Cypress’s Weekly Photo Project

If you’ve been around our blog for awhile, you might remember our photo project of how we took pictures of the twins every Friday for the first year of their life in the same orange chair. (click here to see them all!)

As that first year wore on, it started getting old and I would dread their ‘Orange Chair Photoshoots’ because it stressed me out trying to get them to both look cute at the same time with good lighting and all that mess. But I wanted to finish out the year… and I’m so glad I did! I made photo books for each of the girls with these pics, and it’s SO FUN (for them and me) to look back and see just how much they changed each week. Little changes that I certainly didn’t notice in the moment. I’m so glad I have these now!

And now that we have a new little nugget in the house, we’ve had lots of people asking if we’re going to carry on this tradition with Cypress. I wanted to, but I really didn’t want to use the same orange chair because that one feels exclusive to Paisley and Della.

So last weekend, whilst my brother and sis-in law Laura were visiting from Chicago, Laura and I slipped away to go thrifting for a chair while the menfolk watched the 3 little ladies. The first thrift store was a wash. And even if they did have a chair I liked, it would have almost definitely been over-priced. BUT the second thrift store was a goldmine. And Laura spotted this little beaut.

I know the majority of you probably hate this chair. But I’m totally obsessed with it. I love the neutral colors (making baby the star instead of the chair), the large floral print, the tufting on the back pillow, and the mod shape of the chair.

I plan to update THIS POST each week with her new pic, so all the pictures will be in the same post. This will make it so fun to scroll through! I’ll remind you via facebook each time I update it if you’re interested in checking in. That way the people that don’t care don’t have to see a new post about my adorable child every week if they don’t want to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

52 Weeks Old

ONE YEAR. I just can’t believe it! It’s one of those weird things where it feels like it was just yesterday that she came into the world, and yet at the same time it feels like she’s been a part of our family forever! I can’t even remember what our family dynamic was like before this bubbly happy girl came into our lives.

She’s finally entered a stage where she really enjoys having books read to her. Or she’ll sit by herself and flip through a board book for awhile. She’s so independent and doesn’t require anyone to ‘entertain’ her… which is the OPPOSITE of the 4-year-old twins currently. #pullingmyhairout

She’s not just a perfect / content angel baby though… no NO! She gets into everyyyything! And puts every little piece of nasty straight into her mouth! And speaking of eating, she’s very observant about what we’re eating opposed to what we’re feeding her. She wants the good stuff!

She had carrot cake with cream cheese frosting on her birthday (her own little cake!) and it was the first time she had ever really had sweets. At first, she just squished the cake between her fingers and was enjoying the sensory aspect of it all. But then she got a little taste, and it was allll over. Huge handfuls in the mouth, complete with hair smearing and the whole works. Mandatory bath night. But SO FUN! We love our girl!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

51 Weeks Old

Our girl hasn’t taken her first step yet, but she stands for lonnnng periods of time! And she SUPER proud of herself.

We’ve also made a breakthrough in the sign-language department. Cypress totally signs more when she’s finished eating something and is ready for more. It doesn’t surprise me that this was her first true sign. She is pretty passionate about food, and really notices when we’re eating something that we’re not letting her eat. She’s starting to get picky after tasting all the yummy grown-up meals and flavors.

Cypress has officially dropped down to ONE NAP (in the morning) which is such a departure to the twins’ sleeping patterns at this age. I have a feeling that Cypress will be dropping naps altogether in the next year. But let’s not speak of those things. We love our girl!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

50 Weeks Old

Cypress is so excited that it’s her BIRTHDAY MONTH, and Valentine’s Day this weekend! We just had to celebrate by wearing the ‘heart hoodie’.

Sister has another cold, AND recently cut another tooth. So we’ve had some restless nights and missed naps. But astonishingly she’s still a happy little thing when she’s awake. She just toodles around the living room trying to find trouble.

We’re pretty sure she signs for ‘drink’ now, by making the MILK sign (opening and closing hand like milking a cow). We’re trying to teach her to sign ‘more’ instead of just screaming at the top of her lungs, but she just stares blankly at us, and then resumes screaming. Girlfriend is passionate about food!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

49 Weeks Old

Cypress officially doesn’t want to be a baby anymore. She doesn’t want to snuggle (just ALWAYS on the move), and desperately wants to play with the girls and be a ‘part of it all’. She even gets mad at meals if she notices we’re eating something different than what’s on her tray in front of her. Nothing gets past this one!!

That top tooth that’s been slowly making it’s way in has finally popped through. You can’t see it in these pics obviously, but you can tell by her demeanor that she’s just feeling better and back to her typical happy / ornery self!

Cypress kind of skipped the separation anxiety that hits most 9-month-olds, but she sure doesn’t like it when someone walks by her and doesn’t acknowledge her or, better yet PICK HER UP! Especially if she’s in her highchair or bouncer and is restrained. It’s kinda funny actually. Girlfriend doesn’t lack personality, that’s for sure!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

48 Weeks Old

Not really any new developments to speak of in the last week… except that our girl went from bring mobile to being INTO EVERYTHING. Of course we knew that was next. Currently the living room is completely baby-proof, including plugged outlets, nothing in her reach that shouldn’t be chewed on, removal of all houseplants, and constant vacuuming.

