8 months

Age: 8 monthsHeight: 24.75” at 6 monthsWeight: Almost 17 poundsHead: 40.5cm at 6 monthsMilestones: Avy is crawling everywhere. She can pull up to standing on about everything. She can hold onto something with one hand while standing. She is beginning to take steps when trying to get a toy or object she wants. She passes toys from one hand to the other. She loves to stand up in her crib in the morning and wake mommy and daddy up by pounding on the crib with her hand or jabbering. Sleep: Avy is sleeping through the night. She goes to bed around 8pm every night. She will then wake up anywhere from 5:30-6:30am for a bottle. She usually doesn’t go back to sleep when she wakes up at 6:30. She will stay awake for a couple of hours and then take a 1 ½ hour to 2 hour nap. She will take another nap in the afternoon, but it fluctuates and is usually only 1 hour. Best Moment: Avy is so funny at times. She will give us smiles and squeal. She likes pat-a-cake and playing peek-a-boo. She shakes her head back and forth at a lot of things, but we are not sure what it means. She usually just does it and smiles.Worst Moment: Avy’s GERD or acid reflux is much better. I am giving her the medication once a day now instead of twice. She is spitting up a lot less so planning to discontinue the medication once we run out!Health: So far, no issues.Eating: Avy still loves her veggies!! She eats an entire jar or sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, green beans, or peas depending on what we are feeding her that day. She is still not too sure about fruit, but is beginning to eat small amounts of it. She loves puffs! She enjoys picking them up off her tray and putting them in her mouth. We continue to give her rice cereal in her bottles and she chew on rice cakes and crackers.Teeth: Yep, she has her two bottom teeth.Extra comments: Avy is becoming so fun watching her learn new things and explore her curiosity. She loves playing and exploring things other then her toys!

7 Months

Age: 7 months Height: 24.75” at 6 months Weight: over 15lbs I’m sure Head: 40.5cm at 6 months Milestones: Avy can roll over onto either side. She get’s up on all fours and even does a pike often by pushing up keeping her arms and legs straight. She is army crawling to get to an object or toy that she wants. She is so close to crawling, just doesn’t have the hang of it yet. She is able to sit alone for a minute or two, but falls over and can’t get herself back up. She pulls herself onto her side and side sits, she just can’t push herself up to midline yet. She likes to jabber, but hasn’t said any defiant words. She does not really have a giggle, but makes a grunt laugh or squeal. She enjoys people watching when we go out. She also loves her daily walks and hikes. She loves taking baths and has learned how to splash the water with her hands and feet. Sleep: Avy is sleeping through the night. She goes to bed anywhere from 7:30 to 9:30 and will sleep for 8 to 10 hours. Her naps seem to fluctuate. She will usually take one in the morning and one in the afternoon from 1 hour to 3 hours. Best Moment: We are really starting to enjoy everyday with Avy. We love watching her curiosity and all the new things she is learning. The best moment is seeing her big smile in morning when she wakes up! Worst Moment: Avy’s GERD or acid reflux is getting better. I am giving her the medication once a day now instead of twice. She is spitting up a lot less so I’m hoping that we can discontinue the medication in the next month or so. Health: So far, no issues. Eating: Avy loves her veggies!! She eats an entire jar or sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, green beans, or peas depending on what we are feeding her that day. She is not too sure about fruit. We have introduced her to bananas, apples and pears, but she isn’t too sure about them. She continues to give her rice cereal in her bottles and she has now started chewing on rice crackers, which she loves. Teeth: Nope, but drooling a lot and consistently putting her hands in her mouth and chewing on toys. Extra comments: Avy is becoming so fun watching her learn new things and explore her curiosity.

