8 months!

Last week Scarlett turned 8 months old.  In 4 short months my girl will be one year old.  Wow.

 

I’ve already started thinking about her birthday party.  While I would love to have it at our house, it’s just too small.  Plus our dogs are too rowdy for too many guests.  I thought about having it at a local park but I’m wondering if it would be too crazy to have it at a park/playground.  On a Saturday.  In May.  Hmmmm….probably not the best idea.  I don’t want to have it somewhere where I would have to pay a bunch of money.  I know the park/playground idea would probably charge to use a pavillion but that wouldn’t be too outrageous.

Decisions, decisions.

At her last doctor appointment last Friday she weighed about 16.5 pounds, with clothes on.  She gained a pound in one week!  I was so excited!  She is finally starting to gain some weight.  I think that puts her in the 20th percentile or somewhere close to that.  Some 12 month clothing fits her, depending on the brand.  Mostly she is still wearing 6-9 months, although her 6-9 month jammies are snug if they have feet on them.

She is on so many supplements and vitamins to help with her eczema and I think they are finally working.  For her morning bottle she gets 1/4 teaspoon of probiotics, 1/2 teaspoon of zinc, a dropper full of multivitamin, 2 droppers full of fish oil, 1 dropper full of vitamin d and a scoop of glutamine.  I feel like a chemist.  I have seen an improvement in her skin though.  Her doctor commented that she now looks like a normal baby suffering from eczema.  My hope is that with the help of all these supplements and time, she will outgrow it.

Scarlett is a pro at sitting.  No problems there.  We’ve been working on crawling but I think we still have awhile.  She’ll be on all fours and will rock a little but that’s about it.  Usually, she’ll just plop her head down on the floor.  Oh well.  I’m in no rush for her to learn to crawl.

We finally have top teeth!  Two started coming through at the same time and now they are both visible.  She’s even begun to grind her teeth together.  I hope that she’s just exploring the new teeth and not developing a bad habit.  I still need to get some pictures of the new teeth.

This is what my mom refers to as Scarlett’s “googie face.”  This month her eyes are deciding whether to be brown like her Mama or green like her Papa.  I would have bet money they were going to stay blue but green is good too…

Fast forward 2 months…

So, yeah, I have not been so good about keeping up with my blog.  The combination of working full time and being a mom has gotten the best of me.  I have a hard time keeping up with a lot of things.  Blogging, laundry, making baby food, showering.  You name it, I’ve been slacking on it.

One thing I have been good about is taking Scarlett’s monthly picture.  This is my favorite girl at 6 months:

And at 7 months:

Since my last post around 5 months old, Scarlett got her first tooth on 11/12 (5.5 months old).

The first tooth resulted in trying out her first food.

  She enjoyed it thoroughly.  Since then she’s had carrots, avocado, applesauce, sweet potato, pears, green beans, squash and blueberries.  And I’ve made all her food.  Don’t worry, I’ve already patted myself on the back.  :)

We celebrated her first Thanksgiving over my parents house.  No turkey for her but she had fun all the same.

I finished her fish hat and I love it!  Plus, it used up some leftover yarn I had, which is a bonus.

She got her second tooth on 11/28 at 6 months old.  She now has three teeth but I didn’t get a picture of the third one.  They all came within two weeks of each other.  No top teeth yet…

 

I realized I may have the real Beiber baby.  I mean, look at that hair!  He can’t deny that DNA!

We saw Santa for the first time.  I wasn’t sure how she would react.  Normally she’s a happy, social baby but you never know with Santa.  She was fine.  Smiled for the camera and everything.  And can I just say how awesome this Santa is?  He was so sweet and patient and he had a real beard.  A + in my book!

 

Scarlett’s first Christmas was just perfect.  Nothing too extravagant.  Nothing too over the top.  We had a nice breakfast (baked french toast that I found on pinterest…YUM!) and then opened gifts.  Afterwards we took a much needed nap on the couch and then we went over to my parents house to open more gifts and have dinner.  The perfect day.

That was the first time she sat up on her own, unassisted, for more than a few seconds.  Since then she’s been having a blast sitting on the floor and playing with her toys.  If anyone is interested, I got the bow from my friend, Annie, who owns Little Miss Muffets.  She makes and sells bows, onesies, tutu’s, and other fun stuff.  You can find her shop on facebook. 

Another cute bow on a cute girl.  :)

This was the sweater I made for her for Christmas.  We won’t tell anyone that I didn’t finish it until after Christmas, now will we?  I did finish before New Year’s, so that counts for something, right?