We’ve started having to use the word ‘NO’ recently, and Cypress doesn’t quite get it yet. It’s not willful disobedience yet, so not as frustrating as it will be in a few weeks I’m sure. She also started hitting us in the face. And we tell her ‘no’ and put her down on the floor. But that doesn’t stop her from doing it again next time we’re holding her. Girlfriend isn’t going to held much if that’s how she’s going to act!

Of course she not even 1 year old yet, so it’s just all part of the learning to be a human… and she’s just testing different things. I have a feeling she’s going to be an ornery toddler!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

47 Weeks Old

Cypress Jean has found her voice. She loves to chatter when the girls are talking together, and squeal at the top of her longs when the girls are running and squealing. Before too long, she’s going to be just one of the girls!

We’re starting to realize that Cypress ‘tries’ things in her crib first before bringing her skills out for the rest of the family to see. She learned to go from laying to sitting in her crib, and now how to pull herself to the standing position! Once she did it once in her crib, she does it all the time now up against the ottoman, couch, EVERYTHING!

Our girl has been going through some sleep regression and fights napping during the day. But she’s still pretty darn happy, and sleeps 11 hours at night, so we’re not complaining.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

46 Weeks Old

Cypress’ little personality emerges more and more each day! She loves to click her tongue, clap her hands, and wave bye bye (even on command!), She’s pretty proud of her new abilities too.

The last week or two, Cypress has been getting to take a bath with the big girls in the bathtub! We put her in a laundry basket in the bathtub to help keep her sitting and prevent slippage. She looooves to splash and play and feel like one of the big girl!

We’ve pretty much moved away from giving Cypress any pureed food these days. She just eats bits of whatever we’re having, and is loving all the new complex tastes she’s getting to try. She also loves to ‘taste’ every little piece of fuzz or crumb she finds on the carpet. Even if I vacuum every day, she’s still finding the tiniest piece of something and popping it into her kisser. Sister is always keeping us on our toes!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

45 Weeks Old

Our girl is crawling all over the place! Putting up the retractable gate became a necessity recently… we don’t need her cleaning up the crumbs under the kitchen table. EW! She puts anything and everything in her mouth, so the carpet in the living room gets vacuumed pretty much every day.

Cypress is a pretty slobbery baby, but the last few days she’s been EXCEPTIONALLY goobery. I’m guessing a tooth is coming soon,because I’ve also noticed her chewing on her finger a lot on just one side.

Do you see it? All that drool in above pic? I took her bib off just to take these photos, and by the time I was done, her whole front was wet! We’re going through slobber bibs like it’s our J.O.B!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

44 Weeks Old

Well, Cypress woke up on Christmas Eve and just decided it was the day to start crawling. She’s not super efficient at it yet, but she definitely gets around the room now.

I know I know, this cable-knit sweater dress  isn’t doing her any favors. But it just looked so cute on the hanger! I didn’t realize it would make her look like a pillow. Chunky monkey!

We loved watching Cypress experience her first Christmas, and take in all the magic of the lights, family, and gifts. So many memories made and fun had!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

43 Weeks Old

As cute as she is in these pics, she has a heck of a cold… and all parties had a very miserable night last night. Here’s to hoping she gets over it by Christmas (3 days away!!)

Cypress has made some minor strides in the crawling and walking department this week. I think she’s getting pretty tired of not being able to get things, so she’s motivated to figure it out! While she’s not crawling up on all 4’s, she’s half-army-crawling… using one arm while the other arm gets trapped under herself. It’s a very pathetic little squirming. But she can move several feet over the course of 5 minutes.

She can now go from laying to sitting by herself… but only in the crib. She has great interest in pulling herself up to things like the side of the crib, the ottoman, etc… but just can’t seem to swing it. She tries to use only her upper body strength rather than getting to her knees and pushing up with a foot. She’ll get it soon enough. Once standing, she can slowly cruise along the edge of furniture. Will she crawl or walk first? That is the question! This girl is always keeping us on our toes. 🙂

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

42 Weeks Old

We’ve moved around Cypress’ napping/eating schedule, and her days flows a LOT more smoothly now. Why did we wait so long?! Now she eats all 3 meals with us (purees and/or little bits of whatever we’re having) and then has a bottle about an hour later and goes down for a nap. With this new schedule, she’s taking 2 TWO HOUR naps each day. More than double the sleep she was getting before. Miracles.

This child is getting very wiggly and discontent… most notably when her diaper is being changed, but also when we try to take these effing weekly pictures. Whose idea was this anyway?

Cypress loves her older sisters and thrives on attention from them. It’s so precious to see them interact and ‘play’ together. I’m grateful that her delayed crawling has allowed them to have a friendly relationship longer. T’will soon be all over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

41 Weeks Old

Lately it seems that Cypress isn’t very content to JUST SIT anymore. She used to sit on the floor, surrounded by her toys for much of the day. But now it seems like she’s got things to do. Only problem? She can’t get anywhere on her own.

