12 month check up...

jaelyn had her one year check up last week!

she weighs 17 lbs 11 oz (0%)
she is 30 inches long (75%)

she has gained 10 pounds and grown 10 inches since the day she was born!!

the big one!!!

happy first birthday sweet baby girl!!!

can you believe it?
i can't.
jaelyn is one year old!

you can go here to see a few more pictures of her and read her special birthday post!!

here is what jaelyn is up to at one year old:



eating: jaelyn loves to eat! she likes most any food! she loves fruit! she is eating most table foods. we just weaned from nursing last week, she is taking two or three bottles a day.

sleeping: jaelyn usually takes 2 two-hour naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. although the past few days she has been taking one really really long (3-4 hours) nap. i am not sure if this is a phase because of our different schedule lately or what. she has been sleeping great at night until she got a cold and started getting some more teeth. now that those things are getting better she is sleeping better

teething: at eleven months old she cut her first tooth on the bottom, then the second one came the following week. this past week i noticed her sleeping was off and realized she was cutting a top tooth and the second one was close behind. then on saturday i noticed that both top teeth were almost all the way through and that the two teeth on the sides of those are coming down and one on the bottom side is cutting through too. so in one weeks time she is getting five more teeth!


moving: she is cruising all over the furniture, standing and sitting and will let go with one hand, becoming more confident in standing. she is crawling everywhere and doing it on her knees more and more. although her army crawl is faster!!! she loves to clap, wave, give kisses and hugs and LOVES to blow kisses at everyone!!! she is busy and into everything!!! she has become very playful!


talking: she is imitating sounds and words a lot. she has repeated us saying bye bye, hey, bottle.
she says a few words; more, all (for all done), uh oh, dada, mama, josh (osh), cheers "yay", puh (please) she can sign "more" and "all done" working on please!

eleven months old...

jaelyn is nearing that huge milestone! in less than a month she will be celebrating her first birthday! wow! this year has flown by!

here are just some of the things she is doing at eleven months old:

~saying mama, dada, more, please, dosh (josh), uh oh
~pointing, blowing kisses, waving, signing "more" and "all done"
~pulling up to kneel, pulling up to stand, cruising along furniture
~crawling "army crawl style" everywhere and getting into everyhting
~attempting to crawl on her knees
~eating three meals a day and taking a bottle two times a day and nursing two times a day
~ starting to get into everything in her reach and her line of sight.
~ taking 2 two-hour naps a day and sleeping from 7:30 am until 7:30 pm
~ she is cutting one tooth on the bottom and the one next to it is coming right behind.

ten months old...

jaelyn is a over ten months old probably close to eleven months {sigh}...but here is an update anyway...

jaelyn continues to be an amazingly sweet and easy baby. she is such a mommy's girl. she loves to be held and snuggled. she is such a blessing. she is growing and changing each day. her hair is getting longer and sometimes has a little curl to it. she has started to find her bows and pull them out. i still can't believe she is ten months old.




eating: jaelyn has started eating table food over the last month. she can be a little bit picky over what she eats. overall she is a pretty good eater. she definitely is like her mommy, she loves fruits, she will eat any kind of fruit i put in front of her and she loves carbs (bread, pasta, etc) she still likes to eat babyfood and baby oatmeal. she is nursing three to four times a day. and usually has one bottle a day.


sleeping: jaelyn takes two naps a day (morning & afternoon) and sleeps about two hours at each nap. she goes to bed around 7:30 and wakes up around 7:30 - if she sleeps all night. some nights she does and sometimes she doesn't. on the nights she doesn't, she will usually wake up around 4:00, nurse and go back to sleep. there has been a few nights that she wakes up way too early and wants to play.






saying: jaelyn is becoming a little chatter box. she can say "more" and do the sign to go with it. she can also sign "all done". she says "mama" and "dada". she mimics sounds and words. she squeals when she is happy! and still doesn't cry very much!


doing: jaelyn is everywhere. she is doing an army crawl all over the house! having her this mobile is definitely changing the dynamics around here. and this is just the beginning. jaelyn gets on her knees to rock, but doesn't quite crawl the "normal" way. jaelyn is picking up on sign language easily. she can clap and wave. jaelyn loves to give kisses too!




playing: jaelyn is so playful. she loves to play with toys and books. she loves to play peek a boo and be tickled. she is so happy and so full of joy. she loves to watch her brothers and sister. and loves to have them play with her.

nine months old...

jaelyn turned nine months old last week!!!

