6 months old!

Gabriella is 6 months old!!! I feel like I write this every month, but I can not believe that another month has gone by. She changes before our eyes daily and her personality keeps growing as well.

And looking back...

This month Gabriella loves her Sophie the giraffe, noisy toys, her sit-and-stand toy, music, sitting in her high chair, her sippy cup, and bath time. She is noisy now, yelling out to get attention, cooing and "talking" all the time. She gets frustrated when she can't do something, but I think that that frustration is motivating her to learn new things.

We had a doctor's appointment for her today and she weighs 11 lbs 11oz! Because she is taking almost 30 ounces a day, plus 2 ounces of pear juice, we were told to start feeding her foods! We are starting with sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots, then moving to barley cereal, then fruits and other vegetables. I am so excited for this stage but am so emotional too... time is just flying by!

We do have to work on her napping- she is a terrible napper and ends up overtired and fussy at the end of the day. Our pediatrician said she is big enough now to let her fuss a little in her crib to try and encourage her to nap at least twice during the day for 45-90 minutes. He said to watch her cues and when she is rubbing her eyes or starting to get irritable, rock her for a few minutes and then place her in her crib. He said go get her if she starts crying, but if she is just angry, let her be for a few minutes because more often than not, she'll probably fall asleep. We'll see how it goes!!

I'll be sure to take a bunch of photos as she tries some new foods and share over the weekend!! 

xo,
Mary

Watching the Sox game together

Spring is here!

Spring is finally here!!  And hopefully here to stay.  The past few days have been absolutely perfect and it has been so nice to be outside, enjoying the sunshine. Gabriella has been a lot of fun- she has loved being out in her stroller and took a little nap outside on a blanket yesterday. I also realized that it is so much easier to dress a baby in warmer weather than it is in the winter! 

Gabriella is growing like crazy! I swear, she wakes up in the morning bigger than she was when she went to sleep. I am sure she is going through a growth spurt because she is back to eating every 3 hours during the day and she has started waking up at 4 in the morning to eat, which she hasn't done in awhile. She is up to 5 ounces (sometimes 5 1/2!) which still blows my mind. I am thinking we will be given the green light to start cereal soon! Our pediatrician had us start her on an ounce of pear juice 1-2 times a day to help with some tummy troubles and she absolutely loves it. I am putting it in a sippy cup and she does well with it. It is a first-step sippy cup so she still has to suck on the spout, but it is a great starter cup.

Napping outside

Too cool :)

Such a big girl

Have a good week!
xo,
Mary

A hard day

Today we found out that two families that were in the NICU with us had to say goodbye to their boys. They were in a different wing of the NICU than we were, but when you are there for so long, you get to see familiar faces, and both families were always so kind and friendly to us. They always asked how Gabriella was doing and were so happy for us when we were getting discharged- even though it is so hard to see babies going home healthy and happy before yours. The news hit us hard- you hang onto hope in the NICU and block out the fact that it is an intensive care unit. You survive the long days by reading the happy going-home stories of families before you. Even on Gabriella's worst days, I would always tell myself, She's going to be fine. You forget that sometimes, there isn't a happy going-home story. I spent most of today thinking about how grateful I am, and about the staff that treat, care for, and love these babies like their own.
 I was complaining last night about Gabriella being cranky, not wanting to nap, forgetting that a year ago I would have given anything, everything, to have a baby, even a cranky one. 6 months ago when she was born way too early, I was madly jealous of friends home with their crying babies, wishing that ours was home with us. A couple of months into our NICU stay, we met with a developmentalist, because we were concerned that Gabriella wasn't making a noise, not crying out at all. And now, here we are, with a healthy and loud-as-hell baby with wrist rolls, chubby thighs, and big, pink cheeks. And today we hug her a little tighter, kiss her a little more, and thank God with everything we have for giving us the best gift.

Mid-week Ramblings

We had another Birth to Three session today and we are focusing on core and abdominal exercises so that Gabriella will be able to sit up unassisted and roll over from both front to back and back to front. Over the past two weeks she has learned to intentionally hit or pick up an object and bring it to her mouth to chew on. She is also looking back and forth from object to object or person to person. We have some homework to do to continue strengthening her core and get her closer to her 6 month goals!

Exhausted after physical therapy

This week Gabriella has also started sleeping through the night!  She sleeps on average for 9 hours! Now, nap times during the day aren't great at all, but having her sleep all night is wonderful. She wakes up happy and rested and is so fun to play with in the mornings. Because she is anti-napping and will only go down for about 30 minutes or so in the morning and then another 30 minutes in the afternoon, by late afternoon she is over tired, fussy, and her mad face comes out :) So, we are working on getting her to have longer rests during the day.

Being silly

She's not a big fan of headbands

Happy mornings

And a little side note this week.... my sister Sandy is 26+ weeks pregnant with her little boy!  She is officially more pregnant than I was with Gabriella. Crazy to think about! She is getting kicked like crazy so I think Gabby and her cousin might be two wild and crazy kids together.  I can not wait!

Thank you, Easter bunny, for my cool shades

Loves her books

Toes are finally starting to touch the ground!

Hope your Wednesdays are going well! 
xo,
Mary

Baby's First Easter

We celebrated Gabriella's first Easter this past weekend and it was perfect! We brought her to Church for the first time on Sunday and she was great.  She met our priest and after hearing that she had been in the NICU for so long, he mentioned her during Mass and asked for everyone to pray for her continued health and strength.  It was beautiful and so kind.

The Easter Bunny was very sweet to our little girl and she was also spoiled by her grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Some of her favorite gifts include Sophie the giraffe (honestly, I have no idea why babies love this toy or why it's $30, but she is in love and chews on her ears and feet), 2 pairs of sunglasses, socks that rattle, a wooden noise maker, tons of clothes, and a cookbook of baby foods. The Easter Bunny also brought the book, Olivia, which just so happens to be one of my all-time favorites (smart bunny :)) and Gabriella actually loves looking at the pages!  This past week she has really enjoyed being read to, and books that have bold pictures really catch her attention. I absolutely love reading and could spend hours looking at books so I am hoping to pass that love on to her.  Gabriella also enjoyed her first egg hunt- or enjoyed being carried around the yard in her snowsuit while Gianni picked up eggs :)  She was passed around and doted on by all of our family and loved every second of it. And we loved seeing her with everyone who love her so very much. I didn't take nearly as many photos as I wanted, but we had the perfect day.

I am hoping that you all had a great holiday weekend as well!
xo,
Mary

Photo Friday

Happy Friday! We hope your holiday weekend is starting off well! We have a busy but fun weekend ahead so for today, enjoy an overload of Gabriella photos!

Meeting her cousins!

Have a wonderful Easter weekend! 

xo,

Mary