Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Zoe Lately - 5 month update

Zoe is such a smiley and happy baby. She gives the best smiles after waking. She has so much hair and looks 100% like a girl to me, even when she's wearing her brother's old clothes. Her hair is starting to curl at the ends, and it's SO cute!

She has started holding her head up super well and can now be placed in her standing toy and Bumbo 🙏 This makes life SO much easier. Laying her on her back all the time was starting to get boring for her and with her reflux issues (which were exacerbated when she was on antibiotics over December and January) having her upright after feedings is best. Her favorite position, though, is being held facing forward.

Before getting sick (she had a cold or two, then RSV when she needed two nights in the hospital due to breathing issues) she was sleeping super well, only waking once around 3am. During December and January she was sick on and off, and this was terrible on her sleep. She woke every 2 hours, and due to her reflux, needed to be upright for 20-30 minutes after eating. Some time after she started feeling better, and her reflux was getting milder again we started to shift her from the swaddle to sleepsack (we went from the Miracle Blanket swaddle to the Halo swaddle size newborn to the Halo swaddle size small, Halo swaddle with one arm out, then Halo swaddle with two arms out, then sleepsack size small). Once she was adjusted to the sleepsack, we moved her to the crib in her room, and returned the Halo Bassinet (we LOVED it for both Elias and Zoe!) to our friends. During these adjustments, I got very little rest. Now that she's recovered, she's sleeping much better, going to bed at 6:15pm (and fully sleeping around 7:30pm) waking at midnight or so, around 4am and then is up for the day at 6am. This is very early for us. We've started switching off who gets morning duty. When it's our turn, we brew a pot of coffee. And that's how I've started drinking coffee again, a habit I broke almost two years ago!

Back to Zoe. She LOVES her brother so much. She loves to watch him play, run around, sing songs, dance and eat. Really, she likes to watch anyone eat with her eyes getting big and wide. On the days I am home with her, she definitely misses her brother while he's in day care. I know because she's pretty fussy like she wants more interaction, and on the weekends the void is filled when she can watch him all day long. He loves her too, and has recently started giving her hugs and kisses. It's the most adorable thing to watch.


Elias and Zoe last week

She loves looking in the mirror, and laughs when you make silly noises or move her back and forth. She loves her changing table and the accompanying mobile. She kicks her heels so hard into the changing pad in order to move the mobile and it works! She hates tummy time, but honestly we (I) don't make her do too much of that because she's getting good neck strength from being held all the time, and now the standing toy and Bumbo. I need to have her do more tummy time so she can practice rolling, I suppose...

She is very interested in toys, and will reach to grab most things and put them in her mouth. She can't hold onto them long though, and often prefers to have her fingers in her mouth instead. Her hands are usually cold because she sucks on them all day long. She's also a drooler, like her brother. We go through 5-10 bibs a day!

Music is also big for her. She loves Beethoven's Fur Elise, Paramore, the Eagles and Foo Fighters. She loves for you to sing "Patty Cake" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider" while doing all the hand motions and giving her tiny tickles. If she is fussing, it's usually because she has to burp, or she's bored in the position/activity. She loves for you to walk her around the house.

She is eating well. We are breastfeeding every 2-3 hours and then giving her a 7oz bottle of breast milk at bed time (with a breastfeeding top-off), and a 6oz bottle of breast milk at midnight (sometimes with a breastfeeding top-off).

I kept pushing off her 4 month pictures (oops!) and finally got around to them yesterday. Better late than never!

December and January

No posts from December and January because we were all sick.

Elias' Favorite: Music Time

Elias is almost 20 months old and LOVES to sing songs and dance. At daycare, his providers J and K say he LOVES music time. Some favorites moments, songs and dances include:

  • Before age 1, he loved to listen to us sing or play: Baby Beluga and Wheels on the Bus
  • Today, Elias' number one request is "E-I-E-I-O" (which for the longest time he called "EEYahYo"). This request has many meanings and interpretations such as:
    • Show me videos of nursery rhymes/songs on YouTube on your phone (he asks anyone he knows has a phone, especially Grandpa!)
    • Play kids music (Raffi, etc)
    • Play the song "Old McDonald"
    • Sing "Old McDonald"
  • He requests "Row Row" AKA Row, Row, Row your boat. He especially loves the second verse: "when you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream" which is when he likes to let out a scream. Though sometimes he screams after the first verse too. It varies.
  • He can sing the WHOLE happy birthday song by himself and often sings it in the car or when he's falling asleep
  • He can sing all of "Twinkle Twinkle" in key. He gets that from his dad! 
  • He can sing the whole alphabet song!!! This was his FIRST favorite song. When he started at daycare, he loved having me or J&K point to the letters on a banner as we sang the song multiple times in a row. We immediately purchased an alphabet banner that we hung in the playroom.
  • Loves to dance to "Let it Go" (with a twirl with hands above his head) from the Disney movie Frozen. He learned this from the older girls at daycare and is too young to think this is girly.
  • Loves "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" but mostly touches his toes. 
  • Has been requesting "Rosey, Ashes" AKA "Ring Around the Rosey" all weekend recently (did you know: this song is about the Black Plague!)
  • Has specific dances for his musical toys:
    • Loves to flip the "light" on his table toy to play a song "turn the light on and off, and the switch goes up and down ...." as he does a specific stomping dance
    • Loves to sway dance to the alphabet song on his table toy
  • Loves to play his piano and xylophone
  • Loves the "Cocomelon" (ABCKidsTV) and "SuperSimpleSongs" channels on YouTube


 Elias and his piano at 15 months

Elias with his Great-Grandmother, Grammy, playing piano at 17 months

Elias' favorite books, birth to 20 months

Elias LOVES books! When he was less than one year old, he loved to carry his books around between his room and the living room, and chew the pages and spines. We gave him access to board books only because he was too rough with the pages of other books. You can tell which books were his favorites based on the wear of the pages and spine.

At around age 1, he was interested in reading only his favorite books:
  • Pom Pom Panda Get the Grumps (he is still obsessed with this book a year later! He loves the page that says "GO AWAY!")
  • Pout Pout Fish
  • Dear Zoo
  • Five Little Monkeys
  • B is for Bear
  • Touch and Feel Pets
  • Touch and Feel Farm
Since he started daycare at age 13 months, his focus on books improved, and he was more willing to branch out to new books. Credit to story time at daycare! Then at around 18 months he started to LOVE listening to stories, especially at bedtime. It was around this time that we allowed him to read/play with some non-board books too. He still loves to play with his books, pretend read them upside down, and carry them between his room and the living room. The living room always winds up with a huge pile of books that I bring back to his room. He now begs for us to read him more books (probably because he doesn't want to go to bed). There are few books he doesn't like. His favorites include:
  • all the above
  • Good Night Moon (he was obsessed with this book for a while and it became a nightly staple)
  • Touch and Feel Halloween (he loves the "sticky" page)
  • Where is Baby's Belly Button 
  • Baby Faces
  • Growl Growl
  • Good Morning, Good Night
  • Bedtime Peekaboo
  • Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings (he LOVES ducks and animals in general)
  • The Little Engine that Could
  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear
  • The Hungry Caterpillar
  • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom 
  • Hello World! Weather
  • Doggies 
  • Moo Baa Lalala 
  • The Busy Spider
  • Animal Tales
Elias at 17 months with his favorite book