5 month-old!

Yes, it feels odd to say so, but I now have a 5 month-old! It is hard to believe that she is already almost half a year old! Lately she has really been giving us a run for our money. We are still working out the sleep stuff. I know that many of you have children who didn't sleep through the night very early and still may not! I was blessed (I thought) that MY child would sleep from 7:15 pm to 7:15 AM with little fuss. About a month ago, she started waking up at about 3 AM. She almost always went back to sleep within 5-10 mins. Lately it has been around 6 ish! I know I am complaining, but when I already had it so good, why did it have to change! I am too crabby at 6 ish! I would be fine if she would wait just one more hour or so! I know Sandra can understand my point on this because she is not a morning person either! This morning I even had the added joy of a dirty diaper to clean! To top it off, most of the time her naps are only about 25 mins. long during the day. She takes three at least, but that is just not long enough. I know I mentioned a lot of this in the last post, so I will quit beating a dead horse and get on to the fun stuff!

Yep, a 5 month-old. She has grown so much! I know that if you are viewing this blog, you have likely kept up with it pretty regularly. Well, she is getting so big. I thought I would post a picture of her when she was newborn and compare it to her 5 month picture. In her five month picture she is wearing an outfit that her Papa Hutchins got her. Doesn't she look cute?

Also, I thought I would include a few more pictures. One is of her playing with her favorite toy which is a cloth book that has the crinkle paper in it. We looked up and she had her hands to her side with the book covering her face! We also have recently discovered that she fits in the Jeep carrier a whole lot better.

I hope you enjoy! We hope that all of you are well.

In Him,

Lacie, Stephen and Jesstine

P.S. Here is a link to the video I promised. It really doesn't do the moment justice. I guess you would have had to have been there! Maybe you will enjoy it a little bit. You can certainly tell that Ian LOVES Jesstine! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT_FGVi8tBk

1 week and 2 days-old.

5 months old

Reading through osmosis!

Super Daddy!

Eat, Sleep,....Shake it!

We have had a fun week this week with our little one. She is growing so much each day. We are at that point where a lot of her clothes are really getting tight and she still has a month before she is technically 6 months old! Her cheeks would give you an idea of the size of her belly and her thighs!

So, about the title. I have asked many people about food (hence the last post) and sleep lately. We think we have found a solution to the food that suites us and her pretty well. We just feed her a couple of tbsp. at night with formula in it. Then we give her whatever she wants from a bottle. Then it is off to a bath. After her bath we get her ready for bed. Sometimes she wants more to eat (that has been a comfort thing for her for a long time now). One night she had 2 tbsp. of cereal followed by a 5 oz. bottle at around 6. At 6:30 she had her bath as usual. Then when we got her ready for bed she was really fussy. We got her a bottle of 2 oz. and she sucked it down! So, I got her three more (in case two wasn't enough) and she sucked it down. She seemed happy after that! With in two hours she basically had 2 tbsp. of rice cereal and 10 oz. of formula!!! Amazing!

I have also been trying to get her to sleep longer in the afternoon. She is getting to where she will be awake for two hours then take anywhere from a 20 min. to an hour nap. Most of the time it is about 40 mins. It is a continuous cycle of this usually. I know she is right on the edge of being able to sleep longer. Sometimes in the afternoon she will sleep for two hours or a little more. It isn't consistent yet and Mommy is ready for a break in the afternoons! 40 mins. doesn't leave time to get much done or a nap in myself! So, I have asked around to see what others did when their kids were this age. I have lately started a Noon nap. No matter how long she has been up, I put her down right at Noon each day. This should work for when she stays with Grandmom during the week as well. It has only been a few days, so I will let you know how that goes!

Also along the lines of sleep, she is moving more! I think it is time to retire the sleep positioner! You can tell by the pictures below. I also couldn't help but take a picture today as her beloved Seamoore was resting on her belly when I went in to check on her!

The last clip is a video of her with the stocking stuffer she got! These things are amazing. As many of you know, they just don't make practical rattles that are easy for babies to maneuver! Being a music teacher, I knew I had seen these tiny maracas that were simply an egg shaker with a handle! They are the perfect size and weight for little hands. So, I did some research and got some. They were her stocking stuffer this year and as you can see she LOVES them! She will sit and do this for a min. or two straight! If you are interested in them, the brand is Latin Percussion. I think that you can find them online by doing a search for Chickitas (that is what they are called instead of maracas). Sorry there is no sound! I have a video function on my digital camera, but it doesn't have sound with it. It was much easier than getting the video camera out. Much easier to post as well! Maybe Grandmom can video her with her camera (hint, hint). Enjoy! (For you music teacher friends that follow this: She already knows rest position!)

Having fun in the excersaucer!

Humm, that isn't how I left you!


A toy well loved!

Shake, Shake, Shake! Shake, Shake, Shake! Shake your chickita!

In Him,

Lacie, Stephen and Jesstine

Solid Foods

Okay, so this goes out to all of the people who read my blog and have experience raising children. I will certainly check with Jesstine's doctor to be sure, but thought I would see if her followers would be my sounding board in the meantime. Here it goes:

I started Jesstine on Rice cereal almost two weeks ago. At first she would only eat a few teaspoons and didn't seem interested. She is up to where she will eat up to three tablespoons! I was feeding her in the morning first thing and then at night before bed. She just seemed that hungry. Before introducing rice cereal, she would be hungry again just an hour after her morning bottle. At first she drank the same amount of formula for the day (with one feeding of rice cereal for the day). Lately (the last three days), we are doing good if she will eat 5 ounces and that only happens for about one bottle a day! The rest are anywhere from 3-4. Before rice cereal she was eating 6 ounces and was ready to move to 7. Should I be worried that she isn't eating as much formula? Is this just a normal thing when they start to eat solid food? I am going to back off to one feeding a day, probably at night, and see if that makes any difference. Like I said, I will also call her doctor on Monday, but wanted to see what you all had to say about it in the meantime.

Please post a comment if you can remember what it was like for your own children. It may be too specific to remember.

Thanks!
Lacie, Stephen and Jesstine Hutchins