Christmas Decor!

 

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours!

Reese Meets Santa!

On Monday, December 19th I took Reese to meet Santa at the North Shore Mall.  We met my friends Kristen and Jilane there with their babes.  Kristen has Stella who is 3 weeks exactly younger than Reese, so we dressed the girls in matching outfits.

I was nervous that Reese would cry when she saw Santa, but she proved me wrong! I was so proud of her since I had to wake her up 2 minutes before getting her picture taken (and it was time to eat!). Our Santa wasn't very friendly at all. :-( He didn't say a word to us!

Here are the ladies and their matching outfits! How cute, right? I was dying at the cuteness overload!

Reese and Stella!

Reese, Emma, and Stella!

Letters to Reese- Five Months

Reese,


Pretty girl, you turned 5 months old on December 18th, 2011.  It's absolutely crazy to think that we're almost at that half year mark.  Time is just flying by and we are cherishing every single moment with you.  Daddy and I looked through some of your newborn pictures this month, and it's amazing to see how much you've changed and grown.  When you first came home from the hospital you were so dark, you had thick dark brown (almost black) hair, and now you are lighter and have this light brown, fluffy hair.  Believe it or not, all underneath looks blonde to me.  I'm dying to see what your hair is going to do this summer.


This past month has been by far the most fun because you are so interactive and such a ham! You seriously are the funniest baby.  I don't know if it's because you're ours or not, but Daddy and I can't get over how awesome you are.  You laugh, smile, coo, screech, and laugh constantly.  You love to be the center of attention, and still rarely cry.

Your schedule is still pretty consistent (with the exception of when you were sick this month), going to bed between 7-8pm and then waking up between 4:30-6am, getting a bottle, and then going back to bed until 6:30-7am. Your naps are inconsistent, sometimes you sleep for only 40 minutes, but other times I get lucky and you'll do a nice 90min- 2hr stretch. I'm trying to figure out if you're going to cut back on the amount of naps you take during the day (usually 4) to 2 longer naps.

This month you've had some more firsts, these include jumping in your jumperoo (we started this after we had your 4 month well check at the dr. and got the go-ahead), sitting in your highchair like a big girl, you had your first HUGE belly laugh on 11/28, your first trip to the ER also on 11/28, moving up your ounces per bottle to 5.5 on 11/29, you began rolling consistently from belly to back on 11/29 (all last month you did back to belly consistently), grabbing for toys intentionally, and you found your feet for the first time. Now every time you get a diaper change your feet go directly into your mouth and you get so excited. Another thing to note is that you definitely have noticed the kitties for the first time this past month, which is so cute to watch.  You are also able to hold your own bottle for a minute here and there, although when you do it you don't hold it high enough to prevent air bubbles, so 

Daddy and I love you more and more each day and are so lucky to be your parents!

Love, Mommy

Reese's Five Month Stats:

Weight: 15lbs 7oz (73rd percentile) *Typically they don't do a 5 month appointment, but last week I had to take you to the doctor's because of that crazy rash you got so we got to check your weight.

Height: Not sure, but I would assume some where around 25 inches.

Clothing: 3-6 months, still wearing 0-3 white onesies, although I think Santa is bringing you some larger size onesies for Christmas, so we'll probably retire those soon.  

Diapers: Size Two Pampers

Favorite Toys: Jumperoo, Sophie the giraffe, Oball, your play mat, interlocking rings, and any sort of cube/soft block, and your crinkle puppy.

Favorite Past time: You love your jumperoo, sitting in your highchair watching Mommy or Daddy cook or clean up the kitchen, laying on the floor with your toys, standing up with help, and watching the kitties- you absolutely love the kitties and watch them walk around the house and Mommy and Daddy show you how to pat them nice.

Communication: Smiles, squeals, and fake talking.  You literally sound like you're having a conversation with us. 

Cries: Only when you're overtired or hungry.  You are extremely predictable (for the most part), and easy to figure out.

Bedtime: Between 7-8pm

Food: 6 bottles per day, all are 5.5oz with the exception of your last bottle of the day being 6oz. Totally 33.5oz/day.  No solids yet.