she is just too precious for words!
we had her nine month well check yesterday!
jaelyn weighs 16 pounds exactly. (10-25%)
jaelyn is 27 inches long (50th%)

jaelyn continues to be such a joy!
she is such a happy and content baby.
she loves to smile and laugh.
she loves to be with her mommy and hesitates to be taken away from me.
jaelyn loves to have her sister and brothers near her, she loves to watch them.
she also plays very well by herself on the floor or in her pack n play.


here is what she is up to these days...

physical/movement...
~ sitting up perfectly
~ doing push ups on her hands and toes
~rolling over both ways and can get across the room doing it
~scooting backwards
~doing a commando crawl forwards
~ beginning to get into crawling position on her knees and rocking back and forth
~ beginning to figure out how to go from sitting upright to laying on the floor

sleeping
~ jaelyn is a good sleeper these days,
we had some trouble with the nightime sleeping routine. but she is doing great now.
~ she takes two naps a day (1-2 hours each)
~ she goes to bed around 7:30 pm and wakes up around 7:30 am
~ occasionally (more often than not) she will wake up around 3:00am,
either being wet or hungry.

eating
~ jaelyn is a great eater!
~ she eats solid foods for breakfast {cereal & fruit} & dinner {vegetable & fruit}
~ she nurses about 5 times a day
~ jaelyn will take a bottle of formula or breastmilk once a day usually at lunch time
~ she just started eating solids for lunch this week
~ she has started eating some "finger foods" like cheerios, little pieces of bananas, etc.
~ here she is eating a piece of a graham cracker

other stuff
~ jaelyn likes to babble and laugh and squeal {really loud}
~ she says dadada, mamama, bababa, gaga,
~ sometimes it sounds like she is saying momma or mommy when she is upset
~she likes to play in her jumperoo
~ although she is most content on the floor rolling and scooting everywhere, reaching and grabbing for toys and anything else in her path!
~she loves being in her stroller, she will take naps in there while we are out for up to two hours!
~ jaelyn started bouncing and "dancing" - it is so cute!!
~ she is still wearing cloth diapers and i still love it!

~she loves to get her toes in her mouth!
speaking of mouth: jaelyn broke first tooth last week
and her second tooth is coming in right behind it

~this is her first attempt at standing (w/ support)

taking a "big girl" bath.
i finally took the newborn seat out of the baby tub.
she loves to sit up and splash.

jaelyn is such a wonderful baby!
i could just eat her up, she is so sweet and such a content baby.
her little smile and sweet little self just melts my heart!
i love that she is so little and that she is doing things "later" than the other three did at this age, i want to keep her a baby forever.
i can not believe that she is 3 months away from being one year old.
i really want time to slow down!!

*it seems i only update her blog once a month, so be sure to read our other blog for other things about jaelyn and the rest of the crew!

eight months old...

last saturday (yes a week ago!) jaelyn turned eight months old!
it is so hard to believe that she is already eight months.
we took our first trip to the pool/waterpark at the ymca.
she liked splashing in the water!!

at eight months old, jaelyn continues to be such a delightful baby.
she is such a sweet girl!
she is still a mommy's girl and shows signs of separation anxiety, but not too bad.
she loves to squeal and babble. not really saying any real words yet. but seems to be getting close, i can't wait to hear mama!!!

here is what she is up to these days...

physical/movement:
~ sitting up on her own
~ trying to get onto her knees and into crawling position
~ gets into push up position
~ rolling and scooting everywhere
~ started to wave!!

sleeping:
~ taking two, sometimes three naps a day (9:30, 1:30, 4:30)
~ going to bed between 7:30 & 8:00
~ goes to sleep on her own with little to no crying for her naps
~ has some trouble putting herself to sleep and staying asleep at bedtime
~ overall a very good sleeper

eating:
~ nurses five times a day
~ does about 10 hour stretch at night until morning
~ eats two meals a day, usually breakfast and dinner
~ veggies: sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peas & green beans.
~ fruits: avocadoes, peaches, apples, bananas and prunes
~she prefers oatmeal cereal
~ she likes most foods
~ the picture above is her eating a graham cracker
that she grabbed off of a smore i was eating!

