A rough day...,

Boy, had I forgotten how rough the 12 month check-up was :(  That's what Berkley and I entertained ourselves with yesterday while Kenadie was at school.  10:00 appointment, means you leave your house around 9:30, means Berkley's nap got cut a little short, means your start of the day isn't quite at its full potential for your child to be tortured... But you do all this at this time because you really only want to take one of your precious jewels with you to this appointment :)  We check in, we quickly respond to the receptionist that "yes, we do want to have our eyes checked", we're sent straight to the lab, who immediately sends us to the exam room, where we proceed to get one shot in each arm and one in the leg, AND find out that we have a "significant" ear infection that no fever ever accompanied.  This is our second one to have like this, neither with having fever.  Pair the unknown infection with 3 teeth coming in, that pretty much made for one grumpy little girl last week...  We get our cute clothes put back on, only to get a nice blood stain on from our finger prick to check her iron.  Lastly came the eye exam, which wasn't a big deal, but pair that with all of the above factors I've mentioned, and so, sitting in a dark room with a fussy baby, watching red flashing lights, which would normally have entertained Berkley, just wasn't all that fun today!  Whew!  On a positive note, all looked well with her development, and she's a healthy little girl, both of which I'm super thankful for! 

Weight: 20 lbs. 14oz. (50th%)

Height: 28 1/2 inches (80th%)

Head circumference: 17 5/8 inches (40th%)

At 12 months: You have 4 teeth, and 3 that are on their way!  You took your very last bottle last night, and that makes me sad :(  You are still on a wheat free diet, which seems to help your eczema/rash problems.  You are drinking soy milk.  Whole milk seemed to aggravate your skin,  but milk in foods seems to be okay.  Carrots and bananas are favorites, along with the turkey sausage you discovered Sunday!  You take two naps a day, go to bed around 7:30 and sleep until about 6:30.  Your favorite thing to do is play/climb on Kenadie's bed :)  You are giggly with excitement when doing this!  You say "da da" and "ma ma" and some other gibberish sounds :)  You are still rear facing and in your infant car seat, which goes up to 30 lbs.  You will STILL sleep in it, like, we can STILL take you in a restaurant and you stay asleep!  Yea, your sweet sister NEVER did that!!!  You are very content in your car seat, and I really don't know how much you would like to be forward facing because you wouldn't be able to see Kenadie as well, and you LOVE that!  She is your playmate at all times in the car because she's just sweet like that :)  So for now, we will keep you rear facing.  You are wearing 12 month clothes and in a stage 3 diaper. 

And because I couldn't do a post without including a picture in it...  I love this one!...  Kenadie made her "necklace" and she just seemed so proud of it!  She kept this smile on her face the entire time she had it on :)

                  

9 Months

Whew... am I ready for things to slow down around here!  But, from what I hear, this is only the beginning...  Oh my!!!  Since my last post we have: celebrated Kenadie's 4th birthday, unexpectedly and very quickly said goodbye to our beloved Yorkie, Lily, made a trip to North Carolina to see Wes, Joy and family, sold and moved out of our house, welcomed Annie our new furry four-legged friend to the family, and I'm pretty sure that may be it...  So, that's where I've been and I really want to get some things documented that need to make it into this years' blog book that I will print out in January.  With that being said, we will pick up with Berkley's 9 month post :) before she quickly turns 10 months!

18.4 lbs., cruising around furniture, VERY interested in Kay Kay's stairs, taking 4 bottles a day, loves her little rabbit blankie, selectively understanding "no no", says da da, clapping, eating some table foods, in a stage 3 diaper and wearing 9 month clothes, takes 2 naps and a little early evening power nap, goes to bed around 7:30, doesn't "army" crawl anymore and is THE BEST TRAVELER EVER!

You are so much fun, and I would say were happy all the time if it weren't for the eczema we encountered at 7 months :(   

Happy 9 months, sweet girl!  I can't believe I will soon be posting about you being 10 months!!!

8 is GREAT!!!

