Today's pictures

This is is Kailey smiling first and swallowing second. Oatmeal and Pears :-)

I have nothing really new to report but she is eating her solids like a champ and we are almost ready to start introducing some new items. I found the best bib ever from Wal-Mart. Kushies brand. It is heavier and extremely wide. She thinks that she cannot lift her arms in it so there is less 'Kailey help' with feeding. It is so funny. I put her other plastic bib on and she is all hands. Here is what she has had so far:

Cereals:
Rice - not a fan
Barley - too much gas on it's own
Oatmeal - loves
Wheat - loves

Veggies:
carrots - favorite
sweet potato
squash
peas - least favorite & that's a bummer because I made a ton
beans

Fruit:
apple
pear - favorite
banana - least favorite

Next things I am going to introduce her to are:

Cereal:
Mixed

Fruit:
Peach
Mango
Avocado

Veggies:
yellow beans
broccoli
zucchini

My Southern Belle

I just had to post these pictures.
Can you still be a 'Belle' with carrot stains all over your face? hahaha.

The carrot queen!

Kailey has been eating like a horse these past few days. She had 4 TBSP of carrots in one sitting for lunch and she would have had more if I let her. She has had 2 TBSP of green beans and 3 TBSP of cereal which I mixed together because of how watery the beans became after I froze them (you can imagine what that looked like). She loves veggies and is not that keen on fruit, go figure. She will eat them, but put a veggie in front of her and she goes crazy. She was actually vibrating as I was getting the next spoonful of carrots. I can judge how well she likes something by the degree of mess she leaves behind. Zero mess with carrots, beans, squash, oatmeal & sweet potato...biiiiiig mess with apples & bananas, I am talking in her hair, nose and ears. She also has been downing 7 oz. bottles on top of this. She must be in a growth spurt right now. I am totally going against what the Heath Nurses instructed (no, not just to be spiteful) and I am feeding her the solids first and then her bottle when she wants and it is working way better. I guess she was filling up from her bottle and was totally not interested in sitting for more grub. Who knows. She only wants her bottle first thing in the morning so her first big girl meal isn't until later. The new nipples (#2) are working like a champ (I am touching wood) and she actually has less gas from them even though she inhales the bottle without a burp break. I guess with how hard she had to suck to get anything from the #1's she was taking in air.

We went for a long walk this afternoon and she was awake for most of it. I bought a clip on shade to extend the canopy of her stroller and it worked pretty well. The next thing to purchase is a UV/bug net as I noticed quite a few flies today...yuck. She prefers to sit totally upright and was examining her running shoes today. Also, if she sees a dog being walked, you can see her little little hands doing the motorcycle thing out the sides of the stroller. When she is very excited she opens and closes her hands while twisting at the wrist like she is revving a bike, it is very cute.

It has been just us gals the last couple of days as Jack has been putting in ridiculous hours at work. Makes for a long day but we are having fun. She is so into cuddles right now. She loves to just sit on my lap for an hour or so and I read to her or we play with her peek-a-blocks. This is a little different than the Kailey that wanted to be strapped into the snugli all day. This is likely a passing phase, but I will take it. She still loves her Jumperoo and we are working on more tummy time. She is very quick with rolling over so I have to be fast with the entertainment. She knows how to move across the floor to get what she wants but I am trying to discourage her chosen method of transportation......the back of her head. *sigh* She crab walks using her feet and her head to get her where she wants to go. Really good for the flat spot. hahaha. Never has been a big fan of the tummy that's for sure, but she is getting better and with the right entertainment, will stay there for a reasonable amount of time.

Here is a quick video of her in the Jumperoo.
http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p220/sjrugg/video/?action=view&current=MVI_3229.flv

Six month check up!!

That was a looong time spent at the Hospital today. WOW. My Dr. was behind by 40 min and I was there 15 min early. In total, we were there for 2 hours. She had a blast. She was a complete angel. Loved her Doctor, loved all the people in the waiting room, was quiet as a mouse during the exam, made an old guys day by giving him the biggest grin she could work up and sat very still and didn't cry for her x-rays. Everyone she saw commented on her happy disposition and how pretty she is....awwww and that just made her smile even bigger. They kept saying....this is when she will cry...nope. Made this Momma proud. According to the Doc. the 9 month appt will not be as easy. Most kids are not happy campers to be there at that age in his experience. So he soaked up all her smiles now he said. So, she hates the Health Unit and all the Nurses there because they cause her pain I guess. Not looking forward to her next shots, May 15.

