The Curtis Diaries

Monday, July 27, 2015

Month 7

Claire loves: playing, her cousins, food, chewing, when dad comes home from work, TV (especially Mickey Mouse theme song)

Doesn't love: when someone walks out of the room

Big Milestones: eating a "solid" meal once a day, pulling up to her knees, rocking to crawl, clapping, she has become a super efficient nurser (only about 10 minutes now), sleeping on her belly, this month has had several occasions where she's had to be flexible with sleeping and eating and she handled them gracefully!

• Wearing 6-12 month or 9 month clothes and size 2 (or 0-6 month) shoes
• Size 3 diaper, size 4 at night
• Eats every 4 hours 4 times a day
• Waking once at night
• In bed around 9 and up around 8:30
• 2 naps at 10:30 and 3:30(ish)

- Went to Lake Degray for her first Memorial Day weekend! She met the McClains, Sims, Rountrees, Raines, and Secrests. She loved playing and talking to everyone, took a 2+ hour nap on the house boat, and liked the boat out on the water (except for when she had to wear a life jacket). She did so well for a crazy day!
- She has started becoming bashful. She turns away or lays her head to the side.
- Stared the month with a cold and a small tummy virus. She's been having many dirty diapers and she's not wanting food (other than milk). All of this is making her wake more in the night.
- After the sickness came the teething. :) She was still refusing food, biting more, runny nose, fussy, etc.
- To soothe herself in her sleep, she imaginary nurses. She sucks on her tongue.
- Sleeps on her side and is all over the place in her crib.
- Fell asleep on her tummy for the first time on 5/31 (rolled to her belly). After this, she continued to roll to the belly and sleep for a time and then wake up confused. Trying to let her figure out how to get comfy on her own.
- She is starting to discover her pointer finger.
- Practicing free sitting in the tub.
- Lover of tags.
- Starting to climb all over us and sort of pull herself up.
- Flipped out of the nap nanny (landed on her belly facing backwards-impressive).
- Survived car rides to and from Florida.
- Had her first beach vacation.
- Started mimicking sounds (specifically a grunt from Poppi).
- She is starting to reach for things and causing herself to get into the "crawling position". When there, she rocks back and forth.
- Started sucking on baby food pouches rather than having them squeezed into her mouth.
- Her hair is thickening.
- Still just some big ol' tooth buds as of 6/10.
- She is a tummy sleeper with her booty in the air.
- She growls.
- She's starting to climb and trying to pull herself up.
- Everyone comments on how beautiful, chubby and pleasant she is. Makes me beam with pride.
- Celebrated my 27th birthday and our first night alone (without dad).
- Vacation and illnesses have messed with her sleeping schedule. I don't remember the last time she went many consecutive hours.
- She recognizes toys with faces and squeals when she sees them.
- She claps.
- She's now tried whole carrots, sweet potato, pears, turkey, Yums crackers, bread. Still doesn't care for peaches and peas.
- Starting to see a little bit of separation anxiety.
- She grabbed a remote and "talked" while pointing it toward the TV.
- Plays peek-a-boo.
- When she's trying to crawl, she falls on her belly and rolls and grunts because she wants to be back up. She rotates and pushes herself backwards.
- She lets almost anyone hold her.
- She's stating to get brave and let go of things while she's standing. She lasts a few seconds.
- Before every nap, I sing "Snuggle Puppy". She knows it and lays her head down, hugs me and gives me kisses.
- The day she turned 7 months was also Father's Day. We celebrated by watching Andrew compete in a triathlon.

Girlfriend, I'm obsessed. You are so much fun to be around. You love people watching and people love watching you (especially when you flash the gummy grin). You do the sweetest things to show me that you love me. Even if it's just resting your hand on me, I melt. I'm so proud of you. I love being with you. 7 months have passed way too fast!

(one month and 6 months)

(meeting Perri McClain)

(First time on Lake Degray.)

(McClains, Secrests, Rountrees, and Sims')

(Dr. Swindle)

(Dr. Hinton)

(Mrs. Kelly Driggers)

(the cute face)

(6 month details)

(Briar Rose for mama's birthday)

(Pulling up to her knees)

(Always tackling Amelia)

(Daddy's Father's Day triathlon)

(Amelia and Harlow)

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Nursing at 7 months

A lot has changed. She's bigger. She's curious. She's still going strong.

