Happy 3 months Collins!

A week and a half late...but here's what Collins has been up to!

This has been an exciting month full of smiles and milestones! By the end of the month, Collins had lost most of her newborn habits and is a bonafide baby now. Makes my heart ache a bit... But also love watching her grow!

What's new:

*Rolls from front to back

*Can roll from back to front, but I've only seen this twice. However, she consistently rolls onto her side and will occasionally sleep that way.

*Can intentionally grasp and hold objects, but isn't quite sure how to let them go

*Began sleeping through our night! This is huge! She will wake around 4am for her paci, but won't eat until 6am! Yay! This began right at the 12 week mark, so let's hope it continues. Currently, she's still in our room during the night so I don't have to go upstairs in the middle of the night. That will change soon, especially if she continues sleeping through our night.

*speaking of sleep, she has transitioned to sleeping in a sleep sack vs a swaddle. It wasn't a big deal for her, since she never let us swaddle her arms any way.

*Colic is getting better and crying stretches aren't as long as in weeks past. Here's hoping it disappears in month 4.

*Neck and head support are awesome and she enjoys sitting in her Bumbo seat. Successful Bumbo sitting has also allowed her to join in on our family dinners! We love having her at the table with us and she loves watching us talk about our days and eat.  

*attended her first golf tournament

Loves:

*Watching Hannah- seriously, this kid could watch her sister play all day long! 

*Riding in the stroller- if there are crying bits I can't get under control, I can put her in a stroller and walk outside and she calms down almost immediately

*Being held- we've got a cuddler!

*Baths

*Being talked to-she engages and locks her eyes on whoever is talking to her. She coos, smiles, and loves talking back

*sucking on her hands/thumb... I'm trying hard to push the paci, but she's perfectly content chomping on her hands. Lord, help us! That will be a hard habit to break!

Not a fan of:

*Still hates tummy time, but is getting longer stretches in. Watching Hannah or Daisy is a big help!

Schedule:

Collins got into a pretty predictable routine by the end of this month. Generally, she wakes around 6am for the day and we start the eat, play, sleep routine. Currently, she's eating every 3.5-4 hours during the day for a total of 5 feedings and usually 3 naps. Most days look like this give or take an hour:

6-6:30am: wake, change, feed and begin play time

8-8:30amish: goes down for nap #1. School days are tough. I usually put Collins in her car seat when she begins showing signs of being sleepy. Most of the time, this ensures she falls asleep in her seat before heading out of the door by 8:45am

10:30-11am: eat

Noon-12:30ish: goes down for nap #2. Again, school days it's usually in her car seat so we can get to school to pick up Hannah by 1:15pm

3:30ish: eat

4:30-5: goes down for a cat nap- sometimes in the stroller if she's fussy or if Hannah is itching to get outside.

7pm: PJs on, books, and prayers with Hannah. Immediately after, she eats and we usually cuddle with her until we're ready for bed (this will also change soon, since she's at the 3 mo mark) by the way, she still wiggles around on our chests until she finds our heart to lay against. It's one of my favorite things!

9-10pm: I will dream feed Collins one last time before heading to bed. 

Hannah turns 4

A bit late on this one.... We've had a few things going on;)

Dear Hannah, 

How can it be, another year come and gone. This year brought many changes including a new house and a new sister. You flew to Michigan, traveled to Disney World, and spent lots of time with family and friends. You continue to bless our lives every day and we are so thankful for you!

We had a great day celebrating you! It happened to be a school day, so you got to be the Starfish for the day. The letter of the day was "D" so you brought your stuffed snuggle puppy dog in for show and share. You were also the line leader. How special! You chose Popsicles and goldfish for your class special treat and brought in sparkley plates and Princess Ana napkins. When I picked you up from school, you were proudly wearing a birthday crown. You took a good nap when we got home from school. Daddy got home just in time to take everyone to dinner. You chose Mellow Mushroom Pizza for dinner. You were so excited! They brought you a cinnamon-sugar pretzel with honey for dessert. It was a great night!

What you've been up to this year:

Stats: you are 39.5 inches tall and 37.5 lbs. You wear 4T-5T clothing.

You are ALL imagination these days. You personify everything from rocks to pumpkins. They each have their own personalities, likes and dislikes. For example, we bought you your very own pumpkin this fall and you immediately asked to "take pumpkin on a walk to show him the neighborhood" when you got home. You created a hilarious little dialogue with the pumpkin the entire time, asking questions and then relaying the responses to me. It was precious!

