We fit

Dear Baby Rose,

If all goes well in about about 8 months you will have a new sibling. in thinking about bringing a little baby into this world, it makes me reflect on how we fit right now. You love to be cuddled. And any time that I'm able to, I try to hold you. Just like in these pictures. We fit so well. But, I know we can make room for new for a new little sister or brother. I'm excited for the sister I know you will be. Because I will tell you all the time to be kind and loving to your siblings. They can be your best friend, and I understand you and our family like no one else can. I hope that you and your sibling are able to find a friendship and companionship that I have always longed for. Your auntie Daisy and Bin are very close, but not quite the same.

Love you,

Momma

14 months

Dear Baby Rose,

I can't believe that you're 14 months old! You are such a sweet little girl.  You have your times every day that you want to be held, and I need to do other things.  But, I try to take time to just hold you each day.  I so appreciate your sweet little hugs where you wrap your arms around my neck and lay your head on my shoulder.

Likes
being held, bread, meat, bananas, yogurt, peaches, pears, our dog pistol (you think she's hilarious).  You will usually eat beans.

Dislikes
Kiwis - I have been trying to feed you more with your asthma.  You are so-so on vegetables (green beans, corn, etc.  Sometimes you will eat them, and other times you throw them on the floor.

Medical
We do your steroid breathing treatment every day still.  The last indication from the doctor was that we should do it twice a day until your cough is gone.  Each time your cough is quite gone and we just do it once a day for a bit, a little cough comes back.  It is very cold here right now, so that may be part of it.  We do have a humidifier in your room now that we use every night.  That does seem to help.

Development
You can say momma, and dadda quite clearly.  Everything else doesn't quite  make sense yet.  It sounds like you are saying nana and ba ba also.  You are quite close to walking.  You took small steps for a foot or two with me over the weekend.  You dance to most any kind of music.  It is so adorable.  You shake your butt from side to side.  It was quite a trip, but I think we are off of bottles now.  We tried prior to our trip to Ireland, and ended up going

Moving
We took possession of our Shamrock house in Omaha December 8th.  We have been living there most of the time since then.  We still have our house in Eagle, and have been trying to move all of our things out of there.  We are hoping that a buyer will be interest in the next few months.  We still have the condo.  Your dad has been working hard to finish all of the tiling there so that we can rent it out.  The Shamrock house is smaller than our Eagle one, but it is quite a bit easier to take care of.  I think we will have a great time in the pool this summer, though we will have to be careful to be sure you are safe!

This is your daddy's favorite picture of you lately.  He calls it your Mulan picture.

Christmas

Dear Baby Rose,

Your second Christmas was a great one.  We headed to Kansas City on the morning of Christmas Eve.  We went straight to Grandma Dorothy's house where we enjoyed food and exchanged presents with Aunt Cindy, Uncle Royce, Cousin Kelli, Kami, and James.  Aunt Cindy and Uncle Royce gave you a whale.  You looked so cute in your Christmas dress that Noni brought you back from New York. We then went to church at White Church with Grandma Dorothy, Grandpa John, and Noni.  You really enjoyed looking at the lights.  There was a harpist who did a beautiful job.  We then went to dinner at Herford House near Noni and Grandpa's house where we had an amazing four course meal.  We shared stuff mushrooms, buffalo wings, and spinach artichoke dip.  We then had soup and salads.  We all had steak of various kinds.  Then amazing desserts were brought out.  We tried Georgia peach pie, custard, and carrot cake.  

After dinner, we went to a 10 pm mass at St. Patrick's where Aunt Cindy is the Director of Music.  It was a lovely mass, but we were all very tired from our long day!

This was our Christmas card for this year.

On Christmas morning Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa John joined Grandpa, Noni, your dad and I for breakfast.  We had corn beef has, eggs, potatoes, and povitica.  Grandma always brings povitica from Strawberry Hill in Kansas City.  It is about $20 for a loaf!

We really enjoyed spending time with everyone! We then exchanged presents.  Noni brought you many beautiful clothes from New York.  Grandpa bought you your first train from Zoom.  It is a circus train with animals (like giraffes) and hay for them to eat.  Grandpa and Grandma got you a Pew Wei fancy bicycle that you can use to learn to walk.  They also got you a few cars to play with.  

