Solid food!

On 4/28/12 Amelia tried her first solid food! We did a lot of research and decided we would try a combination of baby led weaning and purees and see what worked best for our family. We also decided that we would be forgoing the traditional rice cereal most families start with and feeding Amelia real food and whole grains.

First up was avocado! We decided we would try The baby led weaning approach and gave her hand held size strips. She had a hard time keeping the slippery pieces in her hands but overall she seemed to enjoy it! I'm not sure she actually ate too much but it was a fun experience!

Next up was banana, again we went with the BLW approach. Things pretty much went the same as they did with the avocado. She was interested but didn't actually eat all that much.

Next we decided to try oatmeal with the spoon. What a hit! She immediately started squealing with delight when the oatmeal touched her tongue! She slurped it down like champ! She wanted to hold the spoon herself and did a great job of bringing it to her mouth.

Next up was pureed sweet potato and it was another huge success. Although she made crazy faces and didn't squeal quite as much as she did for the oatmeal oddly enough she kept opening her mouth big for more!

Overall we have really been enjoying exploring solid foods with Amelia. We are taking it slow, she still has a bit of a tongue thrust reflex, but plan to keep trying new foods!

Our little girl is growing up so fast!

Our first trip to the ER

On Sunday May 6th we had a milestone I was not looking forward to... we took Amelia to the Emergency Room for the first time.

I guess the story begins about a week or so before when I went to nurse Amelia at lunch and noticed she felt kinda hot. My mom said she hadn't been acting strange so we decided to just keep an eye on her. At lunch the next day and she felt twice as hot so I busted out the temporal thermometer and it read 99.3. (you add 1 degree to whatever a temporal thermometer said so really her temp was around 100.3) I decided to call the doctor because she had also been pulling on her ears. (She had been doing this for awhile but we had her checked when she first started doing it and no infection, apparently teething pain also occurs in the ears so we chalked it up to that). The doctor's office said to bring her in so I did and low and behold her right ear was infected. (I guess another milestone...her first ear infection. sad.) Doc perscribed amoxicilin and sent us on our way.

Fast forward about 8 days...Friday May 4th...we took Amelia out to watch a local bike race. It was pretty hot but we were in the shade and Amelia kept cool but I started noticiing a few bumps on her legs and back. We figured it was probably heat rash and it wasnt bothering her so no big deal. I put a little cortizone on it before bed that night and didn't think much of it. Saturday night we gave Amelia a bath and when we were done we realized that the spots had spread a bit but we still weren't too worried, she was acting normal and she didnt have a fever so we put her to bed. Sunday morning when I went to change Amelia's diaper I realized the spots were now COVERING her entire stomach, back and behind and her arms and her legs....I started to get a little worried. I decided to call the on call nurse at our pediatrician. I explained the situation and that she was on the amoxicilin and the nurse said it was probably a reaction to the amoxicilin but nothing to worry about. She said to call the pediatrician first thing in the morning and to call her back if there were any new sympotoms.

(I have a better pic where you can really see the bumps but I will refrain from posting pics of my dear daughter's backside!)

A few hours went by when I noticed this on Amelia's arm.

At the time I didnt have a  clue what it was a frankly it freaked me out! After speaking with the nurse we decided it was a hive. She still felt it was ok to take Amelia to the pediatrician the next day and told me again to call with any new symptoms, espeically any swelling of the hands or mouth or any trouble breathing.

A few more hours went by and the hives started spreading. The next thing I know she has them on her arms and legs, some several inches wide! I also noticed her bottom lip appeared a bit swollen. I called the nurse back and they advised that I take her to the hospital. (Cue freak out by me...)



I pulled myself together and we drove Amelia to the ER. ( I have sense learned that Spartanburg has TWO after hours minor clinics...grrr) The hives were getting worse, covering her face and head after she nursed, all over her legs and arms. We waited HOURS to see a doctor and stayed up WAY past Amelia's bedtime. When the doctor finally came in he looked at her for about 30 seconds and decided it was viral, she had to be out of daycare for a week and walked out. He literally was backing out the door as we tried to ask him questions...needless to say we didn't get our answers. We went home and put Amelia to bed and hoped for the best. ( I didn't sleep to well) She seemed better Monday and the hives were gone by Tuesday. The bumps are gone now and she never had a fever. I decided to take her in to see her regular doctor just to make sure everything was alright and they felt like we can't rule out an allergic reaction so she is now considered allergic to penicillin. They also discovered that her ear infection is now a double ear infection and put her on a new antibiotic.

We survived our first trip to the ER. Lets hope we don't have another one anytime soon.