On to the goods...

Her eating/vomitting issues: He is concerned about her eating/feeding issue and she is being referred to a specialist at the Stollery. The great part is he will travel here. Phew. Right away he suspected GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease), but then he took one look at her smiling face and he said typically GERD babies are very fussy esp. when you lay them on their back. Also, she should be spitting up more frequently. We all know she is a very happy baby when she is not on a bottle strike or having tummy pains. She is obviously gaining weight very well so what she doesn't eat or throws up, she is making up for after the episode is finished. Still, it is worth further investigation as this is not normal....finally someone believes me.

On to her head shape: He didn't mention it at all when he was examining her and measuring her until I mentioned what the Health Unit Nurses said ref. band therapy and needing a referral to the Stollery. He examined it closer and said that he is 90% sure once she is mobile and off of it more it will re-shape itself. This is causing her no disfiguring of her facial features and her circumference is right on par with her height and weight (in fact it is smaller). He said he has all sorts of patients with way more obvious/bizarre head shapes than Kailey. One of the most common is what he called hammer shaped. Sides are squished and the forehead and oxciput jet out. Regardless, he sent her down for her first X-ray. The lab was backed up too so that was another looong wait in the waiting room. They took three X-rays of her head that will be analyzed and if there is any concern he will call me immediately. During the same appointment with the speacialist, he will address her head shape and if there is a need for positioners. Dr. Stander said there was no way in his mind, but because the Nurses reacted so dramatically he needs to follow up. I honestly cannot wait to be rid of those bloody women.

So, I wait to hear from the dude from the Stollery and we go forward from there. I feel like a big weight has lifted off just knowing that 1/I am being taken seriously & 2/We will have some answers.

Oh yeah her stats:

Weight: 19 lbs - 90 percentile
Height: 27.75" - 92 percentile
Head: 45 cm - 85 percentile

6 Months Old

My little K-bear you are 6 months old today (Technically not until 8:08pm) but close enough. It is 7:35am, this is the exact time that my water broke and my heart started pumping fast with anticipation, fear, excitement and almost every other emotion a new Mom can feel. I remember like it was yesterday. The first time I saw you I thought you had to be the most beautiful little earth angel I had ever seen. In my eyes you were perfection in a tiny pink 7 lbs. body. I haven't stopped thinking you are perfection by the way. I adore you and I so want to be the best Mom in the world to you as you deserve no less. You have filled a hole in my heart that I never even knew existed, for that, I thank you. You have changed so much in the last 6 months and your personality is really starting to emerge. You are my sweet comedian that fills this house with chubby cheek smiles and a roaring laugh. I am sorry it is so hard to feed you sometimes. I sometimes get frustrated when you don't eat, but just know it is because I love you so much and I worry about you. You will make mistakes, fall down and cut your knee open, have your feelings hurt and suffer a broken heart one day, but I want you to know that as much as it will kill me to stand by and watch, I will allow you that freedom to grow. I promise you.

Happy half Birthday little one, your Dad and I love you.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

yahooo!! My Kailey is back.

It is safe to say my little bear is back from what would be the worst cycle/bottle strike yet. She is taking her bottles and is happy doing so again. Thank God because I don't know what I would have done if I had another week of this. The only thing that we did differently today was change the flow rate on her bottle nipples from a #1 to a #2. In the past this has totally backfired for us, but she just finished her fourth bottle with the new flow rate and she is happy. At first she was choking and I thought to myself...here we go, cue the crying, but she just backed off and started sucking less. Not sure if it was that or that fact that all she is getting right now is cereal a couple of times a day. Her bad bottle strikes usually only lasts a couple of days until she does her major vomit and starts fresh. I will start re-introducing other solids very slowly and instead of the suggested three days of the same thing I may up it to 4 or 5 days. She obviously has a sensitive system and maybe she was reacting to one of the items she has been having. Who knows. I am just glad she is back to herself. I wonder how long until the next time :-(. She goes for her appointment Wednesday morning (I thought it was Tuesday so I am glad I looked at the card) ,so I will be curious to hear what he has to say. I am mixing her cereal with formula so she is getting more oz. that way. I made up a whole tray of peas this afternoon so we will try those at some point this week.

