Noakes' Nest: Four...WAIT...Five Months Old!

Where has the time gone? How do we already have a five month old?????

I know I completely skipped her four month update. Honestly I've had no desire until now to update the blog. I've had much more fun spending time as a happy, healthy family. Well that and I would rather sleep than type.

Age: 5 months 14 days / 23 weeks 6 days
Weight: 11 pounds 8ounces (as of 8/31) (Lower 5th percentile...but growing!)
Height: about 24 3/4 inches (50th percentile)
Head Circumference: 50th percentile
Hair Color: Brown with red highlights
Eye Color: Grey blue but we are starting to see some hazel hues peek through
Diaper Size: Size 2
Clothing Size: 0-3 moving into 3-6!
Nicknames: My love, Baby Girl, Darling, Little One, Baby Bear (Phil now refers to me as Mama Bear)
Expert Skills: hiccupping, sneezing, pooping, stretching, eating, the pirate look (only opens one eye and looks at you questioningly), Elvis smile, rolling her tongue, tracking people, turning to voices, looking at toys, smiling, chewing on her hands when she is hungry to soothe herself, choking herself by chewing on her finger, hitting her toys, mobile attention span (she will spend about 20 minutes playing with her mobile independently), book attention (she will look from one page to the next for a whole book), playing kick the blanket off, Cooing, holding head up in her seat, sticking her tongue out when we do, saying "ah", grabbing things in front of her while she is laying on her stomach, grabbing a toy in front of her with both hands, grabbing a toy with one hand, transferring toy from hand to hand, sticking toys in her mouth
Developing Skills: making a pop noise with her lips, kissing, saying "mmmm", playing peek-a-boo, playing with sounds, playing with mouth movements, rolling over, sitting, eating baby food (she opened her mouth excited to eat today for me!)
Likes: Playing with her toys, walks, her rock and play, interacting with people, reading books, baths, walks, watching people eat, going out to eat
Dislikes: spitting up, reflux, her heart medicines, THE SUN (flinches every time we walk by a beam of light)
Mommy's Favorite: When she smiles, when she trys to imitate the 'ah' noise, giving Mommy kisses (video of this to come soon!)
Daddy's Favorite: When she smiles, sneezes, when she trys to imitate the pop noise
Toys: Mobile, books, blankets, mirrors, laying on her mat playing with hanging toys, Mommy and Daddy!
Favorite Toys By Month

June=mobile
July= kitty blanket
August=links
September=duck rattle and blankets

Sleep: She goes to bed around 8pm and wakes up 1-2 times a night. She usually sleeps until 7ish.
Feeding: She gets bottles during the day plus one snack of baby food!

Now let's catch up on alllllll those weekly photos ya'll missed!

15 weeks
day 2 after surgery

Why won't they let me go home yet? I'm drinking out of a bottle!

HOME!

My feet rock

Toys!

First trip to North Carolina to visit family!

Oh duckie how I love thee

Labor Day in my onesie that Mommy and Daddy got me in Italy!

Go Wahoo's!

Our first week home from the hospital was tough. Caroline screamed and screamed and screamed. She was eating all the time. My theory is that she finally realized that she had been starving herself for 3.5 months. She was eating every two hours all day and night long. Needless to say it made for two exhausted parents. Once she did some catch-up growth and we all got used to being home things started getting better. She has even started putting her self down at a reasonable time at night and for 1-2 naps during the day! I've gone into more detail about all that below in the You've Asked, We're Answering section.

