Five Months of Rowan Christine

7.22.2017

We are so close to being half way through Rowan's first year and it is flying by faster than I ever thought possible. As much as I want time to slow down her milestones are so much fun to watch and seeing her succeed just makes us so happy!
Here are Rowan's 5 Month Photos and Updates…

CHANGES + MILESTONES :

• She is weighing in at almost 18 lbs now.
• She is still sleeping all night long and has turned into a belly sleeper. Oh and she is sleeping through the night in her crib!
• She is so close to sitting up on her own and she has learned that to get wherever she wants she can roll there. She hasn't quite mastered the army crawl but every once in a while she gets it. 
• She still loves her mommas milk 
• She is quite the chatterbox and she recently started blowing raspberries (cutest thing ever)
• She has two teeth now!!!!

PEDIATRICIAN CHECK-UP & GROWTH:

No appointment until her 6 month checkup

EYE COLOR, HAIR & BABY GIGGLES:

Miss Rowan is still rocking her mohawk! Some little hairs are starting to fill in on the side. Like I said she is quite the chatterbox and she is always laughing and smiling. She almost always wakes up smiling and is slowly turning her Momma into a morning person.

SLEEP:

She has finally created a sleep pattern. She goes to sleep every night no earlier than 10:45 and no later than 11:00/11:15 and she wakes up around 5AM, dreamfeeds for a little while and goes back to sleep until 9:30/9:45.

SCHEDULE:

Little Miss still takes her naps pretty sporadically throughout the day but she has dropped her second three hour nap of the day and reduced it to 45 minutes. 

FEEDINGS:

Rowan has been a fantastic eater however since those two little teeth have come in she bit Momma a couple times so we switched her day time feedings to pumped bottles and through the night if she needs milk I will nurse her. The less distractions the better!

Four Months of Rowan Christine

4 Months!?!!! Say what!!! 

We are just as surprised too baby girl! 

As much as I want time to slow down we are having so much fun watching you change daily and grow into your own little self. Four months really was a game changer in the activity department. You are a rolling fool and are talking up a storm. We love you so much!

Here are Rowan's 4 Month Photos and Updates....

CHANGES + MILESTONES :

• She has finally passed 16 lbs. She loves her Mama Milk!
• She is able to sit in her bumbo seat, loves her entertainment center (bouncer) and is a rolling fool! This girl loves being on her belly and looking around!
• She is still sleeping through the night. Amen.
• She is so close to sitting up on her own and really wants to start crawling. I have a feeling she will be mobile very soon.
• She is quite the talker and is still constantly smiling
• We moved in with my parents this month and Rowan is adjusting very well.
• She is still in size 2 diapers and loves her wubbanub. 

PEDIATRICIAN CHECK-UP & GROWTH:

We don't go back to the doctor for another 2 months and we have been super healthy so we haven't had any surprise visits. Daddy weighed her and she is 16.3 lbs now!

EYE COLOR, HAIR & BABY GIGGLES:

Miss Row's hair is really lightening up. Sometimes in the sun it has almost a red tint to it too but I think it is going to be more dirty blonde than red or brown. Her eyes are still a really pretty blue and we have been finding so many tickle spots. Sunday I found that her armpits are actually ticklish and she has the most contagious laugh

SLEEP:

We have been going to sleep for the night around 10:45-11 and sleeping until 4:30/5 AM. It is glorious!

SCHEDULE:

Little Miss is still not sticking to a consistent schedule. Her lack of an eating schedule caught up with me this past weekend. I actually ended up with a clogged duct because she nurses here and there, gets distracted and then wants more later. She also goes hours without eating which is not helping my supply. Here soon we might be switching to exclusively pumping and feeding her by bottles other than at night.

FEEDINGS:

In my opinion Rowan has been a fantastic eater other than her schedule. She has been gaining like a champ though and pumping isn't absolutely terrible.

Three Months of Rowan Christine

Rowan's third month has been a blast! She has changed so much and we are just loving her sweet, happy go lucky personality. Being her parents has been such a blessing!

