Christmas 2017

• We went to the lighting on the square! It was a warm evening but a lot of fun!
• We went to get their picture made with Santa and they did so well! Abigail liked looking at him. Claire went straight to his lap, said “I’m claire. That’s Abigail. I want a purple bike.” We got a great picture!
• Claire is OBSESSED with our nesting dolls from Prague. She calls them “messing dolls”. 
• “Campus” = Christmas 
• We bought a new Christmas tree and put lights on the house for the very first time! 
• We have a shepherd named Will and an Elf named Pete. Most mornings, she wakes up and asks “where my guys at?” 
• We are doing a simple daily advent and claire likes finding out about our daily activity. 
• She still loves the Little People nativity and Abigail likes playing with them too. 
• We watched Claire’s Christmas program at KDO and she was so good! The cutest performance ever! 
• We had an early Christmas with Lolly and Papa. They made a yummy breakfast and then we opened gifts. Claire got a mickey and Minnie Little People House, a stuffed unicorn, some Mickey look and find books, and princess sheets for her bed (so so cute)! Abigail got a little people Cinderella carriage, new sleep sack, a rolling toy, a crinkle toy and a new soft blanket. 
• Claire went to spend time with Meme and Poppi. They drove around to see lights and went and watched The Star. Abigail and I wrapped presents. 
• We are doing the Usborne sticker book of the nativity. One page a day for the week before Christmas. 
• Part of the girls Christmas from Meme and poppi was tickets to go to ththe winter wonderland ball. It was the best night of Claire’s life. She had zero reservations about meeting the princess or dancing in s big group of strangers. 
• Claire loves the Polar Express. We watch it a lot and act it out. She’s enjoyed the Grinch, Frosty, the Santa Clause and Olaf’s Frozen Adventure. We’ve also watched the Mickey Christmas stories again this year. 
• Mary = Married, and we lost Joseph. It’s really troubling Claire. 2 days before Christmas she asked for a soft Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. 
• We enjoyed doing a daily advent activity. 
• We made reindeer food with stuff we had in the house: oatmeal, blue sprinkles, marshmallows, crushed candy cane and shredded carrots. 
• We made cookies for Santa and she’s so excited for him to come down the chimney and open presents. I’m very proud to say that she does also understand that it’s Jesus’ birthday most importantly.
• Poor Abigail has had a sad cold for the whole week leading up to Christmas, and Andrew got one the weekend of Christmas. 
• We went to see the Stewart Family lights and Claire really loved them again this year. I think Abigail really loved them too.
• We went to Christmas Eve church service. 
• She loves wishing others a merry Christmas.
• Christmas Day: Abigail was up, per usual, all hours of the night and then ready to start her day pretty early. Claire got up at 8, and Andrew went to get her and bring her in like he’s done the last 3 years. Even though she was SO excited about her presents, she was terrified to open them. She perked up when she saw their stockings on the ground, and then got excited to see Will and Pete with their presents. Will was sitting by baby Jesus and they were ready to do the last nativity page of her usborne sticker book. She LOVED baby Jesus. Kept up with him all day! She still wasn’t ready to open her presents, so she helped daddy and hen Abigail. And THEN she was ready. She was so sweet and expressive, and wasn’t ready for it to be over. Abigail just hung out with her toys and the paper, watching her sister. Claire’s gift were a pink bike, a helmet, an Ariel princess, a watch, and a big girl swing. Her stocking had lip gloss, a light up tooth brush, bubble tape and fruit snacks (she openly said several times that the gum was her favorite). Abigail got a zoom and crawl monster, a remote, new pacifiers, some stacking cups, and a Christmas book. Her stocking had a reusable placemat, a new bow, and some puffs. We had a yummy French toast breakfast while Abigail took a great nap. Claire loved playing with every new thing. We watched Elf. Claire did her sticker book and our advent activity was to sing happy birthday to baby Jesus. The rest of the day was pretty normal, we just got to have daddy home with us. We had a delicious super of chicken Alfredo pasta, salad and rolls. Unfortunately, I let my exhaustion get the best of me and didn’t enjoy this Christmas like I should have. Thankful for God’s grace and baby girls that love their mama even when she’s grumpy. 
• We had Christmas in Russellville. The girls loved their cousins and Aunts and Uncles. I got to sleep in every morning which is better than any gift! Claire wanted so badly to sleep with Lauren and Annie, but she was brought to our room at 2am. She did sleep really well in the bed with us for the first time ever! Abigail did decent until the last night. We got to go to an indoor pool and splash pad twice and both girls loved it! Andrew and I got to go see the Greatest Showman and it might be my new favorite movie! We were all spoiled with great gifts! 