On Christmas Eve we went to go visit Grandpa/Lolo Phil, Lola Maribeth, Nicole, and Natalie.  It was great to see them all.  You were such a sweet little girl for the trip.  We love you so much, and are so thankful that God entrusted you to us!

Love you,

Momma

1 year old!

Baby Rose,

I can't believe you are 1 year old! You really are not a baby anymore.  You are closer to being a toddler.  You are a sweet and sometimes serious little girl.  You have started bobbing from side to side to dance, trying to brush your hair, and tickling my feet.  I look forward to spending my evenings with you and Daddy.

Development
You can crawl very quickly now.  You walk around holding on to things, and if people hold your hands you will take wobbly steps around.  You have very good balance standing on your own for a few seconds now.

Food
We are trying to do 1/2 formula and 1/2 milk in your bottles/sippy cups.  We were technically supposed to be only using sippy cups at this point.  You are supposed to be having three normal meals a day, so bottles should not be needed.  You are doing quite well eating adult food.  I am realizing that your daddy and I do not eat very well though.  I usually end up making you your own meal of a fruit or veggie, torn up bread, and a protien like lunch meat.  I am trying to do better about making an actual meal for all of us that you can eat also.

Sleeping
For the most part you sleep through the night in your own bed.  The last few nights you have woken up around 4 am and wanted a bottle.  It might have been the disruption of traveling though.

Stats
Height 29 1/4 inches long - 59% percentile
Weight 23 lbs 13 oz - you are in the 87% percentile
Head circumference you are in the 84%.  I could have told them that! You cannot wear clothes with small neck holes.  The best ones snap in the back to give us more room to get your noggin in there!

Shindigs
Your Ummichi and Uppachen were here for a week and half or so until November 4th.  We celebrated with the Madathil side of the family on November 1st.  Your Aunty Bin even came up from Oklahoma for a short visit to be there.  You enjoyed making a mess out of your own wee cake that was Frozen themed.  Noni brought several presents up for you.  She brought a Mini-Mouse car for you to ride, and a Mini-Mouse outfit.

This last weekend we went down to Kansas City.  We had a nice time relaxing at my grandma and grandpa's house.  They love spending time with you. Then we sent to see my dad Phil, your lolo and lola.  They were sweet enough to give you a little talking puppy.  We then stayed with Noni and Grandpa.  On Sunday we went to Aunt Cindy's church (St. Pats) and celebrated your official birthday.  Your noni had another birthday cake for you.  You got some sweet hand puppets from Aunt Cindy and Uncle Royce, blocks on wires from Noni.  Grandma and Grandpa bought you a new large pack and play, and a talking ball.  They also got a picture frame we can put pictures from your birthdays each year.

11 months

Baby Rose,

I can't believe you are almost one year old! It has been a busy month.

Medical
You had some medical issues this month.  We ended up getting a new doctor in Omaha (Dr. Reizer).  We visited her for the virst time 9-30-2014 because you were not feeling well and had a nasty cough and congestion.  You have often had a cough since you were born, but it seemed worse.  I am glad we ended up taking you because around 2 am you woke up with a 104.2 fever.  I called the doctor's line and they said that because you were already on antibiotics we should not take you to the ER because they would not give you anything else.

At the doctor's office Dr. Reizer also ended up prescribing breathing treatments with Albuterol.  It's sad to see you hooked up to a machine with a breathing mask.  However, it really has helped your lungs so much. You have no congestion and are breathing much better.  We had to do the treatments three times a day for the first 10 days, then twice a day for awhile.  We are down to once a day now.

Development
Two teeth on top, and two on bottom
Dancing -  you have started leaning from side to side when music comes on. You were "dancing" the other night while we watched Glee :).
Clapping  - you have been clapping quite well since your Ummichi visted a few weeks ago.  You are doing very well clapping now.  In fact, if you are wining or about to cry I often can snap you out of it by clapping.  You love it.
Almost waving -  - we are working on waving. You have started waggling your arms a bit when I wave at you.
24 pounds - when we visited the doctors the few times noted above you weighed just over 24 pounds
Crawling - You can crawl quite quickly now.  You have a proper crawl where you pull your knees under you.  You often crawl to be in the room where we are.
Standing Up - You pull up very well on anything that you are able to.  We have to be careful and make sure you are not pulling up on untable things.  You are quite stable once you are up.  You can even push up into a tripod position, which I hear is just before walking.  We will see when you start walking!

