Nine Months!

Only a year ago I remember thinking how time was crawling by and that I had been pregnant for at least a year already (reality: 7 months) . . . and now we have a walking ("walking"), talking (babbling), bright, beautiful and hilarious little nine-month-old, and time is just zipping by.

We brought Sydney to another pumpkin patch, and we nearly fell over laughing watching her eyes grow big when she saw all the pumpkins. She loved it! She actually just loves being outside in general, but she had so much fun climbing all over the pumpkins and walking around them. I didn't realize when we got pregnant, but this is such a fun age for the best time of the year.

So many pumpkins, so little time.

Sydney turned nine months old last week and had her nine month wellness checkup. I was anxious to see what her stats were because I felt all we had been doing since her last checkup at six months was feed her (at the request of her pediatrician). Baby girl must have a high metabolism, though, because she's still kind of a peanut -- height is 27.25" (36%), weight is 16 lbs, 5 oz (22%) and head circumference is 42.4 cm (14% -- which I feel just can't be right). Although she still has a heart murmur (the cardiologist said she might not grow out of it until she's two), Sydney seemed to be in perfect health, and she took her shots and a toe prick like a boss.

Those chubby thighs. I DIE!

At nine months, Sydney is...

• Smiling, waving, clapping, talking and babbling up a storm -- she says hi and mama pretty regularly, which makes my heart melt every. single. time.
• Crawling everywhere and pulling herself up to stand on anything she can even when it's not the most stable (hello, bumps and bruises).
• Standing on her own for a few seconds at a time and loves walking with assistance (I think it'll still be a while before she actually takes her first steps).
• Quickly picking up sign language and can sign "more" and "please."
• Still in size 2 diapers but is now officially in 6 and 6-12 month clothes. Big girl!
• Slowly but surely becoming a daddy's girl. Jordan can make her smile and giggle like no one else, and their growing bond with each other is the absolute sweetest thing.
• A total pancake monster. She LOVES pancakes. She also loves grapes, cheese, apples, crackers, bananas, mac & cheese, sweet potatoes, chicken...girl is a tiny human garbage disposal.
• Loving story time but starts to get bored 3/4 of the way through a book and wants to 'read' it herself.
• Extremely observant. She's very curious about everything and diligently watches people. Stares actually...it's a little awkward at times.
• Hilarious. She is constantly cracking me and Jordan up, especially with her latest gig -- showing people she's "soooooo big!"
• A total lovebug. Sydney loves being held and cuddled and seems to be really sociable so far.

Pink + Gold Headband (sold out, similar) // Sweatshirt Dress // Jeggings // Pink Moccasin Boots

Sydney is SOOOOO big! 

Happy nine months, sweetheart. We love you more than you'll ever know, and we're having so much fun experiencing holidays through your sweet green-hazel eyes! If you think you're having fun now, just wait until Christmas. :-)

Hope everyone is having a great week!

xo

6 months!

Six months. Really?? Half of me is so excited because watching Sydney grow, learn and develop every day is so rewarding, and as cliche and corny as it sounds, it really is fun to view the world through her eyes. And the other half of me is so sad because omg, where did my tiny baby go??

Actually, our tiny baby is still right here. Syd had her six month checkup last Thursday, and she's a PEANUT. Her measurements are:

• Height: 22.25" (height percentile: 22%)
• Weight: 15 lbs, 0.08 oz (weight percentile: 28%)
• Head circumference: 41.4 cm (head percentile: 25%)

Our pediatrician said she's perfectly healthy, though, and she may just be a smaller baby. While that's all fine and dandy, Sydney's feet have barely grown since she was born - c'mon, kid! You have a closet full of shoes just waiting to be worn! ;-)

Sydney received four more shots of vaccinations, and she took them like a champ. She didn't cry until the last shot, and she only cried for a few minutes. Proud mama? You bet your ass I am.

At six months, Sydney...

• Still eats 5-6 times per day (bottles or breastfed), but is now getting solids twice a day as well
• Prefers to hold her own bottle (also prefers to hold her own spoon, but that ain't happening anytime soon)
• Loves sitting in front of the mirror
• Is starting to wave a little more and even 'high five' at times
• Says "mama" and is actually starting to know what it means(!!!! heart. explosion.)
• Has gotten two teeth! Her bottom two teeth have cut through, and--knock on wood--her teething wasn't bad at all.
• Is desperately trying to army crawl...except that her arms can't really lift her belly quite yet
• Finally wears size 2 diapers like a big girl
• Still wears some 3 month clothes, but for the most part is in 3-6 and 6 month now
• Is still bald but has amazing lashes
• Receives about one million kisses each day from mommy and daddy
• Currently has pink eye (PERFECT)

My sweet baby, I cannot believe you've already been here for half a year. You and your father are the absolute loves of my life, and every single day I fall more in love with you, your little sounds, your giggles and even your shrieks (your dirty diapers I could do without). You are already so smart, and I can't wait to see what you get into next (like the box of Kleenex I see you've started manhandling). I love you so much, little girl!! Happy half-birthday, Sydney!

