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Brinley Baby Summary: 52 Weeks Old

Not too difficult of a sickie :) But look--she has rock candy. How can you be upset with rock candy? (she actually didn't like it)
This is a summary for Brinley's 52 week; she was 51 weeks old.

NURSING
This week, we were just nursing in the morning, but she wasn't happy laying down. 

EATING
She wasn't eating very well for meals this week, either.

SLEEPING
Sleeping was normal for the first part, then halfway through the week, she woke in the night. We went to her and rocked her for a while before putting her back in bed where she finished the night out. 

SICKNESS
The next morning, I called to get a doctor appointment for her. 

She had started out the week with a low fever (as I mentioned in last week's post). It is past time for her top teeth to break through, so I figured she had a low fever to go along with it. As the few days passed, however, her fever was climbing, her eating was decreasing, she didn't want to lay to nurse, and the waking in the night was the final thing that told me something is wrong.

Turns out she had a double ear infection :(. Poor girl. 

FAMILY WEEK
This was a week of family reunion activities with my husband's family. She was in the peak of her sickness through it all and was such a trooper. She was mellow, but pleasant. 

ROOM TIME
Independent playtime has been going well. This week, it felt like the right time to move her to "room time" instead of "playpen time." I am able to watch her on the video monitor and she has enjoyed it. This is on the young side for moving to room time, but Kaitlyn was just about the same age. I just move when it seems right. McKenna was quite a bit older--closer to 2. 

SCHEDULE
8:45--nurse with solids (fruit, cereal, yogurt, finger foods). Independent Playtime happens in this block.
10:30-11:00--nap starts
12:45-1:00--wake up, bottle with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods)
2:30-3:00--nap starts
5:00--wake up, bottle with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods) 
7:30--bottle, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00-8:30.


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Brinley Baby Summary: 51 Weeks Old

This is a summary for Brinley's 51st week; she was 50 weeks old.

NURSING
This week, there were a few days randomly that she wouldn't nurse for lunch. I had low hopes for my milk supply at that point!

EATING
She spent the first part of this week eating normally and great. At the very end, she started to not eat much.

SLEEPING
Sleeping was normal.

SWIMMING AGAIN
We went swimming again and she loved it again!

SIGN LANGUAGE
This week, she finally signed "more"! It was so exciting. It was in direct correlation with her fine motor skills taking a huge leap this week. She was so pleased with herself.

CLAPPING
She also started clapping this week. Any of you who know the sign of "more" know that clapping and more are very similar movements. 

DISPOSITION
This week she started off super happy. Toward the end, she had a slight fever. I figured it was from teething. Her upper gums are swollen and the last time she broke a tooth, her temp went up some. She has taken forever to get those top teeth in! 

BABBLING
Her speech is another thing that went way up in skill this week. She totally sounds like that squirrel on The Emperor's New Groove. Remember when he blows up the balloon and pulls out the needle to pop it and babbles about it all? That is what Brinley sounds like.

STAIR CLIMBING
Sadly, Brinley's gross motor leaps have lead her to being able to climb the stairs. Sigh! I don't like the stair climbing days. Now I need to teach her how to get down stairs safely. Then I will be okay with stair climbing again.

SCHEDULE
8:45--nurse with solids (fruit, cereal, yogurt, finger foods). Independent Playtime happens in this block.
10:30-11:00--nap starts
12:45-1:00--wake up, nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods)
2:30-3:00--nap starts
5:00--wake up, bottle with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods) 
7:30--bottle, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00-8:30.


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Brinley Baby Summary: 50 Weeks Old

Find the high quality baby clothes for your children

 This is a summary for Brinley's 50th week; she was 49 weeks old.

NURSING
She still nursed for the first two feedings this week. No biting. 

A fun thing about her taking bottles now is that the family can get involved. Kaitlyn absolutely loves to feed Brinley bottles. She cuddles up with her on the couch and feeds her. She gives her kisses. It is so cute to watch.

EATING
This week, she started to refuse purees with me at times, also. I need to put my thinking cap on and remember different ways to feed vegetables!

SLEEPING
Sleep was great and normal.

SUPER HAPPY and MOBILE
She was super happy again this week. Oh how I love the super happy weeks! She continued getting more and more mobile.

SWIMMING
Brinley went swimming again this week. She loved it! She loved it so much. We got out our floatie from swimways (Baby Spring Float). She loved sitting in that and going out into the water. It made swimming with her TONS easier, and the kids loved pushing her around in it.

