Sara's 1st Year

Age: ONE YEAR OLD!
Weight: 21? pounds and 29-30 inches long according to Mommy's measurements. 
Sleep: She fluctuates. Some nights she does awesome, others... lately, not so great. Really just because after we were forced to get her the flu shot, she came down with a horrible cough that didn't leave for like a month! Poor thing. She's so sweet in the mornings sometimes, because instead of waking up and crying, she'll just be sitting in her crib playing with her pacifier animals! I love her.
Food: Sara wows people with her spoon eating! hehe She's know onto Whole Milk, and took it like a champ. I'm happy she did well with all her milk transitions... now only if we could get her to drink from a sippy cup!!! She will at Daycare.... but at home, she doesn't want anything to do with it. Little stink head. 
Favorite Activity: She really REALLY loves some of her stuffed animals. Especially her penguin and a little doggy she has. She love to sit in her chair, and then get out, and then sit again. Pushing her little scooter thing is fun, putting things into boxes, pushing boxes around, and MOST of all... READING!!! I find her in the library at Daycare 2-3 times a week when I pick her up.
Least Favorite Activity: She hates it when we lock the baby gate. It doesn't matter what we're doing or how much fun we're having. The moment you close that gate she freaks out!
Milestones: She's been walking along things a lot more, even things like the wall. Some day she'll understand walking! I think she just hasn't started walking because her feet are SO small. She's getting good at standing herself up from sitting position and climbing on things. And she now has 6 teeth. 
Doctor's Appointments: We go in for our 12 month check-up with the newly assigned doctor (sad face) on Monday.

Note from the parents: I know people say that time flies... but boy does time FLY! We tried to have lots of fun with Sara today on her birthday, but honestly, it's not as fun when they don't understand what's going on! Some friends of ours asked us the other day what the hardest part of this stage was. We both looked at each other and had to think about it! Isn't that awesome?!?!?! Months 1-6 I could have told you something right then and there, but now we are just really loving the time we get with her. It's so much fun!!! 

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Age: Eleven months!
Weight: 20.6 pounds and 29.2 inches long according to Mommy's measurements. 
Sleep: She's very good at being put down awake and falling asleep on her own. She's super cute and cuddles with her little pacifier animals. She'll suck on one and cuddle with the others.
Food: Sara is learning how to use a spoon. Sometimes, that's the only way we can get her to eat more is if we put it on a spoon and she eats it herself! She's also such a dainty eater. She picks things up with her pointer and thumb instead of just grabbing everything! Some go to foods that she'll always eat: bananas, spinach, peas and carrots, turkey, cinnamon apple sauce. 
Favorite Activity: She is entertained when she follows Mommy and Daddy around. She loves going through our Wii supplies. We got her a tunnel, she has a blast crawling through that. You can never go wrong with having books around. She loves waving and pointing at people and other things. Screaming in public is also something she likes to do.
Least Favorite Activity: Traveling.
Milestones: I guess she's falling behind. Haha No real big milestones to report this month. 
Doctor's Appointments: She also hasn't been to the doctor, but is being forced into getting a flu shot next week. booooo

Note from the parents: Our monthly pictures started off fun... when she didn't move. Now they're just getting crazy. This month has been hectic. And it's just not a very entertaining month blog. But next month she'll be TWELVE months!!! It's hard to believe it's been almost a year.  

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Age: Ten months!
Weight: 20 pounds and 29 inches long according to Mommy's measurements. 
Sleep: Sleeping is not consistent. And she's quite the mover. She moves ALL over her crib. And loves sleeping like a stink bug now days.
Food: Sara's eating lots of meals that we eat now too. She loves the wonderpot dish I make with pasta, tomatoes, and spinach. She loves veggies (who's child is she? Mommy hates veggies) and she likes to eat at Chipotle when we go there after church sometimes.
Favorite Activity: She likes walking with her little pushing thingy. She loves playing with Mommy's old Burger King Star Wars toys. She loves playing under the table and pulling up on the chairs. We got her an ABC magnet toy for the fridge and she loves playing while we are in the kitchen. We've also loved playing Follow the Leader, and we'll walk down the hall and call her name and she'll follow up.
Least Favorite Activity: Teething.
Milestones: She's been able to stand for a few seconds on her own and can put herself down slowly. She got her top front tooth, it's poking through. And she had her first really bad fever.That's not really a milestone but whateves. OH and she high fives, waves, and claps now too! She'll imitate what sounds we make.
Doctor's Appointments: We took her to the doctor for her fever a couple days ago, and when it came time for her to open her mouth so he could peak inside, he thought it was going to be hard to get her to do it, but she just opened right up. He was impressed. She does well at the doctors.

