Capri Monthly-15 months

7/18/15

Well, I regret not keep a better journal of Capri the last few months, because she has changed so much, and this has been a truly enjoyable age. She and I both aided in her weaning (very slowly in the end). She quit nursing completely right at 14 months, and all of the sudden she became the sweetest little snuggler. She was not a snuggly baby, but I suppose it’s because she got a lot of cuddle time while she nursed. The day I quit nursing her, she just wanted to lye on my chest. She never tried asking to be nursed; she just wanted to sit on my lap, facing me, with her head on my chest, typically with me leaning back, sometimes rocking her, sometimes not, and always with a pacifier. She could lye there for an hour if Ellery would let her. She is still doing this, usually about two times a day. I am grateful for it because in so many ways, she is growing up and such a little toddler, but those moments of cuddling with a pacifier keep her as my baby for now. She is mastering her skills of walking (now running), climbing (I even found her on top of our kitchen table the other day! Yikes!), steering (she loves to push the doll stroller and use the toy vacuum), and getting down from chairs and the couch, etc. She still does’t really have any words besides “Dada,” but she can kind of mimic sounds from words. For example, when I say, “Do you want to get out?” She will sometimes reply, “Ouw!” or when I say, “It’s hot!,” she says, “Ha.” She is very pleasant, happy, and busy. She is also determined, and knows what she wants! She likes to do what she knows we don’t want her to. “Come here” means “Run away. This is a game.” and diaper changes are still the worst. She thinks it’s hilarious to bolt and hide when she sees me grab a diaper and wipes, but the moment I actually get her pinned, she whines like crazy. She’s pretty good at whining when she doesn’t get what she wants. Ha. She loves to be outside. She is very good (happy and quiet), but also extremely busy (won’t sit still) during church. She loves treats (and gets too many…) but can also down a very green smoothie in a half a minute. She loves to play with Ellery, and they do fight...but they also play really well together a lot. Capri just switched to a convertible carseat (although we should have done it sooner…), she’s good with strangers, she does not love the pool, she does love waterslides (any slides!) though, she loves our cell phones, but doesn’t care at all about tv or movies, she typically naps once a day, but sometimes twice. She usually wakes up around 6:30am and goes to bed around 6:45pm. She uses her pacifier more now than she used to (it used to only be while she was sleeping). She has all of her teeth besides her two year old molars (except the four eye teeth aren’t completely grown in yet, but they have all four popped through now). She LOVES to color (but cannot be trusted with a marker on her own haha), and she now lets us read entire books to her (as long as they are geared toward babies). We just love our little busy, baby Capri.

Capri Monthly-12 months

4/17/15

Happy Birthday, Capri! Can’t believe you are one already! You have been such a blessing to our little family. You are so mild and sweet natured. You are also independent and know what you want! This month you have gotten really good at standing on your own for several seconds. You can easily walk with us holding even just one of your hands. AND you even took your first steps a couple of days ago. Just 1-3 steps at a time, but it won’t be long! You definitely WANT to walk! You like to direct us where to go. You also point to things you want or where you want to go. You went from nursing 5 times a day to randomly weaning yourself about a week and a half ago down to only twice a day (around 6am and around 2:30pm). You eat so much for dinner that I guess you realized you didn’t need nursed in the evening or in the night any more (wahoo!!). So you are officially sleeping through the night. I never thought I’d see the day. You don’t eat much for breakfast, you like lunch, and you LOVE dinner. You will eat most things I give you, but not everything. You love sitting in our laps, but typically want down if we are standing and holding you. You are not a very snuggly baby. When you wake up the mornings, I take you into the bathroom and I hold you close while we look in the mirror. You always start waving to us in the mirror and I wave back. You generally wake up sleepy looking, but very pleasant. Not giggly with big smiles, but pleasant and calm (unlike your sister who has always struggled waking up). You are easy to put down and you only take a pacifier while you are sleeping. Still no words. Just “dada dada” and “ya ya ya” all the time. You love babies, the park, climbing, milk, being thrown in the air, dancing, and playing on the bed. Love you so much, Capri!

