Kyla - 15 months

I blinked, and suddenly I realized I have a 15 month old on my hands!  She is so much fun to be around these days.  It seems like every day, she is catching on to more things and growing up way, way too fast.

SLEEP

Kyla has turned into a great sleeper.  Currently, she goes to bed around 8:00 and sleeps uninterrupted until about 8:00 am.  She is trying to decide if she can survive on one nap now instead of two, so she is typically going down for a nap around 1:00 if she can last that long.  Usually if we are out doing something, she does ok without a morning nap, but if we are at home, she will sometimes still want to go down in the morning for a long nap and then possibly a short nap around 4:00.  All I know is I'm so happy that she doesn't fight sleep!

FOOD

Kyla is eating everything!  Minus vegetables, of course.  I still give her the little veggie or fruit pouches so she will at least get SOME form of veggie in a day.  She loves most fruit, crackers, cheese, peanut butter and jelly, and macaroni and cheese.  She will give most things a try.  Of course, some days she is a picky eater.  But what toddler isn't?

LIKES

She is loving COOKIE!!! He even lets her pet him sometimes.

She loves Daniel Tiger, Micky Mouse Clubhouse, and most things animated.

She really enjoys pulling food out of the pantry and bringing it to me.  So helpful.

Recently, she likes to bring me the iPad and have me put on a video for her.

Her favorite toys are the picnic basket, kitchen toys, books, the V-Tech walker, and a cookie jar.

VERBAL

Kyla is talking up a storm these days.  Granted it's her own personal language that not many people completely understand, but hey!  She is totally into "mimicking" any sound she hears including sneezing, burping, barking, etc.  Her Daddy thinks its funny that she is starting to copy him burping.  Mommy, not so much.  As far as English words go, she says hi, no, Mama, Dada, Cookie (sounds more like Coo-coo) and that's about it. 

DEVELOPMENTAL

Kyla started walking around 13.5 months and has been on the go ever since.  For about two weeks, she would just take a few steps if I stood a foot or two away from her.  But then one day, she figured out how to stand up from sitting on the ground and she just took off!  She is starting to show interest in using a fork and spoon.  She loves to fake "eat" with all her little kitchen toys.  She loves to dance and clap when she hears music come on.  She thinks Cookie is AWESOME and loves going to wake him up every morning.  She knows how to point to her nose and tummy if you ask "Where's your nose?  Where's your tummy?"  She blows kisses when asked.  She waves hi and bye bye (sometimes). 

SICKNESS

The week of Thanksgiving, Kyla came down with a virus.  She ran a high fever (103 ish) for about three days so I took her to the doctor.  They did a throat culture and test for a UTI along with checking everything else like throat and ears and nothing came back wrong.  The fever broke about the fourth day and then she developed sores in her mouth and on her chin.  The poor kid wouldn't eat more than a bite of food a day for an entire week.  For a couple days there, I got worried because she would barely even drink her milk.  I was concerned she would become dehydrated.  But eventually the sores cleared up enough that she would eat a few more bites.  And just now, she is back to normal and eating a whole pancake or two for breakfast.  I have to say that was the most helpless feeling as a Mom.  I had a couple breakdowns because I just felt so bad for her!

Kyla is wearing size 4 diapers and 18 month clothes.

Baby #2 - 11 Weeks

Who's ready for another round of pregnancy updates??

We are so excited to announce that we are expecting Baby Focht #2 around June 22, 2015.

Don't worry, Kyla!  You are going to get a baby brother or sister to play with soon!

Let's catch up from the beginning...

On October 13, I took a home pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE!

Matt was actually home that night (surprise, because he has been working crazy hours this time of year) and I just couldn't contain my excitement.  I told him right away.  "So...do you think it's a boy or a girl?"  To which he said something along the lines of...well you have to be pregnant first!  To which I replied, I AM!!! Go look at the test!

Leading up to this point....I had only had three periods since having Kyla.  I weaned her at 13 months and BAM - got pregnant that month!  It was pretty exciting because I didn't really know if we would have difficulty getting pregnant again with having one less ovary now, but the doctor is right.  One ovary is just as good as two.

My first doctor's appointment would not be until I was 10 weeks.  So I basically had to wait until my pregnancy symptoms kicked in (and boy did they!) until I truly believed I was pregnant.

