Where are the toys, Lou?

Our sneaky pup, Louis has been up to some tricks lately. Averie has been mysteriously 'losing' some of her stuffed animals. First, we noticed that 5 miniature stuffed ponies were missing. After days of wondering where they could have gone, my Mom was working in our garden when she noticed something strange peeking out from behind the broccoli plants. Upon further inspection, she discovered it was one of the ponies, buried in the soil. She continued to hunt around the yard, and eventually found 4 of the ponies, all buried in the same 'feet up' position, in various locations around the yard. We thought we were in the clear, but we have been continuing to find Averie's toys hidden in the dirt all over our yard. All buried in that same, feet up position. Since we have never actually seen him in the act, we are not sure when these heists are taking place, but it's probably sometime in the early morning before we are all awake. Whatever the case, we will continue to be on the hunt...

Soooo guilty!!

Averie is 8 Months Old!

November 30, 2011

Yes, that's right. Our tiny girl is 8 months old! 4 months away from her first birthday. It's crazy how fast time goes by. People always tell us that she would grow so quickly and the months would just speed away, but I never really thought it would go this fast. Mind you, there have been many days where I wished we could speed things up, just to get over these little bumps that seem to be on the road far too often for my taste. The last time I sat down to post, Miss A-Ro had just hit four months old. Wow. It's so funny to go back and read about her back then, and to see what has changed and what still remains the same. Here is a little recap on what she has been up to during our 4 month hiatus....

-We celebrated Averie's first Thanksgiving. She enjoyed a couple bites of sweet potatoes, but was more interested in her toys. We also celebrated Halloween last month. We got Averie the cutest banana costume. Unfortunately, Averie did not agree on it's cuteness. She spent the entire 10 minutes she had it on, screaming bloody murder, so needless to say, she didn't dress up. She preferred to stay in her jeans and Halloween onesie. One of my dear Kindergarten students told me that Averie probably didn't like the costume because she thought she might get eaten. Duh! Why didn't we think of that! OH, I love the logic of a 5 year old!

-within a week of hitting the 8th month mark, Averie went from being a roller to a full fledged crawler! If that wasn't enough, she cut two bottom teeth (which explains recent fussiness and lack of appetite) at the SAME TIME, and started standing when holding on to things. She especially loves to stand in her crib, which mommy and daddy are not exactly fond of!-Averie still loves her jumper, which we refer to as her "office".

-Averie is currently weighing in somewhere between 16-17lbs, and 27 inches long. She is starting to outgrow the length of her 6 month clothes, so it looks like a size 9-months shopping trip might be in order. It's hard to believe how big she is getting, even if she is still tiny compared to most of the other 8 month olds we know. There was a time when I never thought we'd get out of size 1 diapers, and here we are in our size 3's. She's finally starting to get some chubby little legs and even a slight belly. It's so cute, especially since it's the only time in life when such qualities are actually deemed adorable. Enjoy it while it lasts! ha ha.

-The past four months have been a wild ride on the reflux roller coaster. Shortly after the last 4 month post, Averie's reflux took a turn for the worst. She started refusing ALL bottles. Was barely sleeping longer than 40 minutes at a time. When she was "sleeping", she would flop around the crib like a fish out of water, arching her back and crashing her legs down in the crib. She would wake up screaming and nothing would console her. Meal time was a complete nightmare, and most of her bottles were being given to her while she was asleep. This worked good for awhile, but as she started to sleep less, this became a huge challenge. I became consumed with trying to get her to sleep and eat. We had many visits to the pediatrician, an Upper G.I test performed at Hoag (results were normal), a trial of both Zantac and Prevacid together (which actually made things worse), adding rice cereal to her bottles (which caused more restlessness and spit-up), a brief switch to Enfamil A.R formula (no help), countless hours spent researching any kind of help for her, a complete nervous breakdown for myself, and a whole lot of prayer that God would please help our sweet girl. The last weekend in August, just days after she had turned 5 months old, I found myself in the pit of darkness. I felt so helpless. We had been trying everything we could for our little girl, and nothing was working to ease her reflux. I had been explaining the situation to our dear friend, Dr. Tom Bakman, a chiropractor. He told me that he had actually done some extensive research on treating reflux through chiro care, with great results. We were desperate for any relief, so Jerome and I took Averie to visit him. I will admit, Averie did not like being adjusted, but we continued to take her several times a week to be treated. And who knows, maybe it was just coincidence, but I truly believe that the treatments from Dr. B helped the reflux. Within days, Averie started to seem happier, hungrier, and more at ease. And here we are, 3 months later, and she continues to do well. She still takes Prevacid, 2X a day, and someday we hope to wean her from that (as scary as that might sound). We still have our fussy feedings, but nothing compared to what we went through. The prayers from our friends and the care from Dr. Bakman is truly a blessing to us, and we are forever grateful that we were finally able to help our sweet girl.



