10 Months

Dear child, you are wild.  Nannie likes to think of you as a delicate flower, but you are taking the world in the palm of your hand and spinning it.  It is your way or the highway.

Sydney is all over the place now.  No stopping her.  Crawling, climbing, moving things.  No rest for the weary.  She is still continuing with her swimming lessons and doing well.

This month was fun. Sydney went to see her first movie, Finding Dory.  She did great in the theater.  After nursing she went to sleep and then she was only up for a little bit and was quiet.

We also went to our city's July 4th parade. It was HOT, but she was entertained with the lights and loud noises.  They didn't seem to bother her at all.

We watched fireworks in our neighborhood and swatted mosquitoes.

Sydney is eating more and more food.  If she could eat all day long, she would. Other than puree, she hasn't met a food that she doesn't like.  She is still BF. Takes 3, 4oz bottles a day while I am away from her.

As for napping, she consistently still takes 2 naps a day and an occasional 3. Sleeping, girl....I can't even go there.  Night time is no fun. She has her 9pm "nap" and then she wakes up after a 1/2 hour and then she is wide awake, barreling around until almost midnight. God help me, I am so tired.

Sydney is definitely alot more clingy than Carson and very weary of faces she doesn't know.  If she doesn't know you, she won't go to you.  She will scream bloody murder if you touch her and if you look at her the wrong way, she will scream too.  Anyone that comes up to us while we are holding her to say hi, she buries her head in our chest and then looks at you through the corner of her eye.  People say awe how cute, but I really think she is sizing you up for an attack if you come any closer. lol.

I/we started planning her birthday this month.  A flock of flamingos. I am so excited to celebrate her first year, but I am so sad at how terribly fast this year went by.

10 Months of love and gray hairs with this one!

7, 8 and 9 Months

These past 3 months have been nothing short of extremely busy. So busy, that I never had the opportunity to do a monthly update for the princess.

During this time, she perfected sitting alone, which then turned into crawling.  She crawled on May 11, 2016 and she started off very slow and unsure of herself.  Now, she flies all over the house.  There is no keeping her in one place.  Just like a domino, the next was standing and pulling up. She pulls up on our legs, the table, the couch, the chairs, the walls, the cabinets.  From there, she scales everything. Her scaling is still very slow because she isn't confident in her foot placement, but she is bound and determined to move.

Sydney has also started sitting up and playing with toys. She has actually become a little person. lol.

We also attempted to start feeding her solids.  She does not like puree, not at all.  So, still thriving on Mom's milk.

Although 3 months have passed in an absolute whirl whind, not much has happened.

She got her 1st tooth when she was 8 months old and after that tooth 2, 3 and 4 popped through. The caption on the bottom photo is wrong, should be tooth 3 and 4.

 I feel as if I have dis serviced her blog the past 3 months, but man oh man, we haven't had time to sit still.

Give a big cheer, Sydney is 1/2 way to a YEAR!

The princess is 6 months old, UN-BELIEV-ABLE!! I mean, I am floored. When did this happen?

Height: 26.5

Weight: 17.8

She is wearing 9 month clothes and fitting into some 6-9 month clothes.

What a month this has been, besides being busy as usual, it has been the most fun month with her.  She is sitting up and playing with toys.  She is cooing and laughing and smiling constantly. Sydney is just so happy.

Her sleep is eh.  However, that being said, once she does go down, she is down for the night and doesn't usually wake until between 6 and 7.  My mom says her naps aren't the greatest, but she has a few good days.  Either way, for me, it has been proven that she sleeps better alone than she does in my bed.  She kicks and pushes and she does not stay still in my bed.

She is still EBF (exclusively breast fed).  I have worked my butt off to provide for my little monster. I pump at work 3 times a day and then nurse whenever we are together. I get an average of 14-16oz a day during my pumping session and Sydney takes 12 oz a day with my mom (3, 4oz bottles). So I'd say we are doing great. As statistics will show, I am part of the 26% of full-time working moms who manage to feed their babies breastmilk their first 6 months.  WOO HOO! That does deserve an award.  As they say, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

This month, Sydney got the FLU, the real flu, she tested positive for Influenza A. As fast as she got it, it was over.  Carson got the flu and so did Geoff and I. It was no fun, all of us were sick at the same time. 

Being that Sydney is sitting up so well, she can sit in a highchair now when we go out to eat. That makes for an interesting time because she grabs anything within her reach. 

We made another trip to Ft Myers recently to visit with our family and she got to go in the pool for the first time.  She really liked it. 

We will be starting to give her food within this month.  Whenever we eat she stares at what we are eating and will open her mouth. It is so funny to watch her do that.  We will start with just at dinner time giving her some puree and then slowly work into a breakfast or lunch snack. She is to be nursed or get her bottle first and then she can have the puree afterwards.  We will be making all of Sydney's food, it really is just too easy not to.  I am looking forward to making her purees and watching her gobble it down. 

