8 months

 I can't believe Eliza is 8 months old!

Eliza has no teeth or even any sign of any teeth. She is in 12 months clothes and size 3 diapers. She has yet to sleep though the night, though she has been pretty dang close a couple times. She definitely can't crawl yet and doesn't seem to have any interest in learning. She can stretch and reach pretty far though from the sitting position. Good thing she's pretty flexible! 

She still takes about 3 naps a day and usually wakes up around 6:15 am. She still isn't the best napper. She likes lots of foods. She eats both table food in little pieces and baby food. She will eat almost everything that I give her and very much enjoys meals and snacks.

Eliza likes the bath. Since she goes to bed around 6:00, she usually takes her bath by herself. (Her siblings are usually still downstairs playing.) I put just a little bit of water in and she likes to splash and suck on rubber ducks.

Eliza is still a good nurser. She nurses about 6 times in a 24 hour period. Her last feeding is at about 10 pm. I usually wake her up for this feeding and do it so that she doesn't need to eat during the night. Just after she turned 7 months old I dropped her middle of the night feeding and she adjusted easily.

She said, "mama!!!!" I was so excited, even though she doesn't know what she's saying. :-) Shortly after she said, "dada." She says dada more often, but I like to point out that she said mama first. Ha!

Eliza is ticklish and likes patty cake and peek-a-boo. She really likes textured balls. She also loves baby crackers and Puffs. She is still so much fun! She is growing up way too fast!

7 months

My baby girl is 7 months old!

Eliza turned 7 months old while we were on a quick weekend trip to Vegas. It was on this trip that she let us know that even though she's now okay with short car rides, she definitely still doesn't like long ones. Ha!

Eliza is in 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers. She still doesn't really have much hair. She sits really well by herself but still doesn't like to be on her tummy and doesn't pull up on her hands and knees. She likes patty cake using her feet. She went through a brief period of hating the bath but seems to be coming out of it.

Eliza has still never slept though the night. :-( I am about to cut out her one middle of the night feeding. She typically eats about 6-7 times in the day and once at night. She is a terrible napper and she rarely, if ever, takes a nap longer than a half hour or maybe 45 minutes.

Eliza still likes books and enjoys grabbing the board books. She is eating baby food more often, and also often has soft foods (like fruit) cut up into super tiny pieces. She still eats in the Bumbo on the table, but it's just about time to pull out the high chair. She loves eating baby crackers.

Eliza enjoys her siblings. She has just barely gotten stranger danger! She doesn't like if me and Michael are around but someone else is holding her. Whenever she's eating, she is VERY easily distracted and usually pulls off several times during each nursing session. She loves when she's distracted by Michael and will smile at him endlessly. She loves me but is also a daddy's girl!

We love this girl so much. She's happy but also has some sass and it keeps us on our toes! :-)

6 months!

Here are Eliza's 6 month stats:

Weight: 16 lbs, 1 oz (42nd percentile)
Height: 26 1/4 in (52nd percentile)
Head Cir: 17 1/4 in (84th percentile)

I cannot believe my baby girl is 6 months old!!!

I wish I could bottle up her baby-ness and keep it forever. Now that I really understand how dang fast time flies with my babies, every passing day (even the hard ones!) just kill me sometimes because my babies are little for such a short time. With Eliza being my last baby, every milestone is both exciting and a huge punch in the gut. I always feel so torn - excited to see her grow and devastated that her babyhood is slipping away. It probably doesn't help my sadness that she is such a sweet baby. Don't get me wrong - heaven knows she has her moments, :-) but in general she's pretty easygoing and fun.  I really wish I could freeze time.

Eliza has a huge fan base at home. From day one she's been pretty darn smothered and she handles it like a champ. (Most of the time. Ha!) She loves when her siblings are around (which is almost always) and her eyes light up when she sees them. I often have to make the other kids leave while I'm trying to feed her because Eliza is SO easily distracted when one of them is near.

Eliza liked being swaddled for way longer than most babies. It got tricky because she was way too strong for the traditional swaddle, but still wanted to be swaddled, so I'd swaddle her but she'd break out of it quickly and get upset. I finally had to pull the plug on swaddling and we had a few rough days but she's gotten over it. Her sleeping has been pretty average for a Byram baby. She has some fussy evenings due to never napping all that wonderfully, but she goes to bed early and only wakes up once or twice to eat. Lately, it has been just once and that is heavenly. Sometimes she tries to get up at 5:30 or so but I can usually get her back to sleep for about another hour. She decided not to be the first baby to sleep through the night before 6 months but that's okay - it'll happen soon enough.

