Emory: 5 Months

I'm 5 months old!!!

4/21/2013

 

Weight and Length

We have not been to the doctor since last month, so we are not sure of her weight and length right now. However, I do know that she is growing like a weed!

 

 

Clothing Size

Emory is now wearing  6 month clothing. She can also fit into 6-9 months clothes. I cleaned out her closet this weekend and packed away so many of her clothes! It's exciting to see her getting big, but its also sad.

 

Diaper Size

She is still wearing size 1 Target brand diapers. Emory wears Pampers overnight diapers, as we had to go up to size 2 for those diapers.

 

 

Sleep

Her sleeping habits have improved greatly this month! We are still bathing her at 6:30 and putting her down for bed around 7:00. She has been falling right to sleep and waking up anywhere between 6-9 hours. This has been a nice break for us, lets just hope she keeps it up! She has also started sleeping on her side. When I look at the monitor she is sound asleep lying on her side.  Her sleep habits seem to change from week to week, so I better enjoy this while I can!

Another big change this month is the fact that Emory lets Martin put her to bed now! Up until this month she would scream her head off if anyone other than me tried to put her to bed. Now she is perfectly fine with anyone putting her down to bed. She even let Allison put her down. Allison came and stayed with Emory so we could go to Dustin and Mindy's rehearsal dinner. This was the first time that anyone besides Martin or I bathed Emory and put her to sleep. Allison said Emory was a perfect angel, and we are so happy we have Allison here in Nashville with us! She has been a huge blessing!

Not much has changed in the napping area. She still takes like 30 minute naps here and there, but she seems happy and that's all that matters in the long run.

 



Eating

She is taking a bottle about every 3 hours now. I am still exclusively pumping and feeding her with the bottle, but at least I am still able to give her breast milk! We have been very lucky in this area, and we have not had to supplement with formula at all. She is still eating her rice cereal at night. We are going to increase to two feedings a day this month. She is getting much better with the rice cereal. She finishes most of it at each feeding, and she is learning how to eat. She is much more interested in the food we are eating, and she will open her mouth when food comes anywhere near her. Next month we will start veggies and fruits.

 

Favorite Activities

Emory's new favorite game is peekaboo. She smiles and laughs the entire time. Actually you don't even have to play peekaboo, all you have to say is BOO and she starts laughing. This month she has been enjoying her playmat again, although now she actually plays with the toys. She still kicks her feet to the music, but she actually reaches up and grabs the toys that are hanging above her. Emory is still enjoying Sage. She loves to pet Sage, and when we are riding in the car with Sage Emory will stare at her the entire trip. Emory is quite the social butterfly. She loves being around lots of people, and doesn't care who is holding her. She is still grabbing anything and everything that is in her reach...including my hair and earrings.

This month Emory found her feet! She is constantly chewing on her feet. It's too cute!

An interesting thing that started this month was growling. Emory make the funniest growling noise...especially when she's mad!

Emory is now recognizing Martin and I very well! When we come home from work she instantly sees us and smiles, kicks her feet, and even reaches for us! Melts my heart. She is very good at tracking voices and sounds also.

 

 

Month 4

This month Emory celebrated her first Easter! We went to Clinton to spend the holiday with Martin's family, and Emory went to church for the first time (yes, I know that is sad...but now that she is older we are going to start going regularly again). This month we threw a wedding shower for Dustin and Mindy, and Emory enjoyed meeting all of the new people at the shower. Emory was able to spend a lot of time with her Nana (Martin's mom) this month. She came down to watch Emory during the week. She cooked, cleaned, and loved on Emory...we all loved having her here! She also got to spend some time with her GrAnn and GrandPaul (my parents). They came down and spent the weekend with Emory. This was the first time that my dad had seen her since New Years! They had a great time, and I know Emory loved seeing them.

