Diary of a Growing Baby (formerly Belly!)

I couldn't miss today...

2008-09-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I've let a lot of time pass since my last "Growing Baby" update. I would apologize, but if you know what it's like working full time and chasing a very mobile little girl around the house, you'll already understand.

But, like I said, I couldn't miss today, of all days, my chance to post. Exactly 1 year ago, I was enduring 40 hours of not so fun labor to meet our little girl. 10:11pm to be exact. I'll never forget the first time I heard her cry. It's all a bit too much to put into words all the things that have happened to us in the past year. Hopefully one day I'll find the words to tell her all about it.

So, I missed posting her monthly photos at 10 and 11 months, so, this should cover that:
10 months:

11 months:

So, surprisingly, there isn't too much to update on. Kacey is now well versed in crawling, walking, sitting down, pulling up, talking up a storm and basically just being totally crazy (she gets that from her dad). She throws her arms into the air when you ask her how big she is and she holds up 1 finger if you ask her how old she is. She's also crazy about clapping, waving and dancing. Hopefully I'll get some videos of the latter posted on here sooner rather than later. It really is hysterical. We have her 1 year appointment with her pediatrician next week so I'll update her stats after that. We're pretty sure she gained a good amount of weight in last 2 months ((crossing fingers)). She's definitely feeling heavier.

Well, I'm sure you missed seeing this face over the last 2 months so here are some of my favorite shots since we last updated!

We're heading down to Connecticut in the morning where we will celebrate Kacey's first birthday with lots of friends and family on Saturday. I promise I'll update with lots of pics as soon as we get back!

Thanks for staying tuned!

Am I too late?

2008-07-16T17:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, with Kacey's 10 month birthday fast approaching (2 days, yikes!) I thought to myself, hmm, maybe I should actual get to posting her 9 month pics. A novel idea, I know. But first, a few updates....

Kacey had her 10 month doctor appointment yesterday with our old pediatrician who is back from maternity leave. Everything went great. She's 29 1/4 inches (although when the first nurse measured her, they told us she had shrunk over the last 3 month...WHA?). Luckily our pedi remeasured and Kacey is still growing like a weed. She weighed in at 15 lbs 15.5 oz (seriously, they wouldn't even give us 16 lbs). So, she's still a little peanut and the pedi wants us to up her calories during the day. I really hope she likes avocados!

And her pedi declared her well ahead of the curve on all developmental milestones. She showed off all of her babbling (and her mama's and dada's). And our little speed demon cruiser is full on walking now! Both Timmy and I were lucky to witness it yesterday. Ah...she's amazing.

Ok, so finally, here are some pics from her 9 month photo shoot. As you can see, it's tough to get pictures these days. We've had to move off of the chair that had been our monthly tradition because she only wants to dive head first off of it. And forget about the sign. If she can grab it, it goes in her mouth. Here you go!

Happy Birthday America!

2008-07-04T17:37:00.000-07:00

Kacey spent her first 4th of July down in Duxbury at the lovely Gallison house. She was great all day and everyone loved her. She even saw her first parade in person! All we had to do was go to the front yard to watch it. I thought she might freak out from all the noise, music, and sirens, but I was definitely wrong. She loved the whole thing. There were even people riding the parade that stopped to take her picture. It was great. Here are a few pics I took today of our little All-American girl.

Tomorrow we head down to Wareham to the annual West House/Windmill House softball game and 4th of July festivities. Hopefully we'll come back with some good pictures from that too! Hope everyone had a happy and safe day!

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

Timmy, for all you do for us and the love you show each day. You fill our days with laughter. Happy Father's Day. We love you.

(turn on your volume)

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Memorial Day!

2008-05-29T05:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great long Memorial Day weekend! Kacey got to have lunch with her Grandma and Grandpa who were up visiting from Connecticut and then got to celebrate her Aunt Sarah's birthday!

