Dear Dana,

Shortly after my last letter to you, Daddy took off on travel and you just took off crawling! I texted Daddy as he was in the Taxi on his way to the airport to inform him that you had crawled six steps, the most yet. By the time Daddy was back home, just a few days later, there was no denying it – you were a crawler! You’re still mastering your crawling technique. You crawl on two hands and a flat foot and a knee with your leg turned in wards. It’s surprisingly effective. Sometimes you try crawling on two flat feet. So far you haven’t tried two knees yet, but when you do you’ll really start to take off.

You’re hair is getting so long, I’m going to have to start using barrettes or hair ties.

While Daddy was gone I broke out your play pen. We’ve been affectionately referring to the it as the “baby jail.” So far, you’re a fan. I thought you wouldn’t like being contained now that you can crawl, but you don’t seem to mind. You love when your big sisters make faces at you through the mesh sidings of your play pen. I think you also feel safer in it than on the floor when sisters come home all wound up after school. As much as you love their attention and hugs, the after-school hugs can sometimes be a little intimidating.

Just this week you started pulling up to a stand by your table. You’re still not cruising yet, I think we still have another month to go before we reach that milestone. Instead of going around your activity table when there’s something you want on the other side, you attempt to go over it.

We’re starting to transition away from purees to table food. Spaghetti was a huge hit, chicken was not. You enjoyed beef crumbles one day, but not another. You seem to prefer solid fruit to the mushed variety. You have eaten banana, water mellon and strawberries consistently well.

We’re also starting to hear words from you now. Aside from Mama and Dada, “yeah” and “no” are the words we hear most often. I have video where I’m trying to coax you to crawl for mommy. You’re on all fours, looking like you’re giving crawling some serious consideration before you say “no”, pushing back into a sitting position. Daddy and I both heard you say “more” in reference to cheerios, along with the sign. The girls are convinced you’re saying even more words, but I’m pretty confident that’s just wishful thinking. Truth be told, ‘yeah’ and ‘no’ may be wishful thinking on our part. ‘Yeah’ seems to be the sound you naturally make when excited and smiling, which may be why it seems right in context. As excited as I am to hear you start to talk for real, I’ll miss you’re happy little baby squeals.

Love Always,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Dana,

And here we are, nine months. Wasn’t it just a few days ago that I was writing your eighth month entry? At least I’m finally starting to think of you more as a baby and less of a newborn. See, mommies can learn too!

This month we decided to work on teaching you to fall asleep on your own, sans rocking and sans nursing. I mentioned previously how good you were at learning to falling back to sleep by yourself after waking up in the middle of the night. You’d also occasionally put yourself to sleep in the rock n’ play for daddy. (What amazes me about that is that you started doing this months after we moved you out of the rock n play for sleeping!) So we felt pretty confident you were ready and just needed a little more encouragement. By October you were doing it consistently. Now you even settle yourself back to sleep after every middle of the night nursing.

You had your second cold this month. You were such a trooper during the day that no one would have ever suspected you were under the whether. It wasn’t until night time that the congestion would become apparent. To help with the congestion we introduced you to your first shower, which is now most definitely one of your favorite things. You squealed with delight when I’d move you through the jet stream, alternately turning your face to the water and away. Oh how you loved to get your face wet! You even put out your tongue to catch the droplets.

Finger food is no longer just for gravity experiments, now it’s an acceptable form of nourishment. You like Cheerios and Puffs, but aren’t really a fan of much else yet. We’re teaching you the sign language for “more” and “done,” although you preferred way to signal the meal is over is by dumping the rest on the floor. Remind me to thank your sisters for encouraging that one.

The big news, though, is that someone is starting to crawl! At the start of October you’d get on your hands and knees, staring longingly at objects in front of you, before diving on your tummy and reaching for them. Then, you’d crawl move forward on your hands, your knees still stationary until you pancaked on your belly. Now your managing to move both your arms and legs, getting some forward propulsion. You don’t seem fully aware of how you’re making yourself move, so you aren’t making it very far yet, but I’m sure you will in no time!

Love Always,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Dana,

And now you’re eight months! That’s two thirds of your first year. It’s still hard to believe so much time has passed. I still feel like my “maternity leave” has just started, how could it possibly be that we’ve already been home together for the better part of a year?