Most babies might take this as a challenge, but it just makes Cypress MAD. She has the patience of her mommy. I’m hoping eventually she’ll take on daddy’s problem solving skills and get those knees under her and start traveling about the room.

Girlfriend had her 9 month appointment this week, and the Dr seemed a little concerned that she wasn’t even close to crawling. I assured her it’s not because she’s ‘delayed’ in any way. She just needs to figure it out. I think we’re at a turning point where something’s about to happen, so stay tuned next week!! Here’’ are Cyp’s states for 9 mo:

• Height: 29.5” (95th percentile)
• Weight: 20 lbs 13 oz (84th percentile)
• Head: 18” (96th percentile)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

40 Weeks Old

It seems like Cypress has grown up overnight! She’s saying ‘hi’ and waving now. And her wave isn’t just her flapping her arm up and down… she actually holds her hand up and moves her finger. You can tell she’s so proud of herself!

This past week, we traveled to WI to meet Caleb and Laura’s new baby, Roland! Seeing Cypress next to her tiny cousin really put into perspective just how huge she is. I know she would look big next to a newborn no matter what, but I suspect she’s extremely tall for her age. At her 6 month appt she was off the charts for height, and her 9 month appt is next week… so we’ll have some actual stats to share next week!

While she’s making ZERO strides in the crawling department, Sister has shown lots of interest in standing! She tries desperately to pull herself up against things, like the ottoman. She’s not quite strong enough though so we give her some help. And once standing, she will stand there for quite awhile! It’s looking more and more like she might skip crawling and just jump straight to walking. We will see!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

39 Weeks Old

Our girl is getting so big, and loves to chatter. She’s constantly trying new sounds with her mouth… different clicking and squeaking sounds. Until recently, the only consonants she was saying was Dada and Na Na… but this week, she started saying Ma Ma!

She’s been a pretty happy baby lately, so she must have just been going through a funk in previous weeks. No new teeth to speak of, so that can’t be the culprit. She’s a BABY, so that’s excuse enough.

She’s taken to grabbing the spoon when we’re trying to feed her her purees, which is SO FRUSTRATING and messy… but also so cute that she’s interested in starting to feed herself. Maybe one of these days  when I’m feeling especially patient and calm, I’ll give her a bowl of applesauce and a spoon and let her go at it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

38 Weeks Old

Cypress has pretty much stolen all of our hearts. She doesn’t get any time to just roll around and play independently, because someone is always holding/snuggling/loving her (me or Nick), or the girls are in her face loving her obnoxiously. She might not be the most socially well-adjusted baby, but she’s happy and we love her.

Due to the aforementioned loving, Cypie is not making much progress in the way of crawling… or being mobile at all. She can spin her body to face different ways, but she hasn’t even figured out that she can go places by rolling. We’re OK with that though. Girlfriend can stay stationary as long as she wants.

Now that Cypress is efficient with finger foods, and actually getting them in her MOUTH, we’ve started branching out from those puffs that dissolve instantly to things like Cheerios and french toast broken into tiny bits. She’s a big fan! Spaghetti next? (*sarcasm font*)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

37 Weeks Old

We’ve noticed Cypress starting to be more aware of her surroundings. Most specifically, she’s noticed that when she throws her sippy cup off her high chair… IT LANDS ON THE FLOOR. We’re trying to teach her subsequently that just because she tosses something doesn’t mean Mommy and Daddy are going to promptly pick it up and hand it back. She’s not a fan.

Cypress still eats like a champ, and loves her new skill of being able to pick up puffs and put them in her mouth. Time to try some new finger-foods! She still just has the two teeth on bottom, so we can’t get too crazy yet.

Our girl has been a bit of a grump this week, and has been fighting naps. Perhaps a new tooth is coming in? Or it may just be the residual effects of the ear infection she had earlier this week. She takes that pink medicine like it’s candy though!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

36 Weeks Old

Cypress’ hair has reached a point where it HAS to have a clip or ponytail… other wise  she looks like a sheepdog! Her hair is always a mess, but secretly I love that she HAS hair.

Our girl has started the  turn-and-thrash-while-we-change-her-diaper-phase, so we’re having to work quickly or have a ‘helper’ (big sis) hold her down to finish dressing or diapering little miss. At least it’s a happy thrashing. She thinks it’s hilarious.

She loves floor time and could sit for hours playing with a pile of toys. She still can’t go from laying to sitting on her own, but she does love to lay and roll around too. We’re starting to see that little sparkle in her eye that tells us she see’s something she wants, but doesn’t know how to get there. She struggles to try and shimmey closer sometimes. Every so often she gets up on all fours, but hasn’t shown any other signs of crawling yet. We’re in no rush, and are enjoying ‘Stationary Cypress’ for now. up

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

35 Weeks Old

Sister Cyp is growing up wayyyyy too fast. It seems like even in just the past couple weeks, she’s gone from being a baby to a little girl. Her awareness is heightened, she’s solving problems (like which way to roll to get what she wants) etc! It’s fascinating to observe, and heartbreaking at the same time.

