Today is Lexi's first birthday! I've got her gifts wrapped, and am entirely prepared for her to be not interested in anything I got her haha I bought her a pair of holiday pajamas (I think this should become a tradition for her birthday), a dress, some bath toys, and some fancy blocks. I think I was pretty restrained and I have pretty much finished up Christmas (I think I'm going to see how she reacts to these gifts before I decide).
At 2:45am, Lexi woke up crying and when I looked at the clock, I smiled. 2:45am was when I began pushing last year, I know it was just coincidental, but it still makes me think. How long after birth do babies remember it? Probably not long, but it is really hard to say. All she wanted to do when she woke up was cuddle up with me-something she NEVER wants to do! It felt so nice to just hold her, knowing that at exactly the same time one year ago, I was doing the same thing for the first time. All of the feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and it was a great time. I am a big Gilmore Girls fan (shut up Courtney) and every year on Rory's birthday, her mom comes into her bedroom at the time she was born and shares the story again...it's a bit TMI, but I think I'm going to do that with Lexi.
I'll post pictures/maybe a video of her opening her presents and eating her cake later
04 December 2011
24 November 2011
My baby's last first holiday
We've made it full circle, this time last year I was huge and couldn't eat as much as I thought I could...plus anything I did eat gave me horrific heartburn. Then the next day, Brittany and I went shopping and I about died, my feet and back hurt so bad after a few hours. Anyway, I was thinking that today is officially Lexi's final first holiday. Which made me think about all of the things we did for the other major holidays.
1. Christmas (3 weeks old): We woke up early and opened gifts with my grandma and aunt and then Jon, Lexi, and I went to the buffet for brunch with my grandma, her sister, and my aunt. After that, we went back to Jon's and slept...not too much excitement.
2. New Years (4 weeks): My mom watched Lexi for a few hours so Jon and I could go out, I was pretty much a nervous wreck haha
3. Valentine's Day (2 months): We went to school/work and she got to wear her cute little valentine's day outfit :)
4. St. Patrick's Day (3 months): She had just been released from the hospital after her 2 week stay, so she stayed home with Jon, while I worked and then came home and spent the night with her.
5. Easter (4 months): We went out to Jon's family friend's house and ate a ton. Lexi had a little bit of potatoes and then we went to my cousin Chrystal's so she could meet Lexi
6. Memorial Day (Just about 5 months): We had a family BBQ at my grandma's house and got to meet all of my cousins and uncles.
7. 4th of July (exactly 7 months): We were flying home from Jon's basic training graduation and she was sleeping most of the flight while I looked out the window and could see fireworks being set off-way cool!
8. Halloween (Almost 11 months): She was also sick on this day, but I did dress her up in her little bee costume and take her around the block with Ainsley. She had a ton of fun looking at the kids who came to our door :)
9. And Thanksgiving (almost 1 year old!): She's napping right now while the food is cooking, and she's going to eat a ton, I'm sure! I know I am, to make up for last year!
1. Christmas (3 weeks old): We woke up early and opened gifts with my grandma and aunt and then Jon, Lexi, and I went to the buffet for brunch with my grandma, her sister, and my aunt. After that, we went back to Jon's and slept...not too much excitement.
2. New Years (4 weeks): My mom watched Lexi for a few hours so Jon and I could go out, I was pretty much a nervous wreck haha
3. Valentine's Day (2 months): We went to school/work and she got to wear her cute little valentine's day outfit :)
4. St. Patrick's Day (3 months): She had just been released from the hospital after her 2 week stay, so she stayed home with Jon, while I worked and then came home and spent the night with her.
5. Easter (4 months): We went out to Jon's family friend's house and ate a ton. Lexi had a little bit of potatoes and then we went to my cousin Chrystal's so she could meet Lexi
6. Memorial Day (Just about 5 months): We had a family BBQ at my grandma's house and got to meet all of my cousins and uncles.
7. 4th of July (exactly 7 months): We were flying home from Jon's basic training graduation and she was sleeping most of the flight while I looked out the window and could see fireworks being set off-way cool!
8. Halloween (Almost 11 months): She was also sick on this day, but I did dress her up in her little bee costume and take her around the block with Ainsley. She had a ton of fun looking at the kids who came to our door :)
9. And Thanksgiving (almost 1 year old!): She's napping right now while the food is cooking, and she's going to eat a ton, I'm sure! I know I am, to make up for last year!
22 November 2011
The story of Alexis Noelle
Oh, how the time has flown by this year! My tiny, little baby isn't so tiny or little anymore. She is a "talking", walking, loving spitfire. She learns so much every week and it amazes me every time I look at her and look at pictures of where she started-it's especially hard to imagine that I carried her inside of me for 9-ish months.
I'm going to try to not get carried away with my pregnancy memories. So we begin...
