Number 12 - Daily Routine

12. Describe a typical day in your current life.

My days usually start between 6:30-8:30 am and they usually start one of two ways:  I hear soft talking and giggling from the crib in the next room...happy noises.  Perfect way to start the day.  Less perfect if the hour is pre-8am but lovely noises nonetheless.  Second way my day might start: shrieks and screams jolt me awake and I try to run to the next room before the screaming/crying kid (often of the male variety in this house) wakes the other kid.  These are less than ideal mornings and may or may not indicate how the rest of the day will go.

Once it's clear that we're up for the day, we drag ourselves out of bed and get something for Kayden to eat.  That girl starts the day HUNGRY and will rarely wait for breakfast for more than 20 minutes after waking for the day.  Once she's happily snacking on whatever we can find (often a muffin from the freezer - not thawed...she seems to prefer it that way, screaming if we put it in the microwave), we try to convince Levi to eat something too.  He is a grazer.  A VERY light grazer and trying to convince him to eat is like pulling teeth.  I seriously wish I could inject nourishment into him some days because he gets grumpy as ever without food (a trait lovingly passed down from his daddy) yet is quite picky and rarely feels like eating.  Not helpful, buddy.

With the kids eating, I often check a little fb/email before sitting down to eat my own breakfast.  Why check those things first, you ask?  Well, the first few minutes that the kids are hungrily ingesting breakfast are quiet and uninterrupted.  If I can get the morning check out of the way, I can put my phone away for a few hours and just BE.  While we're having breakfast, Nathan is getting ready for work and usually walks out the door while we're still at the table (though not before kissing us each good-bye!).

After breakfast we get dressed and the kids play.  If I have anything to do that day like laundry, baking, etc, now is the time I start that. Sometimes we head outside after breakfast, especially now that it's nice outside. Around 10-10:30, Kayden goes down for her morning nap and Levi and I have about an hour to play together - or else I continue whatever it is that I'm doing that day (laundry, etc).  Once Kayden wakes up, it is almost lunch time so I get some lunch ready while two hungry kids play in the kitchen and beg for snacks.  I put lunch on the table and if I've served anything but noodles and hot dogs, I hear, "Mama, I don't like what you made!"  cue: tears and running to the couch to pout (Levi).  Mama gets frustrated but says very calmly, "Well, Levi, that's what we're having today.  You can either eat it or wait for supper."  He usually ends up eating it :)

After lunch, the kids play for a few more minutes while I clear the table and before long Kayden is ready for her afternoon nap, which is about 2-2.5 hours after she wakes up from her morning nap.  She goes to bed and Levi heads to the living room for quiet time.  I set the timer for 75 minutes on the microwave and usually head to the couch to do some crocheting.  Or painting the last two days.  But most often this is my crocheting time.  These are the only 75 minutes in my day that are MINE.  Though Levi's "regularity" has timed itself to quiet time so I usually hear a plea and end up having to tend to bathroom duties once or twice during this time.  Though Levi has started taking himself to the bathroom so I only need to go to "finish up" in there.  So nice.

When the microwave timer goes, I hear "Mama, can I come out now?" from the living room and I call "Come!" to him.  He runs to me with a big smile on his face (quiet time is good for BOTH of us!) and says, "Mama, I want to watch a cooking show!" and "Mama, I want a snack."  So I get him a snack - afternoon snack is a "treat" snack...this is the time of day when he knows he gets something sugary/salty for a snack.  The rest of the time when he asks for snacks, he gets offered fruit or cheese or whatever else healthy I can think of.  But right after quiet time we throw proper nutrition out the window and he can have a cookie or some candy or melted chocolate with chips to dip.  And he loves cooking shows.  It has to be close to a year now that he has asked to watch cooking shows with me.  I can't complain!

