12 months

Merritt! You are twelve months old!

and I'm way too late on this post!

We say this every month, but you are incredibly busy! You are much like your sister and always moving, more in fact. We didn't think it was possible, but you make Hartley look calm.

I guess that's how twelve months have flown by and you are now ONE! And since I can't keep up with anything these days, you are one and a few weeks… Oops.

We managed to avoid hospitalizations for your first year. Goal number one- check. You only had 2 rounds of antibiotics. You've had a full year of enzymes and almost a full year of breathing treatments (we started those at 1 month). It's funny the things that are milestones for you compared to other babies. But this is the norm for us. :)

Waiting at MCG to see your CF Team

As of your first birthday, you haven't started walking but you squat and stand up unassisted frequently. And you try your hardest to climb onto things. You are a mover and a shaker and you never stop!

You have 7 teeth! Most people only notice the 3 on the bottom, but you've got 4 more up top. You give silly grins just like Hartley did at this age. And you like to bite..

You're starting to get little curls in the back. They really stand out when you apply your own hair products- yogurt, applesauce, whatever puree we're feeding you. Your favorite is yogurt. I love taking pictures of your hair, it's wild just like you. Bedhead has never looked cuter!

You wear 6-9 month clothes and mostly 9-12 month pjs. You have a pair of jorts that I bought last summer for you to wear. Size 0-3 months. You are finally wearing them now. Since the weather is still deciding which season it is, it's so hard to dress you! You have very limited options in both seasons! You still wear a size 2 diaper and hover around 16lb.

We've been working diligently with your feedings. After your monthly CF visit we decided to try feeding therapy. Or feeding theferapy as Hartley calls it. On your initial evaluation visit, the speech therapist offered a different spoon to try. It's basically a flat spoon, without much curvature to it. And you took it! You opened your mouth and kept food in! Before you were refusing spoons and spitting out food as soon as it hit your tongue and we were syringe feeding you. We graduated from the flat spoon and you were completely fine taking food your old spoons! We had a few good weeks without any issues and you were consuming great amounts of calories. But then you decided to become difficult and start pocketing food in your mouth like a chipmunk. This is what we're working on now.

Waiting to see Ms. Caroline for feeding therapy

You say/we understand the following words: dada, dog/doggie, hi/hey, hot, and grandada. Not many words but I can tell you are definitely picking up on things. There's also a lot of pointing and "dis." You sign "more" and "all done." I rarely hear "mama." It's always dada this, dada that. Hi dada, as you hold your hand or a phone to your ear. You are always so excited to see him and point out all his pictures. But nothing about mama.. Thanks a lot.

Tupperware is your absolute favorite toy. We trip over containers and lids all day long. I don't know why I bother putting everything back in the cabinet because you are immediately back in there, pulling everything out. You also like to do this with your neatly stacked books.

You love wagon rides, especially with Daddy because he goes really fast! We've been going around the neighborhood in the evenings and you are completely content, holding on to the sides, watching everything around you.

This past year was the toughest yet, but it has also been a joy as we've watched you grow and learn. I feared a lot for you this first year. But you've shown us that you are strong, fierce, and determined. Much like your big sister. You will continue to teach us about life. To appreciate the little milestones as much as the big ones. To take it one day at a time, one meal at a time. :)

It's funny. Hartley never preferred us rocking her to sleep, but we've never let a day go by without rocking you and watching you fall asleep in our arms. You two are so similar, but I'm so thankful for the differences. You love to be held, snuggled, and rocked. You also poop in the tub way more than Hartley ever did...

Happy (belated) First Birthday, Merritt!!

11 months

Merritt! You are eleven months old!

You are not almost one. Nope.

I love how last month was the "game changer." This month was another "game changer." As in, you had a cough the whole time. You hated eating. You hated drinking. You lost weight.

But.

You are such a fighter. Despite all the terrible days we had, you were so joyful. You hit multiple milestones. You surprised us with so many new things. You kept us laughing and shaking our heads with how crazy you are.

This past month, you became obsessed with the dogs. You started barking (a soft woof) and say dah for dog. Most noticeably, I started opening the blinds in your room after breathing treatments so we could look outside at the dogs in the backyard. When you woke up during/after breathing treatments, you immediately started barking and standing up to reach the curtains to open them and see the dogs. You absolutely love dogs! You don't play with them much, but you love looking and barking at them. You also have a dog book that you get pretty excited about.