~drinks water from a sippy cup

sleep update...

i am so happy to report after weeks of trying to get her to go to sleep on her own and after days and nights of crying it out up to one hour and a half, we have made big progress!!! jaelyn isn't crying at all when we put her down for her naps during the day. and then the other night, she cried for only 3o minutes, the next night only 25 minutes and then last night and tonight...

not at all!!!!

she is going right to sleep on her own!!!

seven months old...

jaelyn is seven months old today. here is an update of what she is doing these days.

sleeping:
we are continuing to put jaelyn on a more strict schedule and it is going very well. she is crying it out for shorter periods of time and sleeping so much better. our goal is to have her sleeping from 7 pm until 7 am. we are getting so close to that.

she naps two to three times a day. her first nap is at 9:00 am, her second nap is at 1:00 pm and then sometimes she will takes a third nap around 4:00. she has been sleeping for about 2 hours in the morning and about 1 hour in the afternoon.

she is no longer taking the soothie pacifier, i switched her to the cute and colorful playtex ortho pro. i was dying to use the really cute ribbons to attach her pacifiers and the soothies don't work on our little paci leashes.

eating:
jaelyn is eating cereal once a day at dinner time. she loves oatmeal cereal the best. i just added a second meal at lunchtime. i am going to make jaelyn's baby food. i choose to start with sweet potatoes. today we introduced them, she seemed to really like them. she goobled up the first couple bites and couldn't get enough and then she wasn't really interested in eating too much more. she may have been full.

she is nursing about 6 times a day, although with her on a 12 hours sleep schedule, that only leaves 12 hours of awake time. some days it is hard to get in 6 nursings a day. sometimes it is only 4.

she also started taking a sippy cup with a little water in it. she is doing pretty well with it.

she takes bottles of breastmilk or formula when she is not with mommy.


developmental milestones:

jaelyn is working on sitting up. she can do it with assistance. i honestly haven't been eager to practice or push her to do it. i rather like it that she still can lay on the floor to play. but it is time to get this one completed.

she can roll over both ways and she rolls to get herself places or to reach toys. she has started to scoot herself backwards too. she moves pretty fast.

she is always grabbing and reaching for whatever she can. loves to get her toes and put them in her mouth. of course, everything that is in her hand goes in her mouth.

she can "say"/ make these sounds: ahhhh, ahh gooo, babababa, ggghhhh, kkkkhhh, dadada, and mamama

first veggie...

we are doing homemade baby food and we started with sweet potatoes.
jaelyn had them for the first time and
she really likes them!!

a little sip...

last week, i gave jaelyn her first sippy cup!!!

determined (sleep schedules)...

over the weekend, i decided it was time to get jaelyn to sleep on her own {again}. i reviewed some parts of one of my favorite books, healthy sleep habits, happy child by marc weissbluth and set my mind on the priority at hand! i am determined to get jaelyn on a better sleep schedule.

over two weeks ago, crying it out didn't seem to work so we gave it a break and i am trying it again. being woken up several times during the night isn't working either. honestly, a lot of my giving in and bringing her to bed or rocking her back to sleep was for me. i mean it was for her because she needed to sleep but it was for me too. i am having a hard time of letting go of my little newborn baby. she isn't a newborn any longer. she is almost seven months old and she is old enough to be on a much better schedule and have much better sleep habits! i just love holding her and snuggling her but it is time to do this during the day and let her sleep soundly during the night.

jaelyn is very determined too. she cries a lot and for a long time and it breaks my heart. she will cry for up to an hour sometimes longer. of course, we always make sure that she is ok while she is crying it out. so we are working on letting her put herself to sleep so that if she wakes up during the night (or nap) she can learn to put herself to sleep. getting her on a good sleep schedule will allow her to sleep better and longer. it is so hard to hear her cry, she is such a good baby and rarely cries during the day, but she is making up for it at night. here are the sleep logs for the last few nights. you can tell by sunday night and monday, i mean business and became intentional and consistent...

saturday:

8:00 pm ~ nursed and put down to bed asleep
9:00 pm ~ awake already, went to her gave pacifier, refused it so rocked her to sleep
9:30 pm ~ put her back down asleep
11:15 pm ~ woke up just as i was going to bed, frustrated, i decided that i was going to have to change to work on getting her back into a good sleep schedule.

sunday:
12:30 am ~ after letting her cry it out and going to her once she fell asleep
5:00 am ~ wakes up to nurse ( a little early, but ok then) goes back to sleep until
8:30 am ~ wakes up for the day/nurses
10:30 am ~ falls asleep in car on the way to church, wakes up when we are taking her into the nursery.
11:15 am ~ awake in nursery/takes a bottle
1:00 pm ~ quick nap in car on the way to lunch
2:00 pm ~ falls asleep in car on the way home, stays asleep after being put in her crib until
3:30 pm ~ wakes up/nurses
6:00 pm ~ eats cereal
7:30 pm ~ nurses and falls asleep, put in crib
9:00 pm ~ wakes up and cries it out, daddy goes in every 20 min. to soothe her ( i am determined to start this week out with the goal of getting her on a good schedule!)
10:30 pm ~ finally falls asleep and stays asleep until the next morning!!!!

