12 Month Appointment (updated)

Update 2.13.09: Apparently Juliana has roseola. At her appointment Dr. Sarah mentioned that roseola was possibility. Roseola is characterized by high fever with few other symptoms. With roseola you break out in a rash about 12-24 hours after the fever breaks. Sure enough... the fever broke last night and the spots came on today. The rash isn't bothersome and it means she is pretty much over it. As of tomorrow she shouldn't even be contagious.

We had Juliana's 12 month appointment this morning. Actually, it was her 12 month appointment plus "lets check out this really high fever she's been running."

Juliana seems to have gotten the virus I had last week. High fever (up to 103 degrees) and no other real symptoms (besides being crabby, clingy and fussy... just like I was last week. Ha!) Dr. Sarah said there have been some viruses like that going around. We'll need to call again tomorrow if she is still way up there, but mostly Tylenol has been pretty effective in keeping the fever in check.

As for the regular 12 month stuff... Juliana is doing awesome developmentally. Her iron levels are great (no anemia.) She weighed 22lbs and 13oz. which puts her in the 75th percentile for weight. She is 31" so that puts her in the 90th percentile for height. I went to check out Gabriella's baby book to see how that compared with Gabriella at 12 months only to find that Gabriella didn't have a timely 12 month appointment. We were in the middle of a 2,000 mile move so that one kinda fell by the wayside. Oops.

Juliana 10 Month Update

At 10 months old Juliana Jayne...

-Has added "nigh nigh" and "baby" to her vocabulary list. I wouldn't say she is doing "sentences," but she has played a bit with stringing some words together like "baby... no... nigh nigh!"

-Is getting pretty good at standing unsupported. She usually won't stand on her own for much longer than 30 seconds or so, but she is very good at lowering herself back down to the ground.

-Is starting to be aware of strangers. She will no longer go to just anyone.

-Loves her stuffed penguin and penguins in general. If you know Jonathan and have seen his penguin collection you might assume it was a bit of brainwashing, but she LOVED her stuffed penguin from the moment she saw it. When she goes into Jonathan's office she is just mesmerized by all of Daddy's "penguin toys." She probably likes the contrast.

The picture at the top of this post was taken a couple weeks ago. I attempted to feed Juliana some yam puree, but she wasn't feeling too interested. I took her out of the high chair and went to clean Gabriella up from her lunch. When I finished I found Juliana underneath the table eating fistfulls/finger painting the floor with yams. She had been able to reach up to the tabletop to pilfer them. Evidently yams are much more exciting to eat underneath the table in secret.

Juliana's 9 Month Update

At nine months old Juliana Jayne...

• Has lived as long on "the outside" as she lived on "the inside."

• Weighs 22lbs and is 29 1/4"! That puts her in the 90th percentile for weight, the 95th for height. I can't remember her head circumference, but that was 90th percentile as well. She is very proportional :)

• Is enjoying some finger foods. She has tried a variety of fruits and veggies and so far thinks they are all fine, but isn't the biggest fan of purees. She really loves bananas. We just hand her half a banana and she goes to town on it.We recently gave her Gerber puffs (which she loved.) We were glad that went well because wheat is a major allergen (one of the few allergens she will get to try before her first birthday.) The other day we gave her some teeny tiny pieces of soft chicken. She thought that was pretty exciting.

• Loves to be standing. She pulls up on everything!

• Cruises along the couch a bit.

• Pushes Gabriella's little white chairs around using them like a walker.

• Hates diaper changes.

• Has added "Uh-Oh" to her vocabulary. She especially likes to throw things on the floor and anounce "Uh-Oh!" and look at your endearingly until you retrieve it.

• Often "parrots" words back to us. I've noticed that she mimics Jonathan more than she mimics me.

Juliana's 9 month check up with Dr. Sarah went well today. Juliana is doing quite fabulously. She is quite the big girl (as mentioned above.) She is no longer reacting to any foods via breastmilk and her reflux seems to have improved. As far as the yucky colds/viruses that our house has been battling for awhile Juliana has probably faired the best. Dr. Sarah was impressed with Juliana developmentally as well. She may have even made a comment about "having two brilliant kids."

Juliana's 8 Month Update

At 8 Months Juliana Jayne...

• Wears mostly 12 month size clothes. 6-12 tops fit fine, 6-12 pants are too snug with a cloth diaper. 6-12 onesies don't work well at all.


• Enjoys eating. She has tried sweet potatos, carrots, peas and pears and she likes them all. She also really likes chewing on cold grapes in her mesh feeder. We're still taking food introduction pretty slowly per our allergist and our pediatrician.


