Pulling Up

At just shy of 7 months, Nora is pulling up! I was shocked yesterday morning when I looked on the monitor and saw that Nora was standing in her crib! I went in and helped her lie back down only to go back out, pick up the monitor and watch her do it all over again! I couldn't believe it! She hasn't pulled up on anything else yet, but she's certainly trying...her high chair, the coffee table, my leg. I thought she was getting close to crawling, but who knows? Maybe she'll go straight to walking... A lot sooner than I imagined! I need to get to baby proofing!

Nora’s First Easter

We started our Easter 2014 celebrations early Saturday morning when we met my family for Center Point Church’s Easter 5k and Fun Run. Once we’d all finished the 5k (way to go fam!), we stuck around for the Eggstravaganza, which included egg hunts for all ages, the Easter Bunny, hot dogs, cotton candy and a DJ! Nora was asleep during the egg hunt for her age, but I don’t think she would have been too interested yet anyway. Next year will be a different story!

Ready to ride during the 5k! Daddy pushed her the whole 3.1 miles!

Molly was nice enough to share her cotton candy, but Nora wanted milk!

Our little bunny with Aunt Anna! Thanks to Grandma Angie for the ears!

Nora and Nonnie. This girl already wants to be standing all the time!

Nora’s first encounter with the Easter Bunny.

Hey, Sexy Lady! Anna dancing gangnam style!

After the Eggstravaganza, we all met up at the Peck house to celebrate Nonnie and Shelby’s April birthdays. Unfortunately, the camera didn’t make it back out of the bag, but a good time was had by all.

On Sunday morning, we all went to the early church service (except for Poppy who was stuck home with a bad back. We sure missed having him at the head of our row!) Nora went to the nursery for the very first time. They said she did great and just played the whole time! Then she was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot! Back at Nonnie and Poppy’s house we shared a yummy traditional Easter lunch including my favorite coconut cake, hid eggs for S&C and then watched them hunt (giving clues when our mad hiding skills proved to be unbreakable) and enjoyed lots of family time. It was a perfect Spring weekend celebrating birthdays and the resurrection of Jesus with our family.

Eager to hunt! (Nice photo bomb, Jefe!)

Don’t fall in!

Which way should I go?

Nora and Aunt Meg

Now it’s Anna’s turn!

The whole family

Thanks for the super cute Easter dress and basket Nonnie!

She wasn’t too sure about the Easter basket. I love all her serious, contemplative expressions.

Nora and Nonnie

My little Matthews family

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.” Matthew 28:6

Nora: 6 months

Weight/Length: Not sure until we go to the doctor in the next couple of weeks. To be updated!

Medical Issues: So thankful for a strong, healthy baby girl!

Sleep: Things have been so crazy this past month with all of our moving around that Nora’s only been in the same place for a handful of nights at a time, and then we move her again! All things considered, though, she’s doing pretty good. She goes to sleep pretty easily; it’s the staying asleep part that is normally the problem. She’s still napping 2-3 times a day, and most naps this month were on the go either in the stroller or the car seat or even slumped over on her daddy’s hip. So lucky to have an adaptable little baby!

Clothes: She’s mostly in 6 month clothing, but both 3-6 month and 6-9 month fit her. I love getting to put her in the warm weather clothes now that Spring is in full force. Her chubby exposed legs are too cute!

Diet: She’s still breastfeeding like a champ, but we started solids this month as well! We’re trying to go the baby led weaning route and so far, so good. The first several times we offered her food, she didn’t seem to quite know what to do with it, but it was amazing how quickly she figured it out. Now everything goes straight to her mouth (or at least close!) I doubt she’s actually eating and swallowing much yet, but she’s certainly tasting lots of different flavors. So far she’s had tomato, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, apple, banana, strawberry, avocado, oatmeal, toast, hummus and pita bread, turkey and ham.  

Milestones: She’s sitting up all on her own! Of course, she still topples over some, but she can balance pretty well for minutes at a time! We also started solids this month!

Likes: Baby Einstein Lullaby music, Sophie the Giraffe, anything that Mom or Dad have in their hands, going on walks, being home near all her family!

Dislikes: Loud noises that startle her, bottles, pacifiers, being tired, diaper changes or anything that requires her to be still and/or on her back!.