When Kayden wakes up, I give her some snack too and, once snack is finished, we go outside for a bit.  That is, if we have time.  I try to get myself and the kids out at least a bit every day.  It's hard to squeeze it in sometimes between naps and meals and snacks (especially in winter when "going outside" is an hour-long activity with all the snow suits and boots that need to be put on!).  But we try to get out for fresh air at this point.  Around 4-4:30 I start some supper (earlier if it's something that takes longer, obviously).  Nathan gets home usually between 5-5:30 and I try to have supper ready between 5-6.  After supper, I do the dishes and Nathan plays with the kids.  It may seem like work to have to do the dishes after a full day and preparing the meal BUT, it is quite relaxing to know that for those 30 minutes I have no kid responsibility.  All I need to do is get the dishes done, the house tidied, and floor swept.  Aah...

Around 7pm we start bedtime routine.  The kids watch some shows on the computer while they have night snack at the table. Levi's favourite is a Leap Frog Word Whammer show that Nathan found on Youtube. It's a show about learning to read.  Kayden rarely watches as long as Levi so she gets some one-on-one time with either me or Nathan for a bit before bed. Then it's time to brush teeth (Kayden actually has some teeth now so she gets in on this as of 6 weeks ago!), pee, and get into pj's.  Levi chooses two stories and Kayden sits at the bookshelf and "reads" her board books while either Nathan or I reads Levi his stories.  Kayden's favourite is "The Monster at the End of this Book."  She reads it every night and will often hold it out to us so that we will read it to her too.  But if we try to read Kayden more than one story, Levi jumps in and says, "No!  Kayden is only allowed to have one story!"  He is one for rules, that boy.  He is only allowed to have two stories and Kayden is only allowed to have one.  No if's, and's or but's.  That's how it is.  With stories read, it's into bed for the kids. By this time it is often close to 8:30pm.  We pray with them, tuck them in, and turn on their bedtime music.  Sometimes they are asleep before we even leave the room it seems, while other nights (like tonight) they play together until after 9pm before falling asleep.

After the kids are in bed, I tidy the house one last time.  I put away what's left of night snack.  Then, once I'm sure that absolutely every chore that I feel I need to do is finished (I hate the feeling of sitting down and then realizing there's more I need to do), I sit on the couch and pull out my crocheting again.  10-10:30pm rolls around and it's time to head to bed.  The light is usually not out before 11 though.  And goodnight.  The kids mostly sleep through the night, though probably 1 in every 3 nights one of the kids is up for the bathroom or teething or something.  But sleeping through the night 60% of the time is feeling SO good.  It was a long 3 years of being up much, much more than that. :)

One Year Old

 Wow, that year went by quickly.  And yet it feels like Kayden has been here for a long time already.  I keep feeling like she's still my little baby because she has no teeth, she doesn't crawl/move yet, she still has her crib mattress at the highest setting because she hasn't pulled herself up yet, she's still nursing...but in other ways it just makes so much sense that she's one already!

 Kayden is still small for her age.  She had her 12 month immunizations this morning and she was 16lbs 13.5oz and 27.5" tall.  She is wearing 12 month clothes.  I've noticed this month that her legs have really been stretching out and looking more like toddler legs than baby legs.  She's really thinning out a lot in general. 

 Kayden doesn't have much hair but she had her first haircut this month.  Some hairs were scraggly-looking so I trimmed them all to roughly the same length.  Much better! 

Kayden doesn't have any teeth yet but she's definitely teething now.  Her sleep has been disrupted for the past week or so and we can see that her gums are swollen and the teeth are right there, though there's not even any white peeking through yet.  But they're coming!  Personally, I think her gummy grin is pretty cute.  And she can handle every type of finger food like a pro, despite having no teeth!

Speaking of food, Kayden has left pureed food in the dust and will only eat what we're eating.  Sometimes, if she hasn't eaten much during the day, I'll pull out some puree or baby cereal right before bed and she'll eat a few bites but mostly she just flat out refuses.  But it seems to be working!  She seems to be getting enough nutrition from what she feeds herself so I can't complain.  She is still nursing 3 times a day but we've also managed to get her to drink whole milk out of a sippy cup this month so I think weaning might be in our near future.  Her favourite foods seem to be noodles, frozen peas/corn, popcorn twists (what kid doesn't love those?!), raisins, and peanut butter sandwiches (cut into cubes). She doesn't like...I don't know!  I don't recall anything she flat-out refuses.

