8 Months with Zelie

This girl. Glasses and hair exist only for her entertainment, never beyond her exceptionally strong grasp. She has a seriously low, loud growl, and she's constantly shrieking and clapping her hands. Is there a time when her arms are not flailing? Questionable. She's got personality, and it's LOUD. I guess when you've got to compete for attention with the 2.5 year old who NEVER. STOPS. TALKING. 

Let's get right into the nitty gritty.

EATS.

AKA THE STRUGGLE. I have been suffering through trying to feed this baby solid food twice a day for approx. two months. It's always a huge mess, something I didn't mind much with one kid, but now is a big inconvenience. But we forge onward. I don't want to jinx, but it seems—as of this week—that she's warming up to them. She LOVES Puffs all of a sudden (YAY MY FAVORITE PARENTING TOOL) and she's starting to actually open her mouth to take bites of things. Baby steps. Baby steps. 

Breastfeeding is going much more smoothly than it was with Little Will at this point. Probably because she actually likes it. She isn't as distracted. She's never taken a bottle, though we haven't really tried (no point, unless you want to volunteer to come watch her for an entire day? *sob sob sob*), so yeah, she's really into the boob. 

Her routine is pretty solid now that we are settled in the new house - 6:30 nurse, 10:30 nurse after nap, 12:30 lunch (solids), 2:30 nurse after nap, 5:00 dinner (solids), 6:30 nurse for bedtime, and then a 4am-ish nurse. 

SLEEPS.

Great improvement has been had in this area. She struggled with sleep from about 3-6 months with the 4-month sleep regression. And then there was a period of time after the move when she was dropping her third nap, so things got dicey at night again (3+ wake-ups) and I decided to sleep train/night wean. She goes down at 6:30, takes a 4am feed, and wakes for the day at 6-6:30. I could probably drop that 4am feed with some effort, but at this point I really don't mind it. 

UNLESS I STEP IN DOG PUKE ON MY WAY TO GO IN AND FEED HER. (This morning's episode. Can you tell?)

She takes two naps a day. Typically one short nap in the car in the morning (30-ish minutes) and then a longer afternoon nap (1-2 hours) that overlaps with big brother. 

We had both kids in the same room for a while, but I moved Z into the pack n play in the guest room for sleep training purposes. (She'd always nap there so Will would have access to his beloved train table.) Even though they never woke each other up, I didn't want to risk it. Then immediately after sleep training, they both came down with colds so I kept them separated. And now I suppose it's just inertia, she's still in there. Maybe I'll move her back soon. 

Maybe I'll just make this face

and not deal.

POOPS.

Siggghhhhh. When babies start solids, man, it's never fun. Every poop is a blowout, but the timing is always unpredictable. So that's fun. She's in size 4 disposables, which was pretty cool, because Little Will could squeeze into the same size, so I was only buying one box of diapers each time. BUT, little dude is potty trained now, which is so much better. 

This girl hates diaper changes with something fierce. Feeding her and changing her diaper are some of the most frustrating parts of being her mom, but she makes up for it by always giving me a round of applause for my efforts.

6 Months with Zelie

Hey, y'all. It's been a while. Lots to update, so buckle up. This one may be a doozie. 

When I last blogged, Zelie was but a four month old blob of squish. Now she's a six month old blob of squish. It's a subtle difference, but read to the end, and I think you'll come to really appreciate the nuances.

Her personality is still very very happy and giggly. She kicks her legs and squeals with delight regularly. Belle of the ball at the commissary, this one. Unfortunately she is regularly in my lap when this kicking and squealing happens and I have a frightening assortment of bruises on my legs. 

She has powerful legs. Some would call them thunder thighs. 

She spends way too much time in my her favorite baby toy, the walker. 

But I was given the OK by her physical therapist, sooooo it's fine, right? 

Let's just dive right in with the baby stuff and I PROMISE you, the various life updates will just flow right out of my fingers. 

6 Month Well-Baby Stats:

• 18 lbs., 11 oz. (93rd percentile)
• 67.9cm long (84th percentile)
• 42.6cm of lopsided dome (56th percentile)

EATS

Breastfeeding is going well. Since my last update, I've battled a couple supply dips here and there, but nothing constant nursing couldn't fix. On the form at the doctor today, I wrote that she eats approximately every 2-4 hours for approximately 5-30 minutes each session. So that narrows it down for ya.

She's tried her first few solid foods just this past week. We started with throwing her some table food to keep her occupied in her high chair - sweet potato fries, mashed up peas, watermelon, and banana. Not sure anything actually made it into her belly. Yesterday I tried spoon feeding her a puree for the first time and it was an adorably epic fail. I forgot to try today, but this weekend we'll work on purees a little more to see if we can get her to figure out swallowing. 