Note from the parents: Having a sick baby is really hard. It's hard NOT knowing what's wrong and not knowing at what point to take them to the doctor. We like our energetic, happy baby, so having the sick, feverish baby has been sad. And it's hard to believe that she's been out of the womb as much as she had been IN the womb! CRAZY!

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Age: Nine months!
Weight: We had an appointment a week ago and she was 18 pounds and 7 ounces and was 28.2 inches long.
Sleep: She's sleeping like a champ now! If only she would start napping more at daycare. We have had some nights where she wakes herself up and sits up in the middle of the night. Then she cries because she can't get back down... HOWEVER, the last couple days she has been able to solve her problems. yay!
Food: Sara blew through pureed food and is full blown into finger foods! She loves chicken, beans, rice, carrots, and according to the daycare... spinach! They feed her some yummy yum yums! My milk supply has been dying slowly... for whatever reason. But I'm giving her everything and anything I can manage! But she's been drinking milk and formula the past couple days.
Favorite Activity: Crawling around the house exploring everything until Mommy or Daddy say "Saraaaaaaa... no!" She seems to like her books a lot more than her normal toys. She just loves being outside and looking at EVERYTHING!
Least Favorite Activity: Being put down after Mommy was holding her. Poor mommy deprived baby. And smacking her head... Strangely she hasn't been enjoying bath time. :( I don't know why. Also hates throwing up.
Milestones: She can pull herself up to her knees and usually can get one leg bent, but she hasn't mastered totally standing alone yet. I would also count the fact that she's only eating normal people food as a milestone.
Doctor's Appointments: Doctor likes Sara a lot. He said it was the most mellow baby check up he's had in a while... it was also at 7:30 in the morning. She hasn't gained TOO much weight the past couple months, but that could be either because she had been throwing up the four days before the appointment, OR becuase she has been a lot more mobile. Anyway, we love our doctor and she seems to be doing great.

Note from the parents: Being a working mom SUCKS. It seems like there's not enough time to be a teacher and a mother AND to be a GREAT teacher and a GREAT mother. I just can't do both. So... if I have to chose, I chose being a GREAT mother and I'll settle for just being a normal teacher. I'll still get the job done well, but I have just realized that it's not the most important thing to me anymore. I can't bear the thought of Sara staying as long as she does at daycare, and I can't wait to go pick her up and snuggle after each work day.

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Age: Eight months!
Weight: I'd say around 18 pounds and 27 inches?
Sleep: She gets up about once a night now. She's quite the mover now. We'll put her head facing one way and in the morning, she'll be the other direction. She loves sleeping on her side too.
Food: We've slowly started "table food". Starting with the little puff things, which she loves. She learned very quickly how to pick them up and put them into her mouth. Good job! We've tried fun things like blueberries, mango, pineapple, chicken, rice, apricots, and the one thing she really does not like is avocado! 
Favorite Activity: swimming! Yay! She loves her homemade toys I've made her. Especially the rice in a bottle. She loves bouncing herself up and down. She loved seeing her Vegas family this past week. Reading. And recently she has taken to stuffed animals!
Least Favorite Activity: Being away from Mommy (this month) and falling over...
Milestones: She's crawling! I guess I would count feeding herself as one, and she also got from her back to sitting up position once.
Doctor's Appointments: We went to the doctor a couple times this month because Sara got sick and was throwing up a lot. It sucks that really, you just have to let the sickness run their course. But no wellness check up this month.

Note from the parents: I've been enjoying my summer with Sara. I've taken her to daycare about once a week while we've been home so that she can play with her friends, but apparently, she's gotten too attached to Mommy this past month. oops. Oh well, I'm going to soak up every minute of cuddle time with my baby before I have to head back to work. As always, it's fun to watch her develop and change, this really is a fun stage. 

