Happy 9 month birthday Kaylee! Happy New Years Eve!

Okay, so this poor doll got more brutal treatment. Jackson bit her hand and left two puncture marks. Oh well, shouldn't hurt Kaylee's ability to enjoy her new Christmas toy!

Sometimes Kaylee says things that seem like a fluke. I've recorded past instances of this but yesterday she wanted to stand next to the window and look outside. I knocked on the window and said "Knock, Knock." Then she said "Knock, Knock" right afterwards. We tried to get her to do it again but she couldn't / wouldn't. Eric heard it too and was like..."Did you just hear.... what I just heard?"

I was reading on a growth chart that most babies can say Mama by 8 months, but neither the word mama or dada would be directed at a person in particular. I'm sad she hasn't said it yet, but hopefully it's just around the corner. Eric's sister and I were talking during our vacation about those growth charts and how they can get parents pretty spooked about their babies development when kids do differ from each other so much. Eric's grandpa was telling a funny story about how Eric's Dad's first word was "Pocketbook." Boy that must have shocked them to hear. It evidently got such a reaction from family that he kept on repeating it, "pocketbook, pocketbook, pocketbook..."

Anyways, be well and safe today on New Years. The roads are much better here today. Yesterday Eric stayed at a coworkers house until 7 to avoid any traffic home from work because things were so bad. We were all so exhausted last night that we were all in bed by 9. This was particularly shocking for Eric. Kaylee slept about 12 hours with intermittent wakings to nurse. I think that's the longest she's ever gone. Hopefully we will be a more fun and active family tonight for New Year's Eve (but I highly doubt it, we'll probably just relax). You relax too!

Poor Dolly

I think it's funny how babies Kaylee's age are somewhat abusive to dolls:

sucking on hands
dropping over and over on head to hear the sound on the floor
poking her ears and mouth
eating hair and pulling hair
holding her upside down
scratching her face and eyes

She plays with her Christmas present but Oh, Poor Dolly!

Kaylee crawled!

We were over at Eric's aunt and uncle's house visiting and Kaylee crawled for the first time! She was on her belly and had one foot sort of on the ground and the other leg dragged behind. Aunt C. gave her confidence by putting her hands on the bottom of her feet to give her something to push off from. She didn't need that the entire time she crawled though. As she made her way toward me she looked really happy. Then she got her feet under her and started to go backwards! She got this shocked look on her face and started whining and looking sad as she started to get further away from me instead of closer to her goal - Momma's lap!

I was so excited I was cheering her on big time. I was really happy that so many family members were there to witness it. Eric, his aunt, uncle, his cousin and cousin's wife were all there to enjoy it!

She is starting to move faster now. I think I won't be able to use the changing table any longer. I was playing with her on the floor and she wanted on my lap. So I picked her up and put her there and a second later she wanted down. I had my hands on her lower body but that wasn't enough... she face-planted onto the wood floor and got a little burn on her forehead. Poor little sweetie! I bet, unfortunately, that there are many more of these booboos in the future. I will remain vigilant and try to get used to it! Take care all. Hope you have a very Happy New year!

All I want for Christmas is my two...teeth

Kaylee got two more teeth. They are not the front top two but the next ones over! No wonder she's been waking up so much!

Picky eater

Well, we have offered her a lot of hamburger bun and no go! Just now she took a bite but that's it. She's picky. We even tried to duplicate the whole scenario. Whole family at the table, next to F. in his highchair, without me next to her and no go...oh well! Someday soon.

I'm so happy because two of my friends had babies in the last couple days. New friends for Kaylee! I can't wait to meet their babies. Sounds like they both had rough labors so I can't wait to check in with them and see how they're doing.

Happy Christmas Eve! Today we went shopping for last minute stocking stuffers, and went out for coffee. It's been a nice day. Last night we watched Kung Fu Panda which is really good.

I didn't mention yet I don't think that two nights ago we with to Fujardo to the Bio-luminescent Bay. It was so fun. It's a kayak trip through mangrove trees out onto a lake where single-celled organisms cause the water to glow green when you paddle an oar in the water or go swimming, anything that makes the water move. I held some in my hand and could see little green sparkles. It was so fun! We had a great time and D. and J. watched the babies. Everyone was content and happy! Hope you are having a great day. Love,
Jenny

Finally ate something for real!