Weeks 4 and 5 - I felt AWESOME!  No sickness, no aversions, not really that tired yet either.  I truly cherished those weeks because I knew if this pregnancy was anything like the last one, I would be feeling it at about 6 weeks.

Weeks 6, 7, 8, and 9 - MORNING SICKNESS!!!! They should really call it all day sickness.  The first few days weren't horrible, but the further along I got, the less food I could keep down.  At one point around week 9, I was throwing up almost the entire weekend.  I think I might have had a touch of food poisoning or the flu because it was just bad.  During these weeks, I laid on the couch a lot.  Kyla is very well acquainted with Daniel Tiger now.  Many days I just laid on the couch with my puke bucket and tried to eat some crackers and drink ginger ale.  And then one day....it all just disappeared!

Week 10 - Thanksgiving

As soon as I hit 10 weeks, I felt like a new woman.  I wasn't even throwing up when I first got up nor was I having any types of aversions.  It was awesome!  I still don't know if I'm in the clear yet as I just had some morning sickness today, but man that week of feeling great was just what I needed.

Week 11 - Currently....

I am sleeping great!  Not even getting up to go to the bathroom yet.

I'm not really having any cravings right now.

I have some energy back!

No symptoms really other than the occassional wave of nausea.

November 26 - First Dr. Appointment

I saw Kat, one of the midwives.  She was older and very sweet.

I had a breast exam, pelvic exam, pap, checked the heartbeat, etc.

I will also need to go to a lab for blood work sometime soon.

Easy appointment.  Next time (December 29) they plan to do an ultrasound to make sure my ovary is looking good.

Kyla's ONE Year Update

On August 19, 2013, my baby girl entered this world at 9 lbs 2 oz and 21 3/4 inches tall.  It was one of the happiest days of my life.  I became a mother that day.  And for the past year, I have truly enjoyed the new title.  Sometimes, I still can't believe that someone calls me "Mama".  Let's look at how much my baby has grown!

This month:

-20 lbs 10 oz, 30.5 inches

-3 shots and blood draw at 1 year check up

-Trying to stand without help

-Crawling around looking for me and saying "mamama"

-Saying mama, dada, cheese, yeah, and hi

-Opening cabinets and drawers - uh oh!

-Getting very excited when she sees Cookie

-Throwing temper tantrums when getting in the car

-Drinking whole milk!  We introduced it at 11 months by replacing her two post-nap nursing sessions with a 5 ounce bottle of whole milk.  She loves it!  Now we are working on being happy after a nap by having a snack and drinking milk from a sippy cup.

-Just nursing first thing in the morning and right before bed

-Sleeping great! She goes to bed between 7:30-8:30 and sleeps til 6:30 or so.  Nurses, then usually up for the day by 8 or so.

-Still taking 2 great naps a day.  10:30 and 3:30 for 1-2 hours each.  Occasionally, she only gets one nap and does ok.  She will be ready for bed extra early on those days.

-Loves books! Daddy spent a lot of nights reading to her this month for the Summer Reading Program at church.

-Shows interest in music by "dancing".  Just moves back and forth.

Photo monthly progression.  I am so happy I kept up with this each month.

Kyla's FIRST birthday party was awesome!  We had the party on Saturday, August 16 at 1:00 pm at our house.  It was a joint party with Lily Adams because they were born on the same day.  We had a watermelon pink/green theme and we had about 30 people show up.  Kyla got lots of new books, clothes, and toys from all her friends.

All Kyla's presents!

Buddies playing with a balloon

The proud Mamas!

Posing in their tutus

The smash cake table

Chalkboard sign that Matt created for both of the girls

It was hard picking out 20 pictures of a year full of cuteness!

Family photo!

More pictures on display...

Crawling away from the photo shoot.

The beautiful food table

Kyla's cake "smash"

11 Months

Here we are at 11 months.  Matt and I were just talking about this...how is it possible that she just went from being able to sit up by herself to crawling all over the place?  Our baby is growing up and soon enough, she will be walking on her own.  That blows my mind.  We are now in full on preparation mode for her FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!

Here is our typical schedule.

7:00 wake up, nurse

8-10:30 play out in the sun room with her walker, blocks, and box of toys

9:30 breakfast - either oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, yogurt, fruit, anything really.  She even likes eggs now!