You have been standing up on your own a lot lately. We're pretty sure you will be walking soon! Then you'll be running around with Hartley. You LOVE your sister! You are always with her, playing along side and dancing when she sings. You love taking baths with her! We never baby proofed anything with Hartley, but we have to watch out with you. You are constantly getting into stuff- drawers, cabinets, toilets, dishwasher, dog bowls. Your new favorite is emptying out the tupperware cabinet and then climbing in.

You started saying dada and, unfortunately, grandada. Sometimes we hear bye bye, but more waving than talking. Daddy says you have tried to say "all done" at meals, but I have never heard it. I think I've heard you say "good job" though! You started signing "more" and "all done" but I haven't seen them in a while since you started clapping. We cheer for you a lot, especially during meals!

Speaking of meals.. We had a rough month. We were talking back and forth with your CF team initially about your stools, which turned into them not being pleased with your eating habits or lack thereof. You were finger feeding yourself various crackers for the most part. We dropped spoon feeding you months ago because you fought it and we just assumed you would rather feed yourself. Your dietician was concerned about developmental issues, that you may have not learned how to properly manipulate your tongue/mouth to eat, so she wanted us to start completely over with solids. We were to begin again with baby cereals for a few weeks and then move to stage 1, stage 2, etc. After over a week of lots of crying and frustration, we knew the spoon was not going to work. Again. We began offering straws to squeeze it in your mouth and eventually found syringes worked best! There's clearly something going on when food hits the tip of your tongue- you immediately push it out. However, if we can syringe it in the cheek of your mouth you actually keep it in.

While all this was going on, you began completely refusing all spoons. Even the spoonfuls of applesauce with your enzymes. You would fight, arch, swat, spit it out- you name it, you were not accepting it. So I did something crazy and offered you enzymes still in the capsules. And guess what! You took them. Like it was no big deal. You are a pro! We have to make sure you swallow it with the first sip, otherwise you like to crush the capsule and play with it in your mouth.

You transitioned to a sippy cup wonderfully! You prefer your "milk" cold. We started adding heavy whipping cream (100calories/oz) to your bottles. It took a few weeks to figure out much you could tolerate, especially after multiple projectile vomiting episodes. We've found a good cocktail, 6.5oz formula + .5oz heavy whipping cream + 1/8tsp salt. You take about 3oz per meal/snack. Each ounce has 32.2 calories. :) We do lots of computing every day to see how many calories you are consuming. You require 900-1000 calories a day to keep up with the extra energy it takes for breathing.

Unfortunately you are not meeting those calories and your weight has dropped. We are heavily considering a feeding tube. It would help your weight, but also take a lot of stress off all of us. I'm working on finishing this monthly update before you turn 11 months tomorrow, since we are scheduled to see your CF team and see what's going on with your cough and eating issues. We're expecting your first "tune up" unfortunately. It's not what we would like for a very energetic baby like you, being confined to a hospital room for at least a week, but if IV antibiotics will help clear your lungs out then we need to.

Merritt, the past 11 months have flown by! We can't believe you're almost one! You are growing up so fast, even though you're still so tiny! You have a fierce personality just like your big sister and I see lots of entertainment and mischief from you two in the future!

10 months

Merritt! Are you really ten months old?!

This past month was a game changer, thankfully. We transitioned into two naps a day and things have been going smoother. Prior to the change, you were taking three 45-minute naps, with a bottle right as you fell asleep. We were having a difficult time, 1. getting you to take a bottle; and 2. taking a good nap.

You wake up in the morning around 8:30am (if I'm disciplined I'll get a breathing treatment in before you wake up, Daddy is always good about this on his days off). You eat breakfast and play until 10:30/11am. You are then wrapped in your swaddle blanket with one hand poking through the middle so you can hold your blanket. Hopefully you start drinking from your bottle before you fall asleep and then finish once you drift off. Ideally you take 8oz of 27cal formula, sometimes more or less.