Claire was pretty sad to be finished with Christmas. We still play “Santa” and she wishes us a merry Christmas at bedtime and it’s 1/4. We took everything down on New Year’s Day. I’m excited to see what happens in 2018! 

Abigail month 9

Abigail month 9

• She said her official first word “dada”both on command and looking at Andrew. 
• She claps when we say “yay” or “clap clap”. 
• She makes a scrunched face while inhaling through her nose quickly. 
• Her hair is getting really long and thick! 
• She’s really starting to want to get places. She gets frustrated when she’s sitting and can’t move. 
• I started some hard core strict Moms on Call daily schedule and sleep training. There are set feeding and napping times, and at bed time I fed her and didn’t go back in her room until the morning. There were some rough days/nights, but I’m praying for peace of mind and good sleep in our future! Claire’s noise machine is turned all the way up, our fan is on and her monitor is on volume 1, so i can basically only hear her if she gets really loud. I spoke with a consultant about how to do this and she gave great advice and said to give it at least 14 days. Night one: went down well at 7:30, woke at 8:00 and did a big burp for Andrew. I think she slept until 3:30. Cried until 5. 😢 Up for a super short time at 6 and then slept until 7:50! Night two: down at 7:30. She might have cried out once at 2. Up at 6:45, got her at 7! Naps were more difficult: 30 min in the morning, 30in the afternoon, cried for 30 min in the middle and then back to sleep for over an hour. Night three: down at 7:30, up at 4:30 and cried for a while. Up at 7:30. Naps were hard again. Today she cried a lot at both naps before falling asleep. Night four: down at 8. Up at 6:30, stayed in bed until 7. Night five: down at 7:30. Up at 6:15, stayed in bed until 7. Probably her worst day for naps - but I think either her tummy or teeth were bothering her. Night six: down at 7:45. Up at 6, but stayed in bed until 7. 2 decent naps. Night seven: down at 7:45. Up a few times between 4-8 (accidentally slept late). Great naps! Night eight: down at 7:30, up at 7. Great naps. Night nine: down at 7:15 after a bottle from daddy. Up for a little while in the 5:00 hour and then up at 7. Night ten: down at 7:30, up at 6, got her at 7. A 2 hour morning nap, but afternoon was not so good. Night eleven: down at 7:20, up for a little while at 9:30??? (Lolly and Papa had been here all day). Up at 6, cried until 7. Had another great morning nap, but short afternoon nap which made for a LONG evening. Night twelve: down at 7:00. Up at 6:30. 3 short naps (we had company). Night thirteen: down at 7:30, up at 6. Horrible naps. Her naps messed with our evening plus we were out with friends, so she ended up napping again at 6pm. We modified her eating schedule for the evening. Night fourteen: down at 8:30, up at 6:50. 
• I’m pretty sure she’s trying to say “hi” and and “uh-oh”. 
• She and Claire both love it when I take Abigail in to wake Claire up. 
• Claire has started carrying her places. 
• She loves to splash in running water or baths. 
• Favorite foods: oatmeal cereal, butternut squash, broccoli and green beans, strawberries, bananas, blueberries, turkey and cheese. She loves to drink water. 
• She likes to throw things and look for them. 
• She’s becoming bashful, and tries to hide her face. 
• She just has the greatest smile and laugh.
• Bottom left front tooth broke the skin on 1/13. 
• She got to splash in another swimming pool.
• She said “uh oh” for real on 1/16. When she says it she looks to see if she’s dropped anything. 
• Rotates around while she’s sitting up, and can lean and stretch so far to grab something. 
• Extremely flexible 
• She’s started this new twirly wave thing with her right hand.
• She loves to clap toys together, and now claps for attention. 
• She gets so happy when she’s standing up and playing with her table or by the tub, but she won’t pull herself up to a standing position. 
• Learned how to pick her nose. 
• She does this fake whine and nose scrunch when she wants something. If she’s sitting up she flutters her feet and flaps her hands. 
• LOVES playing peek-a-boo. She’ll throw her arms up and try to cover her face and wait for someone to play with her. 
• Ended the month with another runny nose/cold.  
• She started gripping on with her legs when I hold her on my hip.
• She’s acting interested in learning to crawl (more from a sitting position that from her belly).