Okay! So after trying to feed Kaylee solids for 3 months she finally ate something. Up until now she might eat 1-2 puffs, a spoonful of puree and then clamp her mouth shut, or gum a piece of bread. If she did eat a solid, she would (unless puree or puffs) gag and throw up. Hence my concern! But tonight, Dondondon FINALLY she ate 1/2 of a hamburger bun and then a little of the bottom too. I know, I know. Not the healthiest but I'll tell you after three months, you take what you can get! We'll diversify to make it more nourishing once she has the hang of it. She was even taking rather big bites, chewing, swallowing and coming back for more. My baby is eating!!!

These are the things we tried and didn't work:
cereal (spoonful maybe)
peaches
pear
sweet potatoes
applesauce
banana (finger food and puree)
puffs
formula (threw it up)
yogurt (think she's allergic to dairy at least at this point)
pizza crust (threw it up)
potatoes

I really really think that it has helped Kaylee to watch her cousin eating so well. He's 10 1/2 months old and is eating well, almost everything. So Kaylee would sit in her highchair and just watch him. 8 days into our trip she finally decided to join in! I'm so grateful and so relieved because I was worried and had even contacted her pediatrician (as you may know). So hopefully we can reintroduce the above to get her going! Wish us luck!

Kaylee's been having a ball playing with her cousins. We have a video of Kaylee and F.bouncing in their highchairs, each getting a rise out of the other one. E. just entertained the babies all the way home from Old San Jaun shaking the maracas that Grandma bought for each child in the city. It was a pleasant trip home with lots of laughter and squealing.

Kaylee tried a baby swing for the first time at the park a couple days ago. She smiled a shy smile at first and smiled all the way through. She's done it three times, but the third she whined to get out and I figured out that we were with E. and she just wanted to watch her play and swing instead. She whines and cries when she has to come into a room just with us like if I have to change her, because she misses her cousins and wants to see what they are doing! So cute!

We went out for breaskfast in Old San Jaun just now. Kaylee ate about 1/2" of the bread we offered her. We were very excited that she kept it down! It seems like bread is one of the few things she'll open her mouth to eat. We had a good time. Last night we went out for ice cream and in the morning we went for breakfast looking out onto the beach. We are having a great time and are glad to still have a few days left! Hope you are all having a great holiday season. I just today got out my Christmas cards, so sorry if they are late! Take care and be safe!

Having fun on vacation

Today we had lots of fun on vacation. D. arrived yesterday and Eric, me and Kaylee went to the beach. Kaylee wasn't so sure what to think of the sand or the water. The waves scared her. She didn't cry, only a whine and a turn of the wrists told us to move her. We sat right on the soft beach and felt the waves just barely touch us. It was lots of fun. Meanwhile, D. shot many cute photos of us and I will post a couple here.

Kaylee has had fun playing with her cousins. She thinks E. is very funny and laughs a lot around her. F. and Kaylee have a lot in common since they're so close in age, yesterday they played a cute game in their highchairs. One where one of them would bounce in their seats and then the other one would do it too. E. likes to hold Kaylee's hand in the carseats. We have three carseats lined up in the car when we go places, Eric's sister's car has carried quite to full load the last couple days.

Kaylee has been drinking water from a cup. It's a new interest she has. I have been mixing in some puree as directed by her pediatrician in order to get her some food since she hasn't been eating yet. The doctor will check her out at her 9 month on Jan 16.

The other night we went to San Juan and saw an outdoor showcase of images from around the world, shown from the air. The kids likes seeing the lights and everybody was happy as we walked around. Unfortunately, all three kids took their turn crying in the car during that trip. But at least they weren't all crying at the same time.

It's been amazing down here. Thank you to J. and S. for having us!!! We are having a good time and it's been nice that Eric hasn't had to do any work yet while we've been here. Tonight we worked together on making dinner for all of us. It's been fun being so relaxed.

I got my Christmas cards today and will be able to send those soon! Hope you all are having a great week and are keeping warm! Love, Jenny

We got to PR safe

Well,
We made it down to Puerto Rico! You may have seen the article in the Pioneer Press which has our story about what happened to our first plane when we tried to fly out of MSP airport on the 12th. We were all very scared after we got above the clouds, there was a loud POP! and then blue smoke started coming into the cabin from the seat in front of us. The flight attendants were no where to be found and finally eric said,"there's smoke over here!" Then they showed up and were like "get the baby to the front of the plane!"

