Boston & Addison Updates

Well, it's been a while again, so I have lots of updates to share! From 2/18-2/21, I finally left Addison home alone with Daddy while Meredith and I went out to Boston to surprise Erin for her 30th birthday. I thought I would take leaving her a lot harder than I did, but I knew she was in good hands. My sisters and I had a blast and I can't believe we pulled off the surprise after keeping it a secret since Thanksgiving. Nat was quite the trooper and had the whole thing planned for us...I must say...he's either really good at keeping secrets or really good at lying :) Here are a couple pictures from our trip. To see all the pictures, visit the link to the full album just below.

Sissies outside "Cheers" Eno's birthday dinner at "The Melting Pot" Pooped after a long trip
Click here to visit the album

Boston 2009 (Eno's 30th Birthday)

Addison did great with Daddy while I was gone, though her schedule was a little messed up when I got back. Adam's more of a pushover than I am when it comes to "giving in" to what the baby wants :) Thanks to Sandra (her daycare lady) she was back on schedule within a day or so. Since getting home from Boston, we've been preparing for our trip to Cancun that we'll be taking with our friend Pat on 3/18-3/22. It may sound stupid, but our 10-year "dating" anniversary falls on 3/19, so we're excited to celebrate our being together for 10 years! I think it's pretty incredible since we starting dating in high school and Adam was gone quite a bit for the military.

Anyway, in getting ready for our trip, we've also been trying to get Addison ready too. Since she'll be home with Auntie Rissa and both sets of grandparents, we want to make sure that taking care of her is as easy as possible. To do that, we've officially transitioned her to her own room (it only took 5+ months) and we got her eating solids at least once a day. She is such a trooper that I can't believe how well she's taken to all the changes!

She started eating just rice cereal on 2/25, but really wasn't very good at it. We thought maybe physiologically she wasn't ready for solids yet...that is until we realized that she didn't like rice cereal alone all that much. On Monday of this week (3/2) we introduced apple sauce in her rice cereal and she absolutely can't get enough of it...that is until she gets full :) She still doesn't eat much quantity, but the amount she eats she takes pretty quickly and constantly has a gaping mouth waiting for more. I can't believe our little girl is growing up so fast!

After solids came moving her out of her co-sleeper in our room and into her crib in her own room. I knew this would definitely be harder on me than it would be on her since I've grown so used to being able to roll over and look at my little sweetheart anytime I want. We started her in her crib on Friday night and were suckers to her crying for 3 nights in a row. Either Adam or I would go upstairs, change her diaper, rock her a little bit, and then put her back down once she was sleepy again. This definitely had to stop!

After seeking advice from more a experienced parent (AKA my sister Meredith), we knew it was time to "cry it out". So, on Monday and Tuesday night, that's exactly what we did. She would wake up at 1:30am and we'd hear her on her monitor crying, but we wouldn't move an inch. After crying for an hour each night (which seemed more like an eternity), she successfully put herself back to sleep.

However, I knew something was a little fishy about why she was waking up crying. Each morning that I went to get her, she would be turned 180-degrees in her crib, laying on top of her blankets with her hands, legs, and feet super freezing. So, on Wednesday night, we decided to bundle our little baby up before bed and see if that would help. We kept her in socks and put her in her sleeper, then we put her in her fleece "sleep sack", and then we put her blankets on top of her. It sounds like a lot, but it's really not. And guess what?!? It totally worked! For the past two nights, she has slept perfectly! She barely moves from the position I originally put her in and she doesn't make a peep all night! Who would've thought that we didn't need to "cry it out" with her...she was just cold?!?

Here are some pictures of our big 5-month old...Enjoy!

"Baby Grumpis" home with daddy
She says, "Get me out of this tiny bed!" Cutest baby ever!!!So pooped from playing...she couldn't keep her eyes open!
(Looks like she takes after mommy...see the picture of me above from Boston!)

Addison's First Overnight!

We did it! We had our first night without Addison and I didn't cry once! Last night, Adam and I went to dinner and "Annie" at the Orpheum with Marrisa (my sister-in-law) and Ed (her boyfriend) for Valentine's Day. Because we knew the show wouldn't get over until well after Addison's bedtime, Adam's parents were kind enough to take her for the night. Thankfully, she had a great night and slept just as well in their crib as she does at home...10 HOURS! I'm not kidding...we pretty much have the best baby ever!

This is one of many overnights Addison will be having without us over the next couple months. We have babysitting lined up for two different nights in March and 5 full days while we're in Mexico. I'm just glad that I was able to get through it without being too crazy about it. We called once last night and once this morning. We knew she was in good hands with her Grandma & Grandpa, so we knew there wasn't much to worry about :)

Check out a couple of pictures we took of her before we left. If you notice the hat, this was a gift from Auntie Eno (my sister Erin) shortly after she was born. I'm so happy she's finally able to wear it while it's still cold out! Thank you Eno!!!