 Kayden's play has changed a bit this month.  The other day we were playing a  game where she would shake  her head "no" and then I would "gobble" her neck saying "yes! yes! yes!" and she would laugh and shake her head "no" again and we would do it over and over again.  That kind of play shows me that she's growing up :)  She has also discovered the fun of buttons this month.  If she sees a button, she has to find out what it does!  This newfound game has been a lot of fun for her just now as she's sitting next to me on the couch while I type this, pressing all the buttons on the left hand side of the keyboard.  Makes for tricky typing!  Her favourite "toys" are the pets (cats and dog), her brother, and anything that plays music or makes noise.

Kayden has been sleeping through the night for most of this month.  Just in the last week or so has she been waking up in the night again.  It started out with sickness (fevers, coughing, etc) so I couldn't NOT go in but I think she has gotten used to the midnight snuggles and is now waking in the night expecting them again.  Last night was the first night of being firm with her that night is for sleeping and, once 10:30pm came and went, she was good for the rest of the night.  She has started crying whenever I put her down for her naps which I hate.  It makes me so tense when babies cry themselves to sleep a couple times a day!  But she always falls asleep and never cries for long so I guess she is just old enough now that she wants to be in on the action instead of napping.  But she still needs the naps so I guess she'll have to live with it.  She naps twice a day, at 10am and 1:30pm, each 60-90 minutes.  She goes to bed around 8pm and wakes at about 7:30am.

 Right from the beginning of her life, I've joked that Kayden is such a girl in that she knows how to communicate.  Maybe that's why she's so content?  She doesn't feel unheard/misunderstood all the time?  This month, Kayden has mastered "yes" and "no" in the form of head shakes.  Well, she's mastered "no" for sure.  She will tell us when she doesn't want any more (shakes head) or if she does want more (reaches, opens mouth, etc).  It makes for MUCH easier parenting when our kids get to that stage of understanding that they can tell us what they want or don't want and don't have to cry about everything.  I'm so glad this girl has discovered it young! 

Kayden's greatest joy this month has been dancing and music.  When she sees me reaching for the little tape player that we have in the kitchen, her face lights up and she starts bouncing.  She hears music and her little body just bounces and dances!  It's so fun to watch her take such joy in music!  Yesterday, on her birthday, I would hold her and sing happy birthday to her while dancing with her in my arms.  I did this multiple times through the day.  At the beginning, she would just raise her arms so she wasn't holding on and "dance" with me by kicking her legs and doing little ab crunches/bouncing in my arms.  By the end of the day, it was a full out grin as we danced around the kitchen.  What a joyful one she is!

Kayden isn't moving yet.  She only mastered rolling at 11 month and only realized it could get her places in the last day or two.  Even so, she doesn't always remember that she can use rolling to go places so most often she just lays there.  She doesn't crawl/scoot at all either.  I always joke that it's nice to know where at least one of my kids is at all times...she's always exactly where I leave her!  And I can even leave her on a table/chair and she won't move.  Now, of course I don't leave her unattended in unsafe places, but I'm just saying...if I needed to run to grab something while I'm changing her diaper, chances are pretty good that she'll still be on the change table when I get back 10 seconds later.  :)

And that's our girl at a year!  What a beautiful, wonderful girl she is, inside and out!  It has been a joy to watch her grow this past year, from a tiny, sleeping-all-the-time newborn to a joyful, inquisitive, smiling one year old.

Pictures, anyone?

Levi loves to help vacuum.  I'm not complaining!

Enjoying the dog :)

Love these two and their special connection :)

Bath night! 

I love that just-woke-up look...

Sleeping girl...perfection.

She's learned the wrinkled nose look from the best...her brother.  She pulls it off pretty well and has made it her own too :)

There's the boy's version of the wrinkled nose smile :)

Cutie.

hehe.  This happens so much.

Marble maze made from lego.  Turned out to be more frustrating than fun...but I'll store this idea in my back pocket for another rainy day when Levi's a little older.  With a little more coordination, I think it could be a good time!

