Monday, December 31, 2012
Christmas 2012-At Home
Wow this past month has been quite a whirlwind! We have been so busy with Elsie's Birthday party and all of our Christmas celebrations but we have thoroughly enjoyed it all. We have been able to spend so much time with family, enjoying each other, catching up, playing games, and watching the joy in the children and I would never trade that for anything...even for a few quiet days. Of course I am a bit behind on the Christmas posts as it is already 2013 but. . . here we go!
Christmas at Home
We celebrated the first of our Christmas celebrations the Friday before Christmas. It was just John, Elsie, and myself. We were leaving the next day for 5 days so I made sure to be packed and have the house clean so I could just enjoy the night. We ordered pizza for dinner ( I didn't want to have to clean) and we opened our gifts. Elsie wasn't too interested and I this year I wasn't certain she would even get into it so I didn't have too many exciting gifts picked out for her. From us she received: "God Gave Us Christmas" Book, a couple of Melissa and Doug Chunky puzzles, a new winter jacket, hat, and mittens, and a little chair to match her daddy's. John received a photo mug filled with Elsie's photos, a couple of new sweaters, a belt, a boot dryer and some new insulated Muck Boots for cattle work. John got me a new set of diamond earrings and a North Face jacket. I was spoiled :)
Elsie did enjoy her gifts for a little while and then went to bed. After she went to bed, John and I enjoyed a glass of wine and then he fell asleep out on the couch (he had been working pushing snow the past few nights so he was pretty tired) and I watched my FAVORITE Christmas movie ever "White Christmas". It was a great night!
Christmas in Minnesota Part 2
We had one more final celebration in Minnesota for Christmas and that was to celebrate with my immediate family. So our first celebration was with my dad's family, then we spent Christmas Eve with my family minus my sister and her family, and then Christmas Day with my mom's family and then finally celebrate with my whole family on Christmas Day Evening.
We got back from my aunt and uncle's house and opened presents and hung out before my sister and her family left to get back home. Here are some pics from the evening.
We got back from my aunt and uncle's house and opened presents and hung out before my sister and her family left to get back home. Here are some pics from the evening.
Christmas Around the House
I wanted to take some pictures of how I decorated the hosue for Christmas in 2012. I definitely did not do a good enough job of getting all the decorations and I am dissapointed that I failed to take pictures of the outside of the house, especially of how I decorated the window boxes. So this is all I guess I will have for 2012.
I made new blocks for the dining room which were Christmas themed. I was going to do some pictures but decided I liked them better without.
I ended up ordering our family Christmas stockings from Pottery Barn. My mom has made stockings for our whole family but we keep them at my parents house.
I have always had a hard time figuring out how to display our Christmas Cards. I don't have enough magnets to keep them on the fridge and don't have enough room to put them all on the front, which is the only part of the fridge that is exposed so I found this idea on Pinterest. Super easy...I bought Christmas inspired ribbon, looped it around the cupboard door and then hot glued the ends together. Next year I hope to paint the clothespins green and red to make it a bit more festive. This ended up working really well.
Christmas in Minnesota Part 3
In addition to celebrating Christmas with family, we also spent an evening at Jake and Melissa's. We met up with Chris, Josh, and Liz. Before we went though I wanted a few more pictures of Elsie and the family because when we celebrated Christmas the girls were all getting a little tired and uncooperative.
Here a a little comparison picture from Christmas 2011 to Christmas 2012
Elsie Marie - 12 Months Old!
One year ago we welcomed a beautiful baby girl into our lives and she completely changed our world. We wouldn't have it any other way. Of course this post is coming just over 2 weeks late but all information and photos were current as of 12/14/12. And of course things have already changed :).
GROWTH:
Well after the doctor this week we learned that Elsie is not growing as fast as I thought she was! She is growing fast enough but I thought for sure she had broken the 20 lb mark. But not, she is 19 lbs 4.5 oz. and 29.5 inches long (I think this might be a little off). She has finally grown into most of her 12M clothes and are into 18M onesies and sleepers. She still fits into most of her 12M sleepers too but she can do both right now. She is still long and small waisted. In fact, I feel like her waist has actually gotten smaller over the past few months. She is a busy little girls so I am not surprised.
