Wordless Wednesday--"I love puffs!"

Project 366: Week 8

50. We haven't used the bouncer for about 2 months now.  It was still sitting in our living room though, because we needed to give it back to the friends that let us borrow it.  Michael randomly put her in there and in about two minutes this is what happened--she rolled over (she can't help herself!) and then started scooting out. :)

51.  You know how ballerinas and ice skaters can spin and spin and not get dizzy?  Apparently this is something you can train yourself inner body to be able to handle.  One day at TLG they had the parents roll on the air track with their baby to get them use to not being dizzy.  Every once in a while Michael will roll with her on our bed.  That's what is happening in this picture.

52. Practicing standing at TLG.  They have us try to spot them as low as we can go (starting at the hips).  I got down to her knees and she was doing pretty good.

53. "Time for laundry--I'm out of bibs!"

54. Just playing...wondering why I am taking more pictures of her!

55. Being silly after breakfast

56. Excited about that phone call!

Eight Months!

Olivia Grace, you are EIGHT months old!

(Not interested in pictures this time around!)

What have you been up to?

 *(darn--forgot to weigh and measure again...coming!)

*You can still wear some of your 6 to 9 month outfits, but you are wearing 12 month separates and 12 month pajamas.  You are quickly growing out of (mostly length) your 9 month clothes.  This isn't a shock, since you have been in the high 90's for percentiles for a while now.  It does make me a little sad because we have a lot of 12 month clothes that are just for summer.  Hopefully we'll get some use out of them with a nice Texas spring! 

*You just moved to size 4 diapers.  You probably could have lasted in size 3 a little longer (not until the 28 pound limit though!), but we buy the big box.  I wasn't convinced you would last in them for another month.  The size 4's fit fine.

*You have begun to spit up much less--some days not at all.  You are still a drool machine though.  We go through 8 to 10 bibs a day.

*I don't want to jinx anything, but I think you might finally be getting the whole sleep thing!!!!  You have slept through the night multiple nights in a row now.  You have also started taking (at least) 1 long nap a day.  We are going on two weeks of this new found gift and I am loving it!

*Your schedule was getting kind of whackadoo and there were nights that you were still wide awake and chatting away at 9.  This was mostly because you had grown out of a nap (or should have) and were taking your last nap too late.  It took us a little bit to figure it out, but now we are working on a schedule.  You get up every morning around 7.  You go down for your first nap around 9:30.  This nap is usually a short one (30 to 45 minutes).  Then you are awake for about 3 hours. You then take your long nap.  It is anywhere between 1 1/2 and 2 hours but has even been 2 1/2 hours!  Then you are awake until bedtime, which is back to being between 7 and 7:30.  We are roughly on the 2, 3, 4 schedule.  (Up 2 hours, sleep, up 3 hours, sleep, up 4 hours, bedtime.)  I'm sure as soon as we get this schedule figured out, you will go and change it on us!

*We continue to do some sign language with you.  You understand some, but haven't done any back yet.  The library story time teaches multiple signs a week, so sometimes we incorporate ones we've learned there.  The Little Gym also has a sign of the week, so we learn there too.  We are consistent with milk, eat, more and all done.  Those are the ones you understand. 

*You still don't crawl.  You get on all 4's and rock, you scoot backwards, you grunt and try your hardest to go forward but you just haven't figured it out yet.  Because it's so frustrating for you, you aren't a fan of being on your tummy anymore.  Unfortunately, you can't learn to crawl without being on your tummy first.  Darn those catch 22's.

*You are a pro at sitting.  You will seriously just sit on the floor all day long.  It's so nice!! :)

*You have recently grown fond of standing.  You want to stand all the time (although not so much by yourself).  So much so that you lock your legs when we try to sit you down.  Daddy and I are not a fan of this and you can cut it out at any time.

*You talk all the time.  You haven't said any words yet.  At least not that you know of.  You do say da-da-da-da-da all day long, but you haven't associated it with daddy yet.  I wasn't too worried, but since you are now 8 months and haven't even approached the /m/ sound I have started coaching you.

*It appears that you are more and more like your daddy every day.  However, besides having my "eyebrow spacing" you also talk loudly like me....well, at least according to daddy.  I think your volume level is just fine! :)

*You have two bottom teeth.  The first one came in on January 23rd.  The second one came in on January 31st.  You don't let us look in your mouth very often, but there haven't been any signs that others are coming.  Of course, we didn't really know those two were coming either.  I joke with daddy that you are just going to end up with a mouthful of teeth and we will have missed them all coming through.

*You don't clap or wave quite yet, but you do flap your arms around when you are excited.  You sort of clap your legs instead of your hands.  You also twirl your feet simultaneously.  We think that is some serious talent--at it makes us laugh.

*Since you have started sleeping through the night, you are now down to 4 bottles a day.  You were at 5 for most of the month though.  Either way, you take between 28 and 32 ounces of formula.  You eat breakfast and dinner and then some days you have puffs for a snack.  You were eating about 2 to 3 ounces of puree at each meal, but have recently upped it to between 3 and 4 ounces. (Which is when you dropped to 28 ounces of formula.)  Since you are suppose to be "at 3 meals a day by 9 months" we'll probably add in lunch sometime this month.  I'm in no hurry though.  Some days it's hard to get in 2 meals!