10:30 morning nap

12:30 wake up and nurse

1:00 lunch - cheese, squeezable baby food packet, Cheerios, grilled cheese, grapes, strawberries, peas, about anything really

3:30 afternoon nap

4:30 wake up and nurse

6:00 supper - bites of whatever we are eating

7:30 bedtime routine begins. Dad reads her stories while she nurses

8:00 in her crib asleep

Current weight: 20 lbs

Diapers: size 3, but starting to have leaks so I think its time to go to size 4

Clothes:  all size 12 months now.  She had a ton of 9 month summer clothes that she is now outgrowing, so I had to make a trip to Once Upon a Child to get her some new outfits.

Skills:  Crawling all over the house like crazy.  Pulling up on everything.  Says dada, mama, hi, cook (for Cookie!)  Speaking of Cookie, Kyla's favorite game is to play with Cookie's squeaky toy.  It is so cute to see them play together.  So far, he is tolerating her pretty well.  

She can clap, wave, play peek a boo, open cabinets, hand me things, and mimic noises.

We are working on moving her up to a bigger car seat now.  She is just getting too big for her little bucket seat, and we never actually get it out of the car to carry her somewhere.  Too heavy for that!

I just wanted to document this as well so when I look back, I can remember.  This month, Kyla is more likely to be comforted by rocking instead of nursing.  For some reason, this makes me so happy.  I absolutely love rocking her while she lays her head on my chest.  The bad thing is lately I have been getting up to rock her if she wakes up at 5:45 instead of just letting her cry.  Now that she's older, her cry is not just a whimper.  It is a full on scream and I absolutely hate listening to that.  

Sickness:  This month Kyla caught a cold.  I think it was probably from being in the nursery at church because when I dropped her off, two other babies had runny noses.  She also had hand, foot, and mouth disease.  She ran a low fever and was extremely irritable for two days, then the third day she broke out in a rash of red bumps on her feet, hands, legs, and bottom.  It looked horrible, but she didn't seem to be too bothered  by it now.  The nurse said it usually lasts about 10 days and there's no treatment for it.  I know that she got it from another baby at church because he just got over it.  Apparently its highly contagious among children.  

See you next month for the big ONE year update!

10 Months

I just realized I never posted a 10 month update!! 

Kyla has really made some cognitive leaps and bounds this month.

She can now...

crawl

pull up, usually just to her knees

play peek-a-boo

mimic sounds like "sss", gasping for air, and lip smacking sounds

wave

She is in a size 3 diaper and size 12 clothes.

Kyla is eating like a champ.  She is becoming more cautious about trying new things and wants to pick up everything herself to put it in her mouth.  She is doing great at drinking from a sippy cup now.  We are still nursing usually 4 times a day and having 3 meals of baby food or little bites of whatever I am having.  Puffs are still her favorite snack. She is taking two naps a day, each lasting about an hour.  She goes to bed around 8:00 and wakes up at 6:45.  (Sometimes she goes back to sleep for a little bit but more so these days, she wants to be up for the day.  Yikes!)

She is learning so much right now!  Recently, we went on vacation to Arizona and it seems like she has learned so much just in the past couple weeks.  Nana would "talk" to Kyla in the backseat as we drove around on vacation.  I think that's where Kyla's new skills started...

I was quite surprised to walk in Kyla's room after a nap to see her STANDING UP in her crib!! It was so cute the first couple times, but she had a rough time adjusting to her new skill as she would not want to lay down for naps or bedtime.  Instead, she would stand up over and over again until I left her in there to figure out how to get down by herself.  (Not sure how she did it, probably just fell down when she got too tired...)  Now that the novelty has worn off, she will go down for a nap but still cries more than usual.  It's so funny all the little phases babies go through...

9 Months

Time for Kyla's 9 month update!

New skills:

biting (now has 2 upper front teeth that came in this month)

pulling up to knees

standing 

saying Dada

eating all kinds of new food

sleeping through the night

drinking more from a sippy cup

feeding herself

having her teeth brushed

sitting by herself on toys

first cold

Eating:

Breakfast: half a banana, a quarter of a waffle, bits of pancakes, etc.

Lunch: 1 jar of Beech Nut baby food.  We've tried all kinds and she likes everything except squash.

Dinner:  Bites of whatever we are eating and/or applesauce

She still snacks on puffs and I give her a sippy cup of water to go with all her meals.

She is still nursing when she wakes up, after each nap, and right before bed.

Sleeping:

Up for the day at 8

Nap at 11

Nap at 3

Down for the night at 8:30

She sticks to this schedule pretty consistently these days unless we are out and about.  

