Blue Jean Shorts

During a recent shopping trip, I bought Camryn a couple of new outfits for church and some of the cutest blue jean shorts you've ever seen.  I bought a 12 month thinking she'd be able to wear them for a while.  Well, as you can see in the picture the 12 month shorts fit now and leave no room to spare.  My little girl is growing so fast!  You can also see her bottom goobers.  She's working on the fourth tooth on the bottom.  Still no top teeth yet.

7 Months

Stats - 7 Months

Weight: 21 lbs.

Fun Facts - 7 Months
- Camryn wears size 3 diapers and 6-12 month clothes.
- She drinks 5-7 oz. of breast milk every 4 hours. 
- Camryn eats brown rice cereal or oatmeal with fruit for breakfast and meat and veggies for dinner.  She is such a good eater – hasn’t refused anything I’ve offered yet.
- Camryn’s sleeping pattern has been ever changing the past few weeks.  I think her schedule was a little off due to cutting teeth and being sick, but the last few nights she seems to be back to normal and sleeping through the night…yay!!!  I’ve read a few articles about different sleep training methods.  We haven’t really followed one particular method.  I’ve just decided to try a few different things and see what works best for us.  Lately, I’ve been putting Camryn down for a nap 1.5-2 hours after she wakes up.  I can tell she’s getting sleeping when she starts rubbing her eyes.  So I swaddle her, lay her in her crib, give her a paci, turn on her mobile, and walk out of the room.  The last few days she has put herself to sleep and naps for about 2 hours in the morning and after lunch.  She also has a shorter nap later in the afternoon.  I was concerned about the late afternoon nap causing her to be awake at night but I honestly think she needs that time to sleep.  When I was keeping her up between her after-lunch nap and bedtime, she would fight going to sleep for the night.  Now that she gets the extra sleep in the afternoon, she’s been going to bed easily on her own, for the most part, between 9 and 10.
- Camryn has more teeth on the bottom.  The one on the right has completely broken through the skin while the one of the left is still just a little white bud at the gum line.  Her top gum is still swollen and sometimes I think I can see white coming through but I’m not real sure. 
- Camryn is sitting up by herself now and she is rolling over tummy-to-back on her own.  I guess she figured if she didn’t like being on her tummy she needed to learn to roll over.  She rolls over as soon as we put her on her tummy.  Now, we’re working on rolling the other direction (right now she only rolls to the left) and back-to-tummy.
- Camryn has been grabbing her toes for a while now but recently succeeded at putting them in her mouth.  Not sure what’s so tasty about toes but she sure loves them!
- Here lately I’ve noticed Camryn exploring with the sounds she makes and the new things she can do with her mouth.  She sticks out her tongue, blows bubbles, clicks her tongue on the roof of her mouth, and pops/smacks her lips.  I think she’s on the verge of blowing kisses!
- Camryn loves for mama to sing her songs.  We do “Patty Cake” (she giggles when we “throw it in the pan”, “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, and “The Turtle Song” to name a few.  We also have our bedtime songs… “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, “Rock-a-Bye Baby”, “Mary Had a Little Lamb”, “Jesus Loves Me”, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands", and "You are My Sunshine."

I am so fortunate to be able to stay home with Camryn.  She’s changing so fast and learning so much these days.  Her smile, her beautiful blue eyes, her snuggles…I could go on and on...she brings so much joy to my life.  While there are times I am frustrated and exhausted, I love being a stay-at-home-mama.  I honestly believe this is what God is calling me to be during this season of my life.  And because of that belief, I know He will give me the determination, patience, and grace to get through the more difficult times.  He’s not going to call you to something and just leave you hanging.  He will be with you every step of the way.  And I’m not just talking about stay-at-home-mamas; this is for the working mamas too.  Mommyhood is hard no doubt, but the blessings and rewards are priceless!

6 Months

Stats - 6 Months

Weight:  19 lbs. 3 oz.

Height:  26 ¾ in.

Fun Facts - 6 Months

- Camryn wears size 3 diapers and 6-9 months clothes.

- Camryn had her first ear infection a month ago and battled bronchiolitis right after Christmas.  I thought I was paranoid about germs before dealing with this little incident…now I am the hand sanitizer police!  I know I can’t prevent Camryn from ever getting sick but it’s the worst feeling seeing her like that and not being able to really do anything about it. 

- Camryn still eats 5-7 oz. every 3-4 hours.

- Camryn is eating solid food now and loving every bit of it.  She has tried veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, green beans, and peas) and is now starting on fruits (pears and prunes so far).  Camryn is such a good eater.  There hasn’t been anything she doesn’t like.  When trying a new food, she’ll make a funny face like “Wait a minute…this taste different than yesterday’s meal…” but then she opens her mouth for more.  I’ve been making her baby food.  It’s something that I wanted to try and am so glad I did.  It is so easy and honestly doesn’t take much time.  I stole a few recipes from a blog I follow, and I got a cookbook for Christmas so I’m really looking forward to exploring the world of homemade baby food!  If any of y’all have recipes or have any tips you’d like to share please feel free to leave a comment.

- Camryn’s sleeping pattern has changed lately.  She now takes 2 1-2 hour naps during the day…one mid-morning and another in the afternoon.  She sometimes has a 20-30 minute power nap late afternoon/evening.  Her bedtime is anywhere between 10pm and 11pm these days.  I know it’s a little late but that’s what works with my pumping schedule right now.  I’m hoping when I drop down to 2 pumps a day, we can move our bedtime up a few hours.  Camryn usually sleeps through the night and wakes up between 8am and 9am but lately she’s been waking in the middle of the night.  Not sure what’s going on.  It could be (1) she’s in her crib now so maybe she’s just getting used to her new sleeping arrangement (since we brought her home from the hospital she’s been sleeping in an arm’s reach co-sleeper next to our bed), (2) she’s cutting teeth or (3) who knows…just when we think we have her figured out she throws us a curve ball!