Nicknames: Chicky, Neeny, Neeny Bopper, Nori and Nor

Mama’s Thoughts:

Nora: 5 months

Weight/Length: about 6.7 kg and 65.5 cm; 14.7 lbs and 25.78 inches. She gained right around a pound during the last month. She’s got a lean little torso and the chunkiest baby fat legs!

Medical Issues: Probably about a month ago now, we noticed that Nora had a little bump in her right eyebrow. Just before noticing the bump, I had tripped walking down the stairs with her and she bumped her head on the bannister. There was a little bit of crying, but it could have been much worse. We didn’t think that the bump was a result of the fall because it is in a different place than where we thought she hit, isn’t red or sore, showed up days after the accident, etc. However, when we went to the doctor, he of course thought the bump was a result of the fall and wasn’t worried about it. Since the eyebrow bump is still there, I’m convinced that the two aren’t related, and it may be some type of cyst or something. It doesn’t seem to bother her, though, so we’re going to ask about it at our upcoming appointment. Praying that it’s nothing serious and just disappears on its own one day soon!

Sleep: Nora naps 2-3 times a day just depending on how long each nap is. Sometimes she goes to sleep all on her own and others she needs to be nursed in order to calm down. There’s really no rhyme or reason, and we just do whatever it takes. So far she can still nap in the stroller or the baby carrier no matter where we are, and I love it. Definitely allows us much more freedom instead of having to be home for every nap and bed time.

Fortunately, we seem to have gotten over the waking 45 minutes into bedtime, and she’ll usually let out a cry or two but stay asleep. She still wakes in the night once or twice. The easiest thing to do is just feed her, and she goes right back to sleep though occasionally we’ll send Luke in to see it he can get her back to sleep without feeding her. Eventually, we’ll have to break the eating during the night habit, but for now, especially with our big move coming up that will surely disrupt any type of “schedule” that we have, this works for us. It’s easy to get really frustrated with this because after a string of wakeful nights, the lack of quality sleep catches up to you and I just feel exhausted. However, I need to remember that she’ll only be little for so long and savor the fact that only I can comfort her this way.

Clothes: She’s mostly in 3-6 month clothing, but both 3 month and 6 month pajamas still fit. We don’t have very many warm weather clothes until we make it back to Molly’s hammy downs and online orders that  are waiting on us at my parent’s hose. Hopefully we can make it for a few more weeks with what we have!

Diet: She’s still 100% breastfed and eats every 3-4 hours. We’ve tried giving her tiny sips of water and little baby pieces of mushy foods like banana and carrots. She seems pretty interested but isn’t quite sitting on her own yet (though she’s really, really close) so we haven’t really started any solids yet. I’m definitely looking forward to it, though! How fun (and messy!) it will be!

Baby Gear: We couldn’t make it anywhere without our stroller and the Bjorn. Also, she’s playing more and more in the exercauser but seems to be outgrowing the baby playmat and the swing.

Milestones: She is rolling from back to tummy all the time now. Every time I lay her down on a blanket, she flips over, and I’ve found her in the crib on her tummy several times now too. I really think she’s starting to think about crawling though she’s not made too much progress yet. She’s so close to sitting up and can balance on her own for a pretty good amount of time. She tends to lean forward a lot so she still needs to build a little more core strength to really be sitting on her own. Lately she’s been so much more vocal, and her sounds are so very sweet. I swear she said hi the other day, and I think she may have picked up “dat” after hanging with Cousin Molly! She’s also started using her hands a lot more and wants to grab and hold anything she can get too!

Likes: Music especially Daddy’s guitar and Mama’s singing. Her favorites are Bicycle Built for Two and Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus. She also likes glowing screens, bath time, and anything that I have in my hands. She wants to hold it too! And she’s obsessed with her feet!

Dislikes: Loud noises that startle her, bottles, pacifiers. being tired.

Nicknames: Chicky, Neeny, Neeny Bopper, Nori and Nor

Mama’s Thoughts: Nora is such a calm, pleasant baby. If she’s crying, it’s because she’s sleepy, hungry or having tummy troubles. Other than those few things, she’s always happy. She’ll play on her own in the crib or on a blanket for sometimes up to 20 minutes, which is especially helpful when her naps are short, and I need to get something done. We take her all over the place! (she even went to Dublin this month!) She just goes right along with us and makes everything more enjoyable!

