Michaela Jean

One year ago today no one believed you were on your way.  We were at the hospital a mere hour before you made your appearance.  You didn't give me much grief in labor or delivery or in the ensuing days, weeks, and months that have made up this first year of your life.  You have such a calm temperament and give such sweet hugs and kisses.  Here you are hugging the dolly Teresa gave you for your birthday.  You love to open and close her eyes.

Everyone says you look like Stephen or that you're a cross between Stephen and Teresa.  Developmentally, you remind me of Catherine in so many ways.  You've been making the same impish grin that she did lately and you like to sit in the plastic bins with the toys.

 

Your sweet little mouth reminds me of Teresa's and you have been nodding your head the way she did with a "da" at the end. 

You cross your fingers and your toes, which reminds me of the way Anthony used to cross his ankles and you have a "stinky face" that makes me laugh like his did.

 

Your dark, expressive eyes, long lashes, and contagious laugh remind me of Stephen. 

Yes - I see a little of everyone in you, but at the same time have a distinct awareness of your unique personality.  I have enjoyed so much this year of watching you grow - you didn't crawl much, but you walk beautifully and you are mastering your climbing ability since you've discovered the art of getting back down in the last few weeks.  You love to knock down towers and tear up train tracks.  I'm so excited to get to know you in the coming year as you learn to talk.  Happy Birthday, Michaela!

Posted late due to internet difficulties.  For anyone who's interested, She is now 29" (45%); 17lb 13.5oz (5%) and has eight teeth!

Michaela milestones

No - she's not up and running, yet.  Really, we haven't progressed much beyond those first steps.  She's my most interested eater and will sample anything anyone gives her - or that she can find on the floor.  She has her central incisors, top and bottom, and her upper left and bottom right laterals have poked through to help her with that.

She loves throwing herself backwards when I'm holding her so that she can see the world upside-down.  I tried to get some pictures. They're all blurry but you can see how she's laughing - and you can see those top teeth!

She has officially spoken her first words.  Not random noises.  I promise.  They have been repeated.  The circumstances are always the same, too.  Stephen comes along and helps her stand up and walk and it's so much fun until she falls and he starts dragging her along and/or stops and tries to pick her back up (usually with one hand on her face).  Then she starts yelling:  MAAAA-MA.  MAAAA-MA.  MAAAA-MA.  (Three times is pretty typical). 

I'm proud that she said "mama" first, even though she is yelling for help and not cooing my name in mutual loving admiration.  She probably learned it from her brothers and sisters - Moooooo-om - there they go again!

these feet were made for walking...

Michaela took her first few unassisted steps today.  Earlier this morning she was standing.  I saw her moving out of the corner of my eye and realized she was walking just as she fell.  Then, she did it again just a few minutes ago.  one-two-three-boom.  She is, by far, my earliest walker.  I remember because I wrote it down. I hope to get a little video (for "official documentation" soon).  This is such an exciting milestone!

two front teeth

I've had a cold and was feeling miserable so when Michaela started acting fussy, got a runny nose, a fever, I thought she was sick, too. Then I noticed her two front teeth poking through on top. Poor baby!

She's been keeping her mouth closed more, drawing her top lip down over her tender gums. That, and the fact that the hair around her ears is beginning to curl as it grows, gives her a different look.

I removed two names from my list of mothers with babies on the sidebar. Judy and Jennie's babies turned 1-year old this month. Before I know it, it will be down to me...she's growing up way too fast!

I will miss little unique things about her like her growl and the way she crosses her fingers.  I've been trying to get a picture of this for months! 

I'm so glad I started keeping this blog - to remember all this stuff.  I was reading back through the last few years, tagging the 'funny' things that the kids have said that I recorded and realized how much I'd forgotten already...like Teresa on the night we were going to have Indian for dinner.  :)

grizzly bear

I thought it was hilarious when I saw a video of my niece, Eliza, growling a few weeks ago. I don't remember any of my babies doing that! In spite of the fact that we haven't seen Eliza do this in person (when are you coming up?), Michaela has started doing it, too!

She has not only been growling like a grizzly bear lately, she looks like one reared up and ready to attack! This new trick she learned recently is to stand up and balance on her own. She's 9 months today, and has been practicing this for about a week. Seems like she's getting ready to be my earliest walker!

guess who learned to...

...crawl?!

