8 months update

How did my baby girl get to be so big already? She was exactly 35 weeks/8 months on Tuesday 20th of January.

 

Weight:
22lbs 3oz or 10.1kg between 91st and 98th percentile

Height:
29inches or 74cm,  98th percentile

Health:
She was very congested for almost 3 weeks, luckily she wasn't too bad during the day, but she needed a bit more love during the night when she couldn't breathe.

Teething:
She now has 8 teeth(the last one broke through on the 27th of January), when she's teething, she gets a bit crazy, shouting and screeching. Not actually crying.
Next up are the molars :(

Nicknames
Cheeky monkey, cheeky chops

Eating:
She hasn't refused anything yet.
She has a 4oz nightfeed at 4/5am, porridge at 8am, lunch about 12pm, 4oz bottle around 3pm, dinner 5:30 and a 7oz bottle at 6:45pm.
She will eat 120g/roughly 4oz of solids each meal and sometimes she has a little yogurt or fruit puree for dessert.

Next step is reducing the amount of milk she has in her bottles, with getting rid of the afternoon bottle completely.

 

 

She always takes off her shoe and socks(often only the left ones), I had to start putting tights on her and make sure we don't lose the shoes when we're out and about.

Sleeping:
Between wanting to practice rolling over in bed and being congested, she was waking up a little bit more earlier this months.
For a while she would wake up around 12/1am and I'd try to settle her back to sleep, but she would cry every time I put her down. In the end I let her sleep a bit on me(upright position helped her breathe) and then put her in her bed asleep. Luckily she has stopped that again now.
She still wakes up for a nightfeed as well around 3/4/5am, which I was really hoping to have stopped by now.

Daytime napping is great, she has two naps lasting about 1:45hrs-3hrs in total.
We don't have definite napping times yet as it all depends on what time she gets up in the morning, but she tends to have her longer sleep around 10am, then another shorter one early afternoon.

Nappies:
Size 4 during the day and 4+ at night. I still change her whenever she has a nightfeed


Clothing: 
9-12 months but I have started buying 12-18 and just roll her sleeves up. Her winter coat is a size 12-18 to make sure it fits until April/May

Social:
I've been a bit lazy going to groups so all we've been doing is our weekly sensory class. We only have one session left and I haven't signed us up for any other classes.

 
Likes:
She's loving life! She really is a happy baby.
She loves pulling on Mama's and Mummy's hair.
She thinks Mummy is hilarious(she gets more giggles than me) and loves to be sneaky and pull her glasses off.
She loves it when I sing the 'Say Hello' song from our class.

 

Dislikes:
Going for a nap, though she does eventually sleep, but that initial moment of being put in her crib is greeted with grumpiness.

Milestones:
She can definitely sit up now, she will just sit between the sofas and play with her toys, which is lovely.
She's pushing herself up like a seal when she's on her tummy and sometimes she lifts her bum, but no crawling yet. But we're not in a hurry as we will need to babyproof once she's mobile.
She has started shuffling down to the bottom of her cot and rolls over like a champ.

She has just started waving, which is very sweet, but she seems to only wave at my partner.


Mama:
I am very broody. I was ready for the next baby a few days after I gave birth. Sadly we cannot afford another child.
I currently don't earn any money and have trouble finding another nanny job so won't be eligible for maternity pay again.
My partner is only receiving a stipend for finishing her PhD.
We are VERY good with money, don't drink, don't have a car and don't really go out anymore, otherwise we would probably struggle with the little we have left after paying rent, bills, food and baby essentials like nappies and formula.

Other than that, let's not talk about my pre-pregnancy body ok? ;-)
My hair stopped falling out, but now I have crazy re-growth, which drives me bananas.


What we are looking forward to:
Going to London again, either 2 nights or possibly extending it to a 4 day stay.
If all goes well, one of my nanny friends will babysit Emilia while we attend a concert together, first time I'm leaving Emilia longer than 30 minutes.

7 months update - Christmas edition

 

(not that impressed with the lights)

 

Weight:
21lbs! She's getting heavy!
People often mistake her for being older and expect her to be able to wave/crawl or do things a 1 year old could do, they are shocked when I tell her she's only 7 months old!

Health:
Still doing well, she didn't let her cold bother her too much.
She got a bit whingey just before Christmas and we thought she was coming down with something, but turns out, she was teething again!

Nicknames:
Cheeky Chops, Cheeky monkey

Eating:
3 solid meals every day plus about 19oz of formula, 4oz in the night, 4oz when she wakes up, 4 oz in the afternoon and 7oz at bedtime.
She has porridge with fruit for breakfast, vegetables for lunch and veggies with meat for dinner.
I have gone a bit crazy filling the freezer with baby food plus I bought a few baby jars for convenience, I think we're sorted for a while.
She LOVES eating and wants a try of everything we have!
I'm not quite brave enough for babyled weaning(and could not deal with the mess), but I do try and give her bits of fingerfood every now and then.

Sleeping:
Still generally sleeping from 7pm until about 3am, quick feed and nappy change then back down until 7:30am.
BUT these past couple of days, she has been keeping me and herself up by constantly rolling over and getting stuck.
I put her to sleep on her back, then I leave her room and I can see (on the video monitor) how she's working hard to get onto her front, getting her arms stuck in between the bars, despite mesh bumpers. She's quite pleased with herself and will fall asleep for a bit but then wake ups very unhappy.
Let's hope this phase doesn't last long.

Napping twice a day, first nap around 10am, then again around 2:30, totaling 2-3 hours per day.

Nappies:
Pampers Baby Dry size 4 and 4+, still trying to find a cheaper alternative I like as much

Clothing: 
9-12 months



Social:
We're back to having stranger 'anxiety', she's all smiles from the safety of my arms, but the minute we hand her over, she gives the pouty lip and then bursts into tears.
It's a shame, because we have many friends and family members wanting to love on her, but she's having none of it.

 
Likes:
*eating!
*taking a bath
*anything that makes a noise or lights up
*empty baby wipes packs
*Mama's singing
*being carried in the Ergo

 

Dislikes:
*being strapped into her pushchair, though it's just the initial strapping in, she does love going for walks
*tummy time

Milestones:
She's getting better at sitting up, but I wouldn't go as far as saying she can sit up on her on yet.
We prop her up inbetween the sofas and she loves being able to play with her toys.

She still only rolls from back to front, but when on her front she will do press ups and push ups when she's on her back.

We discovered tooth number 5 on Christmas day and number 6 a couple days later, soon she'll be eating steak!

 

Fun things we did:
It's been a bit quiet in terms of baby groups we attend as they all went on Christmas break, but we're going back next week.
Our sensory class has 5 sessions left and unfortunately I don't think we will be able to renew after that as I won't be able to get there anymore.
I don't drive, so another lovely mum gives us a lift to the classes, but I think Emilia will outgrow her infant car seat soon, so we will no longer be able to go with her.

Emilia and I flew to Germany for a few days just before Christmas and just like before, she did amazing on the flight. People always pull a face when they see they're seated next to me, but then they're pleasantly surprised when she just smiles at them or sleeps :)

What we are looking forward to:
A family trip to London in February and possibly a holiday in Florida at the end of May

What we are not looking forward to:
Having to find a job to fit around Emilia