Growing Girl

Finley has reached many baby milestones over the past month.  A few weeks ago we officially moved her to her own bed and she has done really good.  It took a few nights for me to get use to her not being right beside me.  She slept fine, even the very first night, but I worried about her even though her bed is literally fifteen feet from our bed.

A couple weeks after the bed transition, she had a growth spurt.  She woke up every single week night between 2:00-4:00am ready to eat!!  Thankfully Wes took some of those shifts.  I really don't see how people do it without a supportive spouse.  It gives me an entirely new appreciation for single parents!!

Around the first of the month, we started her on rice cereal and she has since tried sweet potatoes, which she really likes.  Even after 3 weeks, feeding her is still a very messy nightly event and it has made for some explosive diapers in the days following!!  See below our first attempt at feeding her solids.

She is mimicking all kinds of sounds now days.  Her latest sound is clicking of her tongue.  I have been doing this to her for months.   It was just like she woke up one day and decided she was going to click back.  Of course we think it is the cutest thing ever.

I haven't captured the tongue clicking on video, so this spit bubble picture will have to do.

This past weekend, she officially cut her first tooth!!  She occasionally sticks my fingers in her mouth and much to my surprise she chomped down on my finger with her sharp little tooth.  A couple days later, she tested it out on me while nursing.  My natural instinct of course was to yell which scared the mess out of her.

We are looking forward to Christmas, although Finley will think of it as just another day.  I've only bought her one gift and not sure that I will get much more than that.  I just really don't see the point at this age and I practically bring her home a new outfit or toy almost every week as it is.  We are going to stay at home this holiday and Gram is coming up to join us in the festivities!!  Hopefully we'll make the rounds to see everyone again sometime soon!!

Giving Thanks

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend!  We got to see so many friends and family!  We saw Gram & Pop Pop, Uncle Marty, Aunt Karrie and Cousins Grant & Griffin, Gary, Grandma Phyllis, Cousins Greg and Diana, Great Aunt Janice, Grandpa George, Freddie Joe, Uncle JJ and soon to be Aunt Russlyn!!  :)  Justin proposed to Russlyn the night before Thanksgiving.  Congrats to you both!!

Uncle JJ, Russyln & little bit

We traveled to Hope, Magnolia, North Little Rock and back home.  Once again, Finley was a great traveler and she did really good.  We are so thankful that Finley puts up with us and our nonstop lives!!  We loaded and unloaded 2 dogs, play yard, swing, exersaucer, boppy and many more of Fin's belongings at each location.  You would think that there would be plenty of room in Wes's vehicle, but we managed to find a way to fill every cubic inch of it.  At one point we had a deer in an ice chest in the back with the dogs and a large cpu with a Reese's pie on top of that in my lap for part of our travels!  Just call us the Griswolds!!

Finley and Wes asleep in Grant's bed

Reading the paper at Grandpa George's house

I didn't manage to capture everyone in pictures but below are some that I did get.  Also included, is a video of Gram and Finley playing with her kitty toy.  We are so thankful for Finley and our family and friends.

Laughing at Gram

Finley and Di

Finley with Greg

The crew with Great Aunt Janice

The boys with Grandma Phyllis

Love this bunch!!

Finley checking out Aunt Karrie

Child Abuse

Over the last couple of weeks, Finley has suffered for brief moments at the hands of her mother.  :(  I don't like even admitting these incidents, but I'm trying to make her spend more time on her stomach because the doctor even suggested that I do so.  She still isn't really fond of "tummy time", but she is getting more accepting of it.  She rolls from her back to her tummy really good, but still hasn't figured out how to get back over, so when she starts fussing instead of running over to help her flip back over I've been trying to let her figure things out on her own.  One night I was home by myself with her and I was in the kitchen cooking when she started her tummy fussing.  I never looked over at her, but I was talking to her from across the room telling her she was going to have to practice getting back over.  She finally fussed for as long as I could stand it, and I went over and picked her up.  I felt awful because she had been laying in a HUGE puddle of spit up!!  I felt horrible because I was actually looking for a camera!!  I couldn't find one fast enough and felt so guilty that I was even laughing, so I washed her up immediately without getting a photo.  It was all over her face, in her ears, hair, and eyes.  I had to actually scrub it out of her little eye lashes.