She was laughing her guts out this evening when Jack was playing peek-a-boo with her. She loves to be startled, go figure. Most kids cry when they jump out of their skin, but the louder the 'boo' the better. I know she is going to be the one that goes on all the scary roller coaster rides with Daddy while I watch from the sidelines. lol

I can now laugh at this one. One of the major puking episodes she had, Shilo happen to be at my feet when she was in the snugli and he ended up wearing what seemed to be a weeks worth of milk...yuck. Poor dog was covered from heat to tail. All the other dogs thought he was their personal buffet. Into the tub he went for some mega scrubbing.

Sheltie Sunday!!!

True Shelties...anything for a treat!

from L to R (Krammer, Parker, Shylo, Katie, Merlin, Gilligan & Marley)

This is not baby related but I had to share these pictures. I met up with Jackie, Sheila & Alaina & we all brought our Shelties and got them together at closed off ball diamond on base. Total: 7 Shelties. Had I brought the brothers, Rodney and Shilo that would have made nine!!! next time I will. Everyone got along great and it was sooooo nice to get out of the house. Lets just say it has been an awful week. I thought she was taking her bottles better as per last post, but I was wrong. :-( Very wrong. Don't want to get into it as I will start bawling again so we will leave it at that.


Don't forget to check the Blog tomorrow as I will be posting some of her 6 month pictures from her photo shoot. I am so excited at how these turned out.

Better Day Today.

So far so good.
She is taking her bottles better so I am thinking we are at the tail end of this cycle and we should be good for a little while. She is only having about 4.5 oz. per bottle so far, but she is happy and not crying after 1-2oz. I really don't care how much or how little she takes in so long as she is happy and getting enough to sustain her. She had 2 tbsp of Apples and Bananas for breakfast and when she wakes up I will see if she wants some carrots for lunch. She is really not a big eater even though she is a chubby baby. :-) I was looking at the feeding guide (5-7 mths) we got from the Nurses and there is no way I can feed her as much as it says on the chart. I can not imagine giving her 3-4 tbsp of cereal twice/day as well as 2 meals (one meal = 2 tbsp) of fruit and two meals of veggies. PLUS DRINK 25-36 oz. in one day. What kind of kid are they talking about?? There are not enough hours in the day to accommodate this. hahaha. She is getting 2 tbsp of cereal, 2 tbsp of a fruit, 2 tbsp of a veggie and drinking 26-28 oz/day at her most hungry. I guess they have to be very vague and every kid is different, but WOW. I guess she will work up to that eventually but that seems incredible to me when I look at her little belly.

I took her for a walk in the snugli this morning and brought the stroller along in case she wanted to change to that half way through. Thank God I brought that for my sake. WOW, carrying her around is a lot of work. She could have stayed in there the whole walk I am sure but I would have died. She loved looking at her reflection in some vehicles on our route. She was squealing and kicking the entire time and she crashed for the latter half in her stroller. Looks like I got home just in time as there is quite the storm brewing. It was a nice walk and she really benefits from fresh air....so do I.

New Hat!!

Jack couldn't resist this hat for his little K-Bear.

Kailey and the bottle.

Just when I thought I had her feeding issues all ironed out.....
I was wrong. The only thing I had left to try was to eliminate the Omegas and try her on the regular Good Start. She was doing great and I was feeling like the weight of the world was lifted from my shoulders and then she started the usual refusing to eat and crying after 1-2 oz. She then barfed her little guts out to the point where all she had left was bile. There is nothing worse than holding your baby and feeling her entire body heaving, tears streaming down her cheeks and looking at you like...do something Mom. I feel like I am letting her down. I give up. I have tried everything now including the LF formula she was on before and did great on. Thank God she is going to the Dr. a week from today for her 6 month check up. I am sure I will hear the same thing as I have been hearing from the professionals for the last 5.5 months....she is gaining weight steadily and she is the picture of health. What they do not understand is the fact that if it wasn't for me making her eat when she is going through these bottle strikes she would be skin and bones. As a test, I let her eat only what she could stand & it was less then half of her 'normal' intake which according to the Nurses is already low for her size. We are talking maybe 10-15 oz. What is a Mom to do? I am totally exhausted from this. I went through the notes I took when I first got her home & it brought back the memories of her refusing to Nurse - absolute refusal so I guess I am so totally done with feeding issues and I want answers. I don't think I can last another half a year with this. I am hoping that her Doctor will try to find a solution and either refer me or offer any other suggestions I haven't already tried. Is there something wrong with her tummy? The good news is she likes solids and I think her having something else in her stomach delayed the pattern by a few days. It was about two weeks rather the 10 days.