(feeling just fine on Monday after the ER, what a trouper!)

I really like to take pictures...

I have taken so many pictures of my sweet girl because I want to remember every day of her life. I may not be a professional and I really need to learn how to properly edit photos but I think I get some pretty good shots. Here are some I'm loving right now.

5 months old!

Amelia is 5 months old! (and some day I may actually get a post up on time...) Ridiculously long post ahead...

(updated weekly photos are on the watch me grow page!)

As I say every time...so much has changed in a month. I may say it every time I write an update but that doesn't make it any less true. I am so amazed by how much Amelia has grown into a little person in the last 5 months. She is so deliberate in her actions and has her own little personality. I cannot believe how quickly time is flying by. Everyone keeps telling us to enjoy every minute because it will go by so fast. It sounds so cliche but it s absolutely true. I feel like I am going to blink and she will be walking and talking!

Much like last month we have had quite a month of ups and downs. Thankfully mostly ups but there have been some difficult times mixed in. Of course...the difficulty is all about sleep and breastfeeding. This month Amelia decided to really throw me for a loop with her feeding/sleeping. In a matter of a week Amelia got her 4 month shots, mastered rolling over and got a little cold. We went from a solid 6-7 hour stretch minimum a night with one feeding to waking every 3 hours again. The problems started with the shots. She took it a lot worse than she did at her 2 month appointment. She really wasn't herself for about 3 days. Then she mastered rolling over and its like she was compelled to do it every single time we put her on her back, even though she was not happy once she made it to her stomach. Then she got a little cold and was a sniffly mess. Thankfully the cold didn't last too long. (Yay breastfeeding!) All of these things and a possible 4 month sleep regression meant a difficult month for mommy! I would put Amelia down around 8 or 8:30 and like clockwork she would roll over and wake up around 10:30, daddy tried to soothe her, mommy tried to soothe her, nothing worked...except feeding her. I'm pretty sure she didn't need to eat so much as she needed the comfort but it was all that would work. After the 10:30ish feeding she would inevitably wake around 1:30 for her usual nightly feeding and sometimes again around 4:30. It was a brutal schedule. Thankfully as the month went by it got a little better. I started letting her fuss for a bit when she woke at 10:30, I never let her get herself completely worked up but she would usually fuss on and off for 10-15 minutes and then soothe herself back to sleep. She eventually stopped waking up at that time. Then we hovered between her waking once or twice a night for several nights...then back to once a night...then...(please don't jinx it because I'm writing it...) NO WAKINGS. That's right, as I type this she has gone almost a week with no night wakings. Great for her sleep but led me to another problem...having to wake up to pump. I will spare you the details but its not fun. Hopefully this is the beginning of a new wonderful sleeping baby!!! Wish us luck!

Amelia has grown and developed so much in the last month, here are some of her accomplishments:

• Can roll from back to front, and front to back (although she is much better at back to front oddly enough)
• doesn't terribly mind tummy time and is starting to push herself around and lift her bum
• sleeps on her tummy most of the time
• naps in the crib!!!! (hallelujah!)
• found her feet! (3/29/12)
• puts her feet in her mouth (ew)
• first time in a high chair (it only lasted about 10 minutes...shes wasn't really ready)(4/14/12)
• enjoys playing in her excersaucer/bounce baby
• giggles like crazy when mommy and daddy kiss her cheeks or pretend to eat her belly
• loves when mommy and daddy read her books
• showing signs she knows her name, absolutely knows mommy and daddy's voices
• loves touching faces
• loves looking in the mirror (so vane...) :)
• has learned the joy of dropping toys
• getting interested in the food we eat, she stares at the food as we put it in our mouth and even has begun to reach for it... Eric and I are taking Infant CPR and then we are going to start her on some solids. We are going to do a combination of homemade purees and baby led weaning and see how it goes! First up is Avocado and Sweet Potato!

We had a lot of fun in Amelia's 5th month of life. We celebrated St. Patrick's Day and Easter.

Amelia met a few new friends.

Ali Claire Pingley and Amelia

Welcome to the world Mackenzie Elizabeth Mannix!

Aunt Abby came to visit!

Amelia is truly the joy and light of our lives. We are really enjoying watching her grow and develop. I don't think we could possibly love her any more than we do! 

Projects for Amelia

As you may or may not know I got a sewing machine for Christmas! I have been pinning away on Pinterest and I was very excited to tackle a few projects while Mary Ann was here.

We made a gorgeous Peasant Dress...

Babylegs... (these I made entirely by myself!)