Eleven Months Old

 Kayden is 11 months old!  Only one more month before her birthday.  Now THAT is hard to believe!  Where did my teeny tiny little newborn go??  It has been a fun 11 months :)

 Kayden remains the sweet, content, easy-going girl that she's always been.  I was reading back through my journal the other day and noticed that I described Kayden in her first week of life very much the same as I would describe her now.  Laid-back.  Easy-going.  Patient.  Only really making noise when something is quite wrong.  Ok, that one has changed a little, but she's still pretty quiet.  She "talks" a bit and cries occasionally when she doesn't want to sleep or when Levi is bugging her but mostly she is quiet and watching or playing.

 Kayden has been chewing on things but she doesn't really seem like she's teething yet.  She's not drooling excessively, acting uncomfortable, feverish...nothing.  Even her red cheeks seem to correspond to sickness and not teething.  Well, I guess she'll get teeth eventually :)  For now, I'll just enjoy not being bitten!  Those first teeth are RAZORS I tell you!

 Kayden not having teeth hasn't slowed down her food intake at all.  She has been downing TONS of  pureed baby food in between her meals of "real" food and breastmilk.  She eats pretty much everything we eat and gets frustrated if we don't share our food with her :)  She took her first bottle this month with very little coaxing.  She's also been drinking out of a straw cup a bit but not enough for me to feel good about weaning her completely.  We're working on it and I'm hoping that she will be completely weaned around her first birthday.

 Kayden weighs just over 17lbs and wears mostly 12 month clothes.  She is still on the smaller side for her age, but if I'm going to be carrying her around, it's probably for the better!  She is still not getting around on her own at all.  She can walk when we hold her hands and stand for a few seconds at a time on her own, but she isn't pulling herself up, isn't crawling, isn't even rolling as a means of transportation.  She is quite comfortable rolling over by herself now though!  I don't mind at all if Kayden is slower to start moving.  I'm enjoying the life of always knowing where at least one of my kids is!  She's always right where we leave her!

Kayden has learned to play peek-a-boo by herself this month!  It is so cute.  She'll grab a blanket or toy or, this morning, her shirt and lift it up to cover her face (or just over her head which doesn't cover her face but is cute nonetheless!) then put it down again.  "Where's Kayden??"  "OH! There she is!"  It's always good for a few laughs.  Kayden is learning new things to make us smile all the time.  If she notices that shaking her head "no" or patting something with her hand makes us smile, she will do it over and over.  That said, she doesn't really seem like an entertainer.  She's more of an explorer, doing things over and over to learn about the results more than to keep us laughing.

 It really feels like Kayden has turned into a snuggler this month.  I'm not sure if it's the Christmas festivities that have made her feel more snuggly or that she is just becoming more snuggly as she gets older but it always melts my heart when she lays her head on my shoulder or chest.  I'll take all the cuddles I can get!  She isn't a terribly shy girl, it doesn't seem, though there are times when she definitely prefers to be in my arms over anyone else's.  That said, if I leave the room, she can often be distracted with toys or animals and be fine without me.

 Kayden's favourite toys are still animals/dolls and if they are real life animals or babies, even better!  Her eyes just light up when she sees them and she squeals an excited "eee!"  Kayden has also discovered the fun of toys that make noise this month.  Buttons are so much fun.  She has also realized that any container with toys in it can be dumped so this has also become a favourite game.  Kayden seems to really enjoy music and starts to "dance" whenever a tune is playing.  Dancing, for her, consists of sitting down bounces...kinda like little ab crunches.  She'll just sit there bouncing.  It's pretty cute, but I'm biased :)

 Kayden's eyes are definitely not turning brown, that is 100% clear by now :)  But they are not staying a true dark blue either.  They still have blue around the edges but hazel is coming in from the middle now.  Depending on the day, they are either blue or grey or hazel.  Just like her daddy!  Her hair is still quite short but there are individual hairs that have survived from birth that stand straight up sometimes.  Her bald spot on the back is filling in nicely, though you can still see where it was.  Whenever I get anxious to start doing little girl hair, I just remind myself that once it starts growing, I'll have to do every day so I'll just enjoy this bald head as long as I have it!