On Friday, April 16, 2010, I took a pregnancy at about 8:00pm. Within 20 seconds of setting it down, the second "positive" line turned pink. I wasn't really expecting it to be positive considering I practically took a test every month, but there it was. I immediately started crying...not for any other reason except for "delivery was going to hurt!" Yep, that was my first thought when I found out-and I wasn't wrong ;-)
I remember the first time I felt the little "popcorn" flutters of movement. I was at Despicable Me with Jon and I felt it and almost started crying. I lived for those moments when Lexi would have hiccups or be moving around like she was on a mission. I checked weekly for what piece of produce she was similar to (from poppy seed to banana to a watermelon), I checked daily for what was developing on her body, I thought about her, dreamt about her constantly. Lots of weird and uncomfortable things happen when you're pregnant, it's not for the faint of heart, but I tried not to complain because I knew it was worth it.
My pregnancy was pretty routine, I had leg cramps, a tiny bladder, HORRIBLE heartburn, but nothing out of the norm until about 30 weeks or so. I had never received a complete review of my 20 week ultrasound (when we found out we were having an "Alexis"), so during one of my appointments I asked the doctor I was seeing if she could get me some details. She said that everything was fine except the ultrasound tech couldn't see both heart chambers clearly-nothing was necessarily wrong, they just didn't show up clearly because of Lexi's positioning, so she scheduled another ultrasound just to make sure. I went in for it, and we found out that the heart was just fine, but that the amniotic fluid level was lower than the doctor's preferred, so I had to take what is called a non-stress test just to make sure things were okay despite that fact. During the NST, I had to push a button each time I felt Lexi move so they could monitor whether or not her heart rate rose and dropped appropriately (the first time I did this, it took about an hour to get an appropriate number of movements, Lexi was already stubborn!), and based on those results, I had to go in 2 times a week for the remainder of my pregnancy, 2 NSTs and 1 ultrasound every week to monitor the fluid levels to make sure it didn't drop drastically. Then after 3 weeks of that, I had to have 2 NSTs and 2 ultrasounds each week. I did everything I was supposed to do-drank a TON of water, stayed off my feet when I wasn't at work, and didn't overstress about anything.
For several weeks, everything was just fine until the week Lexi was born. I went in on Tuesday, November 30th for my appointment and everything was fine, my fluid level was at 7 (they like it to be 10 or higher, but 7 isn't dangerously low), so they sent me on my merry way. Friday, December 3 (a day away from 37 weeks), I went in like always and took my NST, which I thought went really well, Lexi was super active and then I had my ultrasound. I knew right away that something was off because I didn't see the normal pockets of fluid that I normally did, and then the tech told me that she would be right back. I wasn't worried about Lexi because I could still feel her kicking up a storm, but I was extremely nervous that they would need an emergency c-section or something so I called Jon really quick before she got back in the room and told him what was going on. The tech came in with Dr. Reuter (my favorite!) and he took a look and then moved me into an exam room and told me he'd be right back. When he came back, he told me that the fluid level went down to 2mL and that he thought it was time to induce just to be safe.
I called work and called Jon to tell him to come over and walked over to Labor and Delivery where they began something to soften my cervix since I wasn't dilated or effaced at all (can I just say, when the nurse/doctor checks to see how far along you are in this process, it's extremely painful!). The nurses figured that it would take a couple of doses of the softener to get things going and you can have one every 4 hours, but by the 4 hour mark I was having fairly regular contractions so they started the pitocin. The doctor didn't want them to break my water manually (obviously, it was already low) but about an hour after he told them not to, it broke on its own while I was in the bathroom. Once that happened, the contractions got extremely painful and I asked for a pain medicine-not an epidural at this point. That worked for about 15 minutes and the contractions jumped from about an 8 in pain to a 20. I couldn't breathe, so I asked (maybe begged) for an epidural. My mom was in there with me while the anesthesiologist was prepping and I asked her "Why did you do this TWICE!?" and she said "you'll forget all about this pain when you hold your daughter" (I did).
Once I got the epidural, I was able to sleep a while, and at about 2am I asked the nurse if I could get an increase because I was feeling a bit of pressure. She checked my progress and said "No, you're at a 10. I'm going to call the doctor" I began "practice" pushing before he got there at about 2:30am and I remember saying that I would have her by 3:00. Once the doctor got there at 2:50 or so, everything went so fast, I think I pushed for real maybe 6 times and she was here and she was PERFECT at 3:08am on December 4, 2010! They had NICU in the room just in case since she was 3 weeks early, but she registered 9/9 on the APGAR scale. I remember crying from relief and because I just wanted to hold her. While the doctor finished up, he told me that he was extremely impressed that it didn't take me longer because Lexi was apparently "sunny side up" (face looking up instead of towards my back) and he said he'd seen mothers of several children push for hours in that instances, and that it usually resulted in a c-section. I'm glad I didn't know while I was laboring, I think I would have stressed myself out. He said I was the "talk of the floor" because it went so fast haha
Lexi weighed 6 pounds exactly (Dr. Reuter took bets as I was pushing, and my grandma was right on with her weight) and was 19 inches long and the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. In a little over a week, she is going to be 1 year old and I can still remember everything I was doing this time last year...She is the light of my life and I can't wait to see all the things she does and learns in the next year!
I'm going to try to not get carried away with my pregnancy memories. So we begin...