EATING
Elsie is a wonderful eater. She is pretty much eating most table foods now and eats what we eat. I still try to keep her food kind of plain because most things that add flavor or sauces have so much sodium. I was really worried about the transition from bottle to sippy cup but for the most part it has been pretty smooth. Her favorite foods are meat, broccoli, cheerios, cheese, and yogurt. She really enjoys most vegetables though. She still doesn't enjoy fruit so much but we are working on it. We have also begun to introduce whole milk. We are doing it gradually with the plan to be done with formula in the next three weeks. Here is a typical feeding schedule and some of the things she will get at each meal.
SLEEP
Like every month, this months sleeping was different. Naps are pretty much the same and she still goes to be wonderfully but she started waking up between 4:00-5:30 AM. She would have a hard time going back to sleep unless she had a bottle. So we started the month out with like 6 oz and by the end of the month she was down to just 2 oz and then she would be out within a minute of finishing the bottle so I am thinking she just wanted a little comfort. She had done this before...waking up in the middle of the night for a bottle but the phase only lasted like two weeks. This time it last the whole month but she would fall back to sleep and sleep in later-like 6:45-7:00 AM and we would have to wake her up since she had to get ready to go to daycare. There were a few days I was home with her that she slept until 7:15. We are planning to work on getting her off the middle of the night bottle after Christmas. We have just begun to let her sleep with things. She still sleeps in the sleep sack but now gets one of her monkeys and a little giraffe lovey square. It still makes me a littler nervous but I feel better knowing she is out of the SIDS risk stage. I still check on her non stop though :)
Here is a typical sleep schedule for her:
6:45 AM-Wake up
8:30-9:30-Morning nap. Sometimes I wouldn't lay her down until 9:00 if she slept past 7:00AM. But she is still taking about a 45-60 minute morning nap.
1:30 PM: Afternoon Nap. This is typically lasting anywhere between 1-2 hours. It varies every day.
6:30 PM-We start our bedtime routine and she is typically asleep by 7:00 PM.
4:00-5:30 AM- She wakes up for that little shot of milk and then falls fast asleep.
I would say she gets an average of 13-14 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period.
DEVELOPMENT
Elsie is a walking machine. She will just walk non-stop around our house. She loves to carry things around while walking from the living room, through the kitchen, into the dining room, around the dining room table, back through the kitchen, and back into the living room. She can stop, crouch down, and pick things up and then stand back up. She is a quick little girl and keeps us on our toes. She is just beginning to enjoy opening and shutting cupboards. She is imitating a lot of what we do and wants to do what we are doing. She loves to put things into containers or bags and then take them out. She bangs things together, points for things she wants, will give things to us (especially small things she shouldn't have), she shakes her head yes and no, and has really gotten good at helping get dressed. This is one I have noticed a big change in over the last month or two. She sticks out her arm, leg, foot etc whenever I tell her what piece of clothes we need to put on. She is also beginning to play peekabo where she covers her face or covers your face with her hands or will pull John's stocking hat over his eyes and then pull it up again. She will occasionally point to somethings eyes, nose, mouth when we ask her to.
TEETH
She stills just has the front four top and bottom teeth for a total of 8. We thought she was getting her back molars at one point but they have yet to make an appearance
SPEECH
Her speech seems to be developing more and more every day. She might not be saying too many new words but her "talking" seems to be getting more advanced. She is imitating a lot of what we say or sounds like she is trying to repeat the words or sounds that we make. She loves to talk.
Previous Words: mama, dada, woof-woof (for dog), hi, and uh-oh.
New Words: Up
PLAY
Elsie still LOVES books. She enjoys looking at them, carrying them around, and pulling them off of her bookshelf. She is really into climbing now, trying to climb up onto the furniture. She still isn't there yet but can do it if there is something nearby that she can use as leverage. Some of her favorite toys right now are monkeys, books, bath toys, balloons, and boxes. She also enjoys going into the pantry cupboard and pulling food off the shelf. She still loves the remote and cell phones and playing with her shoes. She is generally a pretty happy baby. Very little makes her upset except when she doesn't get her way or we take something away that she shouldn't be playing with. Surprisingly, she has left most of the Christmas decorations alone including the tree. She does love snowmen though with their carrots for noses which may be because they look similar to beaks of birds which she loves.