5 Months

Little Miss Sunshine is now five months old and loving life more than ever. She's constantly on the go and is such a happy little baby.

Sydney probably had the best day of her life on her five month birthday. Usually Syd wears a furry sleep sack at night, but she had fallen asleep without it the night before and I couldn't bear to wake her up just to put it on - so she went sans fur coat for the night and evidently partied like a tiny rock star because she rolled around and twisted all night in her crib.

I, on the other hand, barely slept a wink out of fear she'd suffocate. It didn't help that when I was about to go to bed and realized she had rolled over and was sleeping on her tummy, I immediately googled to see if she'd be okay and proceeded to read tons of horror stories about babies suddenly dying - WHY did I do that to myself?!

Anyway, because Syd can roll over both ways, she was totally fine and woke up with her usual happy cooing. I fed her, took some five month pics, and then away we went to the pool!

Wake up, Daddy!!

This frickin' kid...we love you, T!!

Talon practicing his big brother skills out

Talon grabbed Sydney's hand while we were watching a movie...I can't even.

At five months, Sydney...

• Is eating 5-6 times a day, including "solids" at dinnertime
• Loves eating solids and has tried mangos, prunes, carrots and butternut squash, along with rice cereal and oatmeal pre-mixed with bananas
• Sleeps throughout the night (has been since about 2.5 months)
• Sits up on her own(!!)
• Can hold her bottle while eating but is smart enough to know she doesn't have to
• Rolls around like a boss
• Can WAVE! Yes, wave! She doesn't do it often, but if she's alert and has a full tummy, she'll start to mimic you waving (with her hand facing her, of course)
• Is starting to say "mama," and in my own delusions believe she knows it means me
• Is also starting to get a little separation anxiety from Mama...eek!
• Laughs (a lot!)
• Loves peek-a-boo and small stuffed animals
• Is still wearing 0-3 and 3 month clothes...but over the past weekend, we have started to transition her to all 3-6 month clothes

Sydney Belle, I can't believe you're already five months (five-and-a-half now, I guess) old! You are the light of our lives, and we love you more than you could ever know. Happy birthday, sweetheart!

4 Months

Our little doll turned four months old on May 28th. WHERE is time going?

I love our pediatrician. He's so great -- really personable and friendly, but what I love most is he has a sense of urgency like Britney Spears eating Cheetohs. He rarely keeps us waiting, and he's very efficient and swift. And an added bonus is he doesn't talk in an annoying baby voice to Sydney like his doctor partner does, who speaks baby talk exclusively.

Sydney's four month checkup went well. She weighed 13 lbs and 9.4 oz, which put her in the 37th percentile for weight, and she was either 24 or 25 inches long, which either put her in the 41st or 52nd percentile for height (both numbers are written down on our sheet). And her little nugget head was 39.9 cm, which put her in the 30th percentile. So, we've got ourselves a little peanut.

Syd took her shots like a champ and only cried for about a minute, which was partially because she fell asleep after her checkup (and before her shots) while her pediatrician and I were talking, so she was sad and mad that I woke her up to get nailed by a needle four times (poor little bug).

Something I never mentioned at her two month checkup was Sydney's heart murmur. Our pediatrician found a slight murmur but said he wanted to wait for her four month checkup to see if it went away on its own because he didn't think it sounded bad enough to get it checked out right away. So we waited, and unfortunately Sydney didn't grow out of it, and it was still there, clear as day. He recommended we take her to a pediatric cardiologist, so away we went to get her checked out.

Too early, Mama

Sydney got an EKG and while we were waiting for her results, she was laying on her back happily cooing and suddenly rolled over! She had rolled from her tummy to her back before but never back to front, so this was hilarious to suddenly see. I clearly wasn't prepared, so this is the only picture I got from it, haha.

Results of her EKG showed that while Sydney did still have a murmur, it was a stills murmur, which means it's innocent enough to just let it be and she'll most likely grow out of it - so, a little unsettling but I trust they know what they're talking about. (They may have went to school for years on this.) Sydney did so well throughout the entire appointment, though, and I was so proud of her for being such a brave little babe.