8:45/9:00 am : first feeding. She has usually been awake for around 30 minutes before she eats. She gets a new diaper, plays, and then I feed her. I love watching her get ready. When I grab the boppy and situate my shirt, she squirms and grunts and basically salivates from the mouth. THEN she pulls herself to me to latch. She's usually trying to grab my coffee cup, touching my face or trying to look at the fan or TV. She finished after about 12 minutes and always looks at her hands. She twirls them in the air and then points her pointer finger. Then she usually grunts at me for a little while and we just sit and talk. When she's finished, she does NOT want to just lay there. She wants to sit up and play. If she's going to spit up, it's probably after this feeding.

(10:15-fruit. 10:30- nap)

1:00 pm: second feeding. It's also gotten much shorter lasting 10-12 minutes. A lot of days she's "ready" for this one. She sometimes starts to get fussy and latches on really quick. If my hair is down, she tries to play with it or she wraps her hands in my shirt. It's so precious. She also still sometimes squeezes me or holds on like its a bottle.

(3:00 - vegetable. 3:30- nap)

5:00 pm: third feeding. If she falls asleep during a feeding it's this one. Her afternoon naps don't go well sometimes, so she's exhausted. Most nights this one is less than 10 minutes (unless she falls asleep).

(6:30 - dinner with fruit and veggie, and cereal. She also sometimes gets meats or breads.)

8:30/9:00 pm: fourth feeding. This is bedtime and right after bath. She knows the bed time routine. After we listen to daddy read a book, she latches and instantly closes her eyes to drink. Some nights are restless and she doesn't like laying on the left side, but the second she moves to the right side, she's out. She does a lot of rubbing during this feeding, and she's so still. I try and keep her latched on for 30 minutes to know that she's eating enough to last the night, but some times she just can't stay awake. She always ends this feeding on the right side and then I pick her up to hold her over my left should. Every night she nestles into my neck and snuggles for just a brief moment. I always kiss her sweaty head a million times and then lay her down.

The past month has included TWO night time feedings. They're short and on one side. She's always screaming by the time I get in there so it really is precious to see how quickly she calms down just from nursing, but mama is tired. She was sleeping through the night. I'll just cherish the snuggles because I've already learned that time passes way too quickly.

A lot of times I wish that she would take a bottle. There are several instances where life would be much easier! BUT I prayed and prayed before she was born that nursing would go well, and the Lord has provided. She loves it so much that it's all she wants. ;) Sometime she's going to have to take a bottle before bed so that mom and dad can go and do something!

Providing for her in this way is one of my proudest accomplishments. Nursing isn't always easy, but I have been blessed with an amazing experience so far. I'm so sad because very soon my prayers will be changing to an easy transition to real milk and weaning off of nursing. Don't blink, because when you open your eyes 7 months have passed!

Ode to the House on Pine Creek

5 years and 11 months ago, we moved into this house.

In it, we have:
- Started a life as a newly married couple in a new town.
- Painted and decorated.
- Searched for a teaching job.
- Gotten a kindergarten teaching position.
- Started Grad school.
- Got a puppy and loved him as our first baby.
- Hosted friends and family.
- Redecorated.
- LOTS AND LOTS of yard work.
- Survived the first (and second) year of marriage. ;)
- Accepted an internship to DC.
- Painted the kitchen and cabinets.
- Moved to a first grade position.
- Started taking and editing pictures.
- Hosted small groups.
- Watched the Razorbacks.
- Played in the snow.
- Had many sick days on the couch.
- Celebrated births of nephews and nieces.
- Moved back to the kindergarten classroom. And then back to first.
- Mourned the loss of grandparents.
- Survived an ER trip (when Andrew passed out).
- Left for many vacations.
- Had "Annie" weeks.
- Finished a masters in History with an emphasis on Modern Middle Eastern History.
- Started Law school.
- Celebrated birthdays.
- Cooked a lot of food. Some good, some bad (hamburger pie).
- Trained for and competed in triathlons.
- Celebrated engagements and weddings and babies.
- Hosted "Thanksmas".
- Planned a Europe trip.
- Cried when we couldn't have a baby.
- Celebrated a new job!
- Celebrated when we got pregnant!
- Celebrated when the Bar was passed!
- Carried a baby for 39 weeks.
- Quit teaching.
- Prepared a nursery.
- Brought home a newborn.
- Survived sleepless nights with a new baby.
- Celebrated our first-sixth wedding anniversaries.
- Raised a daughter for 7 months.

Our first home was a great one. Filled with love, tears, encouragement, laughter, hard work and devotion. It will never be forgotten. We are so excited to be moving on into a larger and newer home, but we will never forget our house on Pine Creek!

