Wait...What?? FIVE months??????
Yes, that's right. Eden is five months old. That's like a super old baby now. 3 more babies in my group of friends have been born since her birth date. I don't know if it's because I'm on Addison's "calendar" of when she was born (in May) so she was a essentially a newborn all summer, so I'm replaying my "summer experience" with Addison when she was a newborn. I of course "know" Eden is 5 months old and don't hesitate on her age whenever someone asks me, but it's more a matter-of-fact response. Then, it'll hit me - wait, did I just say she's FIVE MONTHS old?! Unbelievable, my baby girl is growing in a flash. It may also be that this may be our last go at this. With Addison, I knew come hell or high water we would have a second baby someday. Eden, I can't say for sure, so I keep that in mind as she grows up and out of certain stages.
It's crazy when I start looking ahead to how soon she's gonna start doing more things.
Growin' Up, Growin' Out
As Eden grows, she is growing out of her baby items one by one. Last week I did the big re-organization of her drawers and closet. Since she was a month old, I had a box stashed in her room to throw any newborn clothes. But now, I've packed up any remaining newborn clothes as well as the 3-month size. Again, as mentioned above, as I pack up these baby clothes I wonder if I will ever see them again. Because even if we do go for #3 someday - it may be a boy where these little girl clothes will be gone from our lives. It's really quite a bittersweet thought.
Eden can now somewhat roll. It's not a lot and it's more of a gradual movement, with gravity on her side. In recent weeks we have been giving her more floor time, to make up for us maybe holding her a little too often this summer, delaying this type of development. While rolling is still somewhat of a struggle for her, she has made a lot of progress in sitting up. We give her a little support with our hand on her back or else the Boppy pillow around her hips. She typically bends forward and holds onto her feet - it doesn't look all that comfortable to me, but she doesn't seem to mind or complain. I think she enjoys being upright and being able to look around from that vantage point and have easy access to grabbing onto her toys.
Which, brings me to my next Eden-ism...She is a GRABB-ER! Seriously, this girl grabs anything in site! Almost immediately upon picking her up, she grabs a fistful of my hair and shoves it in her mouth. PLACKH! She is also very skilled at taking off our glasses, hitting the iPad/iPod/phone while we are playing games to mess us up, and grabbing the book we are reading. So, as she becomes mobile - we will have to be very careful!
Sleeeeeep
Ok, I'll say it. Tim & I are sleep-deprived. But Eden isn't the only one to blame! Eden is typically capable of sleeping until 9am, but it's Addison who comes bouncing in our room around 6:30am inexplicably every morning. This is especially difficult b/c Eden is still on a 12am, 2-3am, 4-5am eater through the night. Then I'm at by 6 for work. So, yea. We are tired!
During the day, Eden is not on a set schedule for naps yet.Typically, she sleeps in in the morning if Addison doesn't wake her up earlier. Then, if Tim goes out and about anywhere, she always sleeps in the car or in the stroller for walks. In the afternoon, Addison has "3pm quiet time" so at this time Tim puts Eden in the swing to get stuff done around the house and she does usually fall asleep for a little while.
Then, bedtime at night can range from 9pm -11pm. We're trying to get better at the scheduled routines, but it's tough b/c we could potentially be doing nothing but getting the girls ready for bed from 7:30-10:30pm...and then when is our 2minutes of relaxation? Yea....So, it gets hard! But we'll figure it out soon.
Eden in the World
Eden has the advantage...or disadvantage, depending on how ya look at it - of being the 2nd child and being out and about in the world much more than Addison was in the first 6 months of her life. Eden is really great out in the world. As mentioned early, when in the car seat in the car or stroller, she almost always falls asleep. We mixed it up at several of the neighborhood festivals and used our carrier instead and she seemed to really like being close to me and being walked around like that.
I'm sure Eden is pretty unaware of her surroundings, but I think the little bit she is noticing and being out in the fresh air is really good for her.
Summer is winding down here, but I'm looking forward to all the great fall activities to keep the entertainment level for the girls up. Eden will have her 6 month portraits in a few weeks and I think by the time I write my next blog entry, Eden will be very different as 6 months seems to be a time for lots of changes.
Til next time!!!
Friday, August 24, 2012
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Eden, the 4-Month Old!