On Friday, April 16, 2010, I took a pregnancy at about 8:00pm. Within 20 seconds of setting it down, the second "positive" line turned pink. I wasn't really expecting it to be positive considering I practically took a test every month, but there it was. I immediately started crying...not for any other reason except for "delivery was going to hurt!" Yep, that was my first thought when I found out-and I wasn't wrong ;-)
I remember the first time I felt the little "popcorn" flutters of movement. I was at Despicable Me with Jon and I felt it and almost started crying. I lived for those moments when Lexi would have hiccups or be moving around like she was on a mission. I checked weekly for what piece of produce she was similar to (from poppy seed to banana to a watermelon), I checked daily for what was developing on her body, I thought about her, dreamt about her constantly. Lots of weird and uncomfortable things happen when you're pregnant, it's not for the faint of heart, but I tried not to complain because I knew it was worth it.
My pregnancy was pretty routine, I had leg cramps, a tiny bladder, HORRIBLE heartburn, but nothing out of the norm until about 30 weeks or so. I had never received a complete review of my 20 week ultrasound (when we found out we were having an "Alexis"), so during one of my appointments I asked the doctor I was seeing if she could get me some details. She said that everything was fine except the ultrasound tech couldn't see both heart chambers clearly-nothing was necessarily wrong, they just didn't show up clearly because of Lexi's positioning, so she scheduled another ultrasound just to make sure. I went in for it, and we found out that the heart was just fine, but that the amniotic fluid level was lower than the doctor's preferred, so I had to take what is called a non-stress test just to make sure things were okay despite that fact. During the NST, I had to push a button each time I felt Lexi move so they could monitor whether or not her heart rate rose and dropped appropriately (the first time I did this, it took about an hour to get an appropriate number of movements, Lexi was already stubborn!), and based on those results, I had to go in 2 times a week for the remainder of my pregnancy, 2 NSTs and 1 ultrasound every week to monitor the fluid levels to make sure it didn't drop drastically. Then after 3 weeks of that, I had to have 2 NSTs and 2 ultrasounds each week. I did everything I was supposed to do-drank a TON of water, stayed off my feet when I wasn't at work, and didn't overstress about anything.
For several weeks, everything was just fine until the week Lexi was born. I went in on Tuesday, November 30th for my appointment and everything was fine, my fluid level was at 7 (they like it to be 10 or higher, but 7 isn't dangerously low), so they sent me on my merry way. Friday, December 3 (a day away from 37 weeks), I went in like always and took my NST, which I thought went really well, Lexi was super active and then I had my ultrasound. I knew right away that something was off because I didn't see the normal pockets of fluid that I normally did, and then the tech told me that she would be right back. I wasn't worried about Lexi because I could still feel her kicking up a storm, but I was extremely nervous that they would need an emergency c-section or something so I called Jon really quick before she got back in the room and told him what was going on. The tech came in with Dr. Reuter (my favorite!) and he took a look and then moved me into an exam room and told me he'd be right back. When he came back, he told me that the fluid level went down to 2mL and that he thought it was time to induce just to be safe.
I called work and called Jon to tell him to come over and walked over to Labor and Delivery where they began something to soften my cervix since I wasn't dilated or effaced at all (can I just say, when the nurse/doctor checks to see how far along you are in this process, it's extremely painful!). The nurses figured that it would take a couple of doses of the softener to get things going and you can have one every 4 hours, but by the 4 hour mark I was having fairly regular contractions so they started the pitocin. The doctor didn't want them to break my water manually (obviously, it was already low) but about an hour after he told them not to, it broke on its own while I was in the bathroom. Once that happened, the contractions got extremely painful and I asked for a pain medicine-not an epidural at this point. That worked for about 15 minutes and the contractions jumped from about an 8 in pain to a 20. I couldn't breathe, so I asked (maybe begged) for an epidural. My mom was in there with me while the anesthesiologist was prepping and I asked her "Why did you do this TWICE!?" and she said "you'll forget all about this pain when you hold your daughter" (I did).
Once I got the epidural, I was able to sleep a while, and at about 2am I asked the nurse if I could get an increase because I was feeling a bit of pressure. She checked my progress and said "No, you're at a 10. I'm going to call the doctor" I began "practice" pushing before he got there at about 2:30am and I remember saying that I would have her by 3:00. Once the doctor got there at 2:50 or so, everything went so fast, I think I pushed for real maybe 6 times and she was here and she was PERFECT at 3:08am on December 4, 2010! They had NICU in the room just in case since she was 3 weeks early, but she registered 9/9 on the APGAR scale. I remember crying from relief and because I just wanted to hold her. While the doctor finished up, he told me that he was extremely impressed that it didn't take me longer because Lexi was apparently "sunny side up" (face looking up instead of towards my back) and he said he'd seen mothers of several children push for hours in that instances, and that it usually resulted in a c-section. I'm glad I didn't know while I was laboring, I think I would have stressed myself out. He said I was the "talk of the floor" because it went so fast haha
Lexi weighed 6 pounds exactly (Dr. Reuter took bets as I was pushing, and my grandma was right on with her weight) and was 19 inches long and the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. In a little over a week, she is going to be 1 year old and I can still remember everything I was doing this time last year...She is the light of my life and I can't wait to see all the things she does and learns in the next year!