Happy four month birthday, sweet girl. We love you SO much!!!!

Updates

Summer is finally here, which means my diet now consists of avocados on top of avocados on top of Doritos. I LOVE avocados (and, separately, Doritos). I could be the third competing female in that Subway avocado commercial (if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to click here NOW). The irony that is my life is I'm allergic to avocados. My mouth gets really itchy and depending on how much I've had starts to kind of swell---but whatever because those are small prices to pay for that subtle yet complex flavor of summer. And last summer, in the midst of my pregnancy cravings, I created the best avocado summer salad EVER.

Or not because I soon learned it's actually a super common recipe, lol. Of course---I watch a few episodes of MasterChef and suddenly I think I'm the next Gordon Ramsey. To be fair to myself, I only started like avocados about a year ago, so I'm a little new to the scene. Here's my 'recipe' for this simple yet delicious salad. (I feel I'm offending you even typing out these 'directions.')

INGREDIENTS

1. avocado
2. cherry tomatoes
3. feta cheese
4. salt & pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Slice avocado into cubes.
2. Halve or quarter cherry tomatoes.
3. Mix together with feta cheese crumbles.
4. Sprinkle with salt & pepper.
5. Add some balsamic vinegar if you want to get crazy (YOLO).

I mean, I'm probably going to start my own food blog soon.

And if my food blogging career doesn't take off, it's okay because I got a new job to fall back on! Kind of. Returning to work after maternity leave was a little weird, and knowing I was going to have to tell my director and CEO I wouldn't be able to travel anymore didn't make it any easier. With Jordan's new job, he has been traveling much more than either him or I expected, which meant someone (Mommy) needed to be home with Sydney. (Did I discuss this? Last December Jordan left his employer after nearly 11 years for a senior sales position with a competitor. ELEVEN YEARS! He's like a martian.) Anyway, I'm absolutely the most awkward person when it comes to life these kinds of conversations at work, so I was incredibly nervous because I knew what a tough position I was about to put both my superiors in, and I hate letting people down. Plus, I was devastated. My company is actually fairly small at headquarters - we have a rather large system (over 250 franchisees with over 600 open and operating units worldwide), but we're a small corporate office, which translates to small budgets, and I knew they wouldn't be able to keep me on staff in addition to hiring someone to open retail locations and do site visits across the US. I loved the company, I loved my boss, I loved my co-workers, I loved our CEO... Was I really willing to give up a co-worker that brings flowers to all the women in the office just because? A boss who bought Sydney's coming home outfit from the hospital? A CEO that delivered delicious fried cheese curds to my desk while I was pregnant? A receptionist who manually picks out all the pink Starbursts in the candy dish just for me?!?

But I had to. Simply put, Jordan's job is more important than mine was, so I finally grew a pair and had the difficult conversation. And I cried. Cried talking to my boss about it, cried again talking to our CEO about it, cried again during our follow-up meeting. I'm like the poster child for the complete opposite of the empowered working woman.

But you know what? Shame on me for not realizing how truly wonderful my company is because their reactions were so amazing (which perpetuated the crying for sure). They were really disappointed to let me go but so incredibly supportive and understanding -- and even told me they wanted to do everything they could to keep me, which was flattering and felt so good to know I was so valued. They asked if I'd be open to doing consulting work on a contractual basis, which I had never even considered that to be an option. I took some time to weigh my options and ultimately decided it could be an awesome opportunity, so here I am, all self-employed and loving it. The best part is that I'm able to create my own schedule and work in my own environment; the flexibility it's afforded me has been a dream!

Anyway, shortly after my meltdown at the office it was Mother's Day, and I was premature in thinking it was summer because this happened. All damn day, and all day the next day.

Mother's Day in Colorado was a blustery, cold and snowy day, but I actually couldn't have been happier because it gave us the excuse to do exactly what I wanted without feeling guilty: curl up on the couch and soak in all the baby snuggles that I could get. The day started off like your typical Mother's Day...with a Mexican birthday present.

Jordan and Sydney took me to my favorite breakfast establishment, Snooze, and I got to bundle my little bear up in her tiny little winter clothes for the last time. My little doll.

We spent the rest of the day cuddling and playing inside and staying warm. It was absolutely perfect. Gracias to my sweet husband and my sweet baby for making my first Mother's Day so wonderful!!

All for now, clearly way more to come, but enjoy these pictures.

Bossing me around while I organized and cleaned her closet

Back at the pediatrician's office...ugh

Couldn't bear to bring her back to daycare, so she came with to the office :)

And she was so good!

My sweet husband