My Poor Little Monkey

On Sunday T and I were having company for the Patriots game so that morning I ran to Trader Joe's to pick up some food.  When I got home T asked me if Reese had a rash on her tummy earlier that morning when I had changed her, and I replied that she hadn't.  I asked him if the rash was bad, and he said it wasn't, so I didn't give a second thought to it.  Reese has pretty sensitive skin, and sometimes it is easily irritated, and she has gotten a few red spots here and there.  Fast forward 2 hours to the next diaper change....and this is what I saw:

Alarming, right?! Yeah, I thought so too.  I called Reese's pedi's office and the on-call dr. called me back. Since Reese didn't have a fever and wasn't acting like this rash was bothering her, the dr. wasn't overly concerned.  From what I described over the phone he thought it could be eczema or hives.  Um, no.  I've had eczema on my face before, and this definitely wasn't the same.  Hives? Maybe, but these bumps/rash didn't go away like hives typically do.

Later that night it still hadn't gotten any better, so T and I decided that if in the morning it wasn't gone (or wasn't getting better), then I would take her in to see her regular doctor.  Sure enough, Monday morning it was WORSE! Way worse!

Here is a picture of the rash at the doctor:

Our poor little Reeseybear.  Dr. D looked her over and said that it definitely wasn't eczema or hives or fifths disease (something I thought it could be thanks to Dr. Google), but most likely a contact rash. The most frustrating part of this was that nothing had changed in Reese's routing- no new clothes, no new products (i.e. bath soap, laundry detergent, etc.), and we haven't started solids yet, so no new food.  It's a mystery.  Dr. D told me that I could give Reesey 1/2 tsp. of children's Benadryl and that if it seemed like it was helping, then I could repeat the same dose 6 hours later.  Well that is just what I did, I gave her 2 doses' on Monday day/night and then one final dose yesterday morning.  Today I am happy to report that the rash is completely gone.

Along with this rash came a cold on Sunday.  Poor little bug has been so congested and can hardly breathe.  Last night she started with a cough to accompany it.  The girl can't catch a break. :-(  Worst of all is that the congestion and cough is keeping her and us up all.night.long.  Reese has never been one to wake up every 2 hours, not even when she was a brand new baby, until this cold.  I'm hoping and praying that the worst of it is behind us now.

Reese's Birth Announcement

I never did share Reese's birth announcement, so here it is!

Catching Up via IPhone Pictures

Look at that smile!

First time in her North Face snow suit- apparently size 3-6 months is still way too big!

Funny girl! Right after her shots, making a funny face!

Visiting Auntie Sarah at UNH

First time in her high chair! No food yet, but at least she can hang out with us while we eat dinner as a family. Sophie tastes better than food anyway.

My smiley baby!!

Tubby time!!

Shopping with Mama...look at those adorable socks!

My little helper while getting ready!

She kills me with the tongue!

Play date with Madeleine!

Ya, I can hold my own bubba, so what?!

Loving the Jumperoo!

Big Girl in Her Crib!

On November 12, 2011 we finally transitioned Reese to her crib full time.  Since then, we've not looked back! She was just shy of 4 months old.

We now have a bedtime routine: bath (if it's bath night), jammies, bottle, play for 15 mins, upstairs for a diaper change and to put on her sleep sack, read Goodnight Moon, bed (always lay down awake).  We have a fan going for white noise (and it's suggested to help decrease SIDS), and we'll turn on Reese's sleep sheep.

Knock on wood, but Reese doesn't cry when we put her down, she just falls asleep on her own.  More often than not, she'll have lost her binky seconds after we leave the room, but she's excellent at self soothing with sucking her hands, thumb,  etc.

Here are some pictures from her first night:

 And the morning after..

We currently do 2 naps per day in the crib (one morning, and one afternoon).  Reese does cry most of the time when she goes down for naps, but typically she'll stop after 5-10 mins. I'll always go in every few minutes to rub her belly or head and Shh her, never talking to her or picking her up.  I hope that eventually there will no crying at nap time and that she'll go down like she does for nighttime.

Thanksgiving 2011

This year we have so much to be thankful for.  Reese made our Thanksgiving extra special.  I was thinking back to last year's Thanksgiving when I was feeling so sick that we told T's parents that I was pregnant.  What a difference a year makes! Little Miss was only the size of a poppy seed last year and now look at her!