So big!

When did she become such a BIG KID?





It freaks me out.

It's been a while

Sometimes things just slip away from me. This blog is one of them. I update the other one much more frequently.

We have a 9 month old! It is amazing. Here is what is going on:

1. We have three full teeth (two bottom, one top) and #4 and #5 have broken through the gums and will be descending soon.
2. During the process of teething #4 and #5, Punk gnawed on a table at a restaurant. (Gross.)
3. She is a master crawler and very quick. Thanks to some stretches/PT, she is better at sitting as well and will sit and play with toys for a minute or so. This is an improvement.
4. She started a therapeutic swimming group with the Early Intervention physical therapist on Thursdays. It is fun!
5. She makes more sounds now: dada, dadee, baba, yaya, lala, and ha which I am pretty sure is "hi."
6. She waves semi-consistently, and occasionally claps. We are working on this.
7. She still pulls to a kneel rather than a stand (damn tight hamstrings) and when she DOES stand, she has a hard time being on flat feet so she has no balance. But she's trying! She pulled herself up on a port-a-crib and on her regular crib, to a full stand.
8. We went to Florida for 8 days, including 2 days at Disney World. Punk LOVED the other kids and kept waving and laughing at them. She is such a social little creature. I love it.
9. She slept through the night randomly the night before last, from 8:30pm to 5:30am and then down again until 8:20am. It was amazing and I hope it's not so random in the future.
10. We are still swaddling.
11. Punk is starting child care next week. She will go 3 days per week while I am job hunting and then she will move to full time. We found an in-home provider who is very AP, does not believe in CIO, will wear Punk, and is okay with swaddling for naps. Yay.
12. She is now wearing some 12 month clothes and some 12-18 month clothes. She has her well-baby visit on Wednesday and we will see how freaking tall she is.
13. She is a finger-feeding champ and is good at chewing food. She has also started to spit out purees and laugh. It drives me bonkers.
14. Her hair is getting long and VERY stick-up. It is awesome!
15. I love her.

8 months!

I am more than a little late on this one. I haven't even taken pictures. 8 months = slackeroo!

Here is what has been going on since 7 months:
- 2 bottom teeth
- crawling like mad all over the house
- climbing over things
- kneeling up on things, playing in a high kneel
- eating a whole lotta food (mostly stage 2/3 purees and some finger foods)
- still a sleeping nightmare (5-8 wakeups per night)
- loves to chase the cats around

She hasn't really done too much "new" stuff lately, but she does tend to like to do them in spurts. I'm trying to teach her to wave but trying to teach Punk to do anything is like trying to teach the cats to clean their own litter box.

We are trying, once again, to get her to sleep without the swaddle. It is p-a-i-n-f-u-l. Ugh.

Baby Vs. Cat

"Oh, I see a kitty cat."


Daedalus swings, Punk dodges! Swing and a miss!


Victorious, she moves on to her next victim.


The Staredown.

x-posted to Judecorp.

7 months!

My dear baby girl,

You have been exploring our world for seven months now. You have learned so much in such a short time, yet there is always something new to do or learn. I am amazed every day at the new things you can do, and I feel so badly when you are frustrated because some skill is just out of your reach. I wish there was a way that I could convince you that you will get there in your own time.

You have really taken to pureed foods. So far, you have tried: rice cereal, oatmeal, applesauce, pears, bananas, avocados, peas, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, blueberries, prunes, and a jar of some "rice and lentil" dinner. You have eaten every single one with a smile on your face and a wide open mouth - even the prunes! Your favorites are sweet potatoes, peas, bananas, and pears, although you love everything that I have put into the mesh feeder.



You are much more mobile than you were at six months, and can now roll across the floor to a desired object with speed and skill. You are also able to do some commando crawling when you need to and can grab a toy with the patented Long Distance Reach. You are able to get onto all fours easily and rock back and forth, occasionally scooting forward (or pushing backward), so I know it's only a matter of time before you are dashing across the floor. I guess we'd better get moving on making the house a little safer for you!



You still struggle with reflux, although now it is much more of an acid-only problem than a spitting up problem, so at least there is progress. We used to go through 6-8 burp cloths per day, and now it's more like 1 or 2. We increased your reflux medication because you are growing so big! Hopefully you will outgrow it soon and we can stop with the medicine. I think that all of the new foods have kicked your acid production up a notch. Poor little punkin!

You haven't fully mastered the fine art of sitting up, only because you don't want to sit still. Why would you when there are so many fun things to see and do? Some of your favorite things to get into include the legs of the TV stand and the bouncer seat - you love to drag it around by the legs. You roll so quickly that you have gotten quite a few head bumps even though we try to keep pillows everywhere. You're tough, though! I am confident that you will be sitting up nice and tall in no time.



You are now making "ba ba" and "bla bla" noises in addition to "da da." Occasionally you accidentally make a new sound, and sometimes you try out some spitting for fun. You love to explore faces, especially when you are drinking your milk, but your favorite thing is to pull hair. You have quite a strong grip and have taken out a chunk or two! You are also learning how to hold your own bottle and feed yourself, but you get to wrapped up in chewing on the nipple and laughing as the milk dribbles down your chin. You haven't gotten the hang of the sippy cup yet, though. We've got time.

I can't believe seven months have gone by. You have gotten so big!

A little meme action

Jen and I were tagged for a meme by The Cutest Little Babymakers in Town. She tagged both of us, so I will try to answer things that are true for both of us. Should be fun!

The Rules:
1) Link to the person that tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4) Tag at least three people at the end of your post and link to their blogs.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6) Let the fun begin!

1. Jen and I have the same birthday. It is October 17 in case you want to send presents. :)

2. Jen and I have very different sleep needs. She tends to require somewhere around nine hours of sleep to feel really rested. I am fully functional on six hours. Neither of us is anywhere close these days.

3. Jen and I could not have more different television tastes. She prefers to watch the sci-fi channel and I am a reality junkie. Conversely, I hate sci-fi and Jen thinks reality tv is the worst.

4. Jen and I, when we lived in Boston, used to get our hair cut by a man we referred to as "The Dark Overlord."

5. Jen and I can both eat far too much sushi than is really necessary. Usually when we leave the sushi place, we're both well past full.

6. Jen and I have shared our home with four cats, though we only have three. Jen had a cat named Grendel when we moved in together, but one of my cats (Ralph) became very territorial and violent towards her. We gave Grendel to a former coworker of mine, and she is very happy there.

I think I will tag Jen&Cait at Addition Problems, Shelli&Narda at Hydrangeas Are Pretty, and L&H at Two Mommies and a Meatball.

Sucess!

Tonight I was able to put Babygirl to bed with no problems! We may have gotten through this phase of Mama will do only and Mommy doesn't.....


I am inordinately proud of this;)