Happy 5 months, Anna!

We are delighted to see Anna's sweet personality emerging. She is patient and thoughtful and having such fun discovering all that is around her. She is a little more smiley this month and continues to enjoy watching the chaos around here. I think she is ready to be part of the adventure!

Diaper: size 3
Clothing: 6, 9, and 12 months

Likes: tickles, watching fans, bath time
Dislikes: her legs getting tangled up, bottles

Eating: Anna is packing on the pounds! She nurses really well and continues to be terrible with a bottle.

Sleep: Oh my, Anna continues to wake up at night. She wants to eat, but we feel confident she doesn't need the calories and will be working hard to convince her to sleep in the next few weeks. We believe that good sleep is an essential part of good health. Good health for Anna, as well as mom and dad!

Schedule: The norm we are shooting for is very similar to last month.

7:30 First feeding of the day
8:45 Nap
11:00 Wake and nurse
12:15 Nap
2:30 Wake and nurse
3:45 Nap (usually a shorter one)
6:30 Nurse
7:00 Down for bed
9:00-10:00 Nurse and back to bed for the night

Physically: Anna rolls both ways now, though she seems to most often roll to right and will just keep rolling that direction. Josiah worries she will go under the couch! She enjoys being in the jumper, but doesn't like to put much weight on her legs. Her eyes are starting to change. It appears they are moving toward a hazel like Dave's. Anna is a tummy sleeper now and we are hopefully that her bald spot will grow in soon! She had her first sickness, an ear infection, this month and her first round of amoxicillan.

Next appointment: Thursday, December 29, 2016 at 9:30am

Paparazzi! She gets a lot of this.

But we were trying to capture a sweet giggle, so it was worth it.

Medecine. No fun.

Our tiny ballerina on her first Halloween.
(or technically first Fall Fest the night before)

Another first- first time in the jumper!

A good sleep!

My bundled up walking buddy.

She is a good belly sleeper now, but at first would flip over and plant her nose right into the mattress.
It made me nervous!

Four mouth check up means selfies while waiting to see the doctor.

Meeting Uncle T and Aunt Laura Kathryn!!!

love bottoms

and happy smiles

Finding her fingers! We wouldn't mind if she takes a fancy to them.

We ended up in Tuscaloosa at lunchtime on game day . . . Anna represented Southern Miss well. 

Her first time watching the Eagles play! Southern Miss to the top!

Bring On The Season

We have started off cold and flu season with a bang!

This past Thursday I was brought down by a terrible stomach bug. The worst of it lasted about 24 hours and it took a couple of days for me to feel normal again. As I was recovering and Dave taking charge of childcare, Lydia came down with a cold. We fired up the humidifier and didn't think too much of it.

On Sunday I wiped Lydia's mouth with a baby wipe and her chin broke out in a really bad rash. Anna had the cold now too.

Monday is our community day for Sarah's homeschool group. Sarah woke up with a bit of a sore throat, but we forged ahead in good spirits. (This turned out to be basically the worst decision of the week. Maybe the month. Possibly will go down as worst decision of the year.) Around dinner time Josiah started to slow down. He went out to look at the moon and got a chill her couldn't seem to shake. Then he asked to go to bed early. I took a peek at his throat before bed and saw spots- the next day was more than likely going to start with a trip to the doctor.

Sure enough, he was still feeling down Tuesday morning. Sarah also woke up with a fever. So we loaded up and went to town for our pediatrician's walk-in sick clinic. I signed Josiah and Lydia up for appointments since he was clearly sick and Lydia's chin wasn't getting better. (It seems greedy to sign all four up!) Once we were in the exam room, the friendly nurse kept glancing at Sarah and said she thought we should add Sarah to the appointment. When the doctor arrived she started with Josiah because he was the one who looked like he didn't feel good. I was expecting a hand foot mouth diagnosis, so was surprised to hear that she was confident he had strep. Before she did the strep test she looked at Sarah's throat and said she wanted to swab both. Then she moved on to Lydia and quickly gave her the hand foot mouth diagnosis that I was expecting. With high contagious HFM and strep in the family, the doctor asked if she could check Anna too. Gladly! Turned out Anna had an ear infection. Strep swabs both came back positive.

At this point we were a circus, albeit a mostly happy circus, of files, papers, prescriptions, questions, incubation periods, and instructions. The appointment ended with "do you have any other children?" I assured her she had seen the whole team and we would stay away from all other humans for the foreseeable future.

In the days since, Josiah also developed HFM and we have gone through a box of kleenex. It turns out that giving medicine to a baby who doesn't like bottles or a paci is really challenging. Altogether spirits are high. The weather has been beautiful and our isolation period is coming to an end! Dave brought me mums, hand sanitizer, and vitamins- true love at its finest!

Sarah read to him on Monday night. She said,"how about I choose two, you choose two." He said, "how about I choose zero and you choose them all." I knew he wasn't feeling good!