NICKNAMES
Over the past year we have come to call Elsie something other than Elsie. Here are a few of her little nicknames
Elsie Bels, Elsie Belsie, My little munchkin, the Elsie Monster, Els, Elser Beans (daycare), sweet pea, string bean, pterodactyl, bear-cat, My little sunshine, stinker
I still can't believe our little girl is no longer a baby but is now a toddler! This past year has been so wonderful and have truly enjoyed every stage she has gone through and I love to see how she is constantly changing. I wish we could just freeze some of these moments so we could enjoy them forever but we can't so we need to continue to enjoy them as they come. The time is too short and goes too fast. We love you my little Elsie Belsie.
Well after the doctor this week we learned that Elsie is not growing as fast as I thought she was! She is growing fast enough but I thought for sure she had broken the 20 lb mark. But not, she is 19 lbs 4.5 oz. and 29.5 inches long (I think this might be a little off). She has finally grown into most of her 12M clothes and are into 18M onesies and sleepers. She still fits into most of her 12M sleepers too but she can do both right now. She is still long and small waisted. In fact, I feel like her waist has actually gotten smaller over the past few months. She is a busy little girls so I am not surprised.
EATING
Elsie is a wonderful eater. She is pretty much eating most table foods now and eats what we eat. I still try to keep her food kind of plain because most things that add flavor or sauces have so much sodium. I was really worried about the transition from bottle to sippy cup but for the most part it has been pretty smooth. Her favorite foods are meat, broccoli, cheerios, cheese, and yogurt. She really enjoys most vegetables though. She still doesn't enjoy fruit so much but we are working on it. We have also begun to introduce whole milk. We are doing it gradually with the plan to be done with formula in the next three weeks. Here is a typical feeding schedule and some of the things she will get at each meal.
4:00-5:30 AM-she is waking up between these times for a bottle-2-4 oz
6:45 AM: Breakfast-6-8 oz in sippy cup, toast eggs, cheerios, banana
10:00-10:30ish AM: Morning Snack-Water in sippy cup, fruit, cheese, cheerios
12:00 PM: Lunch: 6-8 oz in sippy cup, yogurt, pasta, veggies, leftovers
3:30 PM: Afternoon Snack-water in sippy cup, crackers, fruit, cottage cheese,
5:30 PM: Dinner-6/8 oz in sippy cup; meat, veggies, and some kind of grain. She has been starting to eat what we eat.
6:45 PM- 6-8 oz bottle before bedtime-I still love this cuddle time but we will eventually work to get this one out of the schedule and be bottle free.
SLEEP
Like every month, this months sleeping was different. Naps are pretty much the same and she still goes to be wonderfully but she started waking up between 4:00-5:30 AM. She would have a hard time going back to sleep unless she had a bottle. So we started the month out with like 6 oz and by the end of the month she was down to just 2 oz and then she would be out within a minute of finishing the bottle so I am thinking she just wanted a little comfort. She had done this before...waking up in the middle of the night for a bottle but the phase only lasted like two weeks. This time it last the whole month but she would fall back to sleep and sleep in later-like 6:45-7:00 AM and we would have to wake her up since she had to get ready to go to daycare. There were a few days I was home with her that she slept until 7:15. We are planning to work on getting her off the middle of the night bottle after Christmas. We have just begun to let her sleep with things. She still sleeps in the sleep sack but now gets one of her monkeys and a little giraffe lovey square. It still makes me a littler nervous but I feel better knowing she is out of the SIDS risk stage. I still check on her non stop though :)
Here is a typical sleep schedule for her:
6:45 AM-Wake up
8:30-9:30-Morning nap. Sometimes I wouldn't lay her down until 9:00 if she slept past 7:00AM. But she is still taking about a 45-60 minute morning nap.
1:30 PM: Afternoon Nap. This is typically lasting anywhere between 1-2 hours. It varies every day.
6:30 PM-We start our bedtime routine and she is typically asleep by 7:00 PM.
4:00-5:30 AM- She wakes up for that little shot of milk and then falls fast asleep.
I would say she gets an average of 13-14 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period.
