The Ezell Family

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Kathryn Reese: 10 Months

Weight: 17.8 pounds (pretty much a total guess)

Height: No idea

Clothes: 9 month, 6-12 month, 12 month

Diapers: Size 3

Sweet thing, another month has come and gone. You are SO close to being mobile. About ten days ago, you FINALLY figured out how to move from your belly into the sitting position and from sitting back to your belly. You spend a lot of time on all fours and are ALMOST a crawler. You understand that moving your arms forward gets you going, but you haven't quite figured out how to use your knees to help you yet. You still have some frustration when your little lunge move doesn't get you your desired toy, but we definitely have some progress.

Let's talk schedule - you are down at night from about 7:30pm to 6am (early bird!). I've tried everything to get you to sleep in longer, but it's just the environment you're in. Your room gets bright and loud around 6am thanks to the early summer sun, a family of noisy birds, and the cars outside on the street. We just deal with it. :) You are napping typically from 9:15-10:30am and 2-4pm.

As far as food goes, you have cut back to just 3 bottles a day, as we combined the mid-afternoon and bedtime bottle since you didn't really take much at either feeding, so you are now getting 6-7 ounce bottles at 6:30/7am, 11:30/12pm, and 5:30/6pm...basically, you get a bottle before each meal. On the subject of food, you are a phenomenal eater and will eat just about anything we give you. Some favorites right now are rice, chicken, peaches, yogurt, crunchies, bananas, graham crackers, and pretty much anything out of a pouch. You are a little picky when it comes to textures and your hands - you don't really like to pick up things like bananas, pears, etc but will gladly accept them off a fork. You also love your snacks - yogurt melts, crunchies, puffs, Cheerios...if it's a carb, you like it. :) You also got two more teeth this month...I can't believe you already have all 8 of the front ones!

You have become a MAJOR talker this month! You have mastered the "m" and "b" sounds which have basically given you three words - "bubba" (what you call Carter), "mama" (me, obvi), and "ma" (more). We are trying desperately to get you to say dada, but no luck yet. You also discovered how to wave, high-five, and shake your head to say "no" this month. You are VERY social!

You are a momma's girl and still get quite upset when I put you down somewhere and walk away. God forbid I do anything other than play with you! ;) On that note, dropping you off somewhere is tough...you are NOT a fan of the hand-off, but fortunately, I am always told you recover quickly and move on.

Since it is summer now, we have been doing a lot of swimming and splashing. Girlfriend, you LOVE the water! Water table, baby pool, big pool, splash pad...if it's wet, you're a fan!

I think that about sums it up for this month...we love you, baby girl! Keep growing! XO.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Kathryn Reese: 9 Months

Weight: 17 pounds, 4 ounces (34th percentile)

Length: 28.5 inches (81st percentile)
Head: 18 inches (91st percentile)

Clothes: 6-9 months, 6-12 months

Diapers: Size 3

Sweet girl, you are 9 months old! 3/4 of the way to a year! In so many ways, I am THRILLED about this...and in so many ways, I'm so sad you're getting so big! You are still eating four 6 oz. bottles a day - typically at 6:45/7am, 11am, 3:30pm, and 7pm. You eat breakfast around 8, lunch at noon, and dinner at 5:30/6. You are slowly moving away from purees (although you love pouches) and onto table food. Your current favorites are yogurt, all carbs (Cheerios, puffs, crackers, etc), peaches, cheese, and (sigh) Chick-fil-a. You've decided you're ready to be awake longer before nap times, so you're typically down now from about 9:30-11 and 2-3:30 or so. I'm SO over the morning nap...it's tough being stuck at home all morning, sweet one!

This month, you decided you wanted to MOVE. However, you can't figure out crawling yet (hello again, PT...ugh) so you are pretty stinkin' frustrated. (So am I.) On your tummy, you army crawl backwards like a pro and move in circles, but you've never figured out forward motion. Sitting and tummy time are still two separate things - you are not fluid yet between the two positions, which causes lots of frustration when you feel "stuck" because you are sitting on your bottom. You have, however, figured out how to pull up on things and sit back down again, so that's definite progress! I'm hoping you just need a little more upper body strength in order to figure out crawling. It's so sad to see you get upset when something's out of reach. I think you'll be so much happier once you figure out how to move.

You had several firsts this month - first haircut (bye bye three inches), first top teeth (four of them!), and first time swimming (LOVE). You celebrated your first Easter and big brother's 3rd birthday. You are SO close to using words and love to hear the sound of your voice. When upset, I've heard a few "ma" sounds here and there, so I'm wondering if you are on the verge of saying "mama." Too bad I only hear it when you're crying, though! :(

You are becoming much more laid back and go with the flow - it honestly makes me wonder if you've always been that way, but since you had so many GI/muscular issues going on when you were teeny tiny, you were just in pain all the time. We'll see...you are a strong-willed girl after all! We love you, Katy bug!

Carter is 3! (Photo Dump)

Weight: 32.2 pounds (53rd percentile)

Height: 38.8 inches (75th percentile)

My sweet baby boy, you turned 3 this weekend! Sadly, you were diagnosed with strep throat on Friday afternoon, so our day full of fun parties and family did not get to happen since you were contagious, but we made the most of it and postponed your party for two weeks. On Saturday, we tried to fill your newly free day with your favorites - pancakes, new golf clubs, and play time in the backyard. We went and picked up your $40 worth of balloons we had paid for in advance (and couldn't cancel), too, so the backyard looked extra festive.

After lunch and naps, we played a little more at home, went to Rosa's for dinner, and then enjoyed a few of the 40 cupcakes I had baked for the party. (Bitter? Me? Not at all...)