*You pretty much eat anything we give you... even green beans (I guess they've grown on you).  This month you continued to eat all of your favorites from last month PLUS: prunes, oatmeal, peaches, zucchini, plums, nectarines, papaya, cauliflower, broccoli, blueberries, spinach (mixed in like a green monster), cherry, beets, potatoes and pumpkin risotto.  You have also gnawed on a green pepper, celery and cucumber (BLW style).  You have had puffs and blueberries as finger foods.  I tried to give you a little shredded chicken the other night (I've been scared to give meats).  You picked it up and got it in your mouth just fine, but you were not a fan.  Might have been a texture thing?

*Last month I said our one word to describe you would be sweet.  You still are sweet, but I'm going to keep it real here.  This months description is DRAMA QUEEN!  You want attention all. the. time.  You will fuss and moan and then the second we turn and look at you, you start smiling and giggling.  You throw little "fits" when you don't get your own way.  You are very opinionated and want things done your way.  You are a sassy pants too!

*Speaking of sassy pants--you love to put your hands on your hips and tilt your head.  You will tilt to one side and then to the other.  It is seriously adorable but I fear what it means for our future. :)

*Your stranger danger has seemed to have gotten worse.  Now you will start crying if someone talks to you are touches you even if you are in mine or daddy's arms.  Let me tell you, I am sooooooo over this phase.  We went to a play date and one of the mommies said hi to you--freak out.  We went to life group--freak out.  We go to church--freak out.  My boss says hi and touches your feet--freak out.  The swimming teacher talked to you in the pool--freak out.  The Little Gym teacher got in your face--freak out.  Thankfully, we are going to things like TLG where you can get socialization.  Your teacher is really good about it and she is determined to help you get over it.

Things you love right now: pulling mommy's hair, pinching mommy's face off, your collection of teethers, your activity table, eating, story time, baths, being outside, all the attention on you, your crinkly owl book, standing, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (thanks to daddy!)

Your least favorite things right now: other people, not being able to crawl, other people, sleeping away from home, other people, not getting attention, other people, diaper changes (? not sure why ?), and other people.

HAPPY EIGHT MONTHS BABY GIRL!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

8 Month Loves

Well, since she is teething, teethers are some of her favorite things right now.  She still enjoys Sophie and the lollipop from posts past, but we've added a few new favorites to the collection.  Both of these were ones I saw on someone else's blog of "must haves" so I made sure to register for them!

Infantino Vibrating Strawberry Teether

If you bite down on the tip of the strawberry it vibrates.  This is suppose to be soothing...a massage for the gums, if you will.  I've been trying for Olivia to use this for a few months now.  She has taken to the teether in the last month or so, but still doesn't bite down on it.  Sometimes I push down on it for her.  She seems to like it, but she can't figure out how to vibrate it herself.  Either way, she enjoys chewing on it.

Razbaby RaZ-berry Teether

She likes this one even better than the strawberry.  Probably because the strawberry is rather big and heavy and this is the size of a paci.  She chews on all parts of it--the textured raspberry, the leaves, and the stem.  She loves it.

(Both came from Babies R Us, but I couldn't find the link.)

Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Learning Table

This was one of her Christmas gifts and she loves it.  We've been using it without the legs for the past two months, but have recently been trying it out with the legs some days.  The laptop is by far the favorite.  From the very beginning she loves to open and close it or she tries to eat it.  Her second favorite is the phone.  We play with this daily.  Then Michael and I walk around the house singing "Hello, the phone is ringing so I say hello.  Good bye, when I'm done talking then I say Good bye. Good bye!"  You know exactly what I'm talking about if you've ever had one of these! :)

Evenflo Exersaucer

I wasn't sure if we were ever going to use this thing.  If you remember (from a loooong time ago), this was Little Man's.  My boss use to set stuff out on the porch monthly and some donation place would come and pick the stuff up.  She always said I could take anything if I wanted it.  I have been holding on to this thing for years!  I couldn't link it because it doesn't even exist anymore.  Of course, there are newer and nicer models.  Truth be told, I probably should have just let this be donated and got a new one.  It's temperamental, shows some wear, and took forever for her to be able to sit in.  She started using the jumperoo at 3 1/2 months, so I figured she could do the same with this.  The seat is so big that it took a long time for her to be able to stabilize herself (as in not until about a month ago!).  She loves it though.  She flips the "book" pages back and forth over and over. She jumps around.  She pulls on the things to make music (when they work).  She tries to put any piece she can in her mouth.  It's great entertainment.  Unfortunately, it's already on the highest setting and she's already pretty tall for it.  Hopefully we'll get a little more time out of it.

Graco High Chair

(I didn't link this because the Little Hoot style is no longer available, so there really isn't a link.)

