Hadley's 8-month update!

I guess since I wrote Hadley's last update two weeks late, it would only be appropriate to write this one a bit early! Hadley has continued to amaze us this month with the things she picks up on and how quickly she learns (including how to get what she wants, when she wants it!!)!

This month, Hadley went on her first camping trip with Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Jenna, MumMum & Pops at MumMum & Pops's cabin in Pine Glen. She was an ok sleeper there (for the most part) and she also learned (while camping) that her stroller isn't half bad! Mommy's friend Stacey came to visit while we were there, along with her husband Seth & their daughter Mady.

Since we were just a few minutes away while we were camping, we also went to Hadley's first parade in Snow Shoe (where she scored a nice, big bag of candy for Daddy). She loved watching the bands and twirling groups go by, but she wasn't as thrilled with the loud firetrucks.

We spent Hadley's first fourth of July at the shore (we had an early picnic at MumMum & Pops's house the weekend before), where Hadley was her usual non-sleeping self!

We went to the beach for a little bit while we were there, but Hadley (again) wasn't too sure of the sand or the water! Aunt Jenna went on this trip with us, as well, so that was fun for everyone!

While we were there, we drove over to the Cape May Zoo! Hadley loved looking at the animals & she did a great job in her stroller, despite the fact that it was so hot! As a special treat before we left, Hadley, Mommy, & Aunt Jenna rode on the carousel (Haddy rode on a zebra)!

We also took Aunt Jenna mini-golfing (Hadley slept almost the whole time, which was super!) & Haddy had her first lick of a lollipop after we had breakfast at Uncle Bill's restaurant!

Mommy and Haddy went up to MumMum & Pops's house to stay for a few days while Daddy was playing softball. While there, Mommy introduced Haddy to the finer points of central PA yard sales! It worked out great for Hadley since she got a nice start on her fall-winter wardrobe! Mommy also took Hadley to her old church's annual picnic, where Haddy got to go on her first hayride! She also got to meet Mommy's friend Jen & her son Cody that weekend!

As far as new milestones, Hadley is getting so strong! She still hates to be on her belly, but will occasionally push up onto her hands and knees. She doesn't rock or attempt to creep really (maybe a little) because she doesn't like being there, so she just cries and then rolls over! She does, however, love to walk & gets frustrated when you hide your hands from her, because she just wants to take them and walk all over the house (particularly when she can chase the cats at MumMum & Pops's house)! She likes to stand beside boxes or furniture & is slowly starting to get the hang of holding onto it! She is starting to pull herself up onto furniture, etc, so I feel that lowering the crib will be in the very near future (like today!)!!

Hadley also waves at herself in the mirror (and occasionally at people she sees) by raising her arm and sort of slowly turning her hand over (like a beauty queen!)! She also likes to kiss herself in the mirror!

Hadley continues to be such a great eater! Mommy has gone a little crazy making baby food this month, so Hadley has eaten green beans, carrots, pear/blueberry/banana, peach/banana, as well as chicken and turkey blends (though Mommy didn't try her hand at making those last two yet). Haddy eats pretty much everything, which makes this Momma happy! She even tried a little lick of an ice cream cone and (like her Daddy!) loved it!

Haddy also got to meet her Aunt Kasia (from Poland) this month! Here she is with Aunt Kasia and Uncle Robbie (Haddy likes to play with Uncle Robbie's beard).

And a special shout-out to Hadley's "Uncle" Nicholas who is bravely serving in the Navy in Afghanistan! Go Navy!

Hadley's 7-month update

I know, I know...I'm more than two weeks late with this update, but better late than never, right? We've been away for basically the past three weeks straight, so my computer time has been even more limited than usual! Hopefully I can get this published before she turns 8 months old!


