Two Years Old

My baby girl is growing up and with fresh snow on the ground she turned two a two weeks ago.   It's been quite the year of joy, advances, and challenges.    Overall it's been a wonderful year.

Firsts for the 24th month: Lots of sentences!  Fully weaned from mama milk, and sleeping through the night, early stages of potty training.

Yes, I'm calling it -  Mae is sleeping through the night.   Now that said it's not every night and often she still fusses enough that we have to go in and hug her once or twice - but she has stayed in her own room almost every night.    She's been sleeping in the pack-n-play and she loves it in there - must simply feel more secure than her little bed.  I'm happy with it - it creates confinement.  :)    So sleep is slowly coming to our house.   Hooray!!

Mae herself has also began to show interest in potty training - this mommy isn't quite ready to go fully force into the adventure - but Mae shows signs of being ready.  Like a week or so ago she stripped off her diaper, went potty in the little potty, and then came and told me that she had gone potty... and she had!!  Much rejoicing and many more times attempted but we haven't repeated this awesome spontaneous event.    She is pretty adorable and will sit there sometimes for a while and repeat what I've told her "takes time"  which just sounds so cute coming from her.    Mae also is happy to sit there while we sing Row Row Row Your Boat and play Patty Cake.  :) She does the motions and it's so cute to watch her try to 'roll it'!

Over Christmas we went and visited her  Aunt and Uncle and she fell in love with Uncle Kai!  Yes she is in love with Uncle Kai and when her birthday got closer I asked what she wanted for her birthday and she said "Uncle Kai...come here... come home!"   she also was very specific on what she wanted for her birthday cake:  "Purpul cake!" Our little princess got what she asked for in a quite birthday party themed to My Little Pony and family.  :)  A post to come on this specifically.

Mae's vocabulary has expanded a lot and she's doing great communicating to us what she needs, wants, doesn't want.  :)   It's nice to understand her with most things - although occasionally she still has her own language squeaked in there.     She and her brother love to laugh together and in the car they've very recently started to tell knock knock jokes to each other - there is nothing that is legitimate that anyone else would label these as jokes - besides "Knock Knock... Who's There"  but they enjoy saying weird things - most often Mae says "Cookie Monter" in response to 'Who's there' - somehow Ace works that out and doesn't tire with it.  Although he does tire with the Knock Knock game and will attempt to change it to "I Spy" which Mae doesn't engage with and so then the two of them are in the back simply saying "knock knock... I spy"  back and forth over and over.    Depending on my tolerance level, their volume level, and the length of the drive that tends to be stopped by intervention.   They also play pretty well together at home and Mae has gotten very good at playing hide and seek - which is great because then they can entertain each other when I'm trying to cook dinner!   They enjoy each other's company most of the time.  Most of the time.  ;-)

Health wise - Mae has had a pretty good run the last few months.  In general her 2nd year of life was an adventure.    She no longer has a food allergy though and we're quite thankful about that!!   She's itty bitty like her mama and weighs in at 19.4lbs and 30.3" tall (if you're wondering that's just a tad bigger than Ace was at 1.   However, I weighed 19lbs and was 30" at 2 as well - so I'm not concerned with her tiny stature.  :)

Favorites for Mae include at the moment: Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (she'll stand perfectly still and engaged (zombied?) for a solid 10 minutes just watching it.)  She loves Printhesses, Ponies!!!, and her babies.   She's quite girly and loves to carry around her purses, wear hats, and change her clothes often - although her favorite outfit is simply a diaper.  It can be freezing cold and she'll be content (yet cold) wearing only a diaper - no matter how many outfits or layers we try to put on her - she'll strip them off quickly.  I hope this is a short lived phase.  She loves to read and some of her favorites still are Good Night, Moon,  Good Night, Gorilla, Fancy Nancy books, and the "Princess Book"  which is His Little Princess: Treasured Letters from Your King -  she loves to sing and clap and her dance is adorable.   She loves to say prayers to Jesus and has started to be repetitive in prayers.  She currently loves to touch my tummy as her go-to comforting option.   She's a joy.  

She eats like a bird, but can jug milk from a cereal bowl in no time flat.  She is adorable and we love her joy, her laugh, her smile, her scowl, and her strong willed personality.  :)  We can't wait to see what Year Three brings us!  No diapers is on this mommy's bucket list!   Happy 2nd Birthday, Mae Mae!

Twenty Three Months Old

"Ok!"  "Jellybutter!"   "No... NOT!"   are just a few of the words and phrases that are floating around this household these days.  Yes, Mae is growing up fast and her vocabulary is exploding!  She is regularly stringing together 2 word 'sentences' now although occasionally will get stuck in a loop of one word repeat for example:   Say 'Please, up.'  "up" ... 'Please, up'  "pease"  - it's adorable albeit frustrating at times (although rarely.)    Things that are frustrating are her ever increasing desire of the use of "NO!"   Ace never was 'that child'  he skipped over the outright defiance for the sake of it (he has plenty now with purpose, but just the NO! phrase never was his cup-o-tea.)  Mae however has embraced it like a budding two year old would.  Yeck.     We still find her sweetness to outweigh her two-ness. 

