4 Months

Miss Emmy Rose is 4 months!

She has started waking up (usually only once) at night. I knew sleeping through the night would stop, so it is fine. I’m glad that she is getting enough food and gaining properly. (First kid to actually go up in the percentile for a checkup . . . but it could be because it was a new pediatrician, so it was a different scale.)

She has got an epic mullet. At 4 months, I think she has the most hair out of all of the kids, so that bald spot is coming in hot and heavy.

Here’s Baby Girl on her FIRST Christmas! Too tired to find a cute Christmas outfit, but at least I remembered to take a picture of her first Christmas (even though I forgot to take a pic of the other kids).

She looks terrified here, but she is usually very calm when Kenny holds her. He is so helpful by holding her whenever I need to do something really quickly with the other kids and what not. (Also, do you see that ORANGE?! We got the kitchen painted a few weeks ago, and we painted it a very, very light gray. CRAZY the difference between the two colors.)

She is able to sit in the bumbo and play with toys. She only tolerates sitting in the bumbo for like 5 minutes before she get too tired, but it has been fun for her and us that she is able to see and interact more.

And she has been somewhat enjoying her jumper. Same deal. You’ve got 5 minutes before she wants out.

But the play mat is a trusty, good friend that is your best bet if you want prolonged time (aka more than 5 minutes)

Home church with the fam.

And she went to church for the first time! It was for the first time in 10 months for the rest of us. It was SO nice to be back, and the kids didn’t lose all of their church etiquette skills (like sitting, whispering, etc.) like I thought would happen.

And the most exciting thing for her this month was that she got her baby blessing! We did it in conjunction with Kenny’s baptism, and it was perfect. Ken’s mom made her blessing dress, and it is BEAUTIFUL!

And I recognize that this is bare bones and written 1 week shy of her turning 5 months, but you know, something is better than nothing. When I originally started writing this post, she was only getting up once a night, but we are now full blown sleep regression, and she is getting up more than once a night, so I am tired. It is 10:00 on a Sunday night, and I am going to try to get some sleep before I need to wake up in an hour.

3 Months

Phew! We made it to one of my favorite baby ages. Newborns are cute, but make me tired and nervous. Lots to worry about. Once they become 3 months, it typically isn’t as stressful. I understand Emmy now, and she understands us better. I know that she likes her sound machine as white noise rather than music, and she likes it loud for her naps, but only two clicks for bedtime. If she is having a hard time settling down, she likes when I say “shhh, shh, shh” over and over or “husssssshhhhh, hussssshhhhhh” while rocking her. I know that she likes to be swaddled nice and snug, and that she is notorious for peeing when her diaper is off. She also had, ahem, some very “exciting” poo encounters this month some of which landed on the wall (twice), bed, and poor Addie.

In turn, she knows that I like my sleep, and so she is an angel baby and sleeps from 9:00ish to 7:00ish nearly every night. She did have one week this last month where she got up once a night, but she has since reverted back to sleeping through the night.

Baby Girl laughed this month, and she does it often. The kids still love trying to get her to laugh. Kenny is especially good at making her laugh. I think Reed and Addie still makes her a bit nervous.

The face she made when Addie and Reed came into the room when I was taking her 3 month pictures.

Emmy discovered how to control her hands and will grab the toys on her playmat. I love watching her grab the little ring so she can suck on it and how her little feet kick. She also loves to suck her hand even when she has had a ton of milk, yet she will not take a pacifier or a bottle (though, we haven’t tried too hard to push this). When I am rocking her, and she is dead asleep, she will pout her lips and move her mouth as if she is sucking. It is adorable.

She just barely learned to control her head more. She can sit up in her bumbo by herself, though only for a little bit because it is still a workout and tiring for her to hold her head up for so long.

She moved from her bassinet to her crib this month. I gave away the bassinet to someone in the ward and it made me a little teary eyed to give it away. Having a newborn is hard, but knowing that was what she slept in for the first bit of her life also makes it sentimental. She frequently used a pink bassinet crib sheet with it, and the last time I washed the sheet, there were little tufts of her hair stuck on it from the back of her head where the bald spot had formed. It made me sad and sentimental to see those little hairs. I think every “last” for her will be harder than normal for me. She is such a sweet and good baby. She also has outgrown her swing, so we will be getting rid of that this week as well.