We attempted to do one of the things that I've been looking forward to the most with her, going swimming! Since we have a pool where we live, it is pretty convenient. Unfortunately, the water was a bit too cold for her (and us too) so she only put her little toes in. Daddy braved the cold though to get a few nice pictures of them together in the pool. Since we hadn't had quite enough outdoors time yet, we went up to the playground and spent some nice time on the swings! (Still no success with the slide.)

Posing in the water

Getting her feet wet

Don't let go!

Chillin' with daddy

Eating ducks

Daddy thinks this hat is silly.

2/3 of the way there!

2008-05-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

Kacey turned 8 months old last week! I'm sorry I'm a little late with the post, especially since I took the pictures on her actual birthday. Nonetheless, here are some nice shots from her 8 month birthday!

She's really doing great. Her hand splints are doing fine and she hasn't had any problem sleeping with them on. Her thumbs are looking great too. We don't see the occupational therapist until the end of July, but I have a feeling she won't have to wear them longer than that. She's still working on trying to crawl around. She hasn't quite mastered the getting up on all 4's yet, but I suspect that she may just start walking before she actually gets around to figuring out that crawling thing. She's getting tall and growing some more hair (mostly on top). And she loves to hear herself talk.

First Birthday, here we come!

A Little Family QT

2008-05-17T14:44:00.001-07:00

You know, quality time? It was a nice little Saturday afternoon if I do say so myself. We went on a family run (well, I threw a good bit of walking in there too, but I was out there nonetheless). Then we took Kacey up the street to the playground to do a little playing. It took a minute, but soon enough she was definitely digging the swings.

But the slide was an entirely different story. We'll have to keep working on that one.

It was a beautiful day and I'm thankful I was able to spend it with my two favorite people.
Look out tomorrow for Kacey's 8 months picture and update post!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T17:22:00.000-07:00

I wanted to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all the hardworking and self-sacrificing women who have been blessed by God to be able to call themselves mothers. I now know what a gift I've been given.

Kacey and Timmy gave me a truly wonderful and special first Mother's Day. I'm blessed to be her mother and his wife.

Here are a few pictures of my favorite girl and I from today.

(She loves to be the center of attention :-)

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. You are connected to your child and to all those who touch your lives. A mother always has to think twice: once of herself and once for her child. Sophia Loren

No Words

2008-05-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

She's just too cute for them...

What's a spoon? Part 3

2008-05-09T08:26:00.001-07:00

A few updates to my husband's very funny "Highchair Log" Series. Enjoy!

Highchair Log: Part 5
Highchair Log: Part 6

Getting Caught Up

2008-05-09T08:12:00.000-07:00

I've been negligent on my posting for the last few weeks. Tim was super busy at work for a few weeks in there and I was doing a lot of baby duty. Things are starting to get back to normal though so I thought I owed everyone an update.

First (excuse the belatedness), here is a pic from Kacey's 7 month photo shoot:
These monthly updates have taken a difficult turn. Kacey now knows that she can grab the "month" sign and attempt to eat it. I think we'll have to be creative at 8 months so we have a chance to get some better shots. Also, check out her "getting ready to crawl pose" above. It may be about time to baby proof...

After a consultation with an occupational therapist at Children's Hospital, we found out that the muscles and tendons that connect her thumb to her palm are a little too tight (more so on her left hand than her right) hence the reason she's been having a little trouble with her pincer grasp. Yesterday we had splints made that she will wear at night until those muscles loosen up a little. Last night was her first night wearing them. All in all, it went fine. She awoke a few times, unable to grab her own pacifier, but I'm certain she'll get used to them pretty soon. She's such a trooper.

A Day At the Park

2008-04-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

Today, for her 7th month birthday, Kacey took her first trip to the playground. It's the first beautiful day of spring and we had a wonderful time enjoying the sunshine. We played on the grass on a blanket with toys and even tried out the swings! We're still not sure about this "swinging" motion, but we'll keep trying it. We had a great time, but we were all exhausted by the end of it!