Here are Rowan's Month 3 Photos and Updates…

CHANGES + MILESTONES :

• She is up to 15 lbs now!
• She is still sleeping through the night. Next month we might be transitioning her to her crib because she is starting to out grow her bassinet
• She takes naps pretty much anywhere, just like her Mama!
• She is officially able to hold her own head up and is so alert. She has been nicknamed Nosey Rosey because she is so easily distracted.
• She is definitely talking more and more now. 
• We graduated to size 2 diapers and we can pretty much use any brand diapers and wipes without a reaction which is pretty awesome!

PEDIATRICIAN CHECK-UP & GROWTH:

We don't go back to the Dr until she is 6 months old so no update here

EYE COLOR, HAIR & BABY GIGGLES:

Miss Rowan's hair is really starting to lighten up and her eyes are official a beautiful blue. They are so big and bright. Rowan also has the biggest smile which she flashes around pretty often! My cousin Molly finally got a real laugh out of her by tickling her collar bone. It was the best thing ever and we have been tickling her all the time now because it is so cute. 

SLEEP:

Her naps throughout the day are not as routine but so far (knock on wood) every night she is asleep by 10:45 and then she sleeps until 4AM. Even then she ends up getting in bed with us and we dream nurse the rest of the morning. I love these moments together so much!

FEEDINGS:

Breastfeeding is still going amazing! I am starting to have a love hate relationship with my pump but I know that pumping is the only way we are going to make it through this first year.

Two Months of Rowan Christine

Our baby is two months old!! How is that even possible?
Fastest two months of my life

Here are Rowan's Month 2 Photos and Updates…

CHANGES + MILESTONES :

• She is wearing size one diapers but is so close to moving to the twos.
• She rolled over twice in the sixth week but has yet to do it again.
• She is sleeping during the night in the bassinet and I am pretty sure she is napping on her Grandma during the day.
• She is holding her head up now and is much less bobby
• She loves her Momma's milk 
• She is staying awake much longer during the day and has really found her voice.
• She found her hands last week and they are constantly in her mouth.
• She is sleeping through the night from 10:30PM - 5:00AM

PEDIATRICIAN CHECK-UP & GROWTH:

We went to her two week appointment with the pediatrician this morning and it is actually next Wednesday...wha wha whomp. 

EYE COLOR, HAIR & BABY GIGGLES:

Miss Rowan's hair is getting really thick and much lighter. Her eyes are so so blue just like Daddy and Momma's eyes. Rowan is the happiest baby I have ever seen, she literally smiles like all the time. It makes everyone else around her smile too!

SLEEP:

We are finally on some sort of sleep schedule. I would say five out of seven nights a week she is sleeping from 10:30-5 with the occasional waking up around 3:00 but she goes right back to sleep. 

SCHEDULE:

Momma went back to work this week. So on top of sleeping through the night we are out of the house every morning and to Grandma and Grandpa's for the day on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. They absolutely adore having her and I can relax at work knowing she is with them.

FEEDINGS:

Since I am back to work pumping has been going great. I am a little ahead of Miss Rowan's eating needs and we are creating quite the freezer stash. Rowan has been taking the bottle like a champ and she loves the MAM bottles. We were liking the Dr. Brown's but Grandma and Daddy said she was choking more often on them so we made a switch and the MAM ones are where it is at.

One Month of Rowan Christine

And just like that we have a one month old, Happy One Month Rowan Christine!
As cliche as it may be we cannot believe how fast this first month has gone. Life has sped up so much and it needs to slow down any time now. Even though it has only been a month since we welcomed Rowan into our lives it is hard to remember what life was life like pre-baby. We could not imagine life without her and cannot wait to see what this adventure is going to be like.

