6 Month Birthday Letter

My goodness, I better finish the 6 month birthday letter since the 7 month is right around the corner!

Dear Belle,
Happy 6 month birthday my sweet Belle. Each month you continue to get cuter and cuter if that's even possible. Everyone says that you are a happy baby and it's so very true! You are. Always giving a big smile and now to go along with that big smile, you have a few pearly whites to show off! You've been drooling for the last couple of months but within the last two weeks two cute (sharp!) teeth have popped through. The first tooth popped through and your mommy and daddy were none the wiser. Your Auntie Cat discovered it when she was watching you while mom and dad were at work. The second one that popped through seemed to hurt you a little more but you have been a trooper. You had two sleepless nights during that time and you have bounced back with even more smiles than before! Teething sucks baby, I hope that you continue to do well with as little pain as possible!

You also started daycare this month. Oh my, was starting daycare hard on your mommy. It was hard on you that first week as well, but your teachers were amazed at how well you adapted. You had a really hard time with all the noise and trying to sleep. I think you were on stimulation overload! You have wonderful classmates and you love going to school. You are quite the social butterfly and sometimes your teacher tells me that you don't take a nap because you can hear your friends playing and you want to play too. Thankfully though, your sleeping is getting better. You got your first set of sniffles, which we can probably thank daycare for as well. I wish I could keep you in a bubble and keep you from getting sick, but I can't. You've been handling the sniffles really well and it seems to not be getting any worse which I hope it stays that way.Your teachers are awesome!! We are so lucky to have them as your teachers! Miss Courtney is your main teacher and she takes such good care of you. You can tell that you really like her. Miss Courtney calls you her little princess. You have her wrapped around your little finger. But then again, you have us all wrapped around your little finger!

This month you are practicing sitting up. You are getting stronger and stronger and soon you will be sitting up all on your own! It is so much fun watching you reach your mile stones. You are so determined and you can see the pride in your eyes when you accomplish something.

We are so proud of you and all that you have accomplished so far. I can't believe you are already six months old. I'm trying to soak in every second I can with you, but it's never enough. Your smile lights up a room and brightens our day.

We love you sweet Belle!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy

5 Month Birthday Letter

Dear Belle,
Happy 5 month birthday!!! This month has been such a fun one! You spent the last month during the week with your daddy. He sure did take really good care of you while mama was at work. Mom knew what she was doing when she said "I do" didn't she!! That first day back to work was a tough one for me. I cried all the way into work, but by the time I got there, I was doing better. Mama works with such awesome people and they all made sure I was doing ok on my first day away from my baby. :) I tried not to call your dad too much on that first day, I didn't want him to be sick of me already! Your first day together according to dad was a little rough. hahaha I think you both just needed a day to figure each other out. I do know that when I got home that first night, I got a really big hug from daddy. I think he was really glad to see me that night! You both had a great month though. You really did get to bond with your daddy and he with you. It is clear to me that you are definitely going to be a daddy's girl. Starting with the night I went back to work, you started sleeping through the night. You no longer needed that 2am or 3am feeding. Since I was going back to work, your dad would have been the one to get up and feed you. But he never needed to. Your dad had to go back to work for one day so he would get paid for the holiday shutdown; since he had to go back for a day, I took the day off to stay home with you. Guess who woke up at 2am that morning to request a feeding?!?!? HHMM who could that be? What's up with that kiddo? hahaha you sleep through the night for your daddy but not me? Is that how it's going to be? Actually, it's just a sign you are getting older. I love watching you get older, but it makes me so sad at the same time.

This month you started holding your bottle on your own while you are eating. You started doing this on my first day back at work. Dad sent me a video of you holding your own bottle that I watched on my phone at work and I couldn't believe it. I had only been gone for 4 hours and you were already holding your bottle all by yourself. Such a big girl! You are also no longer using your swaddle and you are putting yourself to sleep. We started sleep training with you and you are doing really well. You are learning how to put yourself to sleep and sometimes when you wake up in the middle of the night, you put yourself back to sleep instead of needing a feeding, or needing mom or dad to help you get back to sleep. The hope is that when you become a toddler, you'll be a great sleeper. That's the goal. We decided to stop swaddling you because basically, you don't stop moving. You started to flip yourself over on your stomach while swaddled and it just wasn't safe anymore. Your first few naps and nights of sleep were a little rough without the swaddle, but soon you adapted to being without it.