A Parcell Running Tradition- The Next Generation

2008-04-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to get a little update out there since it's been a while since my last post. Kacey is doing great (as usual!). She is such a funny and entertaining little girl. She's so playful, is great at sitting up and rolling all over the place. Mostly she loves laughing with her daddy.

We finally got our BOB Revolution jogging stroller and I absolutely love it! Now that the weather is getting nice here, I load Kacey up in the BOB when I get home from work and take her for a run. I have a feeling that I might not be fast enough for her yet. Apparently when her daddy takes her running (which as some of you may know, is um...kind of his thing), she coos and babbles the whole time. Somehow when I take her running, she manages to fall asleep every single time. Nonetheless, I keep getting her out there and hopefully I'll get fast enough to start keeping her awake.

Here are a few pictures from my phone of Kacey enjoying her BOB! I know she's little now, but I'm sure she'll grow into it before we know it.

Our little Keegan Catherine turns 7 months old on Friday! Look out this weekend for her monthly picture and update (and there may just be another highchair log in your future too!)

Love that dirty water!

2008-04-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HOME OPENER RED SOX!

Wait, what do you mean I don't get a World Series ring?

I was 2 weeks old and carried you through the playoffs! I definitely did as much as Johnny Pesky...

What's a spoon? Part 2

2008-04-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

Here's an update to Timmy's first two highchair logs. We have even more crazy adventures with solids. Check out the video in Entry 4, it gets me every time.

Highchair Log: Entry 3
Highchair Log: Entry 4

Happy Half-Birthday!

2008-04-03T18:57:00.000-07:00

Our little baby Kacey is half way to being a whole year old! My how time flies! When she was just a few days old and we were operating fully under survival mode, 6 months seemed like a lifetime away. It might be a cliche, but they do grow up so fast. And things just get better every day. I know this post is a bit belated, but I wanted to wait until we had her official 6 month doctors appointment to post so I could give you all updates.

I had to miss Kacey's 6 month pediatrician appointment (thanks to my civic duty of jury servitude), but luckily she had her daddy there with her. She's still a lean, mean awesome machine. She's measuring in now at 27.5 inches tall and 13 lbs. 6 oz. The pediatrician wants us to up her solids intake to at least 2x per day so she gets even more calories. She definitely has her daddy's metabolism. She's still not on the chart for weight over height, but she's gaining weight so we're thankful for that.

She also handled her shots like a trooper and Dr. Feines gave her a little book with kittens in it. It's very cute and Kacey thinks it tastes really good too. Eating books is her favorite (at least until she can read them). By the time her next appointment roles around, Kacey's old pediatrician will be back from her maternity leave. At least there will be no shots at that one, just blood work (like that's much better). Timmy took her to the physical therapist again to take a look at her hands again. She's doing much better, but we still have a few things to work on. Her daddy bought her a new rattle to help her left hand grip a bit better. We're not too concerned about it. We know she'll be just fine.

Anyway, check out my favorite picture from her 6 month photo shoot. Yep, she's reflecting on her first 1/2 year here. I think she's having a pretty good time so far...I know we are.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-25T06:09:00.000-07:00

Kacey had a wonderful first Easter! She even won a runner-up prize in the ultra-competitive and cutthroat Annual Keegan Easter Egg Hunt (with a little help from mommy and daddy). I think her favorite part of the day was playing with her Glow Worm that the Easter Bunny brought her.
One of these days we'll have to teach her that bunnies don't actually lay colored eggs and they had nothing to do with resurrecting Jesus. Until then, we'll just let her enjoy her basket.

Kiss me! I'm Irish!