You take a wonderfully amazing TWO HOUR nap usually. After waking up we eat lunch and let you play. During the week we pick up Hartley from school at this time. Now we aren't interrupting naps! Once we arrive back home you play if you're still happy. If not, it's time for your second nap around 3/3:30pm. We do our routine and hopefully you take another big bottle.

You tend to take a shorter second nap and are awake around 5pm. We play play play! And then we eat dinner, take a bath, and get ready for bed and your last bottle. You and Hartley both are ready for bed at 8pm. You take a while to rock and give you your last bottle. Sometimes it's after 9pm before you actually are asleep, the bottle is finished, and you're placed in the crib.

I can finally say it feels so good to have a routine that works. We were becoming increasingly frustrated with you and your lack of naps and bottles. Days don't always go as smoothly as we would like, but they are consistently better than before. And we can tell that you've been consuming more calories because you are 15.5lb!

Ideally you will take 24oz of formula a day. We've also started you on goat milk. You might have 1-2oz throughout the day with meals. You should be getting 1/4 teaspoon of salt per day, but some days we just don't get it all in. We still add it to your bottles, it helps now they're larger and the salt is more diluted. We no longer put vitamins in your bottles. We syringe them in your mouth and then get you in the tub with Hartley. You love baths!

Your personality is really coming out. You are so silly and love interacting with us. We've been working on "no touch" with the fireplace since you started crawling and you finally understand. You get close to it, turn and look at me, and shake your head no. All with a sweet smile. You wave, especially at yourself in the mirror, stick out your tongue, blow raspberries, and snuff your nose. "Mamamama" and "ba" and "pa" are the only things you babble. You're pretty quiet!

You are always on the move! The only time you are still is first thing in the mornings when we sit on the couch and watch news/talk shows. You are an efficient crawler so I think walking might be on hold. You have, however, started cruising along the couch and shifting from the coffee table to the couch. You are quick and we have to keep an eye on you, especially at Mema's and near the bathroom and dishwasher. You are figuring out doors and how to move them.

You and Hartley adore one another, still. You get so excited when we pick her up from school. You love playing with her and crawling after her.

Soon we will be planning your first birthday! The past 10 months have flown by! You are a crazy little girl and we love how much you love life!

9 months

Merritt Moore! You are 

nine months old!

Hopefully I can remember all the details for this past month. It was exhausting as you battled RSV and Daddy had the flu!

You are a crawling machine! You're getting so fast and love exploring the house. Your favorite places to go are: near the fireplace, the bathroom, and the backdoor. You also love getting down low and looking under Hartley's dresser, the fridge, and the oven. You put everything in your mouth and I have only found aluminum foil in your stools. So far…

Standing and bouncing is a favorite. We hear you shaking your crib rails often, sometimes at night when you should be sleeping. You enjoy standing on the couch and looking over the back of it as Hartley plays peek-a-boo with you. You are finally sitting up. It took longer than we expected, but you literally would not sit still long enough to work on it.

No words yet. No interest in pausing to learn how to talk anyway. And Hartley talks plenty for us all. :)

Hartley. She's your favorite. You have your independent side, but you love being wherever Hartley is. Individually you are each a handful. Together.. well, it's exhausting.

You absolutely love solids! You've become pretty good at finger feeding yourself and refuse being spoon-fed sometimes. You use both hands, but I see a little preference toward your right hand. I'm kinda disappointed you might not be lefty! You tend to eat whatever we eat. You love cheerios and I add calories to them by smearing coconut oil or cream cheese on them. Bottles are hit or miss. Mainly miss. It's a huge source of frustration for your Daddy and I. Some days we just want to give in and sign you up for a feeding tube. We're not there yet.

You hovered around 14.5lb the entire month. Your appetite diminished while you were sick and it was very difficult to get you back to taking in enough ounces and calories. We track all your feedings on a chart posted on the fridge. It helps keep up with other medicines (antibiotics, Tylenol) you've taken, as well as if/when you were given vitamins and salt. There's probably an app but this chick is old school.

Before you got sick, you were taking 25-30oz of 24cal formula, getting in 600-720 calories from bottles. That was a good goal and we were seeing some great results! Since the appetite decline, we went up to 27cal formula to help cover the lost ounces. We go through lots of cans of formula since we concentrate it so much. Fortunately, Creon (enzymes) provide nutritional assistance and send 4 cans per month. We go through one can in a few days.