Cypress’s hair is long enough that she always needs a clip on ponytail to keep it out of her eyes. It doesn’t seem to bother her to have someone messing with her hair… and she hasn’t tried to pull hair things out YET. Huzzah!

She’s turned into a belly sleeper lately, and has even been sleeping a little longer in the mornings. 6-6 isn’t bad, right?! Cypress also is starting to take the initiative to hold her own bottle. When the twins started holding their own bottles, it was THE BEST DAY… because two babies. But now that Cypress is doing it, it just marks another thing that makes her less and less of a baby. Why am I so emo?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

34 Weeks Old

Our girl is getting so big, and loves to be busy and doing things with her big sisters! If they’re putting a puzzle together, she wants to be close by watching! Since she’s not mobile yet, she’s not ruining the twins’ projects yet… but it’s coming soon. The girls have no idea what’s coming!

We’ve been slowly weening Cypress of her need to be swaddled at naps and night time. Since she’s been rolling for months, it’s dangerous for her arms to be trapped in a swaddle. So we started leaving one arm out of the swaddle (on the side that she most often turns to), and she started sleeping on her side. Then recently, she’s been rolling all the way over onto her belly and falling asleep that way. So we quit swaddling her altogether! It’s weird just laying a flailing baby in the crib instead of a calm/snug burrito… and it definitely takes longer for her to fall asleep un-swaddled. BUT. It’s not like she can swaddle herself when she goes off to college. HAHA!

Cypress has been doing this weird thing with her tongue where she curls it WAY up over one side of her mouth… pretty much all the time. Her tongue is LONG too! She’s a silly girl and knows when she’s getting attention… ornery little thing already! We love her!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

33 Weeks Old

Cypress has reached SUCH a fun age. She sits and plays, and loves to be read to (and the twins love to read to her! WIN!). She happy allllll the time.

Girlfriend gives sloppy kisses freely. She loves to jump in her doorway jumper and the Exersaucer, but we do try to give her as much floor time as possible too. Nick caught her getting her knees up under her while she was on her belly the other day. I haven’t seen it with my own eyes yet, but I’m guessing crawling isn’t too far away!

She loves drinking from her sippy straw cup every few bites during mealtime, and we’re trying to get her to do the sign for ‘drink’ so she can ask instead of just reaching and fussing. She also loves to eat puffs, and can finally grab them with her chubby little hand. Sometimes she forgets it’s in her hand, and other times she tries desperately to get it into her mouth… but has yet to be successful. It’s painful to watch her struggle, but I know I just need to let her figure it out!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

32 Weeks Old

Happy National Pajama Day!

Just kidding. Cypress was feeling self-conscious about being in her PJ’s all day, so I decided to stay in mine too just to make her feel better. Our girl is sitting strong these days, and almost doesn’t need pillows around her at all. She sat for a 15 minute stretch yesterday! She also started saying ‘Da’ repeatedly, and it’s the cutest thing ever. It’s weird, but her voice doesn’t sound like what I pictured it would. It’s even cuter.

I got my first WIDE-open mouth kiss from my girl this week, and it was the most slobbery adorable thing ever. She was pretty intense about it, and I could just feel her telling me… I love you this much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

31 Weeks Old

It seems like a lot has happened this past week developmentally. Our girl Cypress got a second tooth on the bottom, started drinking from a sippy cup (the straw kind)! And is sitting almost exclusively by herself. We’re at that awkward point where we KNOW that she can sit on her own, but sometimes she just flops back because she thinks it’s hilarious to land in the pillow. Sister doesn’t realize that one day, that pillow just isn’t going to be there and she’s going to get a shock when her giant noggin hits the floor.

She’s been eating puffs (similar to Cheerios only they dissolve really fast in your mouth) for a couple weeks now, but just this week she’s started to pick them up on her own! She’s not close to doing the actual pointer/thumb pinching… it’s more like she’s grabbing a handful. And my favorite part is that she’s not sure what to do once it’s in her hand. And then she forgets it’s there and we find it in her chubby grasp later on.

We’ve been just swiping her Donald Trump hair off to the side… but it’s getting to the point where that’s not working so well anymore. If we don’t clip it back, she looks like a sheepdog! She hates having shirts pulled over her head, and has started in on her separation anxiety a little earlier than what’s typical. I wasn’t expecting it until 9 months like the twins! It’s not a full-blown problem yet, but she sure doesn’t like being ignored or walked away from. It’s a good thing I have two little helpers that ADORE her that can keep her entertained while I get some things done!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

30 Weeks Old

Despite being 7 months old, Cypress just had her 6 month appointment with the doctor this week. She smiled and coo’d with the Dr, and spat profanities at the nurse doling out shots. She showed off her new tooth and her mediocre sitting skills. Doc says it’s ok that she isn’t too sturdy yet.

As I was explaining to the doctor that she has big painful poops… as if on cue… she started crying and pushing out a big one so the medical professional could see just how serious this sh*t is (pun!). As expected, there was some concern. So we’ve been prescribed prunes and Milk of Mag to see if that takes care of the issue. It’s been a whole 24 hours, and she had a nice clay-like poop today… SUCCESS!

Time for some fun stats!