We also traveled to Fort Wilderness this month. Sydney made it! She made the drive. We went with our family and my mom and brother went too. It was FREEZING. We enjoyed a day at legoland and then played at Fort Wilderness.  It was such a nice vacation.  This trip was postponed from Carson's birthday because we couldn't do long trips with Sydney when she was born because she hated the car so much. 

Sleeping on the way to Orlando

Nannie and Sydney

Still no teeth, but she is definitely working on it. Drooling like a machine and chewing on anything within reach. 

St. Patricks Day, a fun day at the park!

Now that she is 6 months, I tell myself I can officially start planning her 1st birthday.  I wasn't going to do one, but my mom talked me into it. I mean, really twisted my arm ;-)  So 6 months from now, we'll be celebrating our little sunshine turning 1!! 

Our Little Sunshine

5 Months

5 Months 5 Months 5 Months, Sydney and I have made it 5 months. Again, another milestone! 

This month, she has been an absolute drool machine. Puddles of drool and she is constantly chewing on her fanfan, little teether. 

She now enjoys the stroller and likes going for walks around the neighborhood or to the park. 

She had her first outing with Daddy on my birthday and came to the office and we went out to lunch. 

Sydney is doing much much better holding herself up and because of that, she likes the swings at the park. 

This month she has also started to recognize faces.  When it is a person that she doesn't see everyday, forget about it.  

We didn't have alot of events this month, no dr appointment so I am not really sure how much she weighs or her height.  She is in 6 month clothes. 

4 Months

My big girl is 15.5lbs and 24.5 inches! She did great at her 4month check up and surprisingly well with her vaccines this month. 

Another milestone. We have made it 4 months! Woo hoo!!It is a piece of cake now. On January 1, 2016, I started back to work full time. While at work I pump for Sydney and I nurse her at night. The pumping isn't easy, but it is not as much of a pain as I thought it was going to be.  I only pump 3 times a day and right now get about 15oz a day from that.  She only takes 12oz in bottles so I have extra to freeze at night to build a nice emergency stash. 

We started to get ready for the holidays by taking the kids to see Santa.  Sydney wasn't impressed, but Carson was as happy as can be. 

Sydney celebrated her first Christmas and it was a busy one. We hosted Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day had the family back over for breakfast and dinner.

The kids Christmas morning

 The day after Christmas, we made our way to Melbourne to celebrate with Geoff's family.  We had such a wonderful time.  Sydney handled the drive like a champ, 2 months ago, that never would have happened.

Melbourne for Christmas dinner

While Carson was on winter break, we went to Lion Country Safari.  Sydney slept almost the entire time we were there, but she looked so cute when we were getting ready to leave.

Lion Country Safari

First photo of 2016

New Years Eve, we had all of our friends at the house and celebrated. There are alot of kids now. 

So right around Christmas time, Sydney started to laugh.  We had to work for it, but once she did, it was wonderful.  Absolutely love hearing her laugh and you can really get her going now.  

On January 3, 2016, Sydney rolled over for the first time.

I always wanted a child that would sleep, easily.  Carson is 6 and we lay in bed with him to go to sleep and he just has always hated going to sleep. I can now put Sydney in her bed awake, swaddled and she will put herself to sleep. It is glorious and wonderful. But, here is the even better part. SHE SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! She was going from midnight/1am until 6 something, then she went from 1030 until about the same time and now it is at 930 until about 6 something. Sweet Jesus it is wonderful. It is a game changer.

3 Months

We did it. We made it through the 4th trimester. You may have heard of the fourth trimester. Basically, it’s the idea that the first 3 months of life are very much an extension of life in the womb for baby. Baby has spent 40 weeks (or there abouts!) having her every need attended to. She never knew hunger, was always rocked, and could always hear mama’s heartbeat. Given that, it seems pretty unrealistic to expect a newborn baby to adjust to life on the outside instantly.  Let's just say, I did alot of baby wearing these past 3 months. I fed on demand for 3 months.  For 3 months, I have been at her beckon call.  The princess rings and I am there. I slept with her, rocked her, loved her, coddled her.  As we got closer to 3 months, she didn't need me to sleep with her as much, she didn't need to nurse as much.  Syndey was in control and I followed her cues. 

Sleeps at night from 11/12ish to about 630/7. 
She LOVES bath time. It doesn't matter what is going on, I put her in the bath and she is as happy as can be.

The dr says she is doing great.  I decided not to get her ears pierced. I was going to and I was all for it, but something about her little innocent ears, I changed my mind.  