The following week she and I were at home by ourselves again, and I decided her fingernails had to be cut.  In the past I usually take her out on the back deck and she is distracted by the trees and various other things, and she allows me to cut them with little resistance.  It was freezing and dark outside so that wasn't an option.  I turned on a cartoon thinking that might would help, which it did briefly, but then she got really squirmy.  I should have stopped there!!  I made it to the last fingernail, which was her right thumb, and I cut what felt like half of her thumb off!!  She looked up at me with a big frown and started crying.  I did what I thought I would never do, and immediately sucked the blood off of her thumb.  I know, gross.  I then ran it under cool water and wrapped a paper towel around it.  She only cried briefly but I felt AWFUL!!  I thought I had gotten the bleeding stopped, so I put her in her exersaucer and looked over moments later to find it all splatter painted with blood.  I wrapped it back up and held pressure on it, and after about 30 minutes, I finally got it to stop bleeding.

This outfit was child abuse.

Nothing tops this last incident, to date that is!!  I wanted to try out Finley's new high chair that the Stoners got for her.  It is this really cool kind that attaches to a table or bar surface and the baby is supposed to sit in it as it cantilevers from the hard surface.  Sounds like a cool thing, but it is actually kind of scary just looking at it.  I put it together and secured it safely on the kitchen bar and placed Finley in it.  Right away she really liked it, and I was quite proud of my assembly skills.  I know you are all worried that she fell to the floor, so I'll go ahead and relieve you of that thought!!  The chair stayed safely attached, but I wanted to add her tray in front of her so she would have a play surface for me to sit a few toys on.  It appeared that it somewhat slid from the front and snapped in place as you pushed it back towards the seat.  Not the case at all!!  I firmly slide it from the front towards Finley and hit her square in the bridge of her nose with the tray.  It took her breath away and was followed by a horrendous whaling of tears!!  She let out one of the same type of cries, that I can't stand, similar to when she gets shots!!  I yanked her out of the chair and held her for probably 15 minutes apologizing more times that I could even count.  Her nose was a little bruised, but luckily it didn't cause two black eyes or anything like what I feared.  I watched her closely throughout the night in fear that I had caused a concussion, but she was just fine.  I, on the other hand, felt like the worse mother ever!!

Loving her new high chair

I know that she will not remember any of these incidents and that there will be many more bumps and bruises throughout her life, probably even broken bones and stitches, if she plays near as rough as we all did as kids.  I'd just like to NOT be the one that inflicts the pain upon her!!  She sometimes wakes up at night as if she is having a nightmare, and I use to just blame it on her shots.  Now I know it is probably nightmares over the pain that I have accidentally inflicted upon her!!  :(

Getting tickled at dad

In  her kitty cat hat

With her new penguin toy

5 months or 20 weeks?

Wes brought up a very good point a couple weeks ago about Finley's age. ;) All throughout my pregnancy we counted weeks with 4 weeks being a month, so forth and so on.  I had been calculating Finley's age the same way until Wes disputed that.  He mentioned that according to my calculations, we would have her 1 yr old birthday at 48 weeks of her life and not next June 7th, the day that she was born.  :) I decided then that we would go with his method of calculating. :)  According to this means of calculating, Finley turned 5 months and 1 week old this past Tuesday, Nov. 15th.

We took a big step over this last month!  With the help of Aunt Sarah, Daddy, & Grandma Phyllis, Finley is paci free!  She had gotten to where she would wake up multiple times throughout the night and cry for us to put her paci back in her mouth.  After about 3 nights of 3-4 hours of sleep and then working a full day at work, I told Wes that something had to give!  I have learned that you can survive on minimal amounts of sleep but my mind was so cloudy that I knew we had to put a stop to the paci addict in order for me to function at work each day!!  Finley did so good even the very first day without it!  She now hugs her little giraffe lovie while napping and sleeps through the majority of most nights without her paci.  She hasn't had a paci since!

