Five Months Big!!!

AHHH!! My baby girl is already 5 months old!! If I thought time with McKenley went fast, I swear if I even blink, I miss something with Parker!! She is hitting milestones left and right and amazing us every day with all that she is accomplishing.

This month Parker has gone swimming for the first time, attended her first Farmers Market and community festival, and attended lots of playdates with her new friends. We have switched Parker to all formula and she is not shy about asking for more! haha. We are quickly learning that anything and everything that was true with McKenley, Parker is going to do JUST the opposite!! We counted every ounce of formula that McKenley would drink and we never felt like she was taking enough, Parker on the other hand gulps it down so fast and is soooooooo angry when the bottle is gone!! McKenley loved the swing and the car... needless to say, Parker does not! The list goes on and on, we have to remind ourselves daily that our babies are completely different little ladies and instead of constantly comparing the two, being excited for what is to come with their fun little personalities!! I can already tell Parker is going to be our outgoing, little spitfire though!! She is already DYING to go chasing after her big sister! The bond those two already have is probably the best thing about having 2 babies so close in age, they are PRECIOUS together!! The giggles that are exchanged between them will NEVER get old!!

Ok, now on to what Parker has accomplished this month...
~ On the 27th we OFFICIALLY ditched the swaddle completely!! This is definitely an accomplishment because I am sooooo tired of fighting the battle of swaddle vs Parker's arms!! Her arms are winning every time and therefore no one has been sleeping!!
~ Parker has continued on with her amazing sleeping at night!! We are up to 11-12 hours consistently!! This is making a world of difference with my energy levels :)
~ On June 1st, Parker showed us that she can roll tummy to back and then back to her tummy all the way across the carpet. It is a bit alarming the first time you walk back over to the carpet where you laid her and she is no where near where she started!! haha
~ On June 17th, I started working with Parker on sitting up, needless to say, my little "go-getter" loved the new perspective!! She sat with the Boppy behind her for quite a long time! After just a couple of days she is already able to sit with no support for about 10 seconds!! And she is already reaching for toys while she's sitting up!
~ Her level of tolerance for the car has drastically improved! I moved her to the middle of the seat, instead of by the window, so that she can see her big sister as we go. I don't know if its that or just her getting older and growing out of the stage, but whatever the reason, only a small portion of our car rides are filled with a screaming baby!!! YAY!!!
~ I figured since she has had such amazing head control since day 1, it was time to bust out the trusty Exersaucer!! She LOVES it!! It has been nice to be able to sit her in it while I cook or attempt to eat to keep her entertained for 20 minutes or so :)
~ Her first dip in the pool happened this month and she LOVED IT!! She has already started splashing her hands and thinks its soo funny. I love that I have 2 little water babies <3

Speedbumps:
~ The naps, oooohhh the battle with naps! We are still only getting about 30-45 minute naps at a time (45 minutes is considered an amazing nap in her case). It has been really difficult to get her on a good schedule like McKenley was on, because we are always out and about keeping McKenley occupied. I've just been choosing the lesser of 2 evils, stay at home where McKenley goes stir crazy, or go out and Parker's nap schedule is all thrown off. *sigh* I just don't know which is the best to choose, I guess Parker is just going to be a very flexible, go with the flow type! It's been forced upon her! haha. At this point I would kill for an hour of just quiet during our crazy days!
~ Teething!! I feel like its too early for this problem!!!! But nonetheless, here we are! Poor baby's bottom gums are sooo swollen, I expect those teeth to pop through at any moment. This problem has led to our next struggle...
~ Baby girl had her first sick visit to the doctors this month :( All the teething, coupled with allergies, has caused her to have severe runny nose and congestion in her chest. Luckily, nothing drained into her ears, and with saline spray, plus the blue bulb (every baby's favorite thing!!), plus lots of Vicks... hopefully we can knock the drainage out ASAP!!!
~ Don't know whether to put this as a speedbump or an accomplishment... Parker has started to roll onto her tummy at night to sleep, this caused some problems in the beginning I think it was startling her, but now that she realizes its okay to sleep on her belly she is settling right in :) This does NOT eliminate my mommy-worry that she is somehow going to get facedown and not be able to push herself up, but hopefully I'll get over my issues! haha

Stats:
Diapers: We are now in size 2 diapers!!