She has also moved from Size 1 diapers to size 2 and her 0-3 month clothes are getting too small. She has formed some little rolls on her legs, and they’re the cutest. Her little blonde hair that had mostly fallen out has started to come back and is somewhat long in some spots (1.5″). She is very finicky with nursing and will only nurse at times if I stand and rock her. She has definitely gotten spoiled with us always being home due to the pandemic.

2 Months

Baby Girl is 2 months! Phew, what a whirlwind.

• Sleeps incredibly well. At 6 weeks I was given the go ahead for letting her sleep for however long she wanted to at night. She consistently sleeps from about 9ish pm to 7ish am. It’s kind of a dream, and I know it won’t last, but I’ll take it!

• Truly hates the car. Instant way to make her cry.
• Started smiling at me very early on. At her 2 month check up, the doctor asked if she had started laughing yet. I hadn’t been paying attention to that, so now the whole family has been working extra hard to try to get her to laugh. And we recently discovered she has a cute little dimple in her left check!

• She started sleeping in her own room at about 7ish weeks. In our new house, the master is on the main floor and Emmy’s room is right above us. Since she sleeps through the night, I haven’t had to do the trooping upstairs in the middle of the night, though I’m sure that will come soon.

• She has really started fighting naps. She will do one solid nap a day where she will go 3 hours between eating and sleep the whole time, but that’s basically it. Hoping it is just a growth spurt.
• Emmy will not snuggle in the moby baby carrier. She will fight it and likes to rear her head back so she can continue to look around.

• Is very strong with her tummy time! She can hold her head up really well! And she has rolled over many times, though some of it may be because she gets tired so her heavy head pulls her down so she rolls over.

• When she cries, she squeaks. It actually has scared some people thinking that she was aspirating. She has done it from the very beginning, though.
• For Halloween Emmy wore a pumpkin costume. It is a 9 month outfit, and I remembered last minute that she could wear it, so we rolled the sleeves and legs, but it was still massive.

• Miss Emmy can belch like no other. She has huge burps, and the other kids crack up when she does it.

• All the kids fight over who gets to hold her and love her so much! We agree.

• And a random bit about Reed because it is really funny and needs to be remembered. The boys are doing virtual school right now because of the pandemic. For the most part, they don’t complain too much. They are able to finish it fairly quickly. Reed really hates doing his english class, though. It is a struggle to get him to sit down and do it. One day he declared, “ELA is my arch nemesis!” We really got a kick out of his word choice in describing his feelings towards his least favorite class.

Kennyisms from when he was 3

Found this in my drafts folder July 2016

Ken: “Kenny, what day of the week is after Sunday?”

Kenny: “Real TV day!”

Glad that he cherishes the Sabbath. lol

10 Months

^Those eyes

^That stare

^That slight smile

She is so fun. And now commences the blurry pictures. I am still including them because I want to remember everything from this fun stage.

^Her little determined smirk trying to get to the window before I catch her.

^That little tongue.

She is so fun. I know I’ve probably said it a million times, but she is so fun. So so so fun.

Things that have happened this month:

• Has said, “Daa (dad), baaa (not confirmed, but i think this is ball), ow, and Aflac. Seriously. She said Aflac. So here is the story- My parents gave the boys two Aflac ducks that say “Aflac, Aflac, AAAAFLLLLACC!” The boys think they’re hilarious and play with them often. The other day I was watching a show, and an Aflac commercial came on. Kenny thought that was funny because he didn’t realize that Aflac was a company. Adelaide heard us talking about the Aflac commercial, turned around, crawled across the room, grabbed the duck, and said “AHHHLAA”. Kenny and I just looked at each other and started busting up. She said it so clearly we both knew what she was trying to say. It was hilarious.
• Has a hard time at night now. Sigh. I knew she wouldn’t be a good sleeper forever.
• Now that it has cooled off a bit, we’ve enjoyed playing outside more. Reed thinks it is such a treat to be able to play in the front yard. (Because we allow the boys to play in the backyard by themselves, but not the front.) Adelaide enjoys being outside. She is so funny, though. I think she touched the grass one time months ago, realized it was not soft, and so has never tried to crawl off the blanket. She just crawls around on the blanket and plays by herself while I sit next to her and crochet. It is so nice.

• She learned how to climb onto the hearth as well as stairs. She can climb to the very top of the stairs now… so it has become a bit more interesting in our house.

