I’m almost a week late on this since I was waiting to get her growth statistics at her doctor appointment… but here it finally is!
Height: 22.25 inches (43%)
Weight: 9 pounds 11 ounces (19%)
Head circumference: 15 inches (30%)
Clothing size: Newborn onesies and pants are still fitting fine, although I’ve started putting her in 0-3 month clothing more now that we started using her cloth diapers and she has a big, puffy bum! She definitely still has plenty of room to grow in them, though. Newborn dresses are starting to get too short.
Eyecolor: Blue! They’re still looking pretty light so far.
Nursing: She nurses just about every two hours now. She’s apparently really good at eating, since she’s been growing so quickly!
Favorite things: Getting her diaper changed (she always smiles at me a TON), cooing, cuddling, eating, and staring at the little designs on the mobile above her bassinet.
Dislikes: Tummy time (she either screams or just falls asleep!) and being in the car seat.
Sleep: She has finally started sleeping longer stretches at night! Starting around week 7, she started getting cranky earlier in the evenings, so we took it as a sign that she was tired and ready for bed. We started putting her to bed at 9, and now we’ve moved it back to around 8 pm. She’ll sleep about 6 hours or so before she needs to eat, and then will fall back to sleep again until anywhere between 4 and 6 am, after which she seems to stay awake. She usually passes out for a short (about 40-minute) nap around 9 am, and I can get her to nap in the afternoon if I snuggle with her.
To my surprise, she’s still sleeping in the bassinet. When Kaya was little, I was anxious to get her sleeping in the crib at a very early age (3 weeks), so I thought I’d be the same way with Kaelyn. Well, it turns out that it’s just easier to keep her in our room instead of interrupting Kaya’s sleep routine to put her in the crib in there. I know we need to make the switch soon, but I’m really not looking forward to it.
Nicknames: Peanut and Baba (which is how Kaya says “baby”… and it stuck)!
Milestones, etc.: -She has so much more head control now and really tries hard to hold it up herself! She can turn each way to follow our movements and loves to track us with her eyes. She even smiles at me from halfway across the room!
-She coos/”talks” sometimes. She has a soft, quiet little voice, and doesn’t seen as chatty as Kaya was at this age. She talks to me the most and I love it.
-She seems to reach toward things now, like the toys that hang about her seat or the mirror snail toy we play with on the floor.
-She’s started grabbing things (including hair… ouch)! She’s starting to discover her hands and has started sucking on them when she’s hungry or holding onto my clothes and pushing on me when she’s nursing.
Dear Kaelyn,
I love the little chubby cheeks you’re starting to get! You have grown so much and I’m so glad. You started out so tiny, but you’re wasting no time catching up. When you’re nursing, I love to stroke the tiny strands of hair on your head- I think it’s the fuzziest I’ve ever seen!
You give me the very best smiles. You’re always so happy to see me, and honestly, it just makes my day. I love being your safe place and I’m so grateful for our afternoon cuddles.
I love you Kaelyn Grace. I’m so excited to see who you’ll become over the next few months, but don’t grow up too fast, okay?
Love, Mommy
The pictures from that day are great, but I don’t feel like they even begin to touch on how perfectly wonderful it all was.
Kaya had so much fun making a mess in the sand with her Grandpa. She was honestly still somewhat afraid of the water and waves after being pummeled by them at Myrtle Beach, but Grandpa helped her get past her fear and even had her sitting right at the water’s edge.
The lake I went to nearly every day of summer during my childhood was so similar to this. It even had a dock, but it was generally where all the “big kids” would hang out. We swam out there and jumped a few times, and I couldn’t help feeling like I was finally one of the big kids, too. 
Of course, grandparents filled up on baby cuddles. 
Kaya was so very tired from all her hard playing during what would have normally been naptime.
We ended the night with some of the best pizza (mozzarella, feta, and banana peppers mmmm) and a game of frisbee.
Kaya also jumped off the sidewalk a few times…
… and probably thought it was the best day ever when we let her carry around the bag of M&Ms.
This really was the perfect way to bid summer farewell.