NINE MONTHS OLD!!
Age: nine months, eight days.
Weight: 14 lbs and 11 oz.
Height: 25 and 1/4 inches.
Favorite food: fresh fruit and veggies, Mum Mum rice cakes, and puffs.
Loves: spending time with Daddy, cuddling with Mommy, swimming in the pool, and her Wubbanub.
Dislikes: the sun in her face, being left alone, and being put onto her tummy for tummy time.
Can you even believe it?!
Our baby girl is nine months old.
Wow!
Nine months...hmm, am I ready for this???
So much can happen in nine months. It takes nine months for a fetus to transform into a newborn. It has taken nine months for my three pound, two ounce, twelve week early premature baby to grow into the most beautiful child I have ever laid eyes on. I may be a little biased, but goodness, she sure is a beauty!!
This passed month has been a brutal one if I do say so myself.
We have been dealing with this teething business (I swear it gets worse every passing day!) on top of this separation anxiety issue that came into our lives around the beginning of month seven; about a month after our move.
I am hoping that both of those things pass through quickly. I feel awful for saying this, but some days I just really want to lock myself in the bedroom and scream into my pillow. I knew that this parenting thing would be difficult, but no one is ever truly prepared to deal with some of these crazy things that babies go through.
My poor bug hardly naps at all anymore so she is so tired by the time bedtime comes along. On the bright side of all of this, she does sleep throughout the entire night! It is an incredibly deep sleep though and I think that it is caused from the not napping business during the day. The only effective way to help her nap is if I lay down with her; of course some days this is not an issue at all and I do really enjoy it! But other days, when I really need to get things done, it can be quite the hassle. I am hoping that it is just a phase and that by month ten she will be napping again.
As far as teething goes, we have good days and we have bad days. Sometimes I feel like we have bad days more than good, but I know how much growing teeth can hurt so I don't blame her for all of that screaming and whining and gnawing on everything. When I say gnaw I don't mean she gums a toy or munches on her fingers, I mean she goes full on rabid chipmunk! Half of the time I sit there and watch her in awe as she jams hard surfaces into her gums and think, "How in the hell???".
I have always heard and read that every baby is different when it comes to teething, so naturally I wonder if anyone else's child is teething as roughly as mine is?! If not, count those blessings because this trip, my friend, has been a wild one!
BUT I think we may be catching a break very soon! The other day whilst Ava was in mid scream, I attempted to check out those gums and to my surprise saw two little white looking bumps just barely hidden underneath the surface of her gums. She is so close to cutting these two teeth (at once...ow!) that I nearly jumped out of my skin with joy! That is another thing I hope that we have by month ten...TEETH!
Everyone in this household could use a break from all of this teething junk, that is for sure!
Now that I am done ranting about those little "toofers" I can happily share with all of you our newest milestones!
Ava can sit up on her own like it is nobody's business! She has been sitting up on her own for about two and a half months now, I believe and I am impressed with how well she manages keeping herself up. She does occasionally take a tumble when the dog brushes passed her or when she is trying to grab that toy that is just out of reach. She does not mind the falling over so much, it is mostly the can't get back up part that really frustrates her. She tries so hard to sit herself back up, but those tummy and back muscles are just not quite strong enough for that just yet.
Little miss can also pull herself up into a standing position when she has a good grip on something or someone. If Brian or I are holding her hands, she will pull herself up all on her own. She will stand while hanging onto the edge of the coffee table or the side of her crib if one of us puts her there. She loves trying to bounce by bending her knees, but because she is still a little wobbly, we mostly save the bouncing/jumping for her jumperoo and exersaucer.
Ava has also discovered her real voice and lately all we hear is Babynese! She can say "Dada", "Mama", and a weird version of the word dog. It kind of sounds like a mash up of dad and dog...sort of a, "dadaaawg". She tries to mimic the word hi and that comes out sounding like "haaaa".
The other day she said something that sounded like uh oh..."ahoooooh" and I have heard her try to say diaper..."daaaappper".
I love hearing little babies try to talk! It is fun trying to figure out what in the heck they are saying. Ava is pretty shy outside of the house and really only likes to talk at home or in the car. It is just the cutest thing and I can't get enough of her baby babble!
The only noise she doesn't seem to mind making in public is this weird and slightly embarrassing cough that she does when she gets really excited. It is kind of funny, but when she does it everyone looks at us with this look on their face that just screams, "what is wrong with that baby?!". And I always find myself telling the closest person, "I promise you nothing is wrong, that is just her excited sound."