• It isn’t uncommon for me to see her right by me playing with my yarn and/or trying to steal my hook.
• She still doesn’t have any teeth… She has been acting more fussy than usual though. I am suspicious that she is going to get one soon.

Love you, baby girl!

9 Months

It has been an exciting month for Miss Addi-lady.

• Learned to crawl

• Waves hi to people

• Is thinning out now that she is mobile, so she joined the operation “fatten up child” that all my kids go through.

• Kicks her feet and gets super excited when she sees Ken. She also does this if she hears his voice but can’t see him. She also understands the word “dada” and makes the same reaction when you say it. She sure loves him!

• Is so mild mannered. I told the doctor how she was just so calm and quiet. The doctor didn’t seem concerned. She proceeded to look into Addie’s ears. Addie didn’t want her to look in her ears, so she kept pushing the doctor’s hand away. It was very cute to see. The doctor said “wow, even as mad she isn’t making noise!” And then Addie got so frustrated she started crying.
• She has also taken a strong desire for Reed’s stuffed animal called “Pengy” aka penguin. She gets SO excited when she sees it. She will pull that penguin around the living room to explore, and if she sees something else she wants to play with, she gets confused and it becomes a huge debate whether she should put Pengy down and explore that other toy or keep holding Pengy.

We sure love this little girl! She is such a joy in our lives. ❤️

8 Months

Little miss is 8 months! (And I am actually writing and publishing this on time!)

What she has been up to lately:

• Gets up twice a night. I have been trying to convince her these late night parties are no good, but she has different ideas.
• Can sit stably without me being worried she will fall over. She is still trying to master getting from the sitting position to the rolling position. She is still using rolling as her means of transportation. (Though, she did scoot backwards for the first time yesterday.)
• I think she may have tried to wave for the first time at my sister. She did it twice.
• Sometimes it sounds like she is saying a word or two. Yesterday it sounded like she was saying “Heeeeeeey” when Kenny said it to her. It also sounds like she says “Mamama” sometimes. I do not think it is intentional.
• She has started working on standing. She can do it while holding our hands for a few seconds, but then her legs give out. We have been trying to do this everyday or so to help her legs get stronger.
• I bought her the cutest little Nike tennis shoes from a second hand store. They look brand new and were only $4.50. It was hard to resist.
• Was a champ on our beach vacation we went on a couple of weeks ago. It was the longest car ride she had ever been on (a little more than 3 hours), and she did great. She tried eating the sand a few times, but quickly realized how gross that was, and so didn’t try again. She enjoys splashing and playing in water, though. She also spent the majority of the time at the beach being content just sitting on my hip or sleeping on me. (Seriously, angel baby)
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• We realized how wiggly both of the boys were at this age. They were never content just sitting on our hips. They would always need to be shifted around, turned back, turned front, entertained, etc. or they would start fussing. They always wanted to get down and moving. Addie is fine with being held and just observing. Something cute she does is hard lean around you so she can get a better look at something. It is so cute.
• She is such a good baby. Very chill and go with the flow. She has such a calm, relaxed spirit. We feel so truly blessed that she is a part of our family. She is adored by all (and sometimes a little too much so).

We love you Ade-lady! (Kenny told me the other day, “Do you know that her name isn’t really Ade-lady?”)

And of course Reed magically heard me taking the monthly pictures and came running so he could make his cameo appearance. I am pretty sure that he is in every month’s pictures at some point.

Love this picture of the three of them.

7 Months

^That grin!

^These two have actually been getting along better. She will laugh and giggle at him and gets excited to see him.

^And lest you think she never cries.

 

This month will mostly be described through pictures. In writing this post, I went back and looked at old pictures of her as a newborn, and it made me sad that she has grown so much! Where is my little baby? (Even though she is still a baby.) Gah she needs to stop growing.

^And the big thing from this month is that we survived a week of girls camp! It was a high of 94 degrees (gah!), and so we wore these green cooling rags to help each of us since I was holding her most of the time. She was a champ! Seriously. She was so good. (And I am glad that we survived camp and that it is over.)

^She had a really bad diaper rash this last week. Baby girl wanted to be held a lot. Especially liked snuggling in with her daddy . . . but had to be held funny because the rash was so bad.