At your 9 month check up (12-30), you weighed 15lb 1.5oz and 27.25 inches long. You were almost getting into size 6-9month clothes but your weight gain ceased. So, still 3-6 month clothes and size 2 disposable diapers. I don't think I'll ever get around to using cloth. :(

I think we can also contribute lack of weight gain to your energy. Good grief, child. Please slow down with the crawling. Stay in one room. Quit climbing onto anything within half a foot off the ground. Conserve your energy!!

You've become somewhat of a cuddler. First thing in the morning we sit on the couch and watch news/talk shows together. You're a big fan of Michael. :)

You take 3 naps a day, usually 45 minutes. Some days you impress us and sleep longer. Those are usually the days I anticipate you taking a short nap and plan to go somewhere. We can usually rock you back to sleep and do breathing treatments during the second half of naps. It's amazing when you sleep through treatments! If you're awake, you are so squirmy! Most of the time you are trying to climb up the curtains behind the glider.

We didn't get many pictures in this past month, but the above picture is what we see the most. You have the cutest, scrunchy-eyed grin! :) We always see your two bottom teeth, but not the FOUR up top!

Merritt, please calm down in the next few months. You were supposed to be our calm one, not make Hartley look calm...

8 months

Merritt, you are eight months old!

courtesy of Brittany McCool Photo

It's amazing the difference just a week or two makes. You were getting up on your knees and rocking for a few weeks, trying to figure out how to work your arms. Then one night you decided you could crawl! You have been crawling everywhere since! For some reason you really love going into the bathroom and trying to play with the fireplace. We're working on "no touch" right now. We get lots of smiles when we say this..

courtesy of Brittany McCool Photo

You gained another tooth. That makes 2 and I think I see an upper one making it's way. You started wearing an amber teething necklace and hopefully that is helping you. It seems that both you and Hartley are terrible teethers.

FBC Fall Festival

It was a difficult decision to make, but I stopped pumping milk for you. With everything going on in our schedules, I wasn't having enough opportunities to sit down and pump. I wasn't getting much milk and I always felt like I could get other things accomplished while I was pumping. I hate that my expectations weren't met and we didn't make it to a year. But you received my wonderful antibodies for almost 8 months and I've still got some frozen bags in the freezer and can continue to give you a bottle of good ole mommy milk.

Ballerina for Halloween

You're getting better about taking a bottle. The past almost 2 months you were very fussy for bottles. Now you actually take some while we rock you to sleep and then I finish the bottle after you fall asleep. We chart your feedings and like to get in 25-30 ounces a day. We're already counting calories for you!

At your CF check up, you weighed in at 14lb 5oz! Your higher calorie bottles have definitely helped and I'm sorry we didn't start those sooner. You are also loving solids! You will try anything and like most everything. I've only made sweet potatoes for you but for the most part you eat what we eat in teeny tiny bites- green beans, buttered toast, grits, biscuits, pasta, peas, chicken and rice, Ritz, banana. You love yogurt! You still take 2 Creon 6000s per meal. Size 3-6 month clothes are getting a little short but those 6-9m seem so big! You still wear size 2 diapers and I have yet to start cloth diapering… Haha

Kneeling at first

Then standing the next day..

You love playing peek-a-boo, chasing Hartley (we carry you and run after her), making us make silly noises, and smacking your hands on everything (faces included). You give kisses to your Mema and Grandmommie mainly. You also started snuffing your nose. It's crazy how much you remind us of Hartley when she was your age.

We definitely have our hands full with you. We have to keep an eye on you because you are everywhere and get into everything! Already! Your personality is emerging and you are silly and so sweet. But I also see an independent side, too. You love roaming and exploring by yourself. You also love to turn yourself around to look out when being held.

You are changing daily and seem to be at a learning stage. We think you can wave and to get our attention you say "hey" or something like that. :)

 I take more videos than pictures to capture your sweet moments.. so here's a video overload!

This is your "hey" and waving. You like the raspberry sound I make, but it kinda looks like you're pooting. Haha!

Your turn to blow raspberries! 

Your first real crawls! You love our phones!