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Age: Seven months!
Weight: Two weeks ago at her doctor's appointment she weighed 17.8 lbs and was 26.1 inches long!
Sleep: Still crappy. We've decided to take drastic measures and I'll feed her once, but then we let her "cry it out". We just started... so we'll see if it starts working. We... Need... SLEEP.
Food: She's loving her solids, but LOVES her milky! We've tried just about everything so far that comes in a jar. She loves loves loves squash, green beans, and carrots. She doesn't really care for peaches and pears as much though. 
Favorite Activity: Being with people, grunting, copying Mommy and Daddy, playing with her toys, sitting in her table chair, watching one of her little animal apps, watching her piggy sisters run around, rocking herself up and down while screeching, walking around in Mama's sling watching the world go by, and last... she loves her sunglasses!
Least Favorite Activity: Still mostly the same things... being changed and getting in the car seat. Although, we did try swimming and she did not like it... but I refuse to let her dislike swimming, so we'll try lots more this summer. 
Milestones: She has teeth! Her bottom two teeth have popped up. She says ma ma and da da... but I don't think she realizes she's talking about us because she also says la la la and ba ba ba and tralalalala la la la la.
Doctor's Appointments: Like I said, our doctor appointment was two weeks ago and the doctor said she's doing great! Not much else to report... except that he went on about how adorable she is. hehe

Note from the parents: We went on our first family vacation to Yosemite and Sequoia, she did a great job driving around everywhere. I'm so excited to spend more time with her at home. It warms my heart when Jason will randomly just look up from playing with Sara and say things like: "We have a pretty awesome kid." 

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Age: Six months!
Weight: We don't have another appointment for about 2 weeks. She's outgrown her jammies that are 6 months. They go up to 16 pounds, so I'm assuming it's about that. And her length I'm guessing, is another inch, so 26 inches.
Sleep: This girl is a crappy sleeper! At daycare when I pick her up it's a 5 minute nap, 10 minute nap... if we're lucky, we might get a 40 minute nap. Then at night, she's not consistent. For three days in a row, she slept all the way through the night, but mostly it's us getting up two or sometimes THREE times! COME ON SARA!!!!!
Food: We just started solids!!! It's been fun. She loves her food! We did the rice cereal, just to test the waters. Then jumped into Squash, Green Beans, Oatmeal, and Sweet Potatoes. I had every intention of making baby food, but with work and all the time and effort put into breast milk... I figure, she's getting better nutrients from breast milk, so I give up and I'm taking the easy way out!
Favorite Activity: Being scared! ha We love playing Peek-A-Boo! She LAUGHS so much! She's so funny... she loves to nod her head three or four times as if she's saying "YEP". It was hilarious. She just LOVES to play! And sing! She loves eating and shaking things. She's learned how to splash in the bath and loves that. Putting things in her mouth. Spinning around in the air! haha She also loves to hold faces in her hands. It's the cutest thing ever.
Least Favorite Activity: Changing her clothes!  
Milestones: This month has been a big change! She's rolled from her belly to her back... and then a week later she was rolling from her back to her tummy. She can sit up on her own (with minor failures from time to time). She started eating solid foods. And she's learning how to use her legs and stands up when we hold her hands.
Doctor's Appointments: We'll go to our 6 month wellness checkup in a couple weeks. Then it's the 6 month round of shots! I get to take the day off to be with her after that again.

Note from the parents: We love our little Sara Pot Pie! It's so much fun walking into the daycare room and saying "Hi Sara!" and watching her get so excited that we're there! Jason said the other day, "Ya... having a little midget face is hard work, but the reward of being a parent is worth the hard work". I also noticed that Sara scrunches her nose like her mommy when she smiles. I can't wait for summer so I can cuddle and explore with her ALL the time!

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Age: Five months!
Weight: About two weeks ago we went to the doctor and she was 15.2 ounces and 25 1/4 inches! It's amazing how much difference only ONE inch makes! 
Sleep: Minus our trip to Ohio... she's been sleeping pretty decent. Usually it's bed time at 7:00 and she'll wake up around 3:00 and then sleep until about 6:30 or 7:00. It doesn't seem to matter how much sleep she gets... Mommy and Daddy are always tired anyway. 
Food: Still just the milky! We're starting the exciting road to solids towards the end of May. I think she'll love it! She loves reaching for our food and opens her mouth sometimes when we are eating or drinking. 
Favorite Activity: Laughing at Mommy and Daddy, playing peak-a-boo, playing with all her fun toys, reading, cuddling, crunching things in her hands, bath time (she's starting to learn to splash), and honestly, I think she just loves hanging out by herself in her crib when she first wakes up in the morning.  
Least Favorite Activity: Being sleepy. And at the Daycare, she doesn't seem to like their changing table. Still hates being strapped into the car seat.  
Milestones: This past week, she finally decided to roll over! It was so much fun to watch. She's also getting pretty good at sitting up by herself on the ground, mind you, it's only for like thirty seconds. 
Doctor's Appointments: The doctor says she's growing great and is doing all the things a 5 month old should be doing. He was even impressed with her bubble making skills. haha She also had her 4 month shots, and she cried only a little. Then ended up just sleeping the whole day. Poor girl.

