Friday, November 1, 2013

Brielle's Development [9 Months]


I thought for sure Brielle would be crawling by 8 months because she was showing a few signs at 7 months- but nope, she wasn't. So then I thought DEFINITELY by 9 months. But NOPE, she's not! So now I just say she's never going to crawl :) Her legs always slide underneath her, so she can't stay on all 4s.

She also got 2 teeth this past month, so now she has a total of 3- 2 bottom and 1 top.

She's perfected the wave.

She's a food monster. She LOVES food. She pretty much refuses any "baby" food now (anything that has to be fed to her with a spoon). She loves food that she can chew on. Particularly, bananas are her favorite. But she also eats cheerios, mangos, grapes, blueberries, apples, sweet potato, mashed potato, squash, carrots, green beans, peas (they frustrate her because they're so small though), chicken, sausage... pretty much anything I put in front of her. I'm so thankful she's such a good eater, although her appetite is hard to keep up with sometimes. I don't know how she's so skinny!

Her schedule: She continues to nurse between 4 and 5 times a day. She typically goes to bed at 7:30pm now and wakes up between 6:30 and 7am. She takes a nap at 9:30 or 10am (usually don't expect more than 45 min anymore- childcare naps have gotten short) and nurses at 12pm. Her second nap starts at 1pm, and she naps for 2-3 hours for this one. She nurses again at 3:30 or 4pm and sometimes takes one more small nap at night and then she nurses at 7:15pm before bed.




Loves: Food, wagon rides, peek-a-boo, being tickled, blanky and paci, being held, waving, swinging

Dislikes: Being on belly, being left alone, short naps, Sophie grabbing her hands and not letting go












Saturday, October 5, 2013

Sophie's Development [2.5 Years]


Sophie is 2 and a half!!! That means I’ve been a mommy for two and a half years- no wonder it’s hard to remember what life was like before.



Words: She talks all the time and continues to amaze me with words she picks up on. She still says some pronouns wrong. For instance, tonight she said, “Her figured it out” instead of “She figured it out.” Another thing she says quite a bit that makes me smile is, “It’s actually mine” or “it’s actually Brielle’s.”

Learning: She’s been learning new songs in childcare. She’s learned “I’m in the Lord’s Army” and “My God is so big” and “Zaccheus.” I’ve started working on memorizing verses with her, and she’s a fast learner! She’s also learned how to pedal on tricycles.

Sleep: She is going to sleep better at night. She usually doesn’t put up a fight anymore, but occasionally she still will. She goes to bed between 8:30 and 9pm and sleeps until 7 or 7:30am (usually the earlier though). She naps for 2-2 ½ hours, usually laying down between 1:30 and 2pm.

Potty Training: Same… Still doing great during the daytime. Still wears diapers for naps and night.

Funny Things: 
1.    Ben was explaining to Sophie that our neighbor’s name is Gordan. When he told her this, she said, “He the little man on your shorts, Daddy!” Ben was confused for a second and asked her what she meant, and she said, “The little man who plays basketball on your shorts!” Ben laughed and explained to her that, in fact, our neighbor and Michael Jordan are not the same.
2.   She does things, like put on her shoes, and then says, “You so proud of me, Mommy?”
3.   She thinks it’s funny to do something to herself (like run into a trash can) and then say, “Sorry Sophie”… and then giggle really loud
4.   She puts her hand over her mouth and laughs really loud when she thinks something is funny (or knows something is supposed to be funny)
5.    She knows Ben and I call each other Babe, so sometimes she will call us Babe or play with her toys and call them Babe.
6.   Ben will ask her, “Am I your favorite daddy?” And she’ll say, “Noooo.” Then he’ll ask, “Well who’s your favorite daddy then?” And she’ll say, “The other one!”
7.   Some poop stories because they're too funny not to share: “Bye, bye poop!” “It’s fun saying bye-bye to my poop” -and- "My poop is sleeping. I need to wake it up... with my butt!" (I don't know where she comes up with these things)
8.   After picking up a spider by its leg and throwing it outside (all on her own accord, I should add): “We gonna pick Brielle up and put her outside so she can crawl? Just like a spider?”
9.   “Please can I may have a banana?” … the polite way for a 2 year old whose mama was an English major to ask for a banana

Sweet Things
1.    While eating spaghetti “Thanks, Mom for making food. I like this food!” No prompting or anything. So sweet J
2.   She calls Brielle “hunnie” and she’ll say, “aw, hunnie.”

Bible Knowledge: She has learned a few more Bible stories and really likes her Bible storybook. She always wants to look at pictures of Noah and Jesus. She understands praying and thanks Jesus for lots of things/people. She has started memorizing verses.