Here are Rowan's Month 1 Photos and Updates…

CHANGES + MILESTONES :

• She has gained almost two lbs since she was born and is now 21.5″ long! She is in the 88th percentile for height and the same percentle for weight! We got some use out of a couple of her newborn outfits in the first week but quickly outgrew them and now she is wearing 0-3 month clothes.
• She rocks over to her side to sleep but doesn't actually roll over. She also prefers sleeping on her belly during naps and after she has burped. As long as one of us is holding her we allow her to do so but make sure she is a back sleeper during the night.
• She is sleeping during the night in the bassinet and napping during the day in her Rock n Play Sleeper.
• She has some really strong neck muscles and can hold her head up for quite some time. We still have to be there to catch it because when she gets tired her head is falling like a ton of bricks. Everyone comments on how strong she is.
• While nursing she has started holding onto my breast and Anthony said she does the same with her morning bottle. 
• She has started making little sounds here and there like she is trying to talk to us. I figure in the second month she will really start making more coos and being a little more interactive.
• She loves getting a bath and barely makes a peep.
• She has met a lot of our family and friends so lots of pictures have been taken that I need to get developed and put into an album for memory purposes because we will soon forget since time has officially started flying by.

PEDIATRICIAN CHECK-UP & GROWTH:

We went to her two week appointment with the pediatrician last Monday and Rowan is a healthy, growing little girl. She has surpassed her birth weight which we kind of knew because Daddy has been weighing her on the bathroom scales. She was up to 10.5 lbs from her 9 lb birth weight and 21.5 inches long from 20 inches long at birth. That progress makes this Momma extremely proud!

EYE COLOR, HAIR & BABY GIGGLES:

Miss Rowan's hair is starting to lighten up and her eyes are this grayish but turning much bluer every day, just like Mommy and Daddy's eyes. They are so big and bright. Rowan also has the biggest smile which she flashes around pretty often! Every time she does so I try to grab the camera so I can capture it. There have been a couple times that she has giggled but it was following a gas bubble so I don't think it was necessarily a real laugh just yet. 

SLEEP:There is no sleep schedule going on around here just yet. Other than we can count on her to be awake every 2-3 hours throughout the night to nurse. In the first couple of weeks we were really thrown off track with the constant getting up throughout the night. She was up to nurse, needing a diaper change or we were jumping at every little noise she made. Those first nights at home really were kind of scary and looking back I am not sure how we were even coping during the day... Naps, lots and lots of naps were going on. 

Last week we kind of started getting into the groove of things and kept everything bedside so that diapers could be changed while laying in bed and nursing could be done right there as well. A few nights we slept on the couch, okay maybe for a week straight we were sleeping on the couch. Rowan was sleeping in her Rock n Play Sleeper and since our bed sits so high up it made for a real struggle getting to her in the middle of the night so the couch put us right at that level. This week we decided to get back to our bedroom in hopes of getting back to some normalcy and switching her to sleeping in the bassinet so there will be an easier transition to her crib once the day comes for that. We are doing a little bit better in there now and we actually had two amazing nights in a row (Sunday & Monday night this week) that our lovely little lady slept for 4 hours straight. Talk about amazing and a wonderful little treat!

SCHEDULE:

Little Miss is still not sticking to a consistent schedule other than I can tell you that she eats every 2 to 3 hours, has a wet diaper every time she wakes up and even sometimes in between and has a poopy diaper 2-3 times a day and sometimes has one in the middle of the night. She has slowly started to be awake more than she was in those first few weeks. During this time I love to walk her around the house and let her look at everything (even though I know she can't recognize it yet I see her focusing on certain objects like door frames and picture frames hanging on the wall)

FEEDINGS:

In my opinion Rowan has been a fantastic eater. She latched right on when we were doing skin to skin right after delivery and after some tips with the lactation consultant nursing has somewhat been a breeze. Other than in those first two days at home when I was waiting on my milk to come in and I was scared she was not getting enough nourishment and that we were going to get scolded at the 1 week check up that she was not gaining and that we would need to supplement. Throughout the day I nurse her and then Anthony will give her a bottle of breast milk in the early morning (5 a.m. or so) when he is awake and he wants to give me some time to sleep. We have been using the Dr. Brown's natural flow bottles in the 5 oz. size and have no complaints. She has upped her drinking amount to almost 6 oz. so here soon I think we are going to opt for some bigger bottles.