2008-03-17T18:47:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Every Monday, when Kacey's Gramps watches Kacey, he types up a log of how she spends each minute of her day (thank goodness for naps which allows him to do this). I always love reading about what she did all day. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, the following is a direct quote from today's log:

9:05-9:30 a.m.- Kacey puts in a request for Guinness. "Come on Gramps, it's St. Patrick's Day." Gramps astutely rejects the request and heats up a bottle instead. One full bottle down the hatch.

Well, at least one of them has some self control!

Also, Kacey wants to give a shout-out to her favorite Daddy in the whole world who is having to attend a conference in California all week (he also picked out this lovely Irish ensemble)! While we're missing him, we think of him and talk about him a lot! We love you Timmy/Daddy!

What's a spoon?

2008-03-10T18:26:00.000-07:00

It's official, our big girl is eating solids! I guess it's good that we put her 2 teeth to use for something other than biting us. Timmy's blog probably says it all better than I can. Check it out!

Highchair Log: Entry 1
Highchair Log: Entry 2

Happy 5 Months!

2008-02-18T19:20:00.000-08:00

That's right, the little one turned 5 months old! Check out some of this month's photos!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T19:31:00.000-08:00

Kacey wanted to wish everyone a happy day! This year she's definitely her mommy and daddy's favorite valentine! Kacey made valentines (with some help from mommy) and gave them to all of her friends in her Next Steps group...although she did try to eat some of them first, the other babies didn't seem to mind.

Will you be my valentine? Who could say no to this face?

All Sorts of Updates

2008-02-13T19:47:00.000-08:00

I know, I know...it's been a while. Apparently, unlike Timmy, my New Year's resolution wasn't to post 3 times a week (although maybe it should have been). I do have a ton of Kacey updates though to get out of the way and then you can expect me to post much more often than I have been.

Ferber:
Well, I have to say that, all in all, Ferber has been a huge success for us. Kacey now falls asleep and stays asleep in her crib throughout the night. By night 2 she was falling asleep with NO crying. It's really been amazing and I'm so proud that we've given her the skills to put herself to sleep. Lately teething has caused a few tougher nights and she wakes up occasionally to have us replace her pacifier, but for now we're okay with that. Hopefully that will get better on its own, but if it doesn't, we always have Ferber in our back pockets. At least the swaddle will be gone soon. We're down to not swaddling for most naps and only swaddling one arm in during the night.

Weight Check:
We met with Kacey's temporary pediatrician, Dr. Feins, at 4 months and 3 weeks. She weighed in a whopping 12 lbs 5 oz. For those of you keeping track, our little Kacey gained as much weight in the last 3 weeks as she did between her 2 and 4 months appointments. Needless to say, the pediatrician was thrilled, as were Timmy and I. It's such relief to see her thriving so well. We did mention to Dr. Feins that we had been noticing Kacey turning her right hand when reaching for things. The doctor referred to it as "pronation". You might notice it in one of her 4 month old pictures posted in a previous post. It seems to just be a positional muscle preference that she'll grow out of, but, as a precaution, we had x-rays taken (which looked perfectly normal although Kacey was not happy about having them done) and we're meeting with a physical therapist and a hand specialist at Children's Hospital. We're not overly concerned, but we'll let you know how that turns out.

Other Fun Stuff:

We took Kacey on her first trip to the Boston Children's Museum with some of her friends from my mommy and baby group. She had a great time with all of her little buddies and she loved having her daddy take her all over the place. There's not a lot for an infant to do, but it didn't take long before all the little ones seemed pretty tuckered out. Here's a picture of her enjoying the "water bed" in the infant room.

Kacey also spent some time cheering on her Patriots in the Super Bowl, but we all know how that turned out. Shh...don't tell Kacey, she fell asleep before the game ended and we still haven't been able to break the news to her.

She also got her first pair of New Balances, which was very exciting for both her and her daddy. She can't wait to get out there with him on the road. We think she rocks them!

Okay, well, that's all the updates for tonight as I should be heading to bed now. I'll post again tomorrow with more Parcell family updates. Thanks for reading!