Newness for her 23rd month?   A dentist appointment where they brushed her teeth (her first appointment they don't really do much,) the stomach flu, breastfeeding weaning, semi-consistent sleeping through the night,

Let's tackle that list backwards.   Sleep.   Yes, M has taken an interesting course on the way to independent sleep.    She's been sleeping in a bed for nearly a year now for at least one stint in the night but for over the last month+  she has been electing to sleep in the pack and play instead.   We're not sure why she prefers it, but my objection is little as there are many nights that she will sleep until nearly 6am before making a peep.  It's not regular or every night but I'll take what I can get.   She's taken to wanting all her friends tucked in with her and around her.  Piggy and Bear Bear are still prominent figures but she has a rotation of other friends that join her at night as well ranging from owls, princesses, bunnies, minnie or mickey mouse.  :)  It's cute and sometimes a tad excessive.    

Less than thrilling excitement on the sleeping front is her continued desire to strip off all her clothes.  She does this during the day as well but at night she adds an additional prize element of stripping off the diaper as well.   BOO!   So we have taken to putting her in onesies and on some nights she still strips those off and on other nights we put her pjs on backwards.       We are slowly trying to get her to go back to her bed and sleep there all night.  We'll see how that ultimately goes.  Last night it was ok and she didn't show up in our bed until 4:30am. 

In other areas of sleep is weaning from breastfeeding.   At the beginning of December I invoked a strict schedule of  morning, nap, and bedtime feedings only.   This was met with some particular protest, but like with Ace, I simply encouraged the notion that mommy never runs out of hugs, but she does run out of milk.   At the end of the first week of December after much preparation and explanation leading up to it - Mae and I enjoyed our last feeding before bed.    We replaced it with rocking and for the first several nights she didn't ask once for milk when it was time for bed.  I was really proud of her.   She loves to rock and often uses it as a stall tactic in asking for more.  It's sweet and I'm glad that element of the transition has been going smoothly.  

After Christmas I will remove the morning milk from the rotation and leaving us with only milk before naptime (an option that she already for the most part doesn't demand too often.)   I suspect the hardest milk will be that first thing in the morning milk.  She loves it and I do too.    I'm sad that our time with mama milk is drawing to a close, but I am so thankful for the bonding time we've had and my ability to do it.    I'll write more on this in a separate post - so moving on! 

The flu.... yes in November while on vacation poor M caught her first tummy bug and for several hours on the floor of my Aunt and Uncle's tile floor she threw up over and over.  Poor thing was very sad and doesn't like to throw up at all... all she wanted to do was sleep.    Diapers for the next week were quite icky and it ran it's course through our household and all the guests that visited for Thanksgiving.   Yeck! I am very thankful that we've all recovered from that one.

Also in Cali we got to enjoy lots of family, cousin play, and yes more Disneyland!   It was a lot of fun and she loved the Pirated and would sing (and still does)  "Yo ho, Pirates! ... and ME!"   It's adorable and it's so fun to see her excitement - she'd wave to all the characters in the parade saying "Hiiiii and Byeeee" as they went by.   She covered her ears at the fireworks say "Loud"  but watching them with excitement.    It was a lot of fun!  

M enjoyed her second visit to the dentist office and did very well after some initial trepidation to the visit.    Eventually, she let them clean her teeth and she was excited to receive her rubber ducky as a gift in exchange for her compliance.  :)

Mae is such a sweet girl.  She loves printhesses, PONIES!!!! (My Little Pony), and to change her clothes a zillion times a day (most happy when she's wearing nothing at all!)   I love that she calls peanut butter 'jellybutter'  and that she has learned to nod and shake her head in affirmation or dissent to something.       She has lost the phrasing of Pih-Ul  and now calls him "Pisal" which is adorable and she loves to pet him.   She yells at him (in a very eerily similar vocal tone)  KIATE! (quiet!)  whenever he barks.     She is communicating what she wants very well these days and it is such a joy to watch her vocabulary expand, her understanding increase, and her excitement as well.   She's trying to count.  She can hold up 3 fingers and say "Free"   she knows when there are two of something (but not so much 1 or 3)  she has properly identified letters when given the option on Super Why (a favorite of hers.)     And her absolute favorite song right now is "JINGLE... ROCK!"   Yes, Jingle Bell Rock is requested nightly and only is substitute for "Frosy NoMan"  a second favorite.      If Jingle Bell Rock comes on the radio she squeals and screams "JINGLE!!!"  

She is fascinated by the Christmas tree and loves to touch all the ornaments.  She is gentle enough with them.  :)    She loves for mommy to take pictures of her and is a very happy model most of the time.     I'm so excited to see her this Christmas season and in her final weeks before she turns two.    She's a hearty 19lbs 3oz - something that makes me quiet excited to hear.    She dainty and healthy and we are so thankful for her health.  

Nineteen Months old

Mae this month has really expanded her vocabulary.  Including her first phrase of "Hep me!" (Help me!)  It started out as one word but I think she now recognizes that it is two words.   I have since lost track of every new word she has but some of my favorites whether new or old are:  Luv you,  tick-all (tickle), Pix-uhl (Pixel), and Mommy! 

New things for Mae in her 19th month:  her first ice cream - which now she asks for regularly "creeeam... bowl... taebull(table)"  It's cute and watching her eat the sticky mess was a lot of fun too!

She sings in church, loves to dance when there is music on, folds her hands to pray - and constantly say 'more' when any of it ends because she always wants more singing, dancing, and praying.   I  love it! 

