6 Months Old!

Corina at 6 months:
- weighs 15 lbs 10 oz.
- is 27 inches long (a tall skinny girl)
- can move around very effectively. (She is not technically crawling, but it's as close as she can get)
- can sit unassisted (not just tripod, but straight up also)
- reaches and tries to grab everything.
- loves to laugh and smile.
- is babbling, but she is usually only talkative when it's quiet around her (when Lukas is not around).
- loves her jumper. She will bounce and dance all around in it with a huge smile on her face.
- eats 5 4oz bottles a day, and 3 cereals a day (although she gets to start fruits and veggies tonight).
- is still struggling with reflux, but giving her smaller bottles (along with meds and thickener) has helped.
- is getting better at putting her own paci in her mouth.
- loves Lukas to distraction! She always wants to be where he is and doing what he's doing. So far this is the only think Lukas doesn't appreciate about her (and he's going to find out that this is only the beginning).
- loves her Mommy and Daddy more and more every day!!!

She is always on the move!

An Honest Talk About Reflux

First of all, I HATE REFLUX. Corina has been dealing with reflux probably since birth, but it really started to increase in intensity (and so got diagnosed at reflux) between 3 and 4 months of age. She is the happiest baby unless her reflux is acting up. Sadly the amount of time that her reflux is acting has become a majority of the time.

Her currently management plan is:
- Prevacid - 1/2 a pill twice a day
- nectar thickened bottles
- staying upright as much as possible (which is hard because since she knows she can "crawl" around, that's what she wants to do)
- changing her eating schedule from 4 60z bottles to 5 or 6 3-4 oz bottles (not sure how this will work since she set her own eating schedule, and I'm not sure she'll be happy with us messing with it)

If changing her eating schedule doesn't work we will most likely be going to the GI doctor.

I am exhausted! I am worn out more mentally and emotionally than physically since I do get to sleep at night. I realized how much so when in the past week or so I really can't even handle the small "I need my diaper changed" type of cries. Thankfully she does not scream all day, every day. However, she will scream and cry out of pain in the late afternoon/evening every day, and about once a week to ten days she'll have one awful day where she screams the majority of the day.

Eric and I have commented to each other how we can see sleep training issues possibly coming up in the future. She is beginning to associate being put in bed with pain because her reflux always flares in bed no matter the precautions we've done beforehand. So this also means that while she can self-sooth when she's feeling good, when she's not we rock her completely to sleep before putting her in bed. None of this is unfixable if it truly becomes an issue, but we'll just have to figure out how to deal with it.

I'm so glad school has started for Lukas because there are so many times that I just feel guilty about completely ignoring him to take care of Corina. He doesn't get it (and I don't expect him to). All he knows is Corina is crying...again. I'm so glad he loves her so much because if he didn't he could easily start to resent her due to how much of my attention she takes and how much she cries.

I am grateful that aside from the reflux, she is the happiest and most laid back baby in the world. She is adorable, smart, and utterly amazing. I cannot wait to see where her life will take her! So for now, lets just try to beat this horrible thing called reflux.

Five Months Old!

Corina at 5 months:
- is about 15 lbs
- can sit tripod style (8-20-10), and can sit normal if she has the energy to balance herself (although it doesn't last long before she falls over)
- gets up on her hands and knees (8-26-10) and rocks back and forth (8-28-10)
-will lunge across the floor to get to stuff (8-27-10)
-is very conversational. Now that C is "talking" too, our house is getting even louder. She still has quite a ways to go to catch up with Lukas, though.
- loves her flower rattle, her baby doll, and her plastic line book.
- is a paci girl. It took her a while to decide if she truly wanted it or not, but now that she's teething the decision's been made.
- is definitely teething, but it's not bothering her too bad thankfully.
- is beginning to reach for you as you come to pick her up.
- loves to stand.
- has a very easy eating schedule. She eats 2 tbsp cereal and a bottle at wake up, a bottle at noonish, a bottle in the 4:00 hour, and 2 tbsp cereal and a bottle in the 6:00 hour.
- is still on Previcid for reflux.
-is amazingly the most laid back baby I've ever seen. Unless she's in pain from the reflux, she hardly ever cries.
- loves her Mommy, Daddy, and big brother more and more every day!

First Day of School

Lukas started back to preschool today (9-7-10). He is in Ms. Rosa's 3 year old's class. At Butterfly School the Toddlers and Two's are downstairs, and the Three's and Four's (Pre-K) are upstairs. It was weird to now be climbing the stairs (or taking the elevator when Corina's in her stroller) because it is saying (yet again) that Lukas is growing up. He is going to have so much fun this year, and will be adding Spanish, Art, and P.E. to the list of specials he gets to go to. This year will be challenge in some ways because they no longer nap at school. He will be exhausted from a full day of running around, and will hopefully come home and nap.

Bedhead combined with the desire for "spikey hair" makes an interesting look when he needs a haircut. Ready for school, though!





Ms. Rosa and Lukas already hard at work.