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  Growing Up Guinn


First Overnight Trip

9/30/2015

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To Hadley's fan club: I realize my blog posting has become somewhat infrequent. I have many, many posts that I'd like to write/catch up on...but the 4 month sleep regression hit and it hit hard. We have still not fully recovered, but we are making great strides and are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel (or maybe I'm just hallucinating..)  But that's another story for another time... Anyhow, I will do my best to continue to document Hadley's great adventures. Please bear with me during this truly difficult time! ;) 
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A couple of weekends ago, Mason and I had the opportunity to go to Austin for a Texas football game. At first we weren't sure if we'd be able to go. We knew Hadley was too young to tailgate during the day AND go to a night game. *amateur* So if we were going to go we would need to leave her for at least a 24 hour period with family. Another part of the equation was whether or not I would be able to store up enough milk for her, as we are still nursing. Leaving her in Dallas with my mom and sister, would have been an easy option, however, they couldn't keep her because they got tickets to go see Garth Brooks for the same night, lucky ducks! So our other option was to drive to Houston and drop her off with GiGi & Pops! Mommy & Daddy must have been pretty desperate for some non-baby time, because we decided an extra 8 hours of round trip travel was definitely worth it. And we also knew she'd be in great hands with them, so we decided to go for it!

For the past several months (pre 4-month sleep regression), I had been waking up at 3AM, even when Hadley was sleeping through the night, so that I could pump enough  milk to use for weekly outings or freeze for future use. I can't tell you how difficult it is to set your alarm, drag yourself out of bed, and pump for 30 minutes while everyone else is snoozing away. But it's the only way I could stockpile enough to afford our little excursion.
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I know... frozen breastmilk looks so gross...

Anyway, with the milk situation under control, and responsible baby watchers selected, we were FREE, FREE AT LAST!!!!! Mason and I hit the road with our friends Lauren & Justin that Saturday morning and headed for Austin pedal to the metal... kidding! ( a little...) ;) 

Once we made it to ATX, our first stop was Trudy's for a mexican martini! It felt so weird to be sitting in a restaurant without a squirming baby in my lap whilst leisurely eating a quesadilla and sipping on some tequila! Oh, how glorious! After a few pumping pit stops so that my boobs didn't explode, we headed to tailgate for a little while and eventually made our way to the stadium - which now sells beer & wine! Perfectly timed for Mama's first football game! :) 
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Although we ended up losing the game, it was still a great time! We were able to sleep in the next morning and go to brunch before heading back to Houston! Even though our short taste of freedom was delicious, we were very anxious to get back to our precious angel! 
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Pops & Gigi said that she did great and very much enjoyed getting to watch her while we were away. Thank goodness for grandparents! Better keep pumping so that we can plan our next getaway! :) 
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First Food

9/27/2015

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So as I mentioned before, at her 4 month checkup, our pediatrician gave us the green light to start Hadley on some solid foods. There is great debate amongst the mommies of the internet as to when you should begin your baby on solids. The majority say 6 months, so that's what I was originally going to go with. However, I thoroughly trust our doctor and he said that he felt that Hadley was ready and that going ahead and starting some foods at her age can help prevent allergies and gluten intolerances. Also since H is almost 5 months old, which is like basically almost 6 months at the rate time is flying these days, we decided to go for it this weekend. 

For her first taste of food we introduced her to rice cereal, a good beginner food that is easy for babies to digest. On the back of the can it says to mix 1 Tbs. of cereal with 4 Tbs. of breast milk. This created a waaayyyy to runny consistency in my opinion, but hey what do I know, we're first timers over here, plus Mason is a strict "follow the rules kinda guy" and said I should stick with what they recommend....psh, fine! Here's how Hadley's first tasting went...
See what I mean!?! WAYYYYYY too runny! We might as well have abandoned the spoon and just thrown it in her face, she might have caught more in her mouth that way. Oh well... they say that "food before one is just for fun!" She is getting all the nutrition she needs from nursing, so we will just keep moseying along as she continues her culinary journey and learns to enjoy new foods at her own pace.

Update: I fed her cereal again this afternoon, with a slightly thicker mix and she did a little better and definitely got more down. Though I think she really was more interested in chewing on the spoon and could care less about the food. Can't blame her there. Rice cereal looks and smells pretty disgusting! Can't wait to start experimenting with some fruit and veggie purees in the next few weeks! :) 
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No Rest For the Weary

9/10/2015

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It's not even October yet, but Hadley has already learned how to scare the living daylights out of ol' Mom and Dad...