This month we were able to celebrate Christmas with you. It was your first Christmas and I think you really enjoyed it. You weren't that interested in the presents or the wrapping paper but you still had fun watching everyone open their presents. For only being 5 months old, everyone sure did spoil you rotten. I have a feeling that's not going to stop anytime soon.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You really are the perfect baby. We are so lucky with how easy going you are and how adaptable you've been with everything we've thrown your way. In the next few months you'll be starting daycare. I'm sure you don't have any anxiety about it yet, but I sure do. I'm not sure why I do because I know you'll do great. The nice thing is that Mom and Dad will only be a few minutes walk away. Now your silly parents just have to figure out how we get ourselves ready along with getting you fed and ready and in the car and off to work/daycare. The first few days will probably be a little stressful, but we'll all get the hang of it.

Happy birthday sweet baby girl. Every day you get cuter and cuter, I can't even imagine what the next months will bring. How can you get any cuter??

Love, Mom and Dad

4 Month Birthday Letter

Dear Belle,
I pretty much have been dreading your 4 month letter since the day you were born. I knew your 4 month birthday letter would coincide with me going back to work. Well, here it is. Mommy goes back to work tomorrow. You'll get to spend the next month with your daddy. Oh what fun you are going to have. You love your daddy so much and he loves you. I know he's a little nervous about being your primary care giver so it's ok to go a little easy on him....just not too easy, we don't want dad to think the last 4 months has been a cake walk for mom! :)

This last month we have really watched you grow. Not just physically, but mentally too. This month, you started laughing out loud and we have loved every minute of it. Your dad and grandpa love giving your raspberries on your stomach and we all get to enjoy you laughing when they do this. You will also smile back at us when we smile at you. You have one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen sweet Belle. Please never stop smiling. Every time you smile at us it makes our day! You have also started grabbing onto your toys and holding them yourself. It's been really awesome to watch you discover your toys and figure out how they work.

You also rolled over from your back onto your stomach this month. At week 7 you could go from your stomach to your back, but going the other way took some time and some more strength. You sure do have it down now. At first it would happen when you would rock back and forth. Now, you can roll over in a quick motion, and bam, you're back on your stomach. Your dad and I missed it the first time you did it. We put you on your play mat on your back and walked in the kitchen to get some breakfast. A minute later we both turned the corner and there you were smiling at us with that toothless grin on your stomach.

I'm not sure if all babies are as flexible as you but holy cow, you are flexible. You use your big toe just like you do your thumb. It's your second favorite thing to suck on, the first being your thumb. It's pretty amazing to see your toe go right into your mouth with ease. Such a sweet, funny baby you are!

This month you also had your first hotel stay. You did great. We went down to San Diego for a night figuring if you had a complete meltdown, we were close enough we could just drive you home to the comforts of your own bed. We shouldn't have been worried though, you really are the best flow with the punches baby ever. You adapt to every situation we put you in.

As I sit here and write up all the wonderful things you've accomplished this month, all I can really think about is how much I have loved the first 4 months with you. There is a Carter's Clothes commercial on right now where this little girl is talking to her mother and she says, "I'll be honest, the first night home was a doozy. But soon you got the hang of it, and I got the hang of it." This commercial made me laugh out loud and cry at the same time. I couldn't have said it better myself, though I think if you could talk right now, you'd probably say the first month was a doozy. I'd probably have to agree. I can't believe how far we've come kiddo. You were only 10 days old when everyone went back to work or went home and then it was just me and you. Thankfully, your grandma came over to help the next 3 weeks and then we were really on our own. We had our good days and our not so good days, but we still survived each and every day. There were days we would laugh together, cry together and fell asleep together. We studied together, sang together (well, you babbled), and played together. But the best part of our 4 months together, was loving each other together. You taught me a lot, and hopefully I taught you a lot. I've had a job since I was 17. Sometimes two jobs at one time, but being a mother to a newborn was one of the toughest things I have ever done. Looking at your now, I can smile through my tears and know that I did a good job. You made it easy though. You are the perfect baby. I love you Isabelle. Returning to work was a tough decision and one that I wish didn't have to be made. But for the next month, you'll be with your daddy, have the time of your life. I  can't wait to see what kind of trouble you two get into!