6 months

Age: 6 months
Height: 24.75", 11th percentile
Weight: 14lbs 12oz., 26th percentile
Head: 40.5 cm, 46th percentile
Milestones: Avy is a very active baby. She constantly moves her arms and legs and loves to roll around on the floor. She is almost sitting without support and just needs a little push when she starts to lean from side to side. She loves to do sit ups and constantly lifts her hand and legs up like she is doing a crunch. She is able to use our hands or fingers to pull herself to standing and can stand independently while holding onto something for approximately 3-5 seconds. She has begun to lift her knees underneath her as if she is in the crawling position, but hasn't made a move yet.
Sleep: Avy still fluctuates with sleeping through the night. She will sometimes go 8-10 hours without waking up and sometimes only go 4-5 hours before waking up. The doctor told us to let her try and fall back asleep rather then feed her, because she should be able to sleep 8-10 hours now. Avy usually doesn't fuss when she wakes. She usually just plays in her crib. She is also fluctuating on taking naps. Somedays she will take a good morning and afternoon nap and other days she only cat naps for 20 minutes at a time.
Best Moment: She always smiles when she sees us and likes to squeal when daddy tickles her.
Worst Moment: Avy still has the GERD (acid reflux) issue and continues to spit up a lot of her bottles. She is still on medication which seems to help somewhat. We are hoping that we will see some improvement soon!
Health: So far, no issues.
Eating: Avy continues to gain weight and look chubby. She continues to take bottles with rice cereal to help with the acid reflux. We took a step back with baby foods when she got a cold and then we traveled home and thought it would be a hassle to deal with baby foods. The doctor wants us to start back on baby foods as she said if we wait too long they will only want a bottle. I tried avocado and she did not seem to like it. She made some really funny faces and then started acting like she was trying to spit it out by gagging. We are back to trying squash and sweet potatoes now. I will probably try carrots and peas next.
Teeth: Nope, but drooling a lot and consistently putting her hands in her mouth and chewing on toys. The doctor said the teeth are there, they just haven't come through yet.
Extra comments: Greg and I both feel that we are going to see a lot of milestones with Avy this month. She is so close to sitting on her own, standing on her own, clapping, saying mama or dada, crawling, and drinking out of sippy cup. She is playing for longer periods of time on the floor and really enjoys exploring different toys and textures. She continues to enjoy her jumperoo and her feet almost touch the carpet, then we won't have to use a book! She still loves going on hikes and likes to look around and touch the trees. She likes to ride in her stroller for walks or when she goes shopping. She has become quite the people watcher!

5 months

Age: 5 months Height: 23.5" Weight: over 14lbs I’m sure Head: 40.5" Milestones: Avy can visually track things as they move around the room. She likes to talk, squeal, and blow bubbles. She smiles often and is a pretty happy baby most of the time. She can roll over and enjoys rolling across the floor. She is beginning to really like her jumperoo. She will play in it for 20 minutes or more at a time. She really likes to stand and will use your hands to help pull her up. She also enjoys sitting up and only needs a little support to stay seated. She has found her feet and like to grab and hold onto them. Sleep: Avy has begun to sleep through the night! She usually goes to bed around 7pm and then will sleep anywhere from 7 to 10 hours. When she takes a big bottle before bed, she will sleep the longest. She continues to take naps during the day, but is not on a scheduled routine for naps yet. Best Moment: I think she is beginning to recognize familiar people. When she sees me, she usually always get’s excited! Worst Moment: Avy still has the GERD (acid reflux) issue and continues to spit up a lot of her bottles. She is still on medication which seems to help somewhat. We are hoping that we will see some improvement soon! Health: So far, no issues. Eating: Avy continues to gain weight and look chubby. She continues to take bottles with rice cereal to help with the acid reflux. We started baby foods the day before Thanksgiving. She started off with sweet potatoes. I think she likes them. This week, we started her on squash. She seems to like the squash better then the sweet potatoes. Teeth: Nope, but drooling a lot and consistently putting her hands in her mouth and chewing on toys. Extra comments: Each and every day it seems Avy learns something new! She is really starting to interact with us and seems to know who we are. She is mostly a happy baby and usually only fusses when she is tired and needs to nap. She loves playing with her toys and uses both hands to reach for a toy when placed in front of her. She likes to jump in her jumperoo and sit up in her boppy. She continues to lover her bathtime and has begun to splash the water.

Doctor's Appointment Update

Avy had her 4 month doctor's appointment on Monday November 12th. Here are her stats: Weight: 13.9 lbs, 32% percentile Height: 23.25", 6% percentile Head: 40.5", 42% percentile It looks like she might be short! Avy also got her 4 month shots. She did really well and only cried for about 10 seconds after the second shot. The doctor told us to wait about one more month until we introduce baby foods. She said it was ok for her to start on oatmeal, so I plan to start spoon feeding her oatmeal and see how she does. We might start one baby food next week over Thanksgiving since I will have five days off. She said start off with either sweet potatoes, carrots or squash first and only introduce one food per week to see if she has any aversions or sensitivities to the food. I think we will start with sweet potatoes, which will be perfect for Thanksgiving! Avy continues to grow and surprise us with new tricks each day. She likes to do sit ups all the time. She raises her head and her legs as if she is doing a crunch. She continues to squeal and jabbers every now and again. I always get a BIG smile in the morning when I go in to get her out of her crib. That always makes me happy! She is almost rolling over. She gets stuck on her arm and if we give her a push she can roll over. She is sitting up so good as well. I usually just have my hand behind her and she will stay up while she plays with toys. She LOVES to see what is going on. Her eyes always following us wherever we go. She also knows mommy and daddy's voices. She turns her head to our voice when we talk. She is such a delight and we are looking forward to all the surprises she has in store for us!