Since transitioning to your own room you’re putting yourself to sleep more and more. I am still not very good at putting you down “drowsy but awake” part, though you’re clearly still learning. I’ve watched you on the baby monitor wake up at night and fall back to sleep by yourself. We’ve also seen you do that in the middle of nap. One minute you’ll be cooing away, playing with your toes, and the next you’ll be quite and still. One time after hearing you chatting away in your crib I decided to fetch you, sure you were awake for good, only to find you had fallen asleep in the time it took me to walk upstairs. You clearly can go to sleep by yourself, you just don’t go to sleep initially by yourself. It’s definitely a different sleep pattern than your sisters. You are intent on keeping me on my toes!

You’re awareness is ever increasing. It makes night time difficult, as you listen for footsteps outside your door (it’s so good we moved you to your own room last month!), and great for peekaboo. You recognize the sound of the garage door, and recognize your family members by name. You even turn to Echo when you hear us give it the voice command. Oh, how you love to dance! You started to head bopping one day while Nicole was singing, and loved the attention both girls showered on you for it. Now you’ll dance to anything, including just the sound of Mommy talking.

In terms of food you still prefer vegetables to fruit, and you’ve started a yogurt in the morning. Yogurt is clearly not your favorite, but you eat it anyway. We started finger foods (puffs and cereal) which we’ve taken to calling “baby cookies” in front of your sisters. You’re unsure what to do with them, other than experiments testing gravity. I am not sure I’ve seen you actually eat any, but you do enjoy dropping them on the floor.

We thought the thumb sucking phase had passed, but now I see you will still suck on your fingers for comfort. We had a visit from family you hadn’t seen in a month, and it’s clear that separation anxiety was starting to get to you. I shall take it as a compliment that you haven’t need to suck on them in my presence for the past couple of months.

We’re also starting to hear some clear first words. You started saying “dada” in Domingo’s presence and then, just two days ago started calling “mama” when waking in the middle of the night. I’ve got my fingers crossed that you learn to say “Nicki” and “Alexis” at the same time. Whichever sister’s name you say second is going to be super jealous.

Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy

Dear Dana,

I must have blinked. In the span of what feels like just minutes you have become a vastly different baby.

You are very aware of your surroundings these days. You even seemed aware that Mommy was sleeping in the same room with you, though you couldn’t see me from the vantage point of your crib. That awareness was starting to impact your sleep. There were too many nights when I inadvertently woke up when going to bed myself, or because I rolled over in my sleep. There were times I’d awake in the middle of the night and it seemed like you were looking over, waiting to see if I’d rise. So, at the start of August, we decided to move your crib back into to your own room. As with all transitions, it was harder for me than for you. You woke up one additional time the first night, but that was the extend of any sleep disruptions for you. I, on the other hand, still get a little sad when I walk into my bedroom and you’re crib isn’t there. I miss having you so close.

I may not have had a chance to put together the nursery quiet like I wanted, but that hasn’t hampered your enjoyment of it any. You love the new toys, and the black out curtains help keep it cooler and darker than mommy and daddy’s room which I’m sure is what’s helping you nap for longer stretches more consistently during the day.

Another transition that’s coming up? You’ll be out of the baby bath in the very near future. You’re almost too long for it, and definitely too mobile. Being the momtographer that I am, I took some “last day in the baby bath” pictures, and put them side by side with your “first day in the baby bath.” It’s incredible how much you’ve grown! (And you sure do love your toes!)

You took six onces from a bottle for the first time last week, and you’ve gone from eating half a stage 1 puree, to two stage 2s. You eat a fruit at lunch time and a vegetable at dinner. So far vegetables are the clear favorites. Squash is number one, and you prefer peas and green beans to apples or peaches. You are just not into anything sweet. I hope that lasts! Trust me, you don’t want to inherit Mommy’s sweet tooth. I plan on adding some yogurt for breakfast into your diet very soon.

Your favorite things these days are your sisters, your toy remote and your jumperoo. You will use any piece of fabric near you to play peek-a-boo: burp cloth, mommy’s shirt, the towel. You’ve gotten quite good at it, and can even play by yourself!

You’re up to the 82nd percentile for height, 60th for weight. That’s incredible given where you started from! You will always be my baby, but you are not not so itty bitty anymore!

Love Always,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Dana,

As much as I still want to think of you as a newborn, I now have two pointy white reminders that you are most definitely not. That’s right, someone is cutting her first teeth! A full two months earlier than either of your sisters. You are determined to march to your own drum, and keep this “experienced” mom on her toes, that’s for sure!

We started solids last week, which was super exciting for your sisters who were eager to show you how it’s done. We choose your purees to match the vegetables they were having for dinner so they could show you how to eat the non-mashed kind. It was the best I’ve seen Alexis eat her peas in a long time, so I thank you for that. So far your favorite seems to be squash, but you did equally well with carrots and peas too.