Love,
Mom and Dad

 

3 Month Birthday Letter

Dear Belle,
Happy 3 month birthday! I know I'm extremely late on writing and publishing your 3 month birthday letter, but I had to write a paper for school and finish up a bunch of other homework, take a bunch of tests and before I knew it, the 27th had come and gone. Don't worry, it won't be the last time I'm late on one of my letters to you, but I'll get it done. I enjoy writing them as much as I hope one day you enjoy reading them.

This month had a few more firsts for you! You started tracking things with your eyes. If we put a rattle or some other object in front of your face, you will follow it if we move it slowly from one side to the other. This has it's pros and cons. You've also started tracking me as I try to sneak out of your room after putting you down for a nap. When you were younger, I could put you down and sneak out. Now when you see me leave, you start crying. It's not too bad though, you are a pretty good napper. Though at the beginning of the month you would cry when you thought you were about to go down for a nap, now you've calmed down and go down pretty easily. I would always talk to you when you were crying because you were about to go down and mention that one day you're going to want to take naps and not have time to! :) You've been a bit challenging with your night sleeping this month however. Your first month you got up A LOT to feed. Your second month you really only got up once in the middle of the night and then again around 6:30am or 7am to start your day. Your third month of life however, you reverted back to getting up A LOT to feed. This made for some extremely long days for your mama. I am really surprised how the human body can function without sleep. Since I'm writing this so late in your third month, I can happily say you've gone back to being a decent night sleeper. Thank goodness! I still get giddy thinking about the day you'll sleep from 8pm until 8am. Giddy I tell you, giddy! Some  say I'll have to wait until you're a teenager for that to happen. Um no. I need that to happen before you're a teenager!

This month you've also started grabbing things and being able to hold them in your hand. It was been such a pleasure to watch you develop your fine motor skills. I've been able to watch you try to grab your rattles or toys to being able to. You've also discovered your hands. I really wish we would have been able to get that on video! The look on your face when you realized your hands were attached to your body was hilarious. You have been putting your hands in your mouth the last couple of months but now you know they are your hands. And oh my goodness do you love putting your hands in your mouth. It's hard to get a picture of you with your hands not in your mouth!

Your dad and I talk all the time how big you are getting. You are growing leaps and bounds and on October 24th you were 10 lbs 13 oz! Not only are your growing in size but in your development as well. Everyday you amaze us with your ability. At least once a day your dad and I say in amazement to each other, did you see what she just did??

We are so blessed to call you our baby. You really are a good and happy baby and we love you so much!

 Love, Mom and Dad
P.S. It took me two days and a million pictures to get a good one. You were being so stubborn during this photo shoot. Most of the pictures were of you putting your dress in your mouth and sucking on it or not looking at the camera. The picture below pretty much sums up what you thought of taking the picture this month. You silly kid!

2 Month Appointment

Last Friday was Belle's 2 month appointment. We knew when we got there she was going to get her 2 month shots which I was mentally trying to prepare myself for.

We had a new parent fail moment when we dressed her that morning. We dressed her in an outfit that was difficult to put on and get off. If we would have been thinking we would have remembered that when we get there we have to completely undress her. Duh! We will not make that mistake again.

She weighed in at 9 lbs and 12 oz. I was hoping for 10 lbs but at least she weighed more than when I had her weighed on the 17th. Since she was born she's been stuck on the 15th percentile line for weight. I would like to see her get a little higher than 15 but she has not dipped at all so the pediatrician is not concerned. I guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing and she'll grow at her own pace. Her head and height both come in at the 50th percentile, so she is exactly average for both of those.

When they gave her the 3 shots they had me lay her down on the table and then they gave her one shot in one thigh and two shots in the other thigh. Nobody should be shocked to know that I cried along with her. LOL she actually did really well after they gave her the shots. She screamed bloody murder during them, but she did calm down quickly after them which is good. Looks like all of her future appointments will require more shots for the time being. Poor baby. I know they are necessary, I just wish there was an easier way. She's going to hate going to the doctor because every time she goes she gets poked!

