Baby Kaylee {5 Months Old}

FIVE. WHOLE. MONTHS. OLD. HOLY. CRAP! My tiny 5 pound baby is now five months old and rolling over and babbling and getting so big! Although it’s sad she is growing so quickly, we are looking forward to better days of more playing, sitting, climbing, talking and less fussing, not sleeping and did I mention fussing! I've officially decided that she is a high maintenance baby (just like her momma was) but I wouldn't trade her for the world. She takes 100% of our energy levels on the daily and we are pretty much exhausted but we are trying to enjoy her still, not wanting to wish away these precious days. 

5 Month Favorites:: 

1) Exersaucer – Thank God for the exersaucer! This gives us approximately 10 minutes of relaxation time where we don’t have to give 110% of our energy to entertain her! She loves to spin the monkey and chew on the teether. It’s amazing how she will see us do something and then turn around and do it herself. 

2) Rice Cereal- She started solids this month! We tried Avocado, which didn't sit well with her and Sweet Potatoes, which we are unsure about. The only thing we are for sure about is the rice cereal. And boy does she love to eat, just like her daddy! The noises she makes when she wants another bite are hilarious! 

3) Hand/Face wipes- These are a necessity after eating rice cereal. 

4) Umbrella Stroller- We recently just bought this so we don’t have to lug around our huge stroller. It is really nice and light weight. 

5) Car Seat Shoulder Straps – I love these because the shoulder straps on the car seat were digging into her neck! I think she likes them because they hold her head up when she falls asleep! 

6) Car Mirror – Recently Kaylee decided she hates the car. She screams her head off or falls asleep. One. Or. The. Other. There is no in-between. This helps for me to be able to see her while I’m driving. 

7) Daddy - Kaylee and her daddy have spent some quality time together this summer. They get to hang out everyday and play since daddy is home on summer break. She just loves to look at him and watch him wherever he is in the room. He sings funny songs to her that she loves and plays little games that make her smile. She has him wrapped around her little finger!

8) Screens - She will definitely be a baby of this generation! She loves to look at any kind of screen: TV, Ipad, Phone...etc. She tries to touch and play on the phone any time Chad or I have ours out! It will be no time before she is playing on it for real!

Stats:: 

24 in :: 10th %

14.2 lbs :: 30th %

I feel like she is so little and tiny and according to her percentile she is tiny but everyone that sees pictures of her says “I can’t believe she’s so big! What are you feeding her?” I guess it’s all in perspective! 

Milestones:: 

{Rolling over both ways} 

Rolling from her back to her belly is her new favorite thing to do! Which would be totally awesome if she liked to be on her belly, but she doesn't! She rolls and rolls and rolls over and each time gets mad and wants to be flipped back over. 

{Laughing} 

Oh.My.Gosh. This is literally the cutest thing I have ever seen. We can get her on a roll laughing and its so freaking adorable I can’t even handle it! 

Sleeping:: 

{Night time} 

This was another month of ups and downs with sleeping at night. She has good nights and bad. We are trying to get her to go 8 hours without eating, which she does 7-7.5 currently. Lately she’s been waking herself up and rolling over to her belly, then getting mad and crying! So we've been dealing with that. But overall, it hasn't been too bad. 

{Naps} 

Thank goodness she remembered what a nap is this month. We have her on a great daily schedule now. She takes a 30-60 minute nap in the morning, a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon and a 30 minute nap in the evening. It has really been working out great! 

Eating:: 

She is still breastfed but this month we added rice cereal to the mix. She LOVES the rice cereal and will continue to “ask” for more until it’s gone most of the time. We started to give her baby food (avocado and sweet potatoes) but she was having belly pains so we backed off. Her little tummy just isn’t ready for real food yet. We will try again sometime this month. 

Misc:: 

{Father’s Day} 

Chad celebrated his first Father’s Day. We spent the day at the pool and grilled out with my family. It was a really nice, relaxing day! Kaylee posed for some cute pictures for a collage frame for her daddy. 

{Grabbing toes} 

Another top 10 cutest things she started doing. She will lay on her back and just grab those toes! 

{Blowing bubbles} 

Two days ago, I laid her down to change her diaper and she starts blowing bubbles! I about lost my mind it was so adorable! She did it over and over again, Chad and I were cracking up!

I just want to kiss her little face! She's so freaking cute! 

Baby Kaylee {4 Months old}

 

Kaylee has had a roller coaster of days this past month. I think with me returning to work, going back and forth between the sitter and grandma watching her, her schedule has just been completely turned on its head. Just when she got into the groove of things we changed it up on her! There is a phenom called "4 month sleep regression" or "The wonder weeks" in which babies are just learning so much about their surroundings that they get overwhelmed and over stimulated. This makes for a very cranky baby! We've had some rough days but luckily we have more good, smiling days and the icing on the cake is all the new things she has learned to do!