She LOVES her brother and wants to do everything he does.  He makes her laugh and she is pretty good to not bother him TOO much.   Mae loves to do school just as much as her brother and we sit at the dining room table with her in her high chair and do school all together.  :)

Mae is still itty bitty in size but she's feeling heavier and I'm  happy for that that she's growing!  She LOOKS bigger and as of today (even though I'm woefully late on posting her 19 month blog!)  She was 18lbs and 1oz!  Hooray!   She also has had seven weeks of totally healthy and I'm so thankful that we've avoided any summer colds!!

This past month has also been an experience with tantrums.  Mae also has received a few more time outs this month.  A time out for Mae is in the Pack-N-Play.  Since she sleeps in her bed or our bed, the PnP is really only for TOs.   She's nearly 2 now so the time out is 2 minutes.   On one venture to the pnp she decided to strip all her clothes off in protest.   Silly girl... a few days later she upped the atte and stripped off the diaper too and then fell asleep.  lol.   She was out cold and so I was able to put a new diaper on her before any accidents occurred but oh my!    Never a dull moment!!!

I cannot believe that we're rapidly approaching her second birthday.   With the holidays looming that milestone will arrive even more quickly!    She's a joy and SO happy! She wakes up with her BIG EYES and just smiles as bright as the sun.   She still loves her mama milk and to snuggle next to me all night.    Can't wait to see what is next for her!

Mae recently has been able to recognize TWO of something and can hold up two finger - she often wants TWOOOOOO crackers.   She can count two things.. although not ... 1, 2... just look at it and say TWO!  Very happy with a giant smile.  :) 

Mae's teeth count of fully in teeth is 5, but she's got 3 more broken through and descending rapidly, one of those being a molar.  The other molars are just about to break through and we're looking forward to that so that she can enjoy eating more variety in foods with better ease!    Eating wise she does ok - still eats like a bird many meals but then at other times we're wondering where on earth she's putting it!  Quite the adventure!!

Seventeen Months Old

As the days speed past us every day is new and more of an adventure with Mae.   She is becoming her own little person.  Gaining speed, vocabulary and attitude!   :)  Her smile is huge, her laugh is adorable, and her scowl is just plain funny and so pronounced!

New things in her 17th month:  Attended her first baby shower and was an adorable little lady, and lots more words!

Mae has had an explosion of words in this last month.  She's really gotten the parroting thing down and tries all sorts of new words.  Her favorite is "NO!"  She says it with a cute sing-song melody often and it's adorable, but for the connotation attached to it. :)   She also really likes the word 'lello' (yellow) and GO!   Other words she squeaked out this past month include:  puppy, booo (blue), kieee (kitty), eat, skoo (school), sheee (sheep), loouv (love... she curls her little tongue up and it's so adorable to see her try), blow, two (which is her amount for anything and everything when you ask her how many?)  you, boo, choo choo...

Yes, if you're familiar with children's literature those last few words will be a bit more obvious in theme.  They are all words from the book Peek A Who?  Mae loves to read this book over and over and over during the day and she can say all the words except when I prompt her to say 'moo!'  she says 'MEEEE!'   It's adorable and silly and I love it.  Her other favorite book is Good Night, Gorilla.   She is adorable when we read it because when we get to the part opening her eyes in the dark after all the animals say good night back to her,  Mae every time will mimic the gasp sound that I typically make on that page - although for Mae it's more of a grunt and it's adorable.

Mae loves to say her prayers.  She folds her hands and closes her eyes and often will repeat the beginning of the prayer 'De-Ja' (Dear Jesus) and then at the end she will say 'Mon' (Amen)   it's adorably sweet and this past few weeks when we're done praying she will sign for more and fold her hands awaiting my starting of more prayers.  It's seriously the most adorable thing and I love that her faith, while likely not growing in understanding just yet, is growing in eagerness and anticipation!

In trending toward two, Mae has started to enjoy and invoke the rite of passage with some tantrums.   She is extremely dramatic and a slight grievance is often met with massive yelling, screaming, water works - her physical self seems to remain mostly still - although she has gotten down and laid on the floor a time or two for dramatic affect.   To date though she's avoiding the head banging that Ace did during this phase of his life.

Growth wise she is still itty bity - 17lbs and 8oz.   She just had a weight check at the doctor and to check for an ear infection which she was cleared of, apparently she just likes to tug on her ears.  :)   Her coughing continues and we're working through yet another cold.   She still just has the 4 teeth although I can start to see the bulges where the molars are going to come in.   She still loves her mama milk on demand and I'm happy to oblige - although I'd really love for her to sleep through the night! 

Sleep wise she's no different - still wakes a few times a night wanting milk or comfort.  She does start out in her own bed every night but often is in our room by midnight.   Rarely do I get to bed before she's coming into ours.   But I don't complain.  This season is fleeting and if she trends like her brother then we have less than a year before she's in her bed full time.  We'll see though :)  

Speaking of her brother - she loves him.  She loves to climb on him, crawl on him, play with him, get in his way, smack his head, and lay in his bed.   She is a typical little sister and Ace is very patient and loving with her.  

