My Little Lainie Months 12-16.5

As with Ruthie, I had all intentions of doing a 12-15 month post, but here we are at almost 16.5 months and here is her update!

Size:
This size is actually more at 15 months from her doctors appointment.
Height: 32 1/4" (91%).  I actually think this one is pretty accurate, despite the way they measure them.

Weight: 24lbs 4oz (72%). 

Comparatively, at this age Ruthie was 31" and 23lbs.

She wears size 4 diapers and is in 24month/2T clothes. There are a few 18 month things we can squeeze her into, but for the most part I get her clothes from Ruthie's clothes pile.  I think by summer they'll be in the same size clothes all the time.

Sleep:
Lainie is an awesome sleeper, something I never thought I'd say a year ago.  She is the easiest baby ever to put down, which took a lot of work but now we're incredibly thankful for.  She naps from about 9am-10:30, and 1pm-3:30 ish.

Nighttime sleep, she goes down very close to 7pm and wakes up sometime after 6am, usually talking, jumping in her crib and giggling.

Our routine for putting her down (solely for my memory) is we give her the paci, turn on the noisemaker, she almost immediately lays her head down on your shoulder and plays with your hair and then we lay her down and put her blanket on her. 

Over the next few months we're going to move her into Ruthie's room so that the baby's room is ready and I'd be lying if I didn't say I am completely dreading slightly anxious about it.  She is so easy right now, I just honestly don't want to rock the boat (although thats rapidly coming again in August!).

Eating:
Lainie is a sweet and meats kind of girl.  If its green, she is NOT interested.  She has 100% thrown me.  I honestly thought we had something to do with what a great eater Ruthie is and now I'm really thinking (like most things) I have no idea what I'm doing and how on earth to get this little girl to eat veggies, much less love them. 

She eats like a big girl and doesn't want to be fed (which I attribute to watching her sister).  She wants a whole sandwich, a whole banana, a whole cheese stick, etc.  She does incredibly well with them all too.

She loves mandarin oranges, most of the time bananas, blueberries, most all fruits, and most meats.  She eats almost as much salmon as we do and has really slowed down on her milk intake, sticking mainly with water.  I think her top fav right now is lasagna

She can spot a cupcake or cookie from a mile away and loves going to Harris Teeter probably because of the cookies after check out.

She's gotten really good at eating with spoons and forks.

Mobility:
She is a runner and even more than that a full on dance machine.  I absolutely love it, she loves music and dancing almost more than anything.  Her current favorite song is I like to Move it, Move it, with Old Chisolm trail a close second.

Nickname:
Still baby Naynay

Words:
Man, does she want to talk so bad.  She talks all the time and I wish I knew what she was saying.  She loves to sing the abc song and sings it seriously and immediately claps and says yeah when its over, then aggressively signs more until we start over.  Its so cute.

She says, Mama, Dada, Thank you, Gigi, Papa, ChloChlo, ball, yeah, wahoo, cheese, feet (a song we sing), uh oh, okay, and lots more I can't think of right now.

She's started to say 2 words together, mainly thank you Gigi.  Its so cute and sweet.

Teeth:
Wow, these teeth really do a number on this sweet girl.  For the past 2 months, she's been pretty unhappy and miserable from molars.  About a week ago, they must've all broken through, because she is so happy and came back to us!  We are loving it.  She has 4 top and 4 bottom and 4 molars now.  I'm hoping we have a small break from the teething misery.

Loves:
Chloe
going to the beach
Dancing, all the time.  One of my favorite things.
Me, I'm soaking up being her favorite for now because I know it won't last!
balloons
animals
walking Chloe (still worlds greatest dog)

Elmo- or MelMoh, loves him.

playing in the dirt and helping with the garden
swinging
being chased

being tickled (especially under her chin)
bathtime
Papa, I think she loves him more than me, pretty sure of it.  Loves love loves him.
She loves songs with hand motions, twinkle twinkle, Everybody clap (from the wiggles, although we've never seen the wiggles, it was at storytime),

Signs:
More, please, and all done.  Thats about all we need, she can get her point across.

Other:
Lainie is definitely my little cheerleader.  She loves to clap for you and say Yeah!  When Joel finishes grinding the coffee, he gets cheered,  when I turn on the washing machine I get cheered. It is so cute. 
She loves to say "Hey" when you come in the room, you may have only left for 2 seconds but she still does it. 

