One Crazy Month

If you read this blog, you're probably related to us somehow and already know all the details of the last 3 weeks or so. Feel free to just look at the pictures and say "ah, how cute" and be on your merry way. Otherwise, I feel a duty to relay all the craziness that has been Lucy's 7th month of life. It all started so great with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Ellsmore.





I was done with school for the year and Brian had yet to start his new job so we took the opportunity to do fun things like take Lucy to her first Rockies game. It was really exciting because there were back to back to back Rockies' home runs. Lucy and I didn't actually get to see that happen because we were in the family restroom but we heard the screams.


Eden and Grandpa feeding the fish

Lucy and Grandma


The first two weeks of solid food went well. She got over her initial hatred of cereal once we began adding vegetables. Then she seemed to like everything until we tried pears. She hated them and didn't want to eat her usual amount. The next morning I got her up and found out she had thrown up sometime during the night. The next day we had several instances of projectile vomit including an unfortunate incident at lunch with Kendra and G-Ma Nanc. I called the doctor and the nurse thought that as long as she didn't get sick the night before our trip home to go for it. She did great on the plane but was still acting sick once we were at Alissa and Tai's house. Then I got VERY sick with the stomach flu and thank goodness for Alissa (I love you, girl! I know you are one of the few who read this!) because she took care of Lucy all the next day when I couldn't. It was not how I had planned to spend my vacation and missed out on seeing my friend Carmen who lives in Chicago which was a big disappointment. But, luckily no one in the Ward house got sick!

We left Chicago on June 4th and drove to Iowa. We spent a great night with Amber and Eden and Grandma and Grandpa Marvin. But, then Grandpa Marvin got his turn with the stomach flu. Lucy was still throwing up about once a day at that point, too. We were all one big pukey mess!


Lucy and Elliott

After a trip back to Fairfield on Tuesday, June 8 Alissa and I spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa Ellsmore in Iowa City. Lucy slept well that night but the flight back to Denver wasn't something I'd like to repeat anytime soon. Lucy was fussy and didn't want much to do with sitting in her seat.

After getting home and and having another big round of throwing up I decided we'd had enough and I took her to the urgent care Thursday night. The doctors ran blood tests, urine tests and took an x-ray of her stomach. She had lost weight and had a fever. I found out on Friday that she has a urine infection which evidently is the cause of all the vomiting. She started antibiotics that day and today is day 9 of taking her medicine. She had another bad morning on Monday so I took her back to the doctor. I guess bladder infections aren't super common in infants so Lucy gets to look forward to having an ultrasound of her kidneys and some other tests we have schdeduled in July. To put the cherry on top, I was sick all weekend and finally went to the doctor on Monday to find out that I had strep throat. We are quite a pair.

Lucy is doing much better although she's still fussier than normal and isn't sleeping through the night anymore. She hasn't had solids since she began getting sick almost three weeks ago per doctor's suggestion but tonight we will try it again. This time we'll stick with trusty sweet potatoes.

6 months old

Lucy's 6 month photo shoot


"Yup, that's me. Hanging out in a wicker chair for some bizarre reason" Lucy


"flying"






We picked out an adorable little sundress for her to wear. She only got a couple of shots wearing it, however because


this happened. Which is why we ended up with several "naked" baby pictures we hadn't planned on taking. Best laid plans . .







A couple of weeks ago I took Lucy to her first rally protesting some Colorado legislation that affects public schools. She's the one in the stroller.



Lucy had her 6 month check-up on Friday. Brian and I went together to the appointment and when we got there we realized we left Lucy's diaper bag at home. And of course, she pooped one giant poop. The doctor's office had no diapers, no wipes, etc. Brian ran home to get the bag and I washed her with cold water in that little sink the doctors use to wash their hands. They gave me a couple of bags to put her poopie clothes in. I think the labels are very fitting for the contents.



Lucy weighs 14 lbs, 11 oz (25%) and is 25 1/4 inches long. She's leveled off on height somewhat but is growing nicely. She got her last round of shots for awhile and considering she spent the whole appointment wrapped in a hospital gown while we waited for Brian to bring her diaper bag-she did really well.



At her 6 month birthday we gave her rice cereal for the first time. As you can see from the video . . . . she HATES it. Actually, since then it's been worse. She actually got a few bites down the first time. Oh well, it will come with time.




Lucy's first "real" food

Spring Time

Sleepy Baby

Lucy's Favorite Pasttime-Sucking on her Fingers

Rings

Our Self Portrait

Brian told me the other day- "I kinda like her"

Almost 5 months! Lucy has become quite rolly polly. We never know exactly what position she'll be in when we go to get her out of her crib. Her new favorite things to do include sucking on her fingers (well, anything within reach actually) and squealing. I tried to get her on video but darn it if our little girl isn't smart enough to figure out how to be camera shy.

It is spring time in Denver. I tried to get a good picture of the tree in the backyard that is blooming but the picture doesn't do it justice. It is fun to discover new things about your house-this is our first spring here so the beautiful flowering tree was a nice surprise. A not so nice surprise? Ants. Lots of 'em. There are some definate drawbacks to having a basement.