We are in the midst of transitioning Hadley into sleeping in her crib at night time. Up until now she has been sleeping cozily in her Rock n Play in our room through the night. Yes! We are oh so lucky! But with the recommendation of our doctor, combined with the fact that she is starting to get a little too big for her RnP, we decided to bite the bullet and go for it. 
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At the EXACT SAME TIME, Hadley decided that it was no longer cool to sleep through the night. She has taken to waking up around 2 or 3 in the morning, wide-eyed and ready for action! Awesome. 

Maybe, we're just gluttons for punishment, but even though she has entered the dreaded "4 month sleep regression", we decided to power through and continue on with her move to her crib, which is not one, but two floors below our bedroom. Yeah, we're smart.

Anyway, so here's how things have been going at the Guinn household...

Night #1: Put Hadley down swaddled in her crib at 8:30pm. Mommy gets teary-eyed about losing her baby and realizes we only have 6,720 more nights until she leaves us for college!!! :( We get over it pretty fast once we realize we can watch "Narcos" with the volume on instead of with closed captions! Yep, Hadley... your parents know how to live. 

We then place bets on when she will wake up. Mason guesses 2am, I guess  midnight. She wakes up at 11:35pm, then again at 12:35am, and then once more at 1:35am before I cry "Uncle" and bring her back upstairs to our bedroom. Umm, yeah.. so that went well... Give the baby exactly what they want! That'll teach 'em!

Next Day: Spend all day researching ways to sleep train H. One lady suggested putting crib blocks on one side of the crib to elevate it and also roll up some blankets under the crib sheet to place on either side of her. Genius! This will trick her into thinking she is still in her Rock N Play! So I spend a good portion of the day pimping out Hadley's crib so that it will be an oasis of comfort. We even throw a mattress down next to her crib so Mama could crash downstairs in case things got bad, because we mean business tonight!

Night #2: I am ready! Bring it on baby!!!! I spent all day reading up on the "Pick Up/Put Down" method for when she wakes herself up and her crib is ready to go - Let's do this! I bathe her, feed her, read books to her, swaddle her up... BOOM in bed asleep by 8PM. Piece. Of. Cake. At 10:30PM, she hasn't even turned her head once. I AM A FREAKING BABY SLEEP TIME WHISPERER GENIUS!!! I pass out....

.....At 2AM I wake up and look at the monitor. 

Hadley is NOT in her crib. In my sleepy stupor, I suppose that she must have woken up and Mason must have gone downstairs and picked her up. I turn over. See Mason in bed. WITHOUT HADLEY!!! @#$$#$%^&((&^$$#%^&*(*^%$#@#$%

"MASON!!!!!!! WHERE'S HADLEY!?!?!?!?!" 

"WHAT!?!?!?"

"HADLEY'S NOT IN HER CRIB!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Mason flies down the stairs, while I am left panic stricken staring at the monitor thinking the absolute worst.

Our little trickster had scooted herself down to the very bottom of her crib and was out of range of the camera. No. BIG. DEALLLLL!!! She just thought I had turned her crib into a giant slide! Cool - thanks Mom!!

OMG!!! Mason and I each shaved off 10 years of our lives last night. I mean seriously, shit got real FAST. Talk about ways to send yourself to an early grave. I spent the next hour staring at her monitor, because who can go back to sleep after that. Finally around 3:30AM she started fussing and I threw all my sleep training techniques out the window and happily scooped her up and brought her back to our bedroom. 

And that ladies and gentleman was the last time I ever slept again. 

THE END.

In conclusion...
*Crib risers have since been removed. Who would ever do such a thing??! Mama's desperate for sleep, apparently. Don't do this people!!!
*Heart rate has still not gone back down to normal.
*Hadley might be sleeping in her Rock n Play in our room until High school. Maybe longer...
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4 Month Checkup

9/8/2015

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Turning 4 months, meant back to the doctor's office for Miss H! I know it's no fun for her, but I love taking her to her well-baby checkups to see how much she has grown. 
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Hadley's 4 Month Stats: 
  • Weight: 11 lbs, 14 oz (20th percentile)
  • Height: 24 inches (49th percentile)
  • Head circumference: 41cm (51st percentile)

Even though she is steadily growing, her percentiles dropped dramatically from last time, which were 50, 80, and 60, respectively. The doctor wasn't concerned, however. Her 2 month appt was actually almost 2 weeks after she turned 2 months old so he said that probably skewed the data a little with her percentiles. So she is still our teeny, tiny little baby! Hooray! :) I selfishly don't mind her being on the smaller side. My back agrees!

Unfortunately, sweet girl also had to get some more shots at this appointment...
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Ugh, just hate that part, but it didn't take her too long to calm down afterwards. 

Other things the doctor told me, that surprised me: 
1.) That I can go ahead and start feeding her, starting with cereal if I want and a few purees every once in awhile, as well. I had read that it is best to wait until 6 months. But he said going ahead and starting between 4 and 6 months can help prevent food allergies. So I will probably wait another few weeks and then slowly get her started. I can't not believe we are to this point already!!!