Eden's 4-Month Check-Up
Eden's Dr. appointment was towards the end of July to check her progress and get her second round of shots. First, her stats:
25" 75th percentile
15lbs 8oz 75-90th percentile
50-75 percentile head
Then she had her 3 follow-up shots in her leg. She cried a lot right away, but calmed down right away after Tim held her. He gave her a little bit of a bottle and she was just fine. Her next appointment is a 6-Month check-up in September!
So, Eden certainly is growing. She has almost doubled her weight since birth. Everything checked out just fine except that she needs more belly time. Tim & I are not in a good habit of putting her on the floor on her belly. We always default to the swing and bouncer when we need to put her down. But in recent weeks we have been much better giving her the belly time she needs. She has started rolling over onto her side, but that's a little bit behind where she should be, but I think she'll catch up in no time. Eden always tries to sit up, reach for things and generally move around so I know she'll keep trying to roll over. What can be hard for us is keeping up on all the milestones. With Addison, everything was new so we were constantly looking and wondering about the next step and wondering when it will happen. With Eden, we know all the milestones, but get comfortable in the stage she's in that we're not pushing for the next step so much. It's not a bad thing per se, because of course she will get to these milestones on her own, but we certainly want to get into the habit of encouraging her development, so I'll need to take a little refresher course on when milestones will/should occur. I still read the weekly emails about baby's progress at her age from BabyCenter - yet not as scrupulously as I probably did with Addison.
Eden's Songs
Just like with Addison, we have made up some songs for Eden. Really, it's taking current songs and changing the words to be for Eden. I'm writing this more for my own keepsake, but the songs we sing for Eden are:
"Angel of Mine" by Monica (the artist, not me - circa 1999), and it goes:
Eden O'Neill
You came into my life, sent from above
When I lost all hope, girl you showed me love
I'm checking for you girl you know you're right on time
Eden O'Neill
That song came to be shortly after she was born, which is odd b/c I haven't heard that song in years.
The next song, more recently is from the summer 2012 mega hit "Call Me Maybe" - you will probably hate me as this song will now be stuck in your head:
Hey, I just met you
And this is crazy!
Your name is Eden - you are my baby!
It's hard to look right at you baby
Your name is Eden - you are my baby
Before you came into my life I missed you so bad, I missed you so so bad!
This summer, Tim & I have begun watching "Mad Men" via Netflix. We are almost caught up through season 5 - so imagine how often we've been watching it! Yes, every night we watch one, sometimes 2 episodes of Don and the gang after Addison goes to bed. It's during this time that Eden wants only Mommy so I'm often stuck on the couch holding her anyway. Funny thing is that it seemed like Eden started recognizing the theme song when the episode would start and she'd watch the screen. So, then of course Tim started singing, "Eden, Eden, Eden, Eden..." along to the tune. I swear, it calms her down if she is squirmy or crabby!
Call Me Maybe is my favorite one to sing to her b/c Eden's face instantly explodes into a big smile! Angel of Mine is a great memory too b/c I think it's because of that song that she learned her name, and of course Mad Men is the theme music to our summer!
Summer of Eden
We have been very active this summer, much more than Addison's first summer because, well, we have Addison to entertain! So Eden has reaped the benefits of being out and about in the world and she handles it very well.
Eden's 4th month has been very busy. It started with Mommy's Birthday/Father's Day weekend, then the following weekend we went up to Milwaukee to our friend's son's 1st birthday (Afton) - where Eden was passed around among our friends and was as happy as a clam. Then we had a birthday celebration for Grandma G which of course involved more baby burgling of Eden by friends and relatives.
Fourth of July was great fun this year with the girls. We didn't have big plans but took advantage of some free fireworks at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg on the 3rd. It was ridiculously hot, but we got to sit in the stadium seats which was a lot of fun! We got there right when it opened aroun 6pm and the fireworks weren't going to start until 9:30 (after a showing of "Sandlot" on the jumbotron!) I really doubted Eden would be able to handle the fireworks so was prepared to take her to the back of the stadium to somewhat shield her from the noise. But, much to our surprise, not only did Eden not cry - but she also did not need any cuddling. During the whole fireworks, she just sat in her car seat and smiled at me! The huge booms did not even startle her and she was enjoying watching the fireworks. Rock star baby!!!!
