Julianne - 9 months

Enjoy some of the random pictures of Julianne from the past month...

Since Julianne has stopped being swaddled while sleeping, she now loves snuggling with her swaddle blankets

Julianne is actually sitting in the seats of shopping carts more often.  Reba loves when we go to Aldi's because she can ride too!

Thankfully, at Rural King, the carts have extra large seats, and both girls and fit!

Julianne is pulling up to a standing position more and more.  I recently brought out this toy, and she LOVES it!  I love her hair (it had been in a pony the day before)

One morning, the girls and I ventured out to a park to enjoy the sunshine.  They could swing all day long!

Julianne is figuring out how to "undress" herself.  Somehow, she pulled her arm out of the sleeve and up through the neck hole! All while strapped in her carseat...

Every once in a while, Julianne will allow Dallas to still sit and hold her.

Another example of Julianne allowing someone to sit and hold her.  This time I was able to chosen!

Our little girl does not like to be held too often, she would much rather ride in her stroller, sit in the high chair, or be on the floor where she can move freely.  As far as going to sleep, she will wiggle and fight if you try to rock her; she would much rather be put in her bed and given her blanket.

Julianne figured out how to open and close the cabinets while watching Reba and I baked one day.

A few other things Julianne has accomplished this past month:

• Picking up "puffs" to feed herself
• Holding on with one hand while standing
• Stayed with her godmother, Carla, for about 12 hours!
• Says "mamama", "dadada", and occasionally "bababa"
• Starting to cruise down the couch and around chairs
• Eating more and more table food: mashed potatoes, yogurt, bread, pancakes, pasta, etc
• Passes items from one hand to the other
• Sharing baths with Reba and Dallas
• Still squeezes into 6-9 month clothes
• Wears size 3 diapers
• Nurses every 4 hours
• Sleeps from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.; naps from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and noon to 2 p.m.
• Drinks water from sippy cup during meals
• Waves back when we wave to her
• Figured out how to grind her teeth, and (occasionally) smack her lips
• Crawls across the floor while holding something in her hand

9 month stats:

Height: 27.5 inches*

Weight: 19 lbs 10 oz

Until next time...

*I don't agree with her height measurement since it is only a quarter inch different from her 6 month check-up

Julianne - 8 months

When Julianne turned 7 months old, she had just started army crawling.  

Now that she is 8 months, she is can sit herself up, crawl with her belly off the floor, pull herself into a standing position, and so much more!

Our little lady loves to clap, as well.

Of course, now that she can crawl, she is into even more things!

A few of the other things Julianne has accomplished include:

• Putting herself to sleep at nap time and bedtime without being swaddled.
• Putting everything in her mouth - including a pacifier she found! 

• Went to first tractor pulls
• Still loves to blow raspberries

• Loves to play peek-a-boo
• Giggles a little when tickled, but usually stops after 2-3 times
• Eats: sweet potato, banana, applesauce, green beans, butternut squash, carrots, rice cereal, puffs, ice cream.
• Drinks water (and pumped milk) from sippy cup

Until next time...

Julianne - 7 months

Another month has gone by, and Julianne continues to light up our lives!  Although, now that she is mobile (army crawling), she tends to get into a few tight situations...

This little lady loves the water!  Whether it's in the swimming pool in her floaty or in the bath tub - she is splashing and laughing!

Julianne loves to watch and laugh at Dallas and Reba; especially when they sing and dance for her, or make funny faces and silly noises

Julianne has started playing with tractors. She likes to push them back and forth, and she will occasionally make noises (raspberries) while playing

Julianne can now hold herself up in a sitting position

as well as sit herself up from a laying position

Julianne got to take her first bath in Ma-maw's kitchen sink (it's a little more roomy than when Dallas took his)

Other happenings with Julianne:

• No more swaddling at night time, but does get swaddled for naps
• Has pretty much stopped spitting up!
• Bottom front two teeth have popped through
• Has been to her first sheep shows
• Loves to pet the kittens and squeals with delight when seeing them
• Weighs 17 lbs 3 oz
• Wears 6-9 month clothes
• Wears size 3 diapers
• Eating puree baby food, rice cereal and oatmeal 2 times a day

Until next time...

Julianne - 6 months

6 months...

Half a year...

I still can't seem to figure out where time goes, and how fast my baby is changing!

