Happy 1st Birthday McKenzie Ann!

Wow.  It's so true.  Time flies...especially when you are having the best time of your life.  This past year has been filled with nothing but love and joy from our first little girl.  She is everything we hope she'd be...and more!  She is starting to form some words other than mama and dada like ball and bye.  She loves stuffed animals and baby dolls.  She loves to try and run and climb anything in her sight.  She really enjoys daycare and seeing her friends every day. 

Eating has been quite the challege.  Solid foods aren't going as well.  She loves anything in a pouch. 

Nighttime sleep has been so great lately...I'm afriad the streak will end soon!  She's been sleeping approx 7-7 each night.  She takes 1-2 naps during the day for about a total of 2 hours.

At her year check up she weighed 21 lbs 15 oz (66%ile) and 31.5 inches long (98%ile).  Everything else looked great.  She got three shots and had to have blood taken (worst experience ever!!!).  They checked her blood for anemia, lead, and strawberry allergy due to last weeks rash after first strawberries.

She is wearing size 3 diapers and size 4 overnights. She is wearing 12-18 month clothing.  12s are a little tight while 18s are a little big!

McKenzie's 1st Birthday Party 11/13/11

11 Months Old

Our little girl is now 11 months old.  We can't believe that we will be celebrating McKenzie's first birthday next month.  She is getting so big and becoming such a "little girl".  Her new love is stuffed animals, she loves to hug them and pat their backs.  She can give high fives, crawl up stairs, and she has finally gotten over her battle with shoes.  She still perfers bare feet, but will now wear her shoes without a melt down.  Speaking of melt downs, McKenzie's daily dose of tantrums increases by the day.  She gets in to full tantrum mode when she can't go some where she wants or something is taken away from her.  She arches her back kicks her legs and cries at the top of her lungs...oh boy.  She is going to be pumpkin for her first Halloween!  Although she won't be trick-or-treating she has TWO parties to attend plus she will dress up for school.  McKenzie's other new found love??? THE COUCH.  She could climb on and off the couch all day and not get bored.  She is also starting to show a slight interest in TV.  I put on PBS sometimes and she seems to like Super Why and Peep.

McKenzie seems to be a picky eater lately.  She doesn't eat much and the variety is slim.  She has had some bites of meatball and ground beef, which she seemed to like.  She is warming up to cheese quesadillas and mac n cheese.  She LOVES veggie/fruit pouches and arrowroot cookies.  She also likes Kix, blueberry whole grain waffles, yogurt, gerber breakfast bars...

Once McKenzie turns 1 and starts milk, we are going to try a new bedtime routine and sippy cup!  She is completely off bottles at this point!

Clothes:  12 months
Sleeping:  On weekends, she usually takes one long nap.  At daycare she takes two 40 minute naps and sometimes she naps on the way home.  At night, she usually sleeps 7-6:30 on weekdays and 7:30-8:00 on weekends.

10 Months Old

Well time has officially "flown by".  I can't believe I'm going to have a TODDLER in 2 months.  It's just so crazy to think a year has almost gone by.

McKenzie is settling in nicely to daycare.  The first few days were a little rough, but she has been happy and eating and sleeping after the shock of something new wore off.

She has started walking more and more.  She can walk across a room before falling on her butt!  She still is very wobbly and won't wear socks or shoes...but we are working on it!

She FINALLY said mama!!  I've been trying to get her to copy me saying mama for a month or so...and she finally said it.  Seems like she only really says it when she's upset though...haha.

We bought McKenzie's 1st birthday invitations and reserved a hall for the big event.  LESS than 2 months until McKenzie has her FIRST birthday party!

McKenzie has started to blow kisses and does a great job waving hi and bye bye.

She has been sleeping well at night usually 7-6:30 on weekdays and 7:30-8:30 on weekends.  She had a cold/allergies the first week of school so she ended up in bed with us a couple times.

She is eating more finger/table foods now and less baby food.  She loves veggie sticks, arrowroot cookies, maple cinnamon crunchies, yogurt, and blueberry waffles.

We've tried cheese a few times...she has been doing ok with it so far.