Elsie is a walking machine. She will just walk non-stop around our house. She loves to carry things around while walking from the living room, through the kitchen, into the dining room, around the dining room table, back through the kitchen, and back into the living room. She can stop, crouch down, and pick things up and then stand back up. She is a quick little girl and keeps us on our toes. She is just beginning to enjoy opening and shutting cupboards. She is imitating a lot of what we do and wants to do what we are doing. She loves to put things into containers or bags and then take them out. She bangs things together, points for things she wants, will give things to us (especially small things she shouldn't have), she shakes her head yes and no, and has really gotten good at helping get dressed. This is one I have noticed a big change in over the last month or two. She sticks out her arm, leg, foot etc whenever I tell her what piece of clothes we need to put on. She is also beginning to play peekabo where she covers her face or covers your face with her hands or will pull John's stocking hat over his eyes and then pull it up again. She will occasionally point to somethings eyes, nose, mouth when we ask her to.
TEETH
She stills just has the front four top and bottom teeth for a total of 8. We thought she was getting her back molars at one point but they have yet to make an appearance
SPEECH
Her speech seems to be developing more and more every day. She might not be saying too many new words but her "talking" seems to be getting more advanced. She is imitating a lot of what we say or sounds like she is trying to repeat the words or sounds that we make. She loves to talk.
Previous Words: mama, dada, woof-woof (for dog), hi, and uh-oh.
New Words: Up
Elsie still LOVES books. She enjoys looking at them, carrying them around, and pulling them off of her bookshelf. She is really into climbing now, trying to climb up onto the furniture. She still isn't there yet but can do it if there is something nearby that she can use as leverage. Some of her favorite toys right now are monkeys, books, bath toys, balloons, and boxes. She also enjoys going into the pantry cupboard and pulling food off the shelf. She still loves the remote and cell phones and playing with her shoes. She is generally a pretty happy baby. Very little makes her upset except when she doesn't get her way or we take something away that she shouldn't be playing with. Surprisingly, she has left most of the Christmas decorations alone including the tree. She does love snowmen though with their carrots for noses which may be because they look similar to beaks of birds which she loves.
Over the past year we have come to call Elsie something other than Elsie. Here are a few of her little nicknames
Elsie Bels, Elsie Belsie, My little munchkin, the Elsie Monster, Els, Elser Beans (daycare), sweet pea, string bean, pterodactyl, bear-cat, My little sunshine, stinker
Thursday, December 27, 2012
The Weekend of S's: Sad Visit, Special Visitor, Shopping and Snuggles
Two weekends ago was a mix of emotions. Friday was Elsie's first birthday so we went out to lunch and then John and I made a sad trip up to MN to support a dear friend. His father passed away after battling cancer. Stupid cancer! My heart goes out to him and his family. We got home around midnight. Saturday morning we woke up and brought Elsie into bed with us. She just laid with us and snuggled for quite a while. I absolutely loved it.
Then we had a VERY special visitor come. My brother Tony was able to come home for Christmas (which was a suprise) for the first time in four years! We were so excited. He drove straight through from Idaho and stopped at our place for breakfast.
Then we had a VERY special visitor come. My brother Tony was able to come home for Christmas (which was a suprise) for the first time in four years! We were so excited. He drove straight through from Idaho and stopped at our place for breakfast.
Elsie with Uncle Tony
Don't mind this pic of me--it was early :)
The rest of the day was spent cleaning, wrapping presents, and getting ready for the busy Christmas weekend ahead. Elsie got a bath in the afternoon (normally bath time comes right before bed) but we had a birthday party in the evening and knew we wouldn't get home in time for one. Elsie is really enjoying her bath times lately!
That evening we went to Cayden's birthday party. We had a great time and enjoy being part of his celebration! He got lots of wonderful presents. He is a very special little boy and we love him so much! I seriously can't believe he is three years old already!
Peyton and Tanner with the kiddos. Cayden got this awesome little trampoline!
Owen and Elsie enjoyed climbing up the stairs.
Sunday was a day of shopping for me. My goal was to wrap up all my Christmas shopping and get everything wrapped. I was pretty successful for the most part. Elsie has really been enjoying climbing into things lately-laundry baskets, suitcases, even my storage bin of wrapping supplies.
For the most part we had a nice enjoyable weekend. We had lots of "home" time and snuggle time which has not happened enough in this busy season. I hoping we get more of those in the weekends to come.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Not a creature was stirring . . .
It's a snow day here in Iowa. We git 12 inches of dnow last night followed by some gusty winds. Just laid Elsie down for her nap and came down to Cinder and John conked out in the living room too. Oh how a nap sounds so good right now but housework is calling my name. Maybe I will treat myself to an early bedtime tonight if I'm lucky. 