We're pretty sure she's a full blown genius, or either this is what happens to children when they can observe an older sibling.  She will go to the potty and use it if you ask her if she needs to go.  Crazy. She (thusfar) has gone every time I've put her on it.  We don't have any plans to try and potty train her right now, but we're both blown away at how much she understands.
We're really working on her being able to go up and down the stairs by herself.  This is a major goal prior to baby #3 coming.
She is the cuddler of the family.  She will come over and hug and kiss you and put her head on your shoulder. One of lifes sweetest things.

 





She is a girly girl.  She loves to wear earrings, necklaces, her tinkerbell dress,

a purse, and all things girl!

 

Like her sister, she can scowl.  When she first sees someone, she furrows her brow and scowls until she becomes your best friend (which happens a lot faster if you have a cookie).

She loves to get on her stool and help me and Ruthie in the kitchen, or just get on the stool.  She is a big fan of stirring things up and doesn't want to be left out of anything.  Its a little nervewracking because someone always needs to be standing right with her on the stool.

I can't believe how big Lainie has gotten and how sweet she is.  man do we love this girl.

My Little Lainie Month 7

This has been a big month at our house with regards to Lainie.  It seems like she's made the leap to a mobile baby and is constantly exploring now.  She is still one of the happiest baby's I've ever seen and we are so thankful for her. 

Month 7

Eating:
This has been a big change.  Earlier this month, Joel had to go on a work trip, so the girls and I went and stayed with Papa and Gigi for the week.  Lainie went into eating bootcamp.  By the end of the week, she was eating like a champ off a spoon and not gagging at all.  It was night and day difference from the beginning of the week.  I started out making her food, but we've realized this time around the time and money it takes to make all organic baby food is more than paying for it.  I've had good luck buying other peoples leftover babyfood (unopened and still well within the expiration date) for about 1/3 of the price it is in the store.  She really loves Kiwi/banana mix and doesn't like green beans and rice.  I skipped the stage 1 food and went to stage 2.  By the end of the month, she was eating solids three times a day lining up with our mealtimes.

She is still nursing about every three hours during the day and once at night.  She really wants to see whats going on constantly, so she gets distracted any time there is a noise.  There have been a few days where I've tried to go to a 4 hour schedule, I think its time for that.

Size:
Still big!  I weighed her on our home scale and she's right at 18 pounds!  She's wearing 9-12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.  She's hit a major growth spurt over this month and we've had to put the baby toys at the next level up (the exersaucer and jumperoo).

Nighttime Sleep:
The first part of this month was a continuation of the last part of month 6.  It was really really really tough.  She was getting up every 45 minutes to 2 hours and eating constantly.  It was the growth spurt that never ended and turned into a habit!  I was worried something was wrong bc it was so out of character and after we had our well baby check, the doctor gave us the all clear and told me we needed to started letting her settle herself back down.  I don't have any problem doing this, but it is much harder to do when a baby is in your room and you hear every move they make.  Thankfully, when we went to Gigi and Papas, they gave me their room (THANK YOU!) so Lainie could sleep in their closet.  That was about all it took. Having her own space (and not hearing me constantly rolling), she immediately went back to waking up once a night anytime between 2-5am. Lainie needs her own space.  period.  Thankfully, after we came home, those sleep patterns continued.    She also wakes up happy and is so cute.

Daytime Sleep:
She's still a great napper at home.  She takes 2-3 naps a day and it depends on what we're doing. She sleeps great in her crib, not so great in the carseat unless she's really tired bc she wants to see what Ruthie's doing constantly, not so great in the stroller for the same reasons as the carseat.  I'm really thankful she'll sleep best in her crib.  She's now put down awake in the crib and it is so nice that she can settle herself down and sleep!

Mobility:
She is up on her knees rocking for all she's worth.  She is minutes from crawling and really now is getting close to being able to go from laying down to a sitting position.  She can sit by herself, reach for anything, jump her head off, and can roll across the room.

Eyes:
Just like her Daddy, bright and blue. 

Paci:
In the crib and carseat.

Swaddled:
No longer!  This was probably the best Mother's Day gift I got.  On mother's day morning, Joel got both girls up and took over while I mowed, weed-eated and cleaned the car (when did that become a fun activity? It sure is now!!).  Anyways, he put Lainie down swaddled for her morning nap, she busted out and instead of re-swaddling her, he let her go (which I don't think I could've done had I been in the house).  He did that for her naps that day, and that was all it took.  Three naps, and she was no longer swaddled and had no problems being put down.  What a gift! and a relief.

