Zoe's on the Move and Talking at 9 Months

Nine months is such a fun age. Zoe is talking and moving, her schedule is fairly predictable, she's eating more solid foods, and definitely knows her family.  Being more aware of her surroundings means she's got a little separation anxiety, but she loves her teachers at school, so the fussing is very short. We are finally getting more laughs and smiles on camera and while Skyping with family.

Smiley Zoe

So much hair on this blue-eyed, fair-skinned beauty

The major development this month relates to movement. Last month she would move from place to place on the floor, but it was not coordinated or directed in any way. Now she can get anywhere she wants to go very quickly. She uses one knee and one foot to "crawl," even after we've tried helping her use both knees. Sometimes, like on the concrete at the pool, she tries crawl-walking.

Zoe Walk-Crawling:

Zoe can pull herself up on anything, and she does often. She's not really cruising yet, just going from sitting to standing and back to sitting. I caught her debating the stairs one morning.

Thinking about Climbing Stairs:

The other big milestone is that she is starting to "talk" to us. So far, she seems to like to say "ah-da" to everything. We aren't sure what she's referring to - daddy, all done, etc, but it is so cute. She also loves making raspberries.

Crawling and Talking:

Zoe blowing raspberries:

As you can see in the first video, she can drink water from a straw. She's also fairly successful using a sippy or regular cup. We've started offering her more of the foods that we eat, though the girl still does not have any teeth! I'm starting to get a little worried because I don't see any emerging. It seems like she has experienced teething on and off for months, but it has not resulted in any teeth coming out. Because she doesn't have teeth (and our slight fear of food allergies) we've been slow to try lots of different foods and textures. She loves bananas, beef, chicken, oatmeal, and drinking water. Every now and then she will surprise us by eating something that we enjoy (like quinoa with sausage). We tried giving her some kefir milk as her first introduction to dairy and she was not a fan of the taste. Thankfully, she did not appear to have any reaction to the milk. There have been a few instances where her face has broken out in hives when she has eaten food, but it has been difficult to pinpoint the cause. One time, it happened at school when she ate hummus, but she had eaten hummus before that time and since that time without problems. Another time it happened with meatballs, which she has also eaten without problems. A third time was when we ate lunch out at the museum. That is more understandable since I don't know what might have been added to the food (oatmeal). My best guess is that she was reacting to something that may have contaminated her food, or utensil. Dairy seems okay, we still have to test eggs, nuts, and seafood. I'm not sure the best day to introduce these foods because I want to be able to call on a doctor if she does react.

On the topic of allergies, Zoe's skin has cleared up significantly. I'm so glad that stress is behind us and that we do not need to continue any topical medications! While she may break out in a small rash on her chin or cheek here and there (mainly when eating and touching her face with slobbery fingers), it occurs rarely now. Her skin loves the hot and humid weather, and even the chlorine in the pool does not bother her.

Sporting some slightly pink cheeks after eating at the museum

Pink chin and cheeks after eating at the park

If you didn't notice before now, we also got Zoe's ears pierced this month. The dermatologist we used for Rose will only pierce ears until a child reaches a year and then won't do it until they are 6. In our experience with Rose, we knew it was best to do it young, when I could nurse after getting it done and when it still just feels like a shot. Similar to our previous experience, Zoe gave an initial cry when the gun pierced the ear, but she was fine within a minute or two of completing both ears (even before I nursed her). Her ears continue to heal up nicely and all the teachers complement her on her new bling.

Zoe's eyes remain blue and unlike her sister, I do not see any hints of other colors. My expectation is that she will be our blue-eyed girl. As you can see in the pictures and videos, her hair is really coming in and is a light brown or even dirty blonde color. She's starting to outgrow a lot of her 9 month clothing. At her 9 month doctors appointment, she was a little over 18lbs and just shy of 27". She's at the 18th percentile for height and 32nd percentile for weight, which is starting to follow a pattern similar to Rose. Her noggin remains large at the 84th percentile.

My beautiful blue-eyed, dirty blonde girl

Over the past couple of months, we've also started seeing more of Zoe's personality. She is generally content, unless she's tired, hungry, or soiled with poop. Over the past month we've started seeing so many more smiles from our little girl. She loves watching Rose, singing songs, being tickled, standing up, and walking. She still doesn't completely trust Rose, with good reason since her sister loves squeezing her to death. At times their laughs echo, but more often Zoe is crying to be freed from Rose's arms. 