• Weight: 19 lbs (84th percentile)
• Height: 28.5” (99th percentile)

And now… fun comparisons when the twins were this age:

• Weight: Paisley: 16 lbs 8 oz – Adelyn: 16 lbs 8 oz (70%)
• Height: Paisley: 26.5” – Adelyn: 26.5” (68%)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

29 Weeks Old

BIG NEWS! We have a tooth in the house mouth!

Of course you can’t see from these pics, so you’ll just have to take our word for it. She’s a pretty slobbery baby in general… so we didn’t realize the extra slobbers meant a little tooth was making it’s way in! And I’m sure there are more right around the corner!

This girl loves to be outside with her sisters, or hanging in the garage with mom and dad. She just gets dragged around wherever the action is. And she’s such an easy-going babe. I’m thinking she’ll be a free-spirit like her mama!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

28 Weeks Old

Well, our girl got her very first cold this week. It was minor as far as colds go… but she definitely had a runny nose and was just a sad girl in general. Some coughing at night and croupy breathing made for some late nights and Motrin comas. But it only lasted 3 or 4 days… so we made it through!

Cypress gets a little more stable with her sitting everyday, but still isn’t very close to being left alone without pillows in all directions. But she loves to be upright, so if she’s not sitting she’s either happily bouncing away in the doorway jumper or playing in her Exersaucer.

Speaking of the Exersauser, girlfriend poops EVERY SINGLE TIME she’s in that thing. Without fail, in about 10 minutes time, she’s filling her pants. And we know it by her fussy ‘honking’ sound she makes when she has a hard poop. Nick and I drop what we’re doing and rush to her so we can take her diaper off to make way for the giant turd. Poor girl. Not sure what it is about that Exersaucer that prompts her to poop, but it sure beats having to give her a suppository!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

27 Weeks Old

Cypress was ALL OVER THE PLACE this week when I was trying to take her pictures! She’s at that awkward wants-to-sit-but-can’t-quite-yet phase, so when propped up, she throws herself forward and faceplants by her feet. Luckily she’s super flexible and it doesn’t hurt her… but it hurts ME to watch!

She’s been super chatty and silly the last week or so. She loves to fake laugh, fake cough and squeal constantly. She feeds on attention and is turning into a real class clown.

My favorite thing EVER is that she wraps her arms around my neck a open-mouth kisses my face as hard as she can. Sometimes she’ll grab my hair or neck-skin while she’s doing it. It’s like she’s loving me as hard as she possibly can, and the only way she knows how. I wish I could bottle up the feeling and get it out 16 years from now when she’s screaming at me after being grounded for being out past curfew. What?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

26 Weeks Old

Cypress has really snapped out of her funk and is back to her chipper smiley self. You wouldn’t know it from this week’s pictures though… I’m thinking she doesn’t love being dressed like a cowgirl. Complete with a pearl-snap shirt.

She’s been sleeping lonnnng hours. We’re talking 6:30 – 6:30… and then a handful of 2 hour naps during the day. I’m thinking GROWTH SPURT! She’s not a big fan of her carrot purees, but she chows everything else we give her!

I’m sort of obsessed with smooching her giant cheeks. I could just lose my face in there. She doesn’t seem to mind. I can’t believe our girl is 6 months already! She’s not making any strides toward crawling… or even sitting for that matter. But we’re happy to take things slow and just soak up all the baby-ness while it lasts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

25 Weeks Old

The last week-ish with our girl has been rough. We keep thinking she’s teething, but her gums aren’t swollen, and it doesn’t appear that there are any teeth about to break through. We just keep telling ourselves that every stage is JUST A STAGE.

Up until recently, she would wake up from naps cooing and giggling, and now she just screams bloody murder. Angry baby! Makes me wonder what she’s dreaming about! And she awakens 1-2 hours earlier than normal… we’re talking 4:30 ish in the morning. She also wakes up in the middle of the night sometimes, which is normal for most babies… but not ours! Makes me wonder if she has an upset stomach or an ear infection. Oh the places our mommy-brains go!

I’m feeling like a negative mommy this week, but I just want to document all of Cypress’s stages of baby-ness so I can look back on them in the years to come. Someday she and I can laugh about her crabbiness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

24 Weeks Old

Cypress has found her voice and looooves to use it. She’s constantly happy-squealing, gurgling her spit, or fake coughing. It’s like she thinks she’s having a legit conversation with us.

We’ve been trying to transition her back to original Similac formula from the ‘sensitive’ version… because we have a TON of cans of original just taking up space in our pantry. Turns out she still has a bit of a sensitivity to it, because she is CRABBY with a capitol C. Poor girl must have a belly ache, because it’s the only explanation for why she isn’t her normal jubilant self.

She’s still loving her solid food, and has yet to find a food she doesn’t like! So far we’ve tried peaches, pears, peas, broccoli, avocado, banana, and pumpkin puree. She gets 3 cubes at lunch, and 3 at dinner… and we’ve been able to drop a whole bottle feeding each day. Our little girl is growing so fast!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

23 Weeks Old

Cypress is going through a stage where she wants to be upright and be able to see what’s going on around her. She’s a little ways from being able to sit independently, but just seeing her desire lets me know it won’t be long. These first few months have gone by so fast!