Eating/Drinking
You eat big people food quite well now.  You still choke a few times every night.  But, it doesn't upset you as much.  We try to cut up your food in small pieces. 
You still have a morning and evening bottle.  We are trying to get you to use sippy cups.  We are going to be getting a new type that daycare suggested.

Personality
You are such a joy to be around, most of the time.  You are a bit fussy when you want to be held o, are hungry, or did not get enough naps.  You need at least one nap per day still.  You love your daddy, even though he gives you a hard time sometimes.  You go with the flow very well.  We have been staying at our Condo in Omaha during the week, then heading back to our place in Eagle on the weekends to see your Aunt Daisy.   You like to sleep like your daddy, with your butt up in the air.  We try to move your legs down so that your back doesn't hurt.

 

10 months

Dear Baby Rose,

I can't believe that you are 10 months old now! I got your baby book up to date over the weekend. 

You can crawl a bit more. It's still a bit of an army crawl, as you carry your legs behind you.  But you have gotten to be quite quick about it! You also are pulling your legs under yourself from time to time.  So you will be crawling well soon enough.  You have started holding yourself up along the ottoman.  You pulled yourself up on your walker a couple of weeks ago too.  You really don't need your pacifier often at all anymore.  You have been a bit fussy lately in the evenings.  But, it could be your teething.

Health - you have a cough again.  It started a week ago (around Sept 4th).  Last night was the worst.  You had a bad coughing fit about every hour it seemed.  We also had a lot of bad storms last night.  So maybe those kept you up too.  You had a bad diahrea spell a few weeks ago.  Thank goodness that is gone.  Now you seem to have bunny pellets more often thannot.

Food - You have been doing so well eating chunks! We started with bananas mashed up, and put oatmeal flakes in your purees to bulk them up.  Now you can even eat quinoa and other chunkier items. I also made mashed cauliflower over the weekend, and you liked that.

Likes - you love your bouncer. You spend time in it at dacyare, so we only do it a lot on the weekends. You like to play with your toys. I try not to turn on the TV much in the evenings when it is just you and I.  You enjoy being outside and will often tolerate riding in your stroller.  You very much still like to be held and walked around.  You are not as interested in being held while I am sitting.  You like opening drawers, and taking things off of shelves.  You have started to like having your face wiped as long as we are gentle, you even like playing pee-a-boo with the washcloth now.

Dislikes - You get quite annoyed if you are hungry or tired. I know you are ready for a nap when you get a bit fussy.

You are such a sweet baby. I love spending time with you. You are always interested in what is happening around you.  Your Ummuchi and Uppachen are coming this weekend.  They cannot wait to spend time with you.

This top picture was taken the day you turned 10 months old!

I love you baby Rose!

- Mama

9 months

Dear Baby Rose,

You are not such a baby anymore! You seem to be turning into a little girl.  You can crawl a little bit. It's still a bit of an army crawl, as you carry one leg being you.  You can roll very well though.  You make it across rooms somehow when I turn my back!

Health - you have had a runny nose for awhile now.  It might be because you are in daycare.  For the most part you have been quite healthy.  We have had to pick you up from your new daycare due to a fever and diahrea.  We miss Sandy! She just handled issues like that.  I am just so glad you do not have the same coughing issues anymore.

You have one little tooth poking through!

Food - you eat purees very well now.  We do not even use a bib most of the time.  We are still on Stage 2 purees though.  You do not like Stage 3s which have little bits of food.  I will ask the doctor about this when we go for your 9 month check up on Friday.

Likes - you love your bouncer.  You spend time in it at dacyare, so we only do it a lot on the weekends.  You like to play with your toys.  I try not to turn on the TV much in the evenings when it is just you and I.  You love being out in public.  You went with me to Target the other day when we were in KC.  You were so quiet the whole time.  You just enjoyed looking at everyone.

Dislikes - you do not like to have your face wiped.  You get quite annoyed if you are hungry or tired.  I know you are ready for a nap when you ate recently but you are still a bit fussy.

You are such a sweet baby.  I love spending time with you.  You are always interested in what is happening around you.  We went to Kansas City last weekend and spent time with my grandparents, who your middle name comes from.  They love you so much.  They so appreciated that you would let them hold you!

I love you baby Rose!

- Mama