• wearing 6-12 month clothes (sometimes the sleeves are a little long)
• Size 4 diapers 
• Nurses at 7, 11, 3, and 7. 
• 3 table meals a day of finger foods, baby food or both. 
• Naps at 9 and 1 for 1-2 hours, and is doing really well at night usually sleeping from 7:30-6:30ish
• 2 bottom teeth! 
• 18.6 lbs according to my scale 

Abigail month 8

Abigail Month 8

• We left the girls with Lolly and Papa while we went to a party. She took a bottle well (5oz) but was up and wanting to nurse several times. 
• I think she might be starving during the last stretch of the day, so I’m trying several things to see if they help. 
• She loves a bottle. 
• Stayed with Poppi and Daddy one afternoon and evening while Meme and I took Claire to a show. 
• I tried formula before bed to see if it fills her up a little more. I made 6oz, but she only drank 3 and then nursed some. 
• She LOVED having all the attention while Claire was in Russellville. 
• She’s had several good nights, only waking once, and then up for the day around 6. And then a few rough ones. 
• A tooth (barely) broke the skin on 12/13! Her bottom front right tooth. 
• She claps toys together.
• She likes to lift her hands over her hand. 
• She does a laugh/cry when I pick her up and gives me a big hug. (Andrew too)
• She makes a sucking sound with her tongue. 
• She responds to her name. 
• She’s doing really well with eating table food! She did eat some bread with peanut butter, and that evening broke out in some bad eczema patches on her face and arm. They are still there 3 days later, though, so I’m not sure if it was peanut butter or just a fluke break out. 
• This week she’s picked up so much personality. She’s talking so much and flirting. She loves to be a part of the playing and wrestling. 
• She’s (more consistently) rolling from her back to her belly 🙌🏻
• She’s had a pretty yucky cold. Currently on day 7. A lot of snot and a congested cough. 
• She celebrated her very first Christmas. She even survived Christmas with her cousins in Russellville with a cold! 
• She’s waving hi and clapping. 
• She rolled across the room on 12/30. 
• Like clockwork, she still wakes up at 11, 2, 4 and 6:30

This has been the month of PERSONALITY! She’s pretty much out of the little baby crying period. Our evenings with her are so much fun! She loves watching and playing with us. 

Abigail month 7

• I’ve avoided talking about how TERRIBLE her nights are, but they’re just so bad. Same routine her whole life, and she still loses it at night. If I️ let her cry-it-out, she just cries and cries. If I go in there to soothe, she swats away the paci (very aggressively). If I️ pick her up, she will calm down while I️ hold her, and then start back when I️ lay her down. A good night for her is down by 7:45, up a few times before midnight but easily put back to sleep, nurse in 12:00 hour, up and nurse in 4:00 hour, up at 6:45 to come in our bed and then up around 7:30-8:00...a good night. Currently in a not good phase. Praying that she feels loved, safe, comfortable and satisfied so that we can have even longer stretches! 
• She sucked from a straw!
• She’s really starting to jabber with the “baba” sound and I swear she says “Mama” when she cries 😉
• We’ve purchased a memory foam mattress topper and a super thick sleep sack hoping it starts helping her sleep. 
• I think she’s ready to transition to just the 2 naps per day, but it makes our afternoons and evenings very long because her naps are still relatively short. 
• I introduced puffs and the mums bars and I think she’s obsessed. 
• She’s rolling from belly to back more consistently!
• She rode in a shopping cart for the first time. 
• 11/20 she stayed in her crib until 7:15!!! She woke up a few times before 11 needing to be soothed, and maybe another time during the night, I woke up at 4:30 and the monitor was on Claire’s room🤷🏻‍♀️. She stirred at 5, but went back to sleep until 7:15!!!
• She’s eaten many solids: green beans, carrots, and bread products. Not a ton, just a little to keep her occupied during our meal time. She does really well and is super interested. 
• She slept from 7:30-6:45 on 11/21!!!!!
• She loves watching balls being thrown 
• Celebrated her sister’s 3rd birthday and her first Thanksgiving in Wickes. She was pretty fussy and slept horribly. This child. 
• We call her “nosy”. She has this way of setting her mouth, raising her eyebrows, and extending her neck to see things. 
• I took her to the doctor to make sure she was healthy before Andrew’s insurance policy ended. She was great, doctor suggested going back to the probiotic drops to see if they help her in the evenings and nights. She was 17lbs. 