I don’t know if it’s making it to the 5 month mark and starting to really get the hang of things or the change in the weather and the promise of Spring or a combination of the two, but everything just seems better this month. I’m so looking forward to getting outside more and more with Nora, teaching her new things, moving back closer to our families, and all that is just around the corner! We are so thankful for this sweet girl and love her so very much!

Valentines 2014

We’re not big celebrators of Valentines Day, but we do typically like to go to a nice dinner or do something out of the ordinary to at least acknowledge the celebration of love (and the celebration of our original anniversary! I can’t believe it’s been 8 years since we met at Benson’s on Dickson Street and shared their special Valentines Day drink, a Baby Maker, in 2006!)

Nora and I walked to meet the Dad at his office, which is quickly becoming a Friday tradition since he tends to get off a little bit earlier than the standard 7 pm, and then we all walked home together making a few quick stops along the way. Once home, we bathed our little love baby and put her to bed. She gifted me with a straight seven hours of sleep that night! (And she didn’t cry when we put her to bed! I think we had to go in there twice to tell her night night and hand her the little lovey that we’ve been putting to bed with her, but there was no bouncing, ssshhing required, and she didn’t wake crying after 45 minutes. Once she was out, she was out!) What a Valentines gift!

Once the baby was in bed, Luke and I used Valentines Day as an excuse to stuff ourselves silly on pizza paired with a bottle of Prosecco that we bought in Florence this summer and a couple of decadent deserts that we shared along with tiny sips of port wine that we bought in Porto during our visit in October 2012. Nothing too extravagant, but it was fun and a little bit festive.

However, the real point of this post is just to share a few first Valentines Day pictures of my favorite girl. Enjoy!

Nora: 4 Months

Weight/Length: 6.28 kg/13 lbs 14 oz and 64 cm/25 inches.Her weight fell a little bit below the line that she had been following on her growth chart. However, the doctor said that this was common with breastfed babies who tend to be leaner than those receiving formula and that she was healthy and no need to worry about or change anything.

Medical Issues: Nada. We are so thankful to have such a healthy baby girl.

Sleep: Nora naps 3 or 4 times a day depending on how long the naps are, what time she woke up, etc. But there’s really no consistency here. Sometimes she sleeps 45 minutes and others 2 hours. Most of the time, she wakes up happy, even after 45 minutes, so I guess she’s getting what she needs. And since she’s sleeping so much at night, she really doesn’t need more than about 3-3.5 hours of daytime sleep. Unless we’re out and about and she naps in her stroller, which I try to save for the weekends or the last nap of the day, she takes most every nap unswaddled in the crib and with white noise. The loud apartment noises get her every time, especially as she’s trying to fall asleep. (I’m also the crazy lady that put a sticker not to ring the bell on our buzzer downstairs. If it’s really for us, then life is life, and I’d deal with it if she wakes. However, multiple random people, like the mailman for example, come every day and buzz all the doors simultaneously until someone lets them in. Our neighbor is always home and always answers it, so it was really annoying me that it would wake her for no reason.) We moved to just a sleep sack from the swaddle once she rolled over. I find her on her side in the crib all the time now, so I’m glad we already made that transition. I’m working really hard to get her to fall asleep on her own. Sometimes it works like a charm, and she’s out in 2 minutes with no crying. Others there’s too much crying, and I have to go in to soothe her. I typically have to pick her up in order to calm her down but try to put her back down before she’s completely asleep. I wish she’d do it on her own (with zero crying!!!) every time, so we’re going to keep working at it. I think the key is putting her down when she’s drowsy but not overtired, which is difficult because she doesn’t really have any obvious sleepy signals until it’s too late, and she’s crying. Then she’s nearly inconsolable.

She’s moved to an earlier bedtime here recently and is normally asleep before 8. She goes down relatively easily, but without fail, she wakes crying about 45 minutes or so after falling asleep. Then we (hopefully Luke is home at this point to help me!) spend an hour (sometimes more) going in and out to soothe her. I’ve tried feeding her upon that first waking, and it might have reduced the time we spent going in and out but didn’t solve the problem. I’ve tried putting her down earlier and cutting the amount of time she’s awake prior to bedtime, and nothing seems to make a difference (though the longer she was awake, the worse the crying was). I know she can put herself to sleep because she does it for lots of naps, but it seems harder for her in the evenings.