 

Scarlett hasn’t started pulling up just yet but she will hold herself there for a few seconds if you stand her up.  I’m so not ready for her to be mobile.  I think I might have at least another month before she starts crawling.  She just started sitting up so I hope it’s at least another month.

Just last week she discovered splashing.  Normally, when we give her a bath Courtney has to hold her hands so she doesn’t scratch.  Her eczema is a constant battle.  We’ve been to umpteen doctor’s appointments.  I thought her appointment with Johns Hopkins pediatric dermatology would bring us some relief but they basically told me to keep putting Aquaphor on it.  Needless to say, I did not make a follow up appointment.  Her pediatrician thinks it’s all related to food allergies so I’ve stopped breastfeeding (still sad about that) and we’ve put her on a new formula that is allergen free.  The bath picture was from when she was on an oral steroid which gave her about 9 days of relief.  I was told to bathe her every day but make them short (about 5 minutes) baths.  She was having so much fun for once so we let her play in the bath for about 15 minutes.  My pants were soaking wet but it was so worth it to see her have fun in the bath.  We’re still waiting to see if the new formula makes a difference or not, now that she’s off the oral steroid.   I pray that it does because it kills me to see her so itchy all the time.

And I think that officially brings me up to date.

Five months!

 

 

                                One month                                                                                                           Five months

 

So, last week my girl turned 5 months old.  I'm not sure if I should be happy or sad about that.  I mean, I'm happy that she is growing up and her little personality is really coming out but I'm sad because she is growing up!  My tiny little baby is now a 5 month old little person.  And that girl is strong!  I have to fight her to get her diapered and dressed sometimes.  Gone are the days where she would just lie there and let me change her.

She is starting to sit up with some help and will stand up when you hold her hands to support her.  No solids yet as we are having a bout with eczema and I have eliminated dairy, eggs, wheat/gluten, soy and peanuts (so basically all the good things!) from my diet to see what triggers it.  It’s been over a week and no improvement so I’m not sure what’s going on.  I think an allergist will be the next doctor we see. 

Scarlett loves blowing raspberries, or trying to at least.  She hasn’t quite got it down but she’s so close.  She is very aware of her hands and has started to grab for things.  I watched her grab her pacifier and attempt to put it in her mouth but the ribbon that it was attached to kept getting in the way.  She also has been chewing on her feet.  She could be a yoga master!  Still no teeth.  She is currently wearing 6-9 month clothes but some of her footie pajamas are a little short so it’s time to break out the next size pretty soon.

Halloween was this Monday and being that it’s one of my favorite holidays, we took her Trick or Treating (just up and down our street).

Mama bird and baby bird!

Trick or Treat! 

Out of the 10 or 12 houses on our street, only two had their lights on (not counting ours).  We didn’t see one Trick or Treater.  I hope our next house is in a community that is big into Halloween.  Next year we will Trick or Treat in my parent’s neighborhood.  This past weekend they had a community Halloween block party and we went.

My mom bought her this costume since “it was only $5!”  Growing up my mom always made our costumes so I couldn’t believe she bought one for her.  Oh well.  It was pretty chilly when you weren’t in the sun so this kept Scarlett warm.  Plus, she was just too cute for words.

My dad and Scarlett

I absolutely love Halloween but I am so glad it’s over.  It felt like it was a week long.  We have an annual Halloween party at my work which I help organize and that was last Friday.  Plus making her and my costume and all the rest of my daily life I am pooped.  And Christmas is just around the corner.  Joy.

Fun on the Farm

Every year the local park (that is on old farm land but is now a county park) holds a fall festival.  It’s about 3 miles from our house and I’ve always wanted to go but I’ve never gone because I didn’t want to be the awkward adult without a child.  It’s mainly geared towards children so I would have stuck out like a sore thumb.  Plus, I didn’t want to go alone.  I wanted to go as a family.

This year my family and I went.  It was a perfect fall day.

Ready to go for a walk to the park

Tractor rides

I don’t think I have any recent pictures of her without her hand in her mouth.  And that girl has jaws of steel!  I let her chew on my finger every once in awhile and holy moly, I can’t believe I don’t have bruises.

My friend, Heather and her son met up with us.  She hasn’t seen Scarlett since she was only a few weeks old.

We checked out some of the animals there.

Beaker and Penny had a hard time controlling their excitement around the animals.

All in all, an awesome day.  I think we’ll have more fun next year when Scarlett can enjoy it more.  She was pooped and took a much needed nap on the way home.

There is nothing better than a sleepy, snuggling baby on your chest.  Nothing.