Eliza loooooved the bath for her first couple months of life, and then went through a brief phase where she all of the sudden hated the bath. Sad!! And I was rarely willing to skip her bath because that girl has been my pukiest baby and was always in need of a bath by the end of the day. Luckily she has started liking the bath again - especially now that she can pretty much sit.

She HATED the car for forever, but has started doing better with that as well. She still gets upset for a minute when I put her in the carseat, but I think she's resigned to the fact that she's going to have to get used to it.

Eliza really loves to be outside. She does super well in the stroller and the carrier. (Facing out so that she can see.) I'm pretty sad that summer is coming up because I won't be able to take her out as much. Let's hope she likes the pool! Eliza didn't love solids until about 5 1/2 months, but now she LOVES them and is doing fantastic with eating. She likes almost everything I've given her. She eats purees mostly, but also loves when we let her taste whatever we are eating. Eliza also loves when I read her books (especially Touch and Feel books) and enjoys her playmat and ExerSaucer. She likes things that light up and make noise. She does not like when one of her siblings cries. She also dislikes the blender and the vacuum - they're too loud and it freaks her out.

Eliza is so fun and such a sweetheart. I feel truly blessed every single day to be her mom and to be able to spend my days with her and her siblings. It is such a joy to watch her explore the world and become increasingly curious about everything around her. I am so excited for it to continue. Love you Eliza!

5 months

Eliza is 5 months old!

Eliza becomes more and more fun every day. She is becoming increasingly aware of what is going on around her and sometimes gets mad if I put her down and walk away for a second. I can tell she is getting sick of not being able to sit up on her own. She can sit up by herself for a few seconds but it'll still be a little bit before she can sit up on her own without someone right next to her.

Eliza is in size 2 diapers and in 3-6 month clothes. It won't be long until I'm pulling out the 6-9 month clothes.

We gave Eliza solids for the first time this month and she did pretty well. She only eats a little bit at a time but is a fast learner. She can't handle anything that's not blended and will spit out itsy bitsy pieces of food. She has eaten baby oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and apples. She is a good sport about her siblings wanting to help feed her. (And accidentally gagging her half the time.)

Eliza likes her playmat and sucking on everything from toys to her hands to blankets. She likes grabbing her feet when she's laying on her back. She isn't much of a roller and still doesn't really like to be on her tummy. She has started to like simple picture books - especially the Baby Touch and Feel books.

Eliza usually takes about 3 naps a day - her last nap in the afternoon is typically her worst nap and she is more than ready for bed around 6pm because of this. She falls asleep around 6:15ish and then I feed her again around 9. She still usually wakes up a couple times in the night (around 1am and 4am) to eat. We have started moving her from sleeping in the swing to sleeping in her crib. She is doing well in the crib.

We love this cutie pie so much. She brings every member of the family so much joy and we are so happy she's in our family.

Eliza's Blessing Day

Eliza was blessed on Thursday, November 23, 2017. It was Thanksgiving Day. Since Grandma and Papa were on a mission in Texas, we decided to bless her there in the mission home of the Texas Lubbock Mission. She was blessed by Michael and her Papa was in the circle as well. It was a small circle but just perfect.

Here is her blessing:

Heavenly Father, by the authority of the holy Melchizedek Priesthood which we hold, we take this child in our arms and give unto her a name and a blessing. The name by which she shall be known throughout this life is Eliza Rachel Byram. Eliza, we bless you at this time - we bless you with the ability as you grow to understand your place and position within the family - to understand your ability and your role to bring light and cheerfulness and joy into the home. We bless you that you may be able to learn from the example of your siblings and that you may be able to prepare to become a wonderful woman and daughter of your Heavenly Father. We bless you that you will have the opportunity to go to the temple and you will one day meet a righteous young man and that he may be able to worthily take you there and that you will be able to be sealed for time and all eternity and that the children that you have will be sealed to you as well. We bless you that you may be able to find joy in family life and that you may find no other place that you would rather be than with the people who matter most to you. We bless your mind that it may be open and that you may be able to learn the things that are important for you to learn, particularly the life lessons that will help you to teach others. We bless you that you will be able to be an example of Gospel living and that you will be someone that has many friendships and associations. We bless you that you may be able to solve problems as they arise, that you may be able to figure out solutions and that you will be able to work with the Spirit in doing that. We bless you that you may be able to live worthy of the Spirit all the days of your life as you strive to follow your Heavenly Father. We bless you that you may be able to follow the wonderful example of your mother, that you may be able to emulate the things that you see her do and apply them into your life. Eliza, we bless you with these things and do so in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

4 months

My baby girl is now 4 months old!

