Collyns at 7 months

***Now that we're a week away from 8 months I figured it was about time to get the 7 month post up. Luckily the pictures and updates are from the actual 7 month mark, it's just taken me this long to edit them and write it out fully. Also, for any of you that actually read blogs still, I'm impressed you're sticking around amidst all of the baby posts! These are mostly just for me to keep record of. 

-Collyns has become quite the little adventurer in her 7th month. She is even quicker at crawling and has realized that she is now able to get around where she wants to in the house. Her spatial awareness has grown and she has started to explore quite a bit more. She still has yet to venture into the bathroom or our front living room downstairs, which I am grateful for. 

-She is now pulling herself up and standing whenever possible. She'll use anything to pull herself up, including walls. Her crib had to be lowered (sad day for mama) because we were afraid she was ready to fall over the edge. She also has managed to climb a few stairs, but of course has not concept of getting back down, so we are always running to catch her when she starts to head up them. 

-A lot more babbling and talking going on this month. Up until now, it seemed like she was just making certain sounds. Now it's more of a babble of made up "words", like she is chatting and communicating with us. Also, Miss C has learned to make even better use of those lungs of her. When she wants to be, she is LOUD. Loud cries, shouts, squeals, and babbles.

-Loving peek-a-boo even more this month. That game never seems to lose it's charm, especially when played with blankets over our heads. Another fun one is clapping. Really, just watching mama and dada clap. Hilarious, apparently.

-In those fun/excited moments, Collyns has gotten quite bouncy and sometimes will nearly jump out of your arms. Her little legs kick and kick as she does her little squeal laugh.

-Collyns developed this adorable scrunched nose smile this month. She sort of squints her eyes and her nose scrunches up and it is the cutest and funniest little thing. 

-Miss C is loving solids and eating with her own hands. We vary between smaller and softer food that she can eat on her own, store-bought baby food, and food that mama makes in the Baby Bullet. She loves her little rice puffs and yogurt bites. 

-Collyns is developing a fun relationship with Chase. She certainly knows he's the funny one and loves being entertained by him at nights and on the weekends. 

Collyns at 6 months

-Weighing in at 12 lb 12 oz and measuring 24.5 inches... once again the 5th percentile about!
-This little girl is just thriving on a schedule and has grown up right before our eyes in her 6th month.
-She started of this month by doing a half crawl, half bear crawl. In the days after that she began sitting up. She would lean a bit while sitting and sort of prop herself up. After some more practice though, she has mastered sitting up straight.
-Collyns is still not a fan of crawling on her knees, yet manages to zoom around with her bear crawl nevertheless. She has yet to venture onto the wood floor and mostly stays in the family room unless I set her at my feet in the kitchen while cooking.
-C likes to sit up in her crib and pull on the bumper, sometimes pulling herself onto her knees. The crib still has yet to be lowered, so we are watching close for when she figures out how to pull herself up using the railing and stand on her feet. Probably just a matter of time.
-Screeching and yelling are a fun past time, according to Miss Collyns. Much to mama's dismay.
-And if she's mad or frustrated, you can expect that she'll let you know with these shouts and often raspberries she blows. There is no shortage of personality (aka sass) in this tiny thing.
-Collyns gets a kick out of cups and water bottles. She will grab for your cup if you take a drink while holding her. She's figured it out and immediately pulls it up to her mouth for a sip. She then proceeded to figure out that mama's water bottle on morning walks is pretty much like a cup. She loves to just hold it and can even drink up through the spout.
-She is still pretty friendly to strangers, showing off her big smile and squeal if they come in close and talk to her.
-Her eyes are technically still blue, but seem to be showing a little bit of a green tint now, like Mom and Dad.
-She loves her grandmas and particularly FaceTiming with Aunt DD in Washington DC. She gets a kick out of Dad and knows that he is the funny one around here. Yet she wants her mom if she is tired and upset.

Collyns at 5 months

-We've tried to put on a little weight this month, but Collyns is still a tiny little thing. Other babies that are all about her age seem HUGE compared to her. However, her little mannerisms and interactions make her seem so much older.
-Her little personality is starting to come out. She's very friendly and smiley as long as she's well rested. Tired Collyns = cranky Collyns.
-We have a schedule! C is up usually around 6. Aside from an intense heat wave we had, we hit the neighborhood walking paths every morning for a little walk. Then we settle down in her room and read a few stories in her rocking chair. Her favorite is clearly "Brown Bear, Brown Bear." After a few primary songs, she is set down in her crib and she'll generally go down without much of a fight. The length of her first nap is about an hour to an hour and a half. After this we'll often head out to the grocery store or any other errands. Or just to say hi to our Grandmas or Uncle Kade. Naptime again between 11-12. Same routine of books and songs. Her last nap is between 2 and 3:30 and is usually a quick one. Bedtime between 6:30 and 7:30... depending on how tired (aka- cranky) she is.
-Collyns started on rice cereal this month! She was slightly confused by the whole concept of eating from a spoon, and it often made her frustrated. We opted to just give her rice cereal in bottle for the first few weeks. Our intention was mostly to see if it helped her spit up less.
-C definitely reached a peak in the spit up department this month. All. Over. Everything. All day long. Hah. I continued to feed her every time she woke up at night (about every 3 hours), since it was the only time she would keep her food down. Another tiring month in the books for mama. The wake ups are likely out of habit now rather than her needing food. Since she is so teeny tiny though, I still can't quite justify letting her cry out the night wakings.
-We are loving all of the little sounds and habits she is now showing. She makes a fake little coughing noise in her throat when she is frustrated. If she starts to get even more upset she starts making raspberry blows with her lips, yet she'll sometimes do this just for fun too. She has a little squeal that accompanies her smiles. They are borderline almost laughs. She will often "sing" for us. Several times this month I woke up to the sound of her singing in her crib and she also loves singing during bathtime. Must be the acoustics of the room... ;)
-She found her feet this month and whenever she was laying on her back, spent the majority of the time with her feet in her hands and often also pulled to her mouth. Yum!
-C loves FaceTime (unless she's tired/cranky) and especially with her Aunt Daryn. She'll talk back to her and sing, along with smile and squeal.
-Collyns has a few attempts at swimming. The first few times she just cried and cringed when we got her feet wet. As the month went on though, she allowed us to hold her in the hot tub. Not a fan of cold (or anything under 90 degree) water.
-At the very end of the 5th month, Collyns decided she is ready to start crawling soon. She is on her hands and knees all the time and rocks back and forth. She'll scoot backwards, but hasn't figured out moving forwards yet. Often she'll go onto her toes as well as if to bear-crawl.

