Sadie

Highs and Lows in Parenting

Whew, we had quite the day earlier this week. It started out completely normal… until we had an ambulance at our house.

Baby girl smiling while sitting in grass

Sadie was hanging out with me in our bathroom and fell backwards and hit her head. She falls all the time, so it wasn’t too big of a deal. She cried pretty hard, so I picked her up and snuggled her in my arms until she stopped.

About a minute or two later, I looked at her and she had blood coming out of her mouth. It was on her hand, her shirt, shorts, and face. I tried to check in her mouth to see where the blood was coming from but couldn’t find anything. I started freaking out and decided to call 911 because I wasn’t sure if she had a concussion or why she would be bleeding from her mouth after falling backwards.

The 911 dispatcher told me to call back if Sadie became unconscious and said an ambulance was on its way. Within a few minutes, we had a team of paramedics checking Sadie out and asking about what happened. They had me try and open her mouth and inside her upper lip we found a cut. I have never been more relieved for my child to be cut in my life!

The paramedics offered to take Sadie to the local children’s hospital but I declined since we had figured out she was bleeding from the cut in her mouth and not from a head injury, lol.

Sadie was playing on the kitchen floor while Jimmy and I were eating dinner that night and she stood up and took her first steps.

Baby girl smiling in shoe store

What a roller coaster of a day. I went from worrying that Sadie had a concussion to witnessing her first steps just hours later. If I’ve learned anything about parenting, it’s that the highs are higher and the lows are lower.

I would do anything to never have Sadie experience hurt–physically or emotionally. At the same time, I know that’s not realistic in this world and the trials of life develop our character. The lows of parenthood are tough. The highs, though? Wow. It’s amazing to watch this little being that God has blessed us with. We see her grow, learn, and develop right before our eyes and there’s nothing like it.

Just like God develops the character of our children through tough times, He develops their parents right along with ’em through all the highs and lows ❤

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Sadie at Ten Months

We’ve got a wild, fun, and joyful ten month old on our hands! Here’s what’s going on with Sadie Mae this month.

Ten month old baby girl in crib

Growth Sadie is now 18 pounds and 27 inches tall.

Wearing Six and nine month clothes and size four diapers.

Personality Silly, happy, and curious.

Baby girl smiling with toy cupcakes

Eating I mentioned some swallowing issues Sadie was having in her nine month update and how we had an early intervention evaluation set up. We had her evaluation this week and found out she is a bit delayed in her oral motor skills. She is developmentally on track with everything else, though! Based on her evaluation, she did qualify for therapy with an occupational therapist.

The OT that met with us gave us a lot of tips and tricks for helping Sadie. Things like facial massage, chew tubes (an oral motor therapy toy), blowing through a straw, continuing to feed her different textured foods, and working on tongue lateralization should help her.

We actually decided not to pursue therapy at this point. We’re going to work on the strategies I mentioned above and then see how she’s doing at 12-13 months. If she’s still having trouble swallowing food, we’re going to set up bi-weekly therapy with an OT.

Food is supposed to be Sadie’s primary source of nutrition around 12 months (as opposed to breastmilk), which I feel like we’re nowhere close to. I keep thinking how can she transition to food if she can’t swallow?! I’m reminding myself of how much can change in a month or two, and that we’re practicing and doing all we can every day. I’ll keep updating here on the blog as we (prayerfully and hopefully!) see progress over the next couple of months 🙂

Nicknames All the same as last month with the addition of Tornader Sader, lol.

Sleeping Sadie is sleeping pretty well! She goes to bed around 7-8 pm and sometimes wakes up between 12-2 am to eat. If not, she eats between 4-5 am and goes back down until about 7 am. She is napping about twice a day for 40 minutes to an hour.

We find her in the craziest sleeping positions!

Baby sleeping in weird position

Looks Like Jimmy!

New Skills Sadie has started to clap and wave and it’s the cutest! She is also “surfing” or “cruising” a little bit now, which is basically holding onto something like a couch or chair to try and walk. She’s babbling up a storm, too.

Likes Swimming, being outside, our pets, her grandparents, watching other kids, going to the park, baths, lift-a-flap books, touch and feel books, chasing our vacuum, Baby Einstein videos, mom and dad, phones, dolls, hanging out in the garden, sticking anything and everything in her mouth, measuring cups, and opening and closing doors.

Baby girl sitting in grass with mom LOL at Mavis hanging out on the fire pit!

Dislikes Being put in her carseat, familiar people walking away from her, having her face wiped, being laid down to have her diaper changed, and putting her head and arms through her clothes.

Favorite Products Baby monitor, swim diapers, yogurt melts, teether, crumb-catcher bib, band-in-a-box, hide and squeak eggs, shake and sort cupcakes, Pampers Pure diapers, Huggies Natural Care wipes, Touch and Feel books, Where’s The Dog book, folding high chair, baby carrier, ball pit, tear-free bath rinser, and trainer cup.

Other Notes Sadie now has six teeth (four on top, two on the bottom), with another coming in on the bottom. It seems like she sprouts a new tooth every day, lol. Jimmy and I are getting better at knowing the signs of when her teeth hurt.

She got (and still has) a pretty bad diaper rash, so we got a prescription cream and switched to these diapers. I think it’s starting to clear up! Her hair is getting lighter and lighter, and I think her eyes are settling in to a hazel/brown color. She spent the longest time she’s ever spent away from me last week (my parents baby sat her for a few hours between church services) and did great!

That’s everything for Sadie’s ten month update. She is such a joy and Jimmy and I are so incredibly thankful to God for making her our daughter ❤