Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Allie at 3 Months





Weight:  16 pounds, 13 ounces  (well above the 100th percentile)

 [Anna was 13 pounds, 5 ounces at this age]

Height:  24.25 inches  (around the 75th percentile)
[Anna was 23.25 inches]


Likes: snuggling.  Anna in all shapes and forms - loves it when she bounces her on the bed. Loves her playmat & looking at herself in the little weird mirror. Loves riding in the bassinet part of the stroller. Loves when we "goo goo" at her or blow raspberries. Also likes grabbing handfuls of my hair. That's super fun...for me.

Dislikes: diaper changes. tooting. riding in the car. (HATES!). Will be fine in her car seat anywhere BUT in the actual car. 

Other notes:  Our little girl is BIG. (This isn't a shock to anyone who has seen her in person) but literally she has grown out of almost everything that says "Size 3 Months". She fits in Old Navy size 3-6 month still, but all Carter's are out the window. I find they run very small anyway, as a lot of her sleepers are 6 months and seem tight on her. (She just can't be that big)

She switched to size 2 diapers at about 2 months, and seems like we might be getting close to going up a size again. I know it'll just take 1 explosive diaper to point me in that direction. Won't be long.

She is not a huge fan of tummy time and has a hard time getting her head up for too long. I think it's a combo of the whole no neck thing, and having a big chubby face to hold up. She's great when you are holding her, her neck is very strong and she likes looking around and she does well when propped on the boppy pillow, but straight on the ground isn't her strong suit.

Typically goes down to bed anywhere between 7 and 8. It is starting to trend a bit earlier, which is kind of throwing our evenings off - between Doug getting home, dinner for Anna, dinner for us, bath time for everyone, different bedtimes, one kid crying for the boob, one kid crying for mommy to read stories, it is CHAOTIC.  I do look forward to a more settled routine when Allie is asleep by 7 every night so maybe we can eat and I can start reading to Anna again, occasionally.  (Although I know Daddy really loves it ;)

Having a bit of trouble with her breathing at night since we turned the heat on. It's so dry she is congested but nothing really seems to help. We have the humidifier on all night, do saline drops in her nose and use the boogie sucker, and recently we've elevated the head of her mattress a bit to try to help. It's so awful! It really is the worst at night. She sounds like a pug. The doctor checked her, she has no sounds in her lungs; her throat, nose and ears look good and no temperature - which means we just have to try to keep her comfortable. Looking into more remedies today.

So far, she is the happiest little thing I've ever seen. We joined a local mom playgroup with other babies around her age and she is content to just hang out, quietly observing everything. Most days she ends up falling asleep while I'm holding her, despite all the talking and noise. She is such a sweetie and makes all of us happy just being around her!

Next appointment is December 17 for more shots and fun.  Yahoo!

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Really getting into celebrating fall & Halloween

The month of October was spent really trying to enjoy everything we possibly could about fall. I like to think we nailed it! We spent days at different parks, we dressed up, we painted pumpkins, we baked Halloween cookies (more than once!), we decorated the house, we went on a hayride, we went apple & pumpkin picking, we then carved a jack-o-lantern, we made delicious apple treats, we dressed up some more, we went trick-or-treating. For the first time, I actually felt like I was "doing it right" when it came to a holiday season! Most of the time I find myself suddenly scrambling to decorate & enjoy it, but this time we did the entire month of October right!

Now, if only we can continue this into Thanksgiving and Christmas.....

It certainly helps that I am on maternity leave, although not just sitting around every day doing nothing, that's for sure. These last 12 weeks have FLOWN by and the remainder are sure to do the same as Thanksgiving, Anna's birthday and Christmas are literally just around the corner.  How are we already into the first week of November?!

Anna really "got" Halloween this year and talked constantly about dressing up (she insisted very early on about being Tinkerbell... even though we have never watched Peter Pan. I blame Disney and some Jack & the Pirates show she watches with Miss Sandy). Anyway, she knew what it was about and talked about going to neighbors houses and saying trick-or-treat. I really, really can't wait for Christmas - she is going to be SO much fun!  (We also ALL have to remember that she gets so excited by each gift that we do not need to go overboard! I got her a few small things last year from Santa and I swear I could have gotten 1 thing and she would have been happy. I want to take advantage of that while I can!)

Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I look forward to all the celebrating and fun we have ahead of us this holiday season.  Now... onto the pics!

getting into the apple picking mood

getting a little help from Daddy

so much better than last year's crying in the middle of the pumpkin patch picture

If making them wear matching outfits is wrong, I don't want to be right

Doug and the girls ;)

practicing for Halloween with a little Pirate gear
"Shiver me timbers!" she yells, we all die.

taking a nice fall day at Holmdel Park with the big pigs & my brave girl

decorating Halloween cookies

our gorgeous creations, part 1

then we moved on to painting white pumpkins. SO fun! Anna was obsessed.
I taped off a "D" and let her to go town. I loved the result!

Grammy got into it too and let Anna paint theirs!

oh dear, another matching outfit.

Halloween costume, part 1

Family hayride (Allie is on Doug's chest!

Cinderella in a cold, windy pumpkin patch

Daddy snuggling baby Allie

only Doug would use power tools to carve a pumpkin

Decorating Halloween cookies, part 2

this time we sent them to Miss Sandy's (an initial cookie for everyone)

Cinderella, part 2 for Halloween day at Miss Sandy's

Baby Allie as a bunny. Unsure how she feels about it. 

Halloween part 3, this time for real - as Tinkerbell.

Showing off her wings. Very proud.

I wanted to take a selfie and she says "Wait... MY WINGS" and turns.
yeah, of course I dressed as Peter Pan. Come on now.

Me and my girls

we also took excellent gloomy day fall naps.

and woke up looking like this!

And we went to brunch at Barnacle Bills for the best cheeseburgers around

but someone slept through most of lunch. Oh well, no teeth to enjoy burgers yet anyway!