She continues to be my climber - she can freely get herself on the couches, beds, and now knows how to use those heights to get other places.    Eating wise she is very opinionated on the subject.   She's not picky - she eats spinach, she LOVES pasta, and has easily eaten 4oz of steak (I'm not exaggerating!)  in one sitting - but there are times where she just doesn't want to eat without a battle.   To say it's frustrating is an understatement, but I'm hopeful that we're on the downward trend of this phase as well and I'll continue to endure her stubborn ways... I don't really have a choice otherwise. ;)

Mae is a great hugger, she's got a good grip around your neck and she likes to say 'blow' when she blows kisses.  Even if she kisses your cheek she will do it as she says 'blow!'   It's adorable.   Her hair is crazy long but sparse and thin and WILD!  She likes when I do her hair and she leaves it for about 3 seconds.  :)  She loves to try and put her own socks on and she can successfully put on her own pants.   She wants to dress herself often and loves purses, hats and her stuffed animals.  Piglet remains the top favored friend, but she loves to rock and cuddle lots of different ones.   She is adorable and we love her!

Ten on Ten - May



Weight check, post illness! 17lbs 15.5oz, up 13oz!
Also grew about an inch in the last month! 28.75"



Good news today!

Fifteen Months Old

15 months old!  Such a big girl and in such a tiny frame!  Yes at 15 months and 2 days old Mae weighs 17lbs 6oz (0.38%) she is 28.5" tall and her little noggin is 44cm (14%) for a bit of comparison her mommy was also 28.5" and weighed 16lbs 8oz.    Her mommy reached a great height of 5' so Mae appears to be trending in the same way. 

New firsts for this latest month include:  welcoming dada home from a deployment, a few more words clearly spoken: peease (please), and the most amusing MEEE! which she says with great passion whenever she wants something, thinks its hers, or occasionally when she wants up.  Yes, she's saying "me" :)  It's adorable, but I understand the dangerous potential for it to lose it's cuteness really quickly. hehe.

Illness wise Mae was quite under the weather off and on again this month.   She had two colds that were pretty icky and diagnosed with bronciolitis again. Very sad for her.   For the most part she doesn't let the colds slow her down.  She seems to be catching everything her big brother brings home from preschool - as a result I've deemed it the "preschool plague"

In spite of illness though Mae has really blossomed into a social butterfly and loves to toddle all over the place with (or without) her brother.   If we go to a playdate she rarely is clinging to my side, she's mostly off and about and keeping up with the bigger kids.   It's great to see her gain confidence and independence.  

Mae as far as eating and sleeping go is about the same as last month.  Not so great.   She isn't sleeping through the night, she isn't eating three square meals a day.  This may be a result of breastfeeding on both accounts, so when she gets to feeling better we might start do some nighttime weaning - as I recall with Ace it's not fun and so that is certainly a big part of my delay.  :)   Mae also has QUITE the flare for dramatics and she can wail like no other if she's trying to convey displeasure, so whenever we do wean I'm certain the dramatics won't be lost. 

Giggles are also plentiful though around here.  She's getting more ticklish.  She laughs at her brother's silliness, she giggles as she chases him.  It's so stinkin' cute!   She's still so tiny and cuddly.  For the most part she is wearing 9 month clothes and a few 12 months and in some cases a few shirts that are 6months.   She finally has outgrown in her feet the 6 month sleepers.  Yes, JUST outgrew them. 

It's been a great month and a lot of fun.  Mae loves shoes, hugging dolls, and climbing onto anything she can scale.   She "blows" her nose by making a similar noise with her mouth and still absolutely loves to brush her teeth. Piglet and her blanket are still often clutched in her arm, but quickly ditched as to not slow her down.  She's such a joy and every day is a different adventure. 

Fourteen Months Old

Little Miss Mae is 14 months old and counting!   She's precious.  She's expressive.  She is on the go! 

New firsts for Mae this past months:  a new bed, her first dentist appointment, and attachment lovies.

Mae has really regressed in the sleep department in the last week - but I have to give her credit for sleeping in her own bed for the first stint of the night.  Yes, Mae is sleeping in her very own toddler bed.  I'm still working on a post on Mae's sleep, but in general she falls asleep on her own without milk about 40% of the time.  For the first two weeks in  her new bed she never got out of it - but in the last week or so she's figured out that she can just get up - so she gets out of bed a few times on some nights.  Lately she's been sick and as a result needs more snuggling, so she's been waking up a lot more frequently.  As mentioned in her 'firsts' list she has new lovies that she snuggles with.  Piglet and a little blanket.  I have since purchased a second set of them and they are rotated - already washed due to illness.

Yes, poor Mae has been pretty sick this past week with another virus.  Lots of vomit from a bad cough.  Lots of laundry has been done and many-a-piglets washed.  It made for long, icky nights last week - but she's on the mend and although the cough is lingering and nights are still sad to some extent she's much happier in the day.

Vocabulary is starting to eek out of our little girl she now says: mama, dada, bruda, boooh (book), mooorrre, mek (milk), teef (teeth) and every now and then she will say UP! My favorite by far is "cheeeese" and then she smiles and wants her picture taken.  Yes Mae poses for the camera, yes this mommy knows she's created a monster ... and I love it!  Her signs are about the same.   She also communicates by listening very well and follows instructions. I love that she's so intent on listening to us and following instructions.   Mae loves to play peek-a-boo and singing If You're Happy And You Know It Clap Your Hands!  And she loves to give high fives!

Mae has started to enjoy reading more and even has gotten her own Tag Reading system with some board books.  She loves to push her pen onto the book and make it talk.  She gets so excited.   Mae LOVES her brother, loves to follow him, help him, be with him and hit him in the head. It gives her a huge smile and Ace screams for his sister to PLEASE STOP SISTER!   Ah it begins.   For the most part they do great together.