She's been so close for so long. Today at the pool the rough concrete forced her to pick up her knees and move them and now she can crawl everywhere. She'll be 8 months old tomorrow...so I can say she learned to crawl when she was 7 months old. (Just kidding). Mama's so proud!

what color?

We went to the optometrist today because I never had Teresa's eyes checked when we started Kindergarten. She had 'perfect' eyes when we went in for her free check-up just before she turned 4 (See To Learn) and was not having any trouble in school so it wasn't on my radar. Now that she's going back - legal requirements being what they are - I took her in (they're still practically perfect, though there's a slight astigmatism that we need to keep an eye on - no pun intended.) We went ahead with the other free program, InfantSee, and had Michaela's eyes checked out. They're perfect, too...but with all the eyes those people see, the consensus in the office was that they're "dark".

They are not quite brown...there is some green in there, right? MY eyes are definitely brown:

The doctor sugested "dark hazel". I asked if they'd continue to darken or lighten but he said that the pigment is pretty much set by 7 months...other sources on-line say 6-9 months and that the color can continue to subtly change until they're 3 and some people's eye color changes even into adulthood.

I knew that she would have dark eyes. They were never baby blue. They started out slate (that sounds prettier than gray) as pictured, above. But, I really don't think they're brown like mine (and Stephen's). Do you? It's ok if you do. I can take it.

first tooth and first food

Michaela cut her first tooth (lower left central incisor) while grandma and grandpa were visiting. She's been enjoying some very ripe banana. These aren't the clearest pics, but are FUN!

married

Well - there goes that auto-rotate thing again. grrr.
All I wanted to do was upload ONE cute wedding picture that Teresa drew for our anniversary. (It's been 9 years - thanks.)
Well, try to enjoy it and I'll fix it when Blogger / Picasa decides to work.

6 months old!

It really goes fast, doesn't it? Michaela is about 15 lbs, now. She can do all sorts of amazing things like bring things to her mouth and roll from her tummy to her back. I think she may be teething because she's been more fussy than normal lately. I'm working on getting a better picture of her 6-month tummy pose (without the Dyson in the background).

I got a great shot of Catherine when she was 6-months on film - don't have it scanned in, but here's a picture of the picture:

Tried to get one of Teresa, who wasn't quite as strong:

Had fun using photo effects on this one of Anthony:

and took this one of Stephen (also featured here.)

They are definitely related - but I think you'll agree that they don't look the same.

guess who

learned to



swing!?!

Michaela smiles!

Ash Wednesday, of all days, was the first morning that Michaela woke up and smiled at me! It has gotten easier to coax smiles out of her as the days have progressed. Here's a quick video - not terribly impressive, but something quick that I was able to capture this afternoon. I'll have to ask Adam to record her response to my attempt at Grandma Jean's "deedle-de-dee" song.

8 weeks

Well, tomorrow Michaela will be 8 weeks old, though she won't be two months until next week. We had an appointment today. After recording her measurements and looking her over, our doctor lifted her up in the air with a big smile and brought her back down, giving her a little kiss on the forehead saying, "She's perfect." I love our doctor...and he's right. She is perfect. Here's the stats:

Weight: 11.0 lbs (55%)
Length: 24" (90%)

She has grown out of her newborn stuff and some of her 0-3 month clothes are getting too short, so I'm glad we have a cousin who we can pass them down to...for now. It's not typical that my babies wear 3-6 month outfits before 3 months, but Michaela is!

Michaela is starting to look like she's going to smile...and occasionally makes a few noises like she is going to babble, but they don't quite get out. Also, if you haven't noticed from the pictures, she takes a pacifier (and I love the handy Munchkin clip so she doesn't lose it and find her thumb instead.) My friend, Lisa K., touting the benefits of pacifiers over thumb-sucking once said something to the effect of, "When she gets older you can take away her pacifier, you can't cut off her thumb." Amen.

one month

The only "official" measurements I have are 8lbs 4oz and 22 inches long from her 2-week check up (that we did at 2.5 weeks). She's at least 9.5 lbs on her way to 10 and she's outgrown all her NB clothes - so they've been passed down to her cousin Eliza (who is going home today!) I decided to stop being lazy and start using cloth diapers. She's not going to fit in the newborn Monkeybuns fitted diapers for too much longer, so I'm glad I bought some more pre-folds and small Bummis wraps for her.