This month, like all the previous ones, has been filled with new milestones and growth.

Julianne's 6 month stats:

Weight: 17 lbs 1 oz (67th percentile)

Height: 27.25 in (93rd percentile)

Head Circumference: 44 cm

This is a very rare occurrence for our little one - Falling asleep in the rocking chair.

She still needs loves to be swaddled in order to sleep.  Doug and I have mentioned on numerous occasions, we do not remember Dallas or Reba moving and wiggling as much as Miss Julianne does!

Julianne is ever so close to army crawling...

I know it is very difficult to see, but her bottom two front teeth finally popped through!!!

Julianne loves toys/books that make a crinkling sound.

We get tons of smiles from our little girl, but still not much laughing!

She cannot get enough of her toes!  She loves to hold on to them while eating and while getting her diaper changed.

Julianne hasn't tried too many foods yet.  She likes bananas and applesauce, and she will do rice cereal as well as oatmeal.

She is wearing size 3 diapers and size 6-9 month clothes.

Julianne is down to nursing every 4 hours.  It will be interesting to see how her schedule/sleeping changes now that I will not have to wake her up in order to get Dallas and Reba to school...

Finally, two of Julianne's newest tricks include:

tripod sitting

rocking on hands and knees

Until next time...

Julianne - 4 months

Well, I started this post back on Julianne's actual 4 month "birthday." I got as far as uploading the photos before I was interrupted by something of the up-most importance (I'm sure).  Better late than never to finish it.

Julianne goes for her 4-month check up and vaccines on the 22nd, so we will have to wait until that time to see how much she has grown.  For now, you will have to settle on pictures, and this Momma bragging on what Julianne has accomplished.

We are starting to see signs of spring along with some warmer temperatures, so Julianne made her first trip to the barn to see the animals.

She has also started to join us outside while the older kiddos swing and slide, ride their toys, play in the sandbox, etc.  We have even gone on a few walks in the subdivision across the road.

Just after Julianne turned 3 months old, she figured out how to roll from her back to her side, but she has since figured out how to go all the way over to her belly.  She now remembers how to get back to her backside from her belly; therefore, making her way off the blanket she is suppose to be laying on!  I swear she is even starting to "think" about crawling, as she will kick and move her legs while on her belly!  So far, she has only been successful at moving backwards.

We still have not heard those big belly laughs from our baby girl.  She is ticklish under her arms and down the sides of her torso.  She will just smile and squirm when you try to tickle her.

Julianne is taking after her big brother in the teeth department!  She is working very hard at getting her bottom two front teeth to poke through.  She has mastered bringing toys to her mouth, chewing on her fingers, as well as any blanket she can get her hands on.  And, all of this, only increases the amount of drool that is produced from the sweet little angel.

Julianne will also mimic facial expressions.  She loves to return smiles, stick her tongue back out at you, and will occasionally return the raspberries.

She is much more stable in the bumbo seat, and she enjoys sitting in it and watching her brother and sister play.  She also likes it when we put the aquarium toy mat in front of her so she can bat at the fishes.

Julianne is still wearing 3-6 month clothing, but it won't be long before she moves up a size.  I do hope I am wrong, or I am going to have to buy new summer clothes for her.

Julianne is also finishing up her last pack of size 2 diapers, and she will begin wearing size 3 in the next day or two!

As I mentioned before, Julianne loves to return smiles, but in the last month she won't let me capture them with the camera.  This is the typical face I get once the camera is within sight!

Julianne is still adored by her big brother and big sister.  Reba loves to call Julianne "Shuggie Bear", and Doug and I have found Reba in Julianne's bed on more than one occasion.

Julianne is still swaddled during naps and at bedtime.  There were a few night where she was able to get her arms out of the blanket I had her swaddled in, but she still slept through the night.  That made me think it might be time to stop swaddling her.  Then, she got strong enough where she got completely unwrapped - and woke up in the middle of the night multiple nights in a row.  She wasn't hungry, she didn't want to play, she just couldn't stop moving to get back to sleep!  I bought a SwaddleMe blanket, and Julianne has returned to sleeping through the night.

Since we are on the topic of sleeping.  Julianne is now going to bed around 8:30 (Dallas and Reba are typically in bed around 8 p.m.; I will then nurse Julianne one final time and then put her in bed).  She sleeps until 6 am, when I wake her up to nurse before Dallas and Reba get up at 6:15)  When Dallas and Reba were gone for Spring Break, Julianne slept 12+ hours!