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
30 Years 30 Goals
So in November I turned 30. To me it really isn't a big deal, I don't feel older but I feel blessed for where I am in my life. I am happy, healthy, and have wonderful family and friends.
One of the things I want to do this year is to make some goals to accomplish throughout the time that I am 30...30 Years...30 Goals. I thought I would have no problem coming up with 30 goals but let me tell you this was tough. This is what I came up with.
1. Run 5-5ks. Maybe one will be a bit longer. I know this doesn't seem like a huge goal since a 5k is only 3.1 miles but it will be my motivation to stick to running on a regular basis. My first one is the Rosey Cheeks run the first weekend in February.
2. Complete the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon I started this series oh about 6 years ago and have finished the first 4 books. I might need to freshen up on those books before starting the new ones.
3. Get into a consistent routine of exercise at least 3 times a week.
4. Take Elsie to a Children's Museum
5. Spend a weekend in the Amana Colonies with John
6. Visit three new wineries in Iowa
7. Lose at least 15 pounds
8. Send out 10 "Just because" notes to friends and family.
9. Attend a Minnesota Twins game this summer-I didn't get there last year.
10. Plan and carry out a date night with John once a month
11. Enroll in a fitness class
12. Become familiar enough with Photoshop that I want to use it to edit my photos
13. Set a budget and stick to it.
14. Update window treatments in Dining Room, Kitchen, and Living Room
15. Be up to date on all photos books (Elsie's One Year as well as be up to date on her Year two and 2010, 2011, and 2012 family photo books
16. Read 4 Non Fiction Books
17. Have an Elsie outing once a month
18. Take out the camper 5 times this summer
19. Finally get rid of all the stuff in boxes that I have been wanting to donate.
20. Attend church at least once a month (I know this doesn't sounds very high but it is a start) or a total of 12 times this year.
21. Plan and carry out a staycation.
22. Host game night at my house for friends
23. Work Related: visit a farm site to get an understanding of the equipment we sell
24. Make the switch to natural cleaning products
25. Find a cause I want to support and start a volunteer relationship
26. Find and purchase a little black dress that I LOVE!
27. Do Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred
28. Make 5:30AM be my standard wake up time and 10:00 be my standard bed time.
29. Update birthday information for all family and friends (this will be a challenge).
30. Twice a month call up a friend or family member just to chat. I do not do this enough with blogs, email, facebook, etc. and none of that can replace a good conversation.
Wow that was a lot hard than I thought it would be :) I am going to create a tab at the top of the blog to monitor my progress. Wish me luck!!!
One of the things I want to do this year is to make some goals to accomplish throughout the time that I am 30...30 Years...30 Goals. I thought I would have no problem coming up with 30 goals but let me tell you this was tough. This is what I came up with.
1. Run 5-5ks. Maybe one will be a bit longer. I know this doesn't seem like a huge goal since a 5k is only 3.1 miles but it will be my motivation to stick to running on a regular basis. My first one is the Rosey Cheeks run the first weekend in February.
2. Complete the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon I started this series oh about 6 years ago and have finished the first 4 books. I might need to freshen up on those books before starting the new ones.
3. Get into a consistent routine of exercise at least 3 times a week.
4. Take Elsie to a Children's Museum
5. Spend a weekend in the Amana Colonies with John
6. Visit three new wineries in Iowa
7. Lose at least 15 pounds
8. Send out 10 "Just because" notes to friends and family.
9. Attend a Minnesota Twins game this summer-I didn't get there last year.
10. Plan and carry out a date night with John once a month
11. Enroll in a fitness class
12. Become familiar enough with Photoshop that I want to use it to edit my photos
13. Set a budget and stick to it.
14. Update window treatments in Dining Room, Kitchen, and Living Room
15. Be up to date on all photos books (Elsie's One Year as well as be up to date on her Year two and 2010, 2011, and 2012 family photo books
16. Read 4 Non Fiction Books
17. Have an Elsie outing once a month
18. Take out the camper 5 times this summer
19. Finally get rid of all the stuff in boxes that I have been wanting to donate.
20. Attend church at least once a month (I know this doesn't sounds very high but it is a start) or a total of 12 times this year.
