baby

Marching On

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The Avester is getting pretty good at walking. She enjoys putting on her shoes and heading out. She’s got to work on getting up and down steps but soon she should be able to wander around without much help.

California has been in the oven the past month and we have been held up in our nice air conditioned house. I think Aves gets stir crazy sometimes but then I think of the book The Room and I’m like, girl, you’re good. In all seriousness,  it’s been too hot to be outside for long, plain miserable. If we were outside, water was involved.

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She is now 14 months. I have started her on some sign language, just a few basic signs. She is catching on fast but I’m not so sure she quite understands what she is saying, but she will. We don’t have much language, she can say dada and growls for “doggy” but that’s about it. She does babble and laughs a lot, she melts my heart. Not everything is getting put in her mouth anymore, she is good about stopping if I tell her “Averi, not in your mouth.” I was doing  a bunch of art activities with Kaili at her age because K never had any sort of oral fixation. I am still hesitant to do much with A, hopefully soon. I know she will love it.

IMG_6013We stopped bottles completely, no problem. I tried everything I could to get her to drink milk but she doesn’t want it. Without the milk, her constipation stopped. She get’s her dairy through yogurt and cheese and that doesn’t seem to bother her…luckily.

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I have to admit, I am looking forward to the holidays with the girls, fun times ahead.

11 Months

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11 months old. I can’t remember Kaili at this age, even going back and looking at her pictures it’s like I lost all memory of what she was doing at this age.

Averi is cruising around the furniture like a pro and has stood on her own for .2 seconds but that’s it for now.

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I can’t tell you how excited I am to get rid of formula and stop washing bottles. I’m like really really excited about that.

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She still puts anything and everything she can grab into her mouth. She is also getting better with eating solids. She loves her carbs, bread, crackers, pasta, pizza, bagels, waffles, veggie chips you name it. She usually takes a bite of her fruit and then drops the rest on the floor, along with anything else healthy.

Not sure how much she weighs but I’m betting she is gaining on her sister.

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She has 4 teeth and two pushing through as we speak. She is getting her own little personality and for the most part is a happy girl. She is easy to take places, she likes to people watch and is happy to be pushed along in her stroller. A friend of ours got her to fall asleep in her stroller at a party. Kaili never did that, as a matter of fact Kaili has never fallen asleep anywhere other than her bed or the carseat and that has only happened about 3 times.

I can’t wait to see what the next few months brings.

Happy almost 1 year baby girl.

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10 Months

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Averi is 10 months old and I can’t say its been easy. She is waking up at night again and has NOT slept past 6:00 am it seems in weeks. She is whiny, clingy and cries if I put her down, walk away or even look in a different direction.

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She looks so cute and happy there doesn’t she. Well really, it’s all a ruse. This is how she usually looks, at least when no one else is around.

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In her defense, she is getting two more teeth, so that probably isn’t helping. She has also mastered pulling herself up on furniture or anything sturdy or not. But she is afraid to sit back down because she has bumped her chin a couple of times. This is a big problem, huge problem. She will be happy and crawling around then she will reach the couch and pull herself up and then cry. Then someone, usually me will go to her and help her sit back down and she will cry even harder. This continues all day long. She does the same thing in her crib, so that’s how that goes.I think she just wants to walk and strut around the house like she owns the place and honestly I will welcome that if it stops the crying.

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She isn’t the best eater. She doesn’t like anything other than purees and yogurt, I am wondering if it’s a texture issue. She turned her nose at avocado and mashed banana, and sweet potato bits. So I haven’t gone out of my way to try much else. She touches the food and then makes a face and wipes her hands on her clothes. Aca-awesome. She does love her baby crackers, puffs and cheerios, probably because they aren’t mushy or sticky, or who the hell knows. I am not going to worry about it until she turns 1.

Kaili is a pretty good big sister but she is super territorial and doesn’t want to share any of her toys with Averi but Averi HAS to share her toys with her because…duh. But when Averi is crying Kaili will bust out singing “Hush little baby” and Averi stops, at least for a minute. I finally googled the rest of the lyrics to that song, and what baby wants cart and bull?

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These two, I love them to the moon but they do a good job keeping me on my toes.

Averi

~ Girlmom ~ 1 Comment

This kid!

