Caitlin: 10 Months Old

Caitlin – you are 10 months old now!

I still cannot get over how fast this year has been flying by!  How is it possible that you are already 10 months old?  That in two months from now you will be a YEAR OLD!

You are still our sweet little girl… but can definitely be a handful at times.

At your 9 months appointment, your stats were the following (all around the 90%):

•     Weight: 21 pounds, 6 ounces
•     Height: 28.5 inches
•     Head Size: 46 cm

Needless to say – you are growing well!  You are wearing 6-12 month size clothes and size 3 diapers.  I am thinking of moving you up to Size 4 diapers when our current supply runs out.  Your eyes are still blue and your hair is still blonde.  Your hair is starting to come in a little more now and is probably about 2 inches long in some spots, but your hair is SO fine that you cannot really tell its there unless you are really looking!

You are still breastfeeding/getting a little formula during the day + eating a few meals and snacks a day.  You eat baby oatmeal, yogurt, fruit/veggie puree combos, puffs and yogurt melts.  We also give you small pieces of real food – string cheese, avocado, bread and chicken. 

You have also started drinking from a straw sippy cup!  One day while James was napping you grabbed his sippy cup and Brian let you play with it and all of a sudden you were sucking on it and he realized you were actually getting water from the straw!  SO – we have now bought you your own girly colored sippy cups and you love drinking from them!  Although you do sometimes drink the water and then forget to swallow and have it all run down your chin…

You are also getting thisclose to walking!  You love to stand and can walk all along furniture – mainly along the ottoman and the couch.  You have stood on your own for a second a few times and have been getting braver about moving between pieces of furniture.  At this rate, I think you will probably be taking your first steps around 11 months old! 

Since you love to stand a lot now, you have also started to dance.  When there is music or when James or Brian and I start to dance – you like to dance too.  Your version of dancing is more “bouncing up-and-down” – but it sure is cute!

As you grow, we are definitely seeing more of a personality.  You are very stubborn and get mad very easily if someone takes something away from you.  You are also very determined.  If you want something – you will find a way to get it.  You usually are pretty happy and like to clap a lot.  You also get a very big kick out of giving high fives.  You think that is pretty hysterical.  You also have a slightly evil side – since you tend to find it funny when you pull my hair or hit us and we say “owww”!

Sleep.  You are still NOT sleeping through the night.  I think you are just a bad sleeper.  There was a few days in a row about a month ago, that you were only waking up once for a short feed – so I thought things were on track to get better.  Nope…. You then got a cold and went back to waking up 2-3 times a night.  Pretty consistently you tend to wake up around 12pm/1am and then again around 4/5am.  I am hoping you go back to one time a night soon and then hopefully just learn to sleep all night long!  A girl can dream, right??

At daycare – you moved up to the Young Toddler class at the end of August.  You really seem to like your new teachers, your new friends and all the new toys in the class.  This class is also set up to get you on an eating & sleeping schedule – which is probably a good thing for you and us.

The relationship you have with your brother is still so amazing to watch!  You sure do love him and he sure does love you.  You definitely light up when he talks to you and you are always crawling/walking over to be next to him and see what he is doing.  While James may not enjoy you taking his toys…  he does like to help you play with your toys!  Just last week you and James were playing with your walking-dinosaur toy and James stopped to say “Caitlin, you are my very best friend.  I love you.”  My heart just about melted right then and there.

We love you so much baby girl and love watching you grow!

Love,

Mommy

P.S.  Here are your 9 months photos - since I never got around to posting an update last month.

 

Caitlin: 8 Months Old

Caitlin - you are 8 months old now!  

(as of three weeks ago actually... once again, I am late getting this up!)

Here is a quick monthly update:

• Your eyes are still blue and your hair is blonde. In certain light, it seems like your hair has a little bit of red in it (like a strawberry blonde) - so I guess we will have to see where your hair color ends up!
• You are still our little chunky girl.  You wear size 6-9 month or 6-12 month size clothes - although there are some clothes I can no longer comfortably get over your head.  You are still wearing size 3 diapers.  Not sure how much you weigh, but I am guessing it is right around 20 pounds.
• You now have TWO teeth - both on your bottom.  
• You are officially now on the move!  You can crawl really good now and you are fast!  We have finally broken out the baby gates downstairs to keep you in the living room area.
• You also have learned to get yourself in the standing position!  Although you are not quite upright yet - you are getting close!
• You are still breastfeeding... I would you say you are about 80% on breast-milk and the other 20% on formula (that we add to your bottles for daycare)
• We are still feeding your veggie purees - you seem to like savory stuff more than sweet.  You LOVED green beans and winter squash, but was ho-hum about sweet potatoes.  We have also introduced sweet potato puffs - which is definitely taking you longer to master the art of chewing/gumming them.  You actually like to pick one up and hold it in your hand while you suck on it.
• You are still NOT sleeping through the night.  That is all I have to say about that!  :(
• You can say "da-da" and "ba-ba" - we tend to call James "brother" - so I think that is what the "ba-ba" is for.
• You are still VERY much loved and adored in our house!

