Growing Up SOOOO Fast

My sweet little girl is growing up so fast, it is hard to imagine that she is already 4 1/2 months old. She is doing so many different things now. She absolutely loves to jump around in her jumper (thanks again Angela for passing this down to us). She has rolled over from her back to her front. She is reaching for things and gaining a lot of control over her arm movements. She can successfully put her pacifier in her mouth and leave it there. Mary-Brenna has a favorite toy right now, it is her little giraffe, Sophie, that her Great Gran gave her for Christmas. This giraffe goes everywhere with us. Mary-Brenna is also drooling a ton! She can polish off at least 6 bibs in the course of a day with how much she is drooling. We went to see her pediatrician yesterday and she said that Mary-Brenna's gums looked like they were getting swollen. I am afraid that it looks like teeth are on their way soon. Mary-Brenna is still sleeping really well (thank you baby girl), and she can always make me smile. She laughs all the time and has a great smile that she loves to share. Mary-Brenna has started to chatter a whole bunch. We have decided that we aren't going to sit in the downstairs service with her at church because she would try and compete with our pastor. Very cute but not all that great when you are trying to listen to the sermon. I love seeing all these changes in her, it is a whole lot of fun to see what she will do next.

Mary-Brenna and Sophie

Two weeks ago, we had Mary-Brenna's 4 month well baby visit and vaccinations. On that visit my sweet baby girl had to get poked, but she was a trooper! We also learned that she dropped from the 70th percentile in weight to the 40th percentile. Her pediatrician really wanted to nip that in the bud and see if we could get her gain some more weight. On that visit she weighed in at 13 pounds 5 ounces. In these past two weeks I have been taking Fenugreek, and herbal supplement to help increase my milk supply. We have also been giving Mary-Brenna some supplemental formula for when I can't give her enough. She has been having anywhere from 4-10 extra ounces of formula a day. Her pediatrician didn't want us to add in any solid food yet due to the fact that Mary-Brenna has a few eczema patches. Apparently starting solid foods to early when they are showing signs of eczema can have children develop food allergies that they otherwise would not get.

Mary-Brenna in the bonnet that Marie gave her!

So we went back to the pediatrician to have her weighed in again and see how she was doing. My sweet baby girl weighed in at 14 pounds 8 ounces! She gained 1 pound and 3 ounces in two weeks! I was amazed, I knew she had been feeling heavier but I didn't know it was that much! Mary-Brenna's pediatrician told me that the average baby her age gains about 15-25 grams per day. When she broke down what Mary-Brenna gained, it turned out to be around 40 grams per day! My little girl is a growing machine! Her doctor was very happy with this amount of growth and really wants us to keep it up! She will go back in for another check up and another round of shots in the first part of May. I hope she has just as good of a report then as she does now.

Mary-Brenna playing with Reese and Jordan Sande.

Mary-Brenna with Angela, Aiden and Nathan.

Laughing with Papa

Mary-Brenna loves playing with her Papa. Here is a sweet moment of the two of them.

Diapers!

Yeah! The cloth diapers I ordered finally came in today. I didn't realize that they would be coming from Canada! But I am so excited to start cloth diapering with Mary-Brenna. I have been inspired by other moms to give cloth diapering a try, and I love the burden it takes off of my pocket book.

12 diapers and 24 liners

The whole cloth diapering set up that I have, a basket, a dirty diaper bag, disposable liners, special cloth diaper soap and of course the diapers themselves!

Mary-Brenna checking out her new diapers.

A sweet little girl full of smiles!

More posts on cloth diapering to come.

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day everyone! This is Mary-Brenna's first Valentines Day, but no chocolate for her. We have been trying to read to Mary-Brenna as much as possible, so for this Valentines Day, I got Mary-Brenna a Valentines Day book. Slowly but surely I am building up her book collection.


On a another note, here is an update on my sweet Mary-Brenna. She had her first overnight alone with Grandma and Papa. Since Mary-Brenna and I live with my parents, it is odd for me to be out of the house at night. However since I started house sitting for a friend, I wanted to test out the house without Mary-Brenna for one night, so my parents looked after her for me. My dear friend Chrysa came over and we spent a fun night catching up and watching girly movies.


The next morning, Mary-Brenna tried out her new toy, a hand-me-down from her cousins Aiden and Nathan. She is so strong she was able to stand in her new bouncy and have a lot of fun. She is growing up so fast, it is mind blowing!

Please No Teeth Yet!

My sweet dear Mary-Brenna is going to be 3 months this Sunday. She is growing up way too fast for my liking. One thing that has developed recently is that she is drooling a whole lot. She loves to chew on her fingers and her toys and her favorite would have to be either her Grandparents or my knuckles. I just hope that this doesn't mean that she is going to be sprouting teeth any time soon.

In Love with Her Grandparents

Mary-Brenna is totally in love with her Grandparents. She loves to talk to and make faces at both Grandma and Papa. Here are some sweet pictures of her enjoying time with her Grandparents.

2 months old and growing strong

Mary-Brenna is now 2 months old! She is getting so big and is learning to do so much. She is very strong, and can hold her head up. She has found her fingers, and loves to chew on them. This results in a very drooly baby. She is so sweet.

Mary-Brenna had her two month doctors appointment, which meant shots (no fun). She did so well. I was so proud of her little self. She also was weighed and measured during that visit. She is now 11 lbs 10 oz. and 23 inches long. These numbers are around the 70th percentile, which her doctor is really happy about.

My sweet little girl is also a very talkative little girl. She loves to tell Grandma, Papa and I various stories, ranging from very happy to very mad. She is getting better at focusing on different things like faces and toys. She now has a play mat with toys that hang above her. She loves to lay there for a while and check out the different toys we hang above her.

Mary-Brenna wearing Uncle Michael's hat

Mary-Brenna has finally developed a fussy time. She really doesn't like the hours between 9 and 11 at night. My mom has been awesome in wanting to help get Mary-Brenna to sleep at night, but these past few nights Mary-Brenna is having none of it. I feel honored that she wants me, but it is still hard when I am so very tired and she won't settle down for Grandma. The only upside is that when she finally does fall asleep, she stays asleep for at lease 6 hours.

She likes to show us her attitude and we love her even more for it. I am excited to see what this next month brings us! Love you my dear sweet girl!