 Kayden had her first Christmas this month.  With that came her first new years and her first night spent at "grandma and grandpa yellow puppy"'s house.  Other firsts?  Not sure.  It's been a fairly uneventful month as far as firsts go.  She pulls her toques off every time, that's a first!  Umm...yeah.  Moving on...

 It's hard to believe that this is the last month of Kayden's first year.  We'll be celebrating her first birthday before we know it.  It feels like we just celebrated Levi's first birthday and now it's hers already.  Time sure flies.  Cliche, yes.  But it's true.  We love our little Kayden Grace.  Happy 11 months, my girl!

Oh, and I almost forgot!  Sleep!  The issue that just keeps giving :) Actually, we've made some significant steps ahead in this department this month!  I was just so exhausted and at my wit send trying to get Kayden to sleep through the night. I had tried EVERYTHING and everything just seemed to make it worse. So finally I decided that, just for ONE night, I would not respond to her at all. I knew she wasn't hungry, no ear issues, not sick. And one night of no mama wouldn't kill her or scar her for life. Turned out she just cried 12 minutes the first time, 10 minutes the second time, and 90 minutes the third time. But she made it through!  And seeing how well she did, I decided to stick with it. A few days/weeks later and she's sleeping through the night more often than not!!!  We hear her wake up sometimes but she just puts herself back to sleep. You wouldn't believe how luxurious it feels to go to bed knowing that I might not have to get up until morning. It has been a long time coming :) Oh, sweet sleep how I've missed you...

Ten Months Old

Kayden Grace is 10 months old.  That feels dangerously close to the one year mark!  This little missie sure is growing up these days.  I feel like she has grown up a LOT this month.

I have no idea how big Kayden is.  Her legs are definitely stretching in preparation of the first steps which are just around the corner.  She probably weighs more than last month but she doesn't feel much bigger so who knows.  Last month she was about 16.5lbs so this month she's probably around 17lbs.  Our bathroom scale battery died this month so I have no way of checking where she's at :) She's officially grown out of anything smaller than 12 month sleepers, though 6-12 month shirts and even 6 month pants still fit.

Kayden's hair is slowly coming in, though she still has a pretty prominent bald spot at the back.  Kayden's eye-hand coordination is ever-improving.  She can easily grab even the smallest little pieces with thumb and forefinger and put them carefully into her mouth.  She choked on her first marble this month, thanks to this skill...though I'm sure if presented with the opportunity, she would have managed this earlier.  Yes, everything still goes in the mouth.  I'm sure she's teething by now but no teeth have made an appearance yet.  And all day long, she's still happy as a clam so if she is teething...best teether EVER!

Her playing has changed a bit this month. She's discovered the fun of peek-a-boo, pulling a blanket over her face to hide from us then moving it with a big smile as we say "peek!"  She bangs toys together on purpose now, just to hear the noise. As I watch her play, she seems more deliberate in her actions, as though every movement is an experiment to see what will happen as a result. She also seems to be finding her "silly" side as she sometimes will do something just to make us laugh. This is just starting though and has maybe happened once or twice that I've noticed. She has also discovered her toes this month and put her toes in her mouth for the first time this morning. Late, I know. I blame cloth diapers for reduced range of motion :)

Kayden's sleep patterns have not improved at all this month.  I moved her into our room (as mentioned in the last post here) but the results have been not as drastic as I'd hoped.  She has this terrible habit of waking up between 10-11pm every night and crying for 1-3 hours.  Nothing seems to be wrong except that we're not holding her.  If we pick her up, she is happy and calm but we put her down and there is screaming so intense that she starts gagging.  Seriously, girl.  Just sleep!  After that night-interruption, she usually sleeps in 2.5-3 hour increments before waking again for a feed.  She goes to bed between 7-7:30 and wakes for the day between 7:30-8:30am.

Kayden is a happy happy girl.  Well, "content" is maybe a better word.  We don't hear alot of giggles from her and even smiles are not a constant thing.  It's not hard to get her to smile if you're part of her family, but you'll most likely get a serious face if you're anyone else.  She is often a quiet observer, occasionally making a little noise or babbling a few words.  She definitely doesn't have any "words" yet.  No "dada" or "mama" or anything like that. She does have sounds like "aah!" and "ayaah!" that come out more regularly but it doesn't seem like she's trying to talk much yet. She loves animals, babies and faces/fuzziness in general.  She gets most excited when she sees animals (pictures or real life), babies (pictures or real life or dolls), or her brother playing and laughing excitedly.  When she gets excited, she flaps her arms like she wants to just fly over there and join in the fun.  Sometimes she almost tips herself over, she is flapping so wildly. 