Love,

Mommy

Caitlin: 7 Months Old

(OK - I wrote this post a month ago, but never got around to posting it since I had not uploaded the photo to go with it!  So, while Caitlin is technically 8 months now - here is her 7 month update.  8 month update to come soon!)

Caitlin - you are 7 months old now!  

I am sad to say that this is the first time I have managed to actually write down a monthly update for you!  What they say is true... being the second child is always harder!

I literally feel like it was just yesterday when we brought you home from the hospital and here we are... more than half the year is already under our belts.  I know I would say this with James as well, but where has the time gone?

Caitlin - you are such a sweet girl!  You definitely have your moments, but overall most people tend to comment on what a happy baby you are!  You have the cutest smile and your eyes can just light up when you are happy!

And speaking of eyes... you eyes are the prettiest blue with just a tiny few specs of green in the center.  I think your eyes will stay blue, while Daddy thinks they will eventually turn green like his did.  I guess only time will tell!

Your hair is still fairly blonde at this stage.  When you were younger, there were some light where it looked like it had some brown in it - but I think it has actually gotten lighter since then!  You are pretty much our blonde hair, blue eyed beauty!  (I like to think you take after my mommy and its quite fitting that your middle name is also her name!)

You are our BIG girl!  At your six month checkup - you weighed in at 18 pounds, 6 ounces - right at the 94%.  For height, you were a whopping 27.5 inches (98%) and your head size was at 93%.  I had to take you in to the doctor right before you turned 7 months (more on that later) and you were already up to 19 pounds, 4 ounces!  Luckily, the way you are built - we are still able to get you in 6-9 month sized clothes.  Your torso is short and you have long legs (like mommy) - so all your onesies and shirts and dresses fit no problem, your pants always tend to be a little on the short side!

You just recently got your first tooth!  And boy... was that NOT a fun experience!  It all started on a Friday night (May 17 to be exact).  We went to bed like normal and you just kept waking up and crying.  Normally, I just feed you when you wake up, but you did not want to eat, you did not want to sleep, you just kept crying!  I looked to see if you had a tooth but did not see anything, so I thought maybe you were just being cranky.  After a few more hours of fighting sleep and eating, I put my finger in your mouth and sure enough... I felt that your first tooth had popped through!  The only thing that finally got you to sleep that night was some Baby Orajel.

The following week at school you were just "off" and had a mild fever a few times as well.  I just thought it was because of teething, but after a full week we decided to take you to the doctor to check.  Sure enough, you poor sweet thing had TWO ear infections and a sinus infection!  Your right ear had even gotten so bad you had a burst ear drum!  After a few days of antibiotics and ear drops - you were back to your self!

Right before you turned 7 months, you got to go on your first plane ride!  Your Auntie and I took you to California for a quick weekend trip to go to a good friends Baby Shower.  I was SO nervous of how you would do on the plane - but you did GREAT!  I nursed you on take off and landing and in the air, you slept for a little and the rest of the time, you just wanted to play and look around.  On the flight home, you did cry for about 15 minutes when I tried to get you to sleep... but for the most part it was a good trip!

You are getting THIS.CLOSE to crawling!  You love to be on your tummy and roll onto your back and all over the floor.  You have started the rocking when on your tummy and can get your legs under you and your arms up... just not all at the same time!  I give it a few weeks and then you will be off...

You are still being breastfed and you have only had formula a small amount of time - and that was mainly due to the fact that I had to go on a few business trips and Daddy needed some way to feed you!  (That is since you do not like to drink milk that has been previously frozen... have I mentioned your high-maintenance ways?) 

We have given you some solids, but we are taking it slow.  You have had baby oatmeal, some sweet peas and some carrots.  We plan to give you some more veggies, before we introduce you to fruit.  Although I am not sure how much you are actually eating - you definitely like the process of eating!  You love to grab the spoon and shove it in your mouth.  You also like to make a mess and feel the food with your hands.

You are still NOT sleeping through the night.  I think you just like to eat too much.  You still wake up every 3-4 hours at night wanting to eat.  You are not the best at getting to sleep, we have recently started letting you cry it out and let you sleep on your stomach and it seems to help a little.  You are still sleeping in our room, mainly because since I still get up with you a few times a night it makes it easier on me. 