Big thriftin’

I’m a big thrifter.  I’d say about 80% of Scarlett’s clothes are from Goodwill, yard sales, consignment sales or hand-me-downs.  And probably a good 70% of her furniture and toys are as well. 

I found the crib on Craigslist for $120.  It is a convertible crib so it will be a toddler bed and then a full size headboard.  I wanted it to be special so I sanded it, primed it, painted it and shellacked it.  Is shellacked a word?  That is what shellaced was corrected to so I’m going to roll with it.  Let me just say that I will NEVER paint a crib again.  I started this insane project in December and finished about 2 weeks before Scarlett was born.  In May.  Also, sitting on a hard stool while 9 months pregnant is NOT a good idea.

The dresser was an estate sale find for $8 and the mirror was a yard sale find for $5.  They both were sanded, primed and painted.

I found the dresser/changing table at Goodwill for $60.  It had ugly bun feet on it which I promptly removed.  Again, this was sanded, primed and painted.  I found the little bird drawer pulls on etsy.

In Maryland we have a huge children’s consignment sale called, Wee-Sale.  It’s twice a year and I love it.  I started going a few years back to stock up on things like onesies, blankets, towels, etc.  Now that I actually have a child I could shop for her specifically.  This year, at the fall sale, I bought her some Christmas jammies, which I fear she may outgrow before then, a couple of outfits, some G diaper covers, and a swing for our porch.  The sale was at the end of August and we finally got around to hanging it up this weekend.

With the cooler weather finally starting and the mosquitoes  starting to go away we could actually go outside without getting eaten alive.  I hate cold weather but with the awful abundance of mosquitoes this year, I can’t wait for cold weather.  That’s how much I hate mosquitoes.

Anyway, this weekend they held the She-Sale.  It’s put on by the same people who do the Wee-Sale but at this one they sell women’s clothes, shoes, and home goods.  I needed a few things to wear this fall since I’m not back to my pre-baby weight yet.  I was able to get a pair of jeans, two skirts, two shirts, a scarf and a neat tote bag.  All for $23!  I love good deals.  The last thing I need is another purse but this one was so neat:

 

It has a handle for Scarlett to hold on to!  Well, not now, but when she gets older.  I can’t wait to be able to use it with her.

So that was my interesting find of the week.  What was yours?

Four months!

On Monday my sweet girl turned 4 months old!  I love that she’s getting bigger and developing her own little personality but it makes me sad to think that (what feels like) just yesterday she was this teeny little newborn.  I feel like I’m missing a lot now that I’m back to work full time.

 

Can you see why it’s so hard for me to be away from her for 9 hours each day?  I just want to kiss on her cheeks all the time!  I just love this girl so much.  If I didn’t have to work, I wouldn’t.  At least not while she’s so young.  But there is just no way we could afford it.  Plus, my work has better health insurance and with me having diabetes, health insurance is a must.  In about 2 years, when all of our credit card debt is paid off we might be able to swing it but for now I just have to make the most of the evenings and weekends.

Speaking of weekends, I am so thankful that Scarlett rolled over for the first time on my watch!  This past Saturday she finally rolled over!  She had gotten close but could never figure out what to do with her one arm.

That right arm would keep her from getting all the way over.  Well, that and the fact her feet kept getting stuck in the slats of her crib.  She scared the crap outta me the other morning because of that.  I was getting ready for work in the bathroom, right next to her room, while she played in her crib.  All of the sudden I heard her cry like I’ve never heard her cry before.  I run into her room to find her feet stuck out the side of the crib.  She’s done it a few times since then but that first time scared her.  Silly girl.

Yes, I am the mean mommy who takes a picture of my crying child, just to document that she rolled over.  Please ignore Beaker dragging his butt on the carpet.  Stupid dog.

In knitting news, I haven’t started on either of the hats I want to make her yet but I did finish a hat for a sweet baby girl who was born a few weeks ago.  This little girl’s big brother was in my Two Year Old class two years ago and they gave Scarlett that little grey blanket in the picture of her almost rolling over.  It’s a little mouse lovey.  I had to make their new baby a hat, because, well, all babies deserve something hand knit.  So, I made her this:

You can find the pattern here.  It’s free!  The flower came out of a book called, “100 flowers to Knit and Crochet”

Yeah, it was hard to give away.  But it’s always hard to give my hand knits away.  I’m fairly certain they will appreciate it, so that’s a comfort.

And I leave you with my smiley girl.  Happy four month birthday sweet girl!  I love you more than words can ever say!