The end

This past week marks the end of my breastfeeding journey. I would be lying if I said I wasn't really sad. It took a LOT of work and dedication and I'm proud of myself for making it as far as I did, from pumping 8 times a day for months to getting Cameron to latch after months of bottle feeding. But we did it and I'm sure glad we did. We made it almost 14 months. I sincerely cherished all the time I spent nursing Cameron and she enjoyed it immensely judging by the fact that she refused any type of bottle no matter what once I started nursing. I struggled a lot when I knew I was nursing her for the last time. It was just such a special bond between us that I thought would not be possible given our circumstances. I'm sad because we no longer have that bond, I'm sad because it means she's growing up, and I'm sad because it means she doesn't really need me like she used to. Most of all though I'm sad because I took something away from her that she wasn't ready to give up. The first couple of days she would cry for me to nurse her and I couldn't because I had dried up and had nothing to offer her. It broke my heart to deny her that comfort. I have been giving her a lot of extra cuddles and snuggles to hopefully make up for that void.

I will say I've learned that Cameron is quite the willful baby. She decided once I stopped nursing her that she was going to refuse all liquids from any other source. She would not take a sippy cup, bottle, straw cup, regular cup, nothing. I could not get fluids in her. She went days without drinking so I had to give her lots of applesauce and yogurt to keep her from getting dehydrated. I was stressed to say the least. She seems to have somewhat given up her fluid strike. She is taking a sippy again although she's still not drinking too terribly much but something is much better than nothing.

Other than that, Cameron is 14 months old today! I can no longer say "she just turned a year old". She is getting older all the time and it's so exciting to watch her learn and grow. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next :)

Stomach bug

Poor Cameron was sick all weekend. Thursday night I kept hearing her on the monitor awake so I would wait and see if she would fall back asleep. She always did but finally I went in to check on her for peace of mind. When I went in there both her and her crib were covered in vomit. I felt horrible. She was dry heaving for the rest of the night and neither of us got any sleep. She continued to throw up for the next three days. She was not acting like herself at all. She would not play with toys or do anything. She just wanted to be held and cuddled. She was also sleeping the majority of the day, poor girl felt awful. It was actually nice for a while because I miss the days when I could just hold her all the time and she would sleep on my chest. But then I got really sick. Let me tell you, taking care of a sick baby while you are sick and all you want to do is lay on the couch is not fun at all.

But the good news is today Cameron woke up acting 100% better. She is back to eating and playing and talking and smiling. None of which she would do over the weekend. I know this is only the beginning of stomach bugs with a child but I never want to experience that again. I'm starting to feel better myself, after getting no sleep Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night I finally slept through the night last night. This morning I was able to eat and drink quite a bit and not feel terribly sick afterwards. Josh was the last one to get the bug, his started yesterday and he didn't go to work today.

So anyways, that's my update. I am just so glad Cameron is feeling better.

Randoms

Cameron has been settling into her new house wonderfully. You can tell she loves it and she is really enjoying all the new space and all the new stuff for her to explore. I can't stress enough how much the new space is benefitting her, it really is great. And her new room, wow. I wrote about how her sleep issues are getting better but that she was still waking up once per night most nights. Well, 4 out of the 5 past nights she slept all the way through. She has slept through the night three times in a row. I can't believe it! Last night I heard her wake up on the monitor and whine for a second and then fall back asleep 3 times!! She didn't cry for me to come get her! I was so happy. She is learning to self soothe and that is a very important skill.

Cameron is currently taking classes as the Little Gym. She has so much fun when we go! She gets to explore and play with other babies and climb and crawl until her heart's content. She loves it. I am also really enjoying getting out of the house with her and meeting some new moms as well as getting her some socialization. So much so that I actually signed her up for an infant music class. We go for the first time tomorrow, I am really excited. These classes are a great way to get her out of the house and away from the same toys that she has seen a million times before.

Lastly, someone is ready for Thanksgiving! Only a week away :)

Standing

I got a video of Cameron standing all by herself! She is starting to be able to stand for longer periods of time now. She has even attempted a few VERY premature steps as she does not have great balance yet. She is getting a tad bit ahead of herself but I imagine walking isn't too far off in the future!

Her own room

When Cameron came home from the hospital last December, she came home on an apnea monitor and was still very vulnerable to the health risks that come along with preemies. I worried she would stop breathing or she would spit up in her sleep as she so often did but that one day she would aspirate and choke. The only thing I could do to get some sleep was to put her in my room with me. She would sleep about a foot away from me and whenever she would cough or anything I would wake up and be able to check on her. We had a false alarm on her apnea monitor here and there and I was thankful to have been right there next to her. By the spring her doctor had discontinued the use of her monitor and she had started to grow out of her reflux issues. She was starting to sleep through the night and I was feeling much more comfortable with everything. But then came time for summer. We had no air conditioning in our house so we put a window unit in our bedroom to keep cool at night. I opted to just keep her in our room for the summer instead of putting a separate window unit in her bedroom, which admittedly was still used for storage that this point and would have taken some rearranging to get her in her crib.

So the summer came and went and by the end of summer, she was sleeping terribly. She was up every hour or two and wanted to nurse back to sleep constantly. It was completely exhausting for me. But looking at it from her perspective it makes sense. She would wake up and see me right there and think, oh how convenient, there's my mommy ready and willing to nurse me back to sleep! So she would make her demands known and I would oblige so that I could get back to sleep as soon as possible. It got to the point where I knew I needed to put her in her own room. It was clearly the healthiest thing for both her and I, because babies need good, uninterrupted sleep just as much as moms do. Her brain would function better during the day on good sleep and uninterrupted sleep is imperative to brain development for babies. But at this point, we were looking to buy a house and I didn't want to move her into her own room at the old house only to move her again at the new house. Cameron is not exactly a baby that likes change. She has her routine and wants to stick with it, so I thought it would be better to wait until we had moved and make the switch all at once.