- Speaking of teeth…her 2 bottom teeth finally came in!  I was so excited when they broke through her gums but now they are really growing and are noticeable when she smiles.  Her upper gum is swollen on the left side and she’s been chewing on more things lately so maybe she’ll have a few more teeth soon.

- Camryn is sitting up with little assistance.  When you let go of her she balances well for a while then usually leans forward and needs help sitting up again.    

- The pedi thought it was funny when I told him Camryn has only rolled over twice.  His comment was “Well, I guess she just likes to chill and take things easy.”  I told him that it was probably our fault for holding her too much and not giving her the opportunity to work on all these milestones.    He’s not concerned about it because she has great muscle tone and may take longer than some babies since she has a little more weight to move around:)

- Camryn is all about reaching out and grabbing whatever her little fingers can get ahold of…daddy’s glasses, mama’s hair (which is why I keep it up most of the time), her toes, blocks and other toys.  This is such a fun age.  You can tell she is observing everything that moves and makes noise, trying to figure it all out.

- Something else the pedi commented on was Camryn’s language skills.  At her check-up while I was trying to ask the pedi my usual list of questions, Camryn was just a jabbering and loud too.  I could barely hear myself talk.  He thought it was pretty cute.  Here’s this baby with junky lungs and crackly breathing but she is just a smiling and talking up a storm.  So while her physical milestones may be lagging, Camryn is definitely on target with her speaking milestones!

- Camryn is losing her hair.  It’s quite funny actually.  She has blonde fuzz on top where her new hair is growing, a big bald spot in the back where she rubs while sleeping, and long dark hair near her neck that has been there since birth.  It’s quite the site!  I keep telling myself I need to get a picture.  I’ll post it if I ever get around to it. 

 

Merry Christmas!!!

Happy 5 Months!

Our sweet baby girl is growing up too fast.  It's hard to believe Camryn is already 5 months old.  It's just crazy how time flies by so quickly.  Camryn is the best baby ever.  She is so happy all the time.  She wakes up smiling...it's wonderful!  Now, she does have her moments but they don't occur too often:)  Camryn is really starting to teethe.  The last couple of nights have been tough for her...poor baby.  I don't see or feel any teeth yet but she sure is chewing on everything and drooling like crazy.  Camryn is also pretty close to rolling over back to front.  She can twist her legs all the way but gets stuck by her arms. 

December is usually a very busy month for us so I'm not sure how often I will be posting.  May everyone have a blessed Christmas and safe New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving

This is what I'm thankful for this year!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving spending precious time with friends and family.  This year was very special for us.  We are blessed beyond measure!

Picture Post

Sitting up like a big girl

My little monkey

Game Day Outfit

Really mom...another picture

1st Pair of Wranglers

Trying out new hair assessories

Just chillin'

This is what I wake up to every morning...such a blessed mama

Happy girl

Feel asleep watching mama wash the dishes

Sleepy girl



Halloween 2011

Our Little Lady Bug

Pumpkin Patch 2011



4 Months



Stats - 4 Months

Weight:  16 lbs. 4 oz. (95^th percentile)

Height:  24 ½ in. (75^th percentile)

Fun Facts - 4 Months
- Camryn wears size 3 diapers and 6 months clothes.
- Camryn still eats 5-7 oz. every 3 hours.
- The pedi gave us the go ahead on solids.  We tried cereal and bananas.  Camryn did really well as far as opening her mouth and eating off the spoon, but her tummy didn’t handle it too well.  I really didn’t feel comfortable continuing the solids.  I read that it’s recommended that babies get breast milk exclusively for the first 6 months so we’re going to wait until then to start solids again. 
- Though Camryn’s sleeping through the night, getting her to fall asleep is a chore these days.  I guess because she’s more aware of her surroundings, she’s afraid she’s going to miss out and just doesn’t want to go to sleep.  Her naps during the day last maybe 30 minutes.  Unless Camryn is really tired, she doesn’t fall asleep by herself.  I usually have to rock her a while and sing a few songs before she falls asleep which I certainly don’t mind a bit.  I love to cuddle with my sweet baby girl!
- Camryn is holding her head up good and loves “sitting up”.  When you try to lay her down in your lap she’ll do crunches until you sit her up.  She’s not sitting unassisted yet but does really well with support.
- The pedi told us that we needed to do more tummy time with Camryn so she can develop muscles in her back and neck that will help her sit and crawl.  She warned that chunkier babies tend to be a little behind in areas like rolling over and sitting up (I guess because the extra weight).  We’ve been practicing rolling over and doing tummy time several times a day.  Camryn is now holding her head up and looking side to side during tummy time.  She’s also getting better at twisting her hips so I’m sure she’ll be rolling over soon.
- Camryn is starting to teethe.  She puts everything in her mouth…burp cloths, bibs, blankets, toys, and her favorite…her fist.  I asked the pedi about this, and she said that it may be several months before Camryn cuts any teeth.  It looks like 2 little white buds just beneath her bottom gum so we’ll see.
- Camryn has started laughing.  It’s the cutest little chuckle.  She won’t laugh every time you try to make her but tickling her tummy or neck usually does the trick.
- Camryn holds her bottle now…well, she tries to at least.  Her bottle is pretty heavy when she first starts eating but when there are only a couple ounces left, she can hold it all by herself.