-She is obsessed with her daddy on most days. She will scream if he comes in to the room and doesn't immediately pick her up. Definitely a daddy's girl.

-she LOVES riding in her stroller. Sometimes she is so quiet during a ride, I have to check to see if she is awake. She loves checking out the scene. We call her the nose because she is very curious. Always craning her neck to see what's going on.

We love our sweet angel girl, and we can't wait for what the next few months have in store for us!

M.I.A

I know I've been away from the blog for quite sometime. I feel guilty about it. I've had tons of posts started, but never quite finished them. It has been a wild few months since I last posted. Between the start of the school year, my Kindergarten class from hell, Averie's huge reflux relapse, a no-joke nervous breakdown from yours truly, Jerome starting a new job, and a host of other things, it's no wonder I never made it on here to post. Luckily, things seem to be back on track (for the minute), so I thought I'd take a second to check in. Averie just hit 8 months this past Friday. It's amazing how quickly that little baby is growing up in to a little girl! Every day she amazes us with some new skill, and I know this is only going to get more exciting as the months go on. There is so much I want to post about, so I guess I better get a move on. Check back soon and Hopefully I will be able to finally click that pretty orange "Publish Post" button before life calls me away....

Averie is laughing!

After what seems like months of trying to get Averie to laugh, we have finally found the trick. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with myself, Jerome, Nana, or any other person that Averie knows. Leave it to our dog, Louis, to finally get our solemn girl giggling. It turns out that Avi thinks that Louis running around in circles and fighting with Lola is the most hilarious thing in the world. She is obsessed with Lou, so it should not be a surprise that he would be the one to get her laughing. And now, we find ourselves constantly coaxing Lou into action just so we can here that sweet little belly laugh. Oh. how we love it!

Averie is 4 Months Old!

It's hard to believe that Averie is already four months old! Where has the time gone? I am finding myself more and more in love with her every day, and I am dreading the end of summer, when I'll have to return to work.  We have definitely been enjoying our time together. Oh, why does summer have to end so soon?

Here is a little update on our feisty 4 month old:

-We didn't have an "official" check-up this month, due to some mixed-up scheduling of appointments. Not sure on her exact weight and height, but our home scale says she is somewhere in the 12lb range, and she is definitely getting longer because her clothes are getting shorter and she has grown out of her bassinet. My mom and I took her in for the 4 month shots this past week, and I'm proud to say she took them like a champ! Much improvement from the bloody-murder-scream-fest that happened at her 2 month shots. She cried a little, but was calm shortly after, and thankfully she only ran a low temp of 99.7 the next afternoon, and it was gone within an hour!

-Averie is still a "grazer" when it comes to eating, and will take anywhere from 2-4 ounces, depending on her mood. We are officially phasing out breast milk and sticking to Good Start formula. I figure 4 months of me breast feeding and pumping was excellent, considering all the trouble I had. I am happy to be moving on, and hopefully she is too! We started rice cereal this week. Averie is not quite sure what to make of it. She makes some pretty silly faces while eating it, and I can't quite decide if she truly likes it or not. A great majority of the cereal often ends up on her face, but I know it is more of learning mechanism than nutritional source. We will keep at it!

-She is awesome at holding up her head, and has gotten really good at turning her head to follow people as they move. Averie rolled over once for my mom last week, but has yet to do it again. I know she knows how to do it, but given her feisty nature, she is probably purposely holding off because we want it so badly. She will do it when she wants to, on her own time! The same goes with laughing. She is selective with her laughs, but when she does, it is so cute! I find myself trying to do anything I can to get her to giggle. Hopefully she will be more forthcoming with her laughs in the next few weeks.

-Averie has started to babble A LOT. We definitely have a talker on our hands. In the mornings, she has been waking up much earlier just to "chat". Sometimes I ask her questions, and she will babble back, almost as if she can understand. It is so cute! She is also responding to voices and her name.

- Averie continues to grab at everything in sight. She also wants to taste everything that comes within her reach. She is very "oral" and wants to suck on just about all her toys, hands, feet and clothing, as well as the hands of anyone holding her. She is also a big time drooler. I feel like I am constantly wiping her little chin. I know this is all going to get worse when she begins teething in the near future!

-Averie has begun whining sometimes when you take away something she is enjoying. The other day she was fascinated with looking at my new watch, but every time I moved my arm away from her, she would cry. As soon as I put my wrist back within her reach, the tears ended, and smiles ensued! I guess she likes jewelry and diamonds as much as I do!