I have her on a sporadic rotation of being in her swing, bouncy seat, exersaucer, floor time, and bring held and/or played with. She’s pretty much happy all the time, so I just want to make sure she gets a variety of views throughout the day.

We take her outside a lot to watch the sisters play on their swings or the playhouse. Sometimes she sits in the bouncy seat, and sometimes I just lay her flat in the grass. She loves both! But I always set an umbrella nearby to block direct sunlight because I don’t want to have to mess with goopy sunblock all the time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

22 Weeks Old

Cypress used to sleep till 7am-ish each morning, but lately she’s been waking up at 5 or 5:30 super famished and pissed. Nick and I was up at that time anyway, so it’s not like we’re losing any sleep out of the deal. But we do lose our quiet coffee time.

I remember the girls going through an early morning phase like this too, so I’m just reminding myself that it’s just a phase and she’s probably going through a growth spurt. Girlfriend needs to slow down in the growing department though! She’s only 5 months, and wearing 9 month clothes!

This weeks new big milestone is that we’ve started giving her pureed food! I was planning to wait until 6 months (you can start as early as 4)… but with her constipation problems, we decided she could use some fruits and veggies in her diet. So far she’s had pears and broccoli… and she’s a BIG FAN.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

21 Weeks Old

GREAT NEWS! After 5 long months, Cypress’ blocked tear-duct has finally cleared up! No more eye-boogies, crusties, and tears. The Dr said it could take up to 9 months to heal, and might eventually require surgery… so we’re super happy to have that in our rear view mirror.

This past week, Cypress went on her first big trip (including a plane ride!) to Atlanta for a DIY blogging conference! There were a couple short crying spells on the plane, but overall I think it went pretty well! There were lots of other babies on the plane too, so that made us feel better. The conference went well! Daddy taught an Advanced Building Class, and Cypress and I just bummed around most of the time and just hit events whenever we could… between bottle feedings, naps, and diaper changes. She was a big trooper and had so much fun!

Cypress had her 4 month appointment today (even though she’s pretty darn close to 5 months now), and got a clean bill of health once again! We are so blessed to have such happy, healthy children. Here are her Stats!

Cypress Jean

• Height: 27.2” (99th percentile)
• Weight: 17 lbs, 4oz (85th percentile)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

20 Weeks Old

Cypress started rolling!!! She hadn’t even been showing signs of trying… but then she just DID it. And now she rolls constantly. As soon as we lay her down on her back, she rolls to her belly! She knows how to roll back to her back, but sometimes she just cries on her belly and isn’t sure what to do next.

We recently got Cypress a high chair, so now she sits right up at the table with us when we have meals together as a family. Until now, we would just pull up her bouncy seat somewhere close to the table so we could keep an eye on her. It’s so much more fun having her up at our level, and watch her reaching for toys on her tray!

Speak of reaching for toys… this is a NEW development! I was getting a little worried because babies her age should have been reaching for toys for several weeks now. But I guess she was just content to look at them until now. When laying under her play gym, she’s actually better at reaching for the dangly toys with HER FEET than her hands. She’s such a silly little monkey!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

19 Weeks Old

Cypress Jean had a few rough / fussy days coming down from camping. I guess it just took awhile to get back into her groove. Sis gets over-stimulated so easily!

She’s been super constipated lately. It’s so hard for me to watch her struggle to poop! Per Dr’s orders, we’ve been giving her a bit of Caro syrup in each bottle, and just when I feel like it’s starting to help, she’s got another big one to push out.

This week… July 6th to be exact… Cypress just up and rolled over! Pretty impressive considering she’s only 4 months! She hadn’t even been showing signs of ‘trying’, so we were all very surprised when she did it… almost effortlessly. I was prepared for it to be a one-time-thing, but she rolls over CONSTANTLY now. We lay her on her back, and 2 seconds later, she’s on her belly! She’s capable of rolling back to her back, but she often just cries like she doesn’t know what to do next. I remember this stage with the girls. Get it girl!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

18 Weeks Old

Cypress pretty much feels like a toddler these days.

We went camping for the 4th of July with my entire family… and this girl roughed it like a true tent-camping CHAMP. She still slept her typical 13 hours at night, and took cat-naps throughout the day, and hung out around the campfire in the evenings… with hardly even a wimper the entire weekend!

I’ll admit I was pretty nervous to go camping (in another state) with a 4 month old, but this sis proved me wrong! Let’s just say the twins were more work. Hehe!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

17 Weeks Old

THIS GIRL. We love her so much

Her silly personality is emerging, and she loves to give open-mouth kisses, and have entire conversations with us. She’s suuuuper ticklish and has the most adorable belly laugh.

Little miss takes little cat-naps during the day… and SLEEPS 13 HOURS at night (so we’re not complaining). We got out the doorway jumper this week, and while she’s still pretty floppy, she can still get that thing jumping a bit. It’s only a matter of time before she’s going crazy in that thing like her sisters did. It’s so fun to see all her little developments each day… this is such a fun age!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

16 Weeks Old

Time is flying and I could just cry about it. I still can’t get over how she doesn’t seem to change day-to-day… but then I look back at her tiny newborn pics and it feels like somebody is carving my heard out with a machete.