If you get a moment, visit the Littleton Public Schools website-www.littletonpublicschools.net. You'll see a smily Crystal on the front page.

4 Months!

Today Lucy is 4 months old! We celebrated with a trip to the doctor yesterday. More shots and vaccines. One vaccine they give her orally and she just hates it. The nurse said most babies don't mind it because of the sweet taste but not our spunky gal. She got back at the nurse by spitting it out at her face. Lucy now weighs a whopping 12 pounds 9.5 ounces! This keeps her right where she was 2 months ago, at the 28 percentile for weight. We were a little surprised to find out she is 25 inches long which puts her at the 80th percentile for height. It isn't a predictor of future height or anything, but it all makes sense since she hasn't fit lengthwise as well in her footy pajama clothes. Just this weekend we switched out her clothes so she's started to wear 3-6 month sizes.

Grandma and Grandma Marvin paid a visit last weekend. I had Friday off from school because of parent/teacher conferences so it worked out great to spend a long weekend together. Lucy rolled over, albeit reluctantly at first, for both of them. She is so close to rolling over from her back to her front. She gets about halfway over and then just needs a little "umph" to get her over the rest of the way. I can't believe March is half way over. One more week before spring break! Woo-hoo!!

3 Months!

Auntie Amber and her valentine

Lucy and her best buddy

Dear Friends and Family, thank you for reading our blog! We are so thankful for our baby girl and so proud of all the new things she’s learned to do. Last weekend Amber came to Colorado for a visit and we had a great time. Lucy saved her first laugh for Aunt Amber. Unfortunately I didn’t get to see it because I was at school but Brian said Lucy laughed for about 5 minutes watching Cooper run around and jump over things. I’ve caught a glimpse of her laugh since and it’s super cute. I’ve been busy doing everything I can think of to get her to laugh and sometimes it works and sometimes I get a look like “mom, please.”

Another exciting thing happened this past Wednesday. I was at an evening meeting at school and when I got home Brian said Lucy rolled over for the first time. He said she did it once and he thought it might be a fluke but then she did it two more times for him. She hates being on her stomach so much she didn’t take long to figure out how to get off it. It seems like a bit of a conspiracy that she does all her “firsts” when I’m not around but that’s okay. Of course when I got home we put her on her belly again and she didn’t roll over. This morning I got out the camera and got to see her roll over for the first time for mommy and caught it on video! That’s almost as good as the real first time, right?

Her personality is developing much more quickly. Lucy loves:
· Being held to face out
· Her Bumbo seat
· Cooing at her mobile
· Being in her bathtub
· Riding in her stroller

She hates:
Getting out of the bathtub
Her daily application of lotion
Having her neck cleaned (she has quite a chubby neck)

We still can’t believe what a happy baby is, it was hard to think of things she doesn’t like. She smiles all the time and it’s hard not to smile right along with her. We wish you all the same amount of joy she brings us!

Rollin' rollin' rollin'

Lucy and Elliott

Cousin Amy and Baby Lucy

These past two weeks were super exciting in the Reid house. We had visitors galore including my cousin Amy and her husband Ryan and our friends Alissa and Tai Ward. They came last Saturday from Chicago and we got to have Alissa and her baby girl Elliott for the whole week. Elliott was born three weeks before Lucy but as you can tell from the pictures-that’s where the similarities stop. It was so much fun to have two adorable baby girls together and it gave me a little bit of empathy for what it must be like to have twins. Alissa and I will be able to embarrass our girls when they’re older with the pictures we took of them in their matching outfits.

Lucy is changing so much! She smiles so frequently and has begun to coo much of the time. She likes to grab at the rings and animals that hang from her floor gym. She is consistently sleeping until around 4 am which feels like an eternity compared to what she has been doing so far.

Unfortunately, I will be heading back to work much sooner than we had planned. Brian found out on Friday that his position at work had been eliminated. His company laid off lots of workers that day and of course the timing is difficult with my maternity leave. I am starting back to work on Monday, February 8. I’m very sad to leave Lucy and not looking forward to going back to work so soon but I know Brian will enjoy his time at home with our sweet baby girl. Keep your fingers crossed that he finds a new job soon!
Love, Crystal

Future Money-Maker
Ahhhh

Lucy just turned 2 months old on January 13th. Thursday we took her to the doctor for her 2 month check-up. We learned that she weighs 9 lbs, 15 ounces and is 22 1/2 inches long! She's in the 56% percentile for height, 44th for head size and 27th for weight. At least she can say that at one point in her she was tall and skinny!

Lucy has dry skin which isn't uncommon for a baby and the Colorado climate doesn't help it much. The doctor thinks she might develop baby eczema so we're using hydrocortisone on some dry patches. She also has a wicked case of cradle cap, poor thing. She got her immunizations and, understandably, did not like it one bit. She was a real trooper though.

Brian's work hours have changed slightly so now he's working from 7:30 to 4 and is usually home before 5. We love it because it means he has more awake time with Lucy before she heads off to bed. We're excited for a few visitors in the next couple of weeks-Crystal's cousin Amy and her husband Ryan visiting from Iowa and then our friends the Wards with their baby Elliott. Can't wait!