Clothes: Mostly 3-6mo, but I have gone ahead and even put a few 9mo outfits on her!! WOW!!

Food: We officially switched to completely formula this month. I am so excited we were able to make it 4months breastfeeding. It was such a struggle with McKenley and although it still wasn't completely my cup-of-tea, I am so happy I was able to give my baby the most important nutrients she needed for those 4 months :) She is sucking down five 6-8oz bottles of formula a day!

Sleep: 12 hours at night -- YAY!! .... Four mini catnaps during the day -- BOO! haha

Weight: 15 lbs 10oz -- yes, our little chunker put on on a pound and a half in a month!!

I WILL have her 5 month pics up by the end of the weekend!!! Also on the horizon... solid foods, army crawling, and more adventures with her sissy!!!

Parker Pearl ~ One month BIG!!

Can you believe it! It has already been a MONTH!! I am blown away by how fast time has gone by with our littlest lady. Things have been a little crazy around here to say the least, juggling two under the age of 2 can take it out of ya!! But I wouldn't trade the exhaustion for the world!!

First official sticker pics!!!

Here's a little bit about how things are going so far with our Parker (PS...it took me three tries of sitting down and typing this to actually finish this post!! haha)

Now that we are home and have successfully made it through our first weight check and her jaundice is completely gone, we've moved on to more pressing matters... like SLEEP!! :) Our days pretty much center around keeping McKenley entertained and getting Parker to take naps, oh the life of a stay at home mommy.

Accomplishments:
~ She has made it a few times at night about 5 or 6 hours which is AWESOME, its just not completely consistent, but I feel so lucky to even have gotten those few nights of more sleep!!

~ We have had 5 consecutive days of Parker sleeping in her big girl crib for one of her naps!! She takes most of her naps in her swing and sleeps at night in her bassinet, so I wanted to introduce her to her bed for nap time so that when we move her in there at night, its not a super traumatizing experience. So far, she has taken GREAT naps in her room & I'm praying the trend continues!! (fingers crossed)

~ The little lady is SOO strong!! She is already lifting her head and showing lots of neck strength

~ We've gotten lots of smiles and even some little baby coos!! I love that she is already talking to us & McKenley thinks its the funniest thing ever!!

~ Parker attended her first holiday party this month! She was so excited to attend our mommy group's Valentines Party. We had to have a photo shoot before we went...

Look how high she is holding her head up!!!

 ~ It is DEFINITELY an accomplishment/success in my eyes the relationship these two already have!! McKenley is completely obsessed with Parker. She is always so concerned with what Parker is doing, making sure Parker has everything she needs, and talking and singing and looking after her every movement. Aren't they just precious together!!!

Speedbumps:
~ So sad, the little lady has a clogged tear duct! :( Her right eye is constantly goopy and sometimes gets so bad that she can't open her eye after sleeping! It's supposed to clear up over time and I sure hope it does, because it looks so uncomfortable!!

~ Everything else that could be considered a "speedbump" is really just her being a newborn. She LOVES sleeping on mom or dad, and while we love the snuggle time, it is rather hard when you have a 2-year old ransacking your house!! haha

Stats:
Length -  22 inches

Weight - 9 1/2 lbs

Head -

Food -  She has been GREAT at nursing!! It's been such a more positive experience this time around and I am soooo thankful. She is eating every 3-4 hours and is definitely a growing girl!

Diapers - We blew through the Newborn diapers within a couple of weeks and have been in Size 1 ever since!! In comparison, McKenley was in Newborn diapers for almost 2 months!!

Clothes - Parker is still wearing Newborn sized clothing, but this won't last long, she is growing fast!!

Sleep - Making some great progress with sleep! As long as we stick to her routine of eat, "play", sleep, she seems to be pretty content! She's taking five naps a day, that are about 1 1/2 or 2 hours, and then goes to sleep for about 5 hours... yes, LOTS of sleeping!! We're really hoping she falls in line with the Boyd way of life... we LOVE our sleep around here!!

All in all, things are going a better than I ever thought they would, things just seem to be working themselves out. It get a little hectic around meal time for McKenley, because she likes ALL of moms attention, but overall, we are rockin and rollin with our two little princesses!! Now on to celebrating McKenley's 2nd birthday this weekend!!!