I'm so grateful that Zoe is such a good sleeper. She sleeps all night (8:30-6:30 or so), and prefers 3 naps per day (a short 1 hour or less morning nap, a longer 2 hour nap mid-day, and a short 1 hour or less pre-dinner nap). It has been so helpful to have both girls sleep on the same schedule at night. Sometimes we are fortunate to have both girls take their mid-day nap at the same time, but often Rose delays her nap at home so Zoe gets up when Rose finally goes down for her nap. It works out okay so we can spend some one-on-one time with Zoe. In addition to sleeping good stretches, she can also sleep anywhere. Within minutes of driving in the car, she is often asleep, and she has proven herself capable of sleeping in hotel rooms in the midst of noise and lights.

Our smiley girl on daddy's shoulders

We continue to cloth diaper another month, only using 1 disposable each night. And, I am so glad I can report another month where Zoe has received only breast milk. I stressed about having to travel to DC for a work conference, leaving the girls behind with daddy. Thankfully, I was able to pump at the conference, and transport breast milk back on the plane. Zoe continues to take about 1-2 extra bottles of milk than I pump, so I'm down to about 2-3 weeks of stored milk for her. I've started on fenugreek supplements, mother's milk tea, and power pumping to see if I can at least match her intake through the summer. Hopefully something works!

Zoe's Personality Shines at 8 Months

Zoe Lucia at eight months

April was a busy month in the Miller house. Zoe's seventh month started with a trip to Boone, NC to join mommy (and daddy, Rose and Darwin) for work. We extended the trip an extra day to see the mountains and check out things to do and places to eat in/around the NC mountains. Unfortunately, the trip corresponded with a cold spell, and record low overnight temperatures, so we took our time getting out there and limited the activities we had planned outdoors. Both girls did great (better than Darwin), though they had a very late bedtime the first night. Thankfully, they proved themselves capable of sleeping through the night with lights on and through each other's sleep noises. They did most of their napping in the car, but that was to be expected. Since I had to work one day, Colin was able to manage both girls and Darwin while I was busy.

Except for that one cold weekend in April, most of the month has been very comfortable temperature-wise. There have been several weekends that have called for high chances of rain, but few have been wash outs. We mostly stayed in and around the Triangle, getting to: check out some local farms one weekend with the Piedmont Farm Tour; going strawberry picking another weekend at a Cary, NC farm that also had some kid-friendly activities; visiting the Durham Museum of Life and Sciences (where we have an annual pass); going on train and carousel rides at Pullen Park in Raleigh; listening to music and bouncing in the bounce house at Park West Village in Morrisville; and having picnic dinners with some events at Waverly Place in Cary.

The Miller ladies on the train at the Durham Museum of Life and Sciences

I have lots of pictures to share from many of our adventures and will try to post some over the coming days and weeks. Most of the pictures and videos are of Rose because Zoe often falls asleep while being worn in the baby carrier. She's on a schedule of napping about 3 times a day and could take or leave a pacifier. Sometimes it is used to calm her, but she has no problems falling asleep without it. Her first nap is usually 9 or 10am for an hour or so. The second one is mid-day (1ish) for about 2 hours, and the third is usually around 4 or 5pm. This final one is difficult on school days because I am often picking her up just after she has fallen asleep, or she falls asleep on the 5 minute ride home. Thankfully, she continues to sleep through the night, from about 8pm to 6am (give or take 30 minutes). She wants to eat at 6am, and sometimes goes back to sleep with me (if I nurse her in the bed), or gets up and hangs out with daddy. They sometimes take Darwin for a walk together, and Zoe usually watches daddy make breakfast in the kitchen while I get Rose ready for school. At night, Zoe sleeps all night on her back, but it seems she sleeps on her belly at school and at home during naps. As she becomes more mobile, she has started pulling herself up in her crib. It's almost time to drop the mattress a little farther down.