Note from the parents: It's been so much fun to help Sara explore new things. We've been going out places more because she will go longer without freaking out. She had her first plane rides! Some of which were miserable, and others where she just slept, ate, played, and looked out the window. We had the joy of hanging out with the Ohio family and she just LOVED everyone! I think by the end of the trip she had had enough with new faces, but she absolutely loved her 4 crazy cousins. We've been having so much fun with this stage.

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Age: Four months!
Weight: We don't have a doctor's appointment until April 4, but we think she's around 14 or almost 15 pounds. Growing chuncky head! hehe She's so cute though.
Sleep: For some reason she's decided that sleeping 6-8 hours is not good for our family... so now it's up every 3-4 hours again. BOOOOO! :(
Food: Still going strong on the breast milk! woot! 
Favorite Activity: She loves her story time. Mostly she just likes to feel the books and then tries to close them all the time. She loves to sing and talk, especially right after sneezes. Oh and she loves people and talking FaceTime where she can see faces! She always tries to grab the screen. She's warming up to her Tummy Time!
Least Favorite Activity: Still hates car rides...
Milestones: I feel like there hasn't been many. She's obviously getting stronger. She can sit in her Bump. She's been in love with her toes lately. It's fun to watch her throw her legs in the air. She still doesn't quite understand how to roll herself over... but she'll get there.
Doctor's Appointments: Like I said, we have a couple weeks before we go to our 4 month check up!
Note from the parents: Sara is our little (or big I should say...) bundle of joy. We love coming home from work and cuddling with her as much as we can. There have been a couple nights where either I or Jason haven't gotten off work until after she's asleep. Those days are the worst. It's so much fun to watch her explore and it's super fun to take her on adventures. We're loving being parents.. even when we're dead tired.
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Age: Three months!
Weight: When we took her in to get checked out (we thought she was sick), she weighed 13 pounds 2 oz. And was 24 inches. That was a week ago.
Sleep: She has her good nights and bad nights. The whole week I went back to work... she must have known because we were up frequently. Especially from 3:30-6. Some nights it was every 30 mins- 1 hour!! BLAH! Then there's nights where she'll sleep 8 hours! Those night are nice. So it just depends.
Food: Eating, eating, eating! It's kinda cool pumping and feeding, just because we can see how much she really eats. I'd obviously rather feed her myself to have that time with her (and to avoid cleaning all the bottles), but it's still cool.
Favorite Activity: This month she's began to laugh. So she likes laying down and playing with her mommy and daddy. She's also taken a liking to our chairs and mats with the hanging toys from them. I guess she can finally see them and understand that they'll make her happy. hehe Reading is also a really fun thing to do with her. She likes the animal books and she'll sit through at least three books before getting restless. It's fun.  
Least Favorite Activity: She hates tummy time!!! :( It doesn't matter how happy she has been, as soon as we turn her over to practice... she cries.
Milestones: Laughing, baby talking, and lots of smiles. She has started to get the concept of pulling herself up to sit up more; if she is already kinda leaning. If she's sitting on my lap and I let her go, she's understanding how to balance herself to stay up. Obviously it only last several seconds, but it's cool! She has been recognizing her face in the mirror on her play mat, and we have recently began to think she's already starting to the process of teething. I'm not 100% sure... but it could be.
Doctor's Appointments: We only took her in because we thought she was coming down with something, plus she had ear wax draining out of her ear, but when we finally got to the doctor and he checked her out, he said everything looked good and that she was super healthy! So yay!
Note from the parents: Going to work is hard. We both miss our baby cuddle time. So when I get to squeeze her cheeky and make her laugh it's my favorite part of the day. It's also so much fun to watch her change and experience new things. We took her to a restaurant for the first time (awake). Luckily, my parents were there to help us out, and she did ok... but I couldn't do it with just Jason and I. One of us would probably just be eating by our self. Sara is a joy and we're loving every happy, sad, screaming, sleeping, pooping and laughing moment. :)
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Age: Two months!
Weight: 12 pounds 5 ounces! 23 inches long. She's healthy and the doctor is very happy with her growth.
Sleep: Sara this month has been finally figuring out how to sleep. The past week, she has been awake more during the day and has been sleeping longer at night. We even had our first six hour stretch last night! If only she hadn't fallen asleep at 6:00 PM... ha But it's good to see her make that next step. 
