The Bailey Chronicles

June 2009: 6 months old

Bailey has mastered rolling over so well that it's her primary source of transportation LOL... Mr. Kitty doesn't know what to make of Bailey's mobility feature now!

On the day of the appointment we noticed a new development in Bailey's world... her first tooth. So cute =) Then the very next day she grew it a friend. So little B has two brand new baby teeth pushing through. This in combination with her 6th month immunization shots has given me some trying days this week! Nap times have become an all day battle, she fights sleep as if it were her enemy. Dosing her with infant Tylenol has helped, but I hate having to do that. But her lack of sleep is causing her to get dark circles under her eyes to match my set and that scares me. I have started giving her baths twice a day now, once late in the morning after she eats her solids and once at night. The baths are to help her sleep and it's been working so I will keep it up for a while until she stops the battles. She is the cleanest baby ever LOL.

new baby teeth = tired girl

May 2009: 6 months old

It is official, summer time is here! The kids will be getting out of school for the summer this week and hopefully be spending lots of time with their Aunt Kayla by the pool. On Saturday Candi and the kiddos came by in the evening to take a dip in the pool and eat some pizza. This was Bailey's first time to experience a pool. I think that it still needs to warm up a little for her to fully enjoy it, she seemed unsure about all of it. It was pretty chaotic with all of the kids splashing her, she seemed overwhelmed by her first experience. I don't typically give Bailey a passy, but she was very happy to see it when I brought it out as a back up plan. She hung on to it for dear life and made happy little grunts as she sucked away LOL. We then hopped in the hot tub to warm up a little and Bailey instantly relaxed. She was perfectly still, kicked back with her chillin' arm propped up on me and her little feet out. It was much quieter in there and best of all no splashy older ones to dodge. No doubt about it, the hot tub was more of her thing (closer to bath time that she adores so much). I am hoping she will warm up to the pool as the water warms up. John and I will be swim suit shopping for her tomorrow, and I hope to get some less distressed pics this weekend.

She has not cared about the passy since the pool trip, I guess it was just a bit of security for her in an overwhelming place. Now when I try to give it to her she will suck on it for about 30 seconds and pull it out of her mouth to inspect it then tosses it aside. But I don't mind at the moment, because she has started to say Ma Ma when she whines. She hasn't shown any signs of associating the new sounds to me, but it still sounds sweet to my ears!

May 2009: 6 months old

As a store manager for Best Buy, John works pretty long hours, usually 10+ a day 5+ days a week. Even though he is a busy guy he still finds a way to have one on one time with Bailey most days out of the week (the exception is when he is working one of those mid day shifts where he leaves right before she wakes up and gets home right after she has gone to bed for the night). On the days that he is scheduled to close the store and won't be arriving home until close to midnight he makes sure to wake up with her and spend the whole morning with her and even allows me to sleep in a little like a sweet husband and a good Daddy would do. We love him for all the little things that he does! I am not sure what all the two of them get into in the mornings except for what I over hear on the baby monitor when he surprises her at the crib, which she responds with a fit of laughter. I do know that part of their special morning routine involves jumping in the car to go get breakfast and I am pretty sure the other part of the morning involves Guitar Hero LOL. They are cute together, and I am so happy that she has a Daddy who tries so hard to stay involved in her day.

On a Very Serious Breakfast Mission with Daddy

May 2009: Six months old

Our big girl hit month six on Monday so John and I made a trip to the baby store to pick up her very own exersaucer! It's very cool. I never thought I would get so excited about my daughter's toys LOL. This particular model has a very unique feature to it. It has a built in walker, but a much safer version than a typical walker. It is stationary in the center and backside has wheels so when she is bigger she will have the ability to walk around the circumference of the exersaucer, but she will not actually have free range of the house. Down side is it is a little big, but it is so cool. The toys are bright and interactive, and the most important part is it is Bailey approved. She squealed with laughter when I put her in it and refused to nap for the rest of the day because she wanted to explore it some more.

This last pic is a result of an overstimulated very tired little baby, like I said she refused naps for the rest of the day so she could play

And another reason why I love this age so much...

It has been a LONG time since I have had 6 or more consecutive hours of sleep. I had more rest while I was pregnant, but I was ALWAYS sooo tired and was up and down all night and all day because I was either sick or I had a baby pressing on my bladder. Then my bouncing baby girl entered the world. My previous reason for feeling sleep deprived and tired had vanished and been replaced with a whole new set of reasons for the bags and dark circles under my eyes. Miss Bailey has a hard time staying awake while nursing so she wakes up every 2-3 hours to eat, but not this month! She sleeps through the night now about 50% of the time and I feel like a whole new Mommy! It is amazing what a little sleep can do for a person! Her afternoon naps have pretty much turned from plural to singular, but I don't mind if it means I get a full night of sleep. At the end of last month I started her on a bedtime routine and I think that helped the change in her sleep patterns. The nights that she seems to have trouble sleeping seem to be the nights John is closing, too bad he doesn't work a set schedule!

Our bed time routine:

First I turn on a space heater in her bedroom and set her lotion in front of it so both the bedroom and the lotion will be nice and warm for a cold, wet, naked baby

Then I give her a bath which is her FAVORITE part of the day

She spends lot of time splashing and catching ducks as I wash her with yummy lavender scented baby wash to help her sleep better, which works out well because it's one of my favorite scents

About this time John comes home from work and rescues her out of the tub (unless of course he's closing then I would be doing all of the night ritual)

She is always delighted to see him so he gives her her warm lotion baby massage

and puts her feety pj's on her (she has started a new thing when she get excited she pants like a puppy LOL... that's the face she makes, so cute!)

and then it's story time, we trade off with this one, but some times she is too tired & hungry by this point for a story so we skip it and I wrap up the evening by swaddling her and nursing her to sleep

May 2009: 5 months old

Play time has become much more interactive for little B now that her eye sight and hand eye coordination have improved. She spends a great deal of time playing with her toys, "talking" to them and blowing raspberries at them. I love this age!