Getting ready to have breakfast

On the topic of being mobile, Zoe is getting very close to crawling, and is fairly sturdy at pulling herself up to standing. Sometimes she forgets that she can't stand on her own and she'll grab a ball or toy with both hands while standing (and let go of whatever is holding her up). Sometimes she cries at the fall and other times it doesn't bother her. She is able to crawl "backwards" where she gets on all fours and can go in reverse, but hasn't figured out how to coordinate hands and knees to move forward. A few times she has tried crawling forwards with one knee down and pushing herself with her other foot. She often gets from point A to point B through a series of maneuvers, but it is not yet efficient.

A few days after our trip to Boone, Zoe developed a spotty rash all over her belly that did not look like her typical ezcema. When it didn't go away after 3 days, we took her to the doctor, who was baffled by her lack of itching. Since the rash did not spread beyond her belly, she didn't have a fever, and she didn't scratch at it, the doctor assumed it was viral. But, there was a possibility of it being chicken pox, and all we could do was watch it to see what it did at day 5 (when it was suppose to blister, or "pox"). On day 5 Zoe did develop a fever and her appetite was pitiful, but the spots never changed or spread. When they didn't go away after 10 days, we were back at the doctor. He had to bring in a colleague for a second opinion and both doctors thought an antibiotic cream was the best course of action. They believed it still was viral, but it is uncommon for a viral rash to last more than a week. Thankfully, after just a day or two of the antibiotic cream, Zoe's skin cleared up. At the same time Zoe had the rash, Rose was also battling a rash on her bottom. My suspicion is that one of them picked up something on our trip and passed it to the other. We had to keep Zoe out of school for a week (on what would have been her second week of school) but thankfully she has been back since it cleared and hasn't had further problems.

Once we got her past the belly rash, her entire skin has looked much better. It seems the weather is the #1 factor. When the weather turned warmer and more humid (which it has been for most of the second half of April and early May), we noticed the eczema improved. I've even brought dairy and food baked with eggs back into my diet (yay for cheese!!), and she has remained mostly clear. She's even been more smiley (even for the camera).

She's so happy her skin is less dry

For most of her seventh month, Zoe was pooping once a day, except for the week she had her rash. During that week, we went 5 days without a poop, which has been the longest she's ever gone. With her eating a combination of solid foods and breast milk, her poops are smelly, soft and sticky (sorry for the description for those who'd rather not know). We continue to cloth diaper, and this is the phase when a diaper liner works well to provide a barrier between the diaper and the poop. Some people like the diaper sprayer, but we've pretty much given up on that. Zoe wears a disposable diaper at night, and cloth diapers the rest of the time.

The solid foods Zoe now consumes include soups (with onions, carrots, celery, beans and a meat like chicken or sausage), chicken, beef, hummus, carrots, cauliflower, lentils, oatmeal (plain or with fruit like bananas, raisins, or strawberries), sweet potatoes, and avocado. She loves bananas, and does pretty good on her oatmeal, carrots, cauliflower, and beef.  We basically blend what we are eating and try to introduce a new food item every few days. At school she broke out in a rash after eating hummus on two separate occasions, but we did not notice it happen at home. Both times, the rash cleared as quickly as it came. In addition to foods, Zoe can also drink from the straw on our camelbak water bottles, drink from a sippy cup, and she can drink from a regular cup (with one of us holding it). A lot of the water lands on her shirt, but it's good for her to learn.

During my work days, Zoe continues to drink more milk than I pump, so I am going through my freezer stash of pumped milk, but not yet stressing on it getting too low. She takes about 3 bottles of 5-7oz each, and sometimes a 4th bottle with 3-4 ounces. I'm hoping we can introduce more solid foods this month and get her to eating fairly well by 10 months so I won't stress when I get close to the end of the frozen milk. Occasionally, I will have an opportunity to pump an extra bottle of milk on the weekends to store for future use, but it isn't enough to make up for the extra bottles she takes during the week. In addition, she still has not cut her first tooth. She rubs her gums all the time, salivates often, and acts like she is teething, but I don't feel any teeth coming through her gums, nor do I see any starting to show.

As Zoe grows and phases out of a the infant stage, her personality continues to present itself. She is a very shy girl and often hides her face in my shoulder when new people greet her. I've started seeing a few glimpses of separation anxiety at school, especially at the start of a new week. She is startled by loud noises and I can tell when she's unsure/afraid of something because she will cling to me. She is extremely tolerant to her sister's roughness, and will protest when someone tries taking away something she wants. Just about every evening at dinner, she tells us she is ready to be done and to get in her pajamas. Once she is changed and ready for bed, she's a happy girl again.