monday:
6:55 am ~ wakes up (with some help from siblings getting ready for school) and is such a happy baby!!! /nurses
8:45 am ~ rocks with mommy and then put down for a nap awake, cries for 20 min. falls asleep
10:00 am ~ wakes up/nurses
12:00 pm ~ eats cereal
12:45 pm - 1:00 pm ~ rocks with mommy and then put down for a nap awake, cries for less than 5 min. and falls asleep
1:45 pm ~ wakes up crying, try to let her fall back to sleep for 20 minutes - does not
2:05 pm ~ removed from crib (poor baby has a poopie diaper and is hungry) nurses
4:15 pm ~ rocks with mommy, then put down for a nap awake, cries for 45 minutes.
5:00 pm ~ removed from crib with no nap/nurses
6:00 pm ~ eats cereal
7:00 pm ~ nurses for night feeding, has quiet time and rocks with mommy
7:45 pm ~ put down in crib sleepy but not all the way asleep
8:15 pm ~ wakes up screaming, daddy gives paci and leaves,
8:35 pm ~ still crying, daddy gives paci again and leaves, begins to cry with short spells of silence
9:30 pm ~ finally falls asleep

still not working...

for many many nights straight we let jaelyn cry it out. we would let her cry for about 20 minutes at a time before going in to soother her. trying really hard not to pick her up. usually i would send jamil in. although, that seemed to make her really, really mad and she would cry harder. we really really tried to be consistent and not pick her up. and in the middle of the night for several nights in a row she would fuss and scream for like 4o minutes and i didn't go to her because it was on and off and not consistent.

trying to get her to go to sleep on her own and then putting herself to back to sleep on her own are still a challenge. i decided after like ten nights straight to give it a break, because i just couldn't take it anymore. i needed to sleep. so on the first night of that decision, she slept well without waking at all. the next night, not so well, so i brought her into bed with me. and now she has a fever and a cold, i certainly can not let her cry it out when she is sick and not feeling well. she can't breathe very well and crying will just make it so much worse. the first night of her cold, she slept great. last night, not so well again. she she cuddled with me.

once she is feeling better, we will start it all over again. the crying it out. i think. unless i find something that works better.

first haircut

about two weeks ago, jaelyn had her first haircut. she has lost a lot, almost all of her baby hair and her new hair is growing in and it is straight so far! basically all of her hair had fallen out except the area around the crown of her head, it was soooo much longer than the rest. the rest fell out or got rubbed off but this top part wouldn't fall out and it would stick straight up. and when i tried to comb it down, i actually had to comb it forward b/c of how her hair was growing and it looked like she kind had a comb over. so one night after her bath i decided to trim it ! and of course i saved the little pieces of her hair!

these are not the best pictures, but here they are before and after!

before:

after...not a good shot at all but you get the picture...

separation anxiety...

jaelyn has been a great sleeper. sort of. we have had our ups and downs. we went through a phase around 5 months where she wasn't sleeping as well. after a few weeks, we started putting her to sleep in her own crib, not in our bedroom anymore(she was in a pack n play in our room for fear of her waking up her sister whom she shares space with!) and letting her fall asleep on her own. she was doing great until last week. she began waking up after being asleep for a short time (20 - 45 min). she was/is suffering from separation anxiety. as soon as i go to her she stops crying. she doesn't even want her daddy.

she does sleep best when she puts herself to sleep. she sleeps so much better and so much longer. but it is getting her to fall asleep and stay asleep that is the trick.

she also sleeps well when she is sleeping with me. so nights like last night, after letting her cry it out for way too long, i just brought her to bed with me. it is all about survival some nights.

jaelyn really wants to be with her mommy. she isn't hungry. she has a clean diaper. she is tired but won't go to sleep without the security of knowing i am near.

gosh, it is so hard to hear her cry. and then i wonder is this really the best thing for her? crying it out. especially if it isn't working so well.

well check stats...

jaelyn had her 6 month well check yesterday. she is weighing 14 lbs 7 oz (25th%) and 26 inches (50th%). there was no heart murmur heard again! praise the lord!!! dr. lassiter said she is doing wonderful!!! we talked primarily about two things: her crazy diaper rash and her seperation anxiety at night.