Collyns at 4 months

-Weighing in at 10 lb 7 oz and measuring a little over 22 inches... only the 5th percentile!

-Collyns turned into a different baby in her fourth month. After the colic faded away and sleep training began, we had a fun and happy little girl on our hands. 

-We started sleeping training at 3 and half months... the very first night she was down by 9:30 after an hour of crying, up once at 11, and then she slept in until nearly 9:30 in the morning! We became instant believers. She now generally only fusses a little bit before passing out. She's found her position- thumb or fingers in her mouth while she lays on her tummy with her little fit tucked under her bum. It's the cutest little sight to see. 

-Bedtime is between 7:30-8 pm. She will wake up once or twice in the night to eat (Being in only the 5th percentile, momma doesn't yet have the heart to make her cry night feedings out). Wake up is usually between 6 and 7, but sometimes we are surprised with either a 5 am wake up call... or 8 am. We prefer the 8 am, obviously.

-Collyns goes down for her first nap about an hour after she first wakes up in the morning. These usually last from 1-2 hours and allow time for momma to get ready for the day. We usually get out in the middle of the day for errands, lunch, or to visit the grandmas. Another 2ish hour nap in the afternoon as well.

-She has grown fondly attached of the Baby Einstein videos. She liked them prior to now, but she is obsessed and would watch all day long probably if she was allowed. Mom tries to limit it to once in the early evening while she's fixing dinner (However, the number of times C has watched Baby Einstein in a day is directly proportional to how rough said day was). 

-On May 7th, a few days after the three month mark, our tiny little thing rolled over. She started from her back to her tummy, trying to reach for one of her little turtle stuffed animals. She does it several more times that afternoon and then next day she was going back and forth both ways. She is a little "rolling fool," zig-zaging across her crib and under her play gym.

-She also is able to easily reach for things- toys hanging from her play gym, car seat, and all around her. She plays a bit with them and then promptly tries to put them into her mouth. 

-She has grown to be so interactive and smiley. She talks quite a bit also. Enjoys going for walks now in the "big girl" attachment instead of the bassinet, so she can look around at the world. 

Memorial Day

We took a few pics today while visiting my Dad's grave. Love these two.

Collyns at 3 months

-Most of C's third month of life, Momma was still in survival mode. However right at about 12 weeks she did start to show an improved temperament... so our fingers are crossed that it sticks and the colic is on its way out the door!

-After establishing that she will take a good nap about an hour or two after first waking up on the morning, I will either soothe her to sleep laying next to me in my bed or load her up in the car seat for a drive. Lots of miles on the car this past month as I realized that if drives in the car work during the day, so be it. Because of this, getting dinners cooked or much else done around the house certainly became difficult. 

-Collyns Kaye became legit and received a name and a blessing on April 14th (my Grandma Frischknecht's birthday!). We were lucky enough to be surrounded by all of our immediate family for her special day. 

-To help with the colic, we visited a family friend and chiropractor several times... as mentioned she's getting better. Who knows if it's a result of the chiropractic visits or just out-growing the colic. Doesn't matter to me, I'm just relieved it's getting better. 

-On good nights we can get her to calm down and fall asleep early enough to try and set her in her crib. On most though, she ends up laying right next to me while I soothe her to sleep (and I quickly pass out after). I wake up with sore shoulders after spending the night with her in the crook of my arm cuddled close to me. 

-She loves when we make noises such as clicking our tongues and often tries to copycat us. She'll light up with the biggest smile during the noise game. 

-Blowing spit bubbles is a new trick!

-Sadly... we lost some of that pretty long hair she was born with this month. The sides have thinned out a bit and we are sporting a rad bald spot in the back.

-She has gotten quite a bit more hand-eye coordination in the last month. She loves spending time now in her play gym and will reach up to play with the hanging toys. (I have been able to even shower mid-day now thanks to the play gym!)

-Uncle Chase spent lots of time with us driving around town and running errands (since we did so much of this trying to induce sleep). We became quite the trio since he spent April just getting ready to leave for his mission.