01 November 2011
Separation Anxiety
This "phase" might be the death of me. Anytime I'm not in direct eye contact of Lexi, she will cry and scream until I come back. If she wakes up and I'm not in the room, she screams. If I have to go to the bathroom and I don't take her with me, she screams. If I have to run upstairs while she's eating in her high chair, she screams. If I put her in her crib so she can put herself to sleep, she screams (I now have to rock her to sleep every single time now)! This makes getting ready in the morning or doing anything extremely hard for me. And nobody else will do, it has to be me. It's not a tiny cry either, it's a heartbreaking, "you're abandoning me, I know it!" cry. I'm hoping that this passes quickly!
On another note, only 33 days until she turns 1. 33 days until no more formula/bottles/pacifier. I'm working on writing a blog about my pregnancy like my friend Christine did. Just a little walk down memory lane, a year removed...I also want to print it out and put it into Lexi's baby book so she can look at it when she's older. This little girl is not going to be short on having her memories preserved, she is already a ham in front of the camera :)
On another note, only 33 days until she turns 1. 33 days until no more formula/bottles/pacifier. I'm working on writing a blog about my pregnancy like my friend Christine did. Just a little walk down memory lane, a year removed...I also want to print it out and put it into Lexi's baby book so she can look at it when she's older. This little girl is not going to be short on having her memories preserved, she is already a ham in front of the camera :)
30 October 2011
Sick...again!
If I could, I would quit my job and stay at home with Lexi! She gets sick about once a month, I don't know if she's just one of those kids who catches everything or this is normal, or something more serious is at work here :( I just know that I miss more work because she's sick, and she catches it from there, so it's a horrible cycle!
I woke up to her crying tonight (not too strange) but then she started retching and I turned on the light and there was vomit everywhere! She had a bit of diarrhea last night and now she's throwing up and won't drink anything (water or pedialyte). I called Jon, who thankfully reminded me about trying pedialyte to keep her hydrated. I tend to forget basic things when I'm worried. If she's not better in the morning, I'll call her doctor-who's probably tired of hearing from me. I'm tired of hearing from everyone that this is making her immune system stronger, how she won't get sick in the future. Well, guess what, at least when she's older she can tell me what hurts and understand that she needs to eat in order to feel better, she doesn't understand that right now :(
18 October 2011
Looking back...
So much has changed in my life over the past year or so. I went from not even knowing if I ever wanted kids to having a daughter who is the light of my life and definitely wanting more in the future. Last year at this time, I was counting down the days until my due date (that was December 25, 2010) and reading up on everything baby related. I remember being scared and not knowing what to expect. I had started my birth classes, but Jon didn't want to go so I went to a couple by myself (didn't matter, I forgot everything they taught me). I remember that I was worried I wouldn't be prepared, but really no matter what I did or didn't do, Lexi is in charge and has been from day one. In 43 days, she will be one year old and she is such a little spitfire. Last year at this time I was 31 weeks pregnant, Lexi weighed as much as 4 naval oranges. It's so odd to think about her in those terms anymore, it's almost impossible to think of her inside of me growing. It is almost impossible to remember her as she was 10 short months ago...So again a little walk down (picture) memory lane (I've got hundreds of pictures already, and she's a little ham in front of the camera haha):
1 month
Birth
2 months
3 months
4 months
5 months
6 months
7 months
8 months
9 months
10 months
13 October 2011
Ready, set, WALK!
Lexi took her first meaningful steps today, at 10 months, 1 week, and 2 days old! What I mean by this is that she has been taking one step every now and then for about a month, but she'd always sit right back down as soon as she'd get that one foot up. Last night she finally took two steps at a time, this afternoon, she took three, and by tonight, she walked almost the entire length of the room to get to the laundry basket! It's so amazing to see these first crucial steps and she gets so excited for herself when I cheer for her-she gets the BIGGEST grin ever! I know that she is going to take millions upon millions of steps in her life, and I've witnessed the first few! Also, Jon got to see her take several steps today! I'm so glad that she decided that today would be the day that she did it. It's hard to tell with him, but I am pretty sure he was just as excited as Lexi and I were :-)
This is not to say that I am delusional about what this means...a lot more running around for mommy is in the very near future! As soon as she gets her confidence up, she'll be unstoppable! And considering how long it took her to become comfortable crawling-that is no time at all-that should be about this coming Sunday haha Being a mother is pretty much the most amazing thing I've done in my life, and I enjoy so much taking in all of Lexi's milestones. I know that I would like to have more children in the future, but right now I cannot imagine loving another child as much as I love Lexi, obviously this would change, but I'm not sure how it would happen. I also know that I enjoyed a very "easy" pregnancy and Lexi was a low needs newborn and I know that not all pregnancies are the same and neither are all babies. Anyway, the prospect of another baby isn't in the near future, but these are the thoughts I've been having...Hard to believe that in a month and a half, Lexi will be a one year old! Where did the time go!?