Capri Monthly-11 months

3/18/15

Capri, I feel like you’ve gone from baby to toddler just in the last week! You have a new found love of walking (with us holding your hands…and even with just one hand!), you can stand on your own for a few seconds, and you LOVE to climb!! You climb onto Ellery’s little toddler bed every chance you get. You love playing on it. You also climb into your little chair that we do your monthly photos in. You climb on top of the footstools every day, and can even pull yourself up to standing on them, so you can reach the countertops (what?! yikes!). And you’ll climb on anything else I leave lying around (like a box of diapers, etc). You always look proud of yourself too : ) You wave hello. You love to shake your head yes (and your Daddy says it looks like you’re having a seizure because you get pretty into it ha), and you do it often (especially when a stranger is giving you attention). You shake your head no when you don’t want anymore food, or things like that. You still don’t really have any words. You still put everything in your mouth. You don’t pull mine or Ellery’s hair very often anymore, which is nice! You love to play with Ellery. People still comment all the time on what a happy, easy going baby you are. You have been sleeping better, and even went 13 hours without eating one night. You typically nurse 4 times a day and love it. Love you, sweetest girl!

Capri Monthly-10 months

2/19/15

Miss Capri, you had your 9 month check up a little late, so here are the stats (at 9.5 months): 20 lbs 13 oz (75th percentile), and 27.5 inches (just under 50th percentile). You are getting so big! We have all been sick lately, so we haven’t been out of the house much at all this month, which has been hard on all of us except you. You are finally on a perfect schedule and sleeping super well and a lot. Apparently your lack of a schedule and your poor sleeping was all because I had you out of the house at random times all day long every day. Lately, you sleep from 9-noon (ish) and again from 2-4 (ish) and then you go to bed around 6:30pm and get up around 6:30am. This is WAY WAY more sleep than you used to get and WAY more consistent. In fact, last night you slept through the night for the very first time ever (I fed you at 6:30pm and you slept until 7am!). You had “slept through the night” a few times before, but that was with me feeding you once right before I went to bed around 11pm and then you slept through the night. So I’m not sure what to do now, because I’m loving the current sleep habits, but I want to get back into our routine of the gym, play school, library, park, play dates, grocery shopping, etc. And Ellery needs it. But you need sleep…ugh. We’ll just have to compromise. By the way, you love the park and the gym and all those things as well. You just need sleep too! You have another tooth now, on the bottom. So that makes seven (four on top, three on bottom). You now say “mama” sometimes, but not actually calling ME mama. You mostly say “ohhh” and “yayaya.” We have lots of conversations like that : ) Probably the most exciting thing about this month is that you learned how to give kisses! They are my absolute favorite thing you do. Big open mouthed kisses always accompanied by lots of smiles and giggles. They are very clearly kisses, not just something random you do. You give them to me when we are snuggling and playing together and after I kiss you. I love you so much, sweet girl.

Capri Monthly-9 months

1/17/15

Hey Miss Capri, You are such a big girl! I can’t believe you’ll be one soon. We’re already planning your birthday. You haven’t had your 9 month check up yet, but I believe you are about 20+ pounds. You wear mostly 12 month sized clothes. You crawl very fast and all over the place. You don’t like being left alone in a room, so you always follow us out, if we leave. If you are not crawling, you are standing. You love to stand. You still need to hold onto something to balance yourself, but you have no problem getting up and down into the standing position. You make some walking movements, but not a lot yet. You have six teeth (two on bottom and four on top). People often comment on your two teeth (because when you smile you only show your bottom teeth, so they don’t know you have four on top). You’ve had a consistent runny nose since before Thanksgiving. I feel bad for you, because you are not a fan of getting your nose wiped or sucked out. I’m so excited, you are finally showing some interest in books, other than just sucking on them. You like any books that are touch and feel or interactive. You have become a bit clingy and quite the mama’s girl lately. You prefer me to put you to sleep, you reach for me when you see me, and you were absolutely terrible for the last two babysitters we had (screamed the whole time). But if it makes you feel better, Ellery wasn’t any better than you were. You two are obviously not used to being babysat. That’s our fault though, not yours : P You are great in church though. I never have to take you out. You are so happy to play and people watch. You like music. You also like it when we push you on our toy car/push toy. You like to suck on toothbrushes. And you still LOVE to jump on the bed. You love to be outside and you love the park, especially. You are a great eater, and will eat almost anything we give you. I’m going to try to start pushing your nursing sessions farther apart. You nurse every 3-4 hours during the day, and every stinking 3 hours at night! UGH. We’ve really been struggling with nights. You wake up every two and a half to three hours, and you scream and scream until I nurse you. And even then, sometimes you are wide awake and won’t go back to sleep. I’m going to read some books on getting your baby to sleep through the night. Something needs to change. You also aren’t a great napper most days. If we go for a drive anywhere near your nap time, you fall asleep and ruin your naps for the day. You also don’t have a consistent schedule at all, and you often only nap once a day. Regardless of all of that, you are still very sweet and happy natured. It is so fun to watch you grow and discover new things. I love you.