Finally...the time had come...your daddy took you to play golf! On the GOLF COURSE! You were seriously giddy and BEYOND excited the whole time.

The next day, you were no longer contagious, so we had some serious catching up to do! We headed down to Gammy and Doc's house first to spend the morning with your Wade cousins who had come in town for your birthday! FINALLY! You got some great gifts and enjoyed playing with Pearson and sweet Owen. We went swimming and then caught a quick power nap in the car before dinner with Liam, Grant, Chase, Sarah, and Gramma Pat.

Given the circumstances, I think we definitely made the most of it! And now, we have ANOTHER celebration to look forward to in 10 days! Woohoo! Happy birthday, sweet boy! XO!

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Kathryn Reese: 8 Months

Weight: 16.8 pounds (our scale)

Height: 28 inches (my guess)

Clothes: 6-9 months/6-12 months

Diapers: Size 3

Chickadee, one more month has passed in your sweet little life. You are such a little firecracker - dramatic, persistent, stubborn, loud...eerily like your mother. (Yikes!) You are truly growing into a little girl and becoming less and less of a baby each day. You desperately want to GO and move all the time, but poor thing, you just can't figure it out yet. You still scoot around in circles when on your tummy, but you still haven't found your knees or all fours yet, so you can't crawl despite your desire. We are meeting again with your physical therapist, Ellen, this week just to be sure there's nothing holding you back physically. I think you're just a little slower than most on the gross motor skills, but she's going to help us play a little catch up so you don't get behind. You also love to stand and hold onto furniture, toys, etc. but haven't taken any cruising steps yet.

On the schedule front, you are FINALLY consistent in your schedule. You drink 6-7 ounces at 7am, 11am, 3pm, and 7pm, eat solids at 8am, noon(ish), and 6pm, and nap from 9-10:30am and 1-2:30pm. Bedtime is between 7 and 7:30pm, and you wake for the day around 7am. It's AMAZING to finally have predictability in your sleeping patterns. I feel like we finally have the freedom to make plans! Along those lines, we typically get out and about for a play date or something around 11 and then spend the late afternoons going for walks, to the park, or playing outside now that the weather is so nice. You LOVE being outside and going for walks in the stroller. You will tolerate a shopping cart when we go run errands, and you are OVER the car seat. We will more than likely move you to a big girl car seat soon - you are getting awfully heavy to carry in your infant seat!

As far as food goes, we had an interesting month as you battled some serious digestive issues this month. I'd say the low point was the stool study. One day, when you are about 13 and tell me you hate me, I'm going to remind you that when you were 7 months old, I had to collect your poop and put it into cups for testing. That, my dear child, is LOVE. :/ Fortunately, you didn't have any kind of intestinal infection or parasite, so we are being very careful with your diet and have taken you off of dairy entirely. You are now on soy formula and limited solids and doing wonderfully. Thank goodness!

You are cutting at least one top tooth right now, and I can't wait to see your little smile with those top teeth in! You are also making all kinds of noise - squealing, cooing, giggling, and attempting to make vowel sounds. Some of your other favorite things this month were splashing in the bath tub with your brother, ripping my glasses off of my face in the mornings, studying our watches, and feeding yourself puffs and Cheerios. You are a sweetheart little lady, and we love you!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Kathryn Reese: 7 Months!

Weight: 16.2 pounds (our scale)

Length: 27 inches (our measurement)

Clothes: 6 month, 6-9 month

Diapers: Finishing up size 2, moving to 3!

Sister, another month has come and gone. That was quick! Not a whole lot of change in routine this month - still taking 2 naps, usually from 8:30-10am and 1-2:30/3pm. Bedtime is 6:30/7pm and wake time is 6:30/7am. You are typically taking 6-8oz bottles every four hours, but lately you've been fighting them a LOT because your top teeth are coming in! OUCH!

The biggest change this month is that you now eat real food - as in table food! You are a rockstar with MumMums, puffs, and yogurt melts, so we are slowly beginning to add mushy vegetables, fruits, pasta, etc to your menu. Most days, you are pretty much a garbage disposal - no matter what I put in your mouth, you just want MORE! Your favorite purees are sweet potatoes, bananas, carrots, and a banana/mixed berries combo. You went through a phase where you wouldn't touch anything green by itself, so we had to stir a small amount of peas and green beans into your sweet potatoes or mix the greens with fruit. (Sneaky, huh?) We haven't tried again, but we will soon. Whatever works, right?

You are now a very solid sitter, and I rarely see you topple over anymore. If you do, it's because you were reaching for something out of reach or because you heard a loud noise and were trying to find it. You are very dramatic when you do fall and it often takes a while to calm you down. You reverted back to absolute HATRED of tummy time for a while this month, but I think it's because you are so focused on sitting/standing. When you're on your tummy lately, you pivot in circles on your tummy and scoot backwards a little if REALLY motivated. I have a feeling that you might stand/cruise before crawling since you've pulled yourself and stood up holding onto things a few times. You may be one of those babies that walks before they crawl. You just seem to have no interest in it. We'll see.

You still have your two bottom teeth, and those top two toofers should be coming ANY DAY. They are bulging and mean. I can't wait to be over those dumb things! You have found your voice this month, and boy do you love to use it! You squeal, crow, and blow raspberries constantly.

Your current loves are walks in the stroller, swinging at the park, the doorway jumper and your stuffed dog, Violet. You absolutely hate the car seat (still) and sometimes resist the high chair. You seem to just tolerate the exersaucer...I think you just want to GO.

Not much else to report this month - we'll see how things change in month 8! :) Love you, lady bug!