Monday, June 15, 2015

Month 6

Claire loves: food, sitting and standing in the exersaucer or jumparoo, TV, funny noises, mom and dad, Brody, watching kids, playing in water, busy places, talking and making faces, pulling hair, her ball, Sophie, stuffed bunny, crinkly toys and books

She doesn't love: laying on her tummy or back (would rather be up), afternoon nap time, long naps, going to bed without mama

Big Milestones:
- Sitting on her own.
- Rolled from back to belly (only a few times).
- Is now on a 4 hour schedule and eats 4 times a day.
- Eats solids 3 times a day. A fruit at 10:30. Oatmeal with .5 ounce of breast milk at 3:00. A veggie and rice cereal with 1 ounce of breast milk at 7:30.
- She goes down at night with no fuss. She still occasionally wakes up during the night, cries for 5 minutes or less, and goes back to sleep. She's in bed around 9:30 every night and I get her around 8:30 every morning! I know she's ready to be up for the day if she wakes up happy and is playing in her crib.

Weight: 18.56 (90%)
Height: 26.5 (75%)
Head: 17.32in (90%)
Dr. Swindle said that she is smart and strong. He was encouraging about her lack of rolling. He told us to continue with the eating and sleeping routine that we are on. He thinks we might have teeth in the next couple of weeks, and she might not have a lot of hair until she's 2!

- She. Is. So. Fun. She is such a joy to be around and rarely gets upset!
- Started rotating in a circle to get places. She does this on her belly and back.
- Likes to gargle the spit in her throat.
- Rolled from back to belly (finally) on 4/26/15.
- Started pulling her own hair and finding her ears.
- Starting to sit on her own. Officially did it on 5/2/15 and hasn't stopped!
- Did the first "multiple roll" on 4/27. Rolled from back to belly then belly to back.
- She went with us as we closed on our new house on 4/30/15!
- We borrowed a jumparoo from the Cross family and she loves it.
- Stayed with daddy and meme all day one Saturday while I was getting ready for Mary's wedding. I maybe saw her a total of 1 hour and she was great. It was harder on me than her! Mom fed her a bottle and bedtime, which she took well, but she needed mama to settle down and fall asleep.
- When she cries in her crib, she watches the door. Smart girl.
- She has started covering my face with kisses. Especially first thing in the morning.
- Her morning naps are going very well. If she cries at all, it's usually less than 5 minutes. They last around 45 minutes sometimes more.
- She's starting to throw a tantrum if we take things away from her, so that's fun.
- She tries to drink my morning coffee, and loves cups.
- She's sucked on bananas and oranges and a sippy cup of water. Shes had mashed strawberries, potatoes, bananas and avocado. She's tried puffs. She has a taste of icing. She ate several real green beans at the Cross' house.
- We spent an afternoon at the Driggers' pool. She sat naked in the pool and cried when I got her out!
- I think I can feel some teeth up TOP! She's really chewing on her fingers.
- Has started reaching for us.
- I celebrated my first Mother's Day on 5/10/15. I got cards, a monogrammed hat and "Praying circles around the lives of your children" by Mark Batterson. We celebrated with Lolly and Papa and Meme. Our church held a dedication service. Jeremy charged us with raising Claire in a Christ like environment. He reminded us that she will learn most from our example. He asked us to show her God's love for her by displaying our love for others. Before our church congregation we read Zephaniah 3:17 "for the lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs." This will be our verse for Claire's life. We came home to have lunch all together at the house and it was wonderful.
- She recognizes her grandparents.
- Claire got to meet Madelyn, Leslie and Zach Harris!
- It has rained a lot and been kind of cool, so we haven't spent a whole lot of time outside.
- She sat in a big swing by herself and went down the slide with me.
- Sat in a high chair and shopping cart.
- Almost every night she rolls and plays with her blankie before she falls asleep. Sometimes she rotates in circles. (Never rolls all the way over.)
- She cries when we get her out of the tub.
- L O V E S to stand on counters and tables. Especially when she's facing a mirror.
- She has learned how to scrunch her nose and make a thin smile with her lips. Melt.ing.
- She flaps her arms and shrugs her shoulders.
- We went to Amelia's birthday party!
- Covers face to sleep a lot of times. She loves her bedtime blankie!
- Has started to cling on when we try to put her down.
- She gets the chills a lot and makes a funny face.
- She does this bashful flirty look where she does a sweet smile and cocks her head to the right.
- The only 2 places she sleeps are her bed and her car seat. Trying to get her to sleep in public is a no-go.

Claire, you're such a sweet little social butterfly! You don't meet strangers, and as a lady in the tire shop put it, "you look like a magazine". We are so thankful for your strong body, you chatter and your belly laugh. Although I'm sad that you're halfway to 1, I am loving every minute of watching you grow. You're my most favorite baby girl!

-Mama