April 2, 2015

growing up: louisa at nine months

Our sweet little Chicky-Loo is nine months old! I can't believe it. I feel like I just gave birth to her! So much has happened since she joined our family and, since I've been so busy with everything going on, I feel guilty that I haven't been able to just revel in her newborn-ness as much as I would've liked. She is such a joy. We all just adore her... well, Fritz isn't too convinced yet but I think he's starting to come around. Ha!
- she just recently started doing a real crawl but boy, can she move! We've had to add baby-proofing to our renovation to-do list. And we have stairs now, so that's been an adjustment. Luckily, we already had a baby gate but she is also just a human vacuum. I've had to remind the boys many times not to leave their Legos on the ground.
- her favorite person on earth remains to be William. The bond they have is heart melting.
- she doesn't eat a ton of solid food but she does like sweet potatoes, green beans, strawberries and yogurt. We are working on bulking her up and have been trying to put butter and cream in everything she eats. Lucky girl!
- she is finally getting her first tooth! Neither of my boys have taken this long to get a tooth. Her two bottom are finally poking through but they're still just little buds.
- she is a tiny peanut. She only weighs just over 15 pounds and is having a hard time putting on weight. I have been struggling with my milk supply with this girl but have been almost exclusively breastfeeding. Her weight still isn't going up so the doctor wants me to supplement with formula. Here's the problem: this breastfed baby has never had a bottle and she wants nothing to do with it! It's been a struggle, to say the least. I'm still nursing at night and in the morning but trying to get her to get more from a bottle/sippy cup/regular cup is not working. Any tips?
- she loves Daddy, for sure, and has learned to flirt with him. It's very cute. She loves to look at him from across the room and get his attention by tilting her head to the side and grinning her toothless grin at him. Then, when he smiles back, she brings her head up again and repeats. It's the sweetest.
- she says "Dadadadadada" lots and has the funniest giggle. We love her.


  1. My daughter refused a bottle as well until we discovered that she liked it really warm, like almost hot. I think she preferred it to be the same temperature of the breast milk she was getting straight from the source too?

  2. Looks like a wonderful birthday! Blessed thistle will increase your milk supply quickly. You can get it from a health food store or on-line at Vitacost.com--LOVE their service and speed :) You are caring for her so well! She will be just fine! (Parsley decreases milk supply in case that is helpful to note.)

  3. I had to supplement with my youngest; he eventually quit nursing around 11 months. I mixed Carnation strawberry-flavored packets with whole milk or formula for him. The sweetness of the powdered drink seemed to make it more appealing (since breast milk is naturally sweeter than formula) for him and also helped get in a few extra calories! I also discovered this really awesome Greek yogurt that has tons of fat (since most of them seem to be nonfat or lowfat!). The brand is Greek Gods and my son prefers the honey-strawberry flavor. Good luck--that is so stressful!

    I have no scientific evidence for this, but I had a hard time with the milk supply for two of my five babies, and they both weaned themselves early and really struggled with weight gain. With both of those I was on the mini-pill to prevent conception; my doctors always told me it was fine for nursing, but with the three babies (numbers 2, 3, and 4) where I wasn't on birth control, I never had any issues with my milk supply at all. Just something to think about. :-)

    1. Interesting! I haven't been on the pill but I think there's something to be said with certain factors working against your breastmilk. :) Thanks for the tips!


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