol! :)
HAVEN's:
(Oh course it had to be a duck! lol)
VENILY's:
(Though I'm sure she's going to want the dress to be BLUE! haha! Venily literally wanted every single cake we showed her and each new picture we showed her was the new one she wanted, lol. Sooooo.... we ended on this one and that was the one she wanted! She's really excited that she gets to keep the Barbie when the cake is done!)
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Oh my, TEETH!!!!
So I took Jason to the dentist today (he has been in some SERIOUS pain for the past 24+ hours) and was joking around and said, "Okay Haven, let's look in your mouth and see if you have any new teeth!" And when I looked I saw a tiny little sore in the top of her gums, I was a little concerned but figured I'd just ask her doctor about it at her checkup next week. When I got home, I took her in the bathroom for better lighting and looked again! And saw that ALL 4 TOP TEETH are coming in!! Three are really swollen and 1 (though weirdly, one of the outer of the bunch) has a hole and is getting ready to pop through!
Venily only had 4 teeth at 1 year, haha!
And I've been on my online baby community again lately for babies born around the same time as Haven (I used to LOVE going on there while pregnant, but haven't been on in a LONG time) and forgot how addicting it can be, lol! Anyway, there are babies that already have 8 teeth! HAHA! Wow! :)
Venily only had 4 teeth at 1 year, haha!
And I've been on my online baby community again lately for babies born around the same time as Haven (I used to LOVE going on there while pregnant, but haven't been on in a LONG time) and forgot how addicting it can be, lol! Anyway, there are babies that already have 8 teeth! HAHA! Wow! :)
"More" new word (s)
Yesterday Haven learned how to say "more"!! I really love useful words!! We were grocery shopping and she was hungry so I grabbed some snacks and was feeding them to her as we shopped. She would whine every time she finished one and wanted another. So every time I'd say "More? More please?" and give her one. Then one time I wasn't paying attention and tuned out her whining while I was focused on something else so then she starts saying "More! More!" and continued to say the word whenever she wanted one throughout the rest of the store! ♥
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Newest trick!
Haven learned how to stand up in the middle of the room all by herself without pulling up on anything or using a wall! :) I watched her do it several times in a row! Hmmm.... I really should take out her baby book and get to work seeing as I haven't touched it since she was born! :(
Oh, also she LITERALLY aged several months over night!!!!! She is the size of a 16m old and acts like one too!
♥ 20 steps
Oh, also she LITERALLY aged several months over night!!!!! She is the size of a 16m old and acts like one too!
♥ 20 steps
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Yep, you guessed it...
another new record! I think she got up to 16 consecutive steps tonight (don't worry, I'll stop updating every time she beats her record)!! She is for sure getting better and better each day! (or I should say night... she's been wanting to stay up at night to practice her walking and gets a huge surge of energy, lol)
Here's a video of some of her walking skills! I apologize, I will probably take a lot of videos of her walking, it's just so darn cute! :)
(she probably would have kept going, but I ran into the couch and couldn't back up any more, lol!)
6 more days until her 9 month birthday!!!! I can't believe it! I will have more updates then! And I will reveal soon what cakes the girls decided to have Grandma make for their birthdays! You'll never guess what Haven wants, haha! ;)
AND A VERY HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL THE GREAT DADDYS OUT THERE!!!! My girls have the greatest Daddy of them all and they know it! They love him so much and his girls are his world! I just love watching Jason with them! ♥ We were supposed to have a father's day picnic, but plans changed. Jason had a nice day of fishing, kayaking, and hanging out though, so it was all good!
Here's a video of some of her walking skills! I apologize, I will probably take a lot of videos of her walking, it's just so darn cute! :)
(she probably would have kept going, but I ran into the couch and couldn't back up any more, lol!)
6 more days until her 9 month birthday!!!! I can't believe it! I will have more updates then! And I will reveal soon what cakes the girls decided to have Grandma make for their birthdays! You'll never guess what Haven wants, haha! ;)
AND A VERY HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL THE GREAT DADDYS OUT THERE!!!! My girls have the greatest Daddy of them all and they know it! They love him so much and his girls are his world! I just love watching Jason with them! ♥ We were supposed to have a father's day picnic, but plans changed. Jason had a nice day of fishing, kayaking, and hanging out though, so it was all good!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Lots more walking!!!!
Haven is definitely getting the hang of this whole "walking" thing! She got up to 12 steps today and lots of runs of 10!!! She is getting so daring too and will start walking to me without me even telling her to, she just pulls herself up on the nearest thing to her and takes off!! As of today, I don't even worry about staying super close to her, she falls very gracefully now (either on her butt or down to a crawling stance)! :) My baby is officially growing up!!