Size wise she still is happily in 9 month sleepers and at her doctor's appointment last Monday she weighed 18lbs with clothes on.  Doctor isn't worried and neither are we.  She still nurses most of the time and eats about 2 meals a day (we try 3 or 4 times a day but she isn't interested most of the time!)  and has cows milk in the morning.  

Mae is a sweet girl, but she gets cranky.  She's not been a good napper lately and she gets quite angry and overtired.   She also can throw herself a good ol' fashion tantrum when she doesn't get her way.  But the good always out weighs the bad and we love every second with our Little Miss Mae.  We're looking forward to what this next month holds!

One Year

Happy First Birthday, Mae!

It seems impossible that one year has passed since my little girl was placed in my arms.  She's still pretty tiny, but she's far more mobile, expressive, and if possible more adorable as when she entered this world. 

Mae's 12th month brought more firsts:   first time sleeping in her own room,  first Christmas, first allergic reaction, first 911 call, first bout of bronciolitis, first New Year's Eve.

Let's start with Mae's chomper count:  3 total for her first year.  Her second top tooth has broken through the gums, but since it isn't truly visible we will leave the total count at 3.   She's doing well to use them on appropriate things.  Although she does bite when she gets really mad.  Doesn't bode well for preschool, so hopefully she out grows that tantrum.

Mae is putting those teeth to good use in the food department and has started to eat things like sliced turkey, cheese, and even her first McDonald's nugget! She does drink a little goat's milk daily, but nothing terribly measurable and she does so in a sippy cup.  We've skipped bottles entirely - in spite of the $ that I dropped on several fancy ones. Ah well.   She still eats like a baby bird and relies mostly on mama milk.  I think she's going to trend like her brother on the very little food consumption for a bit, making her mama count calories and be nervous.    She is growing though.  She weighs 16.14lbs (2.02%) and is 26.52" (1.70%)  so while she's nearly off the charts she is gaining weight, in spite of illness.

Yes, this last month has been quite the challenge for Mae Mae.   She had a cold when she cut her tooth that seems to be pretty normal for her teething routine it seems, but after the cold (or during?)  we discovered she had an allergy and had to go through the process of handling that, allergist appointments, and carrying around epi pens.  After the immediate reaction we followed up with her doctor who diagnosed our little girl with bronciolitis because she just sounded so junky in her lungs.  By New Years she was feeling much better and when the allergist listened to her lungs, she was totally clear and over it (a week later.)  

I mentioned earlier that Mae slept in her room for the first time, and to date, the only time.  She developed  her cold right after that and this mama bear likes her baby close when she's got a cold. After that it was the allergy, then the bronciolitis, and well now to be honest, her room needs to be cleaned and reorganized again before we can place her in there again.   :)    In general Mae's sleep is not ideal.   She's doing decent napping - sometimes we'll get 90+ minutes out of her - that seems to be once every 5 days.   She is pretty much down to one nap sometime in the afternoon.   She does car nap pretty consistently though.   Her nighttime sleep though is quite dramatic.  As in it takes forever to get her to sleep.  No routine, lighting, or mood can get her to become unconscious unless she a) wants to or b) screams until she's unconscious in our arms.   The doctor yesterday said that is most likely a separation anxiety issue and should pass with time.   Here's hoping sooner than later!

Vocabulary wise we don't have much more official words.   She really doesn't say 'mama' much anymore unless she's upset and reaching for me (and even then it often is only one 'ma' and that is milk)   Although her 'ma' for milk is morphing into 'meee' so she's getting closer to actually getting the real word out.    Same with 'brother' - it often still is 'ba'  but she is on occasion says 'bru da'  - she still utters 'up' but mostly she just reaches her arms up and fusses.   We try really hard to not automatically give her what she wants so that she does need to exercise the language skills.    I have been working with her to say 'please' in sign language and what's really cute is that she signs 'please' on me when she wants it - which for her is just waving on my chest back and forth.    It's sweet.      She is very good at waving hi and bye and on occasion she will say both of those words.   

Development wise, she sort of knows the color red.  I'd say 70% of the time she can show me something red if there are three choices to choose from.   She does really well at eye contact and seeking my approval or disapproval on her actions (or the actions of others.)    She can also put things in and out of a container.     She loves to follow her brother and play with him.   They are starting to get into a bit of a tussle every now and then over a toy, as Mae seems to find it her right to simply take anything and everything her brother has.   He does ok with the process most of the time.     Mae also has started to shake her head 'no' some times when we ask her to do something.   It's cute (currently.)  Mae most of the time is adorably happy,  big smiles and giggling.  However, she does have quite an explosive 0-100% mad gauge. She has easily moved into tantrums without much issue. Whole body going stiff, beet red, and mad mad mad. She recovers quickly, but my goodness she can express her displeasure like no other.

Mae is fully walking now and has some decent speed with it too.   She climbs everywhere she can get to and even tries to climb some places she can't.  While cute- she certainly is going to make me go gray.    She is now quite proficient at climbing up and down the stairs - which makes me much happier that she's mastered these skills.  She still on occasion likes to stand right at the top of the stairs and dance - which is cause for a mild-heart attack by this mama, but overall she has avoided tumbles and mishaps.  But this little girl's guardian angel does certainly work overtime! 