Diapers: Size 3 (size 3 overnights at night)

Clothes: 9-12 Months
Sleeping: Usually 7-6:30 during the week and 7:30 to 8:30 on the weekends.
Food: Breakfast: yogurt and blueberry whole grain waffle Lunch: Jar of fruit/veggie mix with puffs or mum mums. Dinner: whole jar of veggie with a variety of finger foods (puffs, cut up fruit, veggies, crunchies, arrowroot cookie).  Adding more table food at dinner like real veggies, mashed potatoes, etc.

Feeding: Between 21 and 26 ounces a day in her sippy cup :-) Bottle before bed

Formula: Enfamil Nutramigen

9 Months Old

Wow!  Can you believe it?  McKenzie is 9 Months Old!  In three short months she will be ONE YEAR OLD!  I honestly can't believe how big she has gotten and all the things she can do now!  Here are some highlights of McKenzie's new tricks:

• She has mastered standing up on her own from sitting.
• She loves to point, especially at duckies in books
• She is starting to wave bye-bye.  Sometimes she won't stop other times she looks at me like, what is waving bye-bye?
• Sometimes she babbles "dadadadadda" we are working on cutting that down to just "dada"
• She loves to give big wet open mouth kisses..haha
• She LOVES to dance.  Her favorite song to dance to?  Single Ladies by Beyonce
• McKenzie has taken her first few steps.  We have witnessed her take 3 steps on her own, but most of the time it's one or two.  Anddddddd sometimes she just stands and then DIVES to what she wants.
• She is starting to try and feed herself.  She grabs the spoon when we try to feed her
• She uses sippy cups mostly now.  Only drinks from a bottle at her nighttime feeding.
• She walks if you hold both her hands
• She is very vocal and her auntie has taught her to say "oooooo bbbbooooooo" and grab her head.
• She does not like to be told "no" unless Mommy or Daddy say it then she laughs
• She is definitely entering the separation anxiety stage.  She does not like when I leave the room.

McKenzie will start up daycare again in a week or so.  With her separation anxiety peaking right now, I'm nervous about how her first week will go.  I'm guessing a lot of tears...mostly from me ;-)

Since McKenzie has taken a couple steps, we bought her first pair of shoes for going back to school!  She is a size 3, but we bought 4's since she won't start wearing them until September.

 McKenzie went on her FIRST vacation to Old Orchard Beach Maine this month.  We all had a blast and she did a very good job at all the schedule changes she had to endure.

At her 9 Month Check Up McKenzie

• Weighed 20lbs 2.2oz (73%ile)
• Length was 28.5in (81%ile)
• Head circum:  44.5cm (65%ile)

We were given the go ahead to start trying some dairy products, such as cheese and yogurt.  She also was suppose to be shot free, but when offered the FLU vaccine...we took it!

McKenzie's reflux issues have resurfaced a bit.  She swallows constantly after eating, making it difficult to breathe.  It only stops when she burps or vomits.  If it continues she will have to have a swallow test.

Plans are underway for McKenzie's FIRST Birthday party...stay tuned!

Diapers: Size 3 (size 3 overnights at night)

Clothes: 9-12 Months

Sleeping: Well McKenzie was sleeping so great, until we went on vacation!  She is starting to get back on schedule...I'm sure until daycare starts.  She goes to bed after her bedtime routine by herself in her crib around 8PM.  She wakes up between 8 and 9AM.
Food: Breakfast:  oatmeal and 1/2 jar of fruit in the morning.  Lunch:  Jar of fruit/veggie mix with puffs or mum mums.  Dinner: whole jar of veggie with a variety of finger foods (puffs, cut up fruit, veggies, crunchies, arrowroot cookie).

Feeding: Between 21 and 26 ounces a day in her sippy cup :-)

Formula: Enfamil Nutramigen

July 2011

McKenzie July 2011

July 17, 2011 - 8 Months Old

I've been so anxious thinking about writing this month's post!  McKenzie has been so busy and doing so many new things, I hope I don't forget to mention them all!

McKenzie and Mommy have been on summer vacation from school for about a month now.  We've stayed busy by going to music and play class at gymboree.  We love it there, we've made a lot of friends and it is so fun.  McKenzie loves to climb the ramps and shake the shakers.  She also loves to crawl after Gymbo the Clown!

