Jaffa Family

Saturday, September 5, 2015

On the downhill slide to 1 year

It doesn't feel like she's really 7 months old already, but in other ways it feels like she's been in our family forever. A little bit about her progress this past month.

Weight 15.4 lbs, height 26 inches
She's outgrown the 6 month sized clothes and even a few of her 9 month sized pajamas are a little snug.
She's eating pureed foods really well. I've found that she doesn't like anything at room temp, even the fruits and veggies need to be heated just a little bit. She didn't like the plain rice cereal either, so I got a mixed grain cereal with sweet potato and apple flavor - which she gobbles up like there's no tomorrow. We've worked our way through most of the single veggies and fruits so now we're on to the Stage 2 mixed foods. I was confident she'd do fine with all the fruits, but I was surprised she took to turkey+rice and those weird things. So far no allergy indications. Since we don't have a family history of food allergies (that I'm aware of) her doctor pretty much gave me the green light to give her anything except cow's milk and honey.
She's still sleeping through the night just fine. She gets sleepy around 6-6:30 pm so she's usually in bed by 7-7:30. She'll stay asleep until 6-8 am (ish, sometimes I hear her moving around in the middle of the night so I know she's awake, but she doesn't make a peep). In the mornings she doesn't make much noise either unless I take too long to go get her.
She's learned to find and pick up her pacifier and put it in her mouth on her own. I love it! I've even seen her do it in her sleep; she'll feel around, find it, and pop it back in her mouth without opening her eyes. I have a feeling that weaning her off the pacifier will be a royal chore, but for now I will enjoy the peace it brings.
She still doesn't have any teeth poking through, and no real signs of teething either. Her gums are a little bumpy, so I think it will be soon but who knows.
No sign of crawling or sitting anytime soon either. She is a stinker because I know she has the balance and strength to sit (it was one of the things I asked her doc about), but she chooses not to. I'll have her sitting on my lap with no support and she'll last for 5-10 seconds and then do her back-bend-lunge. Crawling might happen in the next few weeks because she is starting to want the toys that are out of reach. Right now she rolls over to grab them, but I think she'll quickly learn she can get more stuff if she moves more. The only problem is that she still doesn't like being on her belly, so as soon as she gets the toy she wants, she rolls back onto her back.
Her noises have become more babbling and less squealing. She gets so excited when you mimic her noises and carry on the conversation.

It's so fun seeing her personality develop. I'm finding it easier to know what she needs because she acts differently when she needs different things, instead of just crying for everything. If she's extra wiggly I know it's probably her diaper. Eye rubbing and fussy = sleepy (or she needs cuddles). Extra noisy = boredom. Crying usually means she has gas in her tummy, or she's too tired to fall asleep on her own. She's at such a fun age right now and I am thoroughly enjoying every minute.

Showing her school pride (Hail Mary for the win!)

She loves her little fox

Her signature sleeping pose

Crossing her feet is a new development

She also likes sucking in her bottom lip

She loves Milo and gets so excited when he walks by

Halfway roll

Full roll onto her tummy. This is her, "Oh no, I'm stuck" face.

These little noisy books were a great investment, they keep her entertained for a long time

A pair of the 9 month pj's that already fit.

She was so proud that she pulled a book from the stack all by herself

Frustration that she can't get the foot in her mouth.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Happy Half-Birthday to You!

*Edit- Whoops, turns out I didn't publish this when I wrote it...

Another month and another blog post. Here we go:

Weight (as of 8/19) 14.77 lbs (19%), height 25.39" (28%)
Still fitting in 6 month clothes and some 9 month sizes. I think she'll be out of the 6 month size by the end of the month.
She eats 5-8 oz every 3-4 hours. We've introduced some solids and if she likes the taste she will eat it, taking real bites and swallowing right away. If she doesn't like it she will let it run out of her mouth. She likes: Sweet potatoes (the best), Carrots, and Apples. She dislikes: Peas (the worst), Green beans, Rice cereal plain.
She still isn't sitting up on her own, but she's doing better at staying up when I prop her on the couch.
No crawling either, but she is rolling around more. I put a yoga mat on the floor with a sheet over it to keep her off the carpet. We'll see how long that lasts.
She learned how to grab her foot this month, and now it's a favorite pastime. So far she can only grab her right foot with her right hand, but she has been reaching for the left foot too. I think she might be right-handed because she seems to favor it, grabbing toys, waving it around, etc.
She laughs more frequently now. Mostly when I do goofy things like dance around. But she does like being thrown in the air, peekaboo, and Mirrors! Sometimes I can get her to stop crying just by standing in front of a mirror with her.
Still taking regular naps. And it's almost like clockwork, 90 minutes after she started a bottle she is tired. They last anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours sometimes. She gets at least 3 naps a day, on a good day 4-5. Sometimes she can fall asleep on her own, but the afternoon naps usually take some coaxing.
She goes to bed around 6:30-7:30 pm and will stay asleep until 7:30-9:00 the next morning. She doesn't cry when she wakes up, I either hear her talking or just moving around.