You and your brother.  Oh - it just melts my heart when I see you two together.  James just ADORES you and I know that you ADORE him too.  He gets SO happy to see you.  In the morning, he will sometimes go and give you kisses and hugs before I even get them.  And you... you just light up when you see him.  Lately when I try to feed you, you are always distracted by brother and trying to find him in the room.  Your brother can make you happy and can make you smile at times when no one else can.  I am so excited to see what a special relationship you guys will have as you get older.  I am SO thankful that James has taken so well to being your big brother!

We love you SO much Caitlin (or sissy, munchkin, muffin, poppet or any of the other names we call you!) and are so blessed by all the joy and happiness you bring to our lives! 

Love,
Mommy

Seven Months in Review (via Instagram)

Since I obviously have not done a good job of posting the past SEVEN months - I thought I would include a little review of those months via my Instagram feed.  Enjoy!

November
1. Sweet Baby Caitlin (just a few days old!)

2. First lunch out

3. Sweet sleeping baby

December

1. Rocking the hair bow

2. Brother & Sister

3. Caitlin's First Christmas!

4. Saturday morning with the kiddos

January

1. James just LOVES to hold his baby sister!

February

1. Special donut for breakfast for the birthday boy.  James turned 3!

2. My sweet little Valentines!

3. Morning picture

4. Finally asleep after a rough evening

March
1. James asked me to take a picture of him and his sissy before school.
2. St. Patty's Day love
3. Ready for school pictures!
4. Sitting up on her own!
5. Easter outfit + sparkly tennis shoes!

April

1. Happy girl at daycare

2. Princess Caitlin!

3. Happy girl in the AM

4. Trying on outfits for an upcoming family photos

5. Nothing better than a sweet sleeping baby

May

1. Apparently, this is how Caitlin likes to sleep at daycare!

2. Someone finally was back to her old self after battling double ear infections + a sinus infection!

Introducing Caitlin Michele

(better late, than never!)

Brian and I checked into the hospital at 6pm on Thursday, November 1 for a scheduled induction.  I was already in the early stages of natural labor, so a quick six and a half hours later - our sweet Caitlin was born!  Labor was rough as I did not get an epidural till I was already 10 cm - but it was worth it in the end!

Caitlin Michele McDermott

11.2.12

8 pounds, 15.5 ounces

21 inches

Maternity Photos

We had the pleasure of taking some maternity photos a few weeks ago with a new photographer in Austin and I am in love with how everything turned out!  Check out some of my favorite shots from the day:

37 Weeks! (Full-Term)

I am currently 37 weeks pregnant and officially FULL TERM!  Where has the time gone?

I cannot believe that in 3 weeks (or less) that we will have our sweet Baby Caitlin in our arms!

Here is a bump shot back from August when I was 30 weeks along:

And here I am last week when I was 36 weeks:

Pregnancy updates:

• Food Cravings: Same as before - nothing too crazy.  Still really into ice cream (and the dairy helps with heartburn, so its a win-win!)
• Weight Gain: Right at 25 pounds.  I am on track to end up right about 30 pounds total - which is right in the middle of the recommended weight gain!
• How I am Feeling: I think it is FINALLY hitting me that I am having another baby!  (Took me long enough??)  I am excited, anxious and nervous about how things will be with two kids in the house and how James will adjust. 
• Sleep: What sleep?  I pretty much wake up every hour these days due to potty breaks, being uncomfortable or heartburn issues.  I guess it is my body preparing me for the newborn days coming up!
• Physical Ailments: Mainly heartburn, having to potty all the time and just being uncomfortable as I get bigger.
• Baby Movement:  A lot of jabs and kicks.  Caitlin is head down, so I only feel movement in the upper part of my belly now.
• How James is Doing:  He is still doing pretty good.  He has had a few moments of jealousy when we buy/get something new & exciting for Caitlin and he decides that he wants it.  Last weekend he was playing with some of the toys in the baby's room and he told me that "Caitlin is sharing with him!"
• Baby's Room: Still a work-in-progress!  The room is painted, all the furniture is in and set up.  I need to hang up stuff on the walls and finish a few projects.  Also need to finish cleaning out the closet and getting all the baby stuff set-up (the pack-n-play, swing, bouncer, etc).
• Baby's Size: We had an ultrasound last week and it looks like Caitlin will be a big one!  They are already estimating her size at 7 pounds and think she will probably weigh in somewhere around 8 pounds when she is born.  Her legs are also quite long and her head is big (which is no surprise given Brian, James and I all have big heads!)
• Baby's Arrival: The doctor thinks Caitlin will be making an early arrival.  I am hoping it is NOT on Halloween!  In case she does not come on her own, we have decided to induce me on my due date as a back-up plan.  Which means that at the most, we have exactly 3 weeks till we meet Caitlin!