McKenzie also had her first beach trip.  She went with Mommy and Daddy to Old Silver Beach in Falmouth on July 10th to celebrate Daddy's birthday.  She did SUCH a great job.  She played in the sand, sat on the shore and let the waves hit her, and let Daddy carry her out to the sand bar.  Needless to say, she was exhaused when she left.

McKenzie has also been eating so much more lately..except her formula.  Some days I can barely get 22 ounces in her.  She has a breakfast of oatmeal mized with formula and 1/2 jar fruit.  For dinner she has a jar of veggies and some frozen fruit in the mesh feeder.  She has a variety of puffs/mum mums throughout the day.  I've slowly started introducing lunch to her.  She needs to be on 3 meals a day by 9 months and before she goes back to daycare in September.  This week I gave her some pieces of whole wheat pita bread and a sugar free popsicle!  She loves sucking on mangoes and blueberries in the mesh feeder.

McKenzie now has two teeth on the bottom!  They are slowly but surely coming up.

McKenzie LOVES to stand..that is all she really does all day.  She crawls to anything and everything she can pull her self up on.  Over the past week she has started to get a little more daring and lets go and stands unassisted for a few seconds.  McKenzie also loves to play with ANYTHING that isn't one of her toys.  She will find anything that she shouldn't and pull it off or put it in her mouth.

McKenzie's sleeping patterns...have NO pattern.  They are completely unpredictable.  Sometimes she sleeps through the night without a peep, while other nights she wakes up 3-4 times screaming bloody murder and ends up in bed with us.
McKenzie babbles and talks all the time.  She hasn't said any real words yet, but she loves to talk to herself, say "ahhhhhhhh" and "baaaaaaa" a lot!

McKenzie also gives kisses now.  She will open her mouth and lay a sloppy kiss right on yours.

She has finally learned how to operate the sippy cup and uses it to drink water throughout the day.  She still needs a little help lifting it up when it gets low.

She also is getting close to clapping and waving bye bye (thanks to all the pratice at Gymboree!)  She loves to show us she's excited by flapping her arms and trying to clap...haha!

McKenzie loves splashing in the water in her little plastic pools.  She did try the big pool once, but wasn't a huge fan.  It was very cold!!  Speaking of water...since McKenzie loves to stand she was constantly standing in the infant tub, so we moved her to the BIG tub..but she still finds ways to stand and of course slips!

In 3 weeks we will leave for Maine, which will be McKenzie's FIRST vacation!

Diapers: Size 3 (size 3 overnights at night)

Clothes: 6-9 months are getting pretty tight. 9 month clothes are just right. 12 month clothes are a little big.

Sleeping: Various. Some nights she sleeps perfectly in her crib all night, other nights she wakes up crying so many times she ends up in bed with us. She goes to bed some where between 7 and 8 and wakes up some time between 6:30 and 8. She usually takes one long nap and two short naps.  Usually the long nap is the first nap in the morning, but sometimes is the 2nd nap in early afternoon.  The better (and longer) she sleeps at night the less she sleeps in the day.
Food: oatmeal and 1/2 jar of fruit in the morning after morning bottle and whole jar of veggie at dinner time. She's also had blueberries, banana, mango, peaches, and watermelon in the mesh feeder.

Feeding: 4 bottles a day. 1 4oz, 2 six oz bottles and 1 eight oz bottle before bed.

Formula: Enfamil Nutramigen

MILESTONE on 6/17/11

So for her 7 month old birthday McKenzie decided to finally put her other knee down and start crawling!!!

We took a great video...I hope to post it here soon, but it is on Facebook :-)

7 Months Old on 6/17/11

I've been feeling very nostalgic over the past few weeks.  I'm finally feeling that "Wow, she is growing so fast."  I've been looking at her newborn pictures and being amazed at how different McKenzie is now.  She is so fun and funny and learning so much.  I can't believe she is closer to 1 year old than her birth now...ahhh!

