10 Months

I’ve fallen to a new low in the Kinlee-blogging habit.  I’m missing so much!!!  But today it’s about 10 months.  Amazing. 

 

To help her leave the letters alone next to her, I gave her one to chew on and keep her busy. And it worked…for a little bit.
 

Here’s a couple video clips of the post photo shoot outtakes.  I realized that I don’t take enough simple little videos of KiKi… so these are just that.

And then this one is from tonight…she didn’t do her best performance, but she’s pretty good with mama, dada, and sis-sis, and usually belle-belle too. 

Stats: 18 lbs 7.5 oz, 28 inches.  She’s wearing mostly 12 months, especially for length, though she can swim in the room around her in a 12 month sleeper.

Highlights from this month:  This kid is eating everything, and I’m continually amazed.  She likes fish, she likes veggies of all kinds. She likes chicken and rice, stroganoff, tortillas, pasta, and a variety of fruits.  She can eat a whole multi-grain/fruit bar for breakfast in no time at all.  She much prefers to feed herself, but she’s been better lately about taking from a spoon as well.  She can drink from a straw like a pro, and she does well with an open cup too. 

She is walking with only one hand assistance, and she loves going around with the walking toy or anything else she can push and walk behind…laundry basket, Braska’s tricycle, empty boxes, etc.

She is mostly sleeping through the night, but still has fairly frequent nights of waking at least once, sometimes going to sleep again quickly, sometimes not so much.  She’s got 8 teeth now and I think there might be some more on the way soon.

She misses her sister when she’s at school each morning, but she’s adjusting pretty well.  They do really love to play together, and if KiKi would stop yanking Braska’s glasses off her face, things would be just about adorable when they interact.

Here’s to month 11! (More posts soon!!! So many pics to share!)

8 Months

Once again, we're here to mark another month. This will be quick since I'm borrowing M's computer again, and I don't have the same little gadgets I usually do. (Blogger is hard sometimes! Relatively, of course.)

Before baths this morning, we snapped a few pics. These little shoots are getting tougher as we go. Lie still?? Yeah right.


And Braska wanted in on the action, so in she went. Hugs and kisses are always first on the docket for her.


Then KiKi returned the favor, as she usually does, by pulling hair. Hard.


Then they were both up in about 10 seconds, ready to go. So to the bath we went.


Highlights this month: I can't even keep up. I really need to document better. She's eating pretty well again, after her little phase. She much prefers to feed herself, and gets frustrated when she can't do it all herself. But really, pureed foods, at this stage and self-feeding?? I don't think so. We're doing alot of little "meltables" and such, and she's quite good at it.

Today, she did her first cruising down the side of the couch. She loves to pull up on anything at all, and she really likes the walking toy also, and spends alot of time going around with it. Crazy girl, I just can't get used to this kind of skill with motor. It's so amazing to me. She is mimicking a little with sounds, mostly da da da when we are changing her diaper. She loves to babble with Braska. They seem to have some inside jokes, and they get tickled by something and just sit there and giggle. Too cute.

Here we come, month 9. Ready for what's next. Maybe.

Upwardly soon-to-be-mobile

Yes, that’s my 7-month-old. Yes, she is standing with one hand on a walking toy.  Yes, she stood up at the toy and pushed it across the room.
 

She is officially pulling to a stand on whatever type of surface or object she wants. She especially loves her sister’s little wooden chair.

This is her favorite way to sit, but it requires assistance.


She thinks she can manage herself, though.  And she made decent progress before she got stuck.

Hopefully her speed will continue with her ability to get herself down from standing.  Currently, she stands, remains there quite a while playing and chattering, then starts complaining because she wants to sit again.  Unless her sister helps by knocking her over, she stays there until someone rescues her and shows her (again) how to sit down.  Granted, this has all come about in like 4 days.  I guess I have to give her a break.

KiKi Update: Sept 09

I keep saying I need to just stop and get some stuff down, and I keep not getting it done.  Story of my life lately.  So while Blue’s Clues is on and both girls are entertained—detained in Kinlee’s case, in the ExerSaucer—I’m going to e-scribble down some items.

General health: She’s been great for all her 7 months, til last week.  If you read the recent posts on my blog this week, you saw that she’s been a crabby mess and more difficult than usual.  The pediatrician said that she has blisters on her throat, something like hand, foot, and mouth, except it’s not on her hands or feet. ??  Anyway, she said there was nothing to do but manage the sore throat that would accompany it.  We saw the dr on day 8 and she said it lasted 5-9 days usually.  That was Monday.  It’s Friday and she’s still not herself. Not eating (solids) well, but she is a tad less fussy.  Maybe it’s on it’s way out.  She’s got a congested nose and upper airway, but that doesn’t seem to bother her too much.  She’s loving very cold milk, so I’m guessing it feels good on her throat. If she’s not better by Monday, we’ll go back and have her throat checked again and get an updated plan.