Overall her appointment went really well and the pediatrician said everything looks good. The pediatrician also mentioned how cute she is! We tend to agree with that assessment!!

Love, Suzanne

2 Month Birthday Letter

Dear Belle,
Happy two month birthday baby girl! Mama is so happy to report that in your second month of life, you have finally mastered breast feeding. God Bless America! As you know from reading your one month letter you still had yet to master breast feeding. Cows on the milk farm were feeling sorry for me at how much I was pumping to give you enough breast milk for all of your feedings. I only had to supplement you with formula that first week while I worked on getting my milk supply up. Once it kicked in, all I had to do was pump 10-12 times a day and you would have enough for all of your feedings. Yes, 10-12 times. Do the math. I was a pumping fool. Now though, I don't have to pump so much. Thank goodness. This was quite the exercise you put me through the first 5 weeks of your life. But really, here is what you should have learned, and I'm sure you did learn it, so take that lesson with you the rest of your life. Especially in your teenage years. You won't beat me. Yes, for you, taking your feedings from a bottle was much easier. You ate your food much faster and it was a lot less work for you. I was determined however. You are one stubborn little baby, but remember who carried you for 40 weeks and 6 days. I'm stubborn too. Round one goes to mom. Like I said, remember this when you're a teenager. I intend on winning those rounds too!

This month, you have also learned to smile. I can't even begin to explain how much we love to see you smile. Now, I understand why adults act a fool by making funny faces and talking at a high pitch all while doing the baby talk, trying to get a baby to smile. Adults do this so those cute little babies smile. And guess what, we all do it to you. We would all do it for hours and hours just to see your beautiful smile. Keep smiling my beautiful baby girl. It makes our day!

Guess what else you did this month for the first time? Unfortunately for your mom and dad, you didn't just stop at doing it once. This month, you started pooping on us. Sure, go ahead and giggle. It's just sooooo funny. You've pooped on your dad twice, but because clearly you like him more, you did it while we were at home and he was holding you. You saved your extra special blow out for me. While we were at a mommy bootcamp class. The class instructor invited us back to talk to pregnant soon-to-be mommies. We were there to tell them all about how great being a mommy is and to give them all the great and not so great details of labor and bringing baby home. You waited until that class to poop all down the front of me. Not only did you poop all down the front of me, but you left a pile of green poo on the floor right where we were standing. It was classic Belle. The look of horror on those soon-to-be mommies faces was priceless. Poor things, they have no idea what is coming. Just a few short months ago, I was one of them. But you are quickly breaking me in. In fact at this class, they kept calling me a veteran mommy. hahaha now that is funny. I feel far from a veteran mom that's for sure. But, I'm getting it.

Every week you continue to amaze us with your super human strength. You have always had really good neck control when you want to. Sometimes you just want to be a wet noodle and have no control over any part of your body. Unfortunately for us, you don't tell us when you feel like being a wet noodle so we have to be ready for it at all times. This month you also rolled over for the first time. You performed your roll over trick for your dad first, who then flipped you over, pulled out his camera and took video while you did it again. We did research at what age most kids roll over for the first time and it said 3 to 4 months is when kids normally roll over. Not you, you did it at 7 weeks. Wow Belle! Very impressive! Keep it up sweet pea!!

Your hair is also starting to grow. This month you went from having pretty much no hair, to sprouting some all over. Don't get me wrong, you are still bald, but you're not bald bald anymore. You just look like your buzz cut is starting to grow in. Last month you had some hair on the sides and back, but really nothing on top. You hair on top seemed to grow over night! One day I went to kiss the top of your head and there was hair there. I was so excited I took a picture of the new growth and sent it to everyone. Now the question remains, what color is your hair going to be. Some days it looks blonde/brown. Other days it looks red. Your eye brows definitely look red. Especially when you are mad or tired.