Our Ferber Diary Part II- Kacey Meets Dr. Ferber

2008-02-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

On Friday night, our process of ferberizing Kacey began. I was nervous to say the least. The idea that I just have to listen to Kacey cry and not hold her in my arms makes me sick to my stomach. I've heard that on the first night, some babies cry for hours. The mere thought makes my heart ache. I questioned if we were making the right choice for our daughter, but I continued to remind myself that on several occasions she had cried for period of time in the car when one of us was driving and were unable to do anything to console her at the time. I had to remind myself that we were doing this for all of us.

So, we gave her a bath and put her in her pajamas. Then Timmy took her into her nursery, turned the lights off except for her night light, swaddled her and gave her a bottle while listening to some calming lullabies. Then he laid her down, said goodnight and the waiting began. By the time he stepped out of the room, the crying had begun. We talked about what we were going to have for dinner and before I knew it, the first 3 minutes had passed. I went in, gave her her pacifier, soothed her by rubbing her belly and telling her we loved her and it was time for sleep now. Then I walked out. The crying continued. The next 5 minutes passed a bit more slowly as her crying showed no end in sight. After that passed, Tim went in and repeated what I had done previously and left her nursery. And the crying continued. This was getting harder. I had no idea how long it was going to last and now I had to wait 10 long minutes to go and soothe her again. Was i going to be able to do this? As the minutes ticked away, I tried to do what I could not to watch the clock, but it was hard. 7 minutes passed, then 8, then 9 and then something happened.

The crying stopped.

Just as I was getting ready to go in and comfort her again (while trying not to curse the evil Dr. Ferber under my breath), she fell asleep. 17 minuted has passed since Tim first laid her down. I was in awe. She was asleep in her crib and she did it on her own. While listening to her cry wasn't the easiest thing in the world, the intervals made it easier and it took MUCH less time for her to fall asleep then I had anticipated. It's only 8:45.

9:17- She's awake again. The crying starts.
9:20- Console and comfort.
9:21- Asleep.
That time it only took 4 minutes. She's getting better at this already!

3:14- Awake and crying (Yep, that's 6 hours without a peep!)
3:17- Console and comfort.
3:18- Asleep.
4 minutes again. Unbelievable...

6:08- Awake, but hungry.
6:30- Fed and back in her crib fed and awake.
6:31- Asleep.

She slept for another hour before waking up for the day. And this is the best part, she was full of smiles and seemed so well rested. It was like she knew how proud we were of her and she was proud of herself too. I'm in love and his name is Richard Ferber. Next up: Our Ferber Diary- Night 2: Can the magic continue? Stay tuned...

Our Ferber Diary Part I- Who is this Ferber guy and what can he do for me?

2008-02-01T17:21:00.000-08:00

Recently we decided that it was officially time for Kacey to start sleeping in her own room in her crib. While we didn't mind having her in our room, she had seriously outgrown her bassinet and Timmy really didn't think having her sleep in her car seat every night was the best solution (can you believe him? :-)

Well, I've always described Kacey as a great sleeper since she's been sleeping through the night since before she was 6 weeks old. She has always needed to be rocked to sleep though, either in our arms or pushed back and forth in her stroller. Sometimes this process could take more than an hour. And not only was this true for nighttime, but daytime naps as well. We spent a lot of time on this, but because she slept so well once we could get her to sleep, we didn't have too much to complain about.

For the past week, we've been trying to get her to sleep in her crib and have her continue to sleep through the night there. If we could get her into a deep sleep by rocking her in our arms, we could put her down and she could go several hours (3-4) before waking up and screaming inconsolably. If we tried to put her down too early, this screaming would start as soon as she hit the crib. The only solution was to just pick her up and bring her into bed with us. All of a sudden, at 4 months old, we were co-sleeping again. All in all, the situation wasn't working.