Well that time finally came at the end of October. I was very ready but a little bit sad at the same time. The first night she felt so far away from me and I laid in bed worrying about ridiculous things like "what if someone breaks into her room through the window and I'm not there to respond?" and I would get sad at the thought of her waking up and feeling alone. And honestly Cameron did just fine. So the second night I went to sleep feeling much calmer. And once again, Cameron did just fine. So the third night I went to sleep without a single worry. Our new living arrangement was just what we all needed.

So as it stands, Cameron's sleep has SIGNIFICANTLY improved just by simply moving her into her own room. This is a MUCH healthier pattern for both of us. We don't get completely woken up and out of our sleep cycles 5 or 6 times per night. Now, at worst she wakes up once per night and she has even slept all the way through the night a few times! One wake up compared to 5 or 6 is quite the improvement I would say. I feel much better in the morning and I am sure that Cameron does as well.

Anyways, I am very excited about all of this for many reasons. In addition to her better sleep, during the move I was able to sort through and put into storage what we don't use from her old room and only keep the stuff that we do use in her new room. That on top of the fact that her room is significantly bigger makes for a much more comfortable and organized nursery. Her new room is one of my favorite parts of the new house, and it's all hers! But most importantly, I am happy to report that Cameron too loves her room and crib! It's a win for all of us :)

Here is an impromptu photo shoot that I did of Cameron "modeling" her crib after waking up from a nap one day.

Happy belated halloween!!

Because of how hard our area got hit with hurricane Sandy, halloween trick or treating was post-poned until today, November 4. So I hadn't had a chance to take pictures of Cameron in her costume yet. But I took some photos before we went out trick or treating and she looked adorable! Here is my little unicorn :)

Our new house!

We have worked so hard on our new house. We bought a grandma house. It is well taken care of and most big ticket items are newer (water heater, furnace, A/C, siding, roof). We also got all of the appliances which are new for the most part. We are absolutely in love with this house but the only problem was major cosmetic issues. It was built in 1981 and it had the original paint, carpet, and light fixtures. We went to work making it look updated. We painted every room in the house, put in all new carpet, put in new kitchen flooring, put in new kitchen cabinet hardware, replaced most of the light fixtures, took out all the blinds and put in new window treatments, updated some of the landscaping, and between this year and next year will have a new patio and lawn installed. After all the work we have done it looks like a completely different house. We are so excited to have made it ours. We can really appreciate it because we know where it started off compared to how it looks now! So here are some before and after photos of the kitchen, living room, our bedroom, sun room (Cameron's play room), and Cameron's bedroom. The before photos are the photos used in the online listings.

Kitchen before:

Kitchen after:

Sun room/play room before:

Sun room/play room after:

Master bedroom before:

Master bedroom after: 

Cameron's room before:

Cameron's room after:

Living room before:

Living room after:

Amazing what new paint, carpet, furniture, and a bit of elbow grease can do, isn't it? Josh and I are so proud of our new home. We absolutely love it and Cameron has so much more room to grow. Her room is so much bigger, she has her own play room, and the living room is much more kid friendly since we switched our coffee table for a big soft ottoman. Also, Penny is loving it! She has a huge fenced in back yard! She couldn't be happier about that. So anyways, I hope you enjoyed the transformation photos!

10 months (adjusted)

I have been insanely busy with the move to our new house so this post is late! I will get back on track with blogging soon. I have lots to talk about!

She was not happy about her photos this month:

I just had to add this one. That is an impressive snot bubble.

Adjusted age: 10 months, 4 days

Actual age: 13 months, 9 days

Weight: 19 lb 4.6 oz

Height: Probably around 26.5 inches

Diaper size: OS cloth or size 3 disposable (I have been using disposables to simplify things because of the move)

Clothing size: 12 months or 6-12 month clothing

Medications/medical concerns: Poor baby has had two colds in the past month. She did great with her first cold though and didn't miss a beat! She is just getting over her second cold now.

Sleep: Goes down at night at around 8. She still wakes up several times per night. Sleeps until 8 or 9 in the morning. Takes two naps per day, usually her first nap starts between 11 and 12 and her second nap starts between 3 and 4. Naps for 1-1.5 hours usually.

Eating: She has become quite a powerhouse with finger foods. Tonight at dinner she ate almost a whole banana and a large serving of pasta. For lunch the other day she ate a piece of toast, half a banana, mozzarella sticks, and 4 arrowroot cookies. The volume of food she is eating now is really amazing. She loves feeding herself. She still nurses around 4 times per day and between 2-4 times per night. She is also doing really well drinking out of a sippy cup. I can finally rely on that to give her fluids if I need someone else to watch her!

Developmental milestones: Cameron is a speed cruiser. She is so comfortable cruising and getting around on her feet these days. She is now walking with her stand up walker. She will go up to it, stand up on it herself and go go go. She recently started standing on her own for a few seconds at a time! Her balance is starting to get good. She loves to climb up on things too. She is really getting good body control and it is pretty cool watching her explore her world! I can't really think of anything else new.

Teeth: She has five teeth now! Her fourth and fifth just recently cut through. She has the two bottom front teeth, her two top front teeth, and one lateral incisor (tooth right next to the front top teeth). The sixth (her other lateral incisor) is looking like it is about to pop through also.

Best moment this month: Moving Cameron into her new house!!

Here is a 2, 6, and 10 month comparison photo.