jaelyn had been having a reaction to something which made her red, raw, chapped and peeling around the edges of her diaper. nothing seemed to help it would come and go and get worse and get better and worse again. using aquaphor didn't seem to help, just made it worse. so we tend to think it is the diapers, although she has been wearing the same kind, pampers swaddlers since the day she was born. for some reason she has been having a reaction. dr. lassiter suggested trying a new pack of swaddlers. i realized that this reaction had been going on between to different boxes of diapers. so it didn't seem it would be one pack over another. i really didn't want to try another brand. so i have begun researching cloth diapers.


jaelyn has been having seperation anxiety and not sleeping well at all. so dr. lassiter told me we should try letting her cry it out. i just hate hearing her cry. but i know that it will help her in the long run. she is a good sleeper and we need to return to that good sleeping!

six months old...

i know, i know, i say it every time i write an update about how old jaelyn is, but i can not believe how fast time is going by. jaelyn is six months old today! wow! we will go for her well check next week. i can't wait to see how much she weighs. she is getting a little bit chubby these days. here are some things that she is doing at six months old!!!

~ she can roll both ways
~ she will roll, twist and turn to retrieve a toy she wants
~ she can sit up with assistance
~ she stands and bears weight on her legs
~ she is very chatty, loves to coo and talk and sing
~ she is such a happy baby
~ she is very content to play by herself
~ she loves to have attention, especially that of her siblings
~ she has been eating baby cereal every few days and doing well.
~ she has a love/hate relationship with her soothie pacifier - sometimes she wants it most times she does not
~ she has been putting herself to sleep for naps and bedtime for about two weeks now, she cries very little or not at all
~ she sleeps about a 7-8 hour stretch at night, mommy hopes to increase that time soon!
~ she has organized her sleep, she goes to bed around 7:30 or 8:00, and she takes 3 naps a day, around the same time.
~ she rolls over to her tummy to go to sleep, mommy tries to turn her back over, but she rolls to her tummy again
~ she loves to be in a sling or baby carrier, mommy loves it too! (note to self: take a pic!!)
~ she loves to jump in her jumperoo, she looks really cute in it, like she is running on a treadmill (another note to self: capture this on video)
~ she is all smiles and loves to have her picture taken.
~ she has lost a lot of her baby hair, she has a section on the top/crown section of her head that has not come out it is really long! the new growth coming in is straight so far.
~ she is wearing 3-6 months or 6 month clothing and in a size 2 diaper!

jaelyn is such a blessing to our family. we are all completely smitten with her. she is a sweet sweet baby. it is so amazing how much love you can have for your child, whether it is your first or your fourth. i know from this point on, she is going to be doing so much more and becoming so much older and i just want to freeze time for awhile and just hold onto my baby girl!!

our big announcement part 2....

happy april fool's day!!!!

i hope i fooled ya today!!!

just to clarify...
we are NOT pregnant again!!!!

what i am up to these days....

sitting in a bumbo seat...
i love it!! the world looks so different sitting up!

taking baths...
i love holding my little duckie and sucking on the washcloth
or my hands, whichever i can grab the fastest

kicking my feet up and looking at my toes,
sometimes i grab them
i love wearing these sweet little baby legs legwarmers!

grabbing and pulling the toys off my play gym...
i love to put them in my mouth

bouncing and jumping in the jumperoo...
i love playing with the toys and moving my feet

tasting a little bit of oatmeal baby cereal...
mommy let me try it and i liked it
but i have only had it once so far
mommy's not ready for me to be a big girl!

all this makes me sleep pretty good too!!!
i have been putting myself to sleep at naptime and bedtime
i have been on a good nap and bed routine too!!

playtime...

five months old...

i feel like i blinked and the last five months went by. i can not believe my sweet baby girl is five months old! jaelyn is no longer a newborn, she has become a sweet infant baby! she is so alert and into checking everything out! she is very playful, reaching for toys and whatever else in her line of sight. jaelyn talks and giggles all of the time. she continues to be such a sweet baby. her disposition has stayed the same. she rarely cries and is an easy baby.

jaelyn has begun to watch us while we eat. if she is sitting on my lap while i am eating or drinking she will eye up the food (probably something sweet) or beverage (probably cherry coke zero) going toward my mouth! i had decided awhile ago to wait until she is six months old to start her on cereal or solids. so she has a month to go till she can get a taste!!

last week, i set up her jumperoo (steal deal on clearance at target a month or more ago!) and she loves to sit in it and play with the little toys. the big kids like to sit on the floor while she is in it and play with her too!

jaelyn's sleep/wake patterns are more regular and scheduled. she takes about three naps a day. and has been going to bed for the night at about 7:30. she is a good little sleeper!

here are a few pics of her in the last couple of days....five months old - wow! i am so blessed to be her mommy!