Ooh silly little peanut!
There were several "firsts" this month as well!
This passed month has been a brutal one if I do say so myself.
We have been dealing with this teething business (I swear it gets worse every passing day!) on top of this separation anxiety issue that came into our lives around the beginning of month seven; about a month after our move.
I am hoping that both of those things pass through quickly. I feel awful for saying this, but some days I just really want to lock myself in the bedroom and scream into my pillow. I knew that this parenting thing would be difficult, but no one is ever truly prepared to deal with some of these crazy things that babies go through.
My poor bug hardly naps at all anymore so she is so tired by the time bedtime comes along. On the bright side of all of this, she does sleep throughout the entire night! It is an incredibly deep sleep though and I think that it is caused from the not napping business during the day. The only effective way to help her nap is if I lay down with her; of course some days this is not an issue at all and I do really enjoy it! But other days, when I really need to get things done, it can be quite the hassle. I am hoping that it is just a phase and that by month ten she will be napping again.
As far as teething goes, we have good days and we have bad days. Sometimes I feel like we have bad days more than good, but I know how much growing teeth can hurt so I don't blame her for all of that screaming and whining and gnawing on everything. When I say gnaw I don't mean she gums a toy or munches on her fingers, I mean she goes full on rabid chipmunk! Half of the time I sit there and watch her in awe as she jams hard surfaces into her gums and think, "How in the hell???".
I have always heard and read that every baby is different when it comes to teething, so naturally I wonder if anyone else's child is teething as roughly as mine is?! If not, count those blessings because this trip, my friend, has been a wild one!
BUT I think we may be catching a break very soon! The other day whilst Ava was in mid scream, I attempted to check out those gums and to my surprise saw two little white looking bumps just barely hidden underneath the surface of her gums. She is so close to cutting these two teeth (at once...ow!) that I nearly jumped out of my skin with joy! That is another thing I hope that we have by month ten...TEETH!
Everyone in this household could use a break from all of this teething junk, that is for sure!
Now that I am done ranting about those little "toofers" I can happily share with all of you our newest milestones!
Ava can sit up on her own like it is nobody's business! She has been sitting up on her own for about two and a half months now, I believe and I am impressed with how well she manages keeping herself up. She does occasionally take a tumble when the dog brushes passed her or when she is trying to grab that toy that is just out of reach. She does not mind the falling over so much, it is mostly the can't get back up part that really frustrates her. She tries so hard to sit herself back up, but those tummy and back muscles are just not quite strong enough for that just yet.
Little miss can also pull herself up into a standing position when she has a good grip on something or someone. If Brian or I are holding her hands, she will pull herself up all on her own. She will stand while hanging onto the edge of the coffee table or the side of her crib if one of us puts her there. She loves trying to bounce by bending her knees, but because she is still a little wobbly, we mostly save the bouncing/jumping for her jumperoo and exersaucer.
Ava has also discovered her real voice and lately all we hear is Babynese! She can say "Dada", "Mama", and a weird version of the word dog. It kind of sounds like a mash up of dad and dog...sort of a, "dadaaawg". She tries to mimic the word hi and that comes out sounding like "haaaa".
The other day she said something that sounded like uh oh..."ahoooooh" and I have heard her try to say diaper..."daaaappper".
I love hearing little babies try to talk! It is fun trying to figure out what in the heck they are saying. Ava is pretty shy outside of the house and really only likes to talk at home or in the car. It is just the cutest thing and I can't get enough of her baby babble!
The only noise she doesn't seem to mind making in public is this weird and slightly embarrassing cough that she does when she gets really excited. It is kind of funny, but when she does it everyone looks at us with this look on their face that just screams, "what is wrong with that baby?!". And I always find myself telling the closest person, "I promise you nothing is wrong, that is just her excited sound."
Ooh silly little peanut!
There were several "firsts" this month as well!
First time in the bath tub! Avalyn has out grown her "baby" bath tub; she got to be too long for it and we figured that since she sits up so well that we would give the big girl tub a try and sure enough she loved it! After a few times we did get a little worried that the tub was too slippery for her little tushie, so she is in an inflatable tub now. We still call it the big girl tub.
First time in the swimming pool! It started getting nice and warm here towards the end of April/beginning of May so that meant that we were getting ourselves a little swimming pool! This pool is big enough for one of us to sit in the pool with her while she "swims". Ava absolutely loves sitting in the water and splish splashing around. Plus it is a fun way to spend a warm afternoon.