Well in the end we made it here yesterday after an emergency landing and then rebooking to a flight that left at 6 am on the 13th. We were able to fly first class all the way to Puerto Rico, with a layover in Chicago. Kaylee was amazing. There was a bit of whining and crying when she was tired, but I think over 70% of the flights she slept! We were at the beach this morning and are having a good time.

Kaylee can pull up in crib

Kaylee can pull up in her crib lately. I noticed her doing it up to her knees but Eric said she also did it to her feet. Now we have to lower her crib so that this won't be dangerous. My immediate response to seeing it was "Oh my gosh - yikes! Hope she doesn't climb out!" Anyways, until we figure out how to lower it we are keeping a close eye on her.

Last night I leaned her up against the coffee table. She held herself up there for quite a few minutes and looked very happy and proud. She babbled a lot and likes banging her hands on the glass (I didn't like that part so much, but she's not too strong.)

Kaylee isn't crawling but is finding herself on her belly or stomach more often after she's been sitting because she gets interested in something and then propels herself forward. She tries to crawl with her arms but isn't strong enough to go anywhere exept to pivot herself around her base point (her belly).

I talked to Kaylee's pediatrician about how she isn't eating and told her the whole story of all the things we've tried and our lack of success. The doctor said it sounded like Kaylee had a couple bad experiences choking or gagging that she must remember. She said the thing to do is water down her food and let her slurp it in. We are basically starting over. I tried this with some peaches over the weekend a couple times and was pleased that it went pretty well. I even saw her move her jaw around a little and didn't see too much of a "oh, that's nasty" face. If after the doctor gets back from vacation Kaylee still isn't eating food, she wants to do a swallow study on her to see if everything's functioning properly in her throat. Until then I'm going to work on getting her consistenly taking the watery solution and then if things are going well, to reduce the amount of water in the food. I need some relief from breastfeeding because her teeth hurt me quite a bit, but I still enjoy the ease and closeness of breastfeeding. It's a double-edged sword I guess.

We are very excited about our upcoming trip to PR this Friday. I did a bunch of Christmas shopping this past weekend. I still haven't gotten Kaylee a present so I have to look into what it will be. I was thinking of a doll with zippers and buttons on it or I saw a cute little monkey stuffed animal I think she would love.

update on me

The doctor said I have some blocked gland in my jaw/face. I guess sometimes people get their glands blocked there kind of like kidney stones. I am on amoxicillan (sp?) for 10 days now. Hope it clears up soon! Glad I went!

Home sick today

Well, I am home sick today from work. I worked really hard the last week and a half or so preparing for the deadline we had yesterday. Now I'm so tired! I have swollen face on the right side, and a tenderness near my ears, jaw and neck. I am going to the doctor at 2 today. I think it's just swollen lymph nodes but might as well go in. Anyways, I have Kaylee home with me today too because she hasn't been doing that well at daycare this week. She's been sick with quite the cold and cough, she is now getting over it. But I wanted to keep her home because each day I pick her up she has a bad day at daycare, fussing and crying a lot and only drinking 3-7 ounces of her bottle. They called me Monday and asked me to come pick her up, and said it wasn't necessary because she didn't have a fever, they said it was a "parent thing". Anyways, Eric and I being so in love and so the first timers at this, Eric swooped over to  pick her up since I was on my deadline. And I left early from work at around 3 so I could feed her ASAP. When we got her she seemed happy and content, and glad to see us. The night was fine but she did have trouble sleeping. I took her to the doctor that night and he said it was not croup or anything serious, or strep and that it was just conjestion. He said she could definitely go to daycare. 

I think her fussiness is because she's sick, she gets tired, she's teething and now as I  mentioned earlier she's having a bit of separation anxiety from me and Eric. She likes to be with us best. I bet she will be extremely excited when we go to PR and she can be with us all the time. I am sort of scared for how she reacts to daycare after that.

Kaylee has continued to wave, she practices all the time. Waving backwards at herself. One time she even waved her whole arm and hand in a greeting. Usually she practices on us and is a bit shy still to do it in public, but sometimes does it. Soon to come I'm sure. 

