Quinn 10 months!

Age:  10 months (and a week).

Weight: Somewhere around 18 lbs.

Height: Not sure.

Size: We just moved into size 3 diapers.   She's definitely getting longer, but has a tiny little waist.  Some of her pants are becoming capris :)  She's now fitting into most of her 6-12m clothes.   6-9m dresses, 6m shorts sleeve onesies, 9m Carters pjs.

Hair: Growing longer and thicker and suddenly coming in quite blonde.

Teeth: 4!  She added the top two middle teeth this month and the next two top teeth will pop through any day. 

Sleeping: We're still struggling in the sleep area.  She's still waking at least once per night.  She did have another ear infection + teething so I think that is what is interrupting her sleep. 

She goes down for the night between 7-8pm and wakes for the day between 7-8am. She needs 2 naps per day but doesn't always fit in two naps.

Eating: This girl loves to eat!  We're up to 3 meals per day and she's mostly refusing to eat purees so she mostly eats table food.  She loves everything we give her and she seems especially fond of raspberries.

After a follow-up appointment with her GI, she's back on Alimentum.  The doctor was concerned about her spit up, wet burps, congestion and ear infections all contributing to something, likely food allergies.  She had an endoscopy with tissue samples and a full blood panel.  We're still waiting on the results from everything.

Movement: She's everywhere!  No more army crawling -- full on 4 point crawl, cruising along furniture, walking behind her push toy.  She will pull up on anything and everything.  Climbs on anything she can.  She waves :)

Milestones:  Walking behind toys, first real words, waving, endoscopy / anesthesia :(.

Favorite toys/activities: She loves her brother, loves his toys, and she LOVES bathtime.  Even if she's fussy, if you tell her she's going to take a bath, she'll calm down and enjoy her bath.  Her fussiness commences as soon as she gets out of the water. 

Dislikes: Being hungry or tired. Being in a room by herself.

Words: Lots of talking this month!  Her first word is officially "hi".  She'll also say bye, mama and we think she's said dada.

We can't imagine our lives without you baby girl!

Quinn's 9 month stats

Weight: 17 lbs, 14oz (30%)

Length: 28 inches (65%)

Head Circumference: 46 cm (90%)

She's a growing girl!

Quinn - 9 Months

How is she 9 months old already? 

Weight: She'll be weighed Friday at her 9m appointment.

Height: She'll be measured Friday at her 9m appointment.

Size: About the same as last month.  Still wearing a size 2 diaper, although I think I'll buy the next size when it's time to buy more.  6-9m clothes in brands that have them fit her best.  She can still wear her 6m Carters onesies and pjs and a few 9m Carter's pjs.  Some 6-12m pants, 6-12m one-piece outfits.

Hair: Growing longer and thicker.  It's still very brown, unlike Tyson's hair.

Teeth: Still just the 2 bottom middle teeth. 

Sleeping: It's been all over the place.  She had a double ear infection + ruptured eardrum so that disrupted her sleep for several weeks.  She's back to sleeping through the night more consistently, but still not every night.  She continues to wake up at least 1x per night 2-3 nights per week.

She goes down for the night between 7-8pm and wakes for the day between 7-8am. She needs 2 naps per day but doesn't always fit in two naps. 

Eating: She's doing great with solids.  She's having 2 solids meals per day -- brunch with oatmeal and fruit and dinner with veggies.  She'll still eat purees but she much prefers feeding herself.  We have to sneak in bites of purees in between finger foods.  She does great with puffs and Cheerios as well as tiny pieces of apples, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, corn, peas and peaches.  With the exception of mashed banans, she has eaten (and liked!) everything we've given her.  I'm hoping to avoid another picky eater. 

We also continued challenging her dairy allergy and it appears she's grown (or still growing) out of it.  We went very slowly transitioning her from Alimentum to Similac Sensitive over the course of a month and she's now on 100% Sensitive.  She's back to having wet burps and some spit up, but she's not uncomfortable.

Movement: She's still just army crawling, but occasionally she'll get up on all fours. She's pulling up on everything, cruising along the furniture and can even climb the first step on our stairs.

Milestones:  Cruising, first ear infection.

Favorite toys/activities: Tyson.  Her Leap Frog picnic basket, Tyson's toys.

Dislikes: Being hungry or tired.  Being in a room by herself. 

Words: Chattering and screeching. Says "ba ba ba"  Can say "ma" but doesn't do it often.

We love you baby girl!

Quinn - 8 months

I'm a little late!

Weight: 17ish pounds.  She'll be weighed again at her 9m appointment.

Height: Not sure. She'll be measured again at her 9m appointment.

Size: Size 2 diaper.  Wearing 6-9m clothes in brands that have them.  She's still not wearing the majority of her 6-12m stuff, but we're starting to creep into those sizes.  Yay!  She has a whole lotta cute stuff that she can wear.  Everything else is random.  6m onesies and Carters pjs, a few 9m Carter's pjs.  6m pants fit her best, 6-12m one-piece outfits.

Hair: Getting longer and thicker.

Teeth: 2 bottom teeth are fully through. I keep thinking more teeth are following, but none have popped through yet.

Sleeping: Sleeps in her crib for naps and bedtime. She goes down for the night between 7-8pm and wakes for the day between 6-7am. She takes 2 naps per day, one longer one in the mornings (2 hours) and a shorter one in the afternoon (1-1.5 hours).   If we catch her at the right time, naps and bedtime are a breeze.  She goes right to sleep.