Finley and her giraffe lovie

Using the giraffe's ear as a paci

I have a routine every night when I get home where I empty my lunch box, breast pump bag, wash out bottles and then it is usually time to feed Finley.  Her Aunt Sarah has usually just recently changed her diaper before I pick her up, so we are able to get straight down to business when we get home.  Daddy is forbidden from the room during feeding and pretty much isn't allowed to talk, because despite how hungry she is, she likes keeping an eye on that daddy!!  Daddy's girl to the core!  We then read 3-4 books and sing 3-4 songs.  We have a little tummy time, bouncy seat while we start dinner, and a few other activities before her evening nap.  I try to get a lunch packed and a few things done around the house before she wakes back up.  She usually gets her night time bottle from daddy while I pump and try to get to bed early and sleep through the night!  Rarely happens like that, but it is nice in theory!

I love my weekends more than ever.  Every Saturday I say to Finley, "It's Saturday" and she gets a huge grin on her face as if she knows that we have the whole weekend to spend together.  I love her mid morning smiles that I rarely get to see.  When I feed her at 4:45am each weekday, she isn't exactly chipper!  Neither she or myself.  But those weekend mid morning smiles absolutely melt my heart!!  

Loves bath time more than ever

Looking cute in her frog towel that Kesha got her

Daddy's girl

Finley watches her dogs more than she used to and we have actually let her play a little bit more with them now.  Of course there is always something going on in our dog world as well.  Looks like Bertha, our 12 yr old basset lab mix, is going to be having surgery on her ACL.  Poor dogs, they have taken a back seat since Finley arrived, but we do still love them!!

On the weekend of 11/12, both Gram and Cousins Grant and Griffin came up!!  Wes and I worked our last Razorback game of the year and Finley bounced around from Grandma Phyllis and her boy cousins to Gram and her girl cousins.  It was hard for everyone to share "Finley time" that weekend but what a great problem to have!!  Thanks to everyone that contributed to allow Wes and I to go to the game. 

Gram and Finley lovin on each other

Love their curiosity

Grant playing Finley a song on her musical octopus

Wes and the crew

TID BITS FOR US TO REMEMBER:

• Finley shivered for the first time as if "a mouse ran over her grave" as our Grandma Simmering would put it.
• Favorite song right now is "If you're happy and you know it..."
• She has really enjoyed playing with her own feet lately.  Grandma Phyllis caught her with her foot in her mouth sucking her big toe!  We have since found a really good teething toy that hopefully will replace her feet being used to suck on.

• We have been doing Sarah and Ella's classic "Shewee stinky feet" and Finley gets a huge belly laugh when we do that!  She actually snorted during one of her laughs which was really cute, but that is one of those things you hope they don't do forever but is cute now.  She loves her Aunt Sarah's silly dances and laughs hysterically at her.  
• She went through a growth spurt the week of 11/13 and woke to eat extra times almost every night that week. 

Rolling, rolling, rolling

The following Thursday, Oct. 20th Finley rolled over for the first time!!  I was already asleep that night so Wes didn't wake me up.  I had a pretty hectic Friday but I forgot about it all when I got to see her roll over for myself that night!!  The next morning we packed up and headed to North Little Rock for the weekend and had a great time watching football with Grandpa George and showing him our new roll over moves.  We got a bonus surprise when we found out that Aunt Karrie and cousins Grant and Griffin were in town as well!!  They came over both Saturday and Sunday and we played with blocks, boats, colored pictures, and ate popcorn and Cheetos!!

Finley and Freddie Joe

Grant kind of likes his cousin Finley ;)

Finley says "excuse me does anyone notice that I am slipping?"

