Vera is 1!

Our sweet little miss Vera is 1!  I am so excited to celebrate her, but also sad to say goodbye to her baby days.  Vera has been such an easy going and sweet baby and I can already tell that she wants to get in the mix of all the crazy antics of her brother and sister!

At one year old Vera is sleeping from 8pm until 830 am.  She takes two naps a day, but I think she is ready to switch to one longer afternoon nap.  She is a great eater and eats whatever I give her.  The only thing that she has refused was avocado, but I think that was based on texture, because she really seems to enjoy it now.  She has been on 3 meals a day for a while now, with an extra before bed nursing session, during which she is usually VERY distracted so I fear our nursing days may be limited.  As much as nursing can be hard and time consuming some times I also love it and am going to miss it!

Just this week she started pulling up the stand a ton!  She thankfully also mastered bending those cute little legs to get back down from a standing position quickly.  She enjoys dumping everything out, pulling books off the shelves and I have dubbed her my sweet little tornado.  She is also excellent at mimicking.  I don't remember this with my older two (but maybe I just don't remember) but she is very good at watching a repeating sounds and movements that we do.  She is also clearly saying "mama" and "hi" and maybe "bye bye".

Last night we celebrated her birthday with some family and good friends and it was SO MUCH FUN.   Vera was a little bit on the fence about all the people at our house until I gave her her cupcake and then she was all smiles from there on out.

We love our sweet little sister!  

Vera 6 months

My little lady is 6 months old!  We love this little sweetie pie so much.  I barely remember what life was like without her.  She is sweet and smiley and darn near perfect.  I truly don't want this kid to grow up.

She is still on a 3 hour schedule during the day, but I think she is close to being ready to move to a 4 hour schedule, so we might work on that soon.  She sleeps from 8 at night until about 5 or 6 in the morning and takes 3 naps a day.  We started solids a few weeks ago and she loved it from the first bite, which amazed me.  She might be my best eater yet.  We have had sweet potatoes and peas so far and it's a messy but fun experience.

She is getting quite good at sitting up now.  She can sit on her own for a minute or so before falling over and I can tell she really enjoys it.  She loves splashing in the bath, jumping in her jumper, watching her big brother and sister, making crazy noises and smiling at whoever is talking to her.  She loves her mommy, but will go to most anyone else happily and is taking a bottle really well now too!

I'm just quite simply over the moon about my little lady.

Sweet Miss Vera

16 lbs. 5 oz.

26 inches long

Vera at 2 months

Our little lady is 2 months old!  I've said it before, but the baby stage just gets sweeter every time.  Though I would not mind getting some more continuous sleep, most nights I honestly don't mind getting up with her, because she is just so darn sweet and there is probably nothing better than snuggling with a sleepy baby.

Sadly, on her 2 month birthday miss Vera and I were battling the stomach flu, so we didn't make it to the doctor until a week later.  But, at 2 months + 1 week she was 11 lbs 12 oz, 50% for weight, 60% for height and 99% for head circumference.  All of my babies seem to have very large heads :)  She is smiling now (!!!!), cooing and being all kinds of sweet.  She was sleeping for about 8-9 hours at night, but then that nasty stomach bug hit us and messed everything up, so we we are working towards that again. 

I feel like I am starting to get my groove back in terms of getting out and about with all three kiddos. Vera didn't sleep well out and about in her carseat until the last few weeks.  It's a little strange but wonderful that she is doing this better as she has gotten older, so we have been getting out and about again and I believe I have even mastered getting groceries with all three in tow. 

The comment I hear about her most often is that she looks lot like Amaia and I agree.  Sometimes I almost call her Amaia. Ha.  And if she ends up looking a lot like Amaia as she grows older I think that will be perfect, because Amaia adores her baby sissy.  I call her my baby whisperer, because she enjoys her so much and is quite good at talking to her and keeping her happy when I need a few minutes before feeding her.  One thing that this girl will never be lacking in is love and attention.

Vera at 2 Weeks

Our baby girl is 2 weeks old already!  It feels like so long ago that she wasn't a part of our family to me.  She is one well loved little lady.  I have decided that thus far the most challenging part of having three children in protecting Vera from the intense love of her older siblings.  They LOVE her a lot, but the art of gentleness has not yet been perfected in them.  Amaia loves to talk to her and hold her and Haddon loves to bring her toys, give her hugs and tries to sneak up to her room if he hears her crying.  I think he is going to make a great big brother.

We visited the cardiologist when she was just a few days old and found that her VSD is very similar to what Haddon had.  It is about the same size and in the same place as well.  So far she has been doing great and hasn't shown any signs of it affecting her, so we are hopeful that it will be a non-issue for her.

Vera is the sweetest of little babies.  I think I enjoy each baby a little bit more.  So far she has proven to be a great little sleeper and eater.  She is on a pretty consistent 3 hour eating schedule during the day and then usually goes a couple of 4 hour stretches at night.  She had the 9-midnight fussy time just like her siblings before her, but she has gone to sleep great at about 10 for the past few nights so I'm crossing my fingers that we are past that stage!

We visited the doctor for her 2 week check-up yesterday and she is gaining weight like a champ, which takes a weight of worry off my shoulders and allows me to let her sleep longer at night if she will - hooray!!  She weighed 9 lbs 9 oz, 20.5 Inches long and her head circumference was 15 inches.  All of my babies have very large heads :)

Welcome to the world Miss Vera

Our littlest lady joined us outside of the womb this weekend! 

Vera Josephine Horning

Born Sunday, January 18th, 2:18 am

8 lbs, 14 oz, 20.5 inches long

I went into labor around 5pm on Saturday night and she was born early Sunday morning.  I'm very thankful that everything with her labor went smoothly and now she is here and I can put that behind me :)  The first thing I noticed about her is how pink she was right after she was born.  The nurses all called her "red lobster".  She is a sweetie pie and was well worth the wait.

More to come soon!