Unfortunately, still waking at least once per night and only a small bottle will soothe her enough to get back to sleep. We know she can sleep through the night, but for whatever reason she cannot do it consistently.

Eating: Big news here!  She was eating 35-39oz per day + one solids feeing.  We started her on 2 solid meals each day and cut out a bottle as a result, so she's to a more reasonable 28-32oz per day. 

We also started challenging her dairy allergy and so far so good!  We did a week of 1/4 Similac Sensitive + 3/4 Alimentum and we're up to 50/50 now with no major reactions.  Woot!  I have renewed hope that we can use some of the 250+oz of frozen breastmilk. 

She's LOVING solids and feeding herself.  We went through all of the stage 1 foods and are into the stage 2 stuff + Cheerios and puffs.  I need to come up with more finger food ideas because she is starting to prefer feeding herself.  With the exception of mashed bananas, she's liked everything she's tried.   Her loathing of mashed bananas baffles me because she eats (and loves) them cut into tiny pieces.  Silly girl! 

Movement: She's army crawling and just before her 8 monthday, she started pulling up on her own.  We've had to lower her crib already.  I'm not ready for another early walker! 

Milestones:  Self feeding, pulling up, first Christmas, starting dairy.

Favorite toys/activities: Tyson still wins out for favorite toy and activity.  She is just enamored by him.  She follows him around constantly.  She also likes to play with any and all of his toys. 

Dislikes: Being hungry or tired.

Words: Chattering and screeching.  Says "ba"

I'm done with this sticker!

We love you Quinny!

Our babies are growing up

Ryan gave me an iPad for Christmas and I LOVE it!   Someone else in our family loves it too. 

I was up early with Tyson and Quinn while Ryan slept in last weekend.  As I was changing Quinn's diaper, Tyson made his way downstairs by himself.  When I got to him, just a few minutes later, I found him sitting on the couch with my iPad. 

He had turned it on, unlocked it, found his way to the screen with the apps and was playing one of his games, Shapes.  Are you kidding me?  He's 2 and a half and he's already knows his way around technology?  To be fair, his nanny has an iPhone and an iPad and he's played with both, but still.  My brother warned me that I would have to share my toy with my son and he was right.  Now anytime I have it, he asks to play a game. 

Then, there's sweet just-a-few-days-shy of 8 months Quinn.  She's been standing for quite a while, but only holding on to our hands and we pull her up.  She's now figured out how to pull herself up on our ottomans.  Big girl.  :tears from mama:

And, she's figured out how to feed herself. 

They need to stop growing up so fast!

2011 Year in Review

In January, Tyson worked on his laptop alongside Daddy.

In February, we all had a snow day and I think that's when you decided to stop smiling for the camera.

Mama and Daddy also got to work on Quinn's nursery:

In March, we were too busy to do any blog posts, but work continued on Quinn's nursery and Tyson just kept growing:

In April, we started playing outside with regularity:

Mama put the finishing touches on Quinny's nursery:

May, of course, was a big month around here!  We celebrated Tyson's 2nd birthday:

We also welcomed our baby girl:

In June, we made our first trip to the lake for the summer:

and Quinny turned 1 month old:

We celebrated the 4th of July:

And Tyson moved from his crib to a big boy bed:

In August, we enjoyed the summer at the pool, the lake and the fair:

And Quinn turned 3 months:

In September, Quinn became closely acquainted with Baxter:

And Tyson was a little more interested in his baby sister:

We celebrated Halloween in October:

November was a busy month for us!  We celebrated our 8th Anniversary and Quinn's First Thanksgiving:

In December, enjoyed the holiday season with Sparky the Elf:

It's hard to believe it's almost 2012.  We can't wait to see what the new year has in store for our little family!

Quinn - 7 months

Weight: Not sure, maybe 16ish pounds.  She'll be weighed again at her 9m appointment.

Height: Not sure.  She'll be measured again at her 9m appointment.

Size: Size 2 diaper.  Still wearing most of her 3-6m clothes, 6m Carters pjs, onesies and pants, 6-12m one-piece outfits. 

Hair: Getting longer all the time!

Teeth: 2 bottom teeth are fully through.  I think she may be working on some top teeth now. 

Sleeping:  Sleeps in her crib for naps and bedtime.  She goes down for the night between 7-8pm and wakes for the day between 7-8am. She takes 2 naps per day, one longer one in the mornings (2 hours) and a shorter one in the afternoon (1-1.5 hours).   Naps in her crib are getting much better!   If we catch her before she's overtired, she'll put herself to sleep for naps.

She's still waking at least once per night either for a paci or for a small bottle.   We know she can sleep through the night, but for whatever reason she cannot do it consistently. 

Eating: 4-5 7oz. bottles of Alimentum throughout the day, one 4oz bottle in the middle of the night if she wakes.  Solids 1x per day, in the evening.  After a slow start with the solids, she's figured it out and she's doing really well now.  She's tried and liked oatmeal, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, peaches, pears and applesauce. 

Movement: She's army crawling!  It started about 2 weeks ago and it's the funniest thing.  She just inch worms her way around, but she gets to where she wants to go and much quicker than we want her to.  She loves hold your hands and stand up and she'll stand by herself and hang on to our ottomans. 

Milestones:  Solids, teeth, crawling, visiting Santa.

Favorite toys/activities: Tyson, by far.  She LOVES him.  She also really loves the little picnic basket she got for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa W.

Dislikes: Being hungry or tired. 

Words: Still just chattering and screeching.

Even though I can't get her to smile for the camera very often, she's really a very content baby!  We love having this little girl in our lives.  ♥