6 months old!

Paige is 6 months old!

• Weight: 16 lbs 8 oz (50th percentile)
• Height: 26.25 in (85th percentile)
• Head circ: 50th percentile
• Wearing size 6-9 mo clothes and size 3 diapers

It’s been a big month for Paige! She’s gained a pound (since her 5 month helmet appointment). She’s started rolling from back to front. She plays with her feet. She is scooting backwards – and sometimes getting annoyed because she’s trying to go forward but can’t, so she ends up moving away from her toys. Paige is not sitting up well yet, but she is getting stronger and better at it. I think she’ll be sitting by the time she’s 7 months. She is taking 2-3 naps per day and still waking up 1-2 times per night : ( .

Paige’s doctor wanted us to wait until 6 months to feed her solid food, so we have now started that. She is getting breakfast and dinner. She has had rice cereal, sweet potatoes, pears, and apples. She was not really crazy about it at first, but now gobbles it up!

Russell and Meredith were happy to help her eat her first meal!

What a little doll she is!

Monster Jam 2014

The boys went to Monster Jam again this year! Russell was soooo excited. This year, they didn’t get the pre-show passes and just went to watch the big show – still, a little boy’s dream!

I didn’t get a lot out of them, but here’s what I know: Jason’s favorite was Monster Mutt, who is apparently the hometown guy around here. We actually have a Monster Mutt, and a Gravedigger (who was Russell’s favorite last year), and Russell brought those with him to the show. Russell has a new favorite after seeing the show: Shock Wave. From what I gather, Russell likes him because he has a cheeseburger painted on the side – haha!

Jason’s Instagram pictures:

My favorite guys!

This was when Gravedigger appeared in the coliseum – serious stuff. (Russell was holding up his Gravedigger.)

I think Russell has asked for a Shock Wave every day since. Haven’t had a chance to look yet, but we will get him one eventually!

A Fancy Tea Party and a Country Club Lunch

Meredith is very into princess Sofia (as is probably obvious by her Halloween costume and Christmas presents this year). Princess Sofia has tea parties. Meredith has always loved a pretend tea party herself, so I wanted to try her at a real English-style tea. There is a nice hotel here that serves tea every afternoon by reservation only. I told Meredith that we were going to a “fancy tea party” and she was so excited! Mimi and Aunt Meghan were in town, so they and Grandmother joined us.

I do think Meredith likes the idea of a fancy tea party more than the actual thing at this age It was still fun though.

Meredith ordered the child’s tea: hot chocolate, PB&J, a scone, some fruit, and a couple sweets. Before it came, she stirred some pretend tea.

Trying a spoonful of my peach and ginger tea – she said she liked it!

Feeding a lemon to Mia the bird. (Mia is Sofia’s bird in the show. Mia has now become one of Meredith’s favorite possessions – of course, it has to be something small and easily misplaced!)

Meredith was pretty restless at the beginning. She settled down for a bit in the middle, but near the end was saying, “I’m ready to go home now.” She says she enjoyed it, but we probably won’t attempt another grown-up tea for a while!

Grandmother’s birthday was Monday, so after church on Sunday, we met her and my parents (who were still in town) at her country club for brunch. It is always lovely. The kids were all really good.

Paige was really ready for a nap – hence the thumb in the mouth!

Meredith insisted on spreading her own jelly on her Belgian waffle. Big globs of jelly also went straight into her mouth. It kept her entertained for a while!

Birthday girl!

Everyone shared her pie – lots of sweet teeth in our family!

I just love my grandmother! She is (usually unintentionally) hilarious, and very good-natured. Her motto is, “Everyone needs a friend, so be one.” (It is seriously her motto; she had it written in her college yearbook.) She really lives up to it, too. It was so nice to celebrate her!

Positional Plagiocephaly

Pah-what?

Positional plagiocephaly is the technical term for “flat spot on the head caused by being in one position too much.” Paige has this. (I’m sure you’ve noticed the pictures of her pretty pink helmet!)

At Paige’s 4-month check-up on November 14, her pediatrician pointed out that the back-left part of her head was flat. Cue Mommy guilt – I couldn’t believe he noticed it and I hadn’t! He referred us to a plastic surgeon for a follow-up appointment on December 20. Not because she needs surgery, but because that’s who is in charge of authorizing and adjusting helmets in this area.