Nickname:
Naynay

Hair:
I think she has about as much hair as Ruthie did at 1 year old.   Her bald spot is all but done and she has soft dark fuzz all over.  Its still longer on the top back and shorter in the front. 

Loves:
Still the jumperoo.  Its awesome.
Ruthie, lights up when she comes down the stairs.

Toys.  She plays so much.

Making noise, squealing, talking.

A bottle of water, loves it.
The beach.  Our neighbors gave us a pop up tot tent and we love it.  Lainie has napped in it while Ruthie plays at the beach.  Its great.  She's also starting to love splashing in the water, which we love of course.

Bathtime.  We've almost stopped using the baby bathtub and just let her play in the tub with Ruthie.  Its going to be really nice to not have that out in the bathroom!

Other:

I can't think of much else.  She is growing like a weed, so happy and a joy.  I love this stage and have a feeling this month will bring crawling into the game!

My Little Lainie Month 5

How my sweet baby is already 5 months old is beyond me. She grows sweeter every day and adds so much joy to not only Joel and my lives but also her best friend and sister. I love it and am so thankful for the relationship my girls have. It is something I couldn't have imagine. Here is her 5 month update

Eating:

She is still nursing every three hours during the day. We've given her rice cereal and an avocado/milk mixture occassionally but not consistently. I think we're going to wait a few weeks to get serious about it.

I made the decision to cut dairy from my diet about 3 weeks ago. Lainie wasn't showing blaring signs of a dairy sensitivity, but she had a few things that we thought might make it worth trying. Half my diet is cheese so I wasn't sure how it was going to go, and its gone surprisingly well. I think it has definitely helped Lainie and of course that makes it totally worth it. I think overall I'm eating better which is better for both of us. I still put a little bit of milk in my iced coffee, but I think thats about it. Eventually, I'll add back cheese and drink a huge glass of milk, but I think its been a good wake up call about how much butter I could easily cut from our diets and not miss it. The main thing I miss about butter is cookies, but thats another post! Back to Lainie!

Foods she is sensitive to: dairy, tomatoes, pizza (pretty much most italian and mexican I lived off of!)

Size:

At her last doctors appt. which was about 4 1/2 months she was 14 pounds, 12. 5 ounces (57%), 25 3/4 " (85%). Just like we thought, super long and skinny.

As a comparison Ruthie was 13 pounds and 24 1/2 inches.

She is in 6 month clothes which are definitely not too big. I'm not getting anymore 6 month clothes for her, I don't think 9 month clothes are far off. Time to change the drawers out!

Night time Sleep:

This month has been all over the place again. She's had a few major growth spurts and been up every 3 hours or so. She goes to sleep usually between 7:30-8:00pm and on a good night will sleep until 4 or 5am. Other nights, she'll sleep from about 7:30-2am, which is still decent. After eating, she'll go right back down until 6:30am or 7am.

Daytime Sleep:

She has gotten on a really great schedule when we're at home. I put her down awake, and She usually sleeps from about 8am-10am, 11am-12:30pm ish, and 2-4pm. Some days she'll take an evening cat nap from about 5:15-5:45pm or so.

Lainie, like her sister, gets sick of being held and sometimes just wants to be put down. I finally wised up one day and just laid her down awake and off to sleep she went. It was a great realization!

She still 98% of the time wakes up so happy, its so sweet!

Mobility:

She can roll from tummy to back and is so close to rolling from her back to her tummy. We keep thinking she's minutes from doing it, so we'll see! She's really pushing up on her arms during tummy time now also. I love this non-mobile stage, its fun to see her doing new things.

She is also really good at standing up and just needs help balancing.

She's getting close to sitting up also!

Down she goes!

TIMMMM BEERRRRRRR

Eyes:

All blue and sparkley! Her eyes seem to be getting bigger and brighter every week

Paci:

Still only at naptime and night time.

Swaddled:

Yes, love it.

Nickname:

NayNay all the way.

Hair:

Her hair is such a soft fuzz that sticks up and so cute! She's starting to grow a little bit of hair in the bald spot on the back of her hair.

She loves:

She loves almost everything. She coos, blows bubbies and rasberries. She is really proud of that! She really enjoys all toys and plays with them. She's very interested in touching everything she can reach.

She loves to be lifted over your head like an airplane. Still loves the saucey, and a new toy I got off Craigslist that I thought was more for Ruthie but Lainie likes it more than Ruthie does.

