Most of the time when Owen woke up in the morning or after a nap, he’d just play happily in his crib. For a long time if you let him. And when you finally went in to get him, he was all smiles and giggles.
So of course I expected Katie to do the same.
Ha.
HA HA.
She starts screaming within two minutes of waking up.
Every.
Single.
Time.
😐
And sometimes doesn’t even stop after you pick her up. Or stops, but starts again when you lay her down to change her diaper.
We took Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob out for dinner to Traverse City and we picked Harrington’s On The Bay. It was quite yummy—and while Owen was really good, Katie was pretty good but got a bit antsy/squawky towards the end. Owen was a MUCH better diner than Katie is so far…but she’s a MUCH better eater (tonight she ate calamari, French fries, asparagus, filet mignon, yogurt, and chocolate cake).
I remembered to get out the Monkey Shirt in plenty of time with Katie…and Gramma Jean dressed her in it while we were out and about with the boy.
This is a tee that Grauntie Marge made for me when I was little that says “Auntie Marge loves Jenny” on the belly…and it got saved all these years. I forgot about it/had it well put away for Owen, so he didn’t get to wear it until he was a little too big for it.
And Owen, from September 11, 2011 (which, interestingly, I SWORE I blogged about, but it’s nowhere to be found).
Since we were on vacation with access to all the grandparents (and Uncle Rob and Grauntie Marge) we decided to celebrate Katie’s first birthday a little early (just three weeks!). She has a few “first birthday” shirts to wear so we started with the same onesie Owen wore for his first birthday:
With Gramma Jean…
Then hanging out and watching TV with Owen:
Then outside in the backyard with the really nice grass—one of my favorite shots of the day! 🙂
Amazingly we started off on schedule—and if you want to be technical about it, we were actually seven minutes early. And we didn’t think of anything we forgot…
The barrette lasted a whole hour—which doesn’t seem like much but her previous record was about three seconds.
Things went pretty well until Katie got a little screechy. But Owen was SO awesome—he’d start talking to her, singing the ABCs, playing peek-a-boo (which usually resulted in giggles), and clapping (at which point she’d clap in return). But then it turned into hunger screeches meaning she wanted her bottle—which sounds easy…but isn’t. She can physically hold the bottle—but can’t understand she has to tip it (she wants it to work like a straw cup). We tried putting her formula in the straw cup…and then she doesn’t really want it. And even though it’s attached to a strap so it can’t end up on the floor…it ends up hanging or upside down…dripping milk. Sigh. At this age, Owen was definitely holding his own bottle—great for road trips.
So I tried giving her a no-spill snack cup…which lasted all of five minutes until she a) figured out how to hold one flap open and tip most of it out and then b) got the entire lid off! Joy.
No-spill snack cup: 0
Katie: 1
So we figured our good little eater would snarf down some mac and cheese for lunch. Nah. Not interested today. REALLY?! Also not really interested in any of our foods, including one of her favorite baby foods. GRRR.
The good thing about lunch is that the owner—after chatting with Tom—comped our meal as a thank you for his service. So a nice shout out to Prissy Polly’s BBQ in Kernersville, NC.
Neither kid napped well. Katie got maybe an hour each before and after lunch and Owen got maybe an hour total with his catnaps.
Then there was a sibling sharing game, played with the lid to the snack container. Owen would hand it to Katie, she’d hand it back, lather rinse repeat. Owen kept saying “We’re sharing! We’re talking turns!” 🙂 He’s such an awesome big brother.
When we finally got to the hotel, Owen helped daddy with the cart (it was too bright for a good picture!).
And Maggie’s bag…which was about half his size.
Katie was having a blast crawling/zooming across the bed. Of course as soon as I tried to record her, she stopped.
Then she learned how to get off the bed. Just like that. (Just like she learned how to slide off the couch.) She’s a smart cookie.
Then it was off to dinner. We ate at the hotel just to make life easy. Katie ate seasoned curly fries, regular fries, and beef brisket (in addition to her cheese slices, green beans, and yogurt). Yes, BBQ beef brisket. Owen? The triple-decker PB&J and yogurt we packed from home.
Then it was FINALLY time for the pool—Owen had been asking most of the day but had really started asking when we got to the hotel. He was VERY excited!
Catching a ride and kicking it with daddy…
Watching daddy and Owen in the pool:
Then I took Katie outside for a stroll since it was REALLY warm in the pool area.
It took a minute to get a smile.
Then it was back to the pool, where daddy nommed some Katie toes.
I love when I get an unexpected shot. 🙂
Back at the room, we turned our backs for a minute…and this happened.
Yes, she opened the drawer AND got in by herself. And she was SO proud! Of course, she got out by herself, too.
Unfortunately, there were a few tiny snafus.