I am so happy that I have made it 3 months, it is a milestone, every month is.  That being said, it has been SO MUCH EASIER. Wow, it is like at 3 months, someone flips a switch and says, you made it through hell and back and now your road is paved for a much smoother ride. 

In December, I started back to work 2 days a week and Sydney has been spending her days with my mom and also getting bottles.  She wasn't a fan at first, but she is doing much better.  

She has also been doing great in the crib.  So much different than Carson.  I swaddle her, put on the blow dryer on my phone and out she goes.  Of course like anyone she has her bad days, but for the most part, she does great.  

My aunt Carol wasn't feeling well and my mom wanted to take a trip to Ft. Myers to see her.  I was very anxious about driving that long with Sydney in the car, I had no idea how it was going to go. She made it over to Ft. Myers without a peep.  That night was her first night sleeping somewhere other than her house.  She was up and didn't go to sleep until 3am.  I was exhausted the next day.  We spent the next day at the hospital and spent alot of time with our family and my mom and I drove home that afternoon.  We made it half way across the alley and had to pull off at a rest stop because little miss wasn't having it and screamed for about a 1/2 hour before we were able to stop.  Once I nursed her and she calmed down, we were off and she made it home. 

Sydney also started really, really smiling this month and man oh man does she make your heart melt. She has one of the biggest, most consistent smiles I have ever seen on a baby.  I just love it.  

Thanksgiving we went back to Ft. Myers and it was by far, the best Thanksgiving ever.  We spent a few days with all of our family and everyone got lots and lots of snuggle time with that little babe. She did wonderful and just rolled with the punches.  One night, she had a serious bout of gas.  Thankfully my mom was still at the house and had not gone back to the hotel and she helped us out because it was 11pm that she started, wailing and screaming, tears flowing.  It took us about 45 minutes until she calmed down.  It was absolutely heartbreaking, there was nothing we could do to calm her.  I gave her mylicon and she did eventually calm down.

Geoffrey and I also had our first night out, together, since she was born. Sydney and Carson stayed with my mom and dad for a few hours.  My bestest friend Danielle, the kids know her as Aunt Danielle, got engaged. Congrats Danielle and Lucas.  We are so excited for you!!! 

It is unbelievable how fast 3 months flew by, but it was the hardest 3 months so I am not too sad to see it go. :)

1 month and 2 months

Weight: 9lbs 7 oz

Height: 21 inch

I don't know how it is possible that an entire month has gone by.  Quickly.

Sydney has been breastfed, exclusively now for a month.  Every month I reach is a milestone for me and I am so happy to be able to provide this for her.  She hasn't even had a bottle yet. I noticed we were having some latching issues. After some googling it appeared that Sydney had a lip tie.  I contacted the LC and brought it up to our pediatrician also, both confirmed, lip tie. A week later we saw an excellent periodontist who came highly recommended for lip and tongue tie procedures on babies and children. Sydney had the procedure done that day in the office and within 5 minutes she was done and immediately nursing after all was said and done.

The LC came to the house within her 6th week to check on things and check her latch.  The LC brought her scale and weighed her before and after a feeding, which after her feeding she weighed 10.9lbs!

Breastfeeding, I don't even know what to say.  Exclusively breast feeding is hands down, the hardest thing I have ever done.  It is so much commitment and dedication.  Without the support of the hubby, I don't know how far I would make it. He is wonderful and so knowledgeable.  He reads just as much as I do, researches and continues to be my biggest cheerleader.  I am so thankful for him.

Sydney has been hands on since day 1.  She likes to be held, doesn't like to be put down.  We go back and forth on holding her.  I started wearing her all the time in the Baby K'tan.  So thankful for it.  I really don't even use the stroller.  I wear her all over the house, out running errands.

She started smiling in her 6th week and it melts me, especially after all her crying episodes.

She HATES, I mean HATES the car.  Screams bloody murder when we get in the car until she is out of the seat.  It is heartbreaking but there is nothing we can do.  We have tried 2 different car seats, different cars, nothing seems to matter.  Sometimes we will get a good 10 minutes and think she has grown out of this and then boom, the blood curdling screams start.

She was doing good naps, 3 hour spurts and then in her 7th week she said screw it, I am going to see how long I can go without napping.  She has lasted the past few days on the longest nap being a half hour.

As we arrived closer to 2 months, she has become much better with the car.  We can go longer periods of time without her screaming.  That has been a blessing.

Her 2 month appointment went well, she had all her shots and handled them well at the dr visit. Per the dr, I nursed her immediately after the shots, I was derobed and ready to go.  That being said, she only whimpered for a few moments.  The rest of the day however, was crazy.  She screamed and screamed, we had to give her tylenol.  The day passed and she was back to her self.

She smiles so much now. Below is her 2 month update!