Four months old, all smiles, giggles, and a bit of chunk

Today was not only Sierra's 4 month birthday and her first snow, but her 4 month appointment at the doctor's office.  She weighed in at 13 lbs, 7 1/2 oz, nearly a pound less than her brother at that age.  Her growth curve makes more sense now with her smallish parents.  She's now 50th percentile across the board, weight/height/head circumference.  We decided to only give her one vaccine today because of her awful reaction at 2 months to having 3.  She vomited twice and hardly ate for days after.  So this time we decided to spread them out.  If she tolerates this one well, we'll go back in a couple of weeks for another, etc. etc.  So far so good, but she is fussy today, but was before her doctor's appointment.  I don't know what her deal is, the change in barometric pressure with the snow, a cold, or just not wanting to sleep, but I think she's cried more today than she has in weeks.  She's generally a very happy baby, very giggly and super smiley.  She still can't quite roll from her stomach to her back (but can easily roll from her back to her stomach and gets so mad when she can't get back) but I think it'll happen soon.  She now loves sitting in the Bumbo and is so much more interactive with the world.  She smiles at her brother every time she sees him and gets upset when left alone.  She's so close to sitting propped on her arms and now loves being in the Moby wrap facing out so she can see the world.  She's also finally playing with toys, especially soft ones she can gnaw and droll on.  Lovin' my baby girl more by the day.

14 weeks-what a change

I just had to blog about the changes I've seen in Sierra in the last week or so.  Suddenly she is Miss Personality.  She giggles when I tickle or kiss her neck, she watches every move her brother makes.  Every time I come into view I get a big smile.  She loves batting at her new play gym and sitting in the Bumbo, but still doesn't like to hold onto toys and play with them.  She's SO close to being able to roll back from her tummy to her back.

The biggest reason I'm blogging is she is definitely going through a growth spurt.  My God, the child is eating nonstop!  She seems to have doubled in size in the last several days and I've cleaned her closet out of size 0-3 month clothes and have pulled out all the 6 month clothing.  She's getting so big so fast.  Speaking of "so big" she giggles with that and if I play pad-a-cake with her.  She's having a relapse with her reflux with this growth spurt, probably due to overeating, spitting up and being overall fussy if laid on her back after eating.  She's also on a nap strike.  Today I couldn't get her to nap more than 10 minutes at a time to save my life.  The last two nights are the first time since giving up dairy that I had to try to get her to sleep at night.  Most nights she's such a good baby she goes right to sleep when Peyton does and sleeps through the night.  She's also waking up at night making for a very tired Mama.

Love my big baby girl.  Sweeter by the day.

12 weeks old and on a roll

First Gator Game at the San Diego Gator Club

Sierra and Braylen

Pretty Girl

Getting good at this Bumbo thing

I love the camera and the camera loves me

First time at the beach-Pacific Beach, San Diego

Tummy time!

Sucking her fingers, it's either this or the thumb

A day before turning 12 weeks old, our sweet baby girl rolled herself right over from her back to her tummy and was not happy about it.  She continues to rely on sucking for comfort and has been seemingly going through a growth spurt with nonstop eating and a return of a bad tummy.  She has started sucking either on her middle two fingers or her thumb, but either way finds it easier to roll onto her side and bringing her head to her hand instead of bringing her hand to her head.  She started sucking so intensely that she got closer and closer to her stomach until, all of the sudden, she was on her belly and shocked.  She did this over and over again yesterday, but wouldn't do it again today.


I swear she is growing and chunking up before our eyes.  The last 5 days or so she has been an eating machine, even waking more at night to eat.  Part of the night waking was due to getting her first cold.  The day after we got back from our trip to San Diego, both Peyton and Sierra came down with stuffy noses.  It's only now, a week and a half later, that they both seem to be almost better.  We don't have a well baby appointment until 4 months old so we don't have a new weight and length, but I really think she's gaining weight as I look at her now.

Sierra took her first airplane ride this month.  We went to San Diego to visit Linnea and her new family.  She was really good on the plane, sleeping the whole way to San Diego and only crying briefly on the way back.  She was such a good baby the whole time we were there.  She rarely cried and slept really well and seemed to have little issue with her stomach.  The same can't be said for now.  I haven't eaten any dairy but for the last several days she's been acting like I have.

