I am a little late posting this update, but I have been so busy chasing after one active little baby. Norah Kate was always active in my tummy and now I guess it is just carrying over. I have sat down several times in the last two weeks to blog but I have had someone trying to climb into my lap, chew on my laptop cord, or eat my toes.
She is learning so fast! She is now crawling, sitting up, pushing herself into a sitting position, and pulling up without any trouble. She has been pulling up and crawling with her tummy off the floor for about two weeks now.
into everything!
She is seriously into everything. She started pulling up on lower things, like her diaper bag, carseat, pillows, or us when we were laying on the floor with her. Now she is pulling up on chairs, tables, kitchen cabinets, door frames, floor lamps (yes, that one almost gave me a heart attack!), pretty much everything in site. This week she is trying to let go while standing! (Slow down, Norah Kate, lets just learn one things at a time please.)
She has bruises on her head and last week had a little busted lip... I love our wood floors, but they make me so nervous right now and I think they are freaking Matt out even more. She is tough as nails though. Norah Kate can fall and half the time she doesn't even cry, but if she does it is for just a second.
Norah Kate didn't have her six month check up until just a few days shy of seven months. She weighed 18 lbs 1 ounce (72th percentile) and was 26.5 inches long (58th percentile). She is meeting and surpassing all developmental milestones and healthy as a horse :)
She babbles and talks and squeals all the time. She says "dadadadada" constantly and "mmmm" occasionally. She will say "Ahhh" and something that sounds like "Hey." The other day in the car we had a 15 minute conversation of babbles. She talks to Hoss, her toys, me, Matt, and pretty much anyone that will listen.
She will do anything that will get your attention. Her new thing is making this gasping/croaking noise to get you to look her way.
Hoss is her favorite playmate right now. She will laugh at him and flap her arms whenever he runs play. They play chase and tug of war. She will giggle so hard when she gets his toy that she can't hardly hold on to it. He is good entertainment for her.
I don't know what I would without him to entertain her during the day!
What she likes:
-cardboard books
-Sophie the teether giraffe
-her little four key piano (I couldn't have left Walmart without it, she almost lounged out of the buggy for it!)
-kisses on her cheeks and neck
-Hoss
-an empty plastic bottle
-Mama's car keys
-any and all music
-Gerber's cereal puffs
-playtime on the floor with Daddy
-stroller rides
What she doesn't like:
-being confined (she thinks she is supposed to be down on the floor everywhere we go)
-having her diaper changed (this goes hand in hand with being confined). I am not really sure when this started, but it is WWIII to change her diaper now. Usually I am putting her diaper on while she is crawling away or standing up.
-She is still a generally happy baby. Not many things make her upset.
Food:
She is pretty much eating any and everything. We are now eating three meals a day (rice/oatmeal cereal in the morning, fruit at lunch, and vegetable at supper) and nursing about 4-5 times a day. If she is hungry she will eat anything, but if she is not hungry... you may as well hang up your hat because you will end up with sweet potatoes or peas on the floor, in your hair, or on your clothes.
I am still doing homemade babyfood, but when we are traveling or out to eat I either use the jarred stuff or just order something I can mash up for her. She actually seems to prefer the homemade stuff though (veggie wise, I don't blame her, that jarred stuff is gross!)
No food allergies yet! Thank goodness!
How could you not love this sweet face!
Our schedule, goes a little something like this:
(I am most definitely not a schedule stickler, but I try to adhere to three naps a day and three meals.) It is just too stressful for me to try to "force" her to take a nap and "force" her to eat. When she acts sleepy, I get her to sleepy. When she acts hungry, I feed her.
She gets herself on a pretty decent schedule though.
7:30-8am: Wake up
8am: Nurse
9-10am: Nap
10am: Breakfast (sometimes she gets a good morning nap and will skip breakfast and sleep until 11)
11am: Nurse
12pm-1ish: Lunch
2pm-3pm: Nap
4pm: Nurse
5-6pm: Afternoon catnap
7pm: Supper
8pm: Bath
Somewhere between 8:30-10 she nurses and goes to sleep.
I am trying to make her get to a more dependable sleep time at night. I would prefer 9pm (especially since I am going to dayshift this week and will be waking up at 5!) I think once Matt slows down and starts coming in earlier and it starts getting darker sooner, I will notice a big difference.
Tonight for instance, I started trying to get her to sleep at 8:30 and she just now went to sleep (at 10). Oh well....
She still has just two bottom teeth, but her gums are pretty swollen and knotty so I think some more may be getting ready to make their appearance.
I love my sweet girl so much! Time is most definitely going by more quickly than I would like.
Sorry this has been such a rambling post, I felt like I had lost of catching up to do :)
This week has been full of doctors visits for us! Monday, I had to get my teeth cleaned, Tuesday I had my 6 week check up (even though it was 2 weeks late), and yesterday we had our 2 month check up! Norah Kate was such a good girl! I don't know how I am the lucky mama that has the well-behaved baby in the waiting rooms. She slept through both appointments Monday and Tuesday.
I was only 10 minutes late for all three apointments which is a huge improvement. I am getting better with this whole getting out of the house thing. It still frazzles my nerves a little bit though, by the time I get to where I am going I am usually a little on edge. To get me ready, her ready, pump or nurse before we leave, make sure the diaper bag is stocked, takes a lot of pre-planning/time. Half of the time I am leaving the house with wet hair, no make up, no jewelry, and only half matching... No one is looking at me anyways (which is just fine!) not with that pretty little girl in the picture, and she is always dressed like a model.
At the office yesterday, she weighed 11lbs 4 ounces and was 23 inches long. She was in the 62nd percentile for weight and 72nd percentile for height. I am so proud of her. We are following the growth chart to a "T"! She is also meeting/exceeding all of her developmental milestones, not to brag or anything :)
She got two shots and did her "for real" cry... you know the one with real tears and crying so hard no noise is coming out. I now know the true meaning of "this hurts me worse than it hurts you." If I could have taken the hurt away, I would have in a heartbeat. It was heartbreaking to see my baby hurting. She quit crying right after the shots, but it was later that we had a tough time.
Norah Kate went to sleep before we even left the doctors office and slept while we went shopping. Because she was such a good girl we had to go get a prize. She got two pretty little smocked dresses for the spring, a pretty bow for her hair, and a play center for the floor. I know, I know, I am ruining her already... but you know what... I don't care.
When we got home, while we were changing a diaper, she was really sore. She would scream everytime she kicked her feet... then she would get mad and kick her feet even more. I wanted to cry with her. I finally swaddled her up and just rocked her. I felt so bad for her, she didn't get put down until later that night when she was feeling better. My mama rocked her while I unloaded groceries, my mother-in-law rocked her while I went for my run, and Matt came home and rocked her while I cooked supper. She got lots and lots of love yesterday. I kept Tylenol in her system and gave her a warm bath before bed. She seemed to feel much better before bedtime and was even smiling and laughing before the night was over.
Today, I have my happy baby back. It's amazing to me how much I love that little smile. Every time she smiles or laugh, I literally get a little teary-eyed, it feels like someone is directly hugging my heart. Haha, if she gets me figured out by toddlerhood, I am going to be up the creek, so to say. What's the point of having babies if you can't spoil them though? I don't want her to be bratty by no means, but I want her to feel the love. I didn't hear "no" very much growing up, and I turned out ok.