21. Plan and carry out a staycation.
22. Host game night at my house for friends
23. Work Related: visit a farm site to get an understanding of the equipment we sell
24. Make the switch to natural cleaning products
25. Find a cause I want to support and start a volunteer relationship
26. Find and purchase a little black dress that I LOVE!
27. Do Jillian Michaels 30 day Shred
28. Make 5:30AM be my standard wake up time and 10:00 be my standard bed time.
29. Update birthday information for all family and friends (this will be a challenge).
30. Twice a month call up a friend or family member just to chat. I do not do this enough with blogs, email, facebook, etc. and none of that can replace a good conversation.
Wow that was a lot hard than I thought it would be :) I am going to create a tab at the top of the blog to monitor my progress. Wish me luck!!!
Monday, December 17, 2012
Elsie's One Year Doctor Appointment
This morning we had Elsie's one year doctor appointment. For the most point it was pretty uneventful and was the quickest of them all I think. We didn't get her pecentile so I did the best I could based on the charts to figure it out her stats for weight and height. The went down just a little which I though they would but he said for the most part she is still staying on track with her growth curve. Here is where she was at.
Weight: 19 lbs 4.5 oz (45%) I would have guessed she would have been over 20 lbs.
Height: 29.5 inches (70%)
Head: 45.4cm
So going into this appointment I thought she would be for sure over 30 inches tall and over 20 pounds. In fact I told John we probably need to find a new back up car seat since her infant one only goes to 22 lbs and she had to be close to that. Well she isn't. I do know she hasn't grown much in the belly region because we are still on the same setting for waist for her diapers as she was back at 6 months. On our little form we will out at the beginning of the appointment she met all the "milestones" for her age which is good of course.
On the agenda for shots today was the chicken pox vaccine, MMR, last dose of Hib, last dose of Pc, Hep A. I declined the MMR for now. I will probably get it for her later but I just felt uncomfortable with the number of vaccines in this round. I actually should have waiting on the chicken pox and Hep A too but I didn't think much about it. So maybe at her next appointment we will go with MMR but for now I wanted to wait. She also had a finger prick done to get blood drawn to check for lead and for iron deficiencies (these were standard tests).
We actaully didn't have too many questions (or at least that we could remember these past few days). Here are some of our questions/concerns
Q. Elsie's pupils are still uneven. Her left pupil is a little bigger than her right.
A. Just like he had said when we brought it up at her 6M and 9M appointment at 12M they are referred to a opthamologist. He doesn't see anything wrong with her eyes but they just want to check to make sure her retinas are okay. We are scheduled to see the specialist in January.
Q. So Elsie is waking up between 4:00 AM - 6:00 AM at night for a few ounces of milk in a bottle. What should we be doing? Do we not give it to her or is she actually hungry? She only does it for a couple weeks and then goes back to sleeping through the night.
A. She probably doesn't need it right now. At 9 months he said it was okay but now she really doesn't need it. He said that we could do 15-30 minutes of protesting and if she doesn't calm down then give in. He also said we could alternate good nights with bad but she should be able to go the whole night now without milk. (I will elaborate on this when I do her 12 Month update).
Q. When Elsie walks sometimes her left foot points outward. Is this something to be concerned about?
A. No. Her legs and feet look fine, not bowlegged or anything. He said she is just trying to get it figured out.
Q. When do you give ibuprofren and when do you give tylenol? What is the difference? We got our first dosage information for ibuprofren.
A. Ibuprofren is much stronger than tylenol and has with that comes more side effects. Tylenol is for a fussy, uncomfortable baby with a low fever. This should be used first. Ibuprofren is for fevers over 102 degrees and is much stronger. If tylenol is not making them comfortable you can move on the this.
Q. How much milk should Elsie be drinking a day?
A. 16-18 ounces total. No more than 24 ounces a day and most of it should come before bed.
Q. Sometimes Elsie gets really red and dry around her mouth from her runny nose and drool. We have been alternating Aquaphor and CJs BUTTer on it. Is there anything else we should be using?
A. He said we can use a little bit of less than 1% hydrocortison when it gets really red and chapped and that will really help it.
Other little bits of information that he gave us:
Weight: 19 lbs 4.5 oz (45%) I would have guessed she would have been over 20 lbs.