We got Kaylee some squirter bath toys. It was funny to see her reaction. She got so excited she yelled and squealed in the tub. But it was funny how she gravitated to  holding the two tub toys she's used to - her rubber duckie and her goldfish toy. Eventually she did pick out her favorites - the black and white whale and the orange starfish - to suck on. She will even try to hold on to one with her elbow so she doesn't have to let them go.  She's so fun and I'm sure as her language skills develop she will be even more fun. Eric and I have a good time with her! 

Her grandparents had a great time with her on their visit up here for Thanksgiving! They took plenty of pictures, held her a ton (which was good because I threw my back out again while they were here), and showed her off to other family and friends.  It was good to bring my side of the family and Eric's together for Thanksgiving. It was very fun and thanks to all that made that happen!

Happy 8 month Birthday Kaylee!

Today Kaylee is 8 months old. Today she started to wave! We went to Target and someone at Starbucks was waving to her, and she waved her whole arm back and forth (different than usual)! Also when we came home Eric waved his hand in and out "hello" and she opened and closed her hand (but backwards at herself). After that she did it several more times and the whole family was very excited about it - she was all smiles and looked proud of herself!

Her grandma bought her a new black outfit we put on with pink hearts. She looks very festive and ready for the holidays. Again, I can't believe how fast my baby is growing and developing! She's a real cutie. We've found that her eyes change slightly with what she's wearing, when she's wearing this black outfit her eyes look real dark like mine.

Hands in Motion

Kaylee's doing  more new things with her hands. She's been putting her hands together and raising them up over her head and then letting go once she's peeking through the hole her arms created. We figure it's her version of 'so big' so whenever she does it we say "SO BIG!"  It's funny to realize how much bigger a baby's head really is in proportion to the rest of their bodies. If I put my arms up around my head there's a lot of extra space. If she does it there's none and her arms are forced to let go as she pushes forward.  

My in-laws are here and we've been having a great time during this Thanksgiving break. Kaylee's grandma's been working with her on clapping. My MIL claps and then Kaylee slaps one hand down over and over. Her grandpa thought that Kaylee also did this as many times as the hands were clapped. 

Anyways, hope you are all having a great holiday weekend! Take care and be safe! 

Pre-crawling!

In the last three days or so, Kaylee's been able to get her knees under her while she's pushing up (during tummy time). So, she's one step closer to crawling! And last night for the first time, I saw her up on her knees and rock a little bit back and forth. It does look like hard work for a baby. You know how you feel when you are doing a push up? That's how she looks, like it's very strenuous for her little baby muscles. You know how you'd like to put your knees down to get out of the push up position or cheat on them? That is sort of what she's been doing up until now.

She continues to sort of roll, twist, turn, climb with her arms and squirm a little closer to places she wants to be.

New Kaylee "signs"

Kaylee has figured out a couple new ways to communicate with us and it's pretty cute (and useful). They are not signs taught from American Sign Language or daycare, they are her own invented signs.

One is turning of the wrists:
She raises her arms halfway up and turns her wrists around and around. This means I want you to hold me, I want mama or I'm bored.

The other one is raising her arms and bringing them quickly together, if her hands were out she would be clapping, then she repeats it over and over:
This means I'm having fun, do it again, or I'm excited.

Kaylee has also recently developed more of an attachment to me. It hasn't really changed much or really been too bad. But what happens is if she wants me to hold her or to come to me, she will turn, twist, stand, anything short of crawling to get at me. She will also attempt to crawl toward me with limited success. She'll still let others hold her a lot, it's just when she gets tired, or is in a certain mood for me.

Giggling sleeper

Kaylee woke me up about 4 times last night wanting to nurse, the last two nights have been bad! I was so tired, but it really cheered me up when I woke up and looked at her and she was giggling in her sleep. It was so cute it wiped from my memory and irritation I had! I am guessing she was dreaming about her Dad playing games with her or else the dogs and their antics. There's something so sweet and utterly enchanting about the voice of a baby. It's so pure and innocent, and sweet! That is, when it is soft. When she's wild and crazy in her jumperoo, it is loud and can sound more like a 'yell'. Not as sweet but still perty darn cute!

