Claire's 9 Month Check up and Update

On Monday, Claire had her 9 month well-being checkup.

Claire's status:

Weight - 15lbs 8oz (birth -6lbs 7oz)
Height -  26.25inches (birth -20inces)

Claire has only gained 1 lb and 1 oz since her 6 month well-being checkup, which at first made me worry but after talking with the doctor she informed us that it is VERY (she stressed VERY) normal at her age. She said, around 6 months babies start to slow down a lot and when they start crawling/cruising they stop gaining even more because they burn so much more off. My good friend, 'K' - her son is just days older than Claire - and he had his well-being checkup Monday too. Her son gained less than a pound from his 6 months well-being check up. She too freaked out at first, but her doctor reassured her that this is very normal. He said most parents freak out because their babies are not gaining the normal pound a month any more. Both of our doctors said they definitely don't look malnourished! Claire's length is right on target. The doctor also said she doesn't expect Claire to be big since both Eric and I are pretty petite.

Claire got one vaccine - Hepatitis B

Claire's doctor was also very impressed with everything she is doing. She said Claire is ahead with many of her milestones!!

At 9 months Claire is doing:

1. Crawling (all over my house)
2. Pulling herself to a standing position on EVERYTHING
3. Starting to cruise along our furniture
4. Sits up from a laying down position
5. Claps her hands
6. Waves
7. Gives Kisses
8. Feeds herself
9. Talking up a storm - she says: Dada, Daddy, Dad, Hi, Hey, Lalala, Eeee, Mumu, Babab and many more   baby words that only Claire really knows!

She loves:

A. Trying new foods
B. Gerber Puffs
C. Her sippy cup
D. Taking walks
E. Playing with our dogs
F. Reading books
G. Pulling anything and everything of shelves she can reach
H. Sing songs
I. Bath time


She's still:

1.  Breastfeeding on demand
2. Sleeping (pretty well) through the night
3. Has two bottom teeth
4. Eating a majority of baby food (with people food at dinner time)

 Claire just hours old!

Claire days away from 9 months old!

8 Months Old

Well, at 9:39am this morning,  it's been 8 months since I gave natural birth to our little Bug! I seriously can not believe that it's been that long...I'm in shock! It's been an amazing and memorable 8 months. She has made our lives so much brighter!! Her smile can warm any heart and her laugh will make you laugh right along with her! She is the light of my life and our world!

At 8 months old, Claire can:

1. Rolls all over the house
2. Scoots - backwards, sideways, and in circles
3. Pull herself up to a standing position
4. Sits up from a laying down position
5. Talks up a storm - dada, mama, daddy, dad, ma, mumu, hey, hi, ah, wa, ga, ba etc...
6. Sits unsupported
7. Starting to self feed
8. She loves to clap her feet
9. Reaches for people

She has two bottom teeth, she has had her first winter cold, she loves to go shopping and take walks, she loves playing with our dogs and all of her toys! She loves to experience new things!!

Claire's 6 Month Check Up

Claire had her 6 month check up today. Eric took her because I still had a fever and was feeling under the weather. Anywho - her appointment went very well!

Claire was 14lbs 7oz (born at 6lbs 7oz) and is 25.25 inches long (20 inches at birth).

She has hit all of her milestones on time (plus some, like sitting all by herself) and has started to get scared and cry when she meets new people. Eric said, Claire started crying as soon as her doctor walked into the room. The doctor did warn us at her 4 month appointment that at her next check up Claire might be scared of her and she was right on!

She got 1 shot today and will get 1 more next week. I am trying to follow the alternative shot schedule, which just is not giving to many shots at one time and pushing the MMR-I vaccination until she is at least 2 or 3 years old. (Check out Dr. Sears's book)We are also thinking about getting her both flu shots - regular and H1N1. Our doctor highly recommends the H1N1 and gave us some literature to read over before making our decision. We are thinking about it for these reasons: we take her out in public a lot, she is exposed to many people of all ages, and we are flying in April. The doctor said a little reach to the flu shots is better then her actually getting either type of flu, espeically at her age!

Claire is officially in full teething mode. The doctor said one of her bottom middle teeth has already broken through (you can feel it when Claire bites down on your finger) and the other one should break through sometime next week. We have been giving her infant Tylenol and baby oral gel when she needs it. We also picked up some infant Motrin (which she can now take because she is 6 months old) to give her in the morning, which we feel will help with her inflamed gums! At least now we know why she has been sleeping so crapply the last couple of weeks!!