This is not to say that I am delusional about what this means...a lot more running around for mommy is in the very near future! As soon as she gets her confidence up, she'll be unstoppable! And considering how long it took her to become comfortable crawling-that is no time at all-that should be about this coming Sunday haha Being a mother is pretty much the most amazing thing I've done in my life, and I enjoy so much taking in all of Lexi's milestones. I know that I would like to have more children in the future, but right now I cannot imagine loving another child as much as I love Lexi, obviously this would change, but I'm not sure how it would happen. I also know that I enjoyed a very "easy" pregnancy and Lexi was a low needs newborn and I know that not all pregnancies are the same and neither are all babies. Anyway, the prospect of another baby isn't in the near future, but these are the thoughts I've been having...Hard to believe that in a month and a half, Lexi will be a one year old! Where did the time go!?
07 October 2011
"she gets that from you..."
Lexi has definitely got my attitude/temper! Anytime she can't do something-either because she physically can't or I won't let her-she will scream and usually starts to cry. She doesn't handle the word "no" very well, that's for sure! She's recently learned how to signal no with her arm and she'll do it when she knows that she shouldn't be doing something, but at the same time, I can see it in her eyes that she really wants to do it. She is also extremely independent and won't accept help from anyone even if it will make her life easier. For example, we had cheesecake for dessert this evening, and we gave her a little spoon with some on it and she LOVED it. I was trying to get the spoon to put some more on it, you would have thought I kicked her, the fit she threw! She cried until I handed it back to her with some on it, and did that little shudder cry. She did this the few more times I tried to give her more...oh boy, I've got my hands full hahaha
Now, what she got from Jon...his adventurous nature, that's FOR SURE! She will climb, tumble, roll, whatever it takes to get to where she wants to go. We have a gate that won't connect to the wall because of the molding on the wall, so we put her exersaucer in front of it, and she will spin the exersaucer until she can pull the gate down far enough down so she can crawl up it. She climbs in the seats at school and just looks around like "look at me!" I love her so much, but life is going to get infinitely more difficult as she gets older. I'm going to be a nervous wreck watching her toddle her way through the next few years, but it's so much fun to see all of the things she's learned!
I cannot believe she is going to be one in less than 2 months! We are going to have a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme...and we have a big visitor!!! Can't wait to see you B! Hope it's okay that I put that on here!
Now, what she got from Jon...his adventurous nature, that's FOR SURE! She will climb, tumble, roll, whatever it takes to get to where she wants to go. We have a gate that won't connect to the wall because of the molding on the wall, so we put her exersaucer in front of it, and she will spin the exersaucer until she can pull the gate down far enough down so she can crawl up it. She climbs in the seats at school and just looks around like "look at me!" I love her so much, but life is going to get infinitely more difficult as she gets older. I'm going to be a nervous wreck watching her toddle her way through the next few years, but it's so much fun to see all of the things she's learned!
I cannot believe she is going to be one in less than 2 months! We are going to have a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme...and we have a big visitor!!! Can't wait to see you B! Hope it's okay that I put that on here!
11 September 2011
Teething-a short post about pain
So, Lexi's "tooth" keeps going in and out. I can see part of it sometimes but other times, I cannot see it at all. And she is miserable! She just keeps crying out like she's really in pain, and I hate it :-( I really wish I could take the pain for her, but I can't and I also know that this isn't the only time she's hurting and won't be able to help her. When she falls down, someone tells her she can't go to their birthday part, she gets her heart broken, any number of possibilities just kills me inside to think about. So I'm going to work on her quilt and watch her sleep.
10 September 2011
Tooth number 1!!
Today I was getting Lexi dressed on the bed and she looked up at me and smiled and I saw a white little speck sticking out...so exciting!!! I'll write more later seeing as Lexi is going crazy pushing buttons on here making it tough to type :)
Pushing the limits
Lexi has recently started screaming whenever I tell her "no" or move her away from something she's not supposed to. I know this is perfectly normal, but it is also perfectly annoying. I don't want to be the mom who is always telling her child not to do something, I want to save the "no" for things that are especially dangerous or off limits. For example, I've been telling her for weeks not to play with the dog bowl and trying to redirect her attention, but finally one day I just said whatever and let her get a piece of dog food and she put it in her mouth and spit it right back out. I knew that it couldn't hurt her and I also knew that she wouldn't like it. She also hasn't tried to eat it since then (she still plays in the water, but that's another issue entirely). I really can't wait until we're living in our own home with Jon so I don't have to feel so nervous if she's getting into something that is my grandma's. I know that my grandma LOVES Lexi, but I can tell she's a little bit on edge if Lexi is going for something, like the dog dish or computer. In our own home, she'll be able to pretty much roam as she likes and then when she hears "no" it will mean so much more.
It's clear that she understands what "no" means, at least in the moment-I don't think she remembers today that I told her not to play with the candles yesterday-and she is clearly pushing the limits to see what she can get away with. Not only does she scream, but she laughs when I say "no". I am going to have my hands full when she's a little bit older, and I'm not looking forward to the debate with Jon about whether we should spank or not. I don't worry about a little swat on her rear if she's about to hurt herself after we told her not to do something, but I don't want to get into the habit where she's terrified to do something because she might be spanked. I want her to be free to explore her surroundings without feeling restricted (with supervision of course). I just think that Jon and I have drastically different views on raising a child, and we have a LOT of compromising in the future.