OBEDIENCE
We have a hall that leads to our stairs. Brinley is not allowed down that hall because I don't want her falling down the stairs. She will test her limits. Sometimes she listens to me and turns around. Sometimes she smiles and waves and me and continues down the hall.

My mom was here one day when Brinley went into the hall and I called her back. My mom commented that "oh! She isn't allowed down there!" She shared that when she was watching Brinley, she would get to the opening to the hall, get a "glint" in her eye, wave, and take off down the hall. Always testing. 

SCHEDULE
8:45--nurse with solids (fruit, cereal, yogurt, finger foods). Independent Playtime happens in this block.
10:30-11:00--nap starts
12:45-1:00--wake up, nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods)
2:30-3:00--nap starts
5:00--wake up, bottle with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods) 
7:30--bottle, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00-8:30.


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Brinley Baby Summary: 49 Weeks Old


This is a summary for Brinley's 49th week; she was 48 weeks old.

NURSING
It's the final countdown! I wanted to make something clear based on a question I got. Last time, I told you how she dropped the last feeding. She stopped nursing that feeding, but I still gave her a bottle of milk. As I drop nursings, I always replace with milk (assuming the child will take milk--which McKenna wouldn't until she was a three year old). 

Good news, no biting this week.

Bad news, Brinley really would not eat for her third feeding. Now, I am at the point I want to drop a feeding a week if she is interested in doing so (which she obviously is), but I think that dropping the 3rd and 4th feedings is a bad idea. So far, she is still nursing for the first two, though, so it is working at this point. I think her reason for dropping this one is being interested in what the family is doing since everyone is home when she is eating this one.

EATING
Brinley is starting to refuse purees with anyone other than me. She will eat them for me but no one else. She is starting to show preference for finger foods--or foods in "real" form. 

SLEEPING
We had a disruption come up this week; Brinley started to stand in her crib! Here is the crazy thing: I taught her how! I don't know why. As I did it, I thought, "This is probably dumb of me." My husband thought I was crazy.

Well, here's the thing. She is going to learn at some point anyway. The day will come. I guess I was just feeling up for dealing with the disruption. So I taught her. And in the end, it was only an issue before one nap. She quickly figured out how to get down on her own.

SUPER HAPPY
She was so, so happy this week! It was so great after our grumpy teething weeks. I was so glad to have my happy girl back.

SUPER MOBILE
She is just really expanding her gross motor skills like crazy right now. It is a big focus of hers. 

LIKES
Brinley loves to be outside and loves to swing. She also loves animals. She loves attention and therefore really likes the elderly. They are the best attention givers in general.


ANOTHER DAY WITH NANA
She had another day with Nana this week. This time, my dad was home for the day, too. He took it upon himself to teach her to say, "aahhh!" every time she took a drink. He finds it incredibly amusing. And so she does it. 

SCHEDULE
8:45--nurse with solids (fruit, cereal, yogurt, finger foods). Independent Playtime happens in this block.
10:30-11:00--nap starts
12:45-1:00--wake up, nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods)
2:30-3:00--nap starts
5:00--wake up, nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods) 
7:30--feed, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00-8:30.


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I find it amazing how fast a baby can learn and think this is a strong testament to what you can teach a baby if you put some time, effort, and positive reinforcement into the training. She does it when she drinks and whens he sees anyone else drink. She also does it when she wants a drink. AND she did it at a tea party I took my girls to, you know, one where the focus was on learning good manners. Nice Brinley. Thanks, Dad. 
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Brinley Baby Summary: 48 Weeks {11 Months Old}

oh the cute "pebbles" do stage! I love it!
This is a summary for Brinley's 48th week--she was 47 weeks old. She turned 11 months old this week!

NURSING
We are on the countdown to one year! We no longer did the last feeding of the day. It is the feeding she chose to stop, which worked well for me since I am doing choir in the evenings once a week now. I prefer to drop the early evening feeding first if I am choosing, but per my desire to not force her eating...

But at church this week, I did try to force it. I needed her to eat so I could get in an direct the choir (I am the choir director at our church). She wanted to play with the buttons on the recliner I was nursing her in. I kept pushing it and she bit. So yes, no more forcing on my part.

TEETHING
Oh my she was grumpy this week! Still. She is usually so pleasant. After church this week, several of the older ladies at church approached us and asked if she was teething. Ha! Yes she was. A couple of days later, her tooth finally broke through! I checked in the morning and it still hadn't broken through. Then as I was reading her bedtime stories that night, I realized she was being rather happy and pleasant, so I checked her tooth and it was through! And it was big. Her gums must have been quite swollen to have covered the tooth that much--no wonder she was so grumpy about it! 

