She Knows Her Mama

She said "mama" for the first time a couple days ago! Of course it was while she was crying and really wanted me to hold her... actually that's the only time she's ever said it.. when she wants me to pick her up. Verrrry cute. But sad at the same time.. we heard her saying it in her room last night as we were getting ready for bed. I melt.. literally.. puddle of Kori on the floor. I don't know how much she associates the word with me, but I've been working on it with her pretty often for the last couple weeks so who knows. Other cute news... she prefers Derek and I to her toys. If we set her on the floor next to her toys she will eventually find her way, army crawling, to us and climb as close to our faces as she can. It's so neat to see that she knows we are mommy and daddy... or at least that we are just 2 people who are always around and feed her and give her kisses. :)

Sad news.. I do believe she has come down with something. A cold most likely. She has been sooo sleepy and wanted to cuddle with mommy all day. She is just so lethargic and I can tell she is miserable. My poor baby :( Hopefully this sickness doesn't stick around too long!

Milestones (4 months to 7 months)

4 Months
Lydia rolled from belly to back - She did this on her 4 month birthday then did it again a couple days later, but that was it until she was almost 7 months old.
Lydia's first real laugh
Her first pigtail/ponytail experience. Super cute!

5 Months
She slept in her own bedroom for the night for the first time
Started sitting up - but fell over a lot
She discovered the joy of blowing raspberries
1st experience with solid food (rice cereal) - as you can imagine - since she just discovered blowing raspberries this was a messy occasion :)
1st time in a swimming pool! She was very unsure about this at first, but she soon fell asleep in a reclined position in her floaty with her hat covering her eyes. I didn't get any pictures of it :( But it was quite funny.
Lydi-bug rolls from back to belly - remember, she had forgotten how to roll back onto her back.. so this was a frustrating thing for her for a while. She didn't like being on her belly.

6 Months
Lydia has started sitting up really well now all by herself
She has again started rolling from belly to back. Hallelujah! This helped her sleep better too since she could be in any position she wanted.
Her first word..... drumroll..... Da-da! It's so cute because when she talks she kind of whispers. When we try to get her to say dada she whispers it or, at the other end of the spectrum, she says it when she's sleepy and screams it. lol

7 Months
She has started pulling herself to standing using our fingers. If she uses something else she can't quite get up yet.
Falls asleep without crying (most of the time) and sleeps all night long 10-12 hours
From sitting position to all fours and rocks back and forth.
She pushes up from her tummy into the plank position in yoga. (on to her hands and feet like she's ready to start a race).
Ladies and gentlemen.. our little Lydia is now mobile! She is our little army crawler. She is really enjoying her independence. Though she's also shown several signs of separation anxiety.

She will be 8 months old next Thursday (September 2nd).
We love our girl :)

Our Summer So Far

The summer's almost coming to an end already! So crazy! Here's what we've been up to:

Derek graduated from BYU in April

Derek and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary - we went out to eat at Red Lobster


Derek got a job working for Intermountain Health Care, so we moved out of our place in Provo..



And into our new place in South Ogden (pictures to come.. we haven't taken any yet..oops)


We, along with my parents and grandma, went to North Dakota to visit my brother and his family.. that was a blast! We toured the Air Force base where he lives and works, went to the zoo, had a couple picnics, went to a Scandanavian park, went to the International Peace Gardens on the American/Canadian border, and of course did the Ferree Family Reunion Tournaments: bowling, golf, frisbee golf, washers, croquet (spelling?), a couple card games/board games, and ladder golf. So much fun!
My uncle, aunt, 2 cousins, and grandma also all got to come out here this summer. We spent a fun day starting with lunch at Tucanos in Provo, Bridal Veil Falls, Sundance, Cascade Springs, and Thanksgiving Point. I'm so happy I got to see them all!Mostly everyone at Bridal Veil

Derek at Cascade Springs

Lydi and I at Cascade Springs. We left her hat at home, but her onesie worked just as well :)

Pretty views on the way up to the Springs


It's been an awesome summer! We are all doing so well, and Lydia is growing like a cute little weed. She's hitting milestone after milestone. More on that later. :)

Lydia is 4 months old...

and has begun sleeping through the night! Which is about between 5 and 7 hours. She started this wonderful new habit last week and has kept it up every night since. She'll sleep for that long stretch, wake up to eat, and then sleep for another 2 or 3 hours. It's also gotten to the point that I've been able predict when she'll need a nap. It's so nice when you figure out there's a rhyme and reason to when they sleep. Along with sleeping like a champ, Lydia rolled over for the first time on Sunday (her 4 month birthday)! She did it 3 times in a row from belly to back, but hasn't done it again since. I'm so proud of her!


