7 Months!

Sweet Abigail is 7 months old!

~Bring on the steak!  Abigail cut her two front bottom teeth!  She did great--only some extra mouthing of toys and a few clingy days.
~We've started to introduce more baby foods.  She has been eating a "dinner" and we just started including a "lunch."  She seems to enjoy rice cereal, oatmeal, and peas the most.  She was indifferent to carrots and not a huge fan of pears and sweet potatoes.  Recently, she has decided that the best time to blow raspberries is just after receiving a spoon of food.  Watch out!
~She's getting better at rolling, including back to belly and belly to back!  She'll roll several times one day, and none the next.  She's also able to transition from sitting to her belly and is getting more graceful at this move.
~Abby seems to be getting the idea of mobility.  While on her tummy, she's stretching her arms and raising her upper body to her waist.  She's also kicking her legs more and attempting to raise her bottom!
~We're making great improvements in the crib sleeping during the day!  For a while, she would take a decent morning nap in her crib, but struggled with her afternoon nap.  Recently, she's taking a good morning nap and a decent afternoon nap in her crib.  We're getting there!
~She's also doing a great job with sleeping at night.  She goes to bed immediately after her brothers (~7:30pm) and wakes around 5:00am-5:30am.  Depending on who else is awake, she may or may not go back to sleep after nursing. We no longer put the boppy in bed with her, but continue putting something that smells like Mommy, just in case that is helping her!
~Abigail is quite the ham!  She loves flashing her gorgeous smile to others and also for the camera.  When around larger groups of people, she seems to get a little overwhelmed and prefers to be with Mommy and Daddy.
~Abby is working on how to manipulate things. She can easily pick up and manipulate her pacifier to fit correctly in her mouth.  She has also figured out how to turn on her musical soother in her crib. 
~She continues to be Gabby Abby.  She likes to "tell us stories" and is babbling rather than cooing.
~Abigail has a great personality!  She's such a happy, giggly girl!  She definitely notices when others aren't around or are walking away from her, but she has a wonderful temperament overall!
~Abby is adored by her brothers!  Brennan and Gavin love to sing to her, talk to her, make her giggle, and bring her toys. 

Happy 5th Birthday, Brennan!

Happy 5th Birthday, Brennan!

It's hard to believe that Brennan is already 5 years old!  He has a wonderful personality and makes us incredibly proud every day!

Current interests and favorites:

~He continues to love puzzles and his visual memory is impressive!  

~Brennan also enjoys playing with toy cars and character figurines.  It's fun to watch him play as he creates voices and conversations for them.

~He enjoys drawing and doing art projects.  His drawings are becoming quite detailed!

~Brennan loves school!  He's in his 2nd year of preschool at Wee Care in Fremont.  He has great interest in letters/letter sounds, spelling and sounding out words.  His love of books also continues!
~He enjoys building with blocks and Legos.  It's neat to watch him use his imagination when building things.
~Brennan loves to play games!  We have several board and card games that he asks to play almost daily.

~He loves his siblings!  It's fun to watch Brennan and Gavin play together and he adores Abigail and enjoys making her laugh.

Brennan had a dinosaur party at home to celebrate his big day.  He spent his actual birthday at the babysitter's house and enjoyed taking cup cakes to share with his friends there.  We celebrated again at home in the evening!

Brennan was given a clean bill of health at his 5th year well check appointment.  We've been keeping an eye on his large tonsils.  The pediatrician agreed that they are large, but not extremely large and he isn't snoring or having difficulty swallowing.  Both of the tubes in his ears are out and his ears look "fantastic". The pediatrician also commented on Brennan's long, lean stature.  Brennan did wonderfully during his two vaccinations.  Other than flu shots or any new vaccines, he shouldn't need any more until he is 12.

Current Stats:
Height: 45 3/4" (95th percentile)
Weight: 49 lb (90th percentile)

6 Month Check Up

Abigail had her 6 month check up today!  The pediatrician explained that she was healthy and looks great.  After receiving many smiles and giggles, he "diagnosed" her with "Excessive Happiness!"

I asked the doctor if we should be concerned about her lack of interest in rolling.  She has rolled from back to belly a few times, but does not seem interested in this milestone.  He explained that it wasn't a concern as she's able to sit well and shows interest in her environment.  He went to explain that she has built in entertainment (2 brothers) without needing to roll and larger babies frequently don't roll often. 