Abigail: Month 6

At 6 month check-up:

• 16lbs 15.26oz
• 26.57in
• 17in head circumference

She’s meeting milestones and such a happy and alert mama’s girl 

• She played peek-a-boo on purpose
• Tried peas!
• Still blonde (I guess technically light brown) straight hair and bright blue eyes!
• She has a VOICE. She likes to spit, chat, laugh, and scream (she straightens her arms very dramatically when she screams).
• We are trying lavender on the feet.
• She snuggles and gives good kisses!
• She got a pretty bad cold and can't sleep.
• Claire was playing under her while she was in her jumper, and tipped it over. Thankfully Andrew was close by and scooped her up quickly.
• Still so happy and chatty! She wakes up with the sweetest little coos after a good rest.
• Meme kept her while we took Claire to the doctor and she refused a bottle, but was still in good spirits. She did take a bottle the second time. The milk had not been frozen, meme got it pretty warm and it was in the latch bottle with size 2 nipple.
• She was loving some green beans in her boon feeder. Puréed some, and I think they’re her favorite.
• She's working really hard on sitting up.
• Her poops are starting to solidify.
• She tried avocado again and really liked it, she also tried blueberries.
• We’ve started he cry-it-out process at night. It’s made for 3 extremely long nights. She just really wants to be held 24-7.
• She rolled from her back to belly on 10/22!!! Takes a lot of encouragement for her to do it, but she’s rolled a few more times! She doesn’t do much rolling from belly to back.
• Staring to do really well sitting up unassisted.
• She’s an aggressive grabber (read: clawer) when she wants something.
• She lays her head on our shoulders to snuggle!!!
• She’s done several 4 hour stretches between feedings during the day.
• I swear she says “Mama” when she cries.
• She was pascal for Halloween (trunk or treat). She just wore warm clothes for actual Halloween because it was cold and rainy. She slept on daddy’s shoulder while we trick or treated!
• She very intentionally grabs Claire’s face and pulls her in to kiss her.
• She loves to hold straw cups and suck on the straw.
• SURELY she will get s tooth soon with all the chewing she does!

She loves: blankie, being held or just around people that are paying attention to her, claire, Claire’s toys, green beans, and blueberries

• 3-6, 6 month clothes
• Size 3 diaper
• Nurses for about 10 minutes

Schedule:

• Wakes up any time between 7-7:45 (comes to our bed between 5:30-6:45)
• 8:00 nurse
• 9:00 try a solid
• 9:30/10:00 nap
• 11/11:30 nurse
• 12:00 solid
• 12:30/1 nap (good nap!)
• 2/2:30 nurse if she wakes up
• 4:00 solid (if she didn’t eat in the morning)
• 5/5:30 nurse
• 7:00 bath
• 7:30 nurse and bed

Abigail: Month 5

She loves: slapping her arms, grunting and stiffening her body, still favors cloth toys over hard plastic, hand towels, she grows more and more infatuated with Claire, chewing, eating, and still loves her blankie and paci

• has her first little cold
• We started heartburn medication to see if it helps her to sleep during the night. She's been spitting up quite a bit since she started.
• She went to the nursery for the first time while I did bible study
• Slept a straight 7 hours on 9/7 (8pm- 3:30am)
• Her naps are getting more predictable, and she's wanting to lay on a flat surface more for them.
• Went to her first tailgate
• She has violent burps. She gets very tense and can't continue eating. Sometimes I have to lay her in her tummy or squeeze her real tight while holding her up on my shoulder and do big squats.
• She's started squawking and stiffening her body when she does it.
• Working on rolling and tummy time!
• She tried my banana and loved it, but her poop was super weird afterward.
• I found out that I was giving her 0.1ml of her meds rather than 1ml. Hoping to see a difference in nighttime now. We've stopped giving this to her.
• A friend suggested leaving a light on in her room after hearing that she sleeps perfectly fine during the day, so we are trying that. (Didn't make a difference)
• We started putting her in the Merlin's magic sleepsuit.
• She loves to have the little kisses on her face (like we do for Claire), and has started giving kisses
• Andrew made a good point in saying that she no longer gets sad when left alone, she gets mad and wants us to respond to her!
• She tried sweet potatoes on 9/20, has also tried banana, apple, and butternut squash
• Apparently it's impossible to sleep well 2 nights in a row...
• She's a morning pooper
• At night she typically goes down around 7:45/8, and wakes up in the 12:00 hour, 3:00 hour and 6:00 hour. Sometimes several times within those hours. We "start" our day at 8.
• Eating schedule is around 8, 11, 2, 5, 7:30 with a solid food around 3:30
• She naps around 9:45/10, 12:30/1, and 4/4:30
• 3-6 month clothes and some 6 month
• I can't say it enough how SWEET she is!!