She has recently begun sucking her thumb, which is just so cute I don't have the desire to make her stop.. even if I'll regret it later down the road. I have also stopped having milk and cheese to see if it helps her little tummy. It's been almost a week, so we'll see if it helps.

"You Want a Grapefruit NOW?"

Somewhere between 4:00 and 7:00 this morning I heard Derek say something to me. He sort of mumbled it, so I didn't know if he was awake or not. I rolled over and said "what did you say?" Derek: "You want one right now?" Kori: "Do I want what right now?" Derek: "I thought you said you wanted a grapefruit." Kori: "Well that would be funny cause I was just asleep."

This is funny for a couple reasons. Firstly, I do not like grapefruit, so why I would ask for it at all let alone in the middle of the night is beyond me. Secondly, I thought I had talked in my sleep and that Derek had woken up and responded to me. But when I was reminding Derek about it this morning he had zero memory of it. So, he was in fact sleeping during that whole conversation. Which makes it that much funnier. haha.

Parenting 101: Figuring out the Sleeping thing..

So, we are in the process of training little Lydi-bug to fall asleep on her own - in her bassinet. She is a mover and is happiest when someone is holding her and walking around. If you stop walking she knows and will let you know she does not approve. She also prefers to fall asleep this way, which is understandable, and she's only 3 months old, so why shouldn't we indulge her! We do. :)

But we have begun to phase her into "self comforting." We will just place her in her bed when she's sleepy but not asleep and let her try to fall asleep that way. It has actually worked several times. The funny part is - I have such a hard time letting her make her little noises and tired little fussy sounds and not jump up and hold her. The idea of letting the baby fall asleep on her own sounds like it would allow me to rest more, but I mostly just lay there until I know she's asleep anyway. haha. Last night was quite amazing though. She fell asleep in her bed around 11:00 then woke up at 3:00 to eat then fell back asleep at 4:00 and didn't wake up until 7:00! Now that may not sound that amazing, but it is! The reason is: she always sleeps pretty good until her 3 am feeding. Then I pull her into bed with me and feed her... at which point we both fall asleep, and then it is off and on feeding her and falling asleep for the rest of night. Last night, however, I got up and sat in the glider next to my bed ( like I always tell myself I will) and fed her there. Then when she was done eating I put her back in her own bed and she slept there on her own! Woo!! I was so proud of her! This is not to say that I know her sleep patterns have made a permanent change and she will sleep soundly in her own bed from now... I'm not that naive :). However, it is a step in the right direction and will probably happen more often now.

3 months later... right on schedule..

Yeah I'm not too good at this blog thing, but I'm workin on it. :P A lot has happened since our last posting. For starters: we had a baby! Lydia Colleen Hayden was born on January 2nd. Cool fact: her birthday is a palendrome (spelling?). 01-02-2010. So sweet! haha. She was born 5 lbs 1 oz and 17 3/4 in long. She was about 4 weeks early, and had to stay in the hospital for 3 1/2 weeks. It was the hardest time of my life. I had the wonderful help of family to make that time much more bearable. Thank you all.

Initially, the doctor was worried that she wasn't vigorous at birth. Basically she squawked once or twice, but for the most part she looked like she was sleeping, which isn't ideal for a newborn. She had some breathing issues and they had to keep her on oxygen for a day, but she graduated from that quickly. She was just too sleepy to stay awake long enough to nurse, so my milk was fed to her through a tube that went in her nose and into her stomach. After almost a week I got to nurse her for the first time. And over the next couple weeks we gradually added one or two more breastfeedings a day. I pumped on her eating schedule and brought milk into the hospital each day. She also had an apnea problem, which is when you stop breathing spontaneously... scary, right? Well, she only had to be stimulated (the nurses would come over and tickle her or pick her up) once or twice.. the rest of the time she would start breathing again by herself. As hard as this time was for us, we couldn't be more grateful for modern technology. If she were home with me all day and I had to worry about her having an apnea spell I would have gone nuts - as it was at the hospital a little alarm would go off when this would happen. She went 7 days without one before she came home, so that meant she was safe. We really are so grateful for the steps that were taken to get her where she needed to be. What is truly amazing is that Lydia got over this barrier herself. She was supposed to have been in the womb still - resting up and not having to worry about wearing herself down. The hospital did their best to create an environment that was as similar to the womb as possible and slowly got her used to not being there anymore. And she did it and it was so amazing to watch it all happen. Here are a few pics from the last couple months:

Our first family photo

Lydia at 1 week old

Here is she is at 1 month. I love this picture!

And here is she a week and a half ago at 2 months!