Food: Still chugging away at the breast milk. I got a really bad case of stomach flu last week, so my supply took a small hit... but we're getting it back.
Favorite Activity: She loves to lay on her back and have Mommy and Daddy make silly noises and faces. She loves playing with her Elephant pacifier. She likes to swing, be outside, and stare at her hands. :) Oh, and she actually loves the diaper changing time now! It's really funny.
Least Favorite Activity: She really doesn't like car rides. It's very frustrating. Still hates the wet diapers. She also HATES falling asleep.
Milestones: She turned herself onto her side the other day. Gadzooks! She's been figuring out her hands and feet. She loves talking to us and smiles at so many people now. She's also just started blowing lots of bubbling and drooling.
Doctor's Appointments: Sara is in the 80th percentile for weight and height. They gave us a questionnaire for developmental skills and she's doing all of the things on the list. It was also time for her first set of shots. :( I have to say, she surprised me with how well she did. She DID cry, and it was not fun to watch... but really it was just a short cry and then she just fell asleep. We like our doctor, especially because he just had his fourth baby who is only a few weeks older than ours.
Note from the parents: It's been so much fun to watch the little girl do so many new things. It's been fun because she hasn't been crying AS much during the day and we can actually enjoy things we use to. The one big thing we are still getting use to is just not being able to do the things we use to. She just requires lots of attention and still does throw her fits in public so sometimes we just say to ourselves... "What's the point of going anywhere?" Despite all that, we love the little girl to pieces and month two has been such a journey. We aslo have hired a nanny. Our other plan fell through, but I think it's all going to work out for the best. I go back to work Feb. 3rd and will finish out the year. It's going to be so hard to leave her for the WHOLE day! :( But that's life I guess, and we are confident we found someone who will take good care of her. :)
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Age: One month! Time flies.
Weight: 9 lbs 9 oz at the last appointment. But that was a few weeks ago. I'm assuming she's in the 10 lb range now days. She's already outgrown newborn clothes and newborn diapers. Big healthy girl.
Sleep: Still no real schedule, but usually in the evenings around 5 o'clock she'll have her good three hour nap sprees. Lately, she's been sleeping well at night (as well as can be) and in the day time, she goes for a couple hours awake. Which sometimes makes her a wee bit cranky.
Food: Breast milk and occasionally formula when she's really hungry, but lately I guess I'm finally making enough for her! yay!
Favorite Activity: She now loves bath time, and she really loves being outdoors! We go on walks and she's as happy as can be. Oh... she also really loves crying....
Least Favorite Activity: Still hates the diaper change. Doesn't like to be strapped in her car seat either.
Milestones: She's been smiling and making small cooing noises! It's precious. She's also tracking things we put in her sight and she's staring to sort of reach for them, but they have to be pretty close.
Doctor's Appointments: We had our 2 week visit, but don't go back until Two Months. We always go into the appointment wondering what's wrong with our baby... and then once we start talking we realize our baby is just that; a BABY. And that she's normal and doing normal cranky baby things. Note from the parents: The hardest part this month has just been trying to figure out why she's crying and what she wants. It's NOT an easy job. I think we are both excited for her to get a little older, but we are enjoying her being small nonetheless. She's a miracle and it's so exciting to think about what God will do with her in this life.
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Age: Newborn! Just a tiny little thing!
Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz as of our first doctor's appointment at 5 days old
Sleep: No schedule. We work for her at the moment, but when she sleeps, she sleeps well! There are times of the day where she screams and won't calm down to sleep!
Food: Breast milk and occasionally formula when she's really hungry.
Favorite Activity: This girl loves to cuddle! She would probably be happy just cuddling ALL day.
Least Favorite Activity: She did NOT like her first bath and she hates her diaper changing time.
Milestones: Sara can actually already hold her head up! She's a strong girl.
Doctor's Appointments: Pediatrician says she's very healthy and strong. Also that she has beautiful skin. hehe Note from the parents: Each day brings a new challenge and she seems to change things up on us right when we feel like we're getting the hang if things. It's still bizarre having another person around to take care of!