The Darling Dozen:Week by Week! Twelfth Week

It is pretty late. Anna is up again cluster feeding before she falls asleep. I feel like she may sleep for longer than seven hours because she has eaten so much this past hour. So I figured I might as well do my Darling Dozen post for today. This is the twelfth and last week of the Darling Dozen. I simply cannot believe that Anna is already twelve weeks old and that in a little over a week she will be a three month old. Wow! She is just so big and so ready to be bigger, I joke that she is twelve weeks going on twelve months! She is so determined to sit up and crawl and move around like her big brother! Its amazing!

So I have total mommy brain. Went to sub that art class yesterday and I expressed my excitement about finally having a birthday party tomorrow. My boss was instantly confused and after looking through our records, I realized that I was just crazy and had made up a fictional party in my head lol. No, my first birthday party is October sixth! Okay, so today we just have the Color me Rad meeting and then we will probably go to a park later with Kelsie and Kelton. We will see! By the way, art class was amazing! We made butterflies with coffee filters and pipe cleaners. Then we watercolored them and used salt to add a cool affect. I had alot of fun making my "Fall Butterflies" with the kids! It was great because Alan got to play at school too! Win for both of us!

Here is the last Darling Dozen!

Week: Twelfth Week

Weight: 9 pounds and 9 ounces

 

Height: 24 3/4 inches

 

Diaper Size: Only at Size One, and I believe that she will be there for some time still. They are very big on her little hips still!

 

Clothing Size: She is on her last week of Size N. I know that I said that last week but we were able to squeeze another week in there. Good too because I still want a picture of Alan and Anna in their baby shower shirts!

Eye Color: They are starting to look alot like Alan's light blue eyes. Very icy light blue yet still very welcoming and warm. I love how much alike my children are! And how much they are like me! :) Both of them have my eyes!

 

Hair Color: A dark redish auburn. I think it look nothing like my hair and is the shade of my mother's hair but I have heard several people say that it is the exact shade that mine is! I will have to check again lol!

 

This Week's Developments: Anna will begin to develop her vocal patterns, based on voices she hears around her. We are reccommended to read and talk alot around her so that she will develop an ear for the spoken laungage.

 

New Achievements This Week: Anna now will not let you hold her laying on her side, unless she is asleep or nursing. She needs to be upright and looking around. If you sit her on your lap, she will do what we call "baby crunches," where she pulls her head forward and contracts her abs, pulling herself to a curved sitting position where she supports herself. It is a little obnoxious, mostly because it is so hard to hold her that way but I allow her to practice. Next week for the Bumbo chair! She also moves all over the play mat now, on her belly or back! She is such a mover, it reminds me of Alan.

Breastfeeding: I am so very thankful that I found this blog post on my breastfeeding support group on Facebook this week! I no longer will stress about only pumping an ounce or so. I will no longer have such high expectations for pumping! Oh how liberating this is! :D Currently, my freezer stash is very good. I have about twelve ounces in there right now, which is not alot but is just the right amount for how much I work. I am so glad! As for Anna, she nurses every two to three hours for about ten to fifteen minutes (she picked up the extra five minutes this week, think she might be growth spurting) in the daytime. As for at night, she lets me sleep for about five to seven hours before needing to eat, and then will eat for about fifteen to twenty minutes. Not too shabby and she is definitely growing! I was thinking how awesome it is that I am the only thing feeding her, helping her grow. What a special bond that gives her and I. I love it so! How amazing breastfeeding is!

 

Colic: No colic here! Just very particular and insistent babies who only cry when they need something or are bored with the view. Yes, she is already getting bored with her views lol. What?!?!

 

Differences This Time Around: I thought Alan was a fast developer but Anna seems to be hitting each milestone a week earlier than he did! I credit alot of that to the fact that Alan is around, he is her big brother so she admires him and wants to do what he does. But she just seems to want to do everything earlier than he did, and I thought he did things early! It is just crazy to me!

 

Sleep: Sleep has been horrible for everyone this week, but this is not at all Anna's fault. I am pretty sure that the three of us (Lon, Alan and I) have caught some sort of cold. Alan is up all night coughing, so we have had everyone in our bedroom this week. Lon cannot breathe either and he needs to get up often at night to blow his nose, waking me up everytime. I do not blame him, I am a light sleeper. I just hope this cold is kicked soon! As a family, we do not take medicine but we are all trying several natural remedies and of course our best bud, the humidifier.

This is what happens when you are up all night!

 

Anna's Personality: Anna is one of the most loving little girls ever! I can just see it in her eyes when she looks at Alan, Lon or I. There is so much love for us in her heart, I cannot believe it! I know that before I said I was not fully sure but now I am. When she looks at me, her eyes say, "I love you Mama. I trust you to take care of me fully." Ooooh I just love her so much!

 

Places Anna has Been: Children's Clinic, Walmart, Albertson's, Grandma Melanie's house, Grandma Amber's house, Village Inn, 5Star MMA, Pioneer Park, Applebee's, Rimrock Mall, Scheel's, Victoria's Secret, Oasis Waterpark, Geyser Park, North Park, YMCA, Metra Park, Texas Roadhouse, Norm's Island, Pioneer Park, Chuck E. Cheeses, Salad Creations, U-Do Yogurt, Vanity, Rue 21, Maurice's, JCPenney's, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Denny's, Zoo Montana, Altana Federal Credit Union, Stuart Park and Legacy Dental

 

Bathing: We have added another actual bathtime to her routine, with only five washcloth baths scattered throughout the week. We also got a bath sponge, similar to the Blooming Bath Flower I mentioned last week but not as expensive. Haha! :) It makes her alot happier during bathtime because she is not in water, she is on a sponge. So much easier for us! We might start just doing that daily!

 

Best Moment This Week: Anna talking with the dental hygienist and the doctor on Tuesday and also Anna watching Alan play in the leaves last night at my parent's house (post to come next week).

 

Alan showing me how Anna plays!

How's Mama: Feeling sick but otherwise okay. I am defintiely looking forward to today and tomorrow, where I can get some help from my mother and family and hopefully Lon, if he does not have to work, and getting a little bit of a break. Last night was awesome. I will tell more next week but I enjoyed getting to spend quality time with just Alan and he showed me something really awesome! I am so proud!

 

How's Big Brother: Alan is doing good. He is sick as well, which has made this week a little hard for him in the big brother department. His biggest challenge? Not kissing Anna on the face or sucking her paci off like Mama and Daddy do. We have to keep reminding him to keep his distance because he is sick, and he is doing good with it, he just gets sad when we tell him. But he understands that it is only temporary. I am also super proud of him for being so brave at the dentist this week! He did so great that he deserves another park date! Like today lol!

 

How's Daddy: I think Lon had been hit the hardest, only because he gets very little sleep. He is still working just as hard and thankfully yesterday he was able to come home and relax for an hour without children because I went to teach. I hope he has most of today off and all of tomorrow off so he gets more of a break! He needs to recover from this cold!