Oh well, she's happy and healthy and is flourishing in her development. I am so proud of my little baby (who's not so little anymore). I went to see my cousin who just had a baby last night and he is so so tiny and it's hard to remember Lexi being so small. And I know she was smaller than my cousin's son, but it's a distant memory filled with laughter, rolling over, scooting, rolling, and crying. I wouldn't change anything, but I am starting to get baby fever...
It's clear that she understands what "no" means, at least in the moment-I don't think she remembers today that I told her not to play with the candles yesterday-and she is clearly pushing the limits to see what she can get away with. Not only does she scream, but she laughs when I say "no". I am going to have my hands full when she's a little bit older, and I'm not looking forward to the debate with Jon about whether we should spank or not. I don't worry about a little swat on her rear if she's about to hurt herself after we told her not to do something, but I don't want to get into the habit where she's terrified to do something because she might be spanked. I want her to be free to explore her surroundings without feeling restricted (with supervision of course). I just think that Jon and I have drastically different views on raising a child, and we have a LOT of compromising in the future.
Oh well, she's happy and healthy and is flourishing in her development. I am so proud of my little baby (who's not so little anymore). I went to see my cousin who just had a baby last night and he is so so tiny and it's hard to remember Lexi being so small. And I know she was smaller than my cousin's son, but it's a distant memory filled with laughter, rolling over, scooting, rolling, and crying. I wouldn't change anything, but I am starting to get baby fever...
07 September 2011
9 Month Check-Up
Lexi had her 9 month check-up this morning. Her doctor forgot to write down the fact that we changed the appointment so we met up at my work, which was actually better, I think. Lexi was playing and pulling herself up onto everything and her doctor was able to see how much she's grown and learned. She was weighed and measured as well...she weighs 18 pounds 6 ounces and is 28.5 inches long. At her 6 month check up, she weighed 15 pounds 13 ounces and was 26 inches long, so I think she's doing pretty well. She's just a tiny thing. For her height, she's in the 75th percentile and for her weight she's still in the 50th, which I'm okay with.
Brenda was so happy to see how much Lexi can do, and how happy of a baby she is. It's so great to hear how well your baby is doing.
...even though she's being a complete pill right now, just screaming and crying at me
Brenda was so happy to see how much Lexi can do, and how happy of a baby she is. It's so great to hear how well your baby is doing.
...even though she's being a complete pill right now, just screaming and crying at me
06 September 2011
The love of a mother
I am beyond baffled by how I can possibly love something/someone as much as I love Alexis. Jon told me the other day that I love Lexi more than I love him. I've been contemplating that for a while, and...well, in a way, that is true. But the love that I feel for Jon and the love that I have for my daughter are so completely different, how could I even compare the two? Why would I even need to? It's not a contest.
I carried Lexi inside of me, "grew" her and felt her move, I gave her life. I feel that in a lot of ways, I "loved" her long before Jon really got used to the idea of her coming into the world-this is not a bad thing, I think it's pretty normal. How could I not have a bond so strong and unbreakable (not that you need to carry a child to feel this bond)? I see so much of myself in her already, stubborn little turkey that she is! When she hurts, I hurt. When she feels joy, so do I. She relies so completely on me for her most basic needs and, in a lot of ways, I rely on her for mine. I cannot remember how my life was without her, she reminds me of the simple things, she finds laughter in a game of Peek-a-boo, she only needs me to read and talk to her to feel secure, she doesn't need things, she needs my time. The little smile she gives me in that moment when I'm giving her a bottle, right before she drifts off to sleep is pretty much the closest thing to perfection I have ever known
As much as I love her dependency on me, my biggest fear is becoming a "helicopter mother". I allow her to explore her surroundings, to fall down (sometimes a little too hard for my heart to handle), she needs to make mistakes in order to make progress. Right now, those mistakes include getting too close to the steps (yikes!), eating the dog food (YUCK! Though, she did spit it right back out), and bumping into things. I see the benefits of my taking a step back whenever she learns something new or reaches a new milestone. The fact that she has fallen 2,000 times (maybe a bit of an exaggeration) does not keep Lexi from getting back up onto her feet and trying to stand alone, I see her feet twitching and I'm wondering how long it will be until she picks that foot up and takes the first step of millions in her lifetime.
Wow, I'm in such a mushy mood...and Jon, if you read this, know that I LOVE YOU TOO!! It's just a different kind of love, a kind of love that Lexi can't replace, so don't worry so much!
