Finally!

Two years after I tried to start the process, I finally have my permament certification!

  The last major checkmark on my professional to-do list.

Miss Hannah: 6 and 7 Month Updates

I have fallen majorly behind on the blog. We have been home and busy and also I have some technology issues.  I am using my tablet to do this so I apoligize  for formatting, etc being off.
Hannah is not impressed clearly.

Miss Hannah continues to be a happy easy going baby. She just had a well check and she weighs almost 21 pounds and is 27 inches long-- the top of the percentiles for her age.  She really has such a sweet personality.  I am loving every second we are spending together this summer.

Sleeping

Ugh, the one hangup that we cannot consistently get past.  Overall, the past two months her sleeping has really been poor.  We moved her into her own room again and suddenly she was waking up every 45 minutes to an hour.  The last few weeks of school were a real challenge for me teetering on the brink of exhaustion induced insanity.

I started off summer vacation by reading several sleep books and hundreds of article on baby sleep and I found some areas that needed improvement.  We ended up bringing the crib back in our room, and then after some time passed we  eventually put it back to her own room.  It was too much for me to walk back and forth 27 times a night but now that we have made some progress I really do like her in her own space.  When she is in the room I hear every noise and sound.  Ryan pointed out that she is not all the way awake when she is making noises and I am pouncing on her too quickly, when she might still be sleeping.

We also cut out night feedings which I had been dreading.  I realized Hannah was sometimes consuming 24 ounces of formula at night (which is way too much).  We put a stop to nightime feedings by swapping out formula for water which she is not very interested in.  I am trying to be more consistent with our nighttime expectations and I am trying to steel my nerves and trust that a *teeny* bit of nighttime crying is okay.  I have been bringing her back to our bed if she wakes early in the morning (which she has been doing more consistently now that I've cut out nighttime bottles) and so we still get a little bit of cosleeping and cuddle time thatI think she really needs.

I would still say she is a high maintanance sleeper with a long way to go, but I finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.  I hope I didn't just jinx myself.  So that was long and rambly and probably not of interest to anyone but me... Anyways...

Eating: 

Hannah is a fabulous eater.  She has liked every thing we have offered her.  She has tried fruits, vegetables, and even some chicken, pasta and beef meals.  Ryan let her taste hot sauce the other day and she even liked that.  When she is interested in something one of us is eating she will loudly say "mmmmmm!" So try to convince us to share.

We have been working on finger foods and self feeding, but it has been hit or miss.  She prefers for us to feed her or to put her mouth down to eat them directly off the tray.  She can get the puff or cheerio in her fist but can't seem to get the timing right to release it into her mouth, which frustrates her.  Also, still no teeth.   Just like her brother.

Milestones

• Hannah reminds me a lot of Isaac in that she is so physically strong.  She has totally mastered sitting and immediately she started working on standing.  She can stand without holding onto any thing for several seconds now.  It is so cute.

• We were thinking she may skip crawling all together but she decided to master crawling in a day.  It was so funny.  One day she couldn't crawl at all and the next day she was scooting all around.  

• Another milestone of sorts is the Hannah is officially signed on to the New York City based modeling agency Generation Models.  Ryan's siblings were all involved in modeling as children and his mother had felt like Hannah had a look people might be interested in.  Ryan sent her pictures out to a few places and we were thrilled to hear back from Generations. They encouraged us to come to the city so they could meet Hannah and go over paperwork.
•  
• They are very reputable and the lady we met with was great.  She was even really interested in Isaac but he told her he in't interested in modeling.  The agency felt like Hannah will be offered a lot of work but will see how often we can realistically make our way up to new york. 

Likes:

• Daddy!  She loves wrestling around with him and is always after whatever he is eating.  

• Isaac.  He might even be edging out Daddy.  She always wants to be near him and thinks everything he does or says is HILARIOUS.  
  
• Swimming.  It really tires her out though.  She has fallen asleep in the pool (in our arms obviously) more than once.  
• Her activity table.
• The cats.  I am modeling signs for her and I am sure cat will be the first sign she uses.  She and the cars love each other so I get to use it many times a day.
• Cuddles and being held.  I don't think it is as much of a like as it is a need.  She needs time in the moby wrap or cuddle time before naps.  When we do cosleep she always puts one hand on Ryan and one hand on me before she will close her eyes. 