Rice is not our friend

Yesterday we went to a Vietnamese restaurant, Kaylee was perplexed by the crowd. She was silent and observant. When we got our food, Eric wanted to give her a piece of rice and I said "No, she will throw up. I don't want her to throw up here." But he tried it anyway, then she threw up twice during dinner. It was not cool but we dealt with it well, she didn't get upset and Aunt B didn't seem to mind either. All in all we still had a good time. Her gag reflex seems to be still well in-tact. A friend of Eric's said that we should try the cheerios that dissolve in the baby's mouth so we are going to experiment with that. I'm a little leary however, because I'm still not convinced that Kaylee has ever really gotten the hang of swallowing pureed food and I think that'll probably come first. There's a reason for my being worried about that, and that is I am having some pain related to breastfeeding and we need to find her another option. Whatever our approach is though we are working at being patient with Kaylee and making it seem like fun. On a positive note, she tasted sweet potatoes the other day and didn't reject them.

Oh, and I have had to be more careful with holding her. She will throw herself towards the edge of the couch or out of my arms towards her Dad if she's excited. But it's good she's so curious and thinks things are so fun and interesting. The other day she was at eye level with the dogs when we first got home, in her jumperoo. She is normally in my arms. She thought it was hilarious to see the dogs barking, wrestling and playing right in front of her. She let out loud peel of laughter and squeals of delight! It made me laugh at ton too.

Oh and speaking of laughing, when we were taking a bath I took the water in my mouth and squirted it in an arc. She thought that was so funny, she couldn't stop laughing. My cheeks got tired of blowing out the water because I didn't want to stop entertaining her this way!

We've been having a good weekend, I am at work. and best get back to it! Take care!

Yesterday Kaylee fed herself 4-5 spoons of cereal. That is real progress. We've been saying all along that it doesn't seem like Kaylee likes to be fed, she clamps her mouth shut and turns her head. The only time she's done it is if she's been distracted, tricked or eaten it right off her bib. So maybe she has the dexterity required to feed herself a little? She still doesn't like cheerios but brings them to her mouth to lick them. If they get into her mouth she tries to spit them out.

So far traits we've noticed in Kaylee:
fearless
funny
happy
talkative (make lots of sounds)
affectionate
observant
engaged

Arm crawling

Kaylee is has been crawling with her arms, her legs haven't figured it out but her arms are trying to go places. She tries to crawl towards a toy, us or the dogs with her arms. Eric and I were commenting last night, if it was safer for her to be on the floor with the dog she'd probably be want to crawl to him. She thinks he's hilarious and laughs a ton at him, I have to watch him so he doesn't lick her too much or begin to paw at her. It's a delicate balance of too much dog to too much baby.

At daycare, they cleaned the carpets in preparation because the teacher thinks all the babies are going to start to crawl soon. A couple are up on all fours and rocking back and forth, or crawling backwards. Kaylee is not quite there yet. But if she becomes determined enough, we see it happening soon. My little baby is growing up so fast! She's "playing" with the other kids now, sharing toys (or more like playing tug-of-war with them). They are deciding still should I keep the toy, should I share or should we just pull it back and forth. What ever it is it's a fun drooly mess of a good time!

Biting baby

So Kaylee has taken to biting me when she feels playful. She tries to bite my clothes and then if she gets hold she tries to bite me. Not fun at all. Eric hasn't been experiencing it, and we think it's because he's not the one who nurses her and she loves to nuzzle and mouth me and this is an extension of that. Now that she's got four teeth that is not cool. We'll work on that...she thinks "NO, KAYLEE!" and "OW, KAYLEE" are really funny. She smiles and let's out a peel of laughter. She doesn't understand.

Daycare said yesterday that Kaylee had some cereal mixed with peaches and seemed to taste it a bit more. So that was encouraging.

Kaylee continues to be super cute, Eric told me that at daycare the call her "smiley". In the group buggy, when she comes around the corner they say all the other babies are just sitting there and Kaylee is the one to greet them with a smile. So sweet!
Take care everybody.

Starting Over

So, I heard loud and clear that the blog and it's security settings was a pain in the arse. I'm sorry for that. I definitely want readers but I was also trying to do my best to keep our family information private. And therefore, names and places will be generalized in order to keep it that way. I also didn't like how my old blog used the baby's entire name for the url.

I will post here from now on. So check up to keep current on cute little baby girl!