Eden's Baptism
Eden was Baptized on July 8 at St Hubert's church in Hoffman Estates. Her Godparents are Tim's Uncle Mike and Aunt Mindy. Just like Addison, she wore my baptismal gown and she got the full dunk in the baptismal fountain! She again was a trooper and only let out a cry as she got dunked, but as soon as we held her in the towel, she was content again. She was awake for the entire ceremony but such a good little baby, even for all the countless family pictures we took! She fell asleep on the way to the dinner and slept the entire time in the car seat until she woke up right at the end, just in time for everyone to get in their Eden squeezes before the celebration was over. The meal was at Lou Malnati's pizzeria with just our immediate families and the Godparents. It was a nice, cozy day - much easier than Addison's when the invite list spread out to our friends and extended family at Grandma G's. So Eden didn't get as big of a party as Addison got, but I think for all it was more enjoyable and for Mommy & Daddy, much less stressful! Things ya learn the second time around ;)
Hungry Baby
Being almost 16lbs now, Eden has gotten that way of course through lots of eating! When I was on maternity leave, she would nurse several times a day and then cluster feed from 8pm-12am every night and wake up to eat 3x through the night up until 7-8am. Obviously she was getting enough food from me since she grew and grew and grew.
Now that she is home with Tim, she has a bottle 3x a day. So she eats less often, but I think she is getting more per feeding than when she nurses. She typically eats 12oz while I'm at work and I can usually only pump about 10oz. I pump 3x a day and sometimes only 2 if I get caught up in meetings and can't squeeze the 15min break into my schedule at the right time. So in the past couple weeks, Tim has had to supplement 3-4oz of formula each day. This makes me feel incredibly guilty of course, even though I know I am doing my best. Whenever she has formula, I have the plan to then pump the difference. But that has become an impossible task since in the evening is when she cluster feeds and I typically plot out my morning routine to be out the door shortly after nursing - which does not leave much time (or supply build-up) to pump. Even on the weekends, she is nursing every couple hours so there's just never an opportunity.
With Addison, she started having formula supplemented around 7mos and by 8mos she was pretty much on formula during the day and nursed in the morning and at night. By 10mos though, even at bedtime I just couldn't nurse her the amount she needed and I was heartbroken that my body just naturally weened her off and I couldn't make it to the 1 year mark. I am starting to feel that way now - that the end is near and since I went back to work 3mos earlier than I did with Addison, I fear the end of my supply will doom us. Both for financial reasons and just "mommy reasons" I really do not want that to happen, so I will continue to do my best pumping at work and then just being on demand during the night and weekend hours with her - as tiring and demanding as that can be on be at times since it doesn't allow me time for much else when I'm home. But that's ok - laundry can wait, I've got a baby to grow!
Eden's Dr. appointment was towards the end of July to check her progress and get her second round of shots. First, her stats:
25" 75th percentile
15lbs 8oz 75-90th percentile
50-75 percentile head
Then she had her 3 follow-up shots in her leg. She cried a lot right away, but calmed down right away after Tim held her. He gave her a little bit of a bottle and she was just fine. Her next appointment is a 6-Month check-up in September!
So, Eden certainly is growing. She has almost doubled her weight since birth. Everything checked out just fine except that she needs more belly time. Tim & I are not in a good habit of putting her on the floor on her belly. We always default to the swing and bouncer when we need to put her down. But in recent weeks we have been much better giving her the belly time she needs. She has started rolling over onto her side, but that's a little bit behind where she should be, but I think she'll catch up in no time. Eden always tries to sit up, reach for things and generally move around so I know she'll keep trying to roll over. What can be hard for us is keeping up on all the milestones. With Addison, everything was new so we were constantly looking and wondering about the next step and wondering when it will happen. With Eden, we know all the milestones, but get comfortable in the stage she's in that we're not pushing for the next step so much. It's not a bad thing per se, because of course she will get to these milestones on her own, but we certainly want to get into the habit of encouraging her development, so I'll need to take a little refresher course on when milestones will/should occur. I still read the weekly emails about baby's progress at her age from BabyCenter - yet not as scrupulously as I probably did with Addison.
Eden's Songs
Just like with Addison, we have made up some songs for Eden. Really, it's taking current songs and changing the words to be for Eden. I'm writing this more for my own keepsake, but the songs we sing for Eden are:
"Angel of Mine" by Monica (the artist, not me - circa 1999), and it goes:
Eden O'Neill
You came into my life, sent from above
When I lost all hope, girl you showed me love
I'm checking for you girl you know you're right on time
Eden O'Neill
That song came to be shortly after she was born, which is odd b/c I haven't heard that song in years.