Here are some highlights about McKenzie over the last month:

• McKenzie got her first tooth on 6/16/11, I saw something going on on her lower gums for a couple days, but it looks like a black dot/bruise more than a tooth.  Finally on the 16th after her first restful night in a while, she woke up and I could feel the tooth and see a little more white poking through!
• McKenzie is CONSTANTLY moving.  Daycare can't believe how busy she is.  She is crawling now, she just started using both knees where before she had one knee down and one foot on the rug.
• McKenzie celebrated her first Memorial Day by going in her first baby pool!  She cried for a second, then LOVED it....she was so happy splashing herself.
• McKenzie will celebrate her first Father's Day with her Daddy this weekend and she made something very special for him!
• McKenzie is finally sleeping in the CRIB at daycare...but still only taking ONE 45 minutes nap at daycare.  When she is home with her Auntie she sleeps for 4+ hours!!!!!!!!!
• Next week is McKenzie's (and Mommy's) last week of school.  We are officially on summer vacation on June 23rd (Mommy's birthday :-))

Diapers: Size 3 (size 3 overnights at night)

Clothes: 6-9 months are getting pretty tight.  9 month clothes are just right.  She wears 9-12 mo onesies
Sleeping:  Various.  Some nights she sleeps perfectly in her crib all night, other nights she wakes up crying so many times she ends up in bed with us.  She goes to bed some where between 7 and 8 and wakes up some time between 6 and 730.  Still 3 naps varying from 40 minutes to 2.5 hours
Food: oatmeal and 1/2 jar of fruit in the morning after morning bottle and whole jar of veggie at dinner time.  She now eats puffs and baby mum mums!  She's also had blueberries, banana, and watermelon in the mesh feeder.
Feeding: 4 bottles a day. 3 six oz bottles and 1 eight oz bottle before bed.
Formula: Enfamil Nutramigen

Remember this?

On June 8, 2010 (just about one year ago).  I posted this on the blog:
Labor Prediction Quiz








Your labor prediction quiz results are below.....





Just about the time you think you can't handle hearing one more "when is that baby going to pop?", your baby will decide to make it's appearance. We predict your baby will be born 3-7 days before your due date. Your baby will most likely be born in the morning. Justmommies predicts that your baby will weigh approximately 7.0 pounds and that your labor will be about 15 hours long.

Something that is slightly more scientific is having a similar labor/delivery as your mother. My mom's first labor/delivery (ME!) went as follows:
Weight of Baby: 6.11 lbs
Length of Labor: 26 hours

Vaginal/C-Section: Vaginal
Baby came: 5 days early
Epidural after 24 hours (she's crazy I know)
 
Let's see how these two indicators measured up:
 
Baby came: 8 days early
Born in:  the morning! (5:09AM)
Baby's weight:  9lbs 3 ounces (we still can't believe it either)
Length of Labor:  26 hours (from FIRST contraction at 3:30AM on 11/16 to baby's arrival on 11/17 5:09AM)
Vaginal/C-Section:  Vaginal
Epidural after 13.5 hours

Happy 6 Months McKenzie Ann!

WOW!  It's hard to believe that McKenzie is already half a year old!  Lately she has been doing new things so fast!  She rolls both ways now, sits up without support, and she is trying her hardest to crawl!  On Thursday, McKenzie had her 6 month well baby check up.  Here are some highlights from the visit:

• McKenzie weighs 16 lbs 14 ounces (69%ile).  She is 27 1/4 inches long (93%ile).
• Still no teeth!
• Her eyes, ears, lungs, etc all look good!
• She can have water and wear sunblock now (even though she now has her first sunburn).
• She can start eating some finger foods like fruit and veggie puffs.
• She can have a large array of puree food now as well as fresh and frozen food in the mesh feeder

She also got three shots and another drink at her check up...but she did very well :-)

Diapers: Size 3 (size 3 overnights at night)

Clothes: 6-9 months..eeekkk getting very tight!

Sleeping: approx 7:30pm-6am, waking up crying once a night.  NO MORE NIGHT FEEDINGS :-)
3 naps varying from 40 minutes to 2.5 hours...starting to settle into a nap schedule (I think!!!!)
Food: oatmeal and 1/2 jar of fruit in the morning after morning bottle and whole jar of veggie at dinner time.
Feeding: 4 bottles a day.  3 six oz bottles and 1 eight oz bottle before bed.

Formula: Enfamil Nutramigen

McKenzie's First Easter!