I love this age. Zoe is the chubby baby that can sit up and stand holding on to things. When I nurse her, she fits so perfectly in my arms and feels solid, but squishy. She reacts to us, and knows who we are. She loves laughing with her sister and giving mommy and daddy big smiles. One of her latest favorite things to do is to make bubbles and lip-flapping noises with her mouth. She gets very excited and squeals with delight when she is successful. She likes flipping through books, figuring out how to make noises come from the various toys in the house, banging utensils on the table, and putting everything in her mouth (including sticks and sand). The silicone water bottle mouthpiece is one of her favorite things to chew on. She also loves petting Darwin and grabbing at his paws.

Rose pushing Zoe in a cardboard box

Rose loves taking her picture with Zoe

Rose and Zoe seem to love each other, though I often have to teach Rose to be more gentle. Rose also likes to be the mommy and be the teacher. Sometimes it is helpful, like when she comforts Zoe and plays with her. Many other times, however, she tries to discipline Zoe or take toys away. We try to encourage and praise the positive behaviors. It is really hard to discipline and/or correct the negative behaviors. Rose sometimes gets very jealous of Zoe, especially when I need to care for/nurse for Zoe (which happens often in the evening). We strive to model good behaviors and actions, hoping they are picked up by the girls.

We don't have any new stats for Zoe's growth from the doctor. They didn't do height and weight measurements for her visits this month. Her next checkup will be in June.

Stay tuned for pictures and short recaps of our spring fun adventures and an update on Miss Rose!

Zoe is an Active 7 Month Old

At Rose's 6 Month doctor's appointment, the pediatrician told us that the next three months would be all about moving and it could not be more correct. During the month of March we noticed Zoe become more mobile as she began turning from her belly to her back and on to her belly again. By the time she turned seven months on April 7th, she would get from point A to point B on her own if you left her long enough. Not by crawling, or butt-scootching, but just by squirming and stretching. It's slow and steady, but she gets there.

Colin calls this age the "sticky finger" phase. You cannot keep anything within Zoe's reach without her grabbing it. It often goes into her mouth or on the floor.

Playing at the Durham Museum of Life and Sciences at 6 months

She's been acting like she's teething on-and-off for a long while now, but we don't see or feel any teeth coming. I thought she was going to have teeth early based on her desire to gum everything at a young age, but that has not been the case.

Besides huge developments in movement and coordination, Zoe's big news this month is that she started school on March 30, just shy of 7 months. There is a new(ish) school in the area that follows a Reggio-Emilia approach, which we feel is right for our girls. They are a Spanish-language immersion program, which I don't necessarily really care about, and all the teachers are native Latinas. My half Colombian friend hit the nail on the head when I was trying to describe how different it felt to have Latina women caring for Zoe. She said that Latina women are more "cariñosos" (affectionate), and I would definitely agree. It has felt like a good fit for us, and I feel it is right for an infant who really needs love and affection. In the first two weeks, both drop off and pick up were fairly calm. I'm used to putting everything away at Rose's school (diapers and wipes, food, extra clothes, etc). With Zoe, the head teacher just tells me to leave the bag and she'll put things away. Several times I stayed a little longer in the mornings, nursing Zoe before I left, and it was nice to chat with the teachers in Spanish and see their interaction with the children. I rarely speak Spanish these days, so it's very rusty, but still good enough to have a conversation. Both of Zoe's teachers are Peruvian. We will likely switch Rose over to Zoe's school to make it easier and less expensive, but we want to be sure it is a good fit for her before we do.

Heading to her first day of school on March 30

Zoe's first day of school

One characteristic of Miss Zoe is that she loves standing. She's still not quite sturdy enough to hold herself up long, or to cruise along things, but she'll get there soon. Once she started school, she became much more mobile. There are quite a few infants a little bit older than she is, so there are kids to model the milestones she will soon achieve. If she could skip crawling and go straight to walking, I think she would, though she doesn't mind holding herself up on her arms. She's very strong and is persistent if she wants something. While she is relatively calm, she is showing us that she can be fierce. She'll have to be to keep up with her sister!

Zoe's main teachers and the floater teachers who interact with her all tell me how happy she is to see them. It's still difficult to get her to smile for the camera, but she does love to smile at people. She also loves to talk to other children and to her babies and toys. When picking her up from school, she is often a chatterbox, telling me about her day.