Overall we are all doing great! Phil hasn't had to travel since June but he will start again in September. I'm not looking forward to it but we will work through it. Most of my free time recently has been taken up with helping to prepare for my sister's wedding. I'm her Matron of Honor/Wedding Coordinator/Budget Person. We are just under a month from her wedding date so we have a lot to do! It is going to be SO much fun. I'm really excited to see my extended family. I haven't seen most of them since I was pregnant with Emily! Kathleen is getting married at Notre Dame (which is located in Indiana approx. 2 hours from Chicago), so we are adding a few days to our trip so we can visit my grandmother in Ohio who hasn't met Caroline yet. Caroline is the first great-granddaughter on both sides of my family. I can't wait for her to first meet my grandma and then the next day at Notre Dame meet my grandfather. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. I'm especially excited for them to see how happy and healthy she is. It's hard to wrap your brain around a child being okay after open heart surgery so I'm excited for them to see her in person.

I'm still staying at home and I'm still getting used to it. It has been a hard transition for me. This is especially true because it's difficult to hang out with my other Mommy friends. We were told that Caroline's heart will be healing for the next year. In particular the first 3-6 months are crucial. If she gets a cold it could land her back in the hospital because her heart may not be able to handle the difficulty breathing. We've had to draw an imaginary line in the sand for what we're comfortable with. Right now we aren't letting other children in our home and we aren't taking Caroline to other people's homes that have kids. We also aren't taking her to church because that is a lot of people really close together. We aren't going to any kid places like the Children's Museum, music classes, etc. because of the sheer number of kids which equals germs around. That being said we are taking her out to lunch or dinner or to the grocery store or places like Target. I have to get out of the house or I go crazy! Plus we need food. We were told that she can't be in a daycare setting because of her susceptibility to illness. I'm lucky enough to be able to stay home with her so that isn't an issue. I'm getting more used to this staying at home thing. I'll admit I am bored some days. Helping plan my sisters wedding has helped. I've also bonded with her more as she has gotten older/gotten out of the hospital. I've always loved her, it is just easier for me to love her now. I'm more carefree in my love. I think I was holding back some of my attachment before surgery because I was nervous that we might loose her.

She is soooo much fun to play with. She is "talking" now and has a ton of expression in her face. It is neat to see her play with sounds and explore toys. She likes to talk to herself when she plays independently. She talks some to us but is really focused on watching what we are doing and learning. She is very purposeful in her play. Just this week she started giving me kisses. When I'm holding her I turn and kiss her on the cheek. She then turns and open mouth kisses, sometimes licks, my cheek. It is so adorable! She is such a happy, content, and inquisitive baby. She is getting too big too fast!

She has started baby food but I will do a separate post about that with video. So far she has had sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash. She is doing a great job eating baby food!

You've Asked, We're Answering:

How is she eating?

Great! She eats 3 ounces of 27 calorie formula (normal formula is 20 calories per ounce) every 2 hours during the day. She is waking up once sometimes twice a night for another bottle.

What is she eating?

I had to stop nursing at around 6 weeks old. She has been on Nutramigen since that time. Over Labor Day she tried baby food for the first time! I will do a separate post about that.

How is she sleeping?

Some nights she is up every 3 hours. Other nights she sleeps through the night. She sleeps best in her Rock and Play (best piece of baby equipment ever!)

How is she napping?

Since coming home from the hospital she has started taking a morning nap and an afternoon nap. Usually these are about an hour but every once in a while she take a 2-3 hour nap!

Is she okay?

YES! You would have no idea there was every anything wrong with her unless you knew. Okay yes she is small for a 5 month old and she has a scar but other than that just a normal baby!

Will she have to have another surgery?

Maybe. Time will tell. Hopefully she won't ever have to have one and if she does hopefully she will be in her 40's or something.

How often is she seeing her doctors?

She is seeing her cardiologist every month or as needed. She is seeing her pediatrician every month or as needed. Luckily we haven't needed either of them other than our monthly appointments! She does NOT have to go back to UVA.

How are she and Zach getting along?

Great! He isn't as infatuated as he was originally but he does still like to check on her from time to time and give her kisses. She loves him! before her surgery she hadn't noticed him. When she came home she started wanting to pet him. This means she rolls toward him and smacks him in the face. He looks at her annoyed and walks away.