2.) He is pushing us to get rid of her swaddle and move her to the crib. Which was our plan anyway, once she got to 4 months. So we will probably begin that tonight. God help us! She has already started waking up in the middle of the night the past two nights ready to play.... Mommy will need LOTS of coffee to survive this transition! 

But the surprising part was that he said once she can roll over on her own, it's fine for her to sleep on her tummy - which is a major "No No" on all the Mommy group posts and forums that I read! So we'll see... She's not rolling over yet, so we'll have to test that one out later!

Anyway, it's just so wild how much she is growing and how all of these changes are happening all at once. Our sweet girl is no longer an infant! It's definitely the most bittersweet part of being a parent. Sad to see them grow up, but amazing to watch them become more independent little people with personalities! 

We love you Miss Hadley and are so glad that you are a happy and healthy little baby girl! XOXO! ♡
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4 Months Old

9/3/2015

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Didn't Hadley JUST turn 3 months old?! Ugh - they don't lie when they say it goes by too fast! Four months is apparently considered the "golden age" for babies. At this point they are sleeping through the night, are smiling and interactive, yet still not very mobile... so you can still just plop them down wherever. I would definitely agree with all of the above. It has definitely been the best month so far! Mainly though it's because she grows more and more adorable each day! :) 

Happy 4 Months Hadley!!!
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See what I mean!? ♡ Let's get a close up...
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Ugh... I just die... Our little beauty! ♥♥♥

Don't be fooled though... this photo shoot was definitely the most challenging one yet! She was more interested in grabbing her feet and chewing on her dress than posing! There were also lots of drool removal "touch-ups" and we had a few close calls...
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Haha! I have a feeling these photo shoots will become increasingly more difficult in the future. :)

Here are some of Hadley's favorite things this month...
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Milestones this Month: 
  • 1st Hotel Stay (An overnight stay-cation due to a broken AC)
  • 1st trip to Austin/San Antonio
  • 1st Laugh - Aug 18 (She thought Mommy was soooo funny on her birthday) :)
  • 1st Word "Mama" - Aug 30 (Seriously... Mason is my witness, she said it clear as day on the way to church, upset because I wasn't sitting in the back of the car with her) ♥♥♥
  • Plays with feet constantly
  • Napping in her crib (instead of only on Mommy - Hallelujah!)
  • Cooing/"talking"/squeals of delight
  • Plays contently by herself for much longer periods of time
  • Drool... lots and lots of drool
  • Can bear weight on her legs and "stand" with assistance
  • Easily grabs things
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Basically, she is pure joy! We just love everything about our sweet baby!

Clothing/Diapers: 
Wearing 0 -3 month and 3 month sized clothing. She has definitely grown so much length-wise this month. Still wearing size 1 diapers, but we will probably be switching to 2's next month. 

Sleeping:
Same ol' same. Why mess with what works? Most nights she gets swaddled around 8:30pm and is in her Rock n Play (in our room) fast asleep by 9pm. We don't mind her being in our room at all, but think she is starting to outgrow the RnP. We will probably start the transition to her crib next month. Mommy might just have to put in bunk beds downstairs! :( Lately, she wakes up around 5am and we bring her into our bed to sleep the rest of the morning (usually until around 7:30am).
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Favorite Toy:
Baby Einstein's "Take Along Tunes" which has been a helpful distracter on long road trips and kept Mommy sane a number of times! 
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Things Hadley Hates: 
  • Clipping her fingernails
  • Stopping at red lights
  • Wiping her face with a washcloth/burp cloth
  • Tummy time
  • Covering her feet 
Every night, she makes us take her feet out of her swaddle. Then when she falls asleep we sneakily tuck them back in! ;) 

Hadley, here are a few things Mommy & Daddy love best about you this month.

♡♡♡♡ We love... ♡♡♡♡
  • Your dramatic sighs when you're "bored" (such a teenager already!) :)
  • Your giggles and squeals of happiness!
  • Your adorable girly voice (the cutest sound I've ever heard in my life).
  • How you rub your eyes when you're tired!
  • How no matter how mad you are, you always stop crying when Mommy sings "We're Off to See the Wizard" to you!
  • Holding your hand.
  • The face you make when we wash your face. :)
  • Taking you out in public - everyone loves to gush over a cute baby!
What a sweet month we've enjoyed with you! If only time could stand still, we'd gladly stay in this perfect moment in time!
We love you so much Hadley! XOXO ♥♥♥
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    Hi! I'm Caroline. Wife to Mason, Mommy to Hadley and Leighton. Follow our adventures in parenting, as I take a break from teaching to become a full-time Stay at Home Mama! 
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