We still continue to battle her skin rash, though I have become more lenient with my diet. I brought some dairy back in and she seemed to do okay, but still haven't started eating eggs. The first week at school, Zoe had more pumped milk from my early pumping days and her skin seemed the normal amount of rashy. Unfortunately, at the end of her second week at school, she developed a bad skin rash on her belly that looked like chicken pox. We went to the doctor, who said it looked like a virus, but that we should monitor it in case it did end up being the chicken pox. Thankfully it didn't appear to be itchy, and it didn't manifest itself as chicken pox. Unfortunately, she's now had it over a week and it still has not gone away. She was out of school all week and did have a fever for a day. We think she might also have had RSV, because she's had a bad cough and someone in her class had a confirmed case. Since a rash is not a symptom of RSV, it seems there are two separate things going on. I initially thought her belly rash was due to having more previously pumped milk (from before I was dairy/egg-free), but since it hasn't gotten better in week of getting fresh-only milk, I don't think that is the cause. If we could just get past the rash, I would feel much less stressed about Zoe's health. I guess there are many parents who would wish that a rash was the worst of their child's health problems, and I should be thankful that eczema is our main concern.

Zoe still loves mommy's milk, either straight from the spiget or from a bottle. At school she drinks 4-5 bottles of milk (3-4oz each), and eats solids fairly well. At home, solid foods are hit or miss. When she's with mommy, she really just wants to nurse. I just started drinking a tea that supposedly increases milk production and taking fenugreek occasionally, mainly on the days I am away from Zoe to try and pump more milk. After a week it seemed to help. I had been getting down to only producing 8-12oz of milk. With Zoe sometimes taking closer to 20oz at school (mostly the second week), I was starting to stress that I would run out. Though the reality is that I still probably have close to 100oz in the freezer. I'm just nervous about giving it to her because of the rash.

We still do cloth diapers and are officially out of the young infant sized diapers. Zoe is growing like a weed and we now just use all in one diapers. It has helped that Rose is now completely potty-trained (yippee!!), so all her cloth diapers are available for Zoe. The introduction of solid foods, and switch to less frequent pooping has brought with it the stinky and very large poops. It always makes me nervous when my girls don't poop every day, but I remember a period when Rose didn't poop for like 20 days and the doctor wasn't concerned. So far, Zoe's max has been 2 or 3 days without a poop. The issue we currently face with diapers is trying to figure out what works for Zoe. Rose did really well with the bum genius, but Zoe pees so much more and leaks through them. Between our old Bum Genius and Charlie Bananas, I'm finding that we might have the most success by using the Charlie Banana inserts in the Bum Genius diapers. In the spirit of Earth Day, I'll just interject here to give a huge shout out to my mom for replacing the elastics on ALL of Rose's diapers so we could use them for Zoe!!  Thanks Mom! 

At 7 Months, I still can't get a big smile for the camera

Nor can I get the girl to sit still

This is a fun age with Zoe. She's getting mobile, but won't get too far too fast and she interacts with us much more than before. Rose is starting to enjoy playing with her sister and helping us care for her. Zoe loves watching her sister and playing with her things ... we see glimpses of fighting over toys in the near future. But as quick as Rose is to lash out at Zoe's sticky fingers, she is equally quick to give her sister big hugs and kisses.

Stay tuned for a recap of a recent trip to the North Carolina mountains during some cold April weather!

Zoe at 4 Months

Beautiful girl Zoe

We have entered into the phase of significant developmental changes with Miss Zoe. During the month of December, she turned into quite the chatterbox. She loves talking to her family and her toys. When Rose is in the room, Zoe's eyes follow her wherever she goes, and she loves watching Darwin. She has become increasingly more attentive and reacts to our animated faces with great joy. I'm grateful that she has proven herself to be very tolerant of her sister's less-than-gentle ways, and that she continues to be very healthy and strong.