Height: 29.5 inches (70%)
Head: 45.4cm
So going into this appointment I thought she would be for sure over 30 inches tall and over 20 pounds. In fact I told John we probably need to find a new back up car seat since her infant one only goes to 22 lbs and she had to be close to that. Well she isn't. I do know she hasn't grown much in the belly region because we are still on the same setting for waist for her diapers as she was back at 6 months. On our little form we will out at the beginning of the appointment she met all the "milestones" for her age which is good of course.
On the agenda for shots today was the chicken pox vaccine, MMR, last dose of Hib, last dose of Pc, Hep A. I declined the MMR for now. I will probably get it for her later but I just felt uncomfortable with the number of vaccines in this round. I actually should have waiting on the chicken pox and Hep A too but I didn't think much about it. So maybe at her next appointment we will go with MMR but for now I wanted to wait. She also had a finger prick done to get blood drawn to check for lead and for iron deficiencies (these were standard tests).
We actaully didn't have too many questions (or at least that we could remember these past few days). Here are some of our questions/concerns
Q. Elsie's pupils are still uneven. Her left pupil is a little bigger than her right.
A. Just like he had said when we brought it up at her 6M and 9M appointment at 12M they are referred to a opthamologist. He doesn't see anything wrong with her eyes but they just want to check to make sure her retinas are okay. We are scheduled to see the specialist in January.
Q. So Elsie is waking up between 4:00 AM - 6:00 AM at night for a few ounces of milk in a bottle. What should we be doing? Do we not give it to her or is she actually hungry? She only does it for a couple weeks and then goes back to sleeping through the night.
A. She probably doesn't need it right now. At 9 months he said it was okay but now she really doesn't need it. He said that we could do 15-30 minutes of protesting and if she doesn't calm down then give in. He also said we could alternate good nights with bad but she should be able to go the whole night now without milk. (I will elaborate on this when I do her 12 Month update).
Q. When Elsie walks sometimes her left foot points outward. Is this something to be concerned about?
A. No. Her legs and feet look fine, not bowlegged or anything. He said she is just trying to get it figured out.
Q. When do you give ibuprofren and when do you give tylenol? What is the difference? We got our first dosage information for ibuprofren.
A. Ibuprofren is much stronger than tylenol and has with that comes more side effects. Tylenol is for a fussy, uncomfortable baby with a low fever. This should be used first. Ibuprofren is for fevers over 102 degrees and is much stronger. If tylenol is not making them comfortable you can move on the this.
Q. How much milk should Elsie be drinking a day?
A. 16-18 ounces total. No more than 24 ounces a day and most of it should come before bed.
Q. Sometimes Elsie gets really red and dry around her mouth from her runny nose and drool. We have been alternating Aquaphor and CJs BUTTer on it. Is there anything else we should be using?
A. He said we can use a little bit of less than 1% hydrocortison when it gets really red and chapped and that will really help it.
Other little bits of information that he gave us:
- Should be mainly drinking from a cup-bedtime bottle is still okay but eventually should work on getting rid of it.
- All foods are okay for her to eat just keep in mind about choking hazards
- Keep reading to her. Very important for language development.
- We should make a first visit to the dentist around this age. (So my dentist said not really until three do they need to be seen so a bit conflicting there).
- Since her "Angel Kisses" are still visible at this point they will be for awhile. Not forever but for a little bit longer than normal.
He said she is a beautiful healthy little girl! Hopefully we won't have to see him again until her 18 Month checkup!
The Girls
I will forewarn you that this post is going to mainly be a post with photos. About a month ago my parents, sister and her two girls came down for a visit for my birthday. It was a wonderful weekend! The weather was absolutely beautiful. 70 degrees in mid-November is pretty nice here. In the morning we went to the local craft fair and in the afternoon we spent some time outside playing, John and my dad put up our Christmas lights, and a little impromptu photo session of the kiddos took place. It was a great afternoon! Here are some of my favorite pictures.
Allie trying to escape the Elsie Monster
The three girls-Elsie 11 months, Allie 4 yrs 4 months, Piper 2.5 months
My beautiful sis and her beautiful girls!
Elsie found this walnut seed. It was fun to watch her play with it
"Oh what's this?"
"Oh it looks interesting"
"Ah, nevermind...there are more exciting things around here..."
"Like Grandpa!"
Can't get enough of this cutie!!!
So glad they came for a visit so we could all spend some time together.
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