Once the tooth broke through, she was so very happy.

INDEPENDENT PLAYTIME
Things finally got consistent enough and us home enough during the week that I could really lengthen her independent playtime. I took it up to 30 minutes and she did it perfectly happily! I didn't push it beyond that. We will stay there for a while--maybe even until school is in session. 

HAIR
Her hair is long and thick enough for a "pebbles" do! So cute. This is my husband's favorite hair do. I think it is pretty cute, too. When I do her hair, I do it just like I do my other girls. She sits on the counter and faces the mirror and has no entertainment other than our beautiful reflections :). I do this because I find the time doing hair to be a time when the girls often share things--things concerning them, things they are excited about, etc. I don't want this time they are so inclined to share to be dampened by anything distracting them, and I keep in mind the "start as you mean to go on" idea.

SCHEDULE
8:45--nurse with solids (fruit, cereal, yogurt, finger foods). Independent Playtime happens in this block.
10:30-11:00--nap
12:45-1:00--nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods)
2:30-3:00--nap
5:00--nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods) 
7:30--feed, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00.


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Brinley Baby Summary: 47 Weeks Old

After taking a couple of weeks off, I needed to get us back caught up on the summaries! This is a summary for Brinley's 47th week. She was 46 weeks old.

Brinley at a tee ball game--you can't tell but she is holding a plank position--which is why she has defined abs. She does this a lot.
NURSING
You might remember that Brinley bit me last week. I am happy to say that during this week she still did not try to bite me again.

SLEEPING
Sleeping was great and normal.

SOLIDS
This week she tried blackberries and raspberries. She seemed pretty much "eh" about them. She did enjoy squishing them to a pulp, though. That was fun for her :). She seems so suspicious of every new food I put before her because she hasn't ever tried anything she hated. She has had a couple of foods she isn't totally in love with, but she eats everything. 

WONDER WEEK
Brinley was GRUMPY this week. Super grumpy (for Brinley). I decided to look up wonder weeks and she was at an age for one. She also was still teething, so that could also account for the grumpiness.

VACATION
We went to a local lake to stay with friends in their condo. I had put her special blankie she sleeps with in her carseat as I was packing things so she could have it by her in the car. She hasn't ever taken it with her out of her bed before, but I figured it would help her be happier for the drive. 

My husband pulled it out when he put her in the carseat...and left it home. When it came time to put her to bed that night and we realized she had no blankie, I was a bit nervous to say the least! Strange place, no blankie...umm...

Luckily Brinley just likes sleeping with it. She doesn't suck on it or anything. She had her three stuffed animals she sleeps with. I chose a shirt of hers that was a similar material to her blankie and gave that to her. She slept perfectly! She slept as usual and took naps as usual. She really is a flexible little person.

DAY WITH NANA
Brinley had a day with my mom this week while the rest of us went to a local amusement park. She had fun with my mom! 

SCHEDULE
8:45--nurse with solids (fruit, cereal, yogurt, finger foods). Independent Playtime happens in this block.
10:30-11:00--nap
12:45-1:00--nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods)
2:30-3:00--nap
5:00--nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods) 
7:30--feed, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00.


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Brinley Baby Summary: 46 Weeks Old

During our Babywise Success Stories Week, I wanted to add in Brinley summaries. It has been a while, and her summaries are great success stories :) This summary is for Brinley's 46th week. She was 46 weeks old.

sitting in her new chair
NURSING
This has something of interest this week. For the first time, Brinley bit me while nursing. I wasn't paying attention to her, she bit me, I said, "Ow!" in shock, which seemed to startle her. She hasn't tried since.

I am now very interested to see how she continues on. Brayden bit me once, then never again. Kaitlyn never tried it. McKenna bit me CONSTANTLY it seems that last month and she often drew blood. My husband said I should quit nursing but I wasn't going to quit before a year unless she led the way. It is dumb, really, but it was a goal I had and I didn't want to be the one to throw in the towel on it. 

I have realized the biting profile of the children has really been a wonderful foreshadowing to what my future held with them. Brayden might try something he shouldn't, but doesn't once he is told not to. Kaitlyn seems to never try things she shouldn't. McKenna tries it over and over and over again. So now I wonder what Brinley has in store for me.

TEETHING
On a relatead note, Brinley was teething during this week.