Berkley definitely thinks being eight months old is GREAT!  Why, you ask?  Oh, well just because she pretty much gets whatever she wants, all the time... within reason of course :)  She could be summed up as happy all the time, if in any one of the following: when she's being held and walked around the house wherever I go, when she's sleeping, or when she is freely roaming about the house, doing as she pleases!!!  You can just forget about putting her in ANY type of holding device, i.e. exersaucer, jumperoo, swing etc.  Wait, I take that back, she does like the exersaucer.  For like five minutes :)  She is truly a sweet baby and I am always finding myself telling Aaron how sweet she is.  Let's just say she likes to be held, likes her freedom and likes her sleep.  And, these aren't bad things by any means, she just doesn't let you forget that she doesn't appreciate you setting her in the exersaucer, ha! 

     You attempt to pull up on anything you come into contact with!  Sometimes when you're just sitting on the floor, it's as if you are going to stand up right there, without the help of anything!  I'm not saying you are pulling up just yet, you randomly have if the object was just the right height, but it sure won't be long and I'm sure I'll be finding you standing up in your bed in no time.  Your first little tooth is just barely coming through :)  It's your bottom left tooth.  You've had your first ear infection and have been on your first antibiotic :(  You never ran fever, just pulled/tugged/made little sores in your ear over a couple of weeks, so I took you to see your doctor before going out of town. 

Probably your daddy's favorite recent milestone... you attended your first Southern Miss football game, and did great!!!

     And last, but certainly not least, you LOVE Kenadie!!!  And she would say she LOVES you more!  On ANY piece of school work, art work, doodling-type work, coloring page etc., she writes "Kenadie Zumwalt Berkley."  She's ready to see you immediately from you waking from a nap, or if she's been away from you for any length of time.  When I took you to the doctor last week, she stayed with Kay Kay, and made sure to tell me to call her after your appointment and tell me what the doctor said :)  Gee, I sure hope that's genuine and that I haven't OCDedly passed that on to her :)  She was sweet though, she wanted to know if you were sick :)

Here's to hoping that your eighth month doesn't fly as quickly as your seventh, because if it does, it means that we will be celebrating Kenadie's 4th birthday, BIG tear :(  But, she's way too excited for me to get too sad about it...  I'm sure I'll make time to have a closet cry about it when no one is looking :)  I love you my little Berkley Pie! 

Extreme Makeover: Nursery Edition

On Monday, Berkley discovered how to go from laying down to sitting up all on her own.  Monday night when I put Berkley down for the night, I told Aaron that this would probably be her last night to sleep in her bed without it being lowered.  10 minutes after putting Berkley to bed... Aaron was lowering her crib!  Even though she's not pulling up yet, I could just see her taking a nose dive over the side of her crib.  I also had to remove the bumper pad from one side... she thought she needed a place to look out more than the comfy pillow surrounding her :)

  And, she gave her new and unimproved bed two thumbs up!  While her mommy was sad it was already time to do such :(

Look who's 7 months old

Happy 7 months, Berkley!!!  What do I need to document about you at the moment... hmmm... let's see.  Well, you are still technically a happy baby, but you have definitely learned how to fuss for the things you need :)  You typically get your feelings hurt when we walk out of the room you are in, and even though it may break your heart, I sure do like the feeling of being needed :)  You are still going to bed around 6:30, but have consistently started waking around 5:30, ouch!  We usually leave you in your bed for as long as you are happy, and I can just forget about you going back to sleep!  Nuh uh, not gonna happen until after you get your bottle! 

 You are crawling everywhere!!!  We've introduced a sippy cup--my that sounds strange!  I DID say "introduced", I think it has happened like two times :)  You eat breakfast and dinner and take 4, 7oz. bottles.  One thing that's different about you and Kenadie and your bottles... you WILL actually sometimes leave an ounce or so, and not want it.  You have recently shown an interest in Lily, and it's pretty cute :)  I'm sure the feelings are mutual.  She's a great sport with children! 

You really like your little blankies, all five of them!  When I lay you in your bed, I always put one under both arms, and you roll onto your side, all snuggled up in them :)  You maybe seem a little partial to the one with the little rabbit attached to the top of it, but you really like them all!  We still don't have any teeth yet, however, you have definitely had the personality of a baby who is teething!  Come on little teethies... 