This month we finally were able to break you of the swaddle habit. You seemed unable to settle down and go to sleep without the swaddle, but also uncomfortable when we swaddled you. It was an ongoing battle until I figured out why you like the swaddle so much. I believe the soft muslin fabric reminds you of mommy’s shirt. Every time we nurse, you like to pull Mommy’s shirt over your face. I think the swaddle blanket rubbing against your check reminds you of mommy and that’s why you find comfort in it, even though the act of swaddling is no longer comfortable to you. Once we figured that out I started loosely wrapping you in the blanket and you slept so much better. Of course this means you only get a blanket at nap time when we can keep an eye on you. Once it’s safe for you to sleep with a blanket at night, the muslin swaddle blanket will probably be promoted to blankie.

You love to stick your tongue out to let me know you want to nurse or nap.

Thumb suckings, and finger sucking for that matter, is now passé. I can’t remember the last time I saw your hand in your mouth. Instead you’re all about gnawing on anything that crosses your path, including mommy sometimes! Those teeth will likely fully erupt in short order.

I can’t believe how quickly time is flying, or that we’re already halfway through your first year. It doesn’t matter how big you get, I will always think of you as my itsy bitsy baby.

Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy

Dear Dana,

I have a confession to make. I still keep thinking of you as my itty bitty newborn. That’s partly because you are my last and I want to hold onto this baby stage forever and partly because, in a lot of ways you still have newborn traits.

Unlike you’re two big sisters who were on to the bigger bottles and drinking 6 ozes after only a couple of months, you still prefer a more modest 3 or 4 oz snack more often. Even overnight it’s rare you’ll take five oz at once as measured by pumping output afterwards. (I think that may be why you’re still waking up regularly once a night, that tummy just isn’t as full). Speaking of sleeping, you still have some newborn traits there as well. While you’ll occasionally nap for a few hours in the crib, you prefer frequent newborn cat naps on mommy. You’ll fall asleep nursing and wake up within a half an hour, refreshed and recharged. I rarely have a chance to put you down in the crib before your quick snooze is over.

You know how you’re not like a newborn? You insist on sitting. You get upset whenever we set you down on your back, either in your gym or on your blanket. You want to be vertical! I came down stairs once a few weeks ago to find you sitting next to daddy on the couch as he played with you, huge grin on your face. You looked so proud of you’re new found independence. We put you in the corner against the arm rest where there is at least some support, but you like to lean forward and do it on your own. It won’t be long now until you’re a completely independent sitter.

This month you started out the month officially a thumb sucker, just not when mommy has her camera. I can see this is becoming a game to you! The thumb sucking was short lived. Mommy picks up the camera, and the thumb comes out of your mouth with a huge grin. While you continue to suck it every once in a while, you’re using your hands more to explore your world lately.

We start solids next month and you seem R-E-A-D-Y. You have always been interested in what we’re eating. Day 1 at the hospital you would stop nursing and watch with interest when I crunches on some candy hearts. We were amazed at your ability to focus so early. To this day you stop what you’re doing and watch earnestly when someone near you is eating. You reach for nearby food, and making the tall tell chewing motions with your mouth. More importantly, you seem to need more than just milk to keep you satisfied. You may not be drinking much at each itteration, but you are requesting a meal more and more frequently.

Love Always,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Dana,

Shortly after you turned three months we moved you to the crib. I was reluctant, both sad you would no longer be beside me at night and worried we would disrupt your nighttime sleep, but we thought it might help with your napping and I wanted to get you used to the crib before the four month mark when most babies develop strong preferences about where and how they sleep. I’m happy to report you handled the change like a champ. You had an extra wake up the first night, but that was the extent of any descriptions, and you do seem to be napping better. I can usually get at least a half hour sleep cycle out of you in the crib, and lately it’s been even longer.

The other big change this month? You drink from a bottle now! You’ll drink between 3 and 4 ozes for Daddy. The trick was to switch nipples. I think you were frustrated with how much effort it took to get the milk came out of the bottle since you weren’t used to it yet. We tried a cheap freebie nipple that came with a package of ready made formula. Even though it was a “newborn” flow nipple the milk came out so fast you couldn’t help but gulp, and that triggered the sucking reflex. It was too fast for you, but once you realized the milk would come out of the bottle you were able to get the mechanics down. We switched you back to a nipple that was more your speed and you now you have no problem with the bottle. I’m happy to report you still prefer me.

This month you started really smiling. Really, really smiling. We could get smiles from you before, but they’re nothing compared to the ear to ear grin wide open mouth grins we now get from you now! And so easily! We could have called it a wrap at your monthly photo shoot with frame 1, it was seriously that good! No practice shots needed for you. I cannot wait to hear your first giggles. I have been giving you raspberries on your tummy and nibbling your neck, but so far you aren’t taking the bait. Maybe next month.

