9 months old already?!?!

Our sweet baby Peyton will be nine months old at 6:43 pm Wednesday night. It is crazy how fast the time has passed us by!

Sweet Peyton at 9 months old (stole this from Mary Noller):

Feeds:
Peyton is eating stage two foods with bananas and carrots being her favorite foods. Recently she has decided that green beans are no longer acceptable and refuses to eat them! Peyton also has stomach issues when she eats peaches and pears, so we are staying away from those. I still haven't tried meats either (oops). She still drinks several 6 ounce bottles of formula a day, too many most likely. She loves drinking out of her sippy cup, which only contains water. Haven't introduced Peyton to juices yet and I am not sure when I will. I just don't want her wanting to drink juice only. Finger foods have not been compatible with Peyton yet and I will be speaking with the pediatrician at her nine month check up about this.

Sleeping Habits:
Well one thing is for sure - she sleeps GREAT at the lake house, 12-14 hours a night with two good naps during the day. I am considering relocating to the lake house because of this :)
Usually Peyton goes down between 8:30 - 9:30 pm and sleeps till about 7 am, but occasionally she does stay up late and wake up early. But overall, Peyton is a great sleeper! She does not nap well at our house compared to my parents', but I believe this may be a result of our dogs who are crazy and love to bark at anything and everything and run around the house. Needless to say, poor Peyton has been woken up by her big 'brothers' several times. Also, Peyton still likes to fall asleep with her blanket touching her head or covering her eyes. A quirk shared by her moma!

Milestones:
Peyton is a speed demon when it comes to crawling and she has even developed a technique that drastically improves her crawling speed. She is a smart little girl alright. She crawls anywhere and everywhere and now is climbing up certain objects such as her chair (mini chair made for toddlers). She hasn't quite understood the whole concept of falling off high objects equals pain and bruises, and I believe little ones don't realize this until they are much older. Oh well, I am impressed with the fact that she is already trying to climb! Brad and I thought she would be walking by nine months, but I don't think she is quite ready yet. She can stand on her own for short periods of time and spends the majority of the day standing with the aid of props. I really need to baby proof the house before she walks!

Health:
She hasn't had her nine month check up yet, so I do not know her weight or height; will update when I get this information.
She has had a few colds now, one episode of stomach virus that lasted 8 days (so fun to clean up), one ear infection, one sinus infection, one ringworm infection (has lasted 6 months, UGH!), and one bout of hemorrhagic virus of the eyes. Other than that (which is far plently enough), she is exceptionally healthy! Especially since I am around lots of infectious diseases at work; thank goodness I haven't brought anything home to her! Her hearing seems to be normal, almost above normal actually. She hears anything and everything and startles easily with loud or unexpected noises. This is sometimes funny to watch because when startled, she flings whatever object that is in her hands across the room. So adorable!

So, to sum it up: Peyton is PERFECT!

Rainy yet Fun Weekend at the Lake!

I was fortunate enough to get cancelled from work on Thursday so Peyton and I packed up our things, loaded the car, and headed to the lake house where my parents, sister, neice, brother, his girlfriend, some of of my brother's friends, and my parents' four dogs - Murphy, Gunner, Luke, and Boone - were waiting for us. Brad had to work Friday, but joined us Friday afternoon after he was able to take a half day (yay!). I was so looking forward to sitting out on the dock, chatting with everyone, introducing Peyton to the lake water, and sipping on afternoon cocktails.

It rained the ENTIRE time we were there, with the exception of an hour on Friday afternoon. Ugh!

But still, we were able to all have a great time hanging out and relaxing. Peyton is really, really using her voice when she feels like no one is paying her enough attention. I swear, while sitting on the porch (which is covered thank goodness so we weren't stuck inside the entire time), Peyton would holler and her voice carried so far with the water's help. But she is too adorable to scold! She really is trying to talk, and will have conversations with you. I can't wait till she really talks! I am so curious to see what she thinks and talks about. It won't be much longer!

The adults minus my parents stayed up late every night playing drinking games and let's just say us older folks (me, Clare, and Brad) could not keep up with the college kids. Anyways, it was a great time and I was sad that Brad, Peyton, and I had to leave today since I have to work tomorrow. That's one thing I hate about working in a hospital - we are never closed!