SLEEPS

Dude. My blogging hiatus has mostly to do with the lack of sleep that occurred from 3.5 months to 5.5 months. This was indeed a two-month long four month sleep regression. My girl was NOT interested in sleeping at night. Or during the day for that matter, but nights were hard. 

Also during this time I started going to the gym with the kids in the mornings, so any bit of afternoon nappage was used to shower and eat, so there was no time/interest in blogging. **Impromptu postpartum weight loss update** I started going to the gym back in March and ever since I've lost over 10 pounds and 5% body fat. I reached my pre-pregnancy weight May 3 at 4.5 months postpartum. (I only know this from my Fitbit app! I'm not THAT crazy proud of it. ) BUT, my clothes STILL weren't fitting - so now I'm working in a lot of strength training to get my core back. I am 3 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight, 20 pounds down from New Years, and my ab muscles are only just starting to come back together. But anyway - I LOVE being able to go to the gym and I will miss it deeply when we move. 

Back to the sleep stuff . . . Z turned the corner - FINALLY - a couple of weeks ago. Now she is typically waking only once between 6:30 and 6, but up for the day pretty early. The longer stretches are such a game changer for me though! I no longer DREAD the thought of going to bed. Moms you know what I'm talking about.

POOPS

I've been lazy about cloth diapering, so it's been all disposables for a while now. We went on a trip to Chicago and it took me, oh, I dunno, about THREE weeks to get caught up with the laundry. And at that point she grew out of Size 3 diapers, but obviously I have about 100 left, so I need to use them up while they still kind of fit. 

She will go several days without pooping - a solid week recently - and then just unleash her fury all at once. I changed five poopy diapers of hers today and two of them were massive blowouts. 

When I last updated, Zelie was battling TERRIBLE skin issues and was doing PT for plagiocephaly/torticollis. About a month ago, we finally saw a pediatric dermatologist for her skin, and she was diagnosed with eczema, psoriasis, AND cradle cap. She also had staph colonization that exacerbates her eczema. So her treatment involves nightly bleach baths, Elidel, steroidal ointment (when necessary - haven't actually needed it!), and ketacanazole shampoo. 

It seems like a lot, and to be honest, going from weekly to nightly baths are kind of a pain in the butt, but her skin is utterly perfect now. 

No photo shoot head polishing necessary. 

Every night is a long process. Fill up the tub with water and 1/4 C bleach, throw in the kids to soak for 5-10 minutes. Then on top of that we must drain, rinse, and lather them all up. Rinse again. Then on top of that we have to apply Cetaphyl cream, any necessary ointments, and wrestle them both into jammies. I've done the whole rigamarole once by myself and needed a life vacation afterwards. Will and I have developed a good routine, but skip just a day and you see a big difference in their skin. 

She was also recently discharged from physical therapy! She has a little bit of weakness and tightness left on one side, but it's barely noticeable and not contributing to any delays so we high-tailed it out of there. Her head is still asymmetrical, and it probably always will be, but we are confident that it will (a) round out just a little more naturally and (b) she will inherit a full head of hair, such that it won't be noticeable to the naked eye. 

Fingers and toes crossed anyway.

She is sitting up on her own (way better than Will was at this point). 

She puts everything she can in her mouth, and will attempt to put your face skin right on in there. 

She is constantly planking, pushing up to all fours, and rocking back and forth. She scoots around a little bit backwards, too. It's only a matter of time before she takes off crawling. 

We have two weeks left in Illinois before the big move to California. We still don't have the packers/movers scheduled (thanks, TMO) and we still don't have a place to live on the other end. We've been stagnant at number 9 on the base housing wait list for a couple of months. We did try pursuing a rental in the nearest town 20+ miles away, but we were passed up for another renter even though the move-in date isn't until August. Homes get scooped up quiiiick near the base. It is PCS season, so we'll see what opens up in the area when we arrive. Until then we'll just be like Zelie - wanting to move, trying to move, but not really. 

4 Months with Zelie

Well, you know how it goes. I had a whole post typed out and then *poof!* The Internet ate it. I will NEVER get this up if I don't do it now! So here is the TL;DR version:

Zelie is 4 months! We love her. She sleeps pretty well (eats 2x a night) and nursing is cruising along. She is beginning to show her very LOUD, active, and crazy cheerful personality. She will have no problems keeping up with her big bro. We are doing PT for plagio and torticollis and she smiles through most of the torture exercises. Puts everything in her mouth. And has THIS FACE:

SIBLING LOVE.

She has a growing devotion to Our Lady, just like her patroness.