Foods: She’s really slowed down on eating lately! Her favorites are fruit snacks, capri suns, cheese, yogurt, hot dogs, fruit, and goldfish. She also loves Ranch (thanks to her daddy).

Likes: Playing at the playgrounds with her friends, playing in the water, pretending, reading books, singing, her teddy bear, wagon/stroller rides, Nemo, making Brielle laugh, her class

Dislikes: Having to share, bedtime, messiness, hurting herself












Brielle's Development [8 Months]



This past month, Brielle has continued to be a good eater. She can easily eat small chunks of food now, and she really likes all foods that we’ve tried, though she does like some more than others.

She can get up on all 4s now and rocks back and forth, and she pushes herself backwards well. She’s still not crawling, but she is trying!

She got her first tooth this past month! She got the bottom right tooth.

We’ve also begun teaching her some sign language (more and please) and how to wave hi and bye. She raised her hand up a few times to wave “hi.” J

Her schedule has been changing lately. She now nurses between 4 and 5 times a day and has finally started sleeping longer in the night in the last week! She now sleeps from 8pm-6:00am fairly consistently. She usually goes to sleep after this until 8am. She takes a nap at 9:30 or 10am (sleep is usually shorter in child care and longer at home) and nurses at 12pm. Her second nap starts between 1 and 2pm, depending on the day. She nurses again at 3:30 or 4pm and usually takes one more small nap around 6pm, and then she nurses at 7:30pm before bed. She eats food 3 times a day- sweet potatoes or squash that I made, banana chunks, baby oatmeal, or baby food.



Loves: stroller and wagon rides, her blanky and paci, being outside, bananas, cheerios, being held, baths, people, chewing on things, sitting in her crib with Sophie

Dislikes: Mommy leaving the room, short naps, being on her belly for long, being alone









Thursday, August 29, 2013

Brielle's Development [7 Months]

7 months! I can't believe Brielle is 7 months! 


This past month, Brielle has begun eating solid foods consistently. She eats store-bought baby foods as well as tiny banana chunks and other homemade purrees that I have made for her.

She started sitting right at 6 months and has been perfecting this newly-learned skill ever since.

She's also become super whiny whenever I leave the room or if she can see me from a distance while someone else is holding her.

Otherwise, it's been a fairly uneventful month.




Her schedule has been crazy this past month. The first two weeks, we spent living in other homes as we prepared to transition from our home in Indiana to our new home in Missouri. This always disrupts baby schedules. As soon as we moved, she got back on schedule, but then she started waking up an extra time in the night again when she got a fever, and that lasted for a week (maybe teething?). It's always frustrating guessing what babies are up to. She still is nursing 6 times in a 24 hour period, but now we've added baby food in as well. Her morning nap thankfully has not been too disrupted as a result of going to childcare every morning, but it also isn't as long as it was before either.

Speaking of moving, Brielle did AMAZING in the car! It's an 8 1/2 hour car ride, and we made it in 10 hours- with a baby and a newly potty trained child! I was SO thankful!

Loves: stroller rides, spitting, sitting up, Sophie the giraffe, baths, people, being held, being outside, chewing on things, her blanky, her paci

Dislikes: Mommy leaving the room, short naps, being on her belly for long

Childcare picture:


Thursday, August 1, 2013

Brielle's Development [6 Months]



This sweet baby is half a year old!! 6 months came so much faster with Brielle than it did with Sophie! Happy half birthday, sweet baby girl!



This past month (so when she was 5 months old), she's been rolling a lot. If I place her on her back, she almost immediately rolls to her belly. The downside is that she doesn't really like being on her belly for long.

She has began to push herself backwards and right at 6 months began sitting up on her own.

She also has began babbling this past month and said "dada" once, although I don't think she really knows what she's saying yet :).

She finally took a bottle this past month- twice! She's also been more "needy" this past month. She whines when I leave the room and is more needy of attention.

Her schedule is fairly similar to last month's, but she stays up a little later now. She typically nurses at 6am, 8am, 11:30/12am, 2/3pm, 5pm, and 7:30/8pm. She takes one long nap every day (2.5 hours, on average) and then 2 shorter naps (somewhere between 45 min and 1.5 hours). Typically the long nap is in the morning. Occasionally she needs a fourth nap still.

Loves: Stroller rides, people, chewing on things, being held (especially by mommy), sitting up, swinging outside, being outside in general, baths, jenny jump up

Dislikes: When mommy walks away, being on her belly for very long





Photos below by Carrie Weaver Photography.