This girl is chubby in all the right ways, and has the best belly laugh. She loves to play peek-a-boo and patty cake… we stick with the classics. HAHA!

I’ve been a little bit concerned that she isn’t holding her head up better at this stage, but I’ve been reminding myself that her head-size is off the charts… sooooo yeah. Her height and weight are off the charts too, so at least she proportionate right?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

14 & 15 Weeks Old

Ahhh! I done got myself behind on posting her pictures! I’m good about ACTUALLY TAKING her pics, but its another thing to actually sit down and post them Oopsy!

It was a super cloudy day when I took these 15 month pics, so they turned out really grainy since my nice camera broke. Boohoo!

Cypie is getting so big and squishy… so so fun to snuggle!

Della loves to ‘aggressively’ love her, and we just kinda let it happen because Cypress LOVES her. It’s so cute to see them interact. Paisley loves Cypress too, but just isn’t obsessed like Dell is.

Cypress’ eczema is pretty bad on her arms, but it doesn’t seem to bother her. I ordered some special baby wash for eczema/dry skin that a lovely reader suggested, so maybe that will help brings some moisture back to her skin… and maybe even help with her cradle cap!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

13 Weeks Old

Cypress is the QUEEN OF SLOBBER. It takes bout 5 minutes for her to soak the front of a fresh new sundress. Poor girl! We’re going through bibs like nobody’s business. I put this cute jumper on here exactly 12 seconds before I took this picture. That smile let’s me know she appreciates a cute/dry outfit!

This girl is just the happiest bouncing baby. How did we get lucky 3 times in a row? She smiles and coos and slobbers all day long. And ‘sleeps like a husband’ at night.

We’ve been battling Cradle Cap… anybody have any tried and true home remedies?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12 Weeks Old

Cypress has been growing so fast lately, and a little piece of me is mourning her littleness. She still has the tiny newborn cry, but she looks like a giant toddler. OhhhhKAY that’s exaggerating a bit.

This girl is SUCH an easy baby. I almost hesitate to answer people honestly when people ask how I’m doing. I haven’t gotten less than 8 hours of sleep since she’s been born. And the last few months, she’s been sleeping 11-13 hours straight at night. We know how blessed we are.

This week we started noticing some Eczema on her arms and face. It’s not severe, but I’m definitely changing up detergents, lotions, and soaps for her. Itchy dry skin is no fun! But it doesn’t seem to bother her for now. She’s such a happy go-lucky girl!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

11 Weeks Old

Our little girl is growing and changing so much every day!

She’s very chatty and will carry on an entire conversation with you. It’s SO adorable. Her favorite thing to do is lay on her back under the play gym and kick around. She’s been staring at her hands a lot lately, and is starting to realize she has control over them! Sometimes she’ll bat at the dangling rings on the play gym.

Cypress isn’t a huge fan of car rides (or maybe just being in her carseat?). She’s not an all-out screamer in the car, but she definitely fusses off and on… and doesn’t sleep. She also gets over-stimulated when we’re out running errands or visiting family. She loves being home and having a routine. Daddy’s girl to the core! Maybe someday she’ll pick up on some of my impulsiveness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

10 Weeks Old

DOUBLE DIGITS?! Time flies when you’re having fun!

Cypress has settled into an awesome routine where she sleeps (a lot), eats, smiles, and then repeats. If we get her swaddle right, she sleeps 12-13 hours a night! She loves to coo and stick her tongue out, and occasionally laughs when bring tickled. She’s most ticklish on her neck.

Her eyes are still quite dark, but we can tell they’re going to be of the blue variety. Her hair is also getting lighter by the day. Another blue-eyed blondie!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

9 Weeks Old

Cypress has crazy hair that’s growing SO FAST! It’s the first thing that people comment about when they see her …’look at that HAIR!’ I love that she has hair, because Paisley and Della took their sweet time growing hair.

Lately, a lot of people also have been commenting about how Cypress looks like Nick. She sure doesn’t look like his baby pictures, but I can see how she resembles him now.

We had her 2 month check up, and girlfriend weighed 13 lbs 3 oz and is in the 85th percentile for weight. She’s in the 99th percentile for height, and off the charts for head size! She’s gonna be a smart girl! And TALL!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8 Weeks Old

It’s hard to believe 2 months have passed already. Our little peanut (who wasn’t really EVER ‘little’) is a chubby bouncy smiley girl! Of course she never feels compelled to smile when I have the camera out.

She smiles allll the time, and is on the verge of giggling. Daddy and Uncle Caleb both claim they’ve seen’/heard her giggle, but I won’t believe it till I see it.My favorite new development is her cooing. It’s the sweetest thing to hear her little voice. She loves to talk!

My good camera broke, and I just don’t want to talk about it. I’d rather cry and lament about how tragically fuzzy and unfortunate these pictures turned out. Must get a new one asap! At least the cute little subject I was photography distracts the eye from the lack of focus. Thanks Cypress!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

7 Weeks Old

Fun fact! Cypress had a blowout during this photoshoot!