Ok, side note. Peyton has been either early or right on track as far as acheiving her milestones. In fact, she has actually been early for all of them except rolling over (which is my fault since I never put her on her belly). But we are really, really struggling with finger foods/solids. She is eating stage 2 foods perfectly, but when Brad and I try to give her crackers, cheese puffs, even cut up bananas, Peyton ends up choking and throwing up. She now has had two major choking episodes that have scared the hell out of us. Thank goodness I work with babies because I am required to be certified in infant CPR and choking rescue and we do training seminars yearly. I have always had a big fear about babies choking. When I would babysit, I would always break out in a sweat if I had to feed the infant/toddler. Anyways, I am concerned with the fact that Peyton cannot eat any solids, even mashed up bananas! I have tried several different snacks (all approved for her age), and she has choked every time! I now will not allow anyone feed her any solids unless I am present because I've had to use choking rescue on her twice. Peyton has her 9 month appointment soon so I am planning on discussing this with the pediatrician.

Alrighty, I have rambled. Time for sleep!

My Little Chunky Monkey!

I swear, you would think all I do is feed this sweet child! These are even after a week of not eating as much as she usually does!

Inside voice, please

Peyton definitely has discovered her voice. She now hollers for any and every reason possible, and then some. And she has developed this thing called 'talking back' which I am so not happy about. It goes something like this:

Peyton: (hollering)

Me: Peyton, can you please use your inside voice?

Peyton: muh ya

Me: Are you talking back to me?

Peyton: ahh yoo

Me: That isn't very nice Peyton.

Peyton: muuuu yah yeh

Me: You are going to make me have grey hair soon aren't you?

Peyton: (smiles and giggles)

Me: I knew it.

I am not ready for this sassy side of Peyton. I can't really complain though because she has been such a model baby and we have had no problems with her at all, but I am just not ready for all of this hollering and talking back thing. I guess it is a way of preparing me for the terrible twos and the teenage years. Ahhhhhh.

Random Pictures!

Peyton riding the horsey with my dad's help!

The happiest baby in the world!



Loving her bath time

Me smooching on my sweet baby girl!

Sweet baby

Loves to eat!

Loving the horsey!

Happy Mother's Day!

My first Mother's Day was fantastic! I woke up at 10 am (yay for sleeping in!) to Peyton and Brad bringing me GORGEOUS flowers and breakfast in bed. I gave them lots of hugs and kisses for the sweet gestures, that was so nice of them to do that for me. Then we all ate breakfast, watched tv for awhile, and decided to take a nap. I slept from 12-2:30! I haven't slept this much in forever! Totally loved it. And it was storming outside too, which made snuggling in bed even better.

Tonight Brad, Peyton, and I went over to my parents' house to enjoy a nice Mother's Day dinner with my parents, sister Clare and her daughter Evans, and my brother Taylor who is home from UA. I love when we are all able to get together and hang out. Evans is so great with Peyton and Peyton loves playing with her cousin! Dinner was fantastic and we all sat around and caught up on Taylor's love life, which seems to be the topic of discussion any time he is home. I am sure he loves that, but oh well. Tough love.

Oh, I forgot to tell you all what else Brad got me for Mother's Day! I got two pair of beautiful earrings (one pair made by a local artist that I love), a funky bracelet (love funky jewelry), and a brand new computer! I definitely needed a new computer and he picked out a perfect one for me. It's even pink! This whole having a daughter thing has brought out the girlie side of me; who knew it even existed! I even have a pair of pink gym shorts now. Holy cow, Katie is wearing pink.

But anyways, Brad did GREAT for Mother's Day. All day he pulled me aside and wished me a happy mother's day and told me that I am a great mom. I really appreciated that because I have often questioned if I am a good mom. I have had trouble connecting with Peyton. I think it is because of the job I have and working with the premature and sick babies and knowing that they can pass at any time and I have to distance myself. I have gotten attached to several babies at work and then watched them pass away; it truly breaks my heart every time. But I will admit, it seems like the past few weeks I really have connected with her and I feel like we truly have bonded now. I am so relieved by this and I TRULY absolutely love being a mom. I cannot wait to have more. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before Peyton has a little sister or brother!

Happy Mother's Day!

Pictures

This is the best her eyes have looked in the past 48 hours. HUGE improvement, yay medicines!

The hemorrhagic virus that makes her eyes bleed, poor baby!

I am so impressed with how much better she looks.

And she is feeling better too, yay!