20 pounds!

Zach, Lauren, Lolli and Poppy took Grable to the vet this evening. Lolli had fun in the play area and looking at the fish tank. And Dr. Dana let her flip some light switches in the exam room, which Lolli thought was great, especially the x-ray light. While Grable was getting some blood drawn, Lauren and Zach plopped Poppy down onto the baby scale that the vet uses for cats and small dogs. She came in at 20 pounds even!

"Hi"

Poppy's mastered the art of waving when waved to, and she even says, "Hi!" while she's doing it. She also is a clapping pro and Lauren swears she says, "Yayyyyyy!" while she's clapping. Her other favorite thing to mimic is banging on a table or something. So cute!

Poppy's 8 months old!

Poppy is 8 months old today! Lauren hasn't taken her for a weigh check for a while, but as of a month ago she was 18lbs 12oz. She has big brown eyes and brown hair that people keep saying it getting lighter. It's about 1-2 inches long all around her head, which is longer than Lolli's was at this age. Still not long enough for clips or ponytails yet.

Poppy can sit unassisted, stand when holding onto something, and is working on getting up on her hands and knees (although she hates tummy time). She can walk around in her walker any direction she wants. When she's sitting, she can spin around in a circle and sometimes scoots in one direction or another. She just started clapping and does it now to get attention, which is very cute. She likes to bang on things like table tops.

Poppy is a very happy baby outside of the home, but at home she gets pretty cranky. Apparently she's a happier baby when Lauren isn't around, because when Lauren IS around, Poppy is always screaming to be held by her. It makes for a rough day for Lauren and Poppy, especially when the weather is bad and they can't go outside.

Poppy nurses pretty much every 2 hours around the clock. She eats some solid foods, but prefers to feed herself. She mostly does fruit, veggies, and carbs, although she has had a few tastes of dairy and 1 bite of chicken. She does very well from a bottle but prefers chewing on sippy cups. She doesn't know how to do a straw yet.

Poppy sleeps unswaddled now (most nights) in Lauren and Zach's bed, in her boppy. Sometimes she naps on the couch and sometimes she naps in her crib (always in the boppy). She's great about napping in the car, too, and she's relatively easy to get to sleep, which is wonderful!

Poppy and Lolli are wonderful to each other. Lolli always wants Poppy to be included, which makes Poppy smile. It's been a great 8 months so far!

She went to sleep!

We've always swaddled Poppy for her naps and overnight, and we always get her to sleep by either nursing, bouncing on an exercise ball, or rocking.

But today when it was time for Lolli to go down for her nap, she insisted that Poppy go, too. I've never napped them in the same room before, and I had no idea how to get them both to sleep at the same time.

So I swaddled up Poppy and fed her while I was telling Lolli her naptime story, hoping Poppy would fall asleep. No such luck. But to keep Lolli from throwing a fit (and because I myself was curious as to what would happen), I put Poppy in her crib wide awake. She was struggling against her swaddle, so I opened it up for her.

I heard them "talking" to each other for a couple minutes and then it got quiet. I thought for sure that something awful had happened to Poppy, because surely she wouldn't just go to sleep like that. Lolli didn't do that until she was 11m, 5d old, and even then she was in a room BY HERSELF, not with a toddler.

Here's what I found when I went to check!

She's perfectly fine, just zonked out! And Lolli is sound asleep, too! I'm so shocked right now LOL And kinda giddy :) If it happened once, that means it might happen again in the future, right?!? Woohoooo!

PS - That looks so uncomfortable, but I'd hate to wake her up and ruin this good thing I've got going on!

Poppy's first sick visit

Lauren took Poppy to the doctor today for her first sick visit. Her symptoms: fever (around 100), cough, lack of energy, and general irritability, on top of a sometimes runny nose. The diagnosis: TEETHING! What a waste of a copay, but at least Lauren won't have to spend the weekend worrying about an ear infection or something. And she weighed in at 18lbs, 4.5oz. She definitely did NOT double her weight by 6 months, which is good, because my back can't handle hauling around a 30lb 1 year old!

Happy Half Birthday Poppy!

Poppy is 6 months old today! She celebrated by eating pureed sweet potatoes for breakfast - YUM!

Poppy is generally a very happy, social girl. She's developed a bit of anxiety about not being help by Lauren when she's in sight, but she's usually happy to go to other people. She's been sick on top of teething lately and has had a hard time with that.

Poppy still sleeps swaddled and usually naps in her swing during the day. She takes 3-5 naps a day. She sleeps well in the car, too. At night she sleeps swaddled, on her side in her Boppy between Lauren and Zach in their bed. She wakes every 2-3 hours to nurse. She usually goes to bed between 8 and 10 and wakes up around 7 (sometimes earlier or later, though).

Poppy is sitting up all on her own. She babbles ("ba ba ba ba") and blows raspberries. She can roll over from her tummy to her back but doesn't care to roll from her back to her tummy, apparently. She moves in a circle during tummy time but no crawling yet. She'll stand if someone props her up, but doesn't pull herself up yet. She loves her pacifier but usually spits it out a few minutes after falling asleep.

Lauren is going to take Poppy to get weighed and measured tomorrow!

Poppy still has a hairy lower back, ha! She's got great skin and isn't prone to rashes or anything. Her eyes and big, brown and beautiful. Her hair is really growing and is almost the length that Lolli's was at one year. It sticks out of her ears and drives Lauren nuts. Her bald spot is almost all filled in. She has lovely chubby rolls on her thighs!

Poppy's first funeral

Unfortunately Zach's grandfather passed away last weekend. The viewing was last night and both girls went. Lolli did okay, but Poppy was a fussy mess the whole time (teething!). The funeral was today and consisted of a prayer session at the funeral home, a mass at the church, then a service at the grave site. Lolli stayed with Gma Bowen, but Poppy went with Lauren and Zach (who was a pallbearer). She did very well during all 3 parts of the funeral and family seemed to enjoy seeing a happy baby during their time of sorrow. RIP Papaw Hall!