Following her check up, Abby received 5 vaccines (1 oral, 4 pokes), including her first dose of the flu vaccine.  She wasn't pleased, but after a few snuggles from Mommy, she calmed down quickly and began flashing her smiles yet again.

Current stats:
19lbs 14oz (93rd percentile)
28" (97th percentile)

Help Me Grow Update

Gavin continues to participate in Help Me Grow.  An Early Intervention Specialist comes to our house for about an hour every other week.  She typically just plays with him.  He is usually pretty quiet around her, but eventually warms up.  During her last visit, she brought the Speech Therapist along.

Gavin has made great improvement in his language skills!  He has many, many more words and uses some phrases.  Some common phrases include "Mommy/Daddy, ______ please!" and "Bye bye _____!"  He is also counting to 13, labeling numbers 1-10, labeling many letters, and labeling several shapes!

Now that he is speaking more, we've noticed that he is omitting many initial sounds.  The Speech Therapist also observed this and gave us some suggestions to help him.  She was pleased with the number of words he is using, though!

6 Months Old!

Happy 1/2 Birthday, Miss Abigail!

~Giggles, smiles, giggles and smiles!  Abigail is such a happy girl!  She's definitely an extrovert!
~She continues to be Grabby Abby!  She efficiently grabs at toys, hair, dishes on the dining room table, Mommy's face and clothes while nursing, etc.
~Abigail has slept through the night nearly every night this month!  Granted, her "night" may end around 4:45am, just in time for a feeding before Mommy's alarm goes off during the weekdays.  She typically falls back asleep after this meal.  In attempt to help her nighttime sleeping in her bed, opposed to Mommy and Daddy's bed, we recreated our bed as much as possible.  We have a folded fleece blanket under her crib sheet to soften the mattress. Mommy puts her shirt worn that day in her bed (out of reach) so she can smell Mommy.  We've also been putting the boppy pillow around her head (again out of reach and far enough away that her face is not touching it when she turns her bed).  We were putting the boppy around her head when she was in our bed to help us from getting too close in our sleep.  Unsure if she liked the closeness of something around her head, we continued this in her crib.  Sounds a little crazy, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  We continue to work on longer naps in her bed rather than in a chair or in someone's arms.
~Abigail also continues to be Gabby Abby.  She has included some consonants in her talking, especially "b", so we often hear "Ba-ba-bab"!
~We've started to introduce rice cereal at dinner.  She was a little unsure at the first bite, but has caught on quickly.  She needs a good wipe down after her meals as she ends up with a mess on and under her chin(s).  She seems to enjoy sitting in the highchair during meals rather than sitting in a vibrating chair on the floor.
~Abigail also caught on quickly to sitting!  She enjoys the new view and having a container of toys next to her to investigate.  She topples occasionally, but usually only after she has sat for a while or is reaching too far for a toy.
~Abby rolled from her back to her belly several times on Christmas Day.  She still does not seem incredibly interested in this skill, but we know she can do it.
~The end is near for our infant bath tub as Abby is outgrowing it.  She had her first real-tub bath at Grandma and Grandpa Mealy's house and did well!

Christmas 2014!

Merry Christmas from the Swartz family!

Christmas 2014 was wonderful!  We had an extended celebration and were thankful to see all of our family.  Grammy and Bob came to visit on Christmas Eve.  Christmas day was celebrated at our home with our wonderful family of 5.  Grandpa and Grandma Swartz came for a visit on the 26th.  Following their visit, we traveled to Cincinnati for several days.  While there, Abigail was baptized at Sharonville United Methodist Church.  Daddy had to return early due to work, but Mommy and the kids stayed for a few extra days for additional time with Grandpa and Grandma Mealy, aunts, uncles and cousins.  

The kids had a great time this Christmas!  Both boys enjoyed opening their presents independently.  They were excited about their gifts and have enjoyed playing with them.  As in years past, they picked out a toy to give to their siblings.  The boys enjoyed picking out the toys and seemed excited when their exchanged gift was opened.  Abigail slept through the chaos of gift opening at home and in Cincinnati, but enjoyed opening her gifts after her slumber.