It was a big month for me, I actually had someone else go through Emory's bedtime routine with her and actually put her down for bed. This may not seem like a big deal, but like I said before Emory has been very picky with who she lets put her down for bed at night. Allison was nice enough to watch her while we went to Mindy and Dustin's rehearsal dinner, and the night was a success. Thanks, Allison!

Dustin and Mindy got married on April, 20th. This was Emory's first wedding. Actually, this was the first time that we took Emory out for an entire day without going home at all. I was VERY nervous that she would have a major breakdown during the day, but once again she surprised me. She did spectacular! She got to meet all of Martin's family, and they all passed her around during the reception. She didn't fuss at all, and she even stayed up and hour past her normal bedtime.

This month I have really noticed that she is starting to look and act more like a little person instead of a tiny little baby. This stage has been so much fun. I am loving the fact that she hardly ever gets fussy now, she smiles all the time, she notices the objects/people around her, and she loves her mommy and daddy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Showers

We had a great time celebrating Emory's first Easter. We spent the holiday in Clinton, TN with Martin's family. We almost had the entire family together...we were just missing Bobby.

 

Emory did great on the 3 hour trip to Clinton. We left late Thursday night, and she slept the entire way. Friday we spent the day hanging around the house. Saturday we left Emory and Martin at home, and we headed to Knoxville to celebrate Josie (Martin's sister) and baby Parker! Some of Josie's friends from high school got together to throw her a baby shower. It was a great time. I can't believe that Emory is going to have a cousin within the next month! Josie looks amazing...all belly of course. She makes all other pregnant women jealous.

Sunday we celebrated Easter at church. This was Emory's first trip to church, I was a little nervous that she would cry the entire time, but I was pleasantly surprised. She slept for the first half of church, and then decided to wake up and cry right in the middle of a prayer. Great timing. After that one minor incident she was a perfect angel. She sat in my lap and watched the preacher, she even started trying to talk to him. It was pretty cute.

After church we had a delicious Easter lunch, and then we made the trip back to Nashville.

 

I do have to make fun of myself a little bit. Everyone knows that I have never been the typical "girly girl", and some of this little girl stuff is out of my league. Well, I wanted Emory to look cute for Easter so we thought a bonnet would go great with her precious Easter dress. When I put the bonnet on I thought "well this thing is not very cute, but I don't really know what bonnets should look like". She wore that weird looking bonnet all through the church service, and when we were leaving someone said "her bonnet is on backwards." HAHAHA! That explained SO much! We turned the bonnet around and it looked MUCH prettier. I'm so glad that Emory has her aunt Mindy here in Nashville to help her with girly things, otherwise she would be in big trouble!

The backwards bonnet. Martin said she looked like a fighter pilot

Yep, still backwards during church

This is what a bonnet should look like!

This past weekend we threw a shower for Dustin and Mindy. I can't believe they are getting married in less than two weeks! We had a great time, and I could not be happier to have Mindy as my new sister-in-law! Below are some pics from the shower. Dustin had been hunting all day and apparently forgot the sunscreen.

 

 

Emory is obsessed with her feet. She is constantly grabbing them, and this weekend she finally got to chew on them. She has been trying for a while, and she finally succeeded.

 

 

 

We have had a fun time celebrating our first Easter as a family, our nephew Parker, and Dustin and Mindy's upcoming wedding!!! Here are a few more recent pictures of Emory

 

 

 

Emory: 4 Months

I'm 4 months old!!!

3/20/13



Weight and Length

Emory weighs 13 lbs  and she is 25 3/4 inches long. She is a long baby! She is in the 50th percentile for weight and the 95th percentile for length. The doctor said she's going to be a super model with those measurements!



Clothing Size

Emory is now wearing mostly 6 month clothing. She can fit into some 3-6 months clothes, but because she is so long she fits comfortably in the 6 months clothes.





Diaper Size

She is still wearing size 1 diapers, although they are getting pretty small on her. Before too long I think we are going to have to step up to size 2.