I thought I did really well by packing overnight bags so we didn’t have to haul everyone’s suitcases in…but I apparently forgot obvious stuff like jammies and Katie didn’t have her burp cloth.
I rolled the stroller through something in the hotel (they had some construction areas) and tracked it all over our carpet. It looked like putty, and thankfully it was still wet enough to easily wipe up.
Owen picked a scab and bled all over the white sheets. I had no band-aids…either on me or in our med bag. Tom had to get one from the front desk.
I haven’t had reflux in a month…so of course tonight was the night. And I forgot to take my nightly meds before putting Katie to bed, and I really didn’t want to get up because it took her 25 minutes of SCREAMING to fall asleep and hell if I was going to be the one to wake her up.
Also, the room next door has a bird and a yapping dog. Luckily it didn’t wake Katie up…but it woke me up about 10:30, and them continued to bark randomly until the owners SLAMMED back into their room around midnight.
Oh, we also got the last non-smoking room and it’s…not great. The bathroom smells, the bathroom counter is chipping, the toilet runs, and the sliding bathroom door (handicap accessible) is off the track so it can’t close. But we got a military discount!
This morning at breakfast I gave Katie a straw sippy cup to play/practice with. I marked where I filled it so I could tell if she actually drank anything or was just playing. And damned if she didn’t actually drink some! Then I let her have it during play time and she drank more! So…it looks like we’re going to bypass the hard spout cups. WOOHOO! (Owen didn’t drink out of straw cups until probably 1.5-2—but I don’t think we even gave him the chance because typically regular sippy cups come first so that’s what we did.)
At her second dinner (when Owen was finally eating at 8:00) I gave her the cup again and she was drinking and drinking. She’s still obviously getting used to the flow because she’d often choke a little bit on a big gulp of water. She’s also learning to hold it and pick it up…something she’s refused to do with her bottles thus far.
But look at how VERY proud of herself she is!
ALMOST BUT NOT QUITE!
THERE YOU GO!
TA DA!
I’m really wondering if she’s going to be done with bottles sooner rather than later. She still drinks SOME but it’s really few and far between (I can’t tell you the last time she drank a full bottle in one sitting)—she’d much rather eat real food.
Every so often while playing Katie will just put her head down (usually on a pillow). It’s not usually at nap time so I think she’s just taking a little break. It’s something Owen never did so we find it terribly cute. She did it twice today.
For comparison, Owen at 9 months was: Weight: 22lbs. 10oz. (50–75th percentile) Height: 30½” (95th percentile) Head: 26″ (95th percentile) 😯 He really did have a big head!
So they were actually about the same at 6m, but at 9m, she’s smaller! YAY!
I got to check YES on everything on her milestones sheet, so the doc said she is doing perfectly. She also wasn’t due for any vaccinations, but we apparently missed something at 6m because they were out of it, so she got it today. It was just one quick shot and she cried for two seconds but that was it. GOOD BABY!
For comparison, at six months Owen was: Weight: 19 lbs. 7 oz.—so 1 lb. 7 oz more! Length: 28-1/2″—the exact same length!
The doctor said everything looks great. She was just ever-so-slightly concerned that she hasn’t started solid foods yet, so suggested we try real foods instead of jarred baby foods (like yogurt puffs, grain puffs, mashed potatoes, avocado, etc.) and if she’s still not eating by 9m, then we should see a specialist. But I’m not worried.
She did really well with her shots—hopefully because I dosed her with Motrin before the appointment. She got two vaccinations and a flu shot (with a booster due in 30 days)…then fell asleep when I was halfway through my Sam’s Club trip.
Weight: 15 lbs. 15 oz. (was 13 lbs. 4oz.)—between percentile 75 and 90 Length: 25-3/4″ (was 23-1/2″)—between percentile 75 and 90 Head: 16-1/2″ (first measurement that I have)—between percentile 50 and 75
I prepped her with Ibuprofen this time…and it seems to have helped overall (no bouts of screaming once we got home). However, at the time, it was a different story. First, strangely, she absolutely FREAKED OUT when the doctor checked her ears. Screaming like she’s never screamed before. The doc said everything was fine, so then it was off for the immunizations (another room at the clinic)…where she started screaming as soon as I set her on the table. And then boy did she scream. BOY DID SHE SCREAM. Probably twice as loud and horrific-sounding as when she was getting her ears checked. It definitely made me grateful for what little crying she actually does at home. Then it was over and she stopped crying by the time I had made her next appointment and we were walking out—and she fell asleep by the time we walked to the car. Good baby. 🙂
Just for comparison, at four months, Owen was 16 lbs. 1 oz. (so only 2oz different—and they were using an old skool scale (vs. digital) so it may have been off just a bit) and he was 1/4″ taller…so they are almost identical!