She’s usually in her crib for nighttime sleep for about 12 hours, give or take an hour some days. A good night is if she sleeps 5 hours, wakes to eat, 4 hours, eats and then another 3. However, a lot of nights I don’t get that 5 hour stretch, and she’ll be up every 3 or 4 hours to eat. She normally goes straight back to sleep, so it’s not bad. If we can just get her to go to sleep and stay asleep the first time we put her down instead of taking all evening, I’ll have no complaints. 

Clothes: 3 months still fit the best, but I’ve started putting her in some 3-6 month stuff just for more variety. Tops fit okay, but pants are a little big still.  She’s still wearing all her size 3 month pajamas, but we’ve pretty much retired all 0-3 and newborn sizes except for a few gowns that are a little more giving. .

Diet: Still 100% breastfed, usually eating 7-8 times a day and completely refusing the bottle. She seems to eat really fast and normally a feeding doesn’t even last 15 minutes. I’m not sure if she’s just gotten really efficient, if she gets distracted or if I’m trying to feed her too often, but she definitely is done when she’s done. We continue to try a bottle with never any luck. And now we’ve actually fed her twice with a syringe because I was sick of wasting milk! She drinks it just fine, and get this, tries to suck the syringe. No clue why she won’t suck a bottle; it’s so weird.

Baby Gear: I love our stroller, and Nora seems to as well. She’ll sit in it for quite a while and take pretty good naps when we’re out and about. We’ve also been using the Baby Bjorn quite a bit for quick trips out or just to get her out of the stroller if we’re out for a long time. It’s so simple to get on, and you can easily do it by yourself. She still loves her kick and play mat, and we’re starting to use the exercauser some, but she’s still a bit small. She’ll sit in the Bumbo but not for very long, and she’s started trying to push herself out of it so I have to be careful where I put her and stay right by it. It’ll be nice when she can sit up by herself because that’s what she really wants to do!

Milestones: First laugh and rolling over more and more, though she doesn’t go from tummy to back. If I put her on a blanket and leave the room for a minute, she’ll be in a totally different position when I get back! She rocks and rolls and twists herself around!

Likes: Bath time, silly noises (but not too loud or scary), singing, her hands, white noise, her feet (which she’s just started to discover and grab with her hands!), any type of glowing screen (I have to keep the TV off, or she’d just sit and stare at it all day!), Being out and about (that’s why I’m ready for warm weather! The cold is such a deterrent for me to get us out of the house.)

Dislikes: Sleeping (I swear sometimes she cries just when we walk into the room!), Loud noises that startle her, bottles, pacifiers. She also gets way more sensitive if she’s too tired and doesn’t like much of anything.

Nicknames: Chicky, Neeny, Neeny Bopper, Nori and Nor

Mama’s Thoughts:  We have more good days than bad days, some longer than others, but weekends are always the best because we get the dad home with us. No matter how the day went, I always love this girl more than anything, miss her the most while she’s sleeping peacefully and wake up ready to see her again. “Guard me, Jesus, through the night and wake me with the morning light.” Amen. 

PS, Jesus: Also help her not to wake crying after 45 minutes but to sleep peacefully through until she’s ready to eat again.

Little Baby Laugh

Nora has had a few tentative little laughs, and I finally caught it on camera! You have to be sneaky with the camera because if she sees it, her attention switches from whatever cute little thing you’re trying to capture to watching the phone.

One of the sweetest sounds I’ve ever heard. I can’t watch it without laughing myself!

PS: Her first laugh was at about midnight or 1 am on Sunday, January 9. We’d been at Jose Carlos’s house for his birthday party, and Nora fell asleep in the Boba on the way home. Once we got home, we laid her on the changing table, and I was telling Luke, “Let’s just change her, feed her and try to put her straight to bed. Don’t talk to her too much or play with her.” She just looked up at us from the changing table and did that little laugh…kinda like “Yeah, right! That’s what you think is going to happen!” Ha! Despite the laugh, though, she did go straight to sleep and slept 7-8 hours straight that night!