Dislikes:

• Hats.  Good thing she is old enough for sunscreen now.

• Being alone for too long.  She needs to know someone is close by.
• When I wear sunglasses.  They must come off.  Immediately.  And then be stuffed in her mouth.

We love you so much Hannah Marie!

6 Months Old

We have a six month old on our hands and she is cuter than ever!  

Ten on Tuesday

1.  The kids have been out of school for a week or so now, but since we had an insane amount of snow this past winter, the teachers are stuck making it up with endless inservice time.  It's horrible. I am used to being on my feet all day, interacting with kids and (for the most part) being in charge of my time, so sitting and being lectured at day after day is getting old.  I just want to be home with my kids!

2. It has been HOT, HOT, HOT here, like 95 degrees or hotter.  I can't wait to be finally, finally, done school so that I can take full advantage of all of our YMCA pool privileges.  

3. I got free tickets to a Reading Fightin' Phils game as part of their educator appreciation night.  When it came time to go it was in the 90's, I was tired and not really feeling that into it.  I tried to convince Isaac that it would be fun to skip it, but he is soooo into baseball and he was determined we would still go. 

 Isaac really enjoyed himself which made it worth it in the end.  As Ryan pointed out, everything is always about Hannah now, so it was nice to do something that was just for Isaac. He choose a spot very close to where the pitchers warmed up and they tossed him a ball.  He really seemed to enjoy the night, so I was glad we went after all.

4. I received a disturbing phone call at work.  Apparently someone hit this guy's car and left my cell phone number in a note on his windshield.  Thankfully Ryan is a cellphone expert and was able to block his number so he can't reach me again.  Scary!

5. Isaac is spending all next week at my parents house.  He is attending a basketball camp there and doing some other fun stuff.  I know he is really looking forward to it.  

6.  I am so excited that some of shows are back.  I watched The Fosters last night but I am waiting for Ryan to be home to watch Switched at Birth.  I need a new show to binge watch while I organize a bunch of papers and file boxes I brought home from school. 

7. Saffron wants to be wherever Hannah is. 

I don't know why, since Hannah regularly rips out huge clumps of Saffron's fur.  It must be her motherly instinct.  It would be cute, if it wasn't so annoying.

7.  I don't think I have mentioned it on the blog yet, but Little League is FINALLY OVER.  I don't have a commitment every Friday and Saturday!!  Wahoo!!!!!

8. Now if only I could somehow get Cub Scouts off my plate.  They told me that they are looking for someone to replace me... but it doesn't seem like they are looking too hard. 

9. I am so boring I can barely come up with ten things.  

10. One more day of inservice left.  One... more.. day...

Taking stock

 Things have been slow here on the blog lately.  I have had laptop issues.  As in, my laptop currently looks like this:

 I really need to drop it off at IT but there always seems to be just one more thing I need to finish before I drop it off.  So anyways, I haven't been bringing it home, and blogging from my phone or tablet is just not as easy.

We have all been sick at our house. We all assumed it was allergies but it turned out I had a sinus infection, and Ryan had bronchitis. Hannah was quite miserable for a few days and Isaac never slows down but he has gone through two boxes of tissues in his bedroom.

We finally finished up baseball season (cue Hallelujah chorus). 

Isaac's team only had two real wins during the seasons, but things starting clicking in the playoffs and they ended up advancing pretty far in the tournament.   Isaac ended up getting the game ball for their last game-- he had 2 hits, including a home run!  He has really enjoyed baseball this year, and, although it hasn't been my favorite, I think we will probably play next year. 

 

This little chubba wubba is still charming us all.  It's a good thing she is ridiculous cute and loveable during the day, because she has been HORRIBLE at night.  

Ryan's parents moved out, so we were able to move Hannah out of the pack and play in our bedroom and into a real crib in her own room.  I thought this would help her sleep better since the pack and play is very small and wobbly and it always felt like we were startling her awake moving about our bedroom in the evenings or in the mornings as I am getting ready for work.  