You love to collect things. Daddy and I joke that we're raising a mini hoarder. At any given time, I can open a bag of yours to find the most random "treasures:" pinecones, ribbons, rocks, a few dandelions, pencils, stickers, figurines, a sock, a few crayons, etc, etc... 

You love to be read to. I am constantly amazed by how much information you retain from each book! I've spied on you "reading" during nap/quiet time and are spouting off most pages verbatim. 

You are mostly a happy-go-lucky child and have quite the bounce in your step. You occasionally throw some sass in, too.

I will say, your baby sister totally rocked your world. There have been a few issues that we've never had to deal with that have popped up as a result. We are slowly working through new behavioral issues. You also decided to start getting up in the middle of the night and come to our room for the most random reasons: a twisted pull up,  your favorite book, your blanket fell off your bed, your band aid fell off, etc... Before your sister, you never got up! We think it's because C sleeps in our room, but who knows.

You are still napping for the most part, but it's beginning to be a hit or miss event. You will at least rest in your bed even if you don't fall asleep. That bodes well for me!

Favorite things:

*Dress up 

*Anything princess

*Coloring and anything to do with art

*Going places- you always start the day with "where are we going today mommy?"

*swimming

*going to the golf course with daddy

*color: purple

*movie: Peter Pan

*food: PB&J, hummus, pizza, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, fruit

*show: Sophia and Daniel tiger

We love you Hannah Kathryn and can't wait to see how you grow over the next year!

Love, 

Mommy and Daddy

Happy 2 months baby Collins!

Time flies when you're having fun, or is it the lack of sleep? Ha! Regardless, Collins is already two months old. It's so hard to believe our peanut is growing up. 

Stats:

* At 2 months, she is finally starting to wear 0-3 mo clothing, although mostly still wears newborn outfits

* Has graduated to size 1 diapers

* Weighs in at 9lbs, 15oz (26.3 percentile)

* Is 22 inches long (35.3 percentile)

* Head circumference is 15 and 1/8 in (41.3 percentile)

Loves:

*Cuddling and being held

*Bath time

*Stroller rides

*The swing

*Being talked to

*Having hands at face

Could do without:

*Diaper changes

*Gas

*Tummy time-getting in a good amount of time each day is tough! 

*Being swaddled with hands in

Schedule:

Collins is on a great schedule. We had a rough first part of the month. Miss priss got used to being held during naps and just in general. I had a very tough time getting her to nap without being held. I worked hard and finally broke her of it. It took a lot of patience and maybe noise canceling earphones, too ;)

She is a great baby most of the time. She has mild colic where she is very fussy in the afternoons. It's her tummy and we're going through some trial and error to figure out how to best help her. Afternoon walks help tremendously. I wore her in a carrier for a few weeks, but have transitioned her to a stroller. We've also tried gas drops and various exercises to work the gas out. The doctor says most babies outgrow it by 3-4 mo. Fingers crossed! We also know she's got some mild reflux mixed in with that.

Generally, Collins eats every 3-3.5 hours during the day. At night, we are down to one middle of the night feeding :) she usually goes down for the night between 9-10 and goes down very easy. She doesn't cry at all and generally nods off within a few minutes. I'm trying my best to go to bed when she does. It's not always easy. She is "officially sleeping through the night" as defined by a 6 hour stretch of sleep (YAY!). She really started this between 6-7 weeks. She generally wakes up between 2-4:30 to eat. The night feeding is quite easy. She is an efficient nurser and knows that it's time to go back to sleep afterwards. We do have nights where Collins is quite restless after the night feeding. These are tough nights for me. She has tummy troubles and the only thing that keeps her from "losing it" is her paci. However, it falls out and has to be put back in her mouth about every 15-20 min until the troubles subside. It makes for a long stretch for momma. I'm hoping it gets better this month. She still sleeps in our room in the bassinet at night. We will try her in her own room soon. Right now, it's easier for me in the middle of the night.

Milestones:

*Can roll from front onto back both directions. Although, prefers rolling left

*Smiles

*Coos and "talks"

*Self-soothes if paci isn't present by sucking on fist

*Beginning to track with eyes, especially mommy and other family members

*Can hold head up unsupported for longer periods of time

*Continues to bat at toys, a little more intentional this month

*Likes to kick feet on toys that make noise or the crinkley part of her play mat

Other firsts:

*Collins had her first play date this month with Connor and Avery. 

*Attended her first Clemson Game