Baby B: 6 month check-in

Blake has reached that half-year mark! I can't believe how fast it's all gone by, but at the same time, it feels like we've known her forever. Here's the 411 about the little lady:

Height - 25.5 inches (50%)

Weight - 17.12 lbs (75%)

Head Size - 43 cm (75% - Dr jokes that her weight is all brains!)

Overall personality - Blake is a really happy baby who is often smiling as big as her face will allow. She's very flirty, very social and a lot of fun. She likes to meet new people, but only when there's others that she knows around her. When she's in full play mode, she LOVES attention and will often squeal or fake cough if your attention goes elsewhere. She knows when she is having her picture taken, because she will almost always immediately pose.

Milestones - In the last two months, she's gone from kinda just laying there to rolling both directions and sitting unsupported. She's already showing signs of wanting to pull herself up. and she can working on a little scoot around while she's on her tummy. She's also enjoying the hiney scoot when she's in a sitting position. If you put a toy out of her reach, watch out, because she'll find a way to get it.

Teeth - None yet, which the doctor said was a good thing. She's drools a ton and gnaws on everything, so don't know how much longer she'll be toothless and don't really care, as long as she's happy!

Day-to-Day - She usually spends most of the day laughing, reading and playing with us, in her exersaucer or jumper. She naps 2-3x a day and she'll usually goes to bed by 6:30-7pm and sleeps around 12-13 hours a night.

Solid Foods - B has been chomping up her solid foods twice a day. She's had several fruits and veggies with her rice cereal and around month 7, we'll start introducing meats and cheeses. I've had a really easy time preparing all of her foods fresh for her.

Playtime - Blake loves to play. If she could play all day, she would. She loves the exersaucer especially. She also likes being outside and being an "airplane". She has started to really enjoy toys that make noise or light up...especially anything that resembles a cell phone or that she can easily grab and stick in her mouth.

Baby B: 4 month check-in

Holy cow! Where does the time go? I know I haven't updated The Barney Blog except for once since little Baby B arrived, but (our new) life is finally starting to feel normal again. So here's the monthly check-in. Blake is now 4 months old and her little personality is really starting to shine through. At the doctor today, she's weighed 14lbs 7 oz, was 23 3/4" inches long and has a head circumference for 42 1/4 cm. Not sure what any of that means, but basically she's right in the middle for height and weight and is close to the 90th percentile for head size. Oh how we love our little bobblehead!

She's a pretty good sleeper and will sleep about 10 hours a night (which she's thankfully been doing since week 7) and occasionally will wake up chattering in the middle of the night. That only happens about once a week and most of the time we sleep through it. She also rarely wakes up crying in the morning. We only know she's awake because she'll be talking up a storm on the monitor and most of the time I sleep through that! She's always happy to see us in the morning is pretty patient waiting for her morning bottle.

Speaking of bottles, she's up to about 34 oz of formula a day. Basically one 8.5oz bottle every 4.5-5 hours. We keep her on a pretty tight schedule with the feedings and the doctor wants us to start on solids pretty soon. I'm thinking later this week she'll get her first taste of rice cereal.

She loves to spend time in her jumper and is constantly laughing and talking to us. She loves snuggling with a soft cloth and her paci. Overall she's super mellow and will only complain if she's hungry or tired.

Some new accomplishments for her -- she seems to like holding her bottle when it's not too full and heavy and drinking a teeny bit from her sippy cup. We gave it to her for the first time yesterday and she went nuts trying to get the water out of it. She'll also roll over occasionally, but only if she's in the mood. Quite the diva about it actually.

She drools a ton, which the doctor relates to her "thinking" about her teeth starting to pop through.

Other than that, we've been blessed with a happy, healthy, content little munchkin. We're having such fun! More updates as I remember them

Baby B has arrived!!

Introducing Blake O'Mara Barney

Born April 23, 2011 at 9:26am

7 lbs, 13 oz. - 20 3/4"

The delivery was long but a total breeze compared to the first few weeks of being a new parent. We love our little munchkin and can't believe she's already nearly a month old!!!

Week 38

• Sleep: I was doing better this week.  Just tons of sleep, but then last night I only got about 2 hours.
• Exercise: Some walking here and there, but it's really hard for me to move my body at all at this point
• Cravings/Aversions: Baby has started dropping and in turn, I now want to eat just about anything.  I'm also trying to eat all the bad stuff I can before I have to be good again.
• Weight: 41 lbs+
• Pregnancy Symptom I'm not loving: Name something about pregnancy and I'm probably fed up with it at this point
• What I am looking forward to: Dilating!
• Think it's funny that: People are surprised I haven't popped yet. Oh and they've started a pool at work, wagering on when she'll make her big debut.
• Favorite Moment this week(s): This is weird, but I was pretty excited when I was having regular contractions and the doctor told me to come in for a labor check.  I thought it was too good to be true...and it was.  I was sent home after 2 hours of no dilation.
• My Doctor Says: I'm about the same as last week, although baby has started to drop, so that's good. She also doesn't think I'll go past my due date, but who really knows???
• On another note: I got to meet my new little nephew this week.  Baby Ryland was born on Monday at 6:30pm.  Now he's just waiting patiently to meet his cousin!

Week 37

• Sleep: zzzzzzzz....huh, sleep? What's that? Sleep is currently my best friend and biggest enemy.  As in, I'm not getting any, but want it real bad.
• Exercise: Eh, not a lot.  I try to walk, but I move slower than mud.  Maybe this weekend.
• Cravings/Aversions: Milk is pretty good for when I wake up at 3am and can't sleep.  Other than that, I've been getting hungry but not really wanting anything.
• Weight: 40 lbs+...real hot
• Pregnancy Symptom I'm not loving: Still not loving being so large and in charge.  Definitely don't like that I can't bend over.  Also, hate rolling myself outta bed.  Oh yeah AND the constant peeing.
• What I am looking forward to: The next dr appt and finally finishing up the little lady's room. I've been too tired to tackle this head-on.
• Think it's funny that: I'm so big.  It's really ridiculous at this point.
• Favorite Moment this week(s): I had moment of zen this week, where I realized I shouldn't be in a such a rush to get baby out.  I should enjoy these last few weeks, because once she's here, that's it.  There's no turning back.  I've been trying to spend more time with DB and enjoy the bits of peace and quiet we have left.  Bake a little longer if you wish Baby B...just bake away from my bladder, please!
• My Doctor Says: Oh man, well I'm about 1.5 cm dilated and 30% effaced.  Progress since last week.  She's measuring about 10 days ahead of her due date in terms of size and call Guinness because I could be birthing the world's largest baby.

Week 36

• Sleep: I'm pretty much getting no sleep these days. Mainly between the constant peeing and overall discomfort, there's not a lot of shuteye happening here.
• Exercise: A few evening walks with DB here and there, but not a whole lot.
• Cravings/Aversions: Nothing really.  Just food in general.  Although I made the mistake of eating really, really spicy food this week and it nearly destroyed me for a whole day.
• Weight: 37.5 lbs+...this week it was all baby gaining
• Pregnancy Symptom I'm not loving: The pure discomfort in everything I do.
• What I am looking forward to: Getting some sleep tonight...fingers crossed.
• Think it's funny that: People look at me like I'm some sort of circus attraction.
• Favorite Moment this week(s): Making it through another week.  That just means I'm one step closer.
• My Doctor Says: She confirmed what I've long suspecting...my baby is a little baker and will probably be hanging out in there for a little while longer.  She's not ready for her big debut.