She is sitting up on her own, which is great because now she will play with her toys. I no longer have to entertain her all day. She has been sleeping 6:30 to 6:30 straight with the exception of a random wake up on a random day. Her interest in food is growing and she eats more than Kaili ever did. I gave her yogurt for the first time and it went over very well. Her new thing is spitting while eating, makes for an entertaining meal time.

At her last Dr visit she weighed 15 lbs. that is still low percentage wise but she is going to be bigger that her sister, no doubt.

This is a fun age. I’ve got to soak it up because before I know it she will be on the move!

 

A Half a Year

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It’s been 6 1/2 whole months since Miss Averi has come into the world. This is when time starts to speed up, at least that is when it happened with K.

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At 6 months Averi is is having a bit of sleep regression and I blame it on her last cold. She wakes up around 3 a.m and wants to eat, I have to wean her off of this…sigh. She takes 2 naps a day and  has her two bottom teeth. I don’t even know how much she eats a day but it’s a lot, the girl has an appetite. I started her on oatmeal and some pureed veggies but she’s not sold on them yet. For now it’s just for fun anyhow. I showed her a sippy cup the other day but I think that’s a ways in our future, girls gotta get a tad more motor control first.

She is super sweet natured and just a happy baby. The moms at Kaili’s gymnastics are always commenting how they can’t believe Averi will just chill in her carseat the entire time, I guess we one of the lucky ones because she is just fine in her carseat and stroller.

She is becoming a little football fan. If that sport is on the television she watches. She will even arch her neck to get a better look, it’s funny and a little scary at the same time. I put her on our bed to put clothes away and turned the TV to the NFL network, that gave me almost 1/2 hour.

She is the noisiest baby. She gabs, yells, growls and laughs, all.the.time. I’m pretty sure Kaili didn’t make any noise until 6 months. It’s cute and annoying, the screeching is ear piercing.

We had our first bout of constipation and I will associate that to the squash she was eating. She was getting uncomfortable so I picked up some prune juice. 4 oz and a day later the problem was, lets say unplugged and we have been good since.

She is on the low end of the spectrum in weight at 14 lbs and at the higher end for height. I look forward to watching her change each month, she’s just the cutest. Happy 6 months Monkey butt.

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6 Months Stalling

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I have a 6 month blog post written and waiting but for Averi’s half birthday she was given another bottom tooth and a bad cold. It’s the type of cold that came on really slow and gets worse each day. Yesterday she developed a cough which kept us up most of the night. So before I post about how amazing she is and all, I want to make sure she gets through this and returns to her awesome self and that her wonderful sleep habits return because lately it’s been a tad challenging and I am tired.

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Right now she is happily playing in her exersaucer allowing me a few minutes to write this because honestly by the time K goes to bed I watch one show and then head to bed, I gotta take what I can get.

Saturday, Kaili  started complaining about her ear hurting. This is new, she has never had an earache before so I was semi-concerned. When it wasn’t gone Monday I took her into the Dr. I assumed it was associated with her cold but it turns out she has Swimmers ear. Must have been all the mermaid action in the bathtub. We have been putting some prescription drops in her ear and three days later it’s already getting better. If you have had Swimmers ear before than you know how painful it can be, poor thing.

"what ear hurts?"
“which ear hurts?”

There ya have it, our exciting life thist past week. Averi has her 6 month well check tomorrow, thankfully and hopefully she will kick this cold sooner than later. Once she is snot free I will take her 6 month photos for all to see. I am off to wipe a nose.

 

 

5 Months

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Our little monkey butt is 5 months old and I have to say she is a bona fide cutie.

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She eats a lot, at least a lot more than K did and more frequently. She goes through 5 ounces every 2 1/2 hours. I feel like I am perpetually  making or washing bottles.

Sleep, for the most part is great. She takes two naps a day ranging from 1-2 1/2 hours. Bedtime is at 6:30 and if she wakes up its anywhere from 1-4 am. Recently she has mastered rolling onto her tummy, if you put her on her back she WILL roll but she can’t roll back over, so you can guess what that means.  This has thrown a wrench into sleep, I found myself walking into her room a good 5 times early this morning to flip her back over. That was not fun.

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She thinks her sister is hilarious, Kaili just has to make a funny face at her and Averi will crack up. I come in second in the comedy department, apparently my singing is pretty funny, not sure how I feel about that.