Crib rail covers (made by MAW)...

and a door latch silencer (made by MAW)

I'd say it was a success! I plan to take a sewing class this summer and really learn how to use this thing!!'

Amelia modeling her new dress!

4 Month Check Up!

Last Monday I took Amelia in for her 4 month well baby check up and shots. :( She did not do nearly as well with the shots as she did at her 2 month appointment. She ran a little fever and was off her game for about 3 days. We seem to be back to normal now but that was no fun! 

4 month stats: 

Weight: 13 lbs 1 oz (22nd percentile)

Height: 25.39 inches (81st percentile)

Head: 16.34 inches (71st percentile)

That 22nd percentile freaked me out a bit but her Pediatrician said its nothing to worry about and she looks very healthy! She will likely just be a slim baby. I think she will be a super model... :)

Blue Steel?

4 months old!

(warning: lengthy post with many pictures ahead...)

Amelia is 4 months old! (and I'm back to work and really behind on the blog...) :)

(updated weekly pictures are on the Watch Me Grow page!)

So much has happened in the last month! We have had many ups and downs (mostly ups). I have now been back to work for a little over a month and its going pretty well. Amelia is doing great at Grandma's Daycare. She loves being around the other children and for the most part is a great napper and super happy baby during the day. I have been super fortunate to be able to go to my moms to nurse her at lunch on most days which is great for lots of reasons. One, its breaks up the day and the amount of time I am away from her and two, it helps my supply to nurse her more often than pump. Speaking of pumping...its sucks (no pun intended!) and I'm already really really tired of it! I wont go into details but its been a hard process. Nursing is going so well but I have a hard time pumping enough to give her at daycare so its a constant struggle! She is really discovering the world these days and can get a little distracted during nursing; if she hears a familiar voice or a strange new sound she wants to turn her head and see whats going on and I have to get her back on track! My mom has been great about sending me texts and pics throughout the day which has been really nice.

Mommy's first day back to work and I'm doing fine!

Naughty Elle...

Sleep has been back and forth but overall its going really well. The first week I was back at work Amelia woke up once a night to nurse after 6-7 hours and then slept until I work her around 7:15 to nurse her right before we left for the day. Then things changed of course. Now she seems to think that 6:30 is a good time to start the day! Whether she sleeps entirely through the night or wakes up once to nurse, she is wide eyed and talking at 6:30 every day! It makes getting a ready a little more difficult but I just bring her bouncer seat into the bathroom and we talk and she plays while I get ready. I do have concerns that this wont really work once she gets a little more mobile and is no longer content sitting in the bouncer seat but maybe she will extend her sleep a little by that time as well...a girl can hope! You may have read the words...sleeping through the night above...Amelia has made it all the way up to 10 hours in the last month. She still gets up to nurse once most nights but there have been several times in the last month that she slept right through! I really don't mind getting up with her once a night to nurse and its possible that could go on for a long time as breast fed babies tend to need to eat more often than formula babies because breast milk digests so much more quickly. Currently we are doing her last feeding at 8 and she is usually down sometime between 8:30 and 8:45 but I think she is almost ready for an earlier bedtime as she typically starts falling apart around 7:30 almost every night!

Other than her nighttime fussyness Amelia is a very happy smiley baby! She is laughing and cooing on a regular basis. She has even started to repeat some of the sounds that we make. (needless to say we have started saying dadadadada and mamamama non stop!) She has officially discovered her thumb (which helps with the self soothing at night) and sticks it in her mouth when she is ready to nap or go to sleep. She has also gotten great at grasping toys with purpose and bringing them to her mouth.  She still loves her sophie and her bunny rattle toy. She is becoming much more independent and can entertain herself for short periods of time. She still loves her playmat and can reach each toy and even bring some to her mouth. If you haven't noticed a pattern yet we are apparently to the stage in life where EVERYTHING goes in her mouth! We got her a excersaucer/jumper at Switcheroo's but she isn't quite ready for it. Although she can hold her head up like a champ she isn't in control of her body just yet and kind of falls forward or leans back if you sit her in it. She does think its neat though! I think she will be sitting up pretty soon and then she will really enjoy it!

We had a HUGE milestone on 3/24/12 ... she rolled from back to tummy! She has been trying so hard for the last month to get over that shoulder and she finally did it. She was so cute and confused looking when she made it over. I clapped and cheered so she would know it was a good thing! She hasn't quite mastered it just yet but we are getting there!

Grandma Wagner is visiting for a week and Amelia is loving spending time with her. They are going on regular walks (which Elle really enjoys too!) and getting in lots of good quality time!