Hadley has really started to become a "big girl" this month! She sits up on her own and will reach for you to hold her if you put your hands out to her. Her eye sight is impeccable; Hadley smiles at you from across the room & can see even the tiniest speck of anything lying on the floor - unfortunately for Mommy & Daddy - gotta watch that girl like a hawk! Along with her eye sight, her manual dexterity is pretty amazing! She transfers from one hand to the other & can reach for & grasp things as tiny as a hair...which she then tries to put in her mouth! She also says "MA!" quite often, but I'm still not convinced it's used in reference to Mommy! Hadley also decided that now was the time to roll onto her belly! She will willingly roll from back to belly now (sometimes without any motivation), and then back again!


Hadley got too big for her tub, so we started giving her baths in the sink, sitting in her Bumbo and she is finally starting to sleep through the night (minus the time we were on vacation, of course!). She is still in size 3 diapers, and in mostly 6 month clothing, with some 9 months just beginning to fit her.

Hadley's favorite toys this month are her Taggie blankets and Potsy (which she loves to dump over & then throw the pieces). Mommy & Daddy also let Hadley watch 10 minutes or so of a show here & there. She really likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Sesame Street, but doesn't have much of an attention span for it, which is great!
Hadley went swimming in the pool at Grammy & Granddad's house for the first time this month! She did really well, but we couldn't be sure if she actually liked it or not!
We also let Hadley gnaw on a pretzel this month, though it's hard to tell whether she enjoyed it or not (the second time, she seemed to like it a bit more)!
Hadley went on her first trip to the shore this month (for Memorial Day), and then again with our friends from Daddy's work in mid-June. Aside from sleeping, she did a great job! She didn't mind her toes in the sand, but wasn't too sure of that cold water!
Haddy celebrated Daddy's first Father's Day this month, too! It was a really special day for Daddy, even though he spent much of it playing softball!

Hadley also said goodbye to her Great Grandpop Scholl this month. Although they never had the chance to meet (Hadley was just 2 weeks old when they had a party at the nursing home, celebrating his 99th birthday), Hadley will grow up hearing many stories of what a special person he was!

What will Hadley's 8th month bring?

Happy Half-Birthday, Hadley!

I can't believe I've been a mommy for half a year now! It almost seems impossible. I realize I did spend more than half of that time in a sleepless haze, but still. I'm glad I've journaled about her life every month because it just goes to show how time does fly by!

Hadley's sixth month continued to be another month of growth and change for our little girl! At her 6 month check-up, Hadley weighed 15 pounds exactly. She is 24 1/2 inches tall & her head circumference is 16 1/8 inches. This month, Hadley tried apples, bananas, peaches, green beans & apricots for the first time. She does not like apples or green beans, no matter how much we try to get her to eat them...she spits them right back out every time, but we'll keep trying. She will eat apples mixed with other fruits, though.

Mommy had a very special birthday of her own this month - her first birthday with Hadley! We went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse & Hadley wasn't such a good girl - she didn't want to sit in the high chair at all, so Grammy ended up taking her outside after she was finished eating - Hadley just wants to be on the move all the time!

Giving Mama lovin' on her birthday!

Hadley had a big milestone this month when, on May 7th, 2011, she rolled over from belly to back for the first time, and she hasn't stopped since. I guess that must have been her early Mother's Day gift to me! She still won't roll back to belly, but I think it's more a matter of her not wanting to, rather than not having the ability to do it. She hates being on her belly, so why would she willingly roll onto it, you know?

On Mother's Day, we went to Aunt Ellie's house for Katy's First Holy Communion. Haddy did great in church & finally met all of her cousins, aunts & uncles that she hadn't yet met. She also got a picture taken with all 11 of her cousins, so that was very special. On that day, Haddy used her big girl car seat for the very first time.

On Hadley's six-month birthday, she went to both the 3- and 4-year-old graduations at Mommy's preschool. It was so nice to visit with the children, parents, and co-workers one last time.

What an exciting month!

We had a cookout at MumMum & Pops's house - Haddy liked to chew on their cups!

Haddy even watched the Royal Wedding with Mama on April 29th!