Wearing:

Size 3 diapers and size 9-12 month clothes

Favorite toys:

Still loves the little blue Bear laptop

Pulling all her little toys out of a basket and throwing them on the floor

Dumping out blocks from a tub

Walking backwards in the walker

Still loves the exersaucer

Anything crunchy like the wipes container, water bottles, etc.

Nana and Pop came to visit for Easter!

Sitting up on the rocking horse

Playing with her favorite friend...

This was a great month for Mom and Dad because Kyla finally started consistently sleeping through the night at about 8 1/2 months.  It was the moment we've been waiting for.  I still can't believe its happening, but she goes to bed around 8:30 and sleeps until Dad gets up around 6:45.  Then she nurses and sleeps with me until about 8 most days.  It is so so nice.  I love that she can finally go back to sleep when she wakes up during the night, and I also love our cuddle time in the early morning.  

Practicing sleeping through the night

Sleeping angel

I don't feel like there's a whole lot to update on this month.  She is still not really interested in crawling yet.  We spend lots of time playing on the floor while she's on her tummy every day.  If I put her on all fours, she will rock back and forth a bit, then crash onto her belly and whine most of the time.  We are working on it, but I've been told that I need to enjoy this time before she's mobile so that's what I'm trying to do.

One of my favorite pics this month. Just love that smile!

She loves being outside.  Now that the worst winter of all time is finally over, we spend lots of time going to the park, sitting out in the grass with toys, and playing in the sun room.  Nana even gave Kyla a little pool to use this summer so we are looking forward to the hot days.  Mama might need a bigger pool so she can enjoy the water too...

Swinging at the park

Testing out the grass

She thinks stroller rides are so relaxing!

Love that hat! She could sit out in the yard for hours, watching Cookie play.

9 Month stats from doctor appointment coming soon along with 9 month photo shoot!

8 Months

8 Months Old!

Kyla is bubbling with personality now, and I must say there is nothing in the world sweeter than listening to a baby's laugh.

She thinks Cookie is hilarious and laughs if she even sees him walk by.

She is loving ALL kinds of food! We typically give her a little sample of whatever we eat and she loves it.  

Schedule:

8:00 Wake up, nurse

9:00 Breakfast of half a banana

11:00 Morning nap

12:00 Nurse, play

1:00 Lunch of a jar of stage 2 baby food, usually a fruit or veggie

3:00 Afternoon nap

4:00 Nurse, play

6:00 Small nap, usually 30 minutes if she will even go down

7:00 Oatmeal

8:00 Bedtime routine-nurse, story, song, night night!

Still waking up 1-2 x a night to be re-settled in her crib and one early morning feeding around 5.

The "fun" thing about babies is as soon as you get them on a good schedule, you decide to go somewhere for the day or have the grandparents over for the weekend and the whole schedule goes out the window.  I'm sure it's very confusing to a baby.

Another "fun" thing we experienced this month was Kyla's first real cold.  She had a cough, snotty nose, and fever.  For about a week, she did not sleep well at night and she was quite cranky during the day.  I'm so glad she is not in daycare because I don't think I could handle her getting sick too often.  

Kyla is wearing size 9-12 month clothes.

Still in size 3 diapers.

Kyla has 2 teeth breaking through on the top in front.

She can sit up great.

She does not have any interest in crawling.

She can stand while holding onto a short table or toy.

She "tries" to pull up on things but is not quite strong enough yet.

She can walk backwards in her walker.

She can pick up food in her hand, but does not get it into her mouth yet.

She drinks a very small amount of water out of a sippy cup.

She goes to the nursery for Sunday school and church.

She loves her Mama.

We use puffs to keep her happy when we're out in public and she starts to get fussy.

Those things are magical.

She notices and plays with her Seahorse lullaby toy in her crib.

  She cries if she drops a toy she's playing with.

She hates wearing sunglasses.

She is starting to get chubby belly and legs.

As for me, this month I gave up pumping.  I noticed that she was still hungry in the morning after eating on one side so I had to start offering both which left nothing to pump.  I have quite a bit of milk stored in the freezer so I am just using that if I need to leave a bottle with a babysitter or in the nursery at church.  I will also use milk to make her oatmeal.  I've also been working out consistently and eating healthier, which has finally gotten me down to my pre-pregnancy weight.