Tomorrow morning is Lexi's 9 month appointment, I'll update this with her "stats" once we find out. I'm guessing she made it to 20 pounds and is...30 inches? Any wagers? ;-)
I carried Lexi inside of me, "grew" her and felt her move, I gave her life. I feel that in a lot of ways, I "loved" her long before Jon really got used to the idea of her coming into the world-this is not a bad thing, I think it's pretty normal. How could I not have a bond so strong and unbreakable (not that you need to carry a child to feel this bond)? I see so much of myself in her already, stubborn little turkey that she is! When she hurts, I hurt. When she feels joy, so do I. She relies so completely on me for her most basic needs and, in a lot of ways, I rely on her for mine. I cannot remember how my life was without her, she reminds me of the simple things, she finds laughter in a game of Peek-a-boo, she only needs me to read and talk to her to feel secure, she doesn't need things, she needs my time. The little smile she gives me in that moment when I'm giving her a bottle, right before she drifts off to sleep is pretty much the closest thing to perfection I have ever known
As much as I love her dependency on me, my biggest fear is becoming a "helicopter mother". I allow her to explore her surroundings, to fall down (sometimes a little too hard for my heart to handle), she needs to make mistakes in order to make progress. Right now, those mistakes include getting too close to the steps (yikes!), eating the dog food (YUCK! Though, she did spit it right back out), and bumping into things. I see the benefits of my taking a step back whenever she learns something new or reaches a new milestone. The fact that she has fallen 2,000 times (maybe a bit of an exaggeration) does not keep Lexi from getting back up onto her feet and trying to stand alone, I see her feet twitching and I'm wondering how long it will be until she picks that foot up and takes the first step of millions in her lifetime.
Wow, I'm in such a mushy mood...and Jon, if you read this, know that I LOVE YOU TOO!! It's just a different kind of love, a kind of love that Lexi can't replace, so don't worry so much!
Tomorrow morning is Lexi's 9 month appointment, I'll update this with her "stats" once we find out. I'm guessing she made it to 20 pounds and is...30 inches? Any wagers? ;-)
02 September 2011
When will the teeth come in?
From about 4.5 months, I've thought Lexi was teething, but she has yet to actually get anything in. However, for the past week or so, she's been drooling exponentially more, putting absolutely EVERYthing into her mouth (including a pacifier, which she hasn't used since she was 3 months old) and has been a lot more lethargic than normal.
She is also pulling herself up onto everything and cruising along and is able to let go and stand alone for about 20-30 seconds. I am not ready to be the mother of a walking child-though it is very, very exciting!
Update on the food situation...For the most part, Lexi would not eat any kind of jarred baby food almost immediately after my first post about trying out different brands. So what I did was do a sort of modified baby led weaning. I would give her regular table food so she could experiment with textures and whatnot, but I would also feed her pieces so she could really get the idea of getting the food into her mouth, chew it, and swallow. Now, at just about nine months old, she eats pretty much anything we have for meals and as long as she's in the right mood, she'll get majority of the food and drop a little bit.
One of the first times with a banana:
A few weeks ago at twigs with fruit:
It's so nice not to have to make or buy baby food, she really gets excited for meals and it's fun to see her explore new foods. Also, I should say that, considering the fact that she has ZERO teeth, she can eat meats and crackers and most things very well!
02 August 2011
Movement!
On Friday, July 8, 2011, Alexis started crawling-and hasn't looked back! It's really amazing to see Lexi so mobile and remember her just a few months ago when she couldn't even roll over. Now, she has learned how to climb the steps(!), pull herself up onto anything and everything, get into anything and everything, and just explore! It's so much fun, but exhausting at the same time...gone are the days when I could watch a movie downstairs because as soon as I set her down, she's gunning for the stairs haha
Of course, things can be frustrating as well, she's teething hardcore and has been ridiculously crabby and sad and has pulled a couple of all-nighters the past week, but sometimes the little things make everything worth it. Tonight, we went to Costco and she was sitting in the cart and I asked her for a kiss and she put my nose into her mouth and then laughed and it might have been the sweetest thing I've ever experienced! And earlier, I was really upset because of the daycare debacle and I was crying on the phone with Jon, and Lexi just laughed at me...like she was reminding me what was important in life.
She is also eating most things, and she loves most things. I cannot believe how time has flown by already, in two days Lexi will be 8 months old and it makes me want to cry. She is such a sweet little girl who has a natural curiosity for everything around her. I have forgotten what life was like before her and I don't want to imagine a world without her in it-I will do anything in my power to protect her.
Next Friday, I will be flying to Texas to see Jon and my mom will be keeping Lexi for the weekend. I'm excited to see Jon but also terrified to leave Lexi here. I know she'll be fine, but will I?! It's just logical that she stay here, it's way too hot in Texas, and if we want to be able to do anything, Lexi can't come :( I'll update how that goes haha
Of course, things can be frustrating as well, she's teething hardcore and has been ridiculously crabby and sad and has pulled a couple of all-nighters the past week, but sometimes the little things make everything worth it. Tonight, we went to Costco and she was sitting in the cart and I asked her for a kiss and she put my nose into her mouth and then laughed and it might have been the sweetest thing I've ever experienced! And earlier, I was really upset because of the daycare debacle and I was crying on the phone with Jon, and Lexi just laughed at me...like she was reminding me what was important in life.
She is also eating most things, and she loves most things. I cannot believe how time has flown by already, in two days Lexi will be 8 months old and it makes me want to cry. She is such a sweet little girl who has a natural curiosity for everything around her. I have forgotten what life was like before her and I don't want to imagine a world without her in it-I will do anything in my power to protect her.