• Has quite the interesting "crawl" It isn't hands and knees crawling and it isn't really army crawling. I guess I'll have to get a video clip. It looks more like swimming.


• Has several words: Mama, Dada (she also says Dad), Nuh Nuh (nurse), No and my favorite... El-la-la (Gabriella)


• Loves toys. She is really into Little People right now. She likes the castle and she really likes Noah's Ark. We fill the Ark up with the animals and she fishes them out one by one, carefully inspecting them as she goes.

Juliana 7 Month Update

At 7 Months Juliana Jayne...

• Has her first tooth! It is on the bottom left. We first noticed it Friday. Jonathan was letting her chew on his finger and he exclaimed "Hey Hon, our baby has a tooth!" I was so surprised. With Gabriella's first tooth there was a big swollen bump and it seemed like it took forever to come in. Juliana has had a few teething symptoms, but generally her first tooth popped all the way through without much ado.
• Says "Mama" "Dada" "Nuh Nuh" (nurse) and "Hi".
• Still isn't a super steady sitter. She'll sit on her own for awhile, but her first objective is always to get down to the floor where she can move. Sitting=Stuck and that does not go over well.
• Army crawls to get where she wants, but she is starting to raise on hands and knees and has taken a few "steps" that way.
• Has tried sweet potatoes and bananas, but we're on the slow track for food introduction.

Juliana- 6 month update

My baby is six months old today. That means she is halfway to her first birthday. She is half way done with her year of babyhood. It is always a little sad to think about how FAST your children grow up, but Juliana is so much fun now that I just continue to be excited to watch her grow.

At six months Juliana Jayne…

-is transitioning to 6-12 month clothes
-has gained all of her cute baby chub from breastmilk. She has never had a drop of formula. We’ll be trying out some solids soon.
-says “Dada” and “Nuh nuh”
-army crawls a bit, but she has yet to really take off.
-doesn’t sit by herself yet. When I hold her in a sitting position on the floor she either arches her back to slide onto her back or dives forward. Her main goal is to be on the floor where she can move.
-seems to be teething, but it doesn’t seem like any teeth are close to surfacing.

Juliana- 5 Month Update

At 5 Months Juliana Jayne...

-wears 6-9 month sleepers, onesies and one some one piece rompers. The rest of her clothing is still 3-6 months. She has completely outgrown the last of the 0-3 month things she was wearing. Where did my tiny baby go?

-likes to suck on her three middle fingers, but sometimes she gets a bit overenthusiastic and ends up gagging herself.

-loves toys.

-thinks it is funny when her sister gets in trouble. How on earth did that start so early? I have no idea why watching Gabriella get a time out is hilarious. Should I be worried for the future of these sisters?

-goes to sleep pretty easily without nursing to sleep. Gabriella nursed to sleep for a long time. It didn’t really bother me that Gabriella always nursed to sleep, but it is nice that Juliana is so easy to put down without it. It makes it easier on Jonathan if I need to be gone at bedtime.

-is still all about exploring the world with her mouth. We call her " Droolie Julie" sometimes.

-likes standing better than sitting. She can't do either without support yet, but she can stand while holding onto something for very short periods of time. She just isn't very interested in sitting, she would rather be on the floor where she can roll and scoot to get at what she wants.

-has a meltingly sweet smile.

Juliana- 4 Month Update

At four months old Juliana Jayne...

-is wearing 3-6 month sleepers and onesies and 0-3 month pants

-gives smiles freely

-is not a fan of wet diapers (does this mean she'll potty train easier than Gabriella? One can hope.)

-has outgrown her newborn size shoes

-is generally a very happy girl

-blows bubbles all the time

-has added some chub to her thighs. I'm sure she has jumped some percentiles since her two month visit, but her 4 month appointment isn't until next week so we'll have to see then. I'm pretty sure she is still smaller than Gabriella was at 4 months.

-manages a little bit of mobility via rolling (both ways), squirming and some scooting.

-loves it when Mama sings (I know she is in the minority on that one.)

Juliana- 3 Month Update

At three Months Juliana Jayne…

-has finally outgrown all her newborn sized clothes! I didn’t have many newborn sized things so she has been in mostly 0-3 for quite awhile, but I can’t believe how long she ended up using those newborn things! She outgrew the one pieces awhile back, but I just put the two piece outfits and onesies away a few days ago. Truthfully, she could still wear the knit pants quite well, but I didn’t have anything in 0-3 to go with them so I put them away anyhow. A few of her 0-3 months onesies are already getting a bit small in length, but 0-3 pants are still a bit big. I went ahead and brought out the 3-6 month sleepers because I only had a couple 0-3 sleepers and was getting tired of running out of clean ones all the time.

