6 Months!!!

Our sweet Caroline is half a year old! It is hard to believe! This month has been so much fun! Caroline's cute personality is showing more and more everyday and we LOVE it! The girl is a talker! She is constantly babbling and squealing and giggling...so fun! She is super happy and it doesn't take much to get a sweet smile =) We are so very in love with our girl!

Sleeping:
This month has been SO much better with her nighttime sleep (PRAISE THE LORD)! She still wakes up once or twice, but I'll certainly take that over the 7-10 times she was doing last month! She is still taking 3 naps, although nap is such a strong word lol. Her naps are generally 20-45 minutes max. Fun. This month we've started trying to let her put herself to sleep a bit more, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. She is still swaddled. We tried stopping and that was torture for us all, so I figure we will drop that eventually, but I'm choosing my battles on that one haha.

Eating:
Caroline is a GREAT eater! She gets so excited when it is time to eat and loves just about anything we send her way. She is still nursing (woohoo...we made it 6 months) every 3-4 hours and is eating solids twice a day. So far she has tried: avocado, sweet potato, peas, green beans, carrots, pears, apples, peaches, banana, and mango. She will eat everything, but it not a huge fan of bananas or mango by themselves but enjoys them mixed together. Her favorites are definitely sweet potatoes and peas. We are loving the new adventures in eating =)


Milestones:
She has gotten so good had sitting up on her own this month! Really it's been in the past week or two where she sits really well. She has ridden in a grocery cart without the carseat and sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time this month as well...what a big girl =)

She has also started SCOOTING! Granted, it's going backwards...but it's one step closer to have a mobile baby! Craziness!

Her 4th tooth popped through, so now she has two bottom and two top and I hope and pray we are done with teething for a little while! She is definitely ahead of the game there!

6 Month Stats:
 Weight- 15lb 12 oz (44%)
 Height- 26 in (56%)
 Head- I don't remember, but it was 91%...takes after her daddy haha

Randoms/ Things to remember:

• Caroline makes the funniest facial expressions and finds herself to be hilarious =)
• She is very serious when she first meets someone, but once she very seriously studies the person, she gives big smiles
• She is a very LOUD talker and gets very serious when telling us a big story =)
• She loves the tags on things
• Loves to yell at the dogs. She will stand in the exersaucer and yell at them. I think she enjoys being eye level with them haha
• Is great in a stroller or the Ergo carrier and loves to go on walks and be outside
• We go to music and story time every week and she loves watching all the bigger kids dance around her
• She does well with independent play, but would be perfectly happy if I held or carried her around all day long...and most of the time I would too =)

Just playing...

Because I am too lazy to write a full post...here is a video of sweet Caroline =)

5 Months...

 Sweet Caroline turned 5 months old this past Friday (I am BEYOND behind on the blogging, but I need these posts to help me keep her baby book updated). This month has been a fun one but by far the most challenging! Caroline has decided that sleeping at night is for wimps, and that all the cool babies stay up all night. It has been incredibly frustrating to say the least. A typical night for us this past month has been as follows:


Start bedtime routine around 6:30
Bed by 7:00pm
Awake by 8:30pm back to sleep by 9ish
Awake at 10 back to sleep in 30 min-1 hr
Awake at Midnight- Nurse- asleep in 10-15 min
Awake at 1:15, asleep in about 15 min
Awake at 2am..generally spend 1.5-2 hours getting back to sleep
Around 4 am I usually just give up and let her sleep on me in the recliner until she wakes up around 6:30-7am.


Day time naps take generally 20mins to an hour to get to to sleep (even though she is sleepy) and they typically last 30-45 min.


Fun times. 


Because of this craziness, I have cut out dairy (she also has eczema and other signs of a dairy allergy or sensitivity) and she has switched from Zantac to Prevacid. On top of this, she is also cutting her top two teeth...just to add to the fun =) So far, Tylenol every night, teething tablets, nighttime orajel, and standing on our left legs while patting our heads has not helped!


Anyway, we have yet another doctor's appointment tomorrow, so if I'm given the green light that she is 100% healthy, then we are starting some sleep training this weekend.


Other than that, she is the happiest, sweetest baby ever!! She is super fun during the day and we LOVE all her squeals, giggles, and sweet babbles! She loves to lay on the floor and grab her feet, which have just recently made their way to her mouth. She can be very serious, and you really have to work to get a good giggle out, but the smiles come easily =) We ended up going to Jacksonville, FL with Greg on a business trip last week. I was terrified because of the sleep issues, but she actually did the best she has in a while and only woke up 2-3 times each night...however, she was in bed with us or held to sleep, but since we were in a hotel I didn't want to wake the whole floor up. She is an EXCELLENT traveler and we are so very thankful for that! She was super easy going the entire trip and she got to visit the ocean for the first time...it was super sunny and windy, so she was slightly unimpressed haha. We joke about her having "first child syndrome" because we literally just sit around (dogs included) staring and laughing at her. She lights up our lives and we are so very blessed to be her parents! I simply can't believe she'll be halfway to one whole year next month!! Time is flying!




