Little Bailey

      Bailey is now just over nine months and doing very well.  She was having a difficult time sleeping through the night, which had me struggling with breastfeeding but we got it worked out.  The doctor confirmed what I suspected that she was reverse cycling and wouldn't eat enough during the day if she continued to have a large feeding at night.  We had a couple rough nights but managed to get her sleeping very well.  I then decided nursing was the most convenient thing and recommitted to continuing until her first birthday since I was no longer needing to get up to feed her at night.  However, when I took her in for her nine month check I got a big surprise.  Bailey's weight was now below the charts and her growth curve had starting to decline.  The doctor was concerned she was not getting enough fat nursing which is vital for brain development and told me she actually needed to be on formula.  When I asked if she was telling me to quit nursing her she said, "yeah, that is what I am saying."  It was the last thing I was expecting to hear from the pediatrician, however we need to do what is best for Bailey and the transition is going smoothly.  Compared to the skim milk she was getting she LOVES formula.  Other facts about Bailey:

1.  She is very smiley and happy.  Similar to Shad she isn't super giggly but she has a big grin most of the time.  That grin will soon be toothy since she started teething last week and is currently cutting three teeth at once.  Something about weaning my babies makes them get teeth within a week.  I didn't even know she was teething until I saw the two lower teeth coming in.  She is very easy-going.  Apparently top teeth are more painful or three at once was too much though, teething behavior kicked in the last couple days.

2.   She is still really tiny.  As mentioned her weight is under the charts, and her height keeps skipping from 30% range to 70% range and back.  So she is averaging about 50% for height.  Despite that she can still wear a 0-3 month onesie and her 6-12 months pants only stay on if she has shoes on.  Dressing her is already a challenge since she is too tall  for the nine month clothes but still too thin for them.  I dread the teenage years, she may have to wear boys pants like I did.

3. She adores Shad.  She follows him around like a little puppy and gets really excited when he talks and interacts with  her.

4.  She also adores Solo.  Now that she is moving faster she gets up close and personal with him much more.

5.   Bailey already has me running to keep up.  At Christmas she still couldn't sit on her own and now she is crawling fast, climbing up to stand, walking along things and climbing the stairs.  She is constantly on the move, and I miss living in a rambler.

6.   She still tries to suck her thumb sometimes.  Covering her hands worked miraculously better than I ever believed it might at reducing this habit.  She used to spit the binky out immediately and shove her thumb in.  Now she only sneaks the thumb in when she is very tired and can't find her binky or is extremely hungry.

7.   Bath time is one of her favorites.  I never used a baby bath with her because I didn't bathe her daily due to how dry it is here.  It was kind of a hassle bathing her in the sink compared to the convenience of the baby tub but now I am so glad I didn't.  At this age Shad was terrified of a normal bath tub whereas Bailey loves the bath and will even put her hands and head under the running water to play while it is filling.

8.  She is still bald.  Shad had more hair at this age.  Luckily, there are lots of cute headbands and I have a thing for pink so there is usually no question about her gender.  Although people have said him about her while wearing a bright pink hat with a bow. . .

9.  At the time of her nine month appointment the only sounds she was really saying were a "th" sound and a hissing sound.  Of course, I hate snakes and my daughter sounded like one all day.  The doctor was surprised since apparently those are difficult sounds and wasn't worried.  While visiting my sister the following week though she started babbling like crazy and making all sorts of sounds.  Amazing the difference a few days can make.

10.   She still loves her blankets over her eyes and will pull it up over her face if it isn't already.  Makes my video monitor all the more useless since the sound quit working and I can't see her anyway.  Wouldn't want to make things too easy.

     Bailey is a sweet heart and very snuggly and we are so happy to have her in our family.  She truly adds a little bit of sunshine to our lives.  Next post- pictures!