Weight: 16 lbs, 7 oz (70%)
Clothes: It's all 6 to 9 months. I swear the girl could wear straight 9 months. She's even got a couple of 12 month pants that fit. The length is a little long, but the waist fits just right. She's got a little belly on her.
Diapers: Size 3 - what a better fit! :)
Eating: This child is a beast! Her most favorite thing to do is EAT! She is still taking in anywhere from 25 to 32 oz each day. A typical day when she's going to daycare is:
6:15 a.m.: 6 oz
9:15 a.m.: 1/2 a container of baby food
9:30 a.m.: 6 oz
12:15 p.m.: 1/2 a container of baby food
12:30 a.m.: 6 oz
3:30 p.m.: 6 oz
6:00 p.m.: 6 to 8 oz
Yep, you read that right! The girl has been showing major signs that she is ready to move on to bigger and better things! I started with rice cereal, but she pretty much turned her nose up to that. However, when presented with peas, carrots and sweet potatoes, she was in food heaven! She immediately took to them like I've never seen before (well, compared to Lottie). We didn't even start Lottie on baby food or rice cereal until she was 6 months. Even then, she was never a big eater. Lottie never took in more than 32 ounces of milk her entire first year. I reckon Stella will be eating dinner with us by the time she's 8 months old. At the rate she's going, she'll be eating Lottie's dinner too. Holy cow, getting Lottie to eat her dinner is an act of Congress as it is.
Stella's reflux is much better. Currently we are using Enfamil Gentle Ease (Sam's Club brand). I've felt pretty comfortable sticking with this brand over the last two months.
Sleep: Let's just say, we have been soooooooooooooooooooo lucky with sleep at night! The kid is a rock star at night. She goes down every night between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and doesn't wake up until 6:15 a.m. During the day is a different story, she's never been a big napper. She may have one decent nap late morning, but that's it. She has a couple of cat naps too, but we are talking 20 minutes max.
Crying: Stella, Stella, Stella............. Wow, what a difference you and your sister are!!!! Lottie rarely cried and seemed pretty happy all the time. While Stella seems like a happy baby most times, she is a crier!!! She is still on a crying fit from about 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. every week night. This has been going on for a few months. Same thing, day in and day out. Crazy!!! The tears and the uncontrollable cries are the last thing you want to have happen at the end of a work day when all you want to do is spend time loving and playing with your kids. Every month I keep telling myself it will get better. Ugghhhh.............. The only thing that really seems to calm Stella down is when Steve gets home from work. She LOVES him. He calls himself the baby whisperer. Cracks me up. She goes from hysterically crying to googly eyed smiles when she sees her daddy. Then by some miracle he puts her right to sleep. Crazy!
Milestones: This past month has been full of smiles, laughs and cute little girly screams. She has the sweetest, most genuine smile on her. She loves being tickled and sitting up right. She's still not a huge fan of tummy time, but she is getting stronger and more tolerant to it every day. She's still not a full time roller but rolls from tummy to back during tummy time. I've yet to see her roll from back to tummy. It just amazes me how different the girls are with their developments. Lottie was rolling over both ways from 12 weeks on, but when it came to eating, she was light years behind. I think as parents we have these expectations about what our kids should do doing each week/month. But I've learned that kids truly have no time table - they are going to do things on their time and when their ready.
Stella's ideal day is spent hanging in her Baby Einstein
exersaucer, jumping in the bouncy thing that hangs in the doorway, hanging outside on the deck in her Bumbo or Rock and Play and chilling on the couch with her toys. She loves her rattles, little dollies and her Sophie giraffe. She's constantly trying to eat them. Her most favorite thing though is sitting up right! She does not like laying down unless it is to sleep at night. Most of the day, she is sitting up - engaged in what's going on around her. She's also found her hands and feet!!!!!!!!!! The girl loves sucking on her hands! And if her belly wasn't so big, she would have her feet in her mouth too. She also loves "blowing bubbles". The sounds that come out of her mouth make me giggle. She's really starting to find her voice. Before we know, she will be shouting from the roof tops just like her sister.
Sibling Love: Stella loves her sister. Her face lights up when Lottie enters the room or speaks to her. When she sees Lottie playing with her toys, you can tell that she is just itching to get down on the floor to play with her big sister. I have a feeling that since Stella has been sitting up so well, she will be playing with her big sister on the floor in the next month.
Likes: EATING, sucking on her hands, riding in the car, taking a bath, putting her warm jammies on at the end of the day, seeing her daddy walk in the door from work, playing with sissy when she's not poking or prodding her, sitting up, playing with her rattles and dollies, pressing buttons/playing in her exercauser and being tickled. She also loves "flying" in the air.
Dislikes: Being hungry, tired, tummy time and when Lottie whines, cries, fusses in front of her.
