Into Everything!!!

This girl has figured out how to get around and how to get into everything!!! Seriously, now that Jenna is walking she seems to have noticed how much she can get into. We can't leave her alone for even a second. I spent a fair amount of time childproofing this weekend but there's so much left.
The coffee table drawer is a definite favorite of Jenna's....

Because, of course, there are remote controls in there!

Another favorite is the television. Jenna turns it on and off and changes the channels.

Jenna pulling the clean laundry off the couch as I'm trying to fold it....

so she can roll around in it.

Hmmm....more drawers to investigate

So happy with all her new found freedom!!

Walking, a fever, and a squinch

Well, Jenna has begun taking steps independently. She hasn't figured out how to stand up without holding on to something, though she does try. But once she is standing up, she will walk to her toys or the couch or whoever happens to be in the room. It's so amazing to see her little body walking across the room. She falls down quite a bit but it usually doesn't faze her much. She still prefers crawling if she is in a hurry because she is such a fast crawler but you can tell she's pretty proud of herself for walking.
This weekend was pretty rough around here. Jenna woke up Saturday morning at 5am with a fever. We gave her some Tylenol and it worked for a couple hours but then her temp just went right back up. I wasn't overly concerned because she seemed fine and was still playing and eating. Saturday night her temp was about 102 and so we called the pediatrician. He said to switch to Motrin and call him if it went to 104 or if Jenna seemed much worse. It was a little bit of a rough night but we didn't have to call him back. Sunday, she still played a little in the morning, but once she woke up from her nap she was burning up and very unhappy. Her temp was 104 and the pediatrician told us to head to urgent care. Her ears and throat checked out okay and they said it is a respiratory virus and to watch for signs of pneumonia. Poor Jenna was so miserable. We began rotating the Tylenol and Motrin and did tepid baths (pure torture). Finally around 3am this morning the fever broke. Poor baby was sweating and shivering. I sat up with her for a couple hours and she finally went back to bed. She seems a little out of sorts today but so much better than yesterday.

So the squinch is the nickname we gave for Jenna's new cheesy grin. In fact, if you tell her to do the squinch, she will give you this cute little smile. I absolutely LOVE it and melt every time she does it.

And finally, Jenna's newest baby trick is blowing bubbles in the bath. She doesn't actually blow bubbles, but she puts her little face down in the water. She's actually giving the water "lovies" or kisses. It started because I asked her to give me lovies and she put her face in the water. She does it every night now and is so proud of herself when we cheer her on.

I Love Weekends!

We had a perfect weekend here at our house this weekend. On Saturday we stayed home in our pajamas all day long. Pat had homework and so Jenna and I stayed in our pjs and played with all her toys. It was so much fun and she is so darn sweet. She was so easy and fun this weekend, she makes me want to have 10 kids. There are definitely other times when I think she may end up an only child....just kidding (mostly). Anyways, this weekend she was so perfect. So on Sunday, we got out and went to church and lunch with our friends and then ran some errands. We ended up at Babies R Us....we were supposed to be buying new jammies and diaper sacks, when we decided to go look for a new toy for Jenna. We haven't really bought her any big toys and she seems so bored with her current toys, so we decided to get her this farm animal toy. Its seriuosly cute and has a barn door that Jenna crawls through. She can also stand up and play with it which she loves. This toy was a big hit with Jenna and it kept her busy the rest of the afternoon and evening. We even got to eat dinner like a normal couple while she played in the family room. Here's a few pics from our weekend.

Then & Now

Mommy & Jenna 5/09

Mommy & Jenna 9/09Hard to believe she has changed so much in 4 months. I don't quite realize it until I looked back. She is so much fun, and it just keeps getting better!!

Random Stuff

So, it's been awhile since I posted and to be honest it's been awhile since we've taken many new pictures. I know, we are horrible parents. Jenna is nearly impossible to photograph because she never holds still. Consequently, most pictures are blurry or are of the back of her head. We have used our new video camera but I am vowing to start taking more photos. Anyways, the first one was from the other night and Jenna was just being so darn sweet. I love her chubby little face and the funny expression on her face.

This picture cracks me up. Pat generally dresses Jenna each day, especially on week days. Anyways, this shirt says "Daddy's Girl." Jenna returned home from daycare like this. Her daycare provider is Stephanye and she and Jenna just love each other. I love knowing that Stephanye takes such good care of Jenna and gives her so much attention and affection while she is away from us.

And finally, perhaps the best picture of all...Jenna sleeping on the changing table. This picture is from the other evening. After work, Jenna and I ran to Target for a few things. I could tell she was tired and so I tried to be fast. As we were driving home, she really started to get sleepy in the car. Once we got home, I set her down to change her diaper and clothes and as soon as I set her down, she flipped over, stuck her butt in the air, and fell fast asleep. She was seriously exhausted. She was not too pleased when I woke her up to put her pjs on!

As for what's new....