Stickers make everyone happy.

As do diggers. We watched some construction while we waited for prescriptions to be filled. It didn't hurt that they are working next to the Starbucks with the drive-through :)

I asked the doctor if Anna was going to have trouble with her ears since she got an infection so young. She said that the only trouble was that Anna was the fourth child during cold season and to expect that she would get sick more than the others.

Not an easy business.

We might just get pharmacy status at this rate :)

Happy 4 months, Anna!

My dear Anna Caroline, you are growing up entirely too fast. And we are loving and savoring every minute of it! You are such a calm baby. Your eyes stay wide watching all the activity unfold around you. We are thankful for your wonder at the world. Your simple satisfaction is refreshing. You are dearly loved!

Weight: 19lbs 12.5oz (100%)
Length: 26in (97%)
Head: 42cm (87%)
Diaper: size 3
Clothing: 6 and 9 months

Likes: baths, rolling on the play mat, snuggles
Dislikes: being pulled on, shots

Eating: She still doesn't like her bottle, but is getting better with the paci. Anna continues to be a great nurser.

Sleep: Anna generally wakes up once at night, usually around 5:30am. We are all tired! She falls to sleep easily though, and for that we are thankful.

Schedule: A normal day would look something like this . . .

7:30 First feeding of the day
8:45 Nap
11:00 Wake and nurse
12:15 Nap
2:30 Wake and nurse
3:45 Nap (usually a shorter one)
6:30 Nurse
7:00 Down for bed (often ends up in her bouncy seat)
9:00-10:00 Nurse and back to bed for the night

Physically: Anna is blowing bubbles and doing a lot more "talking" to us. She has a lot of chunk to her and we love every roll. We have to work for her smiles. She is normally wears an observant expression and it makes the smiles so much sweeter when we get one. She started rolling over from her back to her belly three days before her four-monthiversary. This necessitated the dropping of her swaddle, which hasn't been seamless but it is super cute to see all the different ways she has found to sleep. Since she can't roll from her tummy to her back, she has become a tummy sleeper. Anna's eyes remain a nice navy blue and she has a patch of hair that sticks straight up in the back!

Next appointment: Thursday, December 29, 2016 at 9:30am

It was "surgery morning" for the doctors.

The morning she hit the 4 month mark we went for a chilly early morning walk and she wore a hat for the first time. Super cute :)

Matchy matchy girlies on a Sunday morning.

Sleeping on her play mat.

Meeting Haley!

Daddy snuggles did the trick!

Anna had such a love/hate relationship with her swaddle :)

Lydia tucked Lambie in to keep Anna company.

Funny faces!

Sleepy shopping trip.

I'm not sure she wanted to take a picture with us :)

Anna likes have her hands behind her head. She does not like mom's flash!

Rough life!

I just love her little crossed hand arms rolls!

After her first roll!

Happy 3 months, Anna!

Our baby is growing up! These first three months have passed so fast and we have seen such a change in our little beauty. Not only has she doubled in size, but she is also getting a little personality. Anna is a precious baby and we look forward to the month ahead.

Diaper: size 2
Clothing: 3 and 6 months

Likes: baths, being on her back on the play mat, being swaddled, bouncing on a knee
Dislikes: gas, being squished

Eating: Anna continues to be a great nurser . . . and a terrible bottle taker. But we are working on it!

Sleep: Anna usually wakes once at night and has even slept through the night a few times. She is a great sleeper! I can tell she is ready for longer wake times during the day as she becomes more interested in her (chaotic) surroundings.

Schedule: Routine is so good for us and seems to work well for Anna too. We are out and about several days a week, but a normal day at home would look somethings like this:

7:30 First feeding of the day
8:30 Nap
11:00 Wake and nurse
12:00 Nap
2:30 Wake and nurse
3:30 Nap
5:30-6:30 Wake and nurse
7:00ish Nap (she doesn't nap regularly during this time of the day, but thankfully it doesn't tend to be a fussy wakefulness)
9:00-10:00 Nurse and back to bed for the night

Physically: Anna has earned a bald spot on the back of her head. Otherwise, she has a nice head of hair! She hasn't rolled over, but has thrown her head back like she she knows the motion. She smiles more now and I love the way her cheeks lift up when she gets tickled. We've also gotten to know a really cute frown when that bottom lip comes out. Anna has found her voice and uses it mostly to protest (as opposed to a real cry) when something isn't going her way.

Next appointment: Friday, October 28, 2016 at 10:00am

Her first time keeping the paci in. It didn't last long :)

Sarah dressed for the occasion when we all went to Anna's two month well visit. 

When the doctor is called away, the Cooks play!

Josiah left a picture he made for Anna :)

Making the most of an early morning.

Sweet cheeks!

Anna was not impressed with my resale find.
I guess we will have to stick to putting diapers in the diaper bag :)

Sweet sleeping girl.