5 Month Stats-
Not 100% sure, but we went to the doctor at 4.5 months and she was weighedWeight- 14 lb 6 oz

Milestones-

• Started solids (rice cereal) at the beginning of this month (this was an attempt at sleeping better at night...HAH)
• Rolled over from back to belly (only twice)

Randoms for this month:

• Still loves being swaddled, although we are trying to break this- we're also choosing our battles lol
• Has started to suck her thumb
• Everything goes straight to her mouth!
• She still loves yelling at us, especially in the grocery store where she can get a good loud squeal in =)
• She is SO close to sitting up! She will sit for a few seconds then plop over, but she is a strong girl
• Has really started paying attention to the dogs this month and loves to watch them
• She celebrated her first Easter this month which was fun!

Favorite memories from this month:

• The Florida trip! While Greg was in classes, I would put her in the Moby Wrap and we'd go for a walk by the river. She was nap and I would get to read- so nice! 
• Being up all night isn't ALL bad! We get a few extra snuggles, and one of my favorite things she does is what we call the "Caroline glow-worm"...since she is all swaddled up, when we are rocking her she likes to lean back and look at us and when she catches eye contact she gives the biggest smiles then buries her head in out neck...SO cute and SO hard not to play back =)

First Real Food...

Yesterday Caroline tried her first real food (I don't count rice cereal as real food lol), so here is a video of her first taste of avocado. I don't think she was very hungry when we tried it because she was really just playing and spitting it out (which does not happen with the rice, she would lick the bowl if I let her), but it went well for the first try =)

Rolling over...

Caroline is rolling over for real this time =) What a big girl!

4 months...

Caroline turned 4-months-old on Tuesday! What a fun month this has been =) This has been a big month, first time turning over, first teeth, first real giggles, first music and story times, and more! Her personality is starting to show more and more and I just love it! She is such a happy, content baby, but definitely let's you know when she wants some attention. She loves to talk and has gotten very loud lately. She has found her feet and loves to lay on the floor and roll side to side holding her feet. Her hands are c.o.n.s.t.a.n.t.l.y. in her mouth because of her teeth (poor baby), so her fingers are always slobbery and red haha. She is definitely becoming quite the daddy's girl! She just stares so sweetly at Greg and he's the only one that can get really giggles from her! We made a trip to NC just the two of us this month, and she did wonderfully! We are having so much fun with our sweet girl and are loving watching her grow and change each day!

4 Month Stats-
Weight- 13 lb 6 oz (32%)
Height- 24 3/4in (67%)

Milestones-

• First two teeth (bottom two)- March 8!
• Rolled over tummy to back...but only has done this once, but I'll count it anyway =)
• Laughing
• Found her feet (not really a milestone, but it's cute lol)
  

Randoms for this month:

• She love to "yell" at us, especially if we have our backs turned to her. Then when we turn around she gives us the biggest smiles!
• We've had a lot of trouble with sleeping, but we think it's just the teething
• Her eyes are still very blue and her hair is strawberry blonde
• She love to suck on her index fingers
• She is such an easy baby and does great on errands and at story time and music time
• She still loves to be swaddled to sleep
• Has started to prop her foot up on my shoulder/chest and holding my thumb while she nurses- so sweet!
• Loves to be held up in the air then have kisses blown on her belly
• Has really started noticing the dogs this month and turns to look at them

Favorite memories from this month:

• Hearing her really laugh for the first time
• Greg has spent a lot of time with her this month while I've run errands, photoshoots, appointments, etc. But last weekend he took her out for a daddy/daughter breakfast...I thought it was so cute =)

(I'll add favorite pics from the month in the morning)

Teething...

Got teeth?

Needless to say, I am beyond behind in blogging- oops. To say things have been a bit crazy around here is a bit of an understatement. Teething has hit this household with a vengeance and it has been no fun for anyone, especially our girl! We knew she would be an early teether because the doctor even told us when I took her in at 3 months for not sleeping that she was starting to teeth, however I didn't expect any to pop up for a while. Well I was wrong. Caroline's first two teeth made their appearance on March 8 (3.5 months old)! I thought that once they broke through the gums it would be smooth sailing, but again I was wrong lol.We have been dealing with some crazy sleep! It has been so hard to see her hurting! A few things that have been a lifesaver have been Hyland's Teething Tablets , this teether, frozen washcloths, her self-feeder with cubes of frozen breastmilk, and of course, infant Tylenol. Tomorrow I will write up her 4-month-old post, but for now I will leave you with a few pictures of her enjoying her "momsicle" haha!