However, it has been the complete opposite!  She went from waking up once, sometimes twice a night to waking up 5-7 times a night.  She used to be fine if I popped the binky in her mouth and hopped back in bed, but now she screams until I pick her up and rock her.  I don't know if she is scared, or lonely, or what, but it is EXHAUSTING.   Multiple people at school have commented on how out of it I have been.  I need an IV line of diet coke to keep on. I am trying to muddle through till the end of the year (today is the last day with kids, and then I have a week of inservice time) and then I am going to do some sort of baby sleeping boot camp with Hannah.  I don't know what that will look like yet, but we have to get her on track.  Suggestions welcome.

Speaking of school I received this really nice letter from a former student of mine.  She wasn't one of my IEP kiddos, but she and the regular ed teacher really clashed. 

 

It meant a lot to me that she would write that to me this year.

That's about it for now.  Summer vacation is SO CLOSE I can taste it!

Sibling Milestone

On Sunday I heard the first, "Mom!  Hannah's bothering me!!!" while Isaac was trying to play on his iPad.  The first of many times I am sure I will hear that. 

Hannah's 5 Month Update

Oh Hannah Banana!  Stop growing!!!

 So as you can see from the picture, she has all of a sudden gotten HUGE.  At her well visit last month they said she weighs 17 lbs  which is 90th percentile and she is 96th percentile for height.  Suddenly carrying her in the carseat carrier is hard work and it seems like her fat rolls have fat rolls now.   She is wearing a lot of 6 months clothes and some of her 6 month sleepers are even getting to be too small.  She is in size 3 diapers also.  I bought a pack by mistake and then realized they probably fit her better than size 2 after all.

She is still a very happy and easy going baby.   She loves attention from anyone and still loves to cuddle.


Sleeping

Her sleeping is still hit or miss.  She is still up several times a night (boo, hiss) but we are working on having her fall asleep at night on her own initially by putting her down when she is sleepy but not asleep.  She is doing pretty well with it.  We are also working on keeping her in her bed all night.  I wish she would sleep for longer stretches.  This coming month we will (finally!) be getting her out of the pack and play and into a crib, so I am hoping that helps.  Her napping is feast or famine.  She will either take only brief catnaps or will sleep for three straight hours.

Eating
She is doing well with eating baby foods.

 Most of the foods she has tried so far are ones I have made for her.  It's so much cheaper.  She has liked pretty much everything she tried.  To date she has eaten:

• Pears
• Bananas
• Sweet Potatoes
• Peas
• Avocado
• Peaches- she was crazy about these.  Like, she grabbed the spoon with both hands and was cramming it into her mouth. 

Milestones

Her biggest accomplishment this month is sitting up.  She is still a bit wobbly but she can hold herself steady for longer and longer periods of time.  She suddenly looks like such a big girl sitting up and playing with toys.  Of course, all of the toys go straight to her mouth.

She is babbling all the time and really experimenting using her voice.  This month she started making an excited "Eeee!" noise.  I have even heard her throwing some consonants in the mix when she is babbling to herself.

She has no teeth yet and is still drooling like crazy.  Buckets and buckets of drool.  It is my biggest laundry challenge to keep enough bibs clean for her, because she goes through so many each day.

She is able to keep herself amused for longer periods now.  If the mood strikes her right she will keep herself busy in the excersaucer or on her playmat with toys for up to 20 minutes.

Likes

• Trying to sit and stand up whenever she can.
• Her jumper.  Especially now that Grandma replaced the batteries and it is very noisy again. 
• DADDY.  She gets so excited whenever she sees him.  When I have her in the bed with me and he is still sleeping she scoots herself up to him and bats at his face, trying to wake him up and get his attention.  She gets so excited when he comes home from work and she thinks everything he says or does is HILARIOUS.
• Her toes/feet.  She is always grabbing for them, pulling off her socks and has even stuffed her toes in her mouth.

Dislikes

• Being alone or thinking she is alone
• Reclining.  She will always try to sit up now when she is in the bouncing seat or if she is not strapped into her carrier.
• She was not too crazy about bubbles either.