Toys and play:  Mae still loves her little baby doll, and her Sophie giraffe (which lives in the car), and she loves baby dolls and soft stuffed animals.  She likes to carry them around and play peek a boo with them.   She also really loves to put blankets, pants... anything on her head and walk around that way.   Also LOVES to put anything around her neck that she can fashion into a scarf...  she really is my danger child.   Trust me, she's never out of my sight in light of these 'hobbies' of hers.   She's adorable though when she's behaving safely.     Mae really hasn't taken an interest in any particular show or movie.  She for the most part couldn't care less when the tv is on, other than her interest in climbing up onto the table the tv is on.    She still loves to chew on things, but has moved past putting EVERYTHING into her mouth... but she still puts plenty in.      She loves to play the 'upside down' game with her dad,  playing he her room with her brother, and poking noses with her mama.    She's just so happy.  Mae also likes to sing along when we sing songs with "ahhhhhs" in various notes. Pretty cute!

It's so hard to believe that a whole year has gone by!  I can't believe it.  It feels it went even faster than Ace's first year.    She's so special, and is certainly developing into her own personality in this family and we love to watch her do so.    Happy Birthday,  Owlie!  Mommy, Dad, and Brother all love you so much!!

Our little pumpkin weighing in at...

Mae weighs 15lbs 13oz (10%)

She is 26.25" tall (10%)

Her little pumpkin head is 44.2cm big (25%)

Growing

She's 14.5lbs (25%)



She's 25.5" long (50%)



Her little noggin' is 41cm (25%)

She's healthy, happy, and growing at a very even and steady rate! 

Six Months Old

Happy Half Birthday, Mae!!
I can't believe my baby is six months old! When did a half a year go by?! She's so sweet, so smiley, and so happy! I love her!

New firsts for her sixth month of life: her first trip to a fair and carnival, first 4th of July, officially sitting, ooching (almost crawling!), her first signed word 'milk', saying 'dada', laughing, first trip on the airplane and to California!

Mae has had a great month overall. She is still teething and working on that first tooth/teeth to pop through and so she has moments of fussiness usually related to that or needing to sleep, but other than that she is so happy. She smiles all the time and loves to chat now. Yes, I am willing to admit she is now also saying 'dada' in addition to 'mama' - it's pretty cute. We now need to get her to say 'baba' or something that is associated for 'brother' :) She likes to babble a lot and talk with you. She will chat to keep herself awake and her giggle now is just plain adorable. Mae also signed her first word this month: "milk" and she seems to do it quite regularly when she wants milk. Her verbal and communication skills are doing great!

Sleep seems to have been lacking luster for us... or certainly the zzzzs. Sometime this past month she gave up the 5-7hr stretches that we were all enjoying and instead reverted back to the every 2-3 hour wakings for food, snuggles, comfort. I suspect her teeth have a lot to do with this and six months is a big growth spurt for babies, so I'm not giving up hope that we can't work back up to those longer stretches.

Food wise we really haven't given her much other than milk. There are so many conflicting reports regarding solid food before six months and since she is getting plenty of nutrients from the breastmilk, she only got some puree jar food a handful of times in her sixth month of life. This up coming month we'll be upping the solid food with more regularity.

Mobility wise, she's somewhat mobile. She can get herself up on her knees, she can even do the rocking motion, but she lets her legs fall out from under her and she ooches where she wants to go. She doesn't move very fast and it isn't an army crawl either, but somehow she can get to what she wants... so anything tiny, chokeable sized items need to officially be retired or hidden. Crawling is only a matter of days or weeks away for this family!

Mae had a great 4th of July and was so happy to just sit on the beach blanket and watch the fireworks. The noise didn't bother her and she was so content to just sit and look at all the pretty colors in the sky. In general on all of our outings this past month she's just been great. She's just so easy going and willing to be toted where ever. She sits very well in the Ergo carrier and happily looks around at her new surroundings.

We haven't officially gotten her six month stats just yet, but on her Grammie's scale on her sixth month birthday she weighed 14.5lbs. :)

It's been such a wonderful first six months with this little girl. She is so happy, agreeable, and loving - we just can't get enough of her. I can't wait to see what the next six months holds for her as she explores her world more and more!

A Growing Beauty

Mae weighs 12lbs and 2oz (25%)

She is 24" long (53%)

And her little noggin is in the 25th percentile...

And yet still so tiny!

Three Months Old

Unbelievable! I didn't think it was possible, perhaps because she's our last baby, perhaps it's just me, but I swear time is going faster with Mae than it did with Ace! She's already three months old and is so smart and advanced!

New firsts this past month: Grasping things, cloth diapers, sleeping through the night, her first illness, her first xray, her first IV, her first ambulance ride (mom's too!), her first hospital stay, a lot of less than pleasant firsts this month, but also a lot of good smiles! Finally her last first for this month was Easter!
Mae is such a happy baby! There's just no other way to say it. Even when she was miserable and in the hospital, she was smiling up a storm. She would work so hard to breathe but you'd look at her and she'd get the widest grin - and with her healthy they're that much later and happy. It is so sweet and I love how smiley she is with just about anyone she meets.