Not to many people have an "old school" high chair any more.  Most people use the space saver seats and just attach it to a chair they have.  We do have a travel booster that we could do this with, but I really wanted a high chair too.  Call me crazy.  I guess I wanted one because sometimes I'm just old school. :)  I also wanted one because we only have a 2 person table.  Attaching a space saver to the seat would not allow for family dinners.  I am really glad we went this route.  Sure, it takes up some space, but I think it makes eating easy for us.  I also like the height of our high chair.  I tend to stand and feed her and it is just the right height.  We also sit at the counter for most of our meals and it can pull up to the counter and be high enough to still be part of the dinner.  We sometimes use the high chair at work and I am not a fan of that one.  Olivia seems to enjoy our high chair too.  I know that if she's in her high chair I don't have to worry about her.  She can't go anywhere/fall out and she will sit and play with toys while I cook if necessary.

Puffs

The purpose of puff is to get a child to use a pincher grasp.  It's a good first finger food because it dissolves in her mouth.  Although we want to try to keep Olivia's diet as pure as possible, I am not opposed to these.  The ingredients list is all organic (fill in the blank with fruit or vegetable).  Sure, they are fortified with some vitamins and minerals, but much better than all the ingredients in Cheerios.  Regular puffs have soy in them and some have dairy.  The soy that is in them is from the oils and not the proteins, so Olivia probably could have handled them just fine.  However, I've read that some babies with MSPI had issues so I wanted to try to avoid them if possible.  Happy Baby puffs have no soy and no dairy, are organic, and have half the sugar of regular puffs.  Winner!  She loves them.  She isn't great on her pincher grasp yet, but she can get them in her mouth.  They are also great for times when you need to distract her (at a restaurant) or settle her (at a play date where she is going nutso because she doesn't like strangers in her face!).

Halo Wearable Blanket SleepSack

When we broke the swaddling habit at 4 months we went right to sleep sacks.  Olivia already grew out of the ones that we got as shower gifts and is now in the bigger size.  We have one cotton and one fleece one.  She sleeps in them every night.  Her room is the coolest in the house and Michael likes it cool at night.  She seems comfortable in her pajamas and the sleep sack.  I don't think I'll be having her wear one until she's 2 (did you know they sell them that big?), but while she is still a baby and not suppose to have blankets in her bed they are great.

Wordless Wednesday--A walk around the block: Texas style!

Project 366: Week 7

43. Feeding herself a bottle--this has been a topic of conversation with other people multiple times this week.  We still hold her for most of her feedings, but sometimes she just eats by laying down on the ground and feeding herself.  She's been holding her bottle by herself for quite a while now.  Some other moms were "jealous" because their kid refused. :)

44. Not the best picture ever, but one of the only ones I have gotten of the teeth.

45. Having a Valentine's Day lunch with mommy and daddy after TLG.  She enjoyed lots of puffs!

46.  I had just gotten home and we were opening a Valentine's box from Grandma Hartman.  Olivia loves to pinch my face off while snuggling.

47. Finally enjoying the elephant teether in the jumperoo.

48. "Really Mom?  More pictures!?!"

49. More standing!!  She actually stood for quite a while by herself.

Project 366: Week 6

There were a quite a few long and skinny pictures this week, so I made them into 2 collages.

Also--a lot of the pictures are from our phones. Therefore, the quality isn't fantastic.

36. Eating a mum mum

37. You can't see her face that great in this picture, but it still cracks Michael and I up.  She seriously is so sassy! She has been putting her hand on her hips for months now.  Lately, she's added the head tilt.  She was playing with her teddy bear and then out of no where...attitude!

38. One of the skills that we are working on at TLG is standing.  So when we got home we put the legs on her activity table and gave it a try.  She does alright, but it's not strong enough to hold her weight and she's not stable enough yet.  The legs came back off, but we'll keep giving her opportunities to stand.

39. This was one of the pictures from her little yoga/crawling session.  Her face cracks me up!

40. Michael and Olivia were watching one of the videos of when I was a clown in the first grade circus.

41.  She's not quite sure what to do with the necklace daddy made her.

42. This is how she handles phone calls.

Yoga!

...Or trying to learn to crawl!

(Baby talk edition)

"Hi Mom!"

"Oh, you want to take pictures?!"

"This is hard work!"

"I need to rest"

"Fine, I'll try again"

"I like your pink camera.  I want to put it in my mouth!"

"Now what?"

"Check out my new trick!"

(drool, drool, drool)

"I will figure this out!"

"You're still here?"

 "I'm done!"

Olivia's First Haircut

Peer pressure has never been my thing.  Really.  I have never cared or given in to what "everyone is doing" or people trying to pressure me to do.  I am my own person.  I think for myself and I make my own decisions.  However, I did give in to the haircut.  Partly because it was scraggly and out of control.  Partly because people I don't even know that well would say, "It is scraggly, but...".  If it's bad enough for you to tell me, then it probably needs cut.  Plus, it seemed to be getting worse rather than looking long and cute.  Not to mention that every time my friend Alycia saw us she'd say, "So you haven't cut her hair yet?"  I got the hint!

I really just wanted to trim the back, but I couldn't trim the back and leave the sides.

So I evened it out all around as best I could.

She did pretty good.  She didn't have a clue what was going on.  She just talked through the whole thing.  She moved around on me some, but that was to be expected.  Michael took a video and the hair has been saved in a baggie. :)