The Doc Is In

When a show pops up about a child doctor and stuffed animals, you can bet Sarah is going to notice. Doc McStuffins has become a favorite show for a little girl who doesn't watch all that much TV. The kids all love singing the songs and watching a sweet little girl practice medicine on her lifelike stuffed animals.

So for her Christmas present we took Sarah and her siblings (who also love the show) to the Indianapolis Children's Museum to see the Doc McStuffins traveling exhibit.

The museum was well crafted and full of wonder. But we were a little nervous when we pulled up because disaster had struck. Yes, all the dinosaurs were escaping.

 This was a great way to signal to the children that we were somewhere fun. I especially love the detail in the way the building is crumbling.

our big doctor with her real stethoscope

Lydia knows how to wait in line better than the rest of us

The big kids watching the water clock. It fills with water steadily through the day, such that the left tells the hour and the right tells the minutes. 

a special baby play area

at the Doc McStuffins exhibit learning how to check vitals

Sarah with our excellent exhibit presenter. She walked our children and others through all the steps of a proper check-up.

learning about trains by pretending to ride one

Happy 7 months, Anna!

Seven sweet months with our Anna girl! As tends to be the case, the past month feels like the fastest yet. Anna has charmed us all and we love getting to know her little personality.

Diaper: size 3 & 4
Clothing: 9, 12 month

Likes: reaching for a toy, grabbing what's in your hand, being tickled, being serious, dancing, bouncing, her fingers
Dislikes: being hungry, being squished, bottles

Eating: Anna is going strong with rice cereal and still getting a little less messy. We added oatmeal cereal to her diet and plan to add more festive foods later this month. She continues to nurse well and regularly.

Sleep: Oh, sweet sleep. Anna slept through the night several times, then caught a cold that lasted about a week and had her up regularly throughout the night, and is now back to a normal once-a-night wake time. I am very hopeful that as her cough passes she will start sleeping consistently. Finding her fingers seems to have made all the difference!

Routine: We love predictability!

7:30 First feeding of the day (nurse and cereal)
9:00 Nap
11:00 Wake and nurse
12:30 Nap
2:30 Wake and nurse
4:00 Nap (usually a shorter one)
(sometimes a 5:00ish feeding)
7:00 Nurse and down for bed
9:00-10:00 Nurse and back to bed for the night

Physically: Anna's eyes continue to be a dark, deep blue. Her hair is seems to be getting a little longer, but has yet to really take off. What she has doesn't appear to be particularly curly. She rolls all over and does a lot of spinning around. One of our favorite stories of the month was that Lydia dropped a piece of peanut butter sandwich on Anna's quilt. Anna rolled over and picked up the sandwich and squeezed the life out of it. Once I pried it out of her peanut butter covered fingers, they went straight in her mouth. It seems she doesn't have a peanut allergy!

Next appointment: March 29, 2017 10:45am

Fingers seem to be the theme this month!

She gets a lot of sibling love :)

Our first trip to the Indianapolis Children's Museum

Sarah said she needed to take a picture of Anna with sunglasses to put on the front of a birthday card. It's true! Babies in glasses tend to make it to the card isle.

At the end of a long day, double the fingers, please.

tickles for giggles

She is a big girl at Chick Fil A these days.

Happy 6 months, Anna!

Half a year! Half a year with our dear Anna girl. Time has surely flown as the seasons changed from the sizzle of summer to the wet chill of winter. Our sweet babiest of babies has grown from our soft, sleepy, munchkin into our roly, smily, darling. We love getting to know our girly as the days pass and I delight to watch her interacting with her wee world as I write. The way a baby grows is a miracle at any age, but we certainly count ourselves blessed to have the opportunity to watch this particular stage for the fourth time.

Weight: 22.7 lbs (99%)
Length: 27 in (83%)
Head: 43 cm (66%)
Diaper: size 3 & 4
Clothing: 9, 12 month

Likes: tongue tricks, cheek kisses, sitting in someones lap, the big kids talking to her close to her face, being tickled, playing with her toes (and taking off her socks!)
Dislikes: her bow falling in her face (pirate Anna), squished legs, long periods of sleep in the middle of the night, bottle eating

Eating: We gave Anna her first bite of solid food on her six-month-iversary. Of course, by solid I mean soupy rice cereal. It was predictably messy, but she didn't seem to mind it one bit. I think she will be a good eater like her bigs once she gets the hang of it. Up to that point she was still nursing exclusively and putting on the pounds like a champ.

Sleep: It was a rough month for sleeping! Anna got another ear infection that we diagnosed after a long night of crying. From that point on she went from waking once toward the end of the night to waking two or three times throughout the night. It was hard on everyone! We are hopeful that if she can keep healthy she will get back to a more normal (or even better than normal!) routine.

Routine: Same old, same old. We are even looser about it than we have been the last few months. Anna shows some good tired signs and we try to get her down promptly once we seen yawning and eye rubbing.

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)
5:00 Nurse
7:00 Nurse and down for bed
9:00-10:00 Nurse and back to bed for the night

Physically: Anna is a roly poly and twisty girl. She isn't scootching at all, but enjoys the freedom of being on the blanket on the floor. I think she is close to capable of sitting up unassisted, I just don't ever give her the chance! She spends most of her time in the jumper or on a blanket on the floor. The doctor noted at an ear check that Anna's gums were a little swollen and teeth could be moving. Nothing has popped through yet! She had another ear infection and subsequent cold/cough for most of the month.

Next appointment: TBD

Sleeping Anna is the theme of the month!

Ms. Kim came and we put Anna in a planter at the Galt House hotel in Louisville.
It seemed like a good idea in the moment!

"Get in my belly!"

These cheeks don't lie.

Trying out the "two finger throwback" just like Josiah.

A late night snuggle with Ms. Kim.

Photo op with our very own Mary and shepherd/wise man.

She fell asleep in the jumper. . . a fourth kid first!

Getting lots of help from the big kids opening her Christmas gift from mom and dad.
It was a new pacy!

With her Gigi on Christmas.

Best part of present opening!

Ready for her first bite of cereal.

We did it!