(Update: I wrote this on the 17th, and since then, I've been nursing Capri every 4+ hours during the day with no problem, and only once or twice a night. We had a couple of good nights and one rough one. And you've been pretty good about two solid naps the last few days.)

Capri Monthly-8 months

12/17/14

Capri, this has by far been the most exciting month for you, filled with the most changes and milestones. You seem to learn a new trick every day. This month you learned how to go from lying down to sitting up on your own, how to sit on your own without ever falling over, and even crawl! It only took a few days for you to crawl across the room and now you are following me around the house and almost keep up with your sister! You seem to love your new found independence. You can also pull yourself up to your knees, and almost to standing. You can stand on your own propped against the couch and what not, but not well enough that I’d leave you alone like that yet. It won’t be long though, I’m sure. You are a quick learner! You learned how to clap this month, and get so excited when we say “Yay Capri!” You dance (more like an enthusiastic head bob) to music. You seem to understand me well when I say “are you hungry? Do you want to take a bath?” and other things like that. You have four complete teeth and several that are almost popped through. You had yet another cold this month, poor baby. You are no longer sleeping through the night. I nurse you once in the night and then in the early morning…Yes, I’m tired. ha. This month we semi moved you into Ellery’s room. You guys won’t go to bed if we put you down at the same time, but if one of you is asleep, then we can sneak the other one in. Otherwise, we put you in the pack n play in our closet. You also still nap in there, so Ellery’s room isn’t off limits to her during the day. You can now say “baba,” something that sounds like a mix between “baba” and “mama,” “Goo goo ga ga” and “guy guy.” Also, we went to your Grandma and Grandpa Shurtliff’s house for Thanksgiving, and your cousins were quite smitten with you. It was pretty fun to watch your cousin Carter help take care of you and play with you and your cousins Sam and Alex fawn all over you. You are one loved baby girl (and you have the sweetest cousins!). Ellery especially thinks you are the best ever. She helped you to learn how to crawl, she helps bathe you every day, she plays with you and makes you smile and laugh constantly. I can just see how badly you wish you could run around with her and jump on the bed with her and do all the big kid things with her. At least you love watching her do them too : ) Strangers often comment on how happy and smiley you are. You are a very happy, easy going, patient, pleasant baby, still. Love you.

Capri Monthly-7 months

11/19/14

Miss Capri Juliet, you are getting to be such a big girl! You have four teeth now! The top two popped through this month, but are not fully grown out yet. Fortunately, they came in much easier than the bottom teeth. You didn't sleep much for a few days while they were coming through (plus you had a cold), but other than that, you were great. You are doing better in your carseat lately, and you are now big enough to ride in the grocery cart without being in the carrier. You love going for walks, taking baths, eating, playing with toys, and watching Ellery. You are sitting on your own now (although you often fall over after a few minutes, but typically you fall gently onto your stomach or side). You are eating more table foods. You can eat a lot of what we eat for dinner (veggies and chicken and rice and things like that. We just break them into cheerio sized pieces for you). You love to be apart of the dinner table eating with us. You love to play with the princess castle and little people toys. But really, any toy (or any object I'll let you have) will do : ) We put you in a little study at Texas Christian University. You went at 6.5 months and will go back at 12 and I think 13 months. It was to determine the emotional and phycological influence from babies being raised by both a mother and a father. They hooked you and Daddy and me up to all these monitors and then had us do some little tests. The first was to put you in a high chair and have Daddy talk to you and play with you for two minutes, then not talk to you and just give you the poker face for two minutes, then talk to you and play with you again for two minutes. Then I did the same thing with you. Then they did a bunch of little tests like giving you a mirror to see what you did with it, cheerios to see if you could pick them up, objects to see if you could put them from one hand to the other, see if you could put things into a cup, or take them out, etc. Mostly everything just went straight into your mouth. After the tests they analyzed you and said you are completely normal and right where they would expect you to be at 6.5 months. We weren't worried ha. But you had fun doing the study and Ellery loved playing in the play room with one of the grad students while we did it, and we got a gift card to Target for it. haha. Thanks for letting us do experiments on you : P You are such an easy going, happy baby. You bring so much delight and joy to our family. P.S. How cute are you ^ ?!?! (the cutest!!)