Her napping schedule has changed in the last week to week and a half.  She is now falling asleep on our ride home from dropping the older kiddos off at school (7:30ish), and sleeping til 9:30 or 10:00.  (That nap typically happens in the carseat)  She will then lay in her bed around noon, and I wake her a little after 2 p.m. to go pick up Dallas from school.  Sometimes, she will catch a quick cat nap (20 min) while I'm making dinner.

With the warmer days, Julianne got her first ride on the lawn mower.  Luckily, there were a couple guys willing to be her chauffeur!

Julianne is great at recognizing our voices - especially when she hears Momma speak from a different room or when Reba is singing!

Every once in a while, I still get to rock my baby to sleep...

One afternoon last week, Julianne was experimenting with new facial expressions.  This was her favorite...

Until next time...

Julianne - 3 months

Here we are, the 6th of March, and our baby is now 3 months old!

I don't have current weight and height stats for Julianne, as she doesn't go for another well-child check until her 4 month birthday.  I am fairly confident in saying that she is growing!

Here are some of the things Julianne has done in the last month:
Moved up to 3-6 month clothing - and she fills them out quite well, may I add!
Now wearing size 2 diapers
Sleeping from 9 p.m. - 6 a.m.
Naps in the morning from 7:10 (when we leave to take the older ones to school) til 10 a.m., naps from noon til 2:30 (when we leave to get Dallas from school), naps again from 4:30ish til 6 p.m.
She is tolerating tummy time more (without trying to roll over), and is getting pretty good at holding herself up on her arms

Julianne still gets swaddled when sleeping (if not being held by a grandma or aunt!) because she wiggles herself awake
She is beginning to lay down and go to sleep without being rocked.  I swaddle her, put her in bed, turn on the mobile and leave.  Within 5 minutes, she is asleep!
She loves her brother and sister and is loved even more by them

She has started drooling! (lets hope she isn't as slobbery as Dallas was!)
She loves to blow bubbles, and she has actually blown "raspberries" a few times
She started batting at toys and has even grabbed onto them a few times

Julianne loves to listen to music - the mobile over her bed is probably her favorite; I just wish it would play longer!  She will also go to sleep or stop wiggling in church when the music starts.

She loves to cuddle with her giraffe blanket that Dallas and Reba picked out for her when she was born.

Julianne will turn herself in circles while laying down - she was only about half way around when I snapped this photo

She also LOVES to lay on the changing table and "talk" to the pink wall.  It's the craziest thing - if she is unhappy, take her to the changing table and her mood will change instantly!

Until next time...

Julianne - 2 months

Way back on February 6th, our baby girl turned 2 months old!  I took her to the doctor for her check-up and first round of immunizations.  But first, look at how much she has changed in just a short month's time...

Our baby girl is now weighing in at 13 lbs 8.5 oz (70th percentile) and has grown 2.75 inches since birth.  That makes her "standing" tall at 23.75 inches (85th percentile).  Her brain is developing quite well too, as it has reached a circumference of 15.75 inches (84th percentile)!

Here is a list of what I can remember Julianne doing at the 2 month mark:
Sat in the Bumbo chair for the first time

Lots of smiles!

Wiggles constantly
Julianne is still swaddled at night because she wiggles so much that she hits herself and wakes up!
Sleeps from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. consistently
Starting to drool
Beginning to coo
Gave up the bedtime bottle because the bowel movements became more regular
Rolled from belly to back on two different days (2 times each day)

Still wearing size 1 diapers
Still wearing 0-3 month clothes

And, as I mentioned at the beginning of the post, Julianne got her first big round of immunizations.  She had one oral vaccine and 3 injections.  It seemed that she spit out about half of the oral vaccine, and she SCREAMED when she got the shots.  If you have been around her much, you know that she doesn't really cry much; therefore, I think that was the most noise I have heard come her little self!  By the time I got her dressed and walked to the check out station, Julianne was all smiles again.

She was then asleep before I pulled out of the parking lot, and she slept a good part of the day.  After she finished eating at 4 yesterday afternoon, she was quite grumpy, so I gave her a little Tylenol.  That helped a lot, and it gave Momma some extra cuddle time.

Until next time...