Sleep

Sleeping has been getting a little better this month. She's been falling asleep much easier, and for most of the month she was sleeping 6-8 hours before waking up. Well, that all changed when she started daycare. The first few weeks of daycare were great! She doesn't nap much while she's at daycare so she is extremely tired at night. She has been falling right asleep and sleeping like a log. About her second week she got sick. She had a 102 fever and was very congested. The congestion has made sleeping very difficult for her. She wakes up 2-3 times a night now, and I think it's simply because she can't breathe. I know when I am stuffy I can't sleep flat on my back...I have to use at least 2 pillows. I can only imagine how hard it is for a little baby who is stuffy to breathe lying flat on her back all night.

Another issue we ran across this month was the fact that Emory did NOT want Martin putting her to bed at night. Of course she loves Martin...she would have the best time with him during the day, but at night she has only wanted me. She will let Martin bathe and feed her, but as soon as she's finished eating she starts screaming. The second I take her from Martin she stops crying and falls asleep. I know it has been frustrating for Martin (it has been for me also). I was telling my mom about this problem and she had some good advice. She said I did the same thing when I was her age and that my preference for one parent changed frequently. She suggested that I enjoy the fact that Emory wants me right now, because it will all change soon. Now I have been taking advantage of this and soaking up as much time with her as possible.
Napping has been challenging also. This kid does not want to nap. She will only nap about three times a day, and those naps are only about 30 minutes long. It's almost like she doesn't want to miss anything. I thought the napping issue was due to daycare, but even when Kathy or I stay home with her she still takes those little cat naps.

Eating

She is still eating about every 2.5 to 3 hours. I have been exclusively pumping and feeding her with the bottle. Since she is in daycare now, she is getting a bottle most of the time. It is almost to the point that she only wants the bottle. So it looks like I am going to be pumping A LOT! I was a little worried about being able to pump enough at work, but it has gone much better than expected. I am able to pump about every 3-4 hours, so we have not had to supplement with formula at all. Hopefully I can keep this up. I am very blessed to have such a flexible job. At Emory's 4 month check up the doctor told us that it was time to start adding some rice cereal. She wants us to add one feeding a day, then increase to twice a day, and at 6 months we will add fruits and veggies. The first few feeding were very interesting to say the least. She has rice cereal ALL over her. It was adorable!



Favorite Activities

I feel like I am going to say this every month, but she is getting much more interactive! She loves to stare at us and make all kind of noises. She's starting to notice more of her surroundings...including Sage! Anytime that Sage walks by, Emory stares at her and follows her with her eyes.

She has really enjoyed being propped up in her Boppy pillow. She will lay on the pillow and watch everything going on around her. She's becoming such a happy baby...and she finally laughed!It was the best sound in the entire world. Now we spend all day trying to make her laugh. She loves grabbing her toys and bringing them straight to her mouth. This child wants to bite everything! We think she is teething, because she is constantly drooling and chewing on anything and everything. She started daycare this month and seems to really enjoy it. She loves looking at all of the other babies in her class, and she always smiles at her teachers.

Month 4

Month 4 has brought a lot of changes for both Emory and I. I started back to work this month, and the transition is getting easier everyday. The first two weeks were pretty rough...I honestly didn't know if I could do it, but everyday it gets better. The people at the daycare really care about her, and she is always happy when I stop in to visit her.

Emory had a big month! She laughed, rolled over from back to belly and belly to back, and she started eating cereal! She also got sick for the first time. Martin and I were so careful with her before she started daycare. We didn't take her out into pubic much at all for the first 3 1/2 months, because we did not want her to get sick. Well, during her second week of daycare it finally happened. She came home on Thursday and felt very warm. I checked her temperature and it was 102.1. That night she didn't sleep very well, and she woke up very congested. The doctor said it was probably just a virus, and there wasn't much we could do. The fever went away, but the congestion stayed around for a good three weeks. It is just now starting to get better....one of they many joys of daycare!

Time is flying by now that I am working full time. I look forward to the weekends when I get to spend all day with her! I can't wait to see what next month holds.