-has recently gained some good head control.

-loves to eat her hands. Gabriella just wasn’t very oral. She had a binky, but she never really sucked her hands or fingers and she never put things (even teething toys) into her mouth. I don’t think this will be true of Juliana at all!

-loves to play with blankets. She likes to feel them, she likes playing peek-a-boo with them. She also likes to eat them of course.

-is still a very smiley girl. Even when she is fussy from reflux or some other baby ailment we can often get her to smile at us through the crying

-is quite talkative. She has added more consonant sounds like “buh” and “duh”

-has an amazing bond with Gabriella. I knew Juliana would really adore watching her big sister, but I didn’t know it would start so soon.

-is sleeping pretty well. She dozes in the evenings until I go to bed and swaddle her and put her in the bedside co-sleeper. She’ll usually do a 6 (sometimes 7) hour stretch at that point and then a 2-3 hours stretch and then doze until Gabriella gets up and demands her plain whole grain waffle and turkey sausage.

-loves to perform what can best be described as a “semi-reclining river dance” in her bouncy seat to make the thing bounce like crazy.

Two Months

Juliana turned two months old on Tuesday and she had her two month pediatrician appointment today. Here are her stats....

Head Circumference: 38cm (16th percentile)
Length: 22.5 inches (34th percentile)
Weight: 9lbs 3oz (5th percentile)

So she is still a tiny thing, but making gains now that I've adjusted my diet to exclude the common allergens. Eventually we'll figure out exactly what she wasn't tolerating, but for now she is healthy and happy.

We talked to the ped about her reflux since the dietary changes haven't seemed to help that at all. It isn't a huge surprise that she has reflux troubles since I have reflux and so does my Dad and sister etc... the ped started her on Axid two times a day. Hopefully that will help her be more comfortable.

I also had a long talk with the ped about vaccinations. I was really nervous to give Juliana the five vaccinations she was lined up for today considering she is just now finishing healing from the food protein allergy related colitis. In plain words, her poop just got back to normal and I didn't want to shoot her up with goodness knows what (really, you should never read a vaccination ingredient list). I had done some research beforehand and I was very concerned with the potential for allergic reactions to vaccinations given that my kids apparently like to be allergic to things. Anyhow, the ped was so great about talking this through with me. As a breastfed baby that doesn't go to daycare Juliana is at pretty low risk for contagious diseases at the moment. Our doctor pointed out the three vaccinations that she thought were most important so we are starting with those and only administering them one at a time for now. That way, if she has an adverse reaction we'll know exactly what it was. Things like Hep B can wait a bit. I'm pretty sure we have awhile before she starts becoming promiscuous or using intravenous drugs. Did I mention that I LOVE our pediatrician? "Dr. Sarah" is so wonderful and talking to her about vaccinations really proved that she is willing to work to treat our children according to their individual needs.

Dr. Sarah noted today that Juliana is a strong little girly. While was checking Juliana for developmental milestones she put her on her tummy on the exam table. Juliana of course started pulling her legs up to her tummy and digging her toes in so she could attempt to scoot herself across the table. Dr. Sarah looked at her and said, "If you are crawling before I see you at four months I am going to cry for your parents." Should I be concerned by that? With the second one you aren't exactly quite so enthusiastic for them to gain mobility. I'll admit I was a bit wary when Juliana starting rolling over from tummy to back at three weeks, but when your pediatrician says "This one will be your mover" you start to envision a very busy future for yourself.

Juliana is smiling and cooing now. She is very interested in this business of talking. She watches our lips very intently and then tries so hard to move her mouth the same way. Eventually she'll get some good noises out and be rather pleased with herself.

It is hard to tell in pictures, but Juliana's hair is a rather strawberry blond color, with more or less gold/red tones depending on the light. The last few days I've been asked several times, "So where does she get the red hair from?" I wouldn't call it red myself, but I do love her hair color (which could certainly be subject to change at any time.) I assumed the blond was from Jonathan, but it does seem to be a different tone than his in his baby pictures. Jonathan's biological grandmother has strawberry blond hair, so maybe Juliana will get to keep her pretty hair color. Right now we joke that it is our Scottish roots coming out in her (Jonathan's maternal biological family has some Scottish ancestry and now that my brother has taken up genealogy he has discovered a lot of Scottish ties in our family as well.)

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