We got you to take the binky a few times this month, but not for very long. I mentioned it to your pediatrician who said at this point we’re unlikely to change you’re preferences. You may look so much like you’re sisters, but you’re determined to be wildly unique, aren’t you? You’re going to keep mommy on her toes, that’s for sure!

Love Always,
Mommy and Daddy

Dear Dana,

And just like that we’re at month three. All months seem to fly by, but this past one was turbo speed.

This month we’ve been introducing the bottle. At first you were completely uninterested. We tried to get you to play with it, touching the nipple to your lips so you could smell the milk. A drop would dribble out to give you a taste. Instead of being intrigued, however, you’d suddenly realize you were hungry, and insist on me, even when I was hiding in another part of the house. After a few weeks you are just starting to get interested in the bottle. Last week you suckled with it for the first time ever, and drank an once for Grandma. I have full confidence now that you know how to drink from the bottle, since you did take some, it’s just a matter of preference. I can’t say that I’m terribly dissapointed you prefer me.

You’re still pretty firmly preferring your fist to binky, but we’re working on it too. I have less confidence that we’ll be able to change you’re mind on that one. I have only gotten you to keep it in your mouth a handful of times over the past month. Your fist, on the other hand, seems to live in your mouth. You will sometimes get just a finger in your mouth, and I’m sure it won’t be too long before you discover your thumb.

In terms of development, you are grabbing with two hands now. We have to watch you like a hawk as you, little miss, have two very eager sisters who want to share their toys. We have to constantly tell them that you are too little for their toys. The other day I found a mini my little pony figurine in your bouncy seat. Given you are too little to fetch it yourself, and mommy and daddy certainly didn’t give it to you, I’m going to have to credit your over generous sisters with that one.

Speaking of big sisters, you adore yours! You, Grandma and Alexis had quiet the long chat over lunch recently. Alexis kept asking us to translate your baby speak and you loved the attention. Nicole gets the biggest smiles from you (I’m going to have to recruit her as my photographer’s assistant). One of your favorite times of day is in the playroom just before bed. You love sitting in your chair, cooing and watching your sisters as they play. The time is second only to bath time in your eyes.

After a week long visit from Grandma and Grandpa, and with both big sisters home for spring vacation, we’re a little off schedule. You were having a decent nap in the crib almost everyday, but lately you struggle to stay asleep more than a sleep cycle. Our intention was to move you out of the rock n play and out of our room this month, but the timing doesn’t seem right. Besides, I am not ready for my itsiest bitest to grow up so quickly.

Love Always,
Mommy & Daddy

Dear Dana,

Nothing tugs at a mamas heart strings more than her last baby growing out of newborn size clothes, or newborn diapers, or needing the newborn insert removed from the car seat. You passed all three milestones at once, right around six weeks. You’re now up to 10lbs, and the 30th percentile for weight. There’s no denying that my itty bitty is growing. I’m trying to soak in as much of your newness as you as I can; your velvety soft skin, the sweet new baby smell, the silky soft hair atop your head and the peach fuzz in back. As happy as I am to see you growing, a piece of me wishes you’d stay this way forever.

New things you are doing this past month include smiling, holding, and coo-cooing. You started smiling just after you turned one month. You’re still really good at what Daddy and I call “concern face”, a furrowed brow and skeptical stair, but now you’ll just back and forth between the biggest smiles and concern. In terms of holding your very good at clenching your fist around my hair when I hold you, and once held onto the hem of my shirt when you wanted to nurse. You’re even good at hooking the toys of your gym with your toes. I thought it was just coincidence, but you’ve done it multiple days and I have the photographic evidence! You’re not grabbing yet, but should something venture near you, it’s yours.

We’ve been working on napping in the crib, and I’m happy to report it’s getting easier. You’ve had two long siestas (2 and 3 hours) and a whole bunch of half hour catnaps. At night you’ve blessed us with some 10-11 hour stretches, although 7-8 is more typical, and there are some days you wake up after just 5 for a feed. We’re still not on much of a consistent schedule, but we’re getting there. I can time the morning nap fairly reliably at this point. Once the afternoon hits I’m fallowing your lead when it comes to nap time.

You have discovered your fist and have given up interest in your binky. I even tried different types of binkis. No dice. Your fist is far superior. This month we’ll be introducing you to the bottle. Your two big sisters are eager to lend a helping hand!

Love Always,
Mommy and Daddy