Stephen is still in love with his baby sister.


She still sleeps a lot (including through most of the night - she wakes up about 3 times between 7PM and 7AM.)


Anthony took this picture - I thought it was neat. He still wants to trade her in for a boy, but when he holds her, and she looks up at him, he smiles and says, "She likes me!"


This funny face is for you, dad.


This is what she usually looks like when she's awake.

How much has she changed since YOU saw her last?

Teresa (and Catherine's) tooth

Yesterday, Teresa lost her first tooth! As when Catherine lost her first tooth, Teresa was sick. She didn't have the flu, though. She swallowed some lake water on Sunday along with a nasty bug that resulted in over 24 hours of (lovely) vomiting...in the van...in her bed...and all over the bathroom. Her tooth fell out on the road to recovery, though, so we got a smile.



Her second bottom tooth is loose, too. Catherine is working on her 7th loose tooth. You may have noticed, last year, that when Catherine was sick and lost her first tooth, Teresa was also sick with a bladder infection. Similarly, Catherine has an infection in her mouth (complete with swollen glands and fever) that warranted a Memorial Day visit to our dentist, who is, thankfully, a friend. He gave us a medicated oral rinse, deferring the use of antibiotics unless it doesn't clear up in a week. This year, however, I am not whining as much as I did last year. I have been reading "Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence" by Fr. Saint-Jure & St. Claude de la Colombiere and it is making a big difference in my outlook.

cuteness - for the record

Stephen is becoming more and more talkative, although I don't always understand him. This morning at Mass he started saying "puh-puh" and I thought he might have to go to the bathroom; but, no, he was saying 'purple', pointing out the color of Father's vestments. He has been quick to join in on our "AH-MEN", folding his hands at the end of every prayer, but last night at bedtime he pointed up at the kids Night Prayer that we have taped on the wall in the hallway and started babbling the first line and this morning he joined in on some of the key words in the Our Father. I love how he says Heaven: "hea-VEEN"!

Just about every animal is a "mon-kee" right now, except for the "kick-EE-ns" (the ten chicks we have in our basement).

Although "ma-mee" and "da-dee" are pretty typical renderings, It is fun to see how each kid pronounces their siblings names...and their own. I will never forget how Teresa used to call her sister "Cracken" and how Catherine called herself "Cackren". Stephen's current versions are "Ca-feen", "Tash-ee", "Ant-nee" and he is "Tee-veen" He really likes those ee's!

all I want for Christmas...

...is my two front teeth!



*you may notice in the background, the word MASS in extra-large letters across the chalkboard. Teresa is so proud of all the words she is learning and the stories she can read. We're working through Level 1 of Little Stories for Little Folks: Catholic Phonics Readers from Catholic Heritage Curricula. They are wonderful!

firsts

As promised, here is Catherine less one tooth. The excitement of this milestone was tempered by the fact that we all had the flu on Tuesday. Every. Single. One of us. As you can see, Catherine was not terribly excited about the fact that she lost her first tooth (Wednesday morning). I went to get a thermometer and the medicine bucket and when I came back Catherine was holding her tooth and told me, "Mom, I pulled my tooth out." Well, ok. Can I take a picture? Can you try to smile? Ok, close enough.



We are all nearly recovered with the exception of a lingering cough that is characteristic of this flu that has been going around. Teresa is the only one who is still sick, poor kid. We thought she just had the flu worse than all of us but yesterday it seemed like she was getting worse...and so we ended up with another first: a visit to the emergency room. She has a bladder infection and we didn't want to wait to Monday to get her started on antibiotics.

Needless to say, our house has been full of whining - and I have probably been the loudest. I'm glad that we are only halfway through Lent and that there is still time to "...return to the Lord." Hosea 6:1 before Easter.

bittersweet

OK - so this is three posts in one day. Sorry if I've overwhelmed you, but I'm a bit overwhelmed myself. I think that these "growing up" milestones are always the hardest on the mom.

Say goodbye to sweet baby Stephen.

He got his first haircut tonight.

finally!

Lots of changes and new things happening around the house these days, but the most exciting is that Stephen has finally taken his first steps! Catherine took her first steps at ten and a half months, both Teresa and Anthony learned at eleven and a half months. Stephen did it just two days shy of turning one year old!