Deep in prayer.

Oh and she drools a lot.

The hair curtain continues to close!

William at 4 months.

3 Months with Zelie

She turned three months on St. Paddy's Day. I sort of thought this post would never happen because I kept procrastinating this photo shoot, but I did it! HUZZAH. Nap time is a finite amount of time, you know? 

So let's talk about little Zelie, whose personality has really come out the past month.

She's a screacher.

This is exactly what she does when she screeches. Over and over. And it. is. hilarious. (For now at least.)

I'm sort of nervous about this because we have some air travel coming up. Just me and the two kids. By myself. Please say a Hail Mary for me.

I guess I'm praying the jet engines drown her out. 

She's adorable though. I can always get a smile or a giggle out of her. When the camera's not in front of my face anyway. 

At her plagio appointment on March 7 (so, a little over two weeks ago), she was 14 lbs, 2 oz. (85th %ile) and 24 inches (83rd %ile). I prefer having her in leggings and onesies unlike her brother because she's too long for 6 month sized sleepers, but she's swimming in 9 month sized. Her size 2 Huggies diapers are getting a little snug, but I'm sure size 3 will be too big, too. 

She does pretty well in the car seat, as long as the car or stroller is moving. And she still generally hates being worn facing me in an infant carrier, Ergo or Moby, makes no difference. I am SO happy I splurged for the Ergo360. 

EATS. Ah, she is the sweetest little nurser. At the end of a feed, she will stare up at me and smile and coo. Vast difference from her brother who would just puke all over me.

I've seen a big uptick in spit-ups, which I think corresponded with the end of a growth spurt, so I'm hoping that slows down. 

She's definitely spaced out feeds to 2.5 to 3 hours during the day and she's gone 9 hours between feeds at night (just the once though). 

Haven't offered her any bottles this past month. Just out of laziness. Hope I don't end up regretting it!

Oh and still wearing boob diapers. You know you were wondering. 

SLEEPS. As you already know, she's crib trained! It's been really great. We use blackout curtains and a white noise machine in her room, put her in the halo swaddle, sometimes pop a pacifier in, and she's usually asleep very quickly. And she's pretty much never napped less than 45 minutes in her crib (unless she's had part of her nap in the Moby - which has happened and she transferred well), so it's nice to know that I can actually complete an entire task (like a blog post!) once she's asleep. 

She typically wakes at about 6:30 and needs a nap about one hour after waking for the day. If she wakes between 6 and 6:30 I'll try and get her to go back down, which is hit or miss. (Yesterday was a hit and she slept from 6-8am, today was a miss and she was up for the day at 6.) Her wake times are generally around 1-1.5 hours. 

She has about 5 naps a day, give or take. I try not to let her nap past about 6:30pm to have her in bed by 8, but sometimes I fail because it's nice to eat dinner while she's asleep. Bedtime is between 7 and 8, but I think that 7:30-8 seems to be a better window.

She wakes anywhere between 1 to 4 times during that 12 hour window. It's been pretty unpredictable which is a bummer, but I think it's usually twice. But on the rare occasion when I get a 4 or 5 hour stretch, it really is magical. Still no diaper changes at night which makes it all very bearable. When I hear her on the monitor, I zombie walk into her room, un-swaddle her arms, nurse her on the very comfortable guest room bed half-asleep, burp her, swaddle her arms back up, put her down, and shuffle back into bed (or hit up the bathroom if I'm feeling cRaZy). This usually takes about 10-15 minutes. It's really not so bad.

POOPS. We are back to cloth diapering, which is going fine. A couple of her diapers started leaking because the PUL broke down, so that's kind of annoying. I thought it was a fit issue, but the PUL is absorbing pee, so it's definitely just the 2-3 diapers that have been over-used. Otherwise, it's super easy and I can't wait until it's warm enough to just have her in a diaper and t-shirt. She still rarely poops (every 3 days or so), but when she does, she poops the poops of 100 babies. And it reeeeeeks. Little Will may have pooped all day err day, but at least it wasn't as dense and smelly. So he had that going for him. Props, lil' man.

This head doe. 

She's still rocking a cone head. And she's got the same weird rat tail that Little Will had. 

I call it her hair curtain. 

MILESTONES.

// Rolling tummy to back. She can crush some tummy time. I am certain that we will get to her PT eval for her neck and they will be like, Ummmm why are you here. 

// Starting to grip objects in her hand. If placed in her hand. Nothing superbaby status. 

// Lost 80% of her hair.

// Crib-trained.

Like don't you just want to squeeze that belleh?

LINKS.

Will at 3 Months. 

Zell-Bell at 1 Month & 2 Months.