Our first time picking strawberries! Mother's Day weekend we got together with a few friends and went strawberry picking on one of the local farms and Avalyn loved trying to help pick the strawberries. She also loved giving them a good tasting.
We had our first beach day (on Mother's Day). I was so proud of how well Ava dealt with the environment; she didn't shove handfuls of sand into her mouth! She enjoyed feeling the texture of the sand and sea shells. She even found a shark's tooth! Well, actually it accidentally found her; it was stuck to her little bum!
My mommy survival instincts were also put to the test when I was squatting in front of Ava and letting her feel the waves come rushing in on her legs. A wave knocked me over and I managed to keep Avalyn up in the air the entire time! She got sprayed with the water as the wave rolled passed us and to my surprise she was not afraid. The entire time I was in panic mode this little girl was smiling and having the time of her life. I swear she is fearless!
Don't worry and please don't assume I am a terrible parent for taking her into the water because I was not the only one out there with her. Her Daddy and fellow Marines, their wives, and her grandma were standing there the whole time and would have prevented anything from seriously happening.
I personally think it was a good experience for us. She got to feel the water and waves and I learned not to turn my back on those waves.
What a bunch of exciting firsts, am I right?!
I love watching her experience things for the first time. It still blows my mind how amazed she is by everything. Her curiosity is adorable and I really hope that she never loses that sense of amazement/curiosity.
So how about that nine month well visit???
Well, we have been seeing the amazing doctors at the Jacksonville Children's Clinic for four months now and let me just remind you of how much I love it there! Any questions or concerns I may have are answered before I even leave (sometimes more than once because we all know how difficult it can be to absorb all of that information during those well visits). They also are very thorough and are always making sure Ava is well cared for.
Today we went in and learned that little miss has gained roughly a pound and a half since her eight month visit. Her height has stayed about the same; this did raise a little bit of concern with the doctor so she said that we will keep monitoring her height just to double check that there are no issues.
Personally, I am not too worried about it and the doctor didn't seem too worried either.
Her head circumference is right where it needs to be and once her age is adjusted she is in between the 10th and 20th percentile; again I was told all of this is good and right where it needs to be.
The doctor was amazed by how well Ava's motor skills are and how well she can sit up; she told us that she honestly wouldn't have thought that Ava was a preemie had she not looked at her chart. Of course that made Brian and I feel awesome.
I don't know about Brian, but my biggest concern is always for Ava's development. I am always worried that because she was so early that she may not be developing properly. It is always very difficult for me not to compare her to our friend's babies because they are all the same age; the doctor even told me not to compare her to other children because Ava is in her own category. Every preemie baby is different and I was told that where Ava is at is perfect and right where she needs to be. I just have to remember to adjust her age; I tend to forget that technically Ava is not nine months old, but six months.
Ooh preemie parent's problems. :)
The rest of our appointment was well (minus Avas brief freak out when the doc tried to poke and prod her). We were told that because Avalyn is a preemie, she needs to start seeing a physical therapist. Her arms and legs are not quite where they need to be flexibility wise and we were told that this is normal/to be expected of preemies.
Because she spent such a long time in the NICU, with her arms either tightly swaddled against her or out at her sides, she was not able to build up the strength she needed to in her arms and legs. Full term babies stay in the fetal position while in the womb and build up their muscles and flexibility by punching and kicking Mommy.
It is really difficult to explain, but basically what I am getting at is that Ava's arms are not as strong and flexible as a full term baby's would be. So this means more tummy time and P.T to help with the issue. It all makes sense to us now because we were starting to wonder why Avalyn always had her arms out (as if she were trying to maintain her balance) while sitting.
The doctor did a hemoglobin check and Ava's levels are a little low, so to help with her anemia we were prescribed an iron supplement. This also means that we have to go back in a month to help make sure the supplement is working.
Just when I thought we were passed the monthly visits! DANG!
Over all, all is well.
We are still scheduled for her eye exam and a visit with an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. Little miss is still having a difficult time eating so we will be meeting with the E.N.T at the end of June to determine if she will need to have her tongue clipped.
Until next's month well visit, here are some of our favorite videos and photos from month eight!
Enjoying her time in the swimming pool!
Sitting in the ocean! She loves the little waves, but not so much the big ones (don't blame her on that one! I don't care for the big ones either!!) She loves splashing in the water, but the water was still a little chilly (hence the freak out at the end).
Pulling herself up with Mommy's help!
 |
| Family photo! |
No comments:
Post a Comment