Claire's 3rd Summer

• Favorite phrases "I'll show you something" /I show ya sun-tin/, "here I am" /here my-mam/, "my box" /my bock-us/, "I'll do it" /I dood it/, "ride Philippe" /wide weeps/, "it's ok Abigail" /it go-Kay happygirl/, "not right now", "please, can I??", "yeah, sure", "Get my belly" /gech-ya ma belly"
• got a trampoline and loves it!
• Is very inclusive of baby sister
• She knows her birthday, and mine and Andrew's names
• Counted to 15!
• ATTITUDE!!!! She crosses those arms and furrows that brow and says "I don't like it" to pretty much anything. She also likes to say "ok? Ok! Say ok! Go to time out." She also likes to say "uuhhhhggg" and "it no fair".
• She has been talking about bunnies that came into her room and scared her every time we put her to bed. We have to tell her over and over that bunnies are nice. (Still talking about them almost 2 months later.)
• We had a consultation to repair her belly button. The surgeon thinks it's a cyst with possibly a tiny hernia underneath. He agreed that the bleeding isn't safe. Surgery will require her to be put to sleep and they will cut it out and search for the hernia to remove. Relatively short and easy procedure.
• She got to stay up past 10:00 one night, and the next day/night were a nightmare.
• She LOVED fireworks!
• We had a weekend at Bogg Springs. She caught her first fish and had the best time!
• If we are watching a movie, she spends most of the time saying "mama look"
• She really can't wait to go to the beach!!
• Anything with a loop (purses, bra straps, Abigail's playmat) she turns into Phillipe the horse. She will tug on it and say "come on, weeps!" Any kind of long material (belt, measuring tape, of unrolled toilet paper) she plays like she's catching fish or "Rapunzel's mama" where she lifts her up.
• Very into watching Up and Monsters, Inc. right now. Now it's Sing.
• If Abigail makes any noise, she's the first to respond. She'll say "it's ok Abigail" or she will tell me to get her. She's soooooo sweet and kisses her all the time!
• She was a champ on the drive down to the beach and the night in the hotel.
• She loved the beach and the swimming pool and being with her cousins. She started swimming without a floatie and with her face in the water!
• She did not do well at all when we tried to drive through the night. She woke every 30-45 minutes crying hysterically. She couldn't get comfortable, and was bound to wake the baby at any minute. At 1am we stopped and got the last hotel room in Jackson (so it seemed). She slept really well in the hotel and did a great job the rest of the way home.
• New phrase is "no. Not today, tomorrow."
• Imaginary play is so much fun!!! She likes to make toys talk to each other. When she wants to play that game she will hand me a person and say "mama say hi".
• She's super pumped to start dance.
• She has started being silly on purpose.
• My scale says she weighs 32.2lbs
• New words: "pepperoni" /pecamoni/, "oh, awesome!", "yes, perfect", "it's no fair", "okie dokie" /okie gokie/, "granola bar" /owa bar/, "be quiet" /be ci-wet/, "you so funny", "strawberries" /straw-bees/
• She spent a few days at Lolly and Papa's
• When she gets upset she says "I want to go night night", "shhhh, Abigail trying to go night night" or "I'm crynin (crying). I wanna crynin."
• She LOVES horses
• Started KDO in room A, had a night terror that night.
• She called black eyed peas "polka dots" and it was adorable
• She has randomly said "thanks, you saved my life", "lets get started! You excited?", "your green eyes are so beautiful, mama", "I like your Jammies"
• Hunting Easter eggs is still her jam.
• She asked "why" for the first time.