Side Note-this may be one of my favorite pictures yet. They were both having so much fun together, hopefully the first of many! She still loves to be talked to and smiled at.

She also really loves the beach and being outside. She seems to always be studying her surroundings.

She doesn't love:

being kept awake when she's sleepy, the carseat when she's wide awake, strangers.

Other:

Lainie needs to learn your face before she'll go happily to anyone. I guess its the start of stranger anxiety. Once she gives you a smile, you're good to go, but until then, she can pucker bigtime and turn on the tears. Its pitiful!

She is still so easy going and goes with about anything happily. She's predictable, smiley, laughs a lot, is very ticklish, she loves to kick her feet and loves a bath.

She still will randomly lay her head down on Joel's chest, and it is still one of the sweetest things we've ever seen.

She can hold items easily and keeps ahold of them.

I think thats about it for month 5. Love love love this baby and can't imagine life without her!

My Little Lainie-Month 4

This past month has been so much fun and I feel like we're really getting more into the groove of life. I can't remember what things were like before Lainie was apart of our familiy and she has added so much joy to each of our lives. I am so thankful for this little baby.

Eating:

This month Lainie is still eating like a champ. She nurses about every three hours during the day and once at night. She has had a few growth spurts and would eat two times a night, but usually just once. I'm thinking we'll introduce solids much sooner than we did with Ruthie. I have no idea why we wanted to wait so long with Ruthie, but we did. Lainie is so much bigger at this stage, I think solids will probably make more of a difference than it did with Ruthie.

Size:

Still huge. She's not one bit fat, but is the longest thing ever. Most everyone thinks she is a 6 month old and when I tell them how old she is, they are very surprised. We're heading to the doctor in a few weeks and will get the update on her weight and height.

She's in 6 month clothes and they are a little bit big around, but not too long. She is still in size 2 diapers.

Daytime Sleep:

She's doing really well. Whenever we're home I do my best to get her in her crib for naps or the stroller if we're on the beach. She's sleeping usually from about 8:30-9:45ish, 11:30-1ish, 2:30-4pmish. I've been cutting out the last nap of the day, but if she takes it, it is usually for 30-45 minutes.

She is so happy when she wakes up, it is so cute and one of our favorite things.

Nighttime Sleep:

Overall, this month has been fairly good. She's been sleeping from about 8pm-4am, then back down until 7am. She hasn't had any additional nights of sleeping through the night, but I know its coming. Like I mentioned she's had a few other growth spurts where she has either woken up at 10pm, or 1am. It makes such a difference to only get up once a night! I remember that month 4 with Ruthie was a nightmare with sleep, so I feel a little more prepared. I've found that if I just accept that it is a growth spurt and get up, instead of wonder why she isn't sleeping as good and what are we doing wrong, it is so much better for my sanity.

Eyes:

I'm almost certain there is no going back, she's a blue eyed girl!

Paci:

Yes, but only when she's tired.

Swaddled:

Yes. She has completely filled up the miracle blanket, so I'm thinking we won't be able to use it as long. It really works wonders for us. Theres a reason Jesus was swaddled :-)

Nickname:

NayNay. Done.

Hair:

She has a totally bald spot on the back of her head, but other than that she has really soft fuzz all over. She hasn't lost as much hair as Ruthie did, but she has the mullet starting. I will absolutely not wait as long to cut it off this time. No more mullets in this family.

She loves:

This baby loves to be talked to, she constantly talks back to you.

The bath, until its time to get out. Loves loves loves the bath, especially when she can laugh at Ruthie.

The bouncey seat. Wow, she loves the bouncey seat.

The jumperoo. She doesn't last as long in it as she will the bouncey seat, but she is so good at jumping in it.

Looking around on her tummy.

To be held facing out so she can see everything. She is much happier that way.

She doesn't Love:

There really isn't much she doesn't love. I would say she still doesn't like to be held like a baby, unless she's really tired, and still not really.

She's starting to have a little bit of stranger anxiety. I don't even think I can call it that, its more first time meeting anxiety. She's really starting to take everything in, so she has to learn each person first before she'll start smiling and talking to them. After she warms up, she's all smiles.

Firsts:

She rolled over! From her tummy to her back.

She can really grab toys now and intentionally goes for things.

She plays with toys on the jumperoo. She is very interested in all of the things on it.

Other:

Lainie is so easy. She maybe has 4-5 days a month where she is fussy in the evenings, and other than those days she is so, so sweet all the time. She smiles with her entire face, laughs, giggles, coos, wraps her arm around you.