She's become such a smily, giggly little baby.  She watches her brother intently and often finds him funny.  We are in the process of trying to establish a bedtime congruent with her brother since I go back to work next week on Sundays and Mondays and she's going to have to go to childcare with Miss Lisa on Mondays.  We went and met with her last week and Sierra was initially fussy, but soon became comfortable in her arms and went to sleep.  That should make me feel better, but I have an anxiety attack and start to cry every time I think about leaving my little girl with someone else for a whole day, even if it is only one day a week.  I didn't relinquish Peyton to her until he was 13 months old and she'll only be 3.  In the long run, it'll probably be easier for her to transition this young, but it's harder for me.

8 weeks old, Miss Personality

Our baby girl is already 8 weeks old.  Hard to believe, but she's growing like a weed and becoming more smily and personable by the day.  Now that I've stopped eating dairy, she's not miserable with gas pains or spitting up constantly.  She still spits up, but not in the copious amounts she was.  I'll try to reintroduce dairy at about 3 months old to see if she'll tolerate it, but for right now, it's a small price to pay for a happy, pain free baby.

She is responding with huge smiles to her mommy, daddy, and brother.  Her eyes are bright and she's completely interested in everything going on around her.  She's able to roll onto her sides and can lift her head to about 45 degrees when laying on her tummy, but she hates it.  I try to give her tummy time daily, but it has to be in short spurts because she gets so mad, possibly due to her stomach problems, it may be painful.  She's sleeping about 6 hours straight at this time and waking up only once or twice a night to eat, which is nice for me.  Maybe she'll sleep through the night before a year and a half, which is when Peyton finally started doing it.  She's ahead of the norm in her development, but not nearly as far ahead as her brother was, but I have a feeling she'll be a much earlier talker.  She tries to hard to communicate already, imitating sounds you make and vocalizing a lot when she's happy.  She also sucks to sooth and the pacifier may soon be a thing of the past now that she's discovered her thumb.  It'll be easier once she has more control of her hands and fingers, right now it's kind of luck when she gets it in there and gets really mad when she can't.  

We've been camping with her twice now, once at 7500 feet for one night and once at over 10,000 feet for two nights.  She does great as long as she's kept warm.  She's also getting well travelled.  We spent a day in Copper for Daddy's Warrior Dash, and are going to Steamboat this weekend.  Next week we will be going to visit Linnea in San Diego so she'll get to go on her first plane ride.  

Yesterday she went to her 8 week appointment and weighed in at 10 lbs 9 oz (best guess because she was so wiggly on the scale they were having a hard time getting a reading) and is 23 inches long.  That puts her at 80% on the height curve, which I find weird and 35% on the weight.  She's a chunky little thing, so I'm not sure that's right.  The doctor's office just started using Ipads and I don't think they quite know what they are doing yet.  She had her first shots and did well with actually getting the shots, but had a really bad reaction to the dTaP later on in the day, screaming bloody murder and projectile vomiting in the bathroom at Buffalo Wild Wings.  I hate that shot, Peyton didn't respond well to his first one either.  Once she slept it off she's been absolutely fine today.  It was no easier to deal with the second time around.  It's so hard to see your baby miserable.  She loves the bath, though, so we got in when we got home from dinner and she was happy as a clam.  She will definitely be a water lover.

I forgot how fast they grow...can't wait to see what she's doing next month.