The next song, more recently is from the summer 2012 mega hit "Call Me Maybe" - you will probably hate me as this song will now be stuck in your head:
Hey, I just met you
And this is crazy!
Your name is Eden - you are my baby!
It's hard to look right at you baby
Your name is Eden - you are my baby
Before you came into my life I missed you so bad, I missed you so so bad!
This summer, Tim & I have begun watching "Mad Men" via Netflix. We are almost caught up through season 5 - so imagine how often we've been watching it! Yes, every night we watch one, sometimes 2 episodes of Don and the gang after Addison goes to bed. It's during this time that Eden wants only Mommy so I'm often stuck on the couch holding her anyway. Funny thing is that it seemed like Eden started recognizing the theme song when the episode would start and she'd watch the screen. So, then of course Tim started singing, "Eden, Eden, Eden, Eden..." along to the tune. I swear, it calms her down if she is squirmy or crabby!
Call Me Maybe is my favorite one to sing to her b/c Eden's face instantly explodes into a big smile! Angel of Mine is a great memory too b/c I think it's because of that song that she learned her name, and of course Mad Men is the theme music to our summer!
Summer of Eden
We have been very active this summer, much more than Addison's first summer because, well, we have Addison to entertain! So Eden has reaped the benefits of being out and about in the world and she handles it very well.
Eden's 4th month has been very busy. It started with Mommy's Birthday/Father's Day weekend, then the following weekend we went up to Milwaukee to our friend's son's 1st birthday (Afton) - where Eden was passed around among our friends and was as happy as a clam. Then we had a birthday celebration for Grandma G which of course involved more baby burgling of Eden by friends and relatives.Fourth of July was great fun this year with the girls. We didn't have big plans but took advantage of some free fireworks at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg on the 3rd. It was ridiculously hot, but we got to sit in the stadium seats which was a lot of fun! We got there right when it opened aroun 6pm and the fireworks weren't going to start until 9:30 (after a showing of "Sandlot" on the jumbotron!) I really doubted Eden would be able to handle the fireworks so was prepared to take her to the back of the stadium to somewhat shield her from the noise. But, much to our surprise, not only did Eden not cry - but she also did not need any cuddling. During the whole fireworks, she just sat in her car seat and smiled at me! The huge booms did not even startle her and she was enjoying watching the fireworks. Rock star baby!!!!
Eden's Baptism
Hungry Baby
Being almost 16lbs now, Eden has gotten that way of course through lots of eating! When I was on maternity leave, she would nurse several times a day and then cluster feed from 8pm-12am every night and wake up to eat 3x through the night up until 7-8am. Obviously she was getting enough food from me since she grew and grew and grew.
Now that she is home with Tim, she has a bottle 3x a day. So she eats less often, but I think she is getting more per feeding than when she nurses. She typically eats 12oz while I'm at work and I can usually only pump about 10oz. I pump 3x a day and sometimes only 2 if I get caught up in meetings and can't squeeze the 15min break into my schedule at the right time. So in the past couple weeks, Tim has had to supplement 3-4oz of formula each day. This makes me feel incredibly guilty of course, even though I know I am doing my best. Whenever she has formula, I have the plan to then pump the difference. But that has become an impossible task since in the evening is when she cluster feeds and I typically plot out my morning routine to be out the door shortly after nursing - which does not leave much time (or supply build-up) to pump. Even on the weekends, she is nursing every couple hours so there's just never an opportunity.
With Addison, she started having formula supplemented around 7mos and by 8mos she was pretty much on formula during the day and nursed in the morning and at night. By 10mos though, even at bedtime I just couldn't nurse her the amount she needed and I was heartbroken that my body just naturally weened her off and I couldn't make it to the 1 year mark. I am starting to feel that way now - that the end is near and since I went back to work 3mos earlier than I did with Addison, I fear the end of my supply will doom us. Both for financial reasons and just "mommy reasons" I really do not want that to happen, so I will continue to do my best pumping at work and then just being on demand during the night and weekend hours with her - as tiring and demanding as that can be on be at times since it doesn't allow me time for much else when I'm home. But that's ok - laundry can wait, I've got a baby to grow!
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