-She has one of the most perfectly round heads I've ever seen. It is very rub-able.

-I thought she was getting Joel's eyebrows, but now I think they're mine.

She will lay her head down on Joel's chest occassionally and it is so incredibly sweet.

We love this baby!

My Little Lainie-Month 3

Sweet, sweet NayNay, I'm pretty sure that nickname has stuck and we love having you around. You are easy, laid back, quiet, smiley and just a joy. We love her little heart shaped chin and snuggly self. This past month has been great and your personality is coming out more every week.

Eating:

You are still a great eater and are on a three hour eating schedule usually beginning each day at 7am. Sometimes you'll go 3 1/2-4 hours, and others you'll be starving at 2 1/2 hours. You are not a snacker at all. You eat until you're full then you stop. If I try and continue, you are over it and let me know loudly. There is no nursing you to sleep either, which I'm really thankful for. One less habit to break!

Size:

Man, she is so much bigger than Ruthie was at this age. She is very long and lean. She is in 6 month clothes and if I try and squeeze her into 3-6 month clothes, when she bends her knees she usually pops the snaps open. She is still in size 2 diapers.

Daytime Sleep:

I'm really working hard at getting her to nap in her crib for longer periods. I usually am playing with Ruthie while holding Lainie swaddled and when she starts to get drowsy I take her upstairs and put her in the crib. It is harder to do this consistently with what we have going on as I don't feel like I can tie Ruthie down to Lainie's nap schedule. If I did, we would never leave our house and I don't think Ruthie would appreciate it. Lainie has been waking up earlier in her naps than I want her to, so I've been trying to cut her waketime by a few minutes. When I go in and get her she is usually all smiles and kicking her feet like crazy. She gets very excited to see anyone. Its so cute! I really need to get it on video so we don't forget how cute it is.

Nighttime Sleep:

This month has been all over. For the first 2 1/2 weeks she was sleeping from about 8pm-4am, eating then back asleep until 7am. The third week she hit a growth spurt and started waking up at 2am, 4:30am, and then 7am. On January 28th (not that I'm keeping track :-), our prayers were answered and she slept from 9pm-7am. It was incredible, and other than me being really uncomfortable, man was it nice to sleep! She hasn't done it since, but its coming and we can't wait!

Eyes:

They're really blue, we'll see if they stay. We think they will.

Swaddled:

Yes, its so nice to keep her from flailing her arms. I'm glad we kept doing it. I wasn't sure if she was going to be a swaddled baby, but I read several things on it and almost all said keep trying it even if it didn't seem like they liked it and it worked.

Paci:

Yes, but she's not as into it as Ruthie was at this point. She takes it when she starts to get sleepy and spits it out when she's good and asleep.

Nickname:

NayNay it is. Ruthie is constantly calling her this and often times hears her crying before I do and points upstairs and yells NayNay. Its really cute.

She Loves:

-Bathtime. Ruthie helps me give her a bath and Lainie will smile away at Ruthie while she washes her feet.

-Joel, she always turns her head when she hears him and unfortunately for me, he has taken over as her favorite!

-Peekaboo. She really loves to have you come into her view as a surprise when she's laying on her back. Her whole face lights up.

-The playmat, she's not as into Mr. Octopus, but is more into the other toy.

-Being held upright and looking out.

-She's gotten really good at standing up.

-She loves to talk to you now. This video gets better about 41 seconds in

She doesn't love:

The carseat for extended periods of time (who can blame her).

Being held like a baby

The Bumbo for more than about 30 seconds.

Other:

Lainie is a very sweet girl. In general, she wakes up, eats, plays, smiles and talks, gets a little fussy, we wrap her up. She cries for about 30 seconds then starts to close her eyes (she does this a few times). Occassionally she has the witching hour, which I just hate for Joel because its typically right when he gets home or right at dinner time. Its very rare for her to cry more than a few minutes (outside of the carseat) and for that I'm very thankful. This month she started sticking her tongue out a lot and doing it when she smiles, again..so cute!

Its so funny to me how different her and Ruthie already are. Apart from looking completely different, Lainie is not near as serious as Ruthie was/is. I think she's going to be more of an extrovert, but we'll see!

We're starting to get into a groove as a family of four and are much more comfortable going out and about with both girls. I think a lot of it is the fact that we're all starting to sleep more. Speaking of my sweet littlest girl, I better go get her up!