Mommy and Mae embarked on a new adventure this past month into the world of cloth diapering. We aren't converting over entirely, we're split about 50/50 right now with CDs and disposable diapers. She still wears disposables at night, but the other day that was the only disposable diaper we used for that day. It certainly will save us money on the diaper genie refills to not be disposing of as many... and it will take a while to recoop the cost of one cloth diaper to what you can buy in the amount of disposables - but it's still nice to have options.

Sleep! Oh boy we are blessed in that department. She is pretty good some of the time with self soothing, she still sometimes needs someone around to be comforted and hugged (which I am happy about!) But there are moments I can put her in her swing and she will fall asleep on her own. Ace never did this. Ever. While in the hospital she was swaddled really well at night and in doing that she did GREAT to sleep for long stretches. For the majority of this past week, Mae has been falling asleep on me around 9-10 and staying on my chest and then transferring to the co-sleeper without issue (again, Ace RARELY ever transferred!) and sleeps until 5am! This means on several nights last week she had stretches that were 7.5hrs, 7hrs, 6hrs!! Her other wake up time was 2am so she is consistently sleeping a minimum of 4 hours - or over a 7 day an average of 6 hour stretches! HOORAY! It's such a blessing and I'm so proud of her!

Hospital stay - yes Mae had a week stay in Children's hospital to battle RSV Bronciolitis. It was not a fun time for anyone in our family. It was the first time I had been away from Ace that long, it was the first time Loving Husband was a SAHD for any length of time, it was the first time Mae (or I) were in the hospital for anything non-planned. Not fun! Ultimately she recovered very well and we are hopeful we are all done with the illness this season and that next time she's ill she will be far stronger and able to fight off the illness without medical intervention. I am so thankful that Children's was there and able to help us though.
Mae has discovered her hands and loves to grasp them together and pull at toys. It's really cute to watch her try and use her hands - I'm not positive she understands the mechanics of them just yet, but she knows that they are what she needs to use to accomplish getting things closer to her mouth. ;) In the way of mobility she still will occassionally roll over when provided the opportunity (stomach to back) and she will stand fully holding her own weight by holding onto our fingers for stability. It's pretty impressive. She's on the verge of sitting up and can do it for a few seconds with the boppy's help - I suspect she'll be doing this very soon without the aid of a fluffy crash zone. :)

Mae's stats on the 21st of March were that she was 22" and 9lbs and 11oz. She hadn't gained much since her two month appointment (she had gotten taller though) and it was great that she hadn't lost much during her illness. She's definitely gotten bigger since then and is officially out of 'NB' clothing. In fact I just cleared out her drawers so that we could make room for more of the three month clothing. She is still our itty bitty and is adorable. Her hair is coming in more and more and now that the cradle cap issue has been solved with a little baby oil - her locks should flourish and all those bows I've been buying will be useful ;) We've got some big adventures coming up really soon! So look for more of what Mae is up to then!

One Week

Mae has now officially been in the hospital for one week. Today, Day Seven appears to be the last day as well. WOOHOO! She has officially been off oxygen for 31 hours and counting. :) And they are rumoring a likely afternoon release!


So happy to be off oxygen!
Yesterday was a great day. She had a few rounds of destating when she slept in the morning and early afternoon - similar to the day before. However THIS time she wasn't on oxygen so I wasn't as discouraged by it. She slept well though even though she was still not breathing as deep. It wasn't labored breathing it was just somewhat blocked breathing by the mucus. By evening though when she snoozed she was only causing the bell to go off (below 88) a couple of times and some of that was positional. In the night she was 95 or higher the entire time. WONDERFUL!

During the awake time during the day - she was so happy! She was smiley and talking up a storm. We had a good day smiling and cooing at each other. She was also super happy to move her legs around a lot - causing the oxygen monitor to go all crazy many times because it just couldn't read when she was kicking so much. :) She also is starting to get better at grabbing (or pulling towards her mouth) toys. Not quite entirely purposefully yet, but she knows what she wants to do and she gets it every now and again - and this time she was so excited to finally get the mouse to her mouth!


Success! I got it! Yum!
She still received 4-5 rounds of deep suctioning, but less to keep her stats up and more to just get the junk OUT. I continued to use RT Vibrations to loosen up the junk in her lungs and to get her to cough it up and it seems to have been productive - she sounds CLEAR in her lungs both the nurse and the resident doctor said this morning! Yay!!

My favorite two boys brought me some dinner and I was able to sit with Ace while I ate dinner in the family room, and I read him a few stories that they had in there. It was nice. to have a little time together again. We also found a place to measure him and Ace is officially 3ft tall! Loving Husband got to see how good Mae is looking and spend a little time with her. Even though she had some separation from mommy anxiety. :( She calmed down and got a good snuggle in with her dad.


Reading with momma
Her nighttime nurse came and got everything ready to settle in for the night - we weighed her and she has more or less maintained her weight since entering the hospital. She weighed 9lbs 10oz and she weighed in last night at 9lbs and 6oz. :) Not too shabby! The nurse swaddled her into a little burrito and she drifted off to sleep by 10:45! Woohoo MUCH earlier than many of these recent nights when she was squirmmy and awake until midnight or 1am! Eeek! After falling asleep at 10:45pm she slept until 4:30am before needing milk again - and honestly she probably would have kept sleeping, but she had to be poked and prodded for her vitals and so she woke up enough she wanted a snack. But she is working on some good stretches of sleep!