On another, more happier note, I took Kailey to Wal-Mart & had her in the snugli rather than the stroller. She was one happy little gal. We were there for about an hour and she was so pumped and gave a ton of smiles. Quite a few people said hi to her and I could see her break out into smiles by looking down and seeing those chubby cheeks of hers. It is very easy for her to grab stuff off the hangers though so I had to really watch. I took her to the mirror aisle and she had a blast. So her favorite aisle in the stroller is storage and it's mirrors in the snugli. She was in a good mood because she had just finished a 7 oz. bottle. I guess the stars were aligned just right because this was the first 'normal' feeding in four days.

Cool Chick!!

Awesome Weekend!!!

Mom, Nan, Char and Julie came to Cold Lake Saturday morning and stayed until this afternoon. We had a great time and it was so hard to see them leave. :-( I soooo wish we lived closer but I totally cherish the time we do get to spend with one another. Poor Jack surrounded by a ton of estrogen. He handled it very well and it helped that we transformed our front room into a Nintendo Wii sports arena. All I have to say is you haven't lived until you've seen Mom boxing. That was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. 'A' for effort that is for sure. I should have recorded it for you all. (she would have killed me though). Lots of cuddles were had and Julie and Marley re-connected..hahahaha. He is under the desk sulking as I type this. I got so wrapped up in the time that I didn't really take the pictures I wanted of everyone holding Kailey, but I did manage to get some. Thank you so much for coming!! Time flew by way too fast. Char brought her camera and a fabric backdrop so she took pictures of Kailey all dressed up for her 6 month photo this afternoon. I am so excited about them and it was hilarious all us adults trying to get Miss K to crack a smile. I am sure she thought we were all losing our minds. In the end, it was Daddy that achieved the biggest smile. There are some totally wonderful shots that I cannot wait to post for her 6 month blog entry. Thanks so much. There are at least 10 that I could have blown up so I am going to have to narrow it down somehow. Totally talented my Aunt is that's for sure.

I know I am a suck, but it is so hard to say goodbye at the end of a visit. I guess because I am not sure when the next time will be and it is that uncertainty that kills me. Nobody could have prepared me for how hard it would be to be this far away. I would give anything to have some family even an hour and a half away. I know I cannot convince Jack's folks to move here either...hahaha.

Look at that tongue!!!

Not really related, but...she tried squash this afternoon, which, by the way, smells rank and tastes just as disgusting. The little gal loved it and ate everything. For whatever reason the smells really gets to me so I am not overly thrilled that this seems to be her new favorite. hahaha.

Is Spring Really Here???

Today it is +7 with very little wind. A perfect day to go walking. We ended up going for about an hour and a half. She was awake for about 15 min and then crashed so I reclined the stroller and tucked her in with her special blanky (it goes everywhere with us). I cannot believe she can sleep through all noise of cars going by and jets flying overhead, let alone the rough ride with all the uneven pavement. I wanted to get a picture of her sleeping but as soon as I pulled up to the house she was WIDE awake. She is finishing off her power snooze in the crib right now. We started off walking Zoe then I switched to Parker for the end. I really am hoping this is the start of spring. If I look out and see another snowy day I will flip out.

She had green beans and then apple for her 11am brunch. She prefers the taste of the beans to apple...WHAT?! The apples tasted really good so I was shocked. She ate them all but left out the lip smacking and ummmm hmmmm noise.

Kailey takes Zoe for a walk.

We just got back from a nice walk. There was a bit of a wind today so that is why Miss K is all bundled up. I decided to try Zoe, as she was practically doing back flips begging to come along. I told her she had once chance to behave or she was going right back in the house. hahaha. What Zoe heard: bla bla bla Zoe. She did amazingly well. She has never heeled so well outside before. I think walking next to the stroller threw her off her 'game', but I'll take it. Every once in a while she would peek in at Kailey and I would hear some giggling. Maybe having Kailey along was enough of a distraction. Parker was howling as we were leaving and I felt mildly guilty, but he is going to class tonight so suck it up fluffy Prince. :-)

Day 2 of sweet potatoes:

So far this is her favorite thing she has tried. Ummmmmmmm.....hmmmmmmm...smack...smack. She could have had another helping but we had to stop at 2 tbsp!!! This is after 6 oz of bottle. It is really nice that she is getting the hang of this because there is way less clean up. Not sure what to try next. I have a chart that says what is allowed if you are feeding before 6 months...she is a couple weeks away from that milestone. She is allowed: Apples, Pears, Bananas, Beans, Sweet Potato, Squash and of course Rice, Barley and Oatmeal. After 6 months it is wide open. Not sure what happens April 23 @ 8:08pm...does a digestion fairy pay a visit and grant her with older infant guts? Oh well, better to be safe than sorry.

Sweet Potatoes...Big Hit!!

She had three days of beans so I was able to give her something new to try - sweet potato. She loooved it, although the first cube she managed to knock out of my hands and it landed all down my front and the floor. Strike one. I defrosted another cube and she ate almost everything. She really enjoyed them. She is definitely not wanting much first thing in the mornings except her bottle, so her first solid meal (really just a taste test at this stage) is around 11am. I just gave her 1 Tbsp of oatmeal as a chaser to her bottle (we will call it dessert) and she was hilarious with it. She made the hmmmmmmmm noise throughout the entire thing along with laughs and lip smacking. She is really getting the hang of this. With anything new the first few spoonfuls she usually tries to lap it up off the spoon like a puppy. Then if she likes the taste it is mouth open and rooting at the spoon....makes it a little tricky to hit the target.

An Easter package came in the mail from her Grandma and Grandpa and her Great Nana Shirley & G.Grandpa Coy from California. Enclosed were very sweet sun hats and other goodies and the most fancy dress that I have ever seen. It is a 12 month size so it is too big for now...I already tried it on her, but you will not believe it when you see it. Lets just say I will not be feeding her green beans in it...hahaha. I tried to get a picture of her in all the hats but it was a no-go as I pulled her out of her jumperoo for the photos and she obviously was not finished jumping...hahahaha. Thank you very much!!

We got her the foam puzzle piece mats for her to play on and I think these are the best thing ever. They are warm and softer than the wood. We also set up her Peek-a-block set she got from Brad and Sharon and the kids for X'mas. She really likes them. Every block has something different to look at. They taste just fabulous to according to Kailey.

We ended up just going to Wal-Mart this afternoon as it was too chilly to go out walking. She was happy to be out and looking at people and reuniting with her favorite aisle...Rubbermaid totes/storage (?). If she really likes someone she sees she will either blow raspberries their direction or let out her squeal/war cry so that is always entertaining. I love taking her and Parker for a walk and this will definitely be part of our daily routine, weather permitting. I will give the other dogs a chance too. hahaha.

Happy Easter!!

Jack surprised Kailey and I with an Easter egg hunt. He had little clues in plastic eggs all over the house with candies that led us to a prize for Kailey (cool finger puppet toys), a CD for me (Gwen Stefani) and a prize for both of us to share....Charlotte's Web gift pack!!!! We wore bunny ears and she wore her little bunny pants, slippers and headband. She was totally pumped watching me running around looking for eggs while in her snugli. Yes, that is Jack wearing ears, I did not super impose them!!! Anything for his little girl's first Easter. hahaha.

First Veggie - Green Beans

This afternoon I made up a batch of green beans for Miss Kailey. I got to use the baby food cubes that Jackie got us. Really cool invention. Individual snap lid cubes that fit in a tray (holds 10). This way I could make smaller portions for the first few days and build the quantity up from there. I couldn't resist...I gave her a starter cube of the green goop - which, by the way, tasted totally nasty in paste form. YUCK!!! I love beans just not a bean smoothie I guess. She looooved them and ate the entire amount (about 1 tbsp I think). This feeding was actually less messy than her oatmeal ones. Here are some pictures that I will definitely pull out for her wedding slide show one day along with her bikini pictures. hahahaaha

Waiting for Summer!!

Since it is too cold to take little K for a walk I decided to play dress up with her. There were two outfits that I really wanted to see her in so here they are. Most of the bikini ones didn't turn out as I was laughing too hard - blurry pictures. She looked adorable in it, and out of the two, she was happiest in her bathing suit.

Thanks again Auntie Heather for picking this very fashionable suit up for me!!

http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p220/sjrugg/APRIL%2005%202007/