Likes: Bath time with Carter, being held, our Christmas tree - she would lay under and bat at the ornaments all day long if I let her, playing peekaboo from the hallway with daddy, 'flying naked baby' game we play before bath, eating baby food and being talked to.
Dislikes: Playing by herself, being left alone in a room, having her snot sucked out and having her mouth wiped after eating.
Biggest Achievement this Month: Pulling up and learning to crawl! On December 6th, I set her down on the bath mat while the tub was filling up, looked away for a split second, turned back around and girlfriend was standing looking into the tub! Isla has been army crawling for awhile but on December 17th she finally got the hang on getting her legs up underneath her. She isn't too fast yet but I know that will come soon.
Biggest Challenge this Month: Sickness that led to crabbiness. Isla had her first ear infection and it took her down. She was so very crabby and generally not a happy baby. I didn't get her famous smile for days and it was so very sad. I always say that Isla is a tempermental baby and can be crabby, which is true but I never realized how HAPPY she was until this bout of sickness. Luckily, after about 2 days of being on the antibiotic she seems back to her old self. Whew! I was worried Miss Crabby McCraberson was here to stay.
She did have a great time at the doctor's office
The Mecca (aka sleep): Isla's naps are consistently an hour and a half. She generally goes down around 1 pm at my mom's house and will almost always be awake by 2:30. That is if she had a 'good' morning nap. On the days she goes to Child Watch at the Y, she generally sleeps longer in the afternoon because she doesn't nap in the morning. So far she is only taking a morning and mid afternoon nap although sometimes she is extra cranky and will take a late afternoon nap as well.
Isla generally goes down for bed between 6:30 - 7:30 (unless she had a late afternoon nap then it is later) and wakes up in the morning between 6:30 and 7:00. She is really good about going down for the night ~ normally I swaddle her (still!), put on her sound machine and shut the door. Other nights she will fall asleep while nursing. On those nights, I generally hold her for a little while before putting her down for the night. I always held Carter to sleep so we always had that cuddle time. Isla will not fall asleep being held so I kind of miss that. Even though I do appreciate that she can fall asleep on her own, I soak up the cuddles when I can!
While Isla sleeps through the night, she does consistently get up once or twice in the middle of the night. This is just a 're-insert pacifier' trip so it doesn't take long but still interrupts my sleep so it does get old several nights in a row. I know it could be much worse though...
Eating: Isla loves solids although recently has been not happy about eating her vegetables. She will eat them but definitely lets you know she is NOT happy about it. This girl can eat despite being so little. She has two containers of baby food for lunch and dinner and one container for breakfast. I should give a big shout out to the hubby ~ he decided that for Miss Isla we should make our own baby food. And by 'we' I mean Matt. Does Isla have him wrapped around her little finger or what?! She started eating puffs and loves them! She can pick them up but can't get them in her mouth yet.
Isla is still nursing twice a day and taking 2 bottles when I am at work. She still needs her afternoon snack, which means we have started to supplement with formula. Like most breast feeding mothers this was a hard decision to make...I didn't want to face the fact the I wasn't making enough milk for her. My supply took a slight hit when I went back to work but not as drastically as with Carter. But then when Isla started eating solids my supply dropped again and I was only getting 5-7 ounces of milk in 2 pumping sessions. Isla eats 10-16 ounces while I am gone. So the math was not in my favor. Then I had to go up to Minneapolis for work and my freezer stash took a massive hit ~ 50 ounces gone. The stress of not making enough milk was not helping my supply either so before I had absolutely no freezer stash left I told Matt to buy some formula. Once the decision was made, my stress was gone. I no longer had to watch my freezer stash dwindle at such a fast rate and I could still nurse! So Isla gets 1 breast milk bottle and 1 formula bottle a day and it works perfectly! I am really happy that I went this route instead of giving up nursing completely.
Temperment/Personality: Isla is generally a happy baby and loves, loves, loves to smile! However, she is tempermental so when she is mad, she is MAD! Woah boy she has a temper! And she lets you know it ~ she is so LOUD and high-pitched. The pacifier can be our best friend sometimes :).
She is also more high maintenance than I remember Carter being at this age ~ he was much more chill. Isla prefers to be entertained and cannot stand to be left alone during these 'needy' times of the day. My mom likes to remind her that she is #4 and needs to be self-sufficient. So far she hasn't listened. She loves to be held and snuggles close when I hold her on my hip. Matt and I call her a little koala bear :). She will also use her little hand and rub your back when being held this way ~ adorable!
Girlfriend knows how to put on a show. We went over to the Graham's house for our annual gift exchange and Isla was so very crabby before we left. In fact, I even tried to get her down for a cat nap around 5:30! Anyway, all I could think was 'this is not going to go well' when we made our way over around 6:30. Well, Miss Thing snapped out of it and was like Miss America over there just smiling away and playing so nice. Amanda even commented on how nice she plays alone (ha! if she only knew ~ right mom?!). Even when Isla was getting tired so would just rub her eyes, no tears or squawking...she hardly even used her pacifier. It was pure craziness!!
The Superficial: Isla is still a little peanut and still wears size 1 diapers. Her clothes are totally confusing to me. She has some 0-3 month onesies that will still snap although are finally getting tight. But she also wears some 9 month outfits that are not that big on her. When she went in for her ear infection she weighed 13 pounds 5 ounces so she is growing! She continues to be petite despite the fact she eats like a pig :).
Isla's hair has gotten really light and fine. I still style her hair in a mowhawk but it doesn't stay as nicely. Some days it is completely flat when I pick her up in the evening and she looks totally weird to me without her hair sticking up :). Her smile is just the cutest thing ever and she always gets compliments on it :). Her smile was the biggest thing I missed when she was sick.
Firsts: First ear infection, First Thanksgiving, First time meeting Santa. First snowfall! First time meeting Tierney!
Motor Milestones: Isla has started doing 'so big' with her hands in the hair and started waving. She actually waved the first time at my dad just before she got sick. She did it several times in a row so I know that it wasn't just a fluke. However, she doesn't consistently do either. As previously mentioned, Isla started pulling up and crawling this past month. She almost always will pull herself to standing when waiting on the bath tub to fill but has a hard time pulling up on other things. She also is crawling more but isn't super fast yet and doesn't do it all the time.
Little Sister and Big Brother: Looking back on Carter's 8 month posts, it seems like Carter and Isla were doing about the same things. Carter had learned to pull himself up in his crib, which thankfully Isla hasn't learned yet. Both were eating really well and started crawling. Both were very social and starting to 'know' who people are (where is Mommy, where is Daddy, etc.). It seems like Carter had a couple of rough nights during this time as well ~ it is funny the things you completely block out :). Love both my babies!
Other Notables: Isla loves trucks and cars! Just like big bro :). Maybe that is because she have any girl toys yet...gotta wait for Christmas :). Isla loves to be sung to ~ her current favorite song is 'Time for Your Check Up' from Doc McStuffins. You will always get a smile from her if you sing this song.
"A daughter is a day brightener and a heart warmer." ~Author Unknown
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