Again, I can't believe how time flies and my tiny little newborn is a growing baby interacting with her environment and us! I'm enjoying each stage of her life and this one is so fun! She is able to play with us and "talk" to us! It's amazing to watch her grow!

4 Month Favorites::

This month she has been learning to interact with things (and people more) so her favorites are becoming more interactive!

1) Bouncer - She has finally warmed up to the bouncer. She will even take a short catnap in it occasionally.  

2) Television - Call us bad parents but her favorite thing to do in the morning (or anytime) is watch cartoons! She is mesmerized by all the lights and colors. 

3) Sun hat and glasses - She's not too fond of the bright sun we've been having. We have to make sure we have her hat on her if we are going to be outside. I also love to put her sunglasses on her but those don't tend to stay on long! 

4) Oball Rattle - She loves to grab on to this! It's perfect for her little baby fingers to grab onto and she loves the sound it makes when it rattles!

5) Swim suit - She went swimming for the first time last weekend at the indoor pool at our rec center. She is going to love the water and be a swimmer like her daddy (and unlike her mommy!)

6) Mommy - In her progress through the "wonder weeks" she has become very clingy to me. She usually cries when anyone else tries to hold her. She will usually let Chad hold her and my sister too, but she is definitely a mommy's girl (and I'm not complaining!) 

7) Open Mouthed Kisses - This may be a mommy favorite but she opens her mouth wide and gives us big slobbery kisses! I know that she is probably trying to eat our faces since everything goes in her mouth these days but I like to think she's kissing me =) 

8) Old Favorites: Pacifier, Activity Mat, FINGERS, Teethers, Bathtime. All of her old favorites from the past months have kind of rolled over and she loves them more and more the older she gets. We can't get her fingers or the pacifier out of her mouth, ever! She is constantly sucking on something! She loves to lay on the activity mat and play with the dangling toys and mirror (or even just lay on a blanket on the floor and play with mom and dad)! She can't quiet hold them herself yet but she loves to chew/suck on the teethers we put in her mouth. Bath time just may be her favorite time of day besides waking up in the morning. She has started to splash around and just loves it!

Stats::

12.4 lbs :: 15th %
23.5in :: 15th %

She has thinned out and lost some of those baby cheeks but she is just as cute as ever and still has her baby rolls!

Milestones::

I can definitely tell how much her BRAIN is growing this past month. She is interacting with things so much more and learning new things all the time! She is one smart cookie!

{Rolling over}

She rolled over for the first time a couple of weeks ago! I was so excited, I jumped up and down! Also, I was very happy that I was there when she did it for the first time! I was worried she would never roll over because she hates tummy time so much but oddly the past couple weeks she doesn't cry right away when we put her on her stomach. Sure enough one day I put her down on her belly and within a minute she rolled right over! I called Chad (who was on his way home from work) and was cheering and yelling! He got home a couple minutes later and she did it again so Daddy could see! 

{Grabbing}

A couple of weeks ago she started reaching for things we place in from of her. She has this Oball rattle that she loves! When we shake it in front of her she immediately reaches out and grabs onto it. She will put it straight in her mouth and hold onto it for a couple seconds before letting go. 

Sleeping::

{Night time}
This month has been pretty crazy, she has had good nights and bad (just like her days). On a good night, she will go 6 hours before waking to eat. She eats and goes right back to sleep. She gets up 2 times to eat and is up for the day around 7! We have had a couples nights where she gets up every 1.5-2 hours and doesn't want to go back to sleep and gets up for the day around 6... luckily we have more good nights than bad! Those nights are really rough! We moved her bedtime back to 7:30 because she wasn't able to stay up until 8 anymore and was getting really fussy before bedtime. That has seemed to do well except that she has started to want to get up for the day around 6 instead of 7. I'm really hoping once she gets these "wonder weeks" out of the way she starts to sleep a little longer each night and starts skipping a feeding (or two)!! 

{Naps}

What are naps? She was on a roll taking a good 2-3 hour nap in the morning and then several cap naps (45 minutes) after that. Now, we are lucky if she takes that long nap. She has been cap napping a lot lately and those are usually our bad days. I would love to get her on the schedule of 2-3 medium length (1-2 hours) naps a day but this girl is stubborn (like her momma) and decides what she wants to do each day no matter what mom's (or dad's) plan is. 

Eating::

She is still exclusively breastfed. She does very well with it. She eats about 6x a day and 2x at night. Her bottles the sitter gives her during the day are around 4oz each. I would like to start stretching her to every 4 hour feedings (she is currently nursing every 2-3 hours, except at night).