We made the somewhat controversial and difficult decision to "ferberize" Kacey. Ferberizing is a sleep training method developed by Dr. Richard Ferber, Director of Pediatric Sleep Disorders at Children's Hospital here in Boston. I purchased and began reading Dr. Ferber's book Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems and was amazed to find that it could have been written about our little Kacey and her sleep habits. We were certainly desperate to find a way to get her to sleep happily in her crib at night and we just were not able to figure out how to do it on our own. And here came Dr. Ferber with simple ideas to solve our problems. Could this by too good to be true?

Essentially, Dr. Ferber emphasizes a "cry and console" or "progressive waiting" mentality in order to break the sleep associations that are causing your child's sleep problems. The goal is not to have your baby cry until they fall asleep from pure exhaustion (which I believe is cruel and unnecessary) , but rather to teach them to fall asleep under the same circumstances in which they will wake up to during the night. If your baby is used to being rocked to sleep in your arms (as Kacey was), waking up in a strange place like a crib without being held can be a jarring and scary experience, causing inconsolable crying until they are "reunited" with the circumstances under which they fell asleep. Dr. Ferber's method can also be used to break the habit of multiple night feedings, needing a pacifier to sleep, or co-sleeping, to name a few.

Parents are to begin with a happy bedtime routine centered in the room where the child will be sleeping for the night. Then you lay them down in their crib drowsy, but awake, say goodnight, rub their belly (etc) and leave the room. Since this will be a departure from what they are used to, they will undoubtedly begin crying for you to return and pick them up. At increasing intervals of time, you are to enter the baby's room, reassure them that all will be fine, rub their belly, tell them you love them, and leave within 1 or 2 minutes while they are still awake. On the first night of ferberizing, you go in and check on the baby 3 minutes after they first start crying, 5 minutes after that if the crying has continued, and then every 10 minutes your baby cries until they fall asleep.

It's important, as in our case, not to pick up the baby, but only soothe them while they lay in the crib because you don't want to teach them that if they cry for a certain amount of time, you will come in and pick them up. Then you will be doing more harm than good. Ferber lays out a 7 night plan where you increase the length of your "response time" each night (e.g. On night 2, the intervals change to 5, 10, and 12 minutes and on night 7, they are 20, 25 and 30 minutes). Get the gist? Stay tuned for Part II: Kacey Meets Dr. Ferber...

Packing on the Pounds

2008-02-01T13:54:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last post, Kacey's weight and length weren't charting well at her 4 month pediatrician appointment. She's a very tall, very slim baby and the doc wanted to make sure that she was getting a sufficient amount of calories everyday to sustain how quickly she is growing in height. Click here to find out more about growth charts.

In order to help her get these extra calories she needs, we add a teaspoon of powdered formula in with each 3 ounces of breast milk she receives while I am at work. For reference, she averages about 4x 4 oz bottles on those days. I'm only really able to pump enough to give her 3 bottles so that 4th bottle has become all formula. While the transition was difficult at first, we found a formula that works well in Kacey's system (Nestle Goodstart Supreme) and she seems to be doing just great with it.

We go back to the pediatrician next week for an official weight check-in, but I've been concerned and not wanting to wait so I've taken the opportunity to weigh her the last two weeks on the baby scale at Isis Maternity after my mommy/baby group. Last Friday (1 week post 4 month appointment), her weight had jumped to 11 lbs 11 oz. I was thrilled. That's a 1/4 lb. in 1 week. Well, 1 week later, she's a whopping 12 lbs 4 oz.! That's almost 1 lb. in 2 weeks! Pretty amazing for a girl that only gained 3 pounds in the first 4 months of life. We're really excited about how she's thriving!

While it was hard for me to originally get over my "breast feeding snobiness" and come to terms with her having formula, seeing how well she's doing makes me realize that nothing matters except her happiness and her health. It's all about her and that's a great thing. We'll let you know what the pediatrician says after her appointment on Friday, February 8th! I almost can't wait to show off our mighty little Kacey!