She continues to snooze this morning, but as mentioned both the nurse and the resident have said she sounded good and after the attending signs off on her release we can start the discharge process! Things we're up to this morning after she wakes up will be a BATH - it's been two weeks almost since she's had a proper bath. We are once-a-week bathers for her and her bath was due to be had the morning she went to the ER... so we're a bit behind. ;-)

We are so blessed that this was caught and that she ultimately fared very well. It could have been much worse and while we've been in the hospital for a week, it has been relatively positive experience. All the nurse and doctors are wonderful and we were in wonderful hands here at Children's. ... although I am sick of PB&J.... ;-) Thank you for all the prayers - continue to pray that we avoid any more illness this cold and flu season!

Two Months Old

My little girl is 2 months old. The time is just speeeding by!

Newness in month two: her first holiday (Valentine's Day), meeting Grandma Carol and her Aunt & Uncle, 'officially' rolling over, size 1 diapers, her first time in snow, and sleeping 'through the night' once.

Mae has had another great month! She is such an agreeable and content baby. So happy! She truly looks at you when you're talking and tries to listen and understand. She certainly knows the word milk and gets very excited when talked about. She's uber smiley first thing in the morning. She loves to stare and look at her big brother. She is content and happy to play on her play mat for long stretches of time without needing constantly having mommy or someone near her (very helpful in recent days!)

Sleep wise she is doing great. She naps a few times a day - a lot of the time it's on me, but she can transfer most of those times, allowing Ace to have some one-on-one time with mommy. She varies at night on when she really wants to go to sleep for the night. Sometimes it is as early as 8pm and others as late as 10pm. She typically will sleep on my chest until I'm ready to head to bed, then I'll swaddle her up and lay her to sleep. 90% of the time she transfers without needing to eat again. She averages around 4 hours between wakings and does great to simply go back to sleep after some food.

Playing has increased in these last few weeks and she loves her playmat. There are several toys dangling from it on either side and she absolutely loves to just lay on her back and bat at the toys. It's really adorable to watch and it's great since this past week her brother has been sick, so when they are both awake it is a good way to keep her entertained and away from her brother. She got a new dolly in this past month and cuddles it all the time she's in her carseat and often throughout the day - and occasionally at night as well. She is well aware it's there because once she was playing with it and it fell from her grasp and she instantly was sad and made it known she wanted it back! It was adorable. I don't know that I'd say she's "attached" to it - but it certainly is a favorite.

Kokomo has returned to our household.... uuuugh. Yes, after attempting several other soothing methods and music for the rare times she's fussy in the car or elsewhere - as a 'final' attempt I gave Kokomo a shot. If you recall it was an instant soother for Ace for a looong time. We must have listened to that song over 1000 times. So you can guess my hesitancy in attempting it as a soother for Mae. But once again it is full-proof. Seriously within seconds of putting it on she was calm. I've got it downloaded to my phone and if she's cranky in the grocery store, I can simply put it on and toss it in her carseat with her and she's happy as a lark to listen to her song. Ace the moment his sister starts to fuss, for whatever reason, where ever we are he says "Put kokomo on for sister so she'll calm down, mom." It's pretty adorable and I'm happy there is something that works. What is hidden in that music?!

Smiling has really come into play full force around here. She is so happy and loves to smile. I absolutely love it and she does well to do it for the camera to ;-) I love it. :) She is starting to grasp things more and more - although I still don't think she's entirely aware that she is doing it. She's got a pretty strong grip though because if she doesn't want to let something go, it's a struggle to get her to release it!

Mae had her doctor's appointment today and got a clean bill of health and told that she looks great! Her stats are: 9lbs 10.9oz (21%), 21.5" long (18%) and her head is 37cm (10%) - to compare her brother was in the 94th percentile for height at 2 months and was 3" taller than her. She's itty bitty, but is growing super well on her growth curve. The doctor is very pleased.

It's been another great month and we're looking forward to her third!

One Month Old

Our little girl is one month old! Doesn't seem possible that 31 days ago we welcomed our tiny girl into my arms and making our family of four complete. Mae has been doing really well and is growing and developing wonderfully! Mae's stats at her one month wellness check up today were great. She weighs 8lbs (17.14%) and is 20.5" long (27.94%) and her head is 36cm (24.38%) - overall she is tinier than Ace at one month.

New first this past week: smiling, meeting Grammie, playing on her playmat, her first Superbowl, her first trip to the waterfront, and her first trip to the zoo.

Mae is continues to do ok with sleep - waking 2-3 times after she finally goes down. Getting her down for sleep has proven to be a mild challenge. It takes nearly an hour for her to cease being grunty enough to stir herself back awake. Hoping that she continues to improve. The other night she slept for nearly six hours. It was excellent!

Mobility wise she is doing really well with head control and scooting across the floor with pushing off of people's hands. She also is starting to grab at things and bat at them with her hands. It's really cute to watch her be aware of things around her.

This week is the first week that she's really starting to smile at us. She is adorable! She also really and truly calms down when she hears her big brother singing her a song or talking to her. It's really sweet.

First Doctor's Appointment

Mae had her first doctor's appointment yesterday. She received her first vaccination (we are delayers and don't get that one done hours after she is born) and also got her follow up PICU test done, so another heel prick for her. :( She did great with both and calmed down very quickly. Her eyes are good, her reflexes are good, her color is good, and she is doing great! She weighs 6lbs 6.5oz (9.23%) and her height is 19.5" long (33.31%) Her next visit will be at one month.