Today we celebrated our first Easter as a family of three!  McKenzie had a wonderful day of being spoiled by many Easter Bunnies!!  The day turned out to be beautiful and McKenzie looked beautiful!  She was great during a jam-packed Mass and even slept through most of it.  She got to visit her Grammie and Grandpa, Nana and Auntie, and then had an afternoon of fun at Great-Aunt Sandy's!  She got to play with her 2nd cousin, Alyssa who was just fascinated by her and kept calling her "baby"!  She was even great as many people wanted to get a few minutes to snuggle with her!

Five Months Old on 4/17/11

Happy 5 Months McKenzie!

At five months old McKenzie has been very active and INTERactive!  She is so funny and loves to show off.

Here are some highlights of the past month:

• McKenzie is almost through all the "stage 1" foods.  Once she gets through all these foods she will start having daily meals.  Probably cereal and fruit in the morning and veggie for dinner.
• After months of trying so hard McKenzie has mastered rolling from her belly to her back and her back to her belly.
• McKenzie loves blowing raspberries whenever anyone is watching!  She is so smiley and starting to laugh more now too.
• McKenzie went to her first park visit.  I put her in the baby swing and she loved it!  She was laughing and smiling the whole time!
• McKenzie visited her first Easter Bunny at Hebert's Candy Mansion.  She did a great job taking her picture!!  Next week McKenzie will celebrate her first Easter!
• McKenzie is finally transitioned to her crib for both naps and nighttime sleep.  We haven't mastered sleeping through the night (again...as she was doing it once!) we have been able to get her back to sleep in the crib.  She is waking 3-4 times at night, and we help her get back to sleep and one time she gets fed.
• She is still taking short naps, but I do believe this is getting a little better!
• McKenzie spent her last week with Caitlin this week.  After vacation, McKenzie will get to spend her Tuesdays and Thursdays with her Auntie!
• McKenzie loves her jumperoo.  It is probably her favorite toy!  She can finally reach the floor!
• I weighed McKenzie this morning and looks like she is just about 16 pounds!

Diapers: Size 3 (size 3 overnights at night)

Clothes: 6-9 months
Sleeping: approx 7pm-7:30am with one feeding a night.  She is currently waking many times a night because of her new sleeping arrangements (crib!!)  Taking 3-4 naps a day for about 30 minutes each.
Food: Once before bed, about 2 tablespoons of a single ingredient food.
Feeding: 5-6 ounces every 3-4 hours
Formula: Enfamil Nutramigen

HIT ANOTHER MILESTONE! 4/11/11 20 weeks

McKenzie has been working so hard on trying to roll over, but up until tonight she hadn't been able to do it unassisted.  We have been helping her roll and leaning on the bed to help her (cheating we know!) but tonight she rolled over from her belly to her back BY HERSELF on our bed!!

McKenzie's first trip to Hebert's Candy Mansion!

Today (4/10/11) we took McKenzie to visit the Easter Bunny at Hebert's Candy Mansion in Shrewsbury, MA.  She did such a great job and smiled so big!!  Take a look at some pictures below:

McKenzie Update on 4/7/11!

Hi everyone!  McKenzie is now 20 weeks old and 2 weeks away from turning 5 months old!  I wanted to give an update blog entry because Miss McKenzie has been doing so much lately!  Read on...

• McKenzie started her second fruit tonight, APPLES!  She pursed her lips...so I'm guessing it was a little tart for her!  Although EVERY food she tries for the first time she makes the funniest face!
• McKenzie's has tried the following foods:  rice cereal, squash, green beans, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, and bananas.  We have been giving McKenzie about 2 tablespoons of one food before her bath.  We do one food for 3 days and then we move on to the next food.
• Although mcKenzie hasn't rolled over yet she is very close and loves to roll to her side and push her self with her feet.  Since this is her new trick she has decided to do it in the rock n play while she is sleeping.  Well this causes her to become twisted in the rock n play and scares me!  Soooooo we have started to transition McKenzie into her crib.  We moved the crib into our room to ease the transition, but McKenzie hasn't taken to the crib yet.  Tonight will be the 4th night of trying the bed.  We haven't made it past 11PM without moving her back to rock n play yet.  We'll see how tonight goes!
• Next week is McKenzie's last week going to Caitlin's house on Tuesday and Thursday!  After April vacation Auntie Tracy will start watching her on those days.
• McKenzie has really started to enjoy the jumperoo.  She'll play for 20-30 minutes in it!
• McKenzie is starting to sit unassisted for a few seconds and will pull herself forward sometimes.
• McKenzie LOVES blowing raspberries...and although she spits all over us we crack up everytime!
• McKenzie is starting to laugh at funny noises we make.  If I make up a funny song or animal noise I can really get her going!
• McKenzie is growing like a weed!  She is now wearing 6-9 month clothing...but we still squeeze her into 3-6 months :-)