I was rocking you to sleep the other day and our eyes were locked. Right now you have these beautiful deep blue eyes courtesy of your dad. I hope that you keep them. If you get stuck with my green/brown eyes, sorry, I was pushing for you to have your daddy's eyes!! Dad claims he likes my eyes, but I think he's just being nice. :) Anyhoo, back to our eyes being locked. I realized as I was rocking you, that I wouldn't be able to rock you much longer. Sure here and there when you aren't feeling well, but in the next few months if I continue to rock you, you will start to require that to be put to sleep. And frankly, I can't start that habit because I can't rock you every night until you're 18. Ok, wait, I'm lying. I would totally rock you every night until you were 18 but you're friends might think you (and probably me too) were weird and we don't want that now do we. As you grow older you will start to develop your habits and your needs. All the books say you need to learn to put yourself to sleep. To sooth yourself. I get it. It makes sense. But it also makes me sad that soon, that will be coming to an end. And soon you'll be too big to fit in my arms, where I can hold you close, tell you how much I love you and rock you to sleep. As you get older and bigger and we start walking the fine line of what the books say and what our hearts say, remember one thing. You will always be our sweet baby girl. Our first born. The one who taught us everything we know about being parents. Which right now, is not a lot. The good thing about you being so young right now is you won't remember all of our screw ups unless I blog about them. We have a few years to figure things out and get it right. Until then though, I'm going to enjoy every moment of rocking you. You won't ever be this small again.

We have really enjoyed these last two months, Belle. Month one really did fly by and I feel like I was pretty unconscious during it. Month two however, I have been able to soak up every second. There are still growing pains, even though most days are good days, there are still days where you sleep less at night, or you don't nap or you are extremely fussy. There are days where both of us are in tears. For the most part, you really are a really good baby. I know how lucky we are. I know people who can't leave their house for months and months because their newborn cries all the time. When we are out, people stop us all the time and tell us how beautiful and perfect you are. We couldn't agree with them more.

Daddy and I love you Belle. Happy 2 months on this earth!

Love, Mom and Dad

Thriving

We have our health insurance through Kaiser and their big slogan is THRIVE. Well, I'm happy to report that Belle is thriving! She continues to grow like a weed and she's putting on weight at an acceptable pace. At her last weight check she was 8 lbs and 10 oz. I'm taking her in tomorrow to be weighed again and hopefully she is still gaining at the pace she needs to be. She definitely feels heavier to me when I'm carrying her in her car seat from point A to point B. That car seat can hold a kid up to 30  lbs but I'm pretty sure I won't be able to carry that car seat for a very long distance when she's 30 lbs! I can't even imagine her at 30 lbs! hahaha

I've been back at school for 3 weeks now and I'm finally at the point where I don't cry every time I leave her. The first few weeks were a little rough. Only on me though, she loves when I leave her with Aunt Cat on Tuesdays and Thursdays and her grandma and grandpa on Wednesdays. When I go back to work Wednesdays are going to be really hard on me because I go to school from 7pm until 10pm which means I won't see her at all on Wednesdays. I keep telling myself that it will only be for 3 weeks though and then I'll be done with the class. I just have to make it through 3 weeks! I'm done talking about it for now though because I'll start crying. LOL 

***Breaking News***

I started this blog post this morning and then got distracted with feedings, diaper changes and tummy time. This morning she was trying to roll over, but her arm kept getting in the way. While I was in the shower, I heard Lance yelling something and a few minutes later, he came running up with this video. Click here to see the video.

She rolled over on her own!! I missed it, but thanks to Lance's video I can watch it over and over again. I can't believe she's already rolling at 7 weeks. That's amazing. Online it says your baby will start rolling at 4 months. Not Isabelle! She's a rockstar! The article I read online was talking about at 3 months how your baby would start lifting her head high and arching her back at about 3 months. That made me laugh because she started doing that at about 2-3 weeks. This kid has been strong from the get go! Anyone who held her when she was first born would always comment at how strong she is. I have a feeling I'll be chasing her around the house before I know it!

Great job on your new achievement Belle! You are one amazing little girl and mom and dad are so proud of you. You're still not allowed to date though until your 30 so don't try and grow up too fast!

Have a great Sunday! We're going to spend the day practicing more rolling over maneuvers!!
Love,
Suzanne