I thought I would compare Kenadie and Berkley again like I did last month.  Berkley is still taking her baths in the little inflatable tub that sits down in the bath tub, apparently Kenadie was not :)  I posed Berkley out of her inflatable tub so that their pictures looked more alike.  She sure was loving the freedom!  She is still too much of a wiggle worm to take baths like this just yet!  And one more note on her being a wiggle worm... I DO NOT remember Kenadie being NEAR as WIGGLY during diaper changes and getting dressed!  Oh my goodness!  I would say I have to flip her over about 5 times during a single diaper change.  She just smiles the whole time over it all, while I on the other hand, have worked up a sweat just trying to get her diapered and clothed, ha!



How It's Done

Crawling that is... Yes!  Berkley was definitely crawling better than she was sitting up at one point!  She's not up on all fours yet, but she can definitely get where she needs to go!  And yes, it happened OVERNIGHT! 

"Hmmm... that toy over there sure does look more fun than these over here...  Now where is that sister of mine to go get it for me?  She never lets me out of her sight!"

"Oh, alright... I'll go get it."

"Will I get there faster if I hold my mouth open?"

"Got it!"

"Okay, that was fun for a little while.  On to something else.  I really think I was having more fun before I came all the way over here."

"I'll just go right back to where I was.  The toys were better over there anyway."

"Maybe just one little scoot more..."

"Ahhh... I think I'll just stay here for a while... seeings how THIS is what I really wanted all along."

Berkley, slow your little self down!  You weren't supposed to start crawling until next month like your sister did :)  Just a note about the second child: Berkley is just about over the exersaucer and swing.  Kenadie lasted happily in the exersaucer until she was at least 12 months old, and as for the swing... I was worried she was going to outgrow the 30 lb. limit, but not Berkley :)  Kenadie must be making the outside world look way more fun!  

Happy Half Birthday, Berkley!

Dear Berkley,
Today, you are six months old, my little precious pie!  Kay Kay and I made you a half birthday cake yesterday to celebrate the occasion.  Although it appears in the above picture that it's just you, sitting unsupported by a cake that Papa is holding so that it doesn't go flying off the table, Kay Kay is just barely out of the picture to catch you when you start to topple over :)  I would say you can sit unsupported for maybe 5 good seconds :)   Another funny you can't see in this pic is that I am whistling my head off because it sometimes can get a smile out of you, and your big sister is right there with me playing the music from a little dog toy that also sometimes makes you smile.  The finger in the mouth with a slight grin was all we could get from you :)  I'm now calling you my little serious baby.  You are a smiley baby, and it's fairly easy for non family members to get a smile from you, but you are quickly drawn back to this very serious face that appears to be saying "Who on earth are you and what in the world are you doing?"

You are such a sweet baby who still rarely ever fusses.  You take 3-4 naps a day, love playing in the floor with all your toys, love Kenadie who can always make you laugh, take 4 bottles a day, eat twice a day along with what we'll call a little snack around lunchtime, and you can put your paci in your mouth all by yourself, however; I typically am needed at some point to come find it for you in your crib.  I obviously love EVERYTHING about you, but some of my most favorite things about you now are:  How super excited you are to see me when you wake from a nap or when you wake up in the mornings, how just about every time I look in the rear view mirror while driving down the road, you are 9 times out of 10 happily watching your sister like she's super great, how you "talk" a lot in the car,  how you get really excited when it's time to eat and how you smile when I sing to you at night before bedtime.

The following is a much truer shot of how our photo shoot on Kay Kay's dining room table really looked...   