Doug was in New York for two weeks and Katelyn and I survived! It really wasn't that bad at all. She has become a pretty relaxed baby so our days were easy, and she's always been good about going to bed, so nothing was too stressful.

The day after Doug got home from New York his manager got their team together for a hike and dinner. The hike was the Mueller Park Trail in Bountiful. At first we were going to skip it and just meet up for dinner, but we googled the trail and it said it was pretty flat and easy to do with kids. So we went. We figured we'd use the jogging stroller, the trail said mountain bikers use it, so the stroller with bike tires should be fine... right? Well. It was not mostly flat, and mountain bikers are nuts for riding on this "trail". It wasn't very steep but it was uphill the whole way. The worst part was the giant rocks in the middle of the trail, at some points we had to pick up the whole stroller. Oh, and did I mention it was 3.5 miles to the top? Going down was a lot easier, and she even liked the bumps. Needless to say, we won't do that again soon. And before I even consider doing a hike again, I'll need to get her used to a baby backpack or something.

Elephant rock, at least the view was good.

Glad she enjoyed the hike.

Her eyes are so blue!

The problem with stickers, they come off!

She is doing a little better in the Bumbo, but doesn't last long.

Anything she grabs goes into her mouth.

Milo was rubbing against her hand, I think he's realizing she's a person.

This is where I put her when I need to vacuum the living room.

Just woke up, she typically sleeps with her hand behind her head.

Passed out from playing too hard.

She loves these little (noisy) books.

And this is where I put her while I cook myself breakfast.

Let the fur-pulling saga begin!

Her newest trick.

Look at the baby orangutan from the Hogle Zoo!

Too tired to eat another bite.

Poor baby, peas ARE gross!

Saturday, July 11, 2015

The Month of Fives

I say month of fives because on the 5th Katelyn turned 5 months old, and on the 11th I ran a 5k with her in the stroller. Here are her stats:

*Unofficial weight 13.4 lbs, height 24 inches.
Still eating anywhere from 4-7 oz every 3 hours. Since returning from San Diego it took a while for her to get back into eating as much as before.
I've noticed she gets sleepy 1.5 hours after she started eating, and when she gets fussiest it's because she's tired. Even if it's time to eat, if she's tired she would rather have her pacifier than food.
We started trying to give her solids. She doesn't quite have the motion down, she just spits or lets the food run out of her mouth. I think she's also unsure about the taste. So far we've only tried rice cereal and green beans.
She can hold her head up very steady now, and I don't use the carseat in the stroller anymore.
When she's on her tummy she will prop her chest up, and she can turn back onto her back fairly easily.
I have gotten her to laugh a few times (a real hearty laugh). Mostly with her owl toy (her favorite at the moment) or at night when I'm getting her ready for her bath she's very giggly.
She has learned how to spit and it's a favorite pass time.
She's beginning to get hand-eye coordination. She reaches for toys with both hands and when she gets them they go straight to her mouth.
She has started to really notice the cats and will get excited when they walk by her. The cats still couldn't care less about her, except Milo is always on the prowl to steal her pacifier.
I've packed up all of her 3 month sized clothes. She must've gone through a major growth spurt, because one week they fit just fine and the next week they were very snug (and I didn't want to stretch them out). Her 6 month sized clothes are fitting perfectly at the moment, but if she goes through another spurt she might have to jump to the 9 months.
I've noticed that she prefers toys that have faces, or at least eyes. Her favorites are an owl, frog, and monkey.
She did better on the plane to Chicago than I expected. She was really fussy in the airport, so I was very anxious, but as soon as we got on the plane she fell asleep. She woke up about an hour in to the flight, and got cranky for 15 minutes or so, but then fell back to sleep. On the way home it was a late flight (9 pm) and she slept the entire time. I think it helped that the night flight was dark and quiet.

It's been a pretty good month. She is learning and growing so fast. I notice new things almost daily and I think, "Was she doing this yesterday? I don't think she was." Her personality is starting to bud, and I think she's going to be a handful. She's already testing limits with a kind of fake cry when I leave the room. She still likes going for walks (but not when it's super hot outside, learned that the hard way), and will usually just fall asleep. That's one of the reasons I was able to do a 5k, going on walks was good for both of us and I thought it would be fun to put my endurance to the test. This was the first 5k I've ever done (besides the Kimber Fun Run in Grouse Creek), so I chose one more focused on fun rather than serious speed. I did the FroYo run around Liberty Park, I finished in 41 minutes, 305th place overall and 33rd in my age division. The best part? Frozen yogurt at the finish line. I'm looking in to doing another race at the end of August, 5k Cake Walk. At the halfway point you stuff your face with cupcakes, and for every cupcake you eat they will deduct 1 minute from your finish time. That's my kind of race.