First camping trip

Sierra got to go on her first camping trip at 6 weeks old.  Peyton had to wait until he was almost 3 months.  She did fabulous.  Of course it helped that we now have experience with camping with a baby whereas it was trial and error with Peyton.  It also helped that Sierra is good at nursing just about anywhere, she's not distracted by every little thing like Peyton was, so having a well fed baby instead of one on a nursing strike was also a plus.  It also helped that our tent is like a small house, unlike the backpacking tent we had when we camped with her brother for the first time.  Cosleeping, flexibility, and bringing the bouncy seat and white noise sheep were key to the success.  Mommy slept in a sleeping bag with her so she wouldn't be cold in the chilly Colorado night.  Even though we were only at 7500 feet, it still got pretty cold.  Pack and Plays are not for camping in Colorado with an infant, they need your body heat.  She only nursed once all night long she was so snug with her mommy.  She slept through everything, including Peyton's crying spell in the middle of the night.  She didn't get one bite from a black fly, unlike the rest of us.  She was completely mesmerized by her crazy brother and Daddy wrestling in the tent.  Wide eyes and alert, she just soaked it all in.  Overall, we rated the trip an 8, and nothing that went wrong had anything to do with having a little baby with us.  We can't wait to do it again.

Our baby is one month old!

Today is our sweet baby girl's one month birthday!  We had a doctor's appointment today where they said she seems to be doing great developmentally (she's lifting her head like a champ during tummy time) and health wise, but is just not a happy baby due to tummy troubles.  We've got her on Zantac for reflux, which helps with her not eating so frantically and wanting to breast feed every 15 minutes, but still hasn't solved the problem completely.  But I have to say, today, on her one month birthday, she did finally smile quite a bit and had a much less fussy day.  She's also starting to coo, now that she has more wakeful hours where she doesn't seem to be in pain.  Here's to hoping by two months old this too shall pass.  Right now she lives in the Baby Bjorn, which is the only place she seems content...oh, and the bouncy chair that is where she's started sleeping at night.  She still makes tons of noise and wakes herself up frequently, but the vibration lulls her quickly back to sleep.

So are you ready for this?  Sierra weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 3 oz and 22 inches long today!  I knew she was a good eater and chunking up, but that's amazing.  That's not quite as heavy as her brother was, but it was a huge jump over a couple of weeks ago.  It really is crazy to look back at Peyton and see how much they are alike.  Now that the spitting up is decreasing, I expect her to continue to chunk up.  She also is taking a bottle now of my pumped milk.  Her brother got to feed her today (he was SO excited) for the first time and it also gave Zack and I a chance to go out for a nice long dinner for our anniversary without feeling like we needed to rush home to feed her.  She has shown no problems switching back and forth, but I should feed her soon too just to make sure she'll take both the bottle and breast from me.  I've heard horror stories about babies who won't take a bottle from mom.  With the bottle being an option, we've started her on a probiotic, just to try and help with the gas pains.  I'm also trying to cut dairy out of my diet and see if that helps.  It's easier said than done.  I had no idea how many things I ate that have cheese in them.  So far today is the only day I didn't slip up.  Other things that are new are baby acne and a little cradle cap.  Our children go through the gamut of skin issues as babies.  Oh well, at least they are healthy and beautiful and we love them to death.

2 weeks old-Growth Spurt Time

Ravenous!  That's the best way to describe Sierra's current state of being.  I believe this is the first major growth spurt an infant has and all she wants to do is eat, eat, eat.  If she's awake, she pretty much wants to be eating and gets very upset if Mommy is not right there to feed her.  We went to her two week old well baby visit today and she weighs 7 lbs, 7 oz.  I forgot to ask how long she is.  She continues to be a very noisy baby (not crying, just weird noises all the time) as well as a very gassy and spity baby.  We're going to try and avoid meds for reflux, but if it doesn't get better in the next week with homeopathic colic meds, we'll go for the Zantac and hope this resolves quickly as her stomach sphincters get stronger.  It's terrible to see a baby so miserable, know what's wrong, and not be able to fix it.  Otherwise, she's a healthy, bouncing baby girl.

We attempted to have a family photo shoot with Amanda Court Photography yesterday, but neither of the kiddos were cooperating after spending the weekend in Steamboat and the morning on the 3 hour car ride back.  If Amanda got any good pics, it's definitely a testament to her talent.  Sierra was wide awake and only wanted to eat and pee (she doused me twice and Zack once).  Today she has not wanted to nap, but has finally gone to sleep for now, since her noisy brother has gone down for a nap too.  She's getting to that "not wanting to miss anything" stage and a nap would interfere.  She's cuter everyday!