    Kay Kay made a little half cake for me when I was 6 months old, we did it for Kenadie, and now it was your turn.  Of course, you have no idea what it tasted like, but we all enjoyed it :)

Happy half birthday, Berkley!  I've been singing "Happy half birthday to you..." all morning!  I love you so much, and thank God daily for blessing our family with such a special gift as you :) 

5 Month Old Little Berkley

My little Berkley... today you are 5 months old!  I would still very much describe you as a content baby, with me anyway :)  however, I am noticing that I am needing to hold you a little more often than before, hmmm...  wonder where that's heading :)  You are taking 4 (7 oz) bottles a day and with your last bottle, you are getting some rice cereal with a little vegetable.  You have only tried green beans and peas, but I'm thinking squash may be in your near future :) 

Sometimes I call you my little jumping bean :) as you are quite easy to startle.  When you have woken from a nap, I always try to start talking to you before you can see me, so that I don't alarm you :)  One day last week, you had woken from your nap, and I went in to get you, only to apparently scare you to the point of tears because I had a hat on, or either I looked really bad that day, not sure... I'd like to think it was the hat though...  You love, love, love, to kick your legs really fast when you're on the changing table.  The look on your face is 100% concentration, fully focused, as if Eye of the Tiger is playing and you are in the middle of some kind of serious workout!  You look like you are on some kind of mission, and you are counting each kick to some # I'll never know :)  I always ask you "Where are you going?", but say that to yourself in a super cute voice, and you always laugh, as if I have interrupted your thinking :)  I pretend you're saying "Oh, Mommy, I'm running to you because I love you so much!"  Okay, okay, so maybe I'm reading into it a bit much, but hey, it may be true :)  I'd sure like to think so!

Sadly, you have outgrown the cradle :( and are sleeping like such a big girl in your bed, in your own room, tear.  You are still sleeping about 12 hours at night and are still going down around 6:30 pm.  I always sing Jesus Loves Me when putting you down at night, and you seem to like it :)  Your paci at this point is really only needed at bedtime, and you've become quite the squirmy wormy during diaper changes! 

One more thing that has happened recently, I took you to the doctor because you pretty much need to burp any time throughout the day, no matter if you have just had a bottle or if it's four hours after a bottle.  It was confirmed that you definitely are dealing with some reflux, but not severe enough for medicine... however, severe enough that if you get too upset in the car, we have to pull over to get you out of your car seat to burp you, and also, often times get woken from your nap due to needing to burp... those are always fun times...

Okay, I feel good about your 5 month documentation now :)  I love you my little Berkley Pie!        

Berkley at 4 months

Today, just you and I went to your 4 month check-up.  You did so good, and hardly cried after getting your shots.  One things for sure, now having had two children, I have come to realize how easy it is when I just have one of my two treasures with me :)  I suppose the more children you have, it will always be easier if you don't have everyone with you at the same time :) 

You are just growing, growing, growing, but not quite as fast as your sister!  Point of interest... I looked back in Kenadie's baby book, and at her 4 month check-up, she was already 2 5/8" longer than Berkley!  They started out with a 2" difference in their length.

Weight: 13 lbs. 9ozs.  (50th percentile)

Height: 24 5/8 inches (60th percentile)

Head Circumference: 15 5/8 inches (20th percentile)

As of today, you are taking  (6) 4 1/2 oz. bottles every 3 hours.  And as of tomorrow, I think we are going to try getting you on a 4 hour schedule.  In this past month, you have bumped your bedtime up to 6:30 pm and usually sleep until about 6:30 am.  We are still waking you around 10 pm for one last bottle, and then putting you right back down, but that is also something we are going to try to drop soon, possibly tonight :)  Lots of changes about to occur in regards to your schedule :) 

You are still super content, and hardly ever fuss.  You are rolling over from tummy to back, as well as back to tummy, and also grabbing at everything like crazy, my hair for one :)  You are very ticklish, and it is still super hard to get giggles from you.  I just love your big gummy smile I get every morning when you wake up!  One of my most favorite times of the day for sure!  You recently made your first trip to North Carolina to see Uncle Wes, Aunt Joy, Hayden and Henry.  It's a 13 hour trip, and you couldn't have done better!  You are still sleeping in the cradle in our bedroom at night.  I just like you right there beside me :)  I suppose when you start to sit up, the cradle days will be over, but for now, I'm enjoying it :)  You have started teething, and I'm afraid the "bibless" days have come to an end!  You keep your hands in your mouth ALL the time.

