8 months

I have an 8 month old which blows my mind. So close to a year. Seems crazy. The past month has been so fun since she plays and interacts and has also found a bit of independence. Just today her top tooth came through. Its been poking through the gums for days but now we can actually see and feel tooth. I see the other top one as well but it hasn't poked through, I can only see the white in the gums. She hasn't been super fussy but she does have moments where you can tell that it hurts but a little Hylands teething gel seems to do the trick. Once her bottom teeth sprung we've been brushing her teeth and it's pretty much the cutest thing ever. She loves it and she just opens up and lets up brush away. I'm sure it feels pretty good on the teeth coming in.

She is crawling around like crazy and pulls herself up on everything. She is trying so hard to stand from a crawling position and she is so so close. I can stand her up and let go and she can stand there for a second. If I hold her hands and have her walk in between my legs she totally does the walking motion so she gets it but isn't quite there yet. I know its close. She has started to respond pretty well when we tell her not to touch things and I think she gets it for the most part. If you say "Sierra" she will look for her so she is starting to associate names and people for sure. She hasn't really said anything besides mama, dada, baba, and fafa but she will talk and talk now repeating those words over and over. When I sing to her she will try and sing along and make little babbling noises which is pretty darn adorable. Her favorite song is "itsy bitsy spider." I sing it every time I change her and she thinks its the funniest thing in the world when I make the motions of the spider crawling up her. Also it's the only way to keep her still. Changing her takes some major skills and speed cause she will flip and toss herself around super quickly so distraction is a must these days.

She is obsessed with throwing this one ball. She has a hell of an arm on her too and she can aim which blows my mind. We play a lot of toss. She also loves when I clap her blocks together