Misc::

{Baby Sitter}

Kaylee started going to the baby sitter this month since I went back to work. She loves looking around at all the kids playing. She comes home worn out from all the fun she has and I really think she likes to be there and "play" with the other kids and of course she loves Ms. Tracy! I think it is really important for her to get some social interaction with other kids (even this young). Also, I think it builds up those immunities early and hopefully she won't be a sick kid! 

{Mother's Day}

I celebrated my first Mother's Day with my sweet girl. Chad let me sleep in and took her to the grocery store. He brought me home Starbucks and we had a nice little afternoon together. Then we went to the park to meet up with some family. It was a great day and I got to spend it with my two favorite people!

Baby Kaylee {3 Months Old}

 

Today we celebrate 3 whole months since Kaylee graced us with her adorable presence. She is amazing and wonderful. We still look at her and feel completely in awe and blessed that we created something so sweet and loving.

3 Month Favorites::

Just like last month, we have really seen her grow not only physically but in her abilities! It is so fun to watch her discover new things each month!

1) Mirror - She will look in the mirror on her playmat and just smile and "talk" to her self. It's the cutest thing!

2) Highchair - We have started to put her in her highchair while we eat. She will sit there are play with her rattles while we eat! 

3) Bumbo - She doesn't love to be in it for a long period of time, but we put her in her bumbo and she can support her head!

4) Rattles/Teethers - She has started to interact more with her toys and she has a favorite mouse rattle that she plays with more than the others! 

5) Cloth Diapers - We are 1 month into the cloth diapers and going strong!! Hopefully we are able to keep it up!

6) Hands - She LOVES to suck her hands! She is going to be a thumb sucker for sure! One day I looked at her thumb and it had a huge hickey on it! 

7) Being Naked - As soon as you take her diaper off she is all smiles! Sometimes she even cries when you try to put a new one on. Also, she still LOVES bath time. 

8) Reading Books - We read to her every night and she has started to listen and watch as we turn the pages. She is going to be one smart cookie! 

Stats::

11 lbs 9 oz :: (just under) 50th %
23.5 inches :: 50th %

Those baby rolls are multiplying in cuteness! She has the biggest, cutest cheeks! I haven't noticed as big of a growth spurt as I did between 1-2 months but she is getting bigger, nonetheless. 

Milestones::

Her little personality is starting to shine through! Every stage of her life so far has been my favorite stage and I'm sure that will continue!

{Reaching and Swiping}
While laying on her play mat she will swat and swipe at the monkey that hangs down. She also will reach for her mouse rattle while in her highchair. She can't quite grab things yet but she's getting close. I will put a rattle in her hands and she will hold it for a little while.

{Babble and mimic sounds}
This is our favorite thing she has started to do this month!! We can get her on a roll of talking for like 5 minutes and it's the most adorable thing we have ever heard. She makes the "oohs" and "ahhs", it will be no time at all before this is "Mama" and "Dada"!

{Following sounds and voices}
She has started to turn towards sounds and follow them across the room. If you start talking to her she will turn toward you and start to coo. 

Sleeping::

{Night time}
She is sleeping 6-7 hours straight a night (Once she did 8.5 hours - it was glorious)! She will sleep about 11 hours total at night 8pm-7am waking up between 2-3 times to eat and going right back to sleep! She is amazing at night, hopefully she keeps it up! 

{Naps}
She has started to fall into somewhat of a pattern during the days. She typically takes 3 naps a day: one long one in the morning (about 2-3 hours), an afternoon one (about 1-2 hours) and then a evening one (45 minures-1 hour)

Eating::

She is still exclusively breastfed and she is doing great! I went back to work on Monday and am pumping at work. She is still getting used to using a bottle. I try to pump twice a day and get 3-4 (3oz) bottles during the day for her. 

Misc::

{Easter}
Kaylee had her first (real) holiday this month! She really enjoyed seeing (and meeting) some of her family! She got to wear her pretty dress and head band and she got a cute little basket from the Easter bunny. She also got a couple baskets from her grandparents which included books, bibs, a swim suit, adorable bunny socks, & a gift card to get more goodies!

{Dedication}
Kaylee was Dedicated to God on Sunday! She did really well for half of the service and then the other half she was fussy! Nonetheless we prayed over her and asked God to watch over her. Her Godparents, Josh and Leah, were there as well as some of our family to pray for her as well!

{Nicknames}

Baby girl has an array of nicknames: Baby Kaylee, Baby-kins, Boo Boo, Boo Boo Melon, Lulu, Love, Sweet thing, Lil muggins, lots-o-chubs-in-bear, bear bear, Pretty Girl...etc!

I can't believe it was 3 months ago that this sweet little thing came into this world!! It seems like yesterday, yet I can't remember life without her. She is the sweetest baby and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. We love you baby girl!