• I have been at my new job for exactly 1 month and I absolutely, whole heartedly LOVE it!!! It is 5 days a week now but I never have to worry about another weekend or holiday.
  I also get 60-90 minute lunch breaks everyday, and I am getting to work with one of my best friends, Erica.
• Pat is working away at his credential. He is substitute teaching for Clovis Unified this year and has a couple long term jobs lined up. He has really loved some of his classes and is super excited to be done.
• Jenna is doing well. She had a cold, which then turned into Roseola, but she recovered quickly. She is all over the house and into everything. Seriously, some days she exhausts us. She is standing independently, and has even taken a few steps, but then usually falls. She is seriously a tough kid, she falls and hits her head so much and rarely ever cries. She is having some definite stranger and separation anxiety. She gets very anxious when new people come around, or people she hasn't seen in awhile. Honestly, I'll be excited when that stage passes. At her 9 month appointment, she was 20.5 pounds and 29 inches tall. She is such a funny and busy little baby and we are having an absolute blast watching her grow.
  

Ferber vs. Focker Round 2

This will likely be long and boring, but it's one of the posts that's hopefully going to be therapeutic for me

We have regressed in the worst way over here at our house. Somehow at 8 months Jenna is not sleeping through the night. I'm not sure when things unraveled, but they definitely did and we are in need of a change.

The current situation has been that we do bathtime and then feed Jenna a bottle in her rocking chair. We then give her the binky and rock her until she is sound asleep, at which time we sneak her into the crib. She usually sleeps for about an hour and then starts fussing. Generally speaking if we run in right away and put her binky back in she falls right back to sleep. This happens on and off throughout the night. Sometimes she finds the binky on her own and puts it back in. Then a few weeks ago, she started eating in the middle of the night again. She usually wakes between 3-4 am and will eat 7 ounces. Then she wakes for the day anytime between 5:30-6:30 am. Needless to say, the interrupted sleep has made both Jenna and mommy cranky.

So after a lot of careful consideration and research, we have decided to return to our dear old friend Dr. Ferber. His book is really interesting and really explains a lot about infant sleep patterns and parental mistakes, of which we made a lot. We have also decided that the binky is going away. Jenna only uses it at naptime and bedtime and on long car rides. We truly feel that the pacifier is sabotaging her sleep as she never falls into a deep enough sleep, and then spends so much time fussing and looking for it. We are using an interval method, where we put her down awake and then leave the room, and we check on her at progressively longer intervals.

Monday night was the first night. We put her down, checked her 3 minutes later, then 5 minutes later, then 7 minutes later and then 10 minutes later. She cried for 28 minutes before falling asleep. It was really rough. When she woke up at 2:00 am, I fed her 5 ounces instead of 7, which she didn't seem to notice, and then put her back to bed. She went right back to sleep.

Tuesday morning she woke up at 6:45, which was awesome! At 9:00 I put her down for her first nap. She cried for 12 minutes and then went to sleep for 2 hours. Then at 2:30 pm we put her down again and she again cried for 12 minutes and then slept for 2 hours. We had an awesome evening out celebrating Pat's birthday and then started our bedtime routine. This time we started our intervals at 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes. She cried for about 30 minutes and then slept until 5:45 this morning, skipping her middle of the night feeding.

I'm so torn between doing what I think is best for her and giving in and doing what makes my heart feel good. It's so hard to hear her cry and to know how sad she is in her bed all alone. On the other hand, I want her to learn how to fall asleep on her own. I cannot be the mom who is laying in bed every night with my preschooler until they fall asleep. I will be starting my 5 days a week job on monday and I can't spend 2-3 hours a night trying to get Jenna to stay asleep in her bed. As for the binky, I feel slightly bad about taking it away except that for the last few days and nights, she has slept so much better without it. She NEVER takes 2 hour naps, and all of her naps since ditching the binky have been 2 hours. Also, even though she cried before falling asleep the last few nights, she slept soundly once she was out. She still wakes up happy from her naps and in the morning. She still plays in her crib for a good 15-20 minutes each morning while waiting for us. She seems totally fine. I'm angry with myself for not taking care of this earlier, while she was still younger. If we had just stuck to the plan before, and hadn't chickened out, we wouldn't be going through this right now. I'm determined to stick with it this time and not put Jenna through this process again. I know this was super long but it really helps me to get it out and see it in writing. Wish us luck

8 Months!!!

How is it possible that our baby is 8 months old??? I really can't believe it. Time is literally flying by. It's been awhile since I last posted and I don't really have an explanation for why other than laziness on my part. Jenna seems to be changing daily and we are having an absolute ball with her. At 8 months Jenna is/has:

• About 20 pounds
• Wearing size 6-12 months
• Wearing size 3 diapers
• Eating 3 meals a day with 3-4 bottles throughout
• Drinking water from a sippy cup
• Learned to drink from a straw
• Starting to wave (although only at other babies and her daddy)
• Starting to give kisses (always to her glow worm, occasionally to her parents....go figure)
• Crawling all over the place
• Pulling herself up to a standing position using anything and everything including the walls
• Cruising all around the furniture
• Back to fussing in the car seat (GRRRR!! Drives me crazy)
• Blowing tons of raspberries (including when she has a mouth full of food)
• Nearly impossible to bathe as she is all over the tub, rolling, crawling, and trying to stand up, which means nightly head bonks.
• Very tough...she rarely cries when she falls down or hits her head.
• Still experiencing stranger anxiety
• Our little sunshine and the joy in our hearts
  

Seriously cute chubby baby legs

One of our favorite new outfits!!

This is one of the only pictures I have where you can see Jenna's cute little tooth.