Taking a cat nap at Grandpa George's

Love all of these babies!!

Taz looks a bit scared in this one

Finley after one of her rolls

Staring up at her Grandpa George

Her little hands still seem so tiny

We went to Finley's doctor appt at Children's Hospital on Monday.  We were very pleased to find out that her hemangioma birthmark is superficial and it will not have to be surgically removed.  We have to go back in about 4 months for a follow up appt but the dr said that she believed it was more than 70% complete in it's growth phase and that at the very worst we can choose to have it removed by laser if we wanted to in the future.  For now we were just told to keep an eye on it and let the dr know if anything drastically changes.

Finley has began teething so she has been very slobbery and a little bit fussier than usual.  We got her some baby oragel and a few teething toys that have seemed to help.  She is actually grasping her toys and teething rings now and has better hand/eye coordination.  She is wanting to put everything in her mouth including our fingers, hair, clothes & just whatever else is within reach.  She is liking to sit up in her bumbo and jump-a-roo a lot more now.  She constantly watches us and mimics the movement of our mouths as we eat and/or drink and seems like she really wants to have some of what we are having.  From what I've read apparently that is a sign the she is getting ready for solid foods.  I guess we will soon see.  We were told by her pediatrician to continue with only breast milk until 6 months if she seems full and content, so that is our goal for now.

Helping cook lunch in her bumbo

Finley and Wes came up to Bentonville for our annual office trick or treat day.  We didn't trick or treat but just took our little kitty cat around to show her off to friends/co-workers.  She also got to meet up with all of the other babies that are real close in age who were recently born to parents in our department.  She played with her friends Corbin, Harper, and Olivia.  I plan to add a group pic in here when I get one.

Her favorite toy is a kitty cat so that is why we chose for her to be a little kitty

Throughout the week she has been making sounds that sound a lot like dad dad dad and one that actually sounds like she is saying Ella.  Of course Ella really thought that was cool especially since this occurred on the week of her 6th birthday!!  Ella is celebrating her birthday at Silver Dollar City next weekend but we did all go to dinner and opened presents this past Friday, October 28th on her actual birthday.  She loved all of her girly gifts from dress up clothes to fairy princess barbies!!  Finley stayed awake for the entire event.  It's hard to sleep with so much fun going on.

I think she liked the gift that we got her!!

COUSIN COMMENTS:

Grace saw a toy on TV that she really liked and told Sarah that she "liked that toy as much as macaroni & cheese and baby Finley."  That is a whole lot of liking according to Grace!!

Gram & Pop Pop visit

Gram and Pop Pop came up to visit the weekend of the 10/15 and we had a great time!  Uncle JJ treated the whole family to lunch on Saturday at the Springdale Country Club.  The weather was amazing!!

Gram wanted to see how many grand-girls she could hold during lunch

Pumpkin beauties

Finley showed Gram & Pop Pop her attempts to roll over throughout the weekend but at the time could still not quite get over her arm.  All of us girls attempted to go to the pumpkin patch/corn maze but all that was there was a really long line to what liked like a pretty hot and lousy time, so we changed our plans and went to the park instead.  Finley got to swing in a big swing for the first time with me and Ella and Grace had fun playing with random kids, some of which were at the park for a Halloween party.

Grace looking into a hole of a tree at the park

Hmmmm

Finley's got Gram's hair & Ella thinks that it is funny

Finley loves staring at her Aunt Sarah

Sweet girl 

Love this of Grace and some random kid at the park

Reminding me a little of Sarah and myself as kids

 That Sunday Ella planned a Pumpkin Party for all of us girls, complete with a list of activities, songs, decorations and food to be served.  I think she takes after her Aunt Erin a bit!  We had a great time following her instructions and she absolutely loved it!!

Gram made pumpkin cookies and a pumpkin pie with the girls

Even Gram dressed up for Ella's Pumpkin Party

Our princesses

Ella's finishing touches

Pop Pop and Fin

Gram couldn't get enough of all of her girls