Funner Fact! We just continued… HAHA!

Cypress is full of wide-open-mouth smiles these days, but I can’t quite capture it during her weekly pictures. I think she’s just confused when I prop her in that chair and start dancing around with a high-pitched voice. We can tell already that she’s an ornery little bugger. When the time comes, I don’t think she’ll have a problem standing her ground with her spirited older sisters. Girlfriend’s GOT to be tough!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

6 Weeks Old

Well, we’ve reached our first milestone… Cypress sleeps 8 hour stretches at night now! Of course this doesn’t mean that I get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep, because that would mean I need to go to bed at 7 and wake up at 3. And while some days I feel like I could go to bed at 7, I try to keep myself up until at least 9 most nights. Haha!

She’s finally quit the baby acne, and her hair keeps getting longer and crazier everyday! It was a light brown color when she was born, but it’s definitely growing in blonde. And her eyes are dark blue. Lately she’s been doing this weird thing where she drinks SOME of her bottle, and then just plays with the nipple of the bottle with her tongue and laughs at us. It’s cute, but also frustrating when we’re trying to get her to drink!

Look at that sassy girl already rolling her eyes at me! She’s already learning to be a diva from her older sisters.!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

5 Weeks Old

Cypress is more than a month old now. Does that mean she’s no longer a newborn? Rip my heart out and tear it into a million pieces. She’s still tiny to me. She’s developing a little personality and has been smiling a lot lately. I could just stare at her all day.

Of course she doesn’t smile for pictures though… let alone look at the camera. I was lucky to find one where she didn’t have her eyes crossed. Girlfriend’s hair is out of control and I absolutely love it. Her hair was definitely a surprise after the twins being bald for so long.

We have tubs and TUBS of baby girl clothing, but would you believe it’s all the wrong season? I never considered the fact that the twins were born in July and Cypress would be born in February. My friend Stacey was rad enough to gift us with some long sleeve clothes that her sweet girl Brynn had outgrown. Thanks Stacey and Brynn!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 Weeks Old

Well… it’s crazy. Cannot fathom the fact that our girl is a month old already. She still seems like an itty bitty newborn to me… despite her 10+ lbs of chubbiness.

I’m actually really sad about the thought of her growing. I want her to stay this size forever and ever. I know this sounds completely irrational. But if I thought about it too much, I’m pretty sure I would break down in tears. Is this a normal parent thing? I don’t remember feeling this way about the twins. I was excited for them to reach new milestones.

This girl is such a joy, and we love getting to know her little quirks. I think we can already tell that she’s strong-willed. But with two older sisters, she’s gonna need to hold her own, so we’re glad she has a strong personality! We love her so much!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 Weeks Old

Cypress is 3 weeks old! Crazy! She’s at an awkward stage between newborn clothes and 0-3 month clothes… so it’s basically the ‘tween’ years for infants. I don’t fit in anywhere!!!!

This weeks ‘weekly pics’ took a few extra takes, because sister wasn’t having it. We ended up just embracing on of the crying shots… because that’s real life, right? Plus, she’s cute even when she’s screaming bloody murder.

She’s been sleeping like a champ… last night we got a 6 hour stretch out of her! But when she’s awake during the day, she’s a little cranky. I like to say she’s a ‘tormented soul’. She just doesn’t seem to have found her peace with this mysterious world quite yet. Can’t wait to see her smiles so I know she doesn’t hate me. JK! I know she loves me when I come at her with a bottle. Tee hee…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2 Weeks Old

Cypress has wriggled her way into our hearts, that’s for sure. She loves to snuggle with her sisters, and they love to hold her… so it’s a good situation. She has giant dark eyes, and we can’t quite figure out what color they’re going to be.

But when she does cry, it’s not an adorable newborn cry, NO. It’s a blood-curdling death-scream. No need for a baby monitor, we can hear her at all corners of the acreage.

Girlfriend is rocking some serious baby acne, but she wears it well and we still think she’s adorable. She wakes up 2 times a night for a snack, but other than that sleeps like a champ! During the day, she sleeps a fair amount, but also cries a lot for no reason. What a baby! The twins were so content to just be together… I don’t know what to do with one single child. It feels so unnatural!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s our girl, Cypress Jean… at 1 week old!

She gives a whole new meaning to squishy newborn, doesn’t she?

Cypress is a very sweet girl and loves to snuggle. I would say she’s fussier than the twins were, but I think she still falls into the ‘easy baby’ category. Especially now that she’s on a schedule and sleeping like a champ.

Paisley and Dell love to pick out her outfits everyday, and ‘help’ with every little baby related task. This can be both helpful and frustrating, but cute nonetheless. Nick has been back to work this week, so us 4 girls have been roughing it on our own at home. We did have our first ‘outing’ yesterday… taking the girls to preschool and going to see Molly Long Photography Studio for newborn pics! Cypress performed perfectly by sleeping like a baby while Molly did her thing. Needless to say, I CANNOT WAIT to see how her pictures turned out!!