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!!!