Claire's 5 Month Stats

5 Months 1 day - 13lbs 8oz and 24.25 inches long (birth - 6lbs 7oz and 20 inches long)


Claire is doing wonderful! She has started rice cereal in the mornings (now today, she will start rice cereal in the mornings and at night!) The first couple of days were a little rough. She kept giving us the "wth"(what the hell) face, every time we would put the spoon in her mouth. She never had a screaming episode, so all in all rice cereal was and still is a success! She will continue on demand breastfeeding and rice cereal in the a.m. and p.m. until January when we will start to introduce her to veggies! I am almost positive I will be making her baby food. We will start with the green veggies (peas and green beans), then we will move on to the orange veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes, and squash). Once she has been introduced to all her stage 1 veggies, she will start fruits! Our doctor recommends we introduce one food at a time in the morning (so we can watch for any reaction) for 7 days. With introducing all the veggies and fruit should take us well in to month 8. When everything is introduced she will get: rice cereal and fruit for breakfast, veggie and fruit for lunch, rice cereal and veggie for dinner, along with on demand breastfeeding.

Milestones: She has started to sit up by herself, she pass toys from one hand to the next, she looks for an object she drops, she is talking, whispering, laughing, and screaming up a storm, She loves to stand up, she will sit up from a laying down position all by herself, when she holds your hands., She is doing baby pushes (she lifts her body up with her hands), she turns the pages of her story books when she is read to, she loves to reach for objects that are out of reach.

Claire's 4 Month Check-up

Claire had her 4 month check-up this past Friday. I learned from her 2 month check-up to make her appointments for earlier in the afternoon to bet the after school rush and so daddy would be able to go with.Her appointment was at 2pm so we gave her tylenol 40 minutes before her check-up so she was prepared for her shots.

Status:

Weight: 12lbs 6oz (birth weight: 6lbs 7oz)
Height: 23.75 inches (birth height: 20 inches)
Head: 15 inches

The doctor checked her over very carefully (as she always does - she is a very in depth doctor). She asked all kinds of questions and when she got to the milestones, Claire is able to do all of the ones she mentioned! From rolling over (belly to back), putting her legs up in the air with her feet together, head control, to being pulled to a sitting position with her head even with her body. She still has a tendency to look more to the right, so we have to work on stretching out her left neck muscles and having her turn to the left more - nothing that isn't normal and can't be fixed! I am successfully exclusively breastfeeding, so she said I can continue to do that. She said when we feel like starting rice cereal with Claire, we can. (She recommends for breastfeeding mom's anywhere between 4-6 months) We have decided to start feeding her cereal when she hits 5 months. (Just from things I've read - personal choice)
She got two shots and one oral vaccination. She did okay with the oral, only spitting out a little bit. She did make some really cute "what the hell is this" face, when she was taking it. With the shots she did 10x better this time. She only cried afterward for less then 2 minutes. I didn't cry at all this time. I was too focused on holding her arms and swinging her favorite butterfly (that has lights and music) in front of her face, trying to distract her. All in all it was a successful doctors visit. Her next appointment is 1-15-09 (6 month check-up).

4 months old today!!

Claire is 4 months old today! Wow, where did these last 4 months go? It feels just like yesterday, that I was laying in the hospital bed, griping the bed rails in pain as I got through each painful contraction. Giving birth was such an amazing experience, one that I truly enjoyed every moment of!

To celebrate Miss. Claire's 4 month birthday. Katreena and Brayden, Claire and I went to the movies this afternoon. We saw "Couples Retreat". It was really cute. We sat in the last row, that way we were able to feed in peace and we didn't have to worry about showing the whole theater our boobs! The kiddos did wonderful. They stood, sat, talked, complained, and slept through the movie! It was nice to get out and do something different. We will be doing that again. It is really nice, now that Claire is able to do more and be entertained longer!

Claire goes to her 4 month well being check up Friday! I will update Friday with all of her stats!

2 months old

The first two months have been a pure joy. Claire started sleeping 6 hours in a row around 6 weeks. She is eating like a champ and still is EBF. At her two months appointment she weighs 10 lbs and is 22 inches long. She is in the 30% for height and 20-25% for weight. She is our petite little girl. She loves to play with her glow worm and enjoys her play mat thoroughly.

4 days old

At 4 days old, Claire went to her first doctors appointment. She gained 4 oz and was now up to 6lbs 4 oz. Her partial jaundice was cleared up and the doctor said she was very happy and healthy baby.