SICKNESS
Brinley was also sick this week. It happened to be the day of my sister's wedding reception. Why do kids seem to always get sick for big events!??!?!? So my husband stayed home with her while I took the other three kids. 

SOLIDS
I decided to take a daring step and give Brinley some cow's milk this week. See this article: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/2013/03/19/how-and-why-to-introduce-allergens-to-your-infant

These new guidelines seriously have rocked my world. There have been such strict guidelines on what age each type of food is or isn't safe, so to have it basically be that pretty much anything is fair game after four months old is just mind-blowing for me. I think this is what moms must have felt like when the recommendation went from tummy sleeping to back sleeping. 

She liked the milk!

She also started sitting in a new place this week--you may recall my post on Facebook if you are on there. I got so tired of the high chair taking up space in our kitchen. It was always in the way. So I decided to buy this chair. I had originally planned to wait until she was done eating solid foods, but I decided the pros outweighted the cons here (it is easier to sit in front of a high chair than to lean over the counter to feed her). We went with the Inglesina 2013 Fast Table Chair.

SIGNING
I settled on teaching "more" next. She finds it amusing and doesn't do it back to me, but she does get a look of agreeance on her face when I sign more and that is what she wants.

SLEEP
Sleep is great and normal. She takes two naps and sleeps 12-13 hours at night.


SCHEDULE
8:45--nurse with solids (fruit, cereal, yogurt, finger foods). Independent Playtime happens in this block.
10:30--nap
12:45--nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods)
2:30--nap
5:00--nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods) 
7:30--feed, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00.


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Brinley Baby Summary: 45 Weeks Old

This is a summary for Brinleys 45th. She was 44 weeks old.


enjoying Kaitlyn's tee-ball game with her Papa
NURSING
We continued on. 

SOLIDS
I didn't write down any food I introduced this week...not sure if I just didn't write it or if I didn't do anything new. 

SLEEPING
All was well here.

SIGNING
She is getting better at signing! I still haven't started a new sign. I guess I am being so lazy about it! I need to get moving on that. She does know how to give high-fives now, though...

FLEXIBLE
I was thinking about something ironic. Brinley has been my baby who has stayed home the most of any of my babies--she has missed far fewer naps and has rarely napped anywhere but her bed. Being she is my fourth, that in and of itself is actually ironic. I have just worked hard to keep it that way (see my ideas for meeting this goal in this post: Managing Baby Plus Older Kids' Activities. But that isn't what I find ironic.

What I find ironic is that she is so flexible. I never would have thought a baby who was so used to a set schedule and sleeping routine would be so flexible about being late for naps or napping in different places and circumstances. We had a baby blessing to attend and we just put her in some strange (to her) house she hadn't been in and she slept great! Brayden was my child who was toted around the country and put in different beds constantly, and he was my most inflexible sleeper! He was great about different beds, but he couldn't be ten minutes late for bed or his nap would be way thrown off. If Brinley is 30 minutes late, she just sleeps 30 minutes later than usual.

SUMMER CAMP
Braydne and Kaitlyn are doing a summer camp. It starts at 9:00 AM--which makes it tricky since she gets up between 8:45-9:00 AM and this camp is a 15 minute drive. Rather than get her up early, I just get her up, change her diaper, put her in her carseat, and go drop them off. I take a biter biscuit or something for her to eat along the way. Then we get home and I nurse her and feed her breakfast. I am shocked she will spend 30 minutes in the car in the morning without breakfast and wait for her food so patiently. Again, she is flexible.

This leads me to believe a lot of what makes a baby flexible is personality. But it also leads me to believe that a huge component of flexibility is having that stable foundation from the start. I have often mentioned that, and Babywise talks about it. To be flexible means you leave "normal," go out of normal, and return to normal. So perhaps having such a solid normal makes her more able to go with the flow and take the disruptions in stride. 

INDEPENDENT PLAYTIME
My big goal right now is getting independent playtime longer. It has been only about ten minutes--it is pretty much all I can squeeze in there. But I am moving it up on the list and this week have worked her up to 15-20 minutes. I don't have a time slot with all we have going on to really go much longer than that. I just want her to be in position to move that up once she goes to one nap (which I am guessing will be 14-18 month with her--big range but that is my guess).

SCHEDULE
8:45--nurse with solids (fruit, cereal, yogurt, finger foods). Independent Playtime happens in this block.
10:30--nap
12:45--nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods)
2:30--nap
5:00--nurse with solids (veggie, fruit, finger foods) 
7:30--feed, then bedtime. In bed by 8:00.


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