Hadley's 5-month update

Hadley turned 5 months old about a week ago (I hate that I missed blogging about it right away, but things have been SO busy here!)! She is growing, growing, growing - up to about 14lb, 9oz now, with a head circumference of about 16 inches & a height of 24 inches! She is also gaining such a personality & is really a lot of fun to hang out with all day. Her favorite new toy is her Elmo's Super Boom Box from Aunt Jenna; Cookie Monster says, "Play it again!" - Daddy loves that, too! Hadley also makes "raspberries" with her lips from time to time & she laughed out loud this month when my family was up visiting from central PA.

Hadley has grown so much that she moved up ANOTHER size in diapers (up to size 3 now!) and her car seat is also on its biggest setting (we adjusted the waist and shoulder straps). We're hoping to get a few more months out of the infant seat, though she is getting too heavy to actually carry her in the seat when we go anywhere.

Hadley consistently uses her pacifier for naps now & she sleeps (at bedtime) with a little lovey blankie in her crib & her new crib aquarium. She is still in the swing for naps, which we're working on eliminating, but we also still have to swaddle her & bounce her to sleep for naps, so those ones might be tough to break!

Hadley also laughed this month when my family was visiting for her baptism!

Hadley had a lot of big events going on this month! She had her baptism on the 17th, which went very well. She looked like a little princess & didn't cry when she got the water sprinkled on her head. We had a nice brunch with all of our family and friends at Grammy & Granddad's house - we had a lot of visitors at our house that weekend since some of Mommy's family came in to visit: MumMum & Pops, Aunt Jenna, Aunt MaryAnne, Uncle Frank, Aunt Sandy & Tim.

The following weekend was Hadley's first Easter - she did GREAT on the trip up to MumMum & Pops's house, sleeping almost the entire way! While we were there, we got Hadley's picture taken to redeem a gift certificate that we received for her shower - the pics came out really cute, too. The trip home after Easter was not quite so smooth, as Hadley screamed for 45 minutes simply because she didn't want to be sitting in her car seat; fun times!

We also started Hadley on solids this month! It took her a couple weeks to get the hang of it, but now she eats like a champ - her favorites seem to be pears, bananas & carrots, though she seems to like everything we've given her so far (also squash & sweet potatoes). We started out with diluted rice cereal & she hasn't seemed to be a fan of that, but she does like it mixed in with her other solids.

Hadley's not a fan of rice cereal!

But she does seem to like it mixed with sweet potatoes!

Hadley also had two big events right after her 5-month-birthday, so I'll blog about them now otherwise I'll forget by the time the next (6 month???? REALLY?) update rolls around. First of all, a few days after her 5-month-birthday (right around Mommy's birthday), we started sleep training - she was still up EVERY THREE HOURS (or less) EVERY NIGHT and it was getting REALLY old for sleep-deprived Mommy. We knew that she didn't need to be eating, but we couldn't figure out why she was always up, as her gas issues seemed to have subsided for the most part. We finally realized that she just didn't know HOW to put herself back to sleep, since when she was up with gas, I would either nurse or just hold her to fall asleep because I felt so awful that she was in pain. With the exception of one night of crying for 3 hours (night #3), Hadley has done an awesome job! While she is still waking up almost as often, she is learning various self-soothing tactics to put herself back to sleep & has gone as much as 8 hours between feedings now! During the day, Hadley will stretch to about 4 hours between feedings, which is excellent!

We also had a visit to the pediatric GI specialist (which was scheduled a month and a half ago, when her gas issues were still really bad). We loved the doctor; he praised that I had continued breast feeding even though she had the gas issues, knowing that formula would not be more easily digested (though some people had suggested adding it in) & that I was planning on BFing for a year. He was really great in that he explained everything & did a lot of talking and questioning so that he could really get an in depth history of Hadley & her issues. In the end, he said she was a beautiful little girl and he couldn't rationalize ordering invasive tests on an otherwise healthy child, so that was that! Hopefully as she continues to grow, the gas issues will continue to lessen.

Overall, we had another great month! It just keeps getting better!