9 Months Old!!

Sienna Layne is now 9 months old and we can't believe how much she's grown.  At her doctor's appointment today, she weighed in at more than 17 pounds.  She is a crawling machine and gets into EVERYTHING!  She is proving to be very different from her big sister who rarely got into anything she wasn't supposed to and never put anything in her mouth.  She's still as sweet as ever, though, and loves to snuggle her cheek against our faces and give sloppy kisses.  Some of Sienna's favorite things to do are to listen to music and play pat-a-cake.  She giggles when you kiss her tummy, but she hates getting her diaper and clothes changed.  As you can see, she loves lounging in her high chair, even when she's not eating.  If I put it in front of the patio doors, she will watch the trees, birds, and flowers for a long time - so long that she will fall asleep!  She had a little set-back last week when she got her first ear infection and proved to have difficulties taking amoxicillin and azithromycin, but now that she's on her third antibiotic, she is raring to go! 

8 Months Old!

Sienna at 8 months old is adorable as ever, although she is pretty ornery.  Not only does she have a huge tooth on the bottom, but she is also sooooo close to crawling that she gets very frustrated when she can't get to where she wants.  For awhile, she kept spinning in circles and it was hilarious; of course, when I tried to videotape it, she stopped but I couldn't resist posting her bare butt here.  The weather is finally starting to get (sort of) warm, though, and I'm sure she will be crawling off the deck shortly.  All the more reason for Grandpa Tim to come help us finish that deck off!

Happy Easter, Sienna!

For Sienna's first Easter, the family spent the weekend at Grandma Julie's in Duluth.  Grandma, Jimmy, Auntie Annie, Uncle Luke, Daddy, Mommy, and Finley had lots of adventures while there, although I'm not sure Sienna had much fun.  She was pretty fussy the entire weekend, either teething or with a tummy ache, but in true Sienna style, she did manage to give some smiles - especially when her big sister helped her find her Easter basket!  Of course, her favorite present was the tag from the cute, new outfit the Easter Bunny brought her.  Mommy's favorite present from the Easter Bunny, also known as Great Grandma and Grandpa, was a singing bunny.  Sienna tries to sing along with him - and does a pretty good job!

Sienna at 6 Months

Since there was no 30th in February, Sienna technically didn't have a 6 month birthday, but nonetheless there have been some big changes for SiSi in the last month.  Sienna has bounced back from her illness in a big way.  She has gained weight, for sure, although I have no idea how much.  All I know is that there isn't a food we've introduced that she doesn't like!  Whenever she sees anyone else eating, she gets very jealous and smacks her lips together.  She chomps at the spoon like a hungry, hungry hippo.  She's also sitting up on her own now without any support.  She rarely tips over, unless she's reaching for something interesting, like her favorite crunchy, crackly book or a rattle.  Sienna went to Auntie Megan and Uncle Phil's wedding and no one could believe that a baby could be so good.  She didn't make a peep all night!  She stayed up and partied with the fam until about 11pm, and even though I know she was exhausted, she smiled all night, no matter who she was with.  She simply is the loveliest, snuggliest, happiest baby ever.

A Rough Month for SiSi

Sienna has been through the ringer this month.  The first weekend in February, Cam went ice-fishing up north.  Mommy spent the entire weekend with a very fussy, couging baby.  Both Grandma Belva and Grandma Brenda told Mommy to take Sienna to the doctor and by the time Cam came home, Mommy had called the nurseline and was told to take her into the ER, so on Superbowl Sunday, Cam spent the entire game in the ER with his little baby.  We didn't think it would be too serious, but it turned out that they thought Sienna had a urinary tract infection and pneumonia.  They put her on some antibiotics and told us to make an appointment with her doctor right away.  Mommy went in with Sienna the next day and the doctor confirmed the pneumonia and sent us home with a note saying Mom would have to stay home with SiSi all week!  By Wednesday, things were looking horrible - not only was Sienna not getting better, but now Finley had a horrible fever and cough!  Poor Daddy, since he has Wednesdays off, had to take the babies into the doctor by himself so Mom could go to work at least one day.  Thanks to the WONDERFUL nurses and doctors at our clinic, he made it through the appointment ok.  Both girls went back home to spend the night alone with Mommy while Daddy went to school.  Finley's fever broke that night but SiSi was still struggling.  We made it through the entire next week with only a follow-up appointment but by the Sunday after Finley's birthday, the 20th, SiSi had finished her antibiotics and was still wheezing, coughing, and retracting.  We went back into the ER in the middle of one of the worst snowstorms of our lives!  We were in complete white-out conditions in the middle of the city.  Once we made it to the ER, we waited 4 hours to find out that her pneumonia still hadn't cleared.  We were sent home with a nebulizer, steroids, and some more antibiotics.  By Tuesday, Sienna finally got to see her real doctor, Dr. Noll, who had just returned from maternity leave.  Dr. Noll put her on a new antibiotic and it seemed to be working, until today when she started throwing up every time she ate.  After calling into the nurseline again, we were reassured that it was one of three things:  stomach flu that is going around, a reaction to her antibiotics, or a weakness in her immune system due to the steroids and antibiotics.  Despite everything, Sienna is still the sweetest little stinker.  She smiles and laughs whenever she feels up to it.  She is sitting up longer and longer by herself.  She is grabbing EVERYTHING, and she is obsessed with whatever Finley is doing.  Nonetheless, we CANNOT WAIT for spring!   

Happy 5-Month Birthday, Sienna!

January has come and gone and Sienna is now 5-months old.  Obviously, she is growing up very fast and her feet seem to be growing faster!  (Just kidding, those are her big sister's feet sticking out from under that blanket.)  Besides playing with Finners, Sienna has started trying to sit up on her own.  Also, after staring at our dinner plates and smacking her lips for a couple of weeks, we decided to try out cereal.  She gobbled it up the first night, but hasn't been too interested since then.  To commemorate her 5-month birthday, Auntie Annie and Mommy got creative with the decorations and turned our little SiSi into the flower that she is...(we might be suffering from a little spring fever at this point).

Sienna Learns to be Hardcore