-We have been having as love/hate relationship with sleeping. At my last post, she was sleeping a good 5+ hour stretch, followed by a few 3 hour stretches. Upon writing those very words, I think I jinxed us. For the past month, Averie's sleep habits have been all over the place. Gone are the solid 5-7 hour stretches. At first, she started waking up on an hourly basis, sometimes to eat, but mostly to be re-swaddled or the paci to be put back in. It was miserable! That lasted for about a week. Now we have moved on to sleeping a good 3-4 hour stretch, which is an improvement, but nowhere near the blissful 5+. On top of that, she has also discovered how to get her arms out of the swaddle, but then fusses until we re-swaddle her. This happens several times a night (and during naps too). This all makes for one exhausted family. We've tried a lot of things to get her sleeping again (earlier bed time, bigger bed time feeding, stopping the swaddle), but none of it has helped. I've done a lot of research on sleeping patterns of 4 month olds, and I guess this type of sleep "regression" is very common during this time. 14-19 weeks is a huge developmental period for babies, and just like clockwork, she has not been sleeping since 14 weeks, and as I write this, we are at week 19. I pray that this erratic sleep schedule is on its way out and we will be back to our good sleeping habits soon.

-We bought Averie a jumper this past week. She is loving the new toys attached to it, but hasn't quite figured out how to make her little legs jump.

-Averie took her first road trip. My mom, Jerome, AverieLaughlin, The Grand Canyon (so amazing!), and our usual summer stop in Scottsdale. Averie did great considering the long car rides! We were so thankful to have my mom with us. She sat in the back with Avi and acted like a "circus clown" of sorts, entertaining Averie for many hours.

-Averie LOVES swimming. In Scottsdale, we took her swimming while we were staying at the Four Seasons. She absolutely loved being in the pool. Jerome held her, and would "drag" her little body around the pool. You could see her little legs paddling in the water, and she had the BIGGEST smile on her face the whole time. She is definitely our little mermaid girl!

-She loves Louis and is constantly looking around the room for him. When he is close, she will put her hands out for him to lick, and loves petting him. He is her little side kick, and pretty much follows me around the house whenever I have Averie with me. I know they are going to be great friends!

Averie is 3 months old!

Wow! Time has flown by. It's hard to believe our precious little girl is already 3 months old. I find myself torn because I can't wait for her to get older and yet I'm still wishing she was that newborn fresh from the hospital. I'm sorry that I have not been very good about posting on here, but life has been pretty hectic, and I have barely had enough time some days to shower, let alone spend much time in front of the computer. Since I am officially out of school for the summer, I hope to have a little more time to keep up with the blog for all of you who don't get to see Avi on a regular basis. In the meantime, here is a little about what she's up to at 3 months old:

-At her 3month check-up on June 30, Averie weighed in at 11 pounds even (25th percentile), and measured 24 inches long (75th percentile). Long and lean. Yes, she is tiny in the weight department. I have spent many nights (and days) obsessing over her weight gain (although she has consistently gained weight, it has still been a small amount). People are always asking me if she is a premie. She's not. She's just not a big eater. In fact some days, she barely wants to eat much at all. Dr. Bennett chalks this up to Averie's severe acid reflux (more about that later) and genetics (I, too, was pretty much the same size and kind of eater when I was her age). She is finally starting to fill out her 0-3 and 3 month clothes. The waist is still a little baggy in pants, but she definitely fits the length. She is also still wearing size 1 diapers.

-Averie is still on the reflux medicine. It has been a rocky road, and I don't wish severe infant GERD on anyone! Part of the reason I didn't even post for her 2 month update was because our time and my brain was consumed with managing the reflux. At 5 weeks old, we started out with Zantac and a supplement of this (nasty) hypo-allergenic Nutramigen formula (along the pumped breast milk she already was getting), and that seemed to work okay for a few weeks. Then, as if we were back to square one, Averie started to refuse most of her bottles during the day. It was a fight to get her to take 2 ounces. Often we would have to feed her in her sleep, so she would not freak out. Occasionally she would take 4 ounces, and we would all jump for joy, but that was far and few between. She was extremely fussy during feeding times, and it would take upwards of an hour just to get her to eat a tiny bit. After some desperate days (my mom, whom was watching her when I went back to work, and I were at our wits end) and many tears (from me), we went back to see Dr. Bennett. She immediately pulled us off the Nutramigen (she said it's disgusting and clearly Averie has no desire to eat it) out us back on the Good Start, and switched our meds from Zantac to Prevacid. Dr. Bennett said that perhaps Averie has started to develop a food aversion because of the pain from the acid, which caused her to refuse feedings. It has been a month since we switched her meds and the supplement formula, and things have seemingly improved. She still spits up and isn't a huge eater (but then again, neither was I at this age), and I can't say that all my anxiety surrounding meal times has dissipated, but she seems happier and more willing to eat. There are still times when feeding her is not easy, but I guess it is something we will have to live with for now. They say that infants grow out of the GERD by their 1st birthday, if not sooner. We can't wait for that day!