^When Addie and I got home from girls camp, Kenny said, “I missed Ade…. I missed you two so much”. I asked him who he missed more- me or Addie. He said, “… well, mostly Addie because I don’t get to see her as much because she has to take naps and stuff.”

^This is a new favorite game the three of them like to play. It involves the boys fighting over who gets to lay down in front of Adelaide, and then Adelaide pulls their hair, eyes, cheeks, etc. Super fun game.

^Is a champ at eating now. Hardly gags and can pound some crackers down.

^Reed’s idea. He concocts the ideas, and Adelaide patiently endures.

^Sitting up for the first time in a shopping cart. It was like a whole new world for her! (Also, she probably could have done this for quite some time now. It just never crossed my mind to take her out of the carseat. #thirdkidproblems)

She is quite the roller now and uses rolling as a means of transportation. She is very fast with it, and now the boys have to be extra careful with keeping their legos in their room only.

We love you Ade-lady! (As Kenny now likes to call her.)

 

6 Months

^The little tongue! I could die.

^Such a cute smile.

^I love this picture of her.

Little Miss is six months! Some highlights of the month:

• She can sit. And she enjoys being able to be in the action more.

• She has eaten peas, banana, sweet potato, and applesauce. She gagged on the first three but seemed to do better on applesauce.
• Will give kisses when requested. She gave Ken the first kissy.
• Rode an airplane for the first time since I went and visited friends in Utah. She did awesome on the plane.

• She is very mild mannered.
• Attended her first wedding. A couple of people commented that we were brave for bringing a baby to a wedding. Not much choice when they don’t take a bottle. But we had multiple strangers come up to us at the end and say “I don’t know you, but that is the best baby I have ever seen!” ❤️ (And I wish we had taken a picture! She looked adorable!)

• The boys started swim lessons this past week. She just kicks and makes noise the whole time in excitement. It echoes so much on the pool deck, and I think she likes all the excitement.

This was Reed’s teacher, Josh. I will sing Josh’s praises all day. He was so good with Reed!

• She tried out swimming again, and it was a success this time. She really enjoyed it!

• She loves playing with water bottles, crinkly wipe cases, and a specific book that crinkles really well.
• She gets upset if she can’t see me, the boys, or Ken. She likes to be in on the action.

We love you Adelaide!

5 Months

Addie girl, Addie girl. You are so fun.

What is new with her:

• Has mastered grabbing things. She is constantly reaching and playing with whatever she can, and she has started crying if she loses a toy or if it becomes out of her reach.
• She is able to roll from back to front (and now front to back). She did it twice for the first time in one day two ish weeks ago. It was so exciting. She used to hate tummy time, and it was a real chore to get her to do that everyday. She know enjoys it! She can be up and have both hands readily available to reach and play with whatever toy is in front of her.

• Because she has become so active with rolling, we have had to stop swaddling her. (Sad sad sad) She has always loved to be swaddled. Last night was the first time that I stopped swaddling her, and she woke up twice that night. (Which I know is still pretty good for a 5 month old. No complaints here . . . but I do think it is because she wasn’t being swaddled.)
• Speaking of sleep, she now gets up regularly once a night. It is usually around two or so, and after she is done eating, I just plop her back in bed, so it isn’t bad at all.
• And about plopping her in bed- I sleep trained her this month. (Best. Decision. Ever.) She typically only cries for 30 seconds or so and then goes to sleep. She was the easiest to sleep train out of all the kids.
• We are starting to get on a somewhat very loose routine. (Poor third kid.) Wake at 7 am or so, eat, play, go to sleep around 8:30. Wake, eat, play, go to sleep at 11:30 ish. Wake, eat, play, go to sleep at 3:30 or 4 ish and then bedtime starts at 7 or so . . . but she usually isn’t in bed for good until 9. As you can see, not a strict routine. It works for us, though. And now that I have written this out and think I have a handle on it, some curve ball will happen and change it all up again. (Isn’t that how it always works?)
• She now laughs and giggles. The other night, the boys were brushing their teeth, and she was giggling and giggling and giggling. It was so cute. Ken got it on video… I will try to post that.
• Kenny tries so hard to get her to laugh and giggle. It is really cute.
• Reed is becoming a bit more gentle with her. She has actually smiled at him a few times, and it seems like she has enjoyed recently when he plays *gently* with her.

We love you, beautiful baby!