We can't believe you're already 8 months old! Time has flown by and you are growing up so fast before our eyes! We have our rough days often but you are such a sweet stage and we love watching you learn something new everyday!

7 months

Merritt! You are seven months old!

The past few months have become progressively harder with you. You may be one of the happiest babies ever, but you are quite demanding!

You are in progress of hitting multiple milestones- you are wanting to crawl and sit up so badly! You are always getting up on your knees and rocking, and sometimes you'll army crawl. If you're awake during chest percussions, you are trying to sit up the whole time. It makes percussions very difficult and frustrating. But you're so happy!

You've gotten 1 tooth! You worked really hard on it! We decided to try an amber teething necklace to see if it would help with pain. I'm not sure if it was a coincidence or what, but the day we got it, you took a 3 hour nap and woke up with a tooth!

The past month was a rough one. Your 6-month shots were miserable. You were achy and feverish from them, then you went straight into hardcore teething. Unfortunately your stools were very runny, which gave you awful diaper rash! We just couldn't get a break. :(

While everything has calmed down, you gained some new habits. With the teething pain, you would refuse bottles. The last thing we want for you is to lose weight. Every ounce is important for you. The only way we could get you to take a bottle was by feeding you while you were asleep. This has unfortunately continued. Because you weren't getting as many ounces in during the day you started waking up more during the night, too. Daddy kindly takes the night shifts. :)

You haven't nursed in weeks with all the fussiness, instead I've been pumping full-time. It's not ideal nor what I imagined our breastfeeding journey to look like, but we gotta do what we gotta do! You mostly receive momma's milk and then we supplement 2 bottles a day with a higher calorie formula. Adding the supplemental bottles helps me not stress out when I don't have enough milk for you, which was happening a lot.

You have moved up to 3-6 months size clothes and size 2 diapers. You are hovering between 13-13.5lb. Still tiny but so strong! You are the wiggliest baby ever! I would say you burn a lot of calories from all your moving. :)

We still swaddle you and I don't think we will be dropping that anytime soon. I've read that CF babies are more restless and we see that with you. You also pull your pacifier out continuously if your arms are free. And you grunt and moan yourself to sleep (while we are rocking you..). Most people think it's funny/cute, but it is SO loud!

We started solids briefly, then the whole miserable few weeks happened. When we initially introduced them, you weren't too sure and would push food out with your tongue. After a few weeks and everything was back to normal, you decided you were ready! I haven't had much time to make you any food (sorry.. you're the second child..) so you've mainly had yogurt and oatmeal combined. You love it though! We have to be careful if we hold you while we're eating because you are lunging and grabbing for everything! Much like Hartley, you will try anything.

We have a surprisingly busy schedule and so it's difficult to actually have enough time to sit you down to offer solids and have enough time for a bottle. I would like to be more consistent with this, especially since you require more calories. And you will gladly take yogurt over a bottle. :)

Mornings are time consuming, especially when we have places to be. You consistently start stirring around 8:15. I'll start breathing treatments then and can get you back to sleep. Usually you'll sleep through chest percussions and maybe even continue for another 30 minutes once we're finished. If you're asleep I'll either pump or take a shower. You're not very interested in a bottle in the morning, so figuring out when to give enzymes and offer milk is tricky. Enzymes are effective for an hour, so we usually let you play a little and then give enzymes and try to feed you.

You take 3 naps a day, still on the shorter 45-minute side. Sometimes we can rock you back to sleep. At least you sleep pretty well at night in your crib. I'll leave it at that. :)

We took two trips to two different beaches! We went to St. Simons to visit Daddy's aunt and uncle and attend a CF event with them. We didn't get you to the beach then because it was around the rough/teething/diaper rash week. The next weekend we went to Destin for Daddy's continuing education and we went down to the beach twice. I think you're gonna be a little fish like your sister because you already enjoy splashing in the water.

You were dedicated at our church and you were the cutest baby there. :) I'm so glad most of family and a few close friends were able to be there for you.

I saw a quote somewhere that said, "The days are long, but the years are short." I think about this often, especially because our days are time-consuming with treatments and little napping, crying from teething, taking care of two little ones, and trying to tend to the house. Not to mention trying to shower myself and have a decent lunch. The days are hard and long, but I know they are going to fly by before we know it.