Next Friday, I will be flying to Texas to see Jon and my mom will be keeping Lexi for the weekend. I'm excited to see Jon but also terrified to leave Lexi here. I know she'll be fine, but will I?! It's just logical that she stay here, it's way too hot in Texas, and if we want to be able to do anything, Lexi can't come :( I'll update how that goes haha
19 June 2011
Happy Father's Day! (Plus an update on Lexi's milestones...)
Jon's first Father's Day (with Lexi) was today. It's kind of sad that he's not here, but he's away for a good cause and I cannot be any prouder of him! His flight made BEAST Excellence this past week, which puts them in the running for Warrior Flight, which would give them an extra day of Town Pass-I really hope they get it!!
I took some pictures of Lexi for a gift I made him. I'm going to try to (safely) transport it to San Antonio. They're in a frame, so I'm not sure how it's going to work! Anyway, I think they turned out really cute, and I hope that he likes them!
It was a lot of fun taking these pictures-I CANNOT believe how big Lexi is getting!
She is officially mobile...but only scooting backwards! Which makes her really mad when she's trying to get to Llata, our dog. But she also thinks she's hilarious because she can get to her toys when she wants to now! She tries with all of her might to get onto her knees, but she can't quite get there (also makes her mad!)
She is also trying to get from her seated position to her tummy/knees (for crawling). I discovered her trying to do this and it scared me sooooo bad!! Her feet get stuck, so it lifts her up into what looks like she's trying to stand up! She's just not steady enough to be in that position so, had I not seen her doing that, she probably would have fallen quite hard on her face! :-/ I really miss her days of just lying on the ground waiting for me to put things in front of her. Life gets hard once the baby becomes in any way mobile. And Lexi is SO SO SO SO independent, already! Jon and I are going to have our hands full!
I will try to get a video of her mobility this week!
Only 8 more days until I head down to San Antonio to see Jon graduate from Basic Training!!! Cannot wait!!!
I took some pictures of Lexi for a gift I made him. I'm going to try to (safely) transport it to San Antonio. They're in a frame, so I'm not sure how it's going to work! Anyway, I think they turned out really cute, and I hope that he likes them!
She is officially mobile...but only scooting backwards! Which makes her really mad when she's trying to get to Llata, our dog. But she also thinks she's hilarious because she can get to her toys when she wants to now! She tries with all of her might to get onto her knees, but she can't quite get there (also makes her mad!)
She is also trying to get from her seated position to her tummy/knees (for crawling). I discovered her trying to do this and it scared me sooooo bad!! Her feet get stuck, so it lifts her up into what looks like she's trying to stand up! She's just not steady enough to be in that position so, had I not seen her doing that, she probably would have fallen quite hard on her face! :-/ I really miss her days of just lying on the ground waiting for me to put things in front of her. Life gets hard once the baby becomes in any way mobile. And Lexi is SO SO SO SO independent, already! Jon and I are going to have our hands full!
I will try to get a video of her mobility this week!
Only 8 more days until I head down to San Antonio to see Jon graduate from Basic Training!!! Cannot wait!!!
14 June 2011
12 June 2011
Baby food
I have made my own baby food for Lexi, but I'm still buying some baby food as well. I think it's good that she get used to both kinds. So, I'm experimenting with different brands and want to document our experiences:
1. Gerber-she can't stand any flavors, except kind of the bananas...plus, I've found that they're actually more expensive and don't often go on sale.
2. Earth's Best-I gave her a jar of the Peach Oatmeal Banana and she gobbled it all up! They were on sale 10 for $8.00 last week
3. Beech-Nut-I haven't tried any of this yet, but I had a coupon to save $1.00 on 3 jars, they were on sale 2 for $1.00, so I got 3 for just $.50, great deal!
4. Sprout-I also haven't tried these yet. Had a coupon for Buy 2 Get 1 free. They were on sale for 10 for $10.00. Same price as the Earth's Best
5. Beech-Nut Rice Cereal-On sale for $1.75, had a coupon for $1.00 off, only cost me $.75! (I know this isn't technically baby food, but I wanted to share my great couponing lol)
6. Ella's natural food-She likes this, but not as well as she liked the Earth's best
I am all about coupons now and have signed up for the websites of these companies and can't wait to get more coupons :)
I will update on the different baby foods as we go.
06 June 2011
six months in
Alexis turned six months old June 4, 2011. I just cannot believe how big she is getting. She is able to do so much that she wasn't able to do even two weeks ago! She sits all alone, is able to roll over, scoots herself in a circle, eats baby food purees, sleeps on her tummy (!) and is just all around a happy, healthy, funny baby.
At her six month appointment on Thursday, June 2nd, Lexi was weighed and measured. She weighs 15 lbs. 13 oz. and is 26 1/2 inches long! This is a huge jump from how tiny she was when she was born-6 pounds exactly and 19 inches long. The speed at which she is growing is unbelievable. I think I'll put together some pictures from each month of her life thus far!
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| Birth |
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| 1 month |
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| 2 months |
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| 3 months |
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| 4 months |
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| 5 months |
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| 6 months |
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