During her fourth month, we continued dealing with Zoe's skin rash and sensitivity on and off. We were in the northeast during early December and had to apply lotion and vaseline to her face daily, and sometimes several times per day because the air was so cold and dry. I stopped eating dairy after reading about the various causes of eczema in infants, which can include the mother's diet in breastfed babies. We did notice some improvement, but it was really difficult to maintain that diet while traveling, and especially hard over the holidays. The dairy seemed be be a major trigger, but there also seemed to be something else that caused the rash that I couldn't figure out. In addition to the dairy, I eliminated breads (because of yeast) and eggs. When I was off all three ingredients she did seem to do a lot better, but it is so hard to stay away from all of these when eating out. So many restaurants cook with butter!

We noticed the greatest improvement in Zoe's skin during the few days that we went to Hilton Head over Christmas. I think Zoe is trying to tell us we need to live at the beach! Her daddy is in complete agreement. During those few days at the beach, we cooked most of our meals at home since restaurants were closed. I was able to keep to a strict yeast, dairy, and egg-free diet.  Unfortunately, when we arrived back home, she had a few more flare ups, making me question whether it was diet or environmental. It was so frustrating to not be able to control the rash, and to not be able to completely be in control of my food intake because of eating out on the last day of our trip. I also hated lathering her face with over the counter hydrocortisone cream, which seemed to be the only thing that would help clear her face when it was rashy. The worst though, was seeing her uncomfortable and itchy. We had to cover her hands with mittens because I just couldn't keep her nails trimmed enough or prevent her from scratching her head and face. Leading up to her 4 month doctor's appointment, her face was not only rashy, but raw from her rubbing, scratched up from her nails, and a little dry from the cold weather and forced hot central air.

Zoe at 4 months

At that 4-month doctor's appointment we arrived without treating her face with any hydrocortisone so the doctor could see how bad it was. Thankfully, Zoe was given a clean bill of health otherwise, giving the doctor her full attention and showing off all her skills during the visit. We spent most of the time discussing what to do about the rash. The doctor swabbed the areas that were raw to test for bacteria, and gave us two cream-based prescriptions, a 2% hydrocortisone and an antibiotic, after we voiced our objections to an oral antibiotic. He said the skin was likely infected (needing an antibiotic and confirmed to be a staph, not MRSA, infection), and that we really needed to treat it with the hydrocortisone to keep Zoe from being so uncomfortable. In his opinion, it would be too difficult to figure out the cause of the rash. I had hoped we could identify the cause, but really didn't expect the doctor to have an answer. One of the most helpful suggestions we received at the doctor's office came from the front desk staff who suggested filing nails instead of using the scissors.

Within 24 hours of treating the rash with the antibiotic, it was significantly better. Instead of using the 2% hydrocortisone cream, I found a 0.5% over the counter (marketed "for sensitive skin") that seemed to work really well in combination with the antibiotic cream. I decided not to use the 2% after reading the medication information inside of the package that said no research had been done on children under 2. While I don't like that the 0.5% hydrocortisone also says not for children under 2, I feel a little better that it is not as potent. The doctor told us there would be no problems using the over-the-counter (1%) hydrocortisone long-term, but I will continue to use the minimum amount necessary to keep the rash at bay. We only needed the antibiotic a few days to clear up the rash, and used the hydrocortisone daily for a few weeks. Now, at 3 weeks since starting the medication regularly (and me continuing to avoid dairy and eggs, and sometimes bread), we only spot treat with hydrocortisone as needed.

Sweet Zoe enjoying a rest in the co-sleeper

As Zoe approached 4 months, and I started working in the office again, we transitioned Zoe from the co-sleeper in our bedroom to her crib in her own room. The transition was fairly easy, starting with a few naps in her crib to putting her down in her crib at night. We still swaddle her at night only and try to put her down sleepy, but awake. Sometimes she falls asleep while nursing and I am unable to arouse her before putting her to bed. We've also continued using the incline wedge since she seems to sleep better on the incline than flat on her back.

Her overnight schedule continues to be a challenge, and was especially difficult at the notorious "4 month sleep regression." I had read about it and thankfully only experienced one night where she woke to nurse every two hours on the dot (11:30p, 1:30a, 3:30a and 5:30a). At least it was over the weekend, when I could sleep in the next day! For the most part, Zoe goes to sleep around 7:30-8pm when Rose does, and sleeps until 6:30-8am with only a few wake ups. I always check in on her before I go to bed (10:30-11:30p), and will feed her if she stirs when I walk in. If she is sleeping deeply, I don't wake her, and sometimes get woken up shortly after going to bed. She has been waking up around 2am and/or 5am to nurse. The 5am is the tough one for me, and it is really hard when she wakes at both times.

