Tag Archives: working mom

Baby update – Averie Month 7

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Aaron and Averie showing their poker faces

Wow, we’re already more than halfway through the first year!  Averie’s definitely becoming more and more responsive to her surroundings and other people and she’s regularly picking up new skills.  Lots more laughs, smiles and coos came from her this month, so I’m hoping she’ll be less serious as she gets older!

Sleep:  Not much has changed – naps were still a bit inconsistent in terms of timing and duration, but I tried establishing a routine at least for her morning nap, so this month she was going down at 9am and at times without a fuss.  She was usually nursed to sleep when I was home but I’ve been trying to break that habit over the last few months and we were starting to see some progress.  I nursed her down, usually when she was overtired, but she was starting to get the hang of soothing herself to sleep with the help of her paci and soother.  Bedtime was still 6:30pm-ish unless we’re out somewhere, with one nighttime waking between 2-4am.

Eat: I can’t recall how much Aaron ate when he was this age but I sense Averie definitely has a bigger appetite for solids.  Then again, she’s always been a good eater since birth.  She’s liked everything I’ve given her, from veggies to fruits to meats and so far, hasn’t had any allergic reactions (keep fingers crossed!)  I still pumped about 2 times at work during month 7 and at home, nursed her about 4x/day and once in the middle of the night.  My supply started going down this month so I’m not exactly sure how much milk she’s getting.  I usually leave three 5 oz. bottles of milk for the nanny for the day, plus I nursed her once before work and once at bedtime, so I assume she was getting at least 20-24 oz. each day?  Since she’s always game to eat food, I wonder if I should start supplementing with a bit of formula, like a bottle/day.

averie beach day

first time at the beach -she loved watching the water and seagulls circling about!

Milestones: I love the months when babies can sit up but not yet crawl – they’re so cute and curious about their surroundings, but aren’t at the stage where you need to keep a constant eye on their movements!  She’s a bit late on sitting up and only truly started to do so for a minute at a time without assistance right before she turned 7 months.  Watching her admire her hands, play the baby piano toy, or trying to chew the heck out of Sophie never failed to make me smile or forget all the irksome things troubling me at work.  She definitely knows who mommy is – the best part of my day is coming home and seeing her smile and wave her arms excitedly.

Baby update – Averie month 3

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2012 041-2Wow, 2013 is already here??  Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years were all one big blur, and little Averie is not so little anymore.  At yesterday’s 3 month checkup, we found that she’s a whopping 14.5 lbs and a short 23 inches long (though that measurement seems inaccurate as her legs are getting too long for some of her pants!).  She’s a super cute, super chill chubster who’s becoming more alert and interactive.  Here are some milestones to share this month:

  • Eating – Averie continues to impress us with how much milk she can put down in a day.  Obviously, she’s getting enough to eat as evidenced by her many arm, belly, back and leg rolls 🙂  Aaron was a pretty lean infant, so I’m totally enjoying having a Michelin tire baby.  One wrinkle in all this was that she suddenly started to refuse the bottle around week 9…right before I was supposed to return to work.  This caused a lot of anxiety and frantic web researching and I tested out a couple of different bottles  to see if they;d make a difference.  She’s now taking the bottle, though reluctantly.  Bouncing gently on the exercise ball and using the Tommee Tippee bottle seems to help.
  • Sleeping – Nighttime sleep is still pretty good.  We’ve gradually moved her bedtime earlier and earlier, and her bedtime throughout month 3 was typically 7:30pm.  Just 2 days ago, I experimented with moving it even earlier, and I’m happy to say that now she goes down at 6:30pm!  Unfortunately, daytime naps are still a struggle.  All the activity during the holidays made it difficult to establish a regular naptime schedule so her naps are still all over the place.  I just started her on a schedule in the new year so hopefully this will help get her to nap longer and more regularly.
  • Playing – Averie definitely became much more alert and aware of her surroundings this month!  I think she recognizes who mommy is since she thrashes her arms and legs more energetically when she sees me.  This month was also the first time we saw “real” smiles, starting around week 10.  She’s a big coo-er and talks a ton when she’s awake.  It’s so cute I can’t stand it!
  • Returning to work – the last 2 weeks of maternity leave were so bittersweet.  I dreaded leaving my baby even though I was able to reduce my hours to 4 days a week plus I can work from home 2 days/wk as well.  I think it was just the idea of not being home with her all day like I was used to.  It’s funny because I was itching to get back to work when Aaron was this age, and now looking back I regret not truly enjoying those first few months with him.  Luckily, I only had to go back for a week before our school closed for winter holidays, so I got another week and a half off before heading back.  I think both kids sensed something was off that week because Averie woke up 2+ times each night and Aaron’s been crying out in his sleep.  Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep that week, which probably contributed to the cold I caught that’s still lingering to this day.

Month 3 was full of developmental milestones and changes.  It’s so crazy to think that a quarter of her 1st year is already over!