Sleeping: She had been doing well-ish in the sleep department.  She was going from about 9pm or so to about 5:30am.  But when all this strangeness started the beginning of last week, she began waking 2 or 3 or even 4 times a night.  Not my favorite thing.  The last two nights she’s been better, but I helped by giving her some Benadryl to help with the congestion over night, and the added sleep help, of course.  She’s gone from about 8:30pm til about 4am, then back to sleep and up again at 6:30am for the day.  I’m so jealous of those 10 and 12 hours that some kids are blessing their parents with.  Neither of mine have ever done that.

Eating: Other than her issues with her throat, she’d been doing pretty well.  She’s worked her way through the veggies, except green beans… she is NOT a fan.  We have barely touched on the fruits, and she’s a big fan of some of the other combos in level 2 foods, especially apples and chicken as well as sweet potatoes and turkey.  I want to do more finger foods for her, because she likes to feed herself, but I’m totally at a loss as to what to give her.  I’m hoping to be able to do a little research on that next week.

Milestones: She’s a champ when it comes to strength and motor milestones.  She’s crawling quite fast now, she’s pulling to a stand on the couch (nothing to grip…amazing), and she moves constantly.  This is not my favorite trait of hers, but we’re learning to deal.  It’s exhausting.  She is signing “milk” and working on “more” and “eat.” 

Growth: She has outgrown everything, it seems.  Her 6/9 month sleepers are too short.  Two of her could fit in them for width, but she’s so darn long for her weight.  She came in at 28” at the doctor’s office, only a couple ounces short of 17 lbs.  Her feet are already getting close to needing her size 3 shoes.  (Braska still wears some size 3.)  She’s in a size 3 diaper, same as her sister.  Crazy.

She’s a mommy’s girl, which is flattering, but a bit frustrating also.  Hopefully, her little challenging phase will be balanced by some peaceful phase next.  Delusional? Maybe I am.  She’s been going to the nursery at church for a few weeks, and she seems to do ok, though she does do some crying.  The people in the baby room are just wonderful, so they are very patient with her.

She loves her sister. She wants to be everywhere Braska is, often between Braska and B’s intended toy or book.  She crawls down the hall to Braska’s room to find her when B sneaks away for some peace and quiet.  She’s a much happier baby when Braska is present.

Overall, she’s a keeper, just one that’s going to demand more from us than Braska has.  And that’s ok. She’s her own girl. We just need to adjust in ways we didn’t expect. She’s worth it though.

Milestone: Or two or three

Kinlee’s been flying through the milestones lately.  I suppose she’s been doing that her whole life.  I can’t get used to it, and I definitely can’t keep up with the blogging that I’d like to in order to document it.  But I’ll do my best in short bits…

She had her first cereal on her 5-month birthday.  She was a fan.  I marveled at the fact that you could just offer her a spoon of mush and she happily opened her mouth. 

I’ve never experienced such a thing!!

She did have a few faces that were kind of funny, but for the most part, she was very pleased with this new element to her routine.


At 6 months, we started introducing some veggies, touched with a tiny little bit of pears to make it a bit more enticing.  She has done great with all of it except the green items.  Those will have to wait a bit more.  She’s a fan of squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and chicken with apples.

This past week, I gave her the little crunchy things from Gerber Graduates, and I just stared and laughed at how she just seemed to know what to do, and she enjoyed it!  This is so foreign to us with Braska and her feeding refusal.  I can’t believe that a kid can just take food, put it to her mouth, and eat it.  Chewing!  What a novel idea!!
 


She started army crawling just after she sat independently before she was 6 months.  She’s gotten quite fast at it and she can get anywhere she wants in no time flat. And if that weren’t enough, now the girl is crawling too!  She’s not even 7 months!  Maybe that’s normal, maybe that’s what all kinds of babies do, but I’m amazed at this little crazy girl.  No video yet, but we’ll get some.  She’s still kind of wobbly and slow about her steps, but she does it.

Check out this pic I got this week, it reminded me of another and I looked back on Braska’s blog to find it. 