Kayden's most notable changes have been in the physical realm this month.  She has become quite the steady stander, even just in the last week or two.  Her favourite is to hold onto our fingers and then steady herself and let go.  She can stand on her own in the middle of the room for seconds at a time!  It's incredible, really.  She's even tried to move her foot forward on a couple occasions but actual steps and walking are still a ways away, I think.  Though at this age it can happen so fast!  Kayden is not crawling yet, nor skooching, nor rolling so once she gets fed up enough with not being mobile, I think she'll just work on walking that much harder.  I wouldn't be surprised if she just skipped crawling altogether.  I say that she's not rolling but as of this morning, she has now rolled both ways (front to back and back to front) at least once.  :)  She mostly just lays down the way we put her though.  She can rotate in circles a bit when she's laying down or sitting up but even that doesn't happen alot.

Kayden loves to eat.  She often insists on eating what we're eating, even if I've already put a version of it on her high chair.  It sometimes just NEEDS to be out of our bowls.  She does incredibly well, considering she has no teeth.  She still nurses every 3 hours (day and night - sheesh), but is more and more ok with stretching that a bit.  Today she went 4.5 hours and was freaking out a bit and I couldn't figure out why - it's so unlike her!...until I realized that I hadn't fed her since before we left for town that morning and it was now 3pm.  In my defense, I did give her some lunch while we were eating but still.  Poor girl. I haven't been very careful with introducing one food at a time this time around.  Even starting with pureed foods and working up to different textures has been different from last time.  It went from a little bit of baby cereal straight to crackers and all sorts of things.  But I followed her lead and she's done great with it.  I think I'll go this route again if we ever have more kids.  It's much less work and stress than the way "they" say to do it!

Here is a picture of Kayden trying to stand on her own on the couch.  Notice both hands are off the couch?  She practices standing alone ALL the time.  She's getting pretty good at it :)  She seems quite willing to try new things over and over again until she gets it.  I try not to compare the kids, but Levi's personality seems much more hesitant to try things unless he knows he'll succeed on his first try.  Kayden seems to be much more willing to experiment and try things over and over again until they work, not phased at all by things not working the first time.  This is only one way that Kayden is different from her brother.  It has been interesting to see how these two are different.  Right from the beginning, they have been two totally different kids.  And they compliment each other so well.  I think they'll have fun growing up together :)




What a crazy and fun 10 months it has been.  You make being a mommy easy, Kayden. Even when you are awake and crying in the middle of the night, you give the best smiles and hugs.  We love you to pieces and look forward to another month with you!

And then I tried something new...

Anyone tired of hearing about sleep on this blog?  Haha. That makes it unanimous. I wish it wasn't something that consumed so much of my time/energy. But alas...that's just life with babies. And really, as tired as I am, I'll take it because sleep struggles come part and parcel with snuggles and laughter and playtime ;) (good thing!)

After four months of trying various sleep training methods and trying, night after night, to night-wean my girl, I have officially given up. Every time I gathered up a bit of energy and determination and tried to teach my daughter to sleep through the night, I was left feeling exhausted. Kayden, who for the first 6 months of her life was only up twice a night like clockwork, started waking more and more instead of less and less.  But the alternative to feeding her on demand through the night?  Being awake with a crying baby for 2-3 hours every night only to have her wake 3 hours later expecting to be fed again. I just can't do it anymore. I need to be able to function and it's far easier to just get up for a quick feed than to deal with a tired, crying baby in the wee hours.  And really, why try?  She will eventually sleep through the night. I've done what I could to encourage her and four exhausting months later I'm ready to try something different. Or rather, I'm ready to stop trying.  