Capri Monthly-6 months

10/20/14

Sweet Girl, I can’t believe you are half a year old! Crazy how time flies. We are all so in love with you. You grew up a lot this last month. You are very active, alert, and playful now. You are a little wiggle worm! You used to always want to be held, but now you often want down. You somehow always manage to wiggle your way to the floor. You are sitting on your own now, except not for long periods of time, and I can’t walk away from you yet, but you are so close! You got your first two teeth this month! Your bottom front teeth. It’s pretty darn cute. Unfortunately you were pretty miserable for a couple of days/nights while they were popping through. You had your first fever of 103.3, and I had to snuggle and nurse you all night long. You are not a snuggly baby, so I definitely knew you weren’t feeling well. But you are all better now, and you look adorable. I hope your top teeth come in more gently. You are still just eating pureed fruits and veggies, usually twice a day (and nursing every three hours). So far you have loved everything I’ve given you besides plain carrots (you ate them, but you definitely had a look on your face like you thought they were disgusting). You have had diaper rash a bit this month, but you never complain when I change you. Except you do still always want to flip over. You only like being on your tummy, which I think is adorable and funny. Probably because Ellery NEVER rolled at your age, and you are never NOT rolling. You sleep through the night now, no problem, and we don’t even have to put the pacifier back in your mouth, usually. You know how to grab and put the pacifier back in your mouth now. You don’t nap as much as we think you should. haha. Which is probably our fault because we don’t go by your schedule (you don’t really have one). And you aren’t napping on the go very well anymore. You love swinging on the swings and going for stroller rides. You still hate your carseat, but you don’t scream at every red light anymore (thankfully!). You aren’t content 24/7 like you often used to be, but you are still patient and pleasant, and you’re just letting us know when you want something : ) You got your first haircut (from Grandma Stevens), just to trim up some of the long pieces on the sides and top. Your bald patches are growing in nicely. ha. Blonde, but not as blonde as Ellery. You can now get up in the crawling position and push yourself backwards a few feet. We think it’s hilarious how you grab toys when we put them in front of you (big open arms and wide eyes!). You particularly like a yellow rubber duck bath toy. You could stay in the bath and suck on that thing all day long. You also seem to really like dolls, and anything with a face. This is such a fun age. Oh and you weighed 17 lb 10 oz (75th percentile) and 26.5 in (75th percentile) at your six month check up. You’ve only gained 1.5 lbs since your four month check up, but you gained 2.5 inches in height!

P.S. I didn't realize when I started doing these monthly photos that Capri would soon get too tall for my font placing. Oops! I'm so not a graphic designer!

Capri Monthly-5 months

9/17/14

Dear Miss Capri, your personality continues to be one of contentment, patience, and joy. You are the most pleasant baby. I took you to an all day women's conference with me recently, and I can't tell you how many women came up to me and told me what a happy, sweet baby I have. Several people remarked on the fact that you just sat there quite and happy during the whole conference. You are easy to please. You no longer demand being held all the time. You are actually quite content in your bumbo and exersauser, especially when you are watching your sister. Ellery makes you laugh like no one else. She adores you more than you'll ever know, and you sure look up to her. You love seeing her after you wake up. In fact, it's been a little bit of a problem lately. You are easily distracted by Ellery while I am nursing you. If she's around, you don't want to eat. You just want to watch her. And she feels the same about you. In fact, just today while you were napping, Ellery kept saying, "I want Capri to wake up!" You are her favorite. You are finally not spitting up nearly as often!! Although it's still a lot : ) ha. You are LOVING fruits and vegetables. You down your solid baby food, and we've mastered it, so that it's not even messy at all. You are wearing size 3 diapers and size 6-12 month clothes. You are sitting fairly well on your own with a boppy pillow around you propping you up. You roll over ever single time I lay you on your back, but you are usually happy when I change your diaper anyway. You are extremely grabby and love baby toys. You are in the water bottle phase, where you think plastic water bottles are the best thing on Earth. You put everything in your mouth and you are always chewing on your fingers. I can see your teeth well under a thin layer of your gums, so it's probably not too far off before they pop through. You love to Face Time/Skype with family. You still have minor cradle cap, and you've lost the majority of your hair, but have long, thin, blonde peach fuzz growing in underneath. You still aren't on much of a predictable schedule, but you do typically eat around 11pm and then again around 4:30 in the morning. We love you so much. You bring so much joy into our home.

Capri Monthly-4 months

8/19/14

Dear Capri, you continue to be a perfectly healthy, happy, sweet baby. You are now four months old. You weigh just over 16 lbs (90th percentile) and you are about 24 in long (75th percentile). You have been nursing more frequently lately when you are awake, and I'm pretty sure you are getting ready to start solids. We'll start today! I think you'll like it. You are so strong. You push yourself all the way up when you are on your tummy, you sit on your own minus balancing, and you are now rolling both ways! You play with toys. You are constantly grabbing and pinching. Your hair is thinning out. You are still waking up to nurse once or twice a night, plus we have to put the pacifier back in your mouth a lot in the night. You take good, long naps. You still love baths, and although you don't typically projectile vomit anymore, you still spit up all day long. You and Ellery are best friends, and this last month you met several new cousins who all adore you. How could they not?! We love you. Thanks for being such a pleasant little doll.

Capri Monthly-3 months

7/17/14

Capri, you are now three months old! You are so strong. You sit in your bumbo and your exersaucer perfectly. You are happiest when you are standing or moving. You cry whenever we stop at a red light in the car. You are now laughing!! : ) You giggled for the first time the other day when Ellery was jumping up and down in her crib. Ellery makes you laugh the most. You absolutely love watching her, and she likes to make you smile. You also LOVE watching Ellery and your daddy dance. They dance around you and sing to you, and you love it. You love looking in the mirror. Everyone always comments on your WIDE eyes, and most people say you look just like your daddy. You are now starting to play with toys a little! You bat at them, and can grip onto a few of them. You definitely show interest in toys. I took you to the library the other day, and set you in front of one of those activity cube toys, and you got all stiff and wide eyed and clearly, very excited! You do really well at the gym childcare most days. The workers there always tell me what a sweet, delightful baby you are. It's true! You really are such a delight. You are going to bed a little earlier now, usually between 8:30 and 10pm. You only eat once, sometimes twice in the night, and you sleep until 7:30 or 8:30am. I love how you always have the world's biggest smile on your face when I'm changing your diaper in the night, and after your first feeding in the morning. So cute. We love you sweet, Capri. I couldn't imagine our little family without you.

Capri Monthly-2 months

6/19/14

Dear Capri, you are two months (and two days) old now. You no longer seem like such a newborn to me. You are quite interactive. You make perfect eye contact and love being looked at and talked to. You enjoy watching Ellery. You smile easily and often, and you coo and "talk" a lot (although it's not the easiest to catch on camera because the camera is distracting to you!). You seem to really like your mobiles and hanging toys now, although you are too young to actually play with them. You just like to watch them. You have been an easy, happy baby from the beginning, but are much more so now, even. You don't really have a "fussy time" anymore. You still sleep on your stomach, and you hold your head up like a pro. You like your bouncer, and you like it when we help you stand. You have strong legs. You usually try to roll onto your side whenever we lay you on your back. You still enjoy baths, and you are still very messy! You throw up almost every day, and spit up quite a bit after every feeding. But apparently you are getting plenty of milk because you are in the 90th percentile for weight (12 lbs 8 oz), and 75th percentile for height (23 in). You go two to five hours between feedings during the day, but typically every three hours, and you eat one to three times in the night, but most often twice a night. When I give you a bottle, you eat five to six ounces at a time. You are now wearing mostly three month sized clothing. We're on a little bit of a schedule now, but not totally. You still don't know how to keep the pacifier in (wish you did, because you like it!). You poor thing, you have had two colds in the two months of your life (comes with having an older sibling, I guess). We pretty much think you are perfect, and are so grateful you are ours.

See 1 week and 1 month here.

Capri Monthly-1 week and 1 month

Starting a monthly photo journal for Capri:

4/24/14

Sweet Capri, you are one week old today. You have gained back your birth weight, your jaundice is mostly cleared, and we've got nursing down. You are such a content, pleasant, sleepy baby. We are so grateful for you.

5/20/14

Miss Capri, you are one month (and a few days) old. You now weigh 10 lbs 12 oz (84%) and are 22 in long (83%). You are eating and growing like a champ! You are still quite sleepy. You eat every 2 to 3 hours during the day and now go about 4 hours at night. You still throw up almost every day, but we aren't concerned about it because you are gaining weight and you are a happy baby. You do have a little fussy time in the evening, but not bad. You just like your pacifier and have a hard time keeping it in on your own. You prefer to be on your stomach and you don't typically like being swaddled. You are very patient and can sleep through anything. You make good eye contact and are starting to smile. You hold your head up particularly well. You have mild baby acne. You enjoy your baths, and you don't mind getting changed. We love you so much.