Another thing I caught her doing today is climbing stairs! We need to get our gate put back up ASAP, because she LOVES to climb! I also watched her push a box over to her activity table, climb up on it and stand on it and then continue to "booty dance" (the cutest dance IN THE WORLD where she just shakes her little booty ♥ ) up on top of the box! She is going to be Trouble!!!!! :)
Another thing I caught her doing today is climbing stairs! We need to get our gate put back up ASAP, because she LOVES to climb! I also watched her push a box over to her activity table, climb up on it and stand on it and then continue to "booty dance" (the cutest dance IN THE WORLD where she just shakes her little booty ♥ ) up on top of the box! She is going to be Trouble!!!!! :)
Friday, June 18, 2010
10 steps!!!
Haven has been a walking machine lately!! And tonight she beat her previous record of 5 steps a ton of times and her new record is 10 STEPS!!!! I'm so proud of her! ♥ And does it GET ANY CUTER THAN WOBBLY LITTLE STEPS?! I think not! :)
(I actually had gotten her 10 steps on video as well, but when I went to look at it, Venily was standing right in front of the camera the whole time, LOL!)
Venily took 9 consecutive steps at 10m, 4d old.<see here!> And Haven has already taken 10 steps at 8m, 3w, 2d old! :) Within a month, Venily was walking EVERYWHERE and I had lost count at how many consecutive steps she had taken, so it's not long now before Haven is walking everywhere as well!!!! :) And you should see her on her lion now (or anything she can push basically, wheels or no wheels, lol)! She RUNS with the thing ALL OVER THE HOUSE!! And she doesn't even fall transitioning from the carpet to the tile floor and back again! She CONSTANTLY wants me to move it so she can continue walking every time she runs into something and can't go any more! She's soooo funny!!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
St Charles, IL Weekend
We spent the last 5 days, 4 nights in St Charles, IL while Jason worked doing sound at RiverFest!! It was a lot of fun. The company paid for us to have a hotel! Jason has a few more festivals over the summer that we might be able to stay with him at as well, so we might just get a taste of that "traveling family" lifestyle this summer, lol! I love the break from the constant cleaning, dishes, & laundry at our house!
The weather was great most of the time, warm but not too hot. It only rained some of the time while we were outside, poor Jason had to work quite a bit in the rain though! We got to swim a lot in the pools, play at the park, go for walks, go to the festival there and see Daddy working, etc.! I like getting the girls out of our area sometimes, I want them to be able to adapt easily to new situations and environments! Both girls did well. Venily usually fights anything that isn't routine, but I was able to get her to nap and go to bed fairly well (though she moved her bedtime to much later than usual). She has been driving me CRAZY lately with her 2 year old sassiness, so it was nice to get her out of that steak for a bit. She'd act up every time she was tired or hungry, but overall did pretty good! Haven, as usual, just went with the flow (though we did have one rough night where she was up every hour again, I think it's her teeth!), she loves looking at new scenery and will sleep and eat pretty much anywhere, which is nice! :)
It's funny how a change of scenery can bring about so many new changes, or maybe it's just the fact that Haven is literally changing and learning new things every single day!
I learned over the weekend that Haven's perceived "shyness" was actually just her playing! :) She's so fun! And don't worry about Haven in these videos, lol, Venily isn't always super gentle, but Haven is a tough girl and gets her back WAY worse by pulling her hair all the time! haha
Oh, and giving mouth kisses? Now Haven's favorite thing ever! I just say "Give Mama a kiss" and she does! Big, sloppy open-mouthed ones, I love it! Look out boys! She'll even give Daddy's scruffily mouth a kiss! :)
I have confirmed another word that Haven says as well. I thought she had been saying it for a while, but wasn't positive. She says "That!" while pointing at things, though it sounds more like "Dat! Dat!" :) I'm not entirely sure if she wants to have "that", wants me to look at "that," or if she wants me to tell her what "that" is, lol, but it's really cute!
Haven also learned how to get down from the standing position finally! I'm really glad, since she's always standing- she'll even pull herself up on the wall now to stand! The only problem is that now while she's holding onto something and I'm sitting by her and I tell her to come to me, instead of taking steps to get to me sometimes she'll get down, and crawl the few feet away that I am and then pull herself back up, haha.
Overall, we had a lot of fun on our "vacation to nowhere"! And I'll take it, since we can't afford a "real" vacation, though we did miss Jason since he had to work most of the time! :) Some day we'll have a real vacation...
Unfortunately, I think we brought home some sickness with us! Haven and I aren't feeling so well. My throat hurts and Haven is clingy and keeps getting really sweaty even when it's not hot (I keep checking her temp though, and it's normal). I was super germaphobic at first and tried to get Haven to only stay on sheets that I laid on the ground and not touch anything in the room, but that lasted all of a couple of minutes, lol! She can't be restrained! :)
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