Same hand-me-down shirt, same BabyLegs, and almost the same weight.  Kinlee is the same length as Braska was in that pic, and she’s less than a pound under the weight that Braska was there.  The big difference is that Kinlee was 6 3/4 months, and Braska was 16 1/2 months. Almost 10 month difference in age.  So funny to me to see how similar and still different.

Milestone: Toofer #1

Tonight M noted that Kinlee had been drooling alot, and I said I kept thinking she’d eventually pop a tooth out.  But every time we check, there’s nothing there. 

This time, while I was wiping the drool away, I sneaked a feel of the gums, and holy moly…there was a tooth!  It’s barely through, but the top edge is there.  And it just figures, we were at the pediatrician today for her 6-month check and when she asked about teeth, I said, “Nope,  none yet, but she sure keeps acting like they’re on the way.”  Well, I suppose I was right.

No pictures yet, it’s not easy to get a glimpse at this point, but bottom front, one tooth.  We’ll take it.

(And for record keeping purposes, she was 15 lbs 12 oz today—though that scale is not to be considered trusty in my book—and she was 26 3/4 inches. She got her shots and was a champ, getting another assessment of “perfect!”from Dr. A.)

Milestone: First Big Girl Bath!

Yesterday, Kinlee got to experience her first bath sans Bumbo or baby tub. She was hesitant at first.




But she ended up liking it enough that she insisted on going back in after I had taken her out at one point. She had tipped over and scared herself, and as she was sitting on my lap watching Braska and calming down, she practically dove back in. She squiggled and wriggled herself almost off my lap in no time, so I put her back in, and this is how it went... (for Reader/Feedburner subscribers, there's a movie clip next, in case it doesn't show up.)

Milestone: Sit up and go

I have missed SO many of this girl’s firsts.  She just hits them so darn fast!!! And by the time I’ve found time to document one, there’s another one, and another one.  And I’m just so far behind. 

BUT…This one can’t be missed.  I’m just so surprised at this superhero strength!

I went to pick up the girls at Mom’s Monday and here’s what I found.  A little girl who sits up and plays with toys.  So far her record is about 10 minutes! At 5 1/2 months.  Sitting up.  Wow.  Maybe that’s “normal,” maybe it’s not.  But I think it’s amazing, and we tell her so quite often.  She has been propping up for a week or so, but not for long.  Then she goes to Mom’s for 4 days and there it is!  Figures….

But does it stop there???  Nope.  Check out our overachiever! (I still don’t trust her not to topple forward.)  She likes to get on all fours and rocks back and forth!


”Look, Mommy, I told you I could do it!”

KiKi is all over the room now, she can get herself where she wants to go with rolling, scooting, and something like an inchworm crawl.  Look out world!

4 Months

Once again, the 9th is here.  We celebrate 4 months today.

4 months of cuddles
4 months of (more) diapers 
4 months of being a family of 4
4 months of (more) Mommy fatigue
4 months of enjoying one (more) very sweet little girl


"I'm cute?  Yeah, I know!"


"What do I want for my birthday? 
One miiiii-lllllion dollars!" 


Highlights this month: She's rolling whenever she gets the urge.  She's a giggling machine, laughing when she's tickled or when she sees a silly face or hears a silly voice.  She likes to play with her gym and loves her bunny. She is so aware of Braska and just lights up when she gets "kissies" from her sister.  I feel weird not always knowing exactly what she weighs, since we had at least weekly weigh-ins for Braska at this age.  But she is eating well, sleeping well, and she's generally pretty happy.  We get alot of comments about how "good" a baby she is.  She is a very social girl, not a fan of being left alone in a room.  She's happy to express her dislike of my leaving her immediate visual space, but she practically kicks herself silly when I return.  That's a pretty nice little welcome,  I think.  Right now, she's working on her bottom front teeth.  She's drooling and a bit fussier than normal, chewing on her hands alot, as well as anything else around that she can grab.

It's going so fast with this one.  She just DOES things.  There's no working on it or practicing or teaching her how to do things.  She just does it.  I'm still getting used to that.   I think this coming month is going to bring alot of fun.

Milestone:Roll baby

I forgot to get something documented for when I can't remember later. Kinlee rolled over last week! She sleeps on her belly, (yeah, I know the "rules" but she has her own set) and when I went in to get her up from her nap, she was still on her belly. I rolled her over and let her stay there while I put a couple things away in her room. I turned back around and she was back on her belly. So of course, I had to put her on her back again to see if she'd do it when I could see it happen. And she did. Back to belly again. Silly girl. I don't know what "normal" is, but we were pretty darn impressed!