You are such a joy, and we love you very much!            

3 Months Already

Just call me Olan Mills, right??? :)

Dear Berkley,

Today, you are actually 3 months and 4 days old.  I hate that I didn't get to post this on your 3 month birthday, but I suppose 4 days late isn't too bad :)  I guess what stands out most about you at this point is that you are a super content baby!  I'm not going to call any names, but let's just say that you are the first baby I've ever had that I could refer to as "content."  And if all of this contentness ends tomorrow, I've enjoyed it a good 3 months :) 

You are still a good sleeper. You like to go to bed punctually at 7:30, I get you up for one last bottle around 10:30, and you usually sleep until about 6:30. In this past month, you have definitely started to stay awake much more! You take 3 naps a day, and on that subject, we've recently had to do a little work with you in the nap department! In the beginning, you may have woken from a nap 2-3 times a week and I would just go in and put your pacifier back in and you would fall right back to sleep. Well, that waking pattern had progressed to just about every nap, every day, and so last Thurs. I decided it was time to get you back on track. Here is a picture of you after you finally gave in.  Your little legs were like noodles :)

Best I can tell, you weigh about 11.2 lbs. and are 23 1/2 inches long.  You still love the swing and your activity mat.  You take (6) 4 oz. bottles a day and very rarely spit up.  Your smile just melts my heart!  You are quite the talker at times, wonder who you got that from :)  You are becoming quite tickelish, and Daddy got a few super faint giggles from you the other night.  People are thinking you look like me.  I definitely see Papa and Uncle Wes in you for sure!  You have rolled over a couple times from tummy to back and, you are still sleeping in your cradle in our room at night, but you nap in your bed during the day. 

You are such a joy, my little angel. 

Love,

Mommy

Happy 2 Months, Berkley!

Dear Berkley,
You are two months old today!  Kenadie and I took you to your check-up where you got your two month shots :(  Poor baby, but you did so good... just so hard to see you cry like that :(  At two months you are:

22 7/8" long (75th %)

10.2 lbs (40th %)

Head circumference 14 3/4" (30th %)

Also at two months you are smiling more and more every day.  I think we are super close to getting a faint giggle from you too :)  I love to "talk" to you and let you "talk" back to me!  Those sweet little moments usually take place on your changing table or after a bottle.  You are now taking 4 oz. bottles every 3 hours.  In the above picture, your hair looks pretty red, however it is not all that red in person.  You have a tiny touch of red, but only in certain lightings does it appear reddish.   

Your little schedule looks typically something like this, most days anyway:

6 a.m. is your first bottle and you stay awake for about 30 minutes, and are then asleep until I wake you up at 9 for your second bottle.  I learned if I don't wake you, you tend to be a little night owl.  You are still quite the sleepy head during the day :)  You will stay up until about 10:15 and then sleep until 12 noon when I have to wake you again for your next bottle.  Again, up for about another hour or so and I don't typically have to wake you up for your 3:00 bottle.  From this point on you are awake a little more than during the earlier part of the day.  You have started "going to bed" somewhere between 7 and 8:00 and then wake up around 10ish for a bottle and are pretty much back to sleep after that.  I would say about 3 nights you may not wake up till 6 a.m., we LOVE it when you do that, hint hint*  The other 4 nights you wake up around 2:30a.m. for a bottle, but that's okay too!  We'll get there :)   

At two months, you LOVE your swing and enjoy playing on your floor mat, as long as someone is playing down there with you :)  Kenadie may have you spoiled just a little bit :)  I should note that you love your swing that swings side-to-side, however, you don't seem to be too big of a fan of your little travel swing that goes back and forth.  You also like to be in your bed when you are very much awake!  We still swaddle you at bedtime, and I am hoping we are not in for too big of a rude awakening when you no longer fit in your "sleeping bag" as I call it :)  You still love bath time and don't cry during diaper changes anymore.  As for changing your clothes, you still get a little upset when things have to go over your head.  I'm wondering if you might have picked up a little bit of my chlaustrophobicness...

I love you so much precious angel, and am so thankful God has blessed us with such a precious gift as you!