Here are her 4 month stats:

Weight: 14 lbs (44th percentile)
Height: 24 1/2 in (50th percentile)
Head Cir: 16 1/4 (68th percentile)

Eliza is the cutest little thing! She is so quick to give you a smile and is getting chattier and chattier every day. If one of the kids starts yelling or crying, she will stick out her lip in a pout and if you don't immediately console her, she'll start crying as well.

She's in 3-6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. This last month she had a hair tourniquet, on her toe, which scared the heck out of me. She was in the bath when I noticed it and immediately took her out and yelled for Michael. It didn't seem to bother her until we tried to get it off and it got a little worse before we finally got it all the way off. Poor thing. Luckily we caught it early.

Eliza had her first big road trip this month when we went to California on New Years for a few days to go to the beach and to Disneyland with family. She didn't do great in the car since she still hates the car, but we all survived! :-)

Eliza likes toys and is getting good at holding them. They all immediately go into her mouth. She likes the Bumbo for short periods and also likes the playmat. She likes others to be playing with her and doesn't like to be left alone for very long. This isn't usually a problem since she's the fourth kid! All her siblings adore her.

Eliza usually nurses about 7 times in a 24 hour period. Two of those nursing sessions are in the middle of the night. She has never even been close to sleeping through the night, but she is usually still pretty good about eating and then going back to sleep. She still sleeps in the swing, swaddled and with a binky. She loves the swaddle and sleeps so much better that way, so it'll be hard to wean her out of it. She still spits up a ton, but it doesn't seem to bother her very much and she's gaining weight so I haven't worried about it too much. She is definitely the biggest puker of all my kids! She will usually take a bottle if necessary.

She has suddenly started disliking the bath a whole lot more. More often than not, she'll start crying when I put her in. Hopefully this will change when she learns how to sit and she can sit in there and play. Eliza can't sit on her own yet but I can tell that she is starting to get more sturdy.

Eliza prefers to be held facing out so that she can see what's going on. She is sweet and beautiful and we absolutely love her to pieces!

3 months

Can't believe baby Eliza is 3 months old!

Eliza went on her first airplane ride this last month at about 2 1/2 months old. She went with me to Texas to see Grandma and meet Papa! Since Eliza hates the car SO much we decided that I'd fly with her while Michael drove with the other three. Everyone was happy with this arrangement. :-) She did great on the flight and in Texas and loved all the extra attention!

Eliza is in size 2 diapers and size 3-6 month clothes. She is getting better and better at sitting in the Bumbo chair and has even sat in there at the table with us during dinner once or twice. A couple times Eliza has only eaten once during the night, but most of the time still eats twice in the night. Occasionally after her second feeding it can be hard to get her back to sleep but she still rarely cries in the night. Her fussiest time is around 4-6 pm.

Eliza continues to get more and more alert. She loves when people smile at her and talk to her. She laughed for the first time a couple weeks ago! They are still short and few and far between laughs since she's still learning how to do it, but she is definitely doing it! She's mostly likely to laugh when you make faces at her or tickle her chest.

Eliza has started trying to sit up sometimes when I lay her down on the boppy. She likes the playmat and is starting to get better at swatting at and holding toys. She isn't a huge fan of being on her belly. Most of the time she sleeps in the swing. I still swaddle her. I put her in the umbrella stroller for the first time and she really liked it. It's a nice time of year to be outside so we will have to take her on more and more walks. She is still able to sleep in the carrier really well, which comes in handy when I take the other kids to the park.

Sometimes Eliza is good in her car seat at the store and sometimes she screams. You just never really know what you're gonna get. ;-) However, as long as she's not in her car seat, she's typically a pretty easygoing and happy baby, for which we are very grateful. She is beyond cute and is getting more and more fun every day. We all love her SO MUCH!