-Averie's neck and head are getting so much stronger! She is doing great at holding up her head, although she still looks like a little bobble head sometimes. She is more tolerant of tummy time, and enjoys sitting up in her Bumbo seat. She also loves to stand (with our assistance, of course). Her hand-eye coordination is really good. She has started grabbing the toys that hang on the bouncer seat and her play mat. She will grab them, sometimes two at a time, and hold on with a death grip. She gets so excited when she does this, and will often make a little "chatter" conversation with the toys. It's so cute. Averie has discovered her hands, and will pass up pretty much anything to suck on them. She has also discovered her feet, and we often find her using all her mite to grab her toes. I'm sure they will be making their way to her mouth in no time. Avi is also quite fond of looking at herself in the mirror, and smiling at herself. We have a vain little ham on our hands! She is quite the smiler, and I find myself doing anything and everything to bring out her smile. It brightens even the darkest days.

-A few weeks ago, Averie caught her first cold. She was running a low fever (99.7), and was super congested. We took her to the doc, and were advised to give her saline nasal drops, suction her nose, and run the humidifier. She hated the nasal drops and suction. It was as if an exorcist was happening to her body each time we did it. Thankfully, my mom was still staying with us at the time, and taught us a few tricks on how to give it to her, and the cold was pretty much gone in a few days.

-Averie has taken a liking to an "Aden and Anais" white muslin receiving blanket. I have no idea why she chose this particular blankie, but she is obsessed with snuggling it. It has been a god-send because immediately relaxes her (which has helped during meal time and nap time). She has a bad habit of wanting to cover her face with it, so we have to keep an eye out so she doesn't cover her nose. It is so cute to see her snuggled up with the blankie. So cute, that I almost feel guilty when I have to take it away to wash it! Averie has also started loving on a little stuffed doll that my niece Monique gave her. Averie loves to snuggle with or "talk" to it.

- Averie still loves her nightly bath. We have resorted to some afternoon baths on occasion when Miss Averie has been incredibly fussy or refusing to eat (the bath generally relaxes her enough to take a bottle, and we have fed her in the tub many times). Jerome still handles the bath routine with her. I have taken over a couple times, but Averie definitely enjoys it more with her Daddy.

-Averie is generally sleeping a good 5 hour stretch at night, followed by a couple 3 hour stretches. We usually put her down around 10:30 pm after her bath and swaddle (she loves being swaddled and sleeps so much better when she is. I dread the day when we can't anymore!). She is pretty good about going right to sleep at night. She is also a pretty decent napper during the day, as long as I make sure to put her down as soon as I start to see her tired signs. We usually swaddle for naps too, although sometimes she is quite content with just her white blanket and pacifier.

- To our dismay, Averie isn't too interested in cuddling or snuggling lately. She likes to be held facing outward, so she can see the world, instead of snuggling up to our chests like she used to. I'm pretty much the only person who can carry her on my shoulder without her fussing. She also prefers to be fed while sitting in her bouncer seat. Gone are the days of snuggling her close during a feeding (except for the occasional nighttime breast-feeding session). I have friends who tell me I'm so lucky (their kids wanted to be held and snuggled all the time, and lucky me I get my hands free most of the time). I however am sad! I miss my cuddler, but I am hoping this is just a phase and she will snuggle again in the future.

-Lately Averie has seemed to be attached to Jerome and I more than ever. She has not wanted to be held by other people, and often screams until one of us takes her back in to our arms. We feel awful for the friends and family who can't seem to hold her for longer than a few minutes before the whimpering starts. We're praying this is a short phase.

-Averie is pretty good when riding in the car- as long as it does not stop! Stopping the car can cause her to erupt into loud a crying fit. This is especially troublesome when I am driving alone with no one in the backseat to console her.

-She continues to make some of the funniest facial expressions. Many of which she inherited from her Daddy (especially the furrowed brow look).

-Her hair is growing like weeds! Every morning we awake to find more hair on her head. My mom says it is the color of honey. I prefer spun gold. We joked that perhaps Jerome was using some special baby Rogaine shampoo on her at night because the hair has come in so fast. I don't know where all this hair is coming from, considering I was nearly bald till I was at least a year old, and Daddy didn't have much more either. I can't wait for it to get a little longer so we can start wearing some cute clips :)

Smiles!

Just can't get enough of this smiling face!