Since we had to wait so long for the appointment, I did what I do: I researched. I found that in the meantime, we could try repositioning. This basically meant keeping her off of the flat spot. More tummy time, more Bumbo time, more Johnny jump-up time; less back time, car seat time, swing time, and bouncer time. In fact, I put the swing and bouncer away so we wouldn’t be tempted to use it. We increased tummy time, which was good for increasing her strength anyway.

It didn’t help – actually, I could see the flat spot getting worse. And I knew why. The reason she had it in the first place was because she slept on her back (as babies are supposed to) and turned her head slightly to the left to suck her left thumb. I knew she wouldn’t sleep well on her tummy (and really, you’re not supposed to do tummy for sleep anyway). I tried to put her on her side and she would wiggle to her back.

So we went to her appointment on Dec 20. A tech used a laser scanner to take an image of her head. (I wish I had thought to get a picture of the digital image – it was pretty interesting! Maybe next time.) We waited for the doctor to come speak with us.

Waiting…

She confirmed the plagiocephaly. She also said that the flat spot was causing her left ear to shift forward and also the left part of her forehead. This can cause health complications eventually if not fixed. She said I could get a helmet now, or I could try repositioning and come back in a month. Well, we had already tried that, so I decided to go ahead with the helmet.

She will wear this for 4-6 months, for 23 hours a day. This is a “passive” helmet, which means it does not put any pressure on her head. Instead, it leaves space to allow the head to grow into it in the correct shape.

They told me it will fix the flat spot, and her ear and forehead will go back to where they are supposed to be.

I think the most reassuring thing they told me was, “This happened because you’re doing everything right!” (Meaning: babies are supposed to be on their backs to sleep!) I know this is truly a minor issue, but it still made me sad to get this thing! I’m coming around to it; I know it will be worth it in the end.

And Paige? It took her a couple days to get used to sleeping in it; there was quite a bit of crying at first from our easy-going girl. And she is still extra-smiley during her helmet-free hour a day. But sweet girl won’t let anything get her down for long!

Family Christmas Dinner

The Christmas dinner at Jason’s Uncle Rick’s house is something we always try to go to. It’s with Jason’s dad’s side of the family, and it’s mainly just a time to eat and visit. The kids were happy to open more presents from their great-aunts and uncles and great-grandmother. (Paige was napping for a good portion of the time I was taking pictures, which is why she’s not in many.)

Below is Jason’s dad’s sister and some of her family. Aunt Kim has babysat the kids several times and is so helpful and sweet with them!

And we managed to get a family picture on Christmas! With 3 young kids, someone is always on the verge of a breakdown in family pictures – this time it was Paige – but I insist on pictures anyway!

And 12 days later, I’m finally done blogging about Christmas!

Christmas Morning

We had a wonderful Christmas day! When the kids woke up, we opened presents. They were so excited – Russell in particular had been asking every. single. day. if it was time to open presents yet (as much as we try to downplay that aspect.) Besides stockings, each child gets 3 presents from us: a want, a need, and a surprise.

Russell was very specific this year about what he wanted. He loved it when (every other day) a toy catalogue – or “kid magazine” as he called it – came in the mail, and we would discuss what he wanted, and then of that, what he wanted the most. It came down to 2 things: a battery-operated crane and another car carrier truck (which my parents gave him). He also got the Planes movie, which he now says is his favorite, even over CARS!

It was the year of princess Sofia for Meredith! She got a Sofia coloring book in her stocking, a Sofia DVD, and a talking Sofia doll (among other things). She loved those things, but another highlight for her was the candy in her stocking. I had no idea she’d be so pleased. She ate the 5 Hershey kisses and 2 lollipops in about 5 minutes, and I was glad I hadn’t put any more in there!

Of course, it was Paige’s first Christmas! She and I celebrated together at 5:45 am when she woke up with a cold. She was all smiles, regardless! Paige’s big presents were a Scout dog and a sitting toy that converts to a walker. Now all the kids have a LeapFrog dog that says their name.

The morning/afternoon was spent playing with new toys, watching new movies (in new blankets – their “need” presents for this year), eating strata for breakfast – a tradition for me from my growing up years!, opening more presents with Paw Paw and Kacki.