I feel really lucky with how easy she is.She does have her moments and they arrive around 4-5 pm or also known as “witching hour”. The hardest part for me is when Shane is gone and I am trying to make dinner. Some days are better than others, like Friday through Sunday. The outcome is that Kali’s weekly dinner menu has really weakened in creativity. Occasionally I beat myself up over it because her palate is getting fussy but honestly as long as she is eating I will not stress over it.

After the holidays I will start Averi on some oatmeal and veg. I would like to say I will make all her food but… ya, probably not going to happen.

Happy 5 months baby girl.

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4 Months

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We’ve got ourselves another itsy bitys teeny weeny babe on our hands. Averi, 4 months is weighing in at a whopping 12 lbs. Same as her sister at 4 months.

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This kid likes:

Sucking on her toes.

Watching her sister.

Eating.

Sleeping.

Her carseat, as long as it’s moving.

You guys, I still haven’t switched her to the crib. I know, I know….Seriously I am chicken. Why rock the baby who sleeps through the night -5 out of 7 nights of the week. I mean S.L.E.E.P.S the entire night…6:30 to 6:30. WHY would I mess with that? Because Kim, she needs to be in her crib! Dammit!

This ham is a creature of habit, she loves her routine and I swear she will freak the hell out if she doesn’t have a bottle in her mouth at the right time…TWSS

 

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The doc said I can start her on oatmeal now and then veggies at 5 months, doesn’t this seem early? Im in no rush to push foods on her but it might be fun to see her reaction, we’ll see. It’s amazing how much I forgot about the baby months. I actually had to google “when do babies crawl”. Where do all these memories go?

 

3 Months

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What can I say? Without sounding like a complete asshole, I have the best baby.

STATS-

Weight- not sure, maybe 12 lbs.?

Length-don’t know but she is getting too long for her rock N play and the bouncer.

Eats- 4 oz every 3 hours during the day.

Sleeps- Like a boss, in her own room.

Okay, she isn’t in the crib at night yet but that’s my own issue. I wanted to transition her out of the swaddle the same time I put her to down at night in the crib. But the awesome Zipadee-zip sold out faster than I expected, thanks to Shark Tank…even though Shane told me so.

Now, she is sleeping, still swaddled in her rock N play at night but napping unswaddled in her crib during the day. She goes to bed around 6:30-7:00 and has been sleeping until 4:00. I can get her back to sleep by 5:isn and then she wakes again about 7:30. Now if I could just get Kaili to sleep until 7:30 we would have a perfect world.

She is just so happy. She goes right down to sleep, she isn’t relying on a pacifier…yet, she is fine in her carseat and stroller and she only cries when she is hungry or tired. She can hang outside in her bouncer while I hot tub it with the sister and she is chill. She is just a content child.

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The second hand clothes thing is working out brilliantly. Averi is fitting into all of Kaili’s 3-6 months clothes at 3 months where as Kaili was fitting into them at 6 months. Which means all the holiday clothes will be able to be used right on schedule. It’s almost like we planned it this way.

Each day with two kids gets easier and easier. I hope I can say the same at next month.

Every Breath Counts

~ Girlmom ~ 3 Comments

I’m sure I will be repeating myself when I say how lucky we were to have our babies at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital. When I moved down to San Diego I didn’t know how close we were to the hospital, the same hospital where I was born at. We are only 2 miles away. I also didn’t know how important having a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) would be for our babies. Thankfully, Sharp Mary Birch has a level 3 NICU and if they didn’t, we would have lost Kaili and maybe even Averi. I mean, can you imagine?

I also told you how a few weeks back Dr. Anup Katheria invited me to a Sharp Hospital event, featuring Averi, the baby face of the Life Start Bed. The research Dr. Katheria is doing has the potential to impact the way babies are delivered all over the world, it is truly remarkable and life changing work to save the most fragile of all – babies….and it started right here with Averi at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital.

The Hospital board is hoping to raise $50,000 by November 17th which is National Prematurity day. This is not a plea for your money but a request to take a look and maybe share the Every Breath Counts webpage with friends and family who might want to make a donation. “An anonymous donor who also believes in the cause has agreed to match donations dollar for dollar up to $50,000!”

Here is the link for the Every Breath Counts page  featuring my baby girl. She benefited greatly from the Life Start bed and just think how many other premature babies will too.

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