Zoe gets serious in front of the camera

Zoe's eyes remain very blue and she continues to have a fair amount of hair in the back (with serious male-pattern baldness). She smiles so much, but gets very serious while I pull out the camera! She is a very sweet child, and still gets a little tired/cranky in the evenings around dinner time.

We continue to cloth diaper both Rose and Zoe, with both only using disposables at night. The disposables are great at keeping all the pee in the diaper all night (8p-8a) so I don't have to change Zoe when I wake up to feed her. Unfortunately, they are not as good as the cloth diapers at keeping poop explosions in. There have been a few nights where Zoe has pooped during one of her nighttime feeds and I've had to change her whole outfit when I just wanted to finish nursing and get back to bed.

At 4 months, Zoe is outgrowing her 6 month clothes. The doctor weighed her at the 65th percentile (14.2 lbs) and measured her at 23.5 inches, or 33rd percentile. I don't think her height is accurate, but I will confirm that her 6 month clothes are more tight than too short. :)  She is such a cute chunky baby!

Having gone back to work in early January, Zoe now stays with my mom at home while Colin and I are at work and Rose is at school. I try to pump a bottle (or two) before I leave for work and about 3 bottles (all about 4oz each) during the work day. I have a freezer full of stored milk, but much of it was pumped before I went dairy, yeast, or egg-free. I think the first day I went back to the office, when Zoe took a full day's worth of previously pumped milk, was what triggered her really bad rash that became infected. I'm nervous about being able to meet her demand by pumping, and try to pump 3-4 times in the office. So far, no one has commented on my door being closed so often, and I've been able to pump a little extra on a few occasions. I continue to be grateful for a job where I have a private office where I can work as I pump.

Sisterly love for the camera

A couple of friends of mine on Facebook posted a beautiful piece about appreciating each moment in time as it comes. I knew the first three months would be difficult and will admit I looked forward to their passing. But now that Zoe is sleeping a little longer, engaging with us, and sitting up more independently, I want time to slow down. I know life doesn't work like that. Days, weeks, months, and years pass quickly. I want these milestones and these memories to be recorded, which is why I write the blog. But I need to remember to balance documenting the milestones with enjoying them as they happen.

Zoe's Second Month

I've been slacking on the blog. It's tough to keep up with two little ones and the holidays. This blog post is about a month old. I'll try to get her three month update on the blog much sooner.

Here is a recap of Zoe at two months:

Zoe's 2 month photo shoot

Zoe continues to grow like a weed. At her two month wellness visit, she was 11lb, 9oz (69th percentile), 22.8 inches (65th percentile), and had a 15.6" head circumference (70th percentile). She still nurses like a champ, taking large gulps and finishing up quickly. I don't mind taking a break from what I'm doing to feed her because she's usually done quickly. Burping her, on the other hand, takes forever. She continues to spit up a fair amount, has hiccups a lot, and takes a long time to burp. We have also started trying to give Zoe a bottle. We've probably tried 5-6 times with only 1-2 successes. I asked for advice on some mom Facebook pages and we tried having Colin feed her, tried various nipples, different bottles, and holding her in different positions. Nothing has really worked and she continues to act like she's choking when she tries to suck. When she's not screaming/crying, she just chews on the nipple. I hope she starts taking a bottle soon because I am stocking up on the milk storage. The Milkies Milk Savers got me about 100oz of breakstmilk in about 6 weeks. Now that I've started pumping and we are establishing a routine, I find that I am leaking less, so I am using the milk savers less often.

Our biggest obstacle continues to be her cradle cap and skin in general. When we remove the cradle cap, her head gets so flaky and dry and it somehow seems to make her face worse. The rash on her face has gotten better between one and two months, but is not yet completely clear. We voiced our concerns with Zoe's pediatrician, and were told the face rash looked a lot like the cradle cap and both looked inflamed. The pediatrician recommended 1% hydro cortisone all over her face and head, but I've been very hesitant to use a topical ointment often at such a young age. I try to clean up the cradle cap every few days and keep her face clean and dry.