In addition to sleep training not working, the kids sharing a room hasn't been working out wonderfully. It has been a pain. It works well...until it doesn't. And then we have a three year old waking up a 9 month old and we spend the next two hours with an overtired, crying baby while an overtired preschooler struggles to sleep. No more, people.  It's time for this house to get some serious shut-eye.  Behold, my solution:

In a rush of frustration and exhaustion, I made Kayden a bed right beside my bed the other day. If I'm going to stop fighting the night-time feeds, I'm going to embrace it and try to make them as relaxing and restful as possible for myself.  Forget when they say my baby "should" be sleeping through the night by.  Forget when they say my baby should be not needing night feeds anymore by.  Forget what "they" say about co-sleeping stunting babies' ability to put themselves to sleep.  My baby puts herself to sleep just fine for naps and at bedtime.  The fact is that she wakes often during the night and if she's still doing it after four attempts at sleep training, then she must need SOMETHING from me through the night.  So I'm going to forget what "they" say my baby needs or doesn't need and I'm going to follow my instincts. And I'm going to do what I need to do to survive.  And right now that means rolling over and being able to "shh" my baby while still half asleep...or feed her without getting out of bed.  And I have to say, as much as I resisted this idea of "co-sleeping," it really is quite nice to not have to walk through the dark, cold house a few times a night :)  We'll see how this goes...if all goes well, we'll all be feeling alot more rested in the weeks to come! 

As a parent, especially a mother, you hear so many theories about what babies need or don't need and by what age.  And don't get me wrong, a lot of it can be very helpful.  I'm all for moms giving each other advice and helping each other out!  That's why I'm constantly asking for advice and for what has worked for other moms. Sometimes you just need fresh ideas. But when your baby doesn't respond to the things that worked for other moms, then it's important to recognize when you need to just start ignoring what you hear and focus on what comes naturally.  Then it's time to get creative and figure out what works for you and your family and your baby.  Unfortunately this will likely involve some trial and error.  Let's hope this latest sleeping arrangement trial doesn't involve the word "error"... ;)

Nine Months Old

 Aah!  My girl is 9 months old already!  All the "big girl" things are starting to come into sight making my baby feel suddenly so much less "baby" and more "big girl."  Things like first birthday, weaning, walking...they're all in the not-so-distant future once you hit 9 months.  Kayden still feels very much like my baby, though, thanks to the fact that she's quite quiet and doesn't move around at all yet.  It's stretching the "babyness" out just a little more for me :)

 Like I said, Kayden still isn't moving, nor is she trying to move at all.  She's just content to sit and watch and play with whatever is around her.  Sometimes she looks as though she'd like to just go over to where the action is.  But most of the time she'll just sit and play or watch and we won't hear a peep.

 Levi continues to love his sister.  Here (above), Levi is trying to get Kayden to look at the camera.

 She didn't like that very much.  Not sure why not.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't mind at all if my brother grabbed my neck/head and tried to force my chin up at an impossible angle. 

 He does have the best intentions most of the time.  And when he's not trying to be helpful, well...we'll just chalk his antics up to curiosity.  "Hmm...I wonder what Kayden will do if I put this chair on top of her?"

 We see this look (above) from Kayden alot when Levi is around.  She'll be a tough girl from having a brother around all the time.

 Kayden.  What a little doll.  If only I had a dollar for every time someone has commented on how content she is.  She really is so happy and content 80% of the time.  The other 20% of the time she is either being mauled loved on by her brother, or is hungry, tired, or hurting.  Kayden's favourite things these days are, by a long shot, animals.  She will squeal and flail and get so very excited when she sees any type of animal.  Dolls and stuffed animals are also being enjoyed these days.  Pretty much anything with a face and/or fur, she loves.  Kayden also gets excited when she sees anyone from her family.  Daddy, Mommy and Levi all get happy reactions from her.  She's a bit shy with most other people, at least initially.  She doesn't cry right away, though.  She will watch the person for a while and either render them unworthy of her fear...or else she'll not be able to hold it together any longer and just burst into tears.  It sometimes takes us off-guard because she seems good to go and then a few minutes later all of a sudden she'll be crying.  But she's easily consolable.  A hug from Mom or Dad and she's ready to face the world again...as long as there's a shoulder to bury her face in when needed.