First taste of food 3/17/11

...........enough said!!!

FOUR MONTHS OLD on St. Patty's Day :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!  Today is a very special day for MANY reasons.  First, today McKenzie turns FOUR MONTHS OLD!  Second, she had her 4 month well baby check up.  Lastly, ONE YEAR ago today we found out we were going to be parents! Sooo...let's get on to the highlights from today's doctor's visit:

• McKenzie is 14lbs 11ounces (75%ile), 25 1/4 inches (85%ile), and her head circum is 41cm (64%ile)
• McKenzie's head has rounded out and the doctor doesn't feel she needs any physical therapy!
• Although McKenzie is spitting up a lot, she is gaining good weight and she is happy between feeds so NO MEDICINE NEEDED :-)
• McKenzie has eczema on the back of her legs...no big deal, just itchy and annoying!
• Her eyes, nose, ears, lungs, hips, and belly look great!
• She is NOT teething...even though everyone thinks she is!  Dr. Bolton didn't see any teeth emerging yet.
• NO water until 6 months old...sorry Uncle Ben...
• She got 2 shots and the rotovirus drink...she certainly screamed, but did very well!
• Dr. Bolton thinks she may be waking up multiple times a night because she may be approaching a big milestone (such as rolling over), her cold is bothering her, and/or she is waking up and wondering where Mom and Dad are!!
• And....McKenzie will be starting solids tonight!!!!!!!!!  She will work her way through the first foods 3 days at a time to make sure there are no allergies!  We hope she embraces this new stage :-)

17 Weeks Old on 3/16/11

Wow!!  Our baby is 17 weeks old!  Tomorrow she will be 4 months old!!  Tomorrow McKenzie will go in for her well baby check up and get another round of shots.  Here are some highlights from the past week:

• McKenzie is so close to rolling over!!  She tries so hard!
• Spitting up is more frequent and more in quantity!
• She is talking all the time!  We can even get her to laugh over certain things.
• We believe McKenzie my be teething.  She is constantly chomping on her hands!
• McKenzie also has her first diaper rash!
• McKenzie has a little head cold :-(
• McKenzie has started waking up many times a night...again.  We are hoping this is a 1-2 week phase and not a permanent thing!

Diapers: Size 2 (size 3 overnights at night)

Clothes: 3-6 (but they are getting very snug!)
Sleeping: approx 8pm-8am with multiple wake up times in between!  She is beginning to form a napping schedule too.  She usually takes 2 short naps and one long one.

Feeding: 5-6 ounces every 3-4 hours
Formula: Enfamil Nutramigen

16 weeks old on 2/9/11

McKenzie Ann was baptized on Sunday at St. Timothy's Church in Norwood.  She did a wonderful job and looked beautiful!  It was so nice to have all our family and friends there to celebrate such a special day.  It's so nice to know how much love McKenzie has in her life.

McKenzie also got to meet Anthony and Elissa from FL!!  They flew up here to see her get baptized!  Elissa did a fun little photo shoot at our house for us too!  The pictures came out so amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next week McKenzie will be FOUR months old!  She'll go in for her 4 month well baby visit and get another round of shots :-(.  If all is still good, she'll be starting solids too!  Even with the formula switch, McKenzie is still spitting up quite a bit and may have to be put on relux medicine.

Diapers: Size 2 (size 3 overnights at night)


Clothes: 3-6 (but they are getting very snug!)

Sleeping: approx 8pm-6am and then back down until 8-9am (sometimes!)

Feeding: 5-6 ounces every 3 hours.

Formula: Enfamil Nutramigen