Mommy & Addison all dolled up!

Addison ready for her first overnight!

When it rains, it pours!

Well, if it's not one thing with Addison lately, it's something else. Over the past few weeks, not only has Addison been battling her UTI and a cold, but then on Tuesday (2/10) when I picked her up from daycare, she was covered head-to-toe in a rash. I've tried really hard not to be "that mom" that brings their kid to the doctor over every little thing, but I could not let this rash go without being checked out by a doctor. So off I went to urgent care (when all I wanted to do was go home and relax) and what did I find out? After 7 days of being on the "right" medication to take care of her UTI, she was finally having an allergic reaction. SERIOUSLY?!?! First she was put on a medication that couldn't kill the bacteria, then she was put on a medication that she was allergic to??? What are the chances?!?Anyway...the doctor recommended I take her off the meds and hope that the UTI had already resolved itself. So far, so good! Check out the picture just below of the rash on her face :( I might be kind of hard to see...sorry about that!
On a brighter note, Adam and I have been "working our plan" to try and finally lose my baby weight. After losing over half the weight I gained, I still have a ways to go. So, every evening, Adam and I go down to our workout room in the basement (that we've never really used, by the way) and work out for 20-30 minutes. Addison usually spends this time jumping in her jumperoo, but on this particular evening, all she wanted to do is walk with mama. It's surprising hard it is to strap that old weight back on and walk at a decent pace. She seemed to like it though, or at least it kept her from crying so we could actually work out!

Until next time!

All Clear!

Addison's appointment this morning at Children's Hospital went very well. Thankfully, she didn't have to be sedated at all!!! Her ultrasound appointment showed that her kidneys were a normal size and functioning properly. Her x-ray with contrast appointment showed that she is able to "void" her bladder completely without having any urine reflux back into her kidneys. Long story short, her urinary tract infection was not caused by any issues with her kidneys. So, what does that mean for Addison? We need to make sure she doesn't poop while she sleeps or that we get her changed when she does :)

Fun Videos and Update

I wanted to upload a couple cute videos of Addison that I thought you might enjoy. The first one is of her laughing because mama was trying to make her eat her foot. For whatever reason, she thinks it's hilarious. The second one is of our new "babysitter"......also known as her jumperoo. This thing is amazing because it keeps her occupied for literally up to an hour! She's a jumping machine now and is hilarious to watch! Enjoy!

"Laughing Baby"

"Jumping Baby"

For those of you not already aware of what's been going on with Addison, on January 28th, I brought her in to the doctor because she began peeing so much that I had to up her 2 diaper sizes, it started to smell funny, and it had started to change color. Turns out, she has a urinary tract infection. The doctor said it could have been a result of several things...bad wiping (I sure hope not), going poop while she sleeps at night and bacteria getting in there, or could be because of poor kidney function. She was put on amoxicillin from Wednesday through Tuesday after the doctor when I received a surprising phonecall from her doctor. It turns out, amoxicillin was the one antibiotic that the bacteria was resistant to after getting the culture results back. What are the chances?!?

So for nearly a week, she wasn't getting better because she was on the wrong medication. She was then placed on Bactrim (a sulfa-based antibiotic) and the symptoms seem to have gotten a little better. However, on Monday morning she will be going to Children's Hospital to have kidney testing done. Because the doctor wasn't willing to rule out that this infection was caused by her kidneys, she will be sedated while a doctor tests her kidney function with an ultrasound and then conducts x-rays while injecting dye in a catheter to see where the dye goes. It's a little scary to think that our baby has to go through all this and she's not even 5 months old, but I'm glad I went with my instincts and brought her in to the doctor when I sensed that something wasn't quite right.

On top of all that, she finally got sick as a result of her daycare! Aren't daycares great?!? They're a breeding ground for sickness and viruses and Addison is the last of the kids at her daycare to finally get this flemmy cough that's been going around. She's been pretty miserable today, so hopefully we can get her well enough to have her kidney testing done on Monday. Here's hoping!

I thought I'd include some pictures and a link to her 4-month album since it's been a while since I've posted picture updates. Enjoy! Until next time blog followers!

Our little jumping bean!

Daddy & Addy during the Super Bowl

Click on picture below to see Addison's 4-Month album!

Baby Addison: 4 Months

4 Months Old!

Wow! Time flies when you're having fun! I can't believe Addison's already over 4 months old! Our pumpkin had her 4-month appointment yesterday and the doctor was quite happy with her progress. She was impressed with the fact that she sleeps 11 hours a night, how well she holds her head and self up, the fact that she's rolled over both ways, how much she talks, how animated she is, and what a happy baby she is in general.