4 Months

Age: 4 months Height: Not sure, doctor’s appointment Nov. 12 Weight: Not sure, doctor’s appointment Nov. 12 Head: Not sure, doctor’s appointment Nov. 12 Milestones: Avy loves to squeal and blow bubbles. She will make eye contact with you and follow you around the room with her eyes. She is reaching and grabbing her toys when she is on her back. She starts to roll over, but needs a little help to get all the way over onto her tummy. She is so close to laughing, it’s only a matter of time! She is sitting up better with only a little support. She still loves to stand up. We got her a jumperoo that she can stand in, but she doesn’t quite have it down yet. Sleep: Avy does well when we put her to bed. Her sleeping habits have changed a little. She seems to have become a very restless sleeper. We have to go in and put her back to sleep quite often. She hasn’t been doing long stretches of 5 or 6 hours like she was. She is going to bed earlier, around 8 or 8:30 at night. Then she wakes up to eat about twice before I get up for work. Best Moment: I love when she interacts with me. She smiles so frequently now when you talk to her and I love when she is so excited that she squeals! Worst Moment: Avy still has the GERD (acid reflux) issue and continues to spit up a lot of her bottles. She is still on medication which seems to help somewhat. I’m hoping that once she starts eating thicker foods and can sit up, she won’t spit up as much. Health: So far, no issues. Eating: Avy continues to gain weight and looks chubby, but doesn’t always take her bottles. She tends to eat every 4 or 5 hours, sometimes taking 5 ounces and sometimes 3 ounces. We still have to mix her bottles with rice cereal so I think that keeps her full longer. Teeth: Nope, but drooling a lot and consistently putting her hands in her mouth. Extra comments: Avy is really getting fun! She loves to play with her toys and talk back to you when you talk to her. She likes to look and books and be read too. She goes on frequent stroller rides and walks in her carrier, which she enjoys most of the time. She continues to love her baths. I’m not looking forward to when she discovers she can splash the water!

3 Months

Age: 3 months Height: 21 inches = 7th percentile at 8 week appointment Weight: 11lbs, 8oz. =24th percentile Head: 37.50= 40th percentile at 8 week appointment Milestones: Avy loves to talk. She will make eye contact with you and talk back to you when you talk to her. She is able to roll over on her back to each of her sides. She is beginning to reach for toys or objects that she likes. Avy loves standing up. We hold her hands when she is sitting down and she will pull up on your hands to stand. She is beginning to gain better head and trunk control and is able to sit in her bumbo seat. Sleep: Avy does well when we put her to bed and sleeps pretty good throughout the night. She usually goes to bed around 9 or 10 and wakes up once in the middle of the night and then once in the early morning. She is pretty easy to get back to sleep during her middle of the night feeding. The doctor said once she doubles her birth weight, she should start sleeping through the night. I can’t wait!! Best Moment: I love when she interacts with me. When she talks and smiles at you it just melts your heart. Worst Moment: Avy was diagnosed with GERD (severe acid reflux) at around 9 weeks. She was vomiting after every feeding and became very fussy. She was not gaining weight either. The doctor put her on a medication for reflux and told us to start mixing rice cereal in each of her bottles. We have noticed a tremendous difference. The doctor said most babies out grow reflux around 4 or 5 months, but some may take up to a year. Let’s hope she out grows it soon!! Health: The doctor said she looks very healthy; she is just a small baby. Eating: Avy continues to eat pretty well. She is now on rice cereal mixed into each bottle to help keep the milk down due to GERD (acid reflux) Teeth: Nope, but drooling a lot and consistently putting her hands in her mouth. Extra comments: I went back to work when Avy was 10 weeks. My mom watches Avy when Greg is working. It’s been so nice knowing that Avy is in GREAT hands while I am at work. Greg has been taking Avy outdoors a lot on walks and hikes. My mom also bought a stroller for Avy so she can take Avy on walks when she watches her. She’s not spoiled or anything!