 Kayden's eyes are still blue so I'm thinking they'll be staying that way, or at least not turning brown.  They have a teeny tiny bit of hazel in the middle and, depending on the day, they are either blue or grey.  They are quite dark and oh-so-beautiful. 

 Kayden still doesn't have much hair.  It has started growing a bit but thanks to our sleep training nights, she has rubbed off what stubble had started filling in on the back.  So there's still a prominent bald spot back there.  But the rest is quite light so it's not terribly noticeable.  She just kinda looks bald all over!

Kayden is still on the small side of the scale, I think.  My home measurement brings her in at 16.8lbs.  She is shorter than Levi was at this age so I'm thinking she might be the one who rivals her mother in height.  Kayden is still chubby though!  You can see her cheeks but her legs still have rolls and her fingers have dimples.  I love the pudginess!  She's wearing 6-12 month pants and 9-12 month tops.  Sleepers are 12 month size.  If she were in disposable diapers, she could probably fit into 9 month sleepers better than she does but that cloth diaper just adds bulk!
 

 Kayden loves to grab absolutely everything and most things take their turn in her mouth.  She's very much in the "exploration" stage.  I've noticed lately that she will pick something up and then right away drop it.  Then she'll pick it up again.  I don't know if it's just to hear the noise it makes when she drops it or to see it fall?  Or maybe she just likes the fun of picking it up again?  At any rate, that's what she does.  She also turns things over and looks at them from all angles.  She's so curious.  She loves to stand up with our help but isn't pulling herself up on her own yet at all, nor is she standing next to things without our assitance. 

Kayden doesn't have any "words" yet.  She'll make an "uh!" noise and babble a "bababa!" or "dadada!" noise regularly (and many other noises, of course) but it hasn't evolved from there yet.  I imagine she doesn't see much need for words as her brother fills all empty space with noise and talking every waking hour!

Kayden has now lived in two different houses, as we moved to the farm in Kayden's 9th month.  She is now a country girl!  She has had her first pet kittens this month.  Kayden has started giving "hugs" this month.  Well, sorta.  She'll grab your neck and just hold on so tight.  LOVE it.  She will also just push her face into me (or Nathan) which I like to think is kind of a hug too. :)  She had her first trck-or-treating experience and made the cutest skunk!  Ironic that she was dressed as a skunk just days after we had our first skunk visitor on the farm!  She smelled much better than the animal variety! 

She has been eating so many more solids this month.  She loves everything she puts in her mouth.  She doesn't have teeth yet but does amazingly well with gumming things.  She just ate a piece of fruit-to-go and has eaten pieces of bun, crackers, and whatever table food we're eating (in addition to the typical purees, which she doesn't seem to love unless it's raspberries mixed into baby cereal, prunes, or a pureed veggie soup that I made for the family).  She would much rather be eating what everyone else is eating...and who could blame her, really?

Sleep has been worse again this month.  Shortly before we moved, I thought I would give sleep-training another try.  I used to nurse her to sleep before bed but not before naps.  This month I changed up bedtime routine a bit in hopes of longer stretches of sleep for her.  I also tried to wean her off of night-time feeds, knowing that she wasn't actually hungry in the night, rather just nursing to put herself back to sleep.  We went through 10 days of her crying for 2 straight hours every.single.night.  So often you hear that by night 3 the kid will just sleep.  NOPE.  We had crying every night, plus multiple wake-ups aside from that, and it wasn't getting any better.  So finally I couldn't do it anymore and just started nursing her again.  It's not ideal to have to get up every 3-3.5 hours but it sure beats being awake for 2 hours every night.  So she's actually sleeping worse these days than she was as a newborn but hey.  Everyone says it...one day she will sleep!  At least she puts herself to sleep REALLY well.  I lay her down for a nap or at bedtime and IF she cries, it's only a few minutes.  Kid #1 was a night-waker AND cried for hours before falling asleep so I'm incredibly thankful that I at least have a baby who can put herself to sleep well.

Anyway, that's Kayden at 9 months. What a beautiful daughter we have.  It's an absolute pleasure and joy to be her mom.