As usual, her appointment required shots which is always fun. She had quite the delayed reaction before she actually cried (which I found funny), but overall she handled the shots well. Here are her stats as of yesterday:

Weight: 14lbs, 4oz (75th percentile)
Height: 26in (95th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.75in (90th percentile)

Here are some of the latest pictures of Addison from just before and just after turning 4 months old. She's so fun and changing every day that it's hard to keep up sometimes!

Addison rolling from back to side (that darn rattle was in the way)
Daddy & Addy's hands (so cute!)
Addison's 4-month picture
Getting so good at tummy time!

Here's a link to her 3 month photo album. Click on the picture to be redirected to our picture website.

Baby Addison: 3 Months

Back to Work

Well, yesterday was my first day back at work in nearly 4 months, and I have to say it went better than I thought it would. I was all prepared to be bawling on the way in to work, so I had Adam drive me, but surprisingly, I really didn't cry. Sure, I was super sad and teared up a little after we dropped Addison off at daycare, but I didn't bawl. When explaining myself to coworkers (who all want to know if I cried or not...weird...), I've just told them that I was confident in our daycare decision, it's not a situation I can really change at this point since I have to work and can't stay home, so there's no point in crying about it because it just is what it is. Not to sound totally uncaring because I love my little pumpkin, but I know she's in the best place she can be next to just being home with me.

Addison's daycare lady (Sandra) is great! I can tell that she truly loves the kids and is going to be a great caregiver to Addison. Addison's first day at daycare was spent sleeping for the first 3 hours, eating, sleeping some more, looking at the other kids, and eating again...oh...and she "blew out" once! Honestly, all she does is eat, sleep, and poop at this point...not a whole lot going on :) I did call Sandra once yesterday and once today to check on our little girl, and Sandra has said more than once what a great job we've done raising such a good baby. That's really nice to hear because no one wants their kid to be crying all day and causing havoc at daycare. I still wish I could be home with my baby all the time, but in the mean time (before I win the lottery), I think Sandra's doing a great job and Addison has done a awesome job adjusting to her new routine!

Baby's First Christmas

I still can't believe how quickly this past year went and that Christmas is already over. Christmas with a baby was quite the whirlwind because everybody loves a baby! On December 20th we celebrated Christmas with Adam's grandma (Gloria), on the 23rd we had our own Christmas / present opening as a family, on the 24th we spent the afternoon with my family and the evening with Adam's extended Loch family, I went to midnight mass that night with my parents and the baby (while Adam got his beauty sleep), and then on the 25th we spent the morning with Adam's parents and the rest of the day with the extended Fuchs family. I can't believe we fit all this in, but that's the way it's been every year...and we hate changing tradition! It's not until you write the whole schedule out that you even realize how much we had to do!!! Wow!!! I'm surprised Addison handled it so well! Here are a few of the pictures from her first Christmas.

Is it time to open presents yet?!?I love my daddy! Our pretty little girl! The Loch Family on Christmas morningThe Loch Family at Great-Grandma & Grandpa's

Check out all the Christmas pictures by clicking the picture below:

Baby's First Christmas

Major Milestone!

Today baby Addison achieved another major milestone......she rolled over!!! When I went to get her up from a nap, she rolled from her stomach to her back and just looked up at me and smiled! It was incredible! I think I scared her though because I screamed with excitement and she got a little startled :) I never thought I'd be so excited to see a baby roll over before!

In addition to rolling over (I can't remember if I already posted this or not), she smiles all the time, has started to laugh (though not a full on giggle yet), she props herself up on her elbows and hands when on her tummy, and she talks all the time! She is changing right before our very eyes that it's hard to keep up!

I promise I will post a Christmas update soon, I just didn't want to forget to post this milestone!

2 Month Update + Christmas Party + Baptism

It's been a while again since I updated the blog...I feel like a broken record every time I make a new post :) Our little one is changing so much each day that I feel like it's hard to keep this blog updated. She started "talking" on December 5th, which has been just hilarious for Adam and I to imitate her and make it into a game. She's able to see at farther distances, and is even recognizing faces. She's just such a joy and we can't imagine our lives without her! Here are a few pictures since the last post.

Her burp rag doubles as a security blanket She loves her big poodle...it doesn't lick :) Addison's 3 Months Old!!! Addison's first Christmas present (from daddy) Addison's first Christmas present (from mommy)

We also held our 5th Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party on 12/19 (my birthday for those of you keeping track). It was an absolute blast...except for the fact that Adam had food poisoning from lunch that day. YUCK! We already can't wait for next year's party!!! To see the pictures, check out our photo album by clicking the picture below.

5th Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

On 12/21, we also had Addison's baptism. It was such a beautiful day, even if it wasn't so nice outside. She did so well...she didn't cry once! To see the pictures from Addison's special day, check out the album by clicking on the picture below.

Addison's Baptism