Giving mommy a smirk

Zoe's eyes remain blue, though not quite so clear blue as they were. Her blonde eyelashes and eyebrows have darkened a bit over the past month, and her hair continues to be brown. She is very fair skinned and I still think she looks more like a Miller than a Clemente, but her filling in has made it difficult to figure out who she looks like.

At two months, Zoe is much more alert and looks towards sounds. She knows her mommy and has started giving us our first smiles and coos. Not only is she a big girl, she's also fairly solid. From the beginning, she's always been fairly easy to hold/handle and is already starting to hold her head up fairly well. We did notice a little bit of fussiness that peaked at 6 weeks, but for the most part, Zoe is a pleasant baby. She just doesn't sleep long stretches during the day and she continues to be a vocal child. At her two-month visit, the doctor gave her a clean bill of health and was pleased with her development.

Focused and alert as she looks at her mommy with her filling-in face

We continue our adventure with cloth diapering and were fairly successful during the second month. There were very few blowouts, and occasional leaks. I had purchased some second-hand all in one diapers, a few of which proved to have stretched elastics (they kept leaking). I found the cotton prefolds with Thirsties brand polyurethane (PUL) covers to work really well at keeping everything in the diaper. The only problem is that they are bulky. Between Rose and Zoe's diapers, I'm back to washing diapers every 2 days or so.

Several of the mom and pregnancy blogs continue to give me updates of the developments I should expect with my baby after she's born. Around 6-7 weeks, the blogs tell me I should start to see sleep patterns emerging and longer stretches of sleep at night. Ha! That's a good one. I do remember Rose taking really good morning naps (like 3 hours), and Zoe has also been sleeping fairly well in the morning - usually if she is in the carseat or if I am wearing her in a wrap.  I've been trying not to swaddle her during the day, to differentiate days from nights, so her constant jerky movements often wake her up. At night, she's been sleeping 3-4 hour stretches and very rarely do I get a 4-5 hour stretch. Since she nurses quickly, it isn't so bad. I do feel bad about putting her back down if she doesn't burp quickly. With Rose, I would nurse her on one side, change her diaper, and then nurse on the other side before putting her back. With Zoe, I nurse her on one side, try to burp her, and then put her back to sleep unless she poops during the feed. Zoe doesn't seem to mind and I feel much better having a shorter nursing session in the middle of the night.

Snoozing with mommy on the deck

The first six weeks flew by (in hindsight). A second baby is so different than the first. With Rose, I remember staying in pajamas all morning, having breakfast brought to me in the bedroom as I nursed Rose, and not really getting out much. With Zoe, I'm up every morning at 7am, dressed and having breakfast with Rose. Zoe often gets woken up by Rose, who wants to wish her a good morning, or "a morning" in Rose-speak. My mom helped with Zoe and Rose's care through Zoe's 5th week and then I had a week on my own before Rose went back to school and I started working from home part time.  We managed to get to story time 2-3 times that week and enjoyed walks to the park on nice days. 

The first two weeks I started working (weeks 7-8 of maternity leave), I had Rose in school 5 half-days weekly. Since Rose takes 2-3 hour naps in the afternoon, I figured I could get 2-3 hours of work done in the morning and 2-3 hours in the afternoons. I learned in those two weeks that I could really only count on 2 hours of work in the morning between Zoe's needs and drop off/pick up taking some time, and that 2-3 hours of work at a time was difficult to get anything accomplished in between handling a toddler. We decided to switch to 3 full days for the rest of my leave so I could focus more on work. 

I continue to be so grateful for having a job that allows me to have a work and life balance. While I love spending time with my girls, I really enjoy my work as well. At times it can be challenging to balance work with the girls, especially when Zoe gets hungry in the middle of a conference call, but for the most part, I can work uninterrupted for several long stretches and take breaks to feed or play with Zoe.

I haven't been able to exercise as much as I'd like. The weather this fall hasn't cooperated all that much, and when I have gone for a walk, Rose usually wants to walk too. Our walks then end up being short and slow. As a result, I haven't lost much more weight, but have managed to get into my more forgiving non-maternity jeans. I haven't tried going for a run yet, and expect that to be a challenge when I finally do. Breastfeeding so much makes me feel like I am constantly hunched over, and I really do need to work on my core and back. There just never seems to be enough time in the day for everything I want/need to do.

Stay tuned for Zoe's 3-month recap, Rose's 21-22 month recap, and our fall/winter photo shoot pictures!