Monday, May 19, 2008

5 Months Old

Oh, how time flies! I cannot believe my baby is 5 months old already. I compared her newborn picture to her pictures now and I cannot believe how much she has grown in just a few months.
We had a great weekend. I put together Mattison's jogging stroller (she looks so tiny in it)which I intend to use to start walking again. I think Mattison will really enjoy being outdoors. I have been worried about all the pollen, but we have had a lot of rain lately so may be it is not so bad now.
Mattison is really starting to show her personality more everyday. I have a basket that I have been putting all her toys in and now when I put her in the floor she will automatically roll over, reach out, and grab whichever toy she wants. I try moving the basket away from her to watch her reaction and she gets frustrated trying to reach out and will pull her legs underneath her like she is going to crawl, but then she just ends up putting her face in the blanket and turns red in the face. Any day now I am expecting a scoot or may be a crawl.
Mattison also enjoys being very vocal if she is in her exersaucer or bouncy seat. I really think she likes the sound of her voice because it gets louder and louder.
She has a range of emotions now. Happy one minute and mad/frustrated if things do not work out her way. (Wonder who she gets that from). It is so fun to observe her and watch her play and study different toys and graze at her surroundings. She is so interested in everything around her.
Last night, was the first night in a long time that I did not get any sleep. Mattison was up all night long. She was not crying, but just wanted to play. She woke me up around midnight and of course I picked her up, changed her and rocked her back to sleep. As soon as I put her down her eyes opened and she had a big grin on her face. She started kicking and babbling loudly. I left her alone and went back to bed only to hear her crying so I repeated the same action-rock until she is limp and put her back to bed. Again this did not work. Time after time I was getting a little frustrated so I decided to feed her. She took in five ounces and was sleeping so hard her whole body was limp again. Still no success. She woke up as soon as I put her down. Finally around 4:00am she decided she had enough and dosed off. I forgot how hard it is to stay up with a baby. Working today has not been that easy with no sleep. It was okay when I was out on maternity leave. I could just nap during the day.
I am posting some pictures of Mattison I took over the weekend. I have also posted a picture of her when she was just a few minutes old so you can compare the change.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Updates

Mattison has suffered through her first cold. She has been sick for a couple of weeks and has had a persistent cough that sounds horrible. I took her to the doctor yesterday to make sure that there wasn't anything else going on as a precaution. The doctor got her weight which is now 15 pounds 3 ounces and checked her from head to toe. She coughed for him a few times (which I wanted him to hear how horrible it sounded). He said that she was very healthy. Heart, lungs, ears, nose and throat looked and sounded great. He asked me if she was in Daycare and for how long. I told him she has been in daycare for almost three months now. He looked at me and said "she has what I call Kennel cough". I know I had a puzzled look on my face when he said that, but he stated it is a cough that just has to go away on its own. Kennel cough is usually what dogs can get when they are boarded so I guess there is really no medical term for babies who have a cough that they pick up in daycare. Matti now seems to be feeling better and did not cough as much last night, which was a relief to me. I did notice almost all the babies in her class yesterday were coughing as much as Matti, but I still wanted to get it checked.
Other news, Matti has started saying Mama. Matthew and I thought it was just when she was crying it sounded a lot like Mama, until I woke her up on Monday morning to fed and change her. She was on the changing table and I was talking to her, telling her good morning sunshine and she whispered Mama. I know she does not realize that I am Mama, but I was shocked it happened so soon. Ms. Maynrose and Ms. Pansy her daycare teachers said she said Mama a couple of times yesterday. I had tears in my eyes. Things are going to fast-
Matti has started eating two tablespoons of cereal at night and really seems to like it. I have been working with her for a couple of weeks and we now have the hang of it. She likes to rake it off the spoon into her mouth and then smear it all over her face. She just opens that mouth and smacks her lips. By the time we go to the beach I will try her on a veggie, because I will have time to establish another feeding routine to suite her needs.
Well, the beach is fast approaching (15 more days) and we are so excited to see all of the new babies that have come into our lives since last years trip. It is going to be a blast!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Attachment to yesterdays post

I meant to post this yesterday and I forgot. Here is a short clip of Matti playing in her new toy.
Enjoy!

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Weekend Fun

We finally got a chance to be at home on a very nice weekend. Matthew and I got a lot of house work done and Matti got a new toy. We have all been sneezing and sniffling due to the pollen so we decided not to take Matti outdoors to the park yet. She has been a little stuffy as well.
We bought her a activity center. Matti has one at school she loves to play in so I figured I could get more house work done if she was entertained and learning in the process. I have posted a picture of it. She loves it.
On Saturday morning I walked in Matti's room to find her sleep on her belly. I guess she rolled over sometime during the night. Then, on Sunday morning I walked in to find her asleep on her belly again. I was a little freaked out, but I read a lot about SIDS and when they can roll over the risk is greatly reduced. I am still not sure whether I should take her bumper pads out of the bed or not. I have posted a picture of her on her belly during a nap. I fed her and rocked her to put her down for nap and she automatically rolled right over.
We are so excited about our upcoming beach trip and I look forward to spending time with the family and all these babies.
I have posted a few pictures: Matti's new bathing suit and sunglasses, her new toy, and a outfit that Uncle Scotty bought her to wear. It makes her eyes look so blue.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Updates

It has been a while since we last posted. We have been out of town the past two weekends visiting with relatives. Matti got to visit with her Aunt and grandparents from Hickory and then we were off to Mount Airy where she visited with the Seivers family and the Hawks family. I have to say she was very well behaved.

Mattison has been very busy rolling over from back to front and loves being on her belly. Daycare says she usually naps on her belly now which is very good for her because of the flat spot on the back of her head. We had a couple of nights where we had to get up with her because she had rolled over on her belly in the crib and started crying. I felt like she was a newborn again, but I found if I rock her to sleep and put her down on her back asleep she will not roll over. I will not be as worried about her rolling over when she is a little older. I still feel like she is too little, but then again when she is on her belly she pulls those legs underneath her and tries so hard to move forward to reach for things so she is definitely stronger than what I think she is.
She has also learned how to get our attention by coughing a fake cough. She will squeal and cough until we look at her and then she will grin really big. I think she has learned this new trick from her friend Shana who loves to get attention from people. I guess you can say we have a little "Drama Queen" on our hands. Wonder who she gets that from? HA
I am still very excited about our daycare. Matti really seems to enjoy herself and has definitely hit a lot of milestones early. They have started putting her in an entertainer to sit up and play. The other day I went to pick her up and she was playing in the entertainer. She looked up at me and smiled and looked back down to play as if she did not want me to take her away.
It is so sweet taking Matti into her classroom in the mornings because she looks down at the little 6 month olds who are rolling around on the rug and she just smiles at each of them. She knows that they are her friends.
One of Matti's teachers has been teaching her Spanish already by reading books and singing songs to her. I am so excited about it. Matthew and I love the fact that this daycare really works with the children by reading, singing, doing projects, and they have outings that are educational for the kids. Of course, Matti is not able to participate in a lot of the activities yet, but in a couple of years she will get to plant her own garden, learn about animals, take tiny tumblers, Spanish, computer class, math class, and all sorts of things. We get a flyer at the beginning of every month telling us what will be studied for that particular month.
This month the four year olds have a pretend vets office set up where they are learning about domestic animals. It even has a examination room and pet spa so they can act out how a real vets office runs. It is just amazing to me what children learn now. When I was in preschool all I remember doing was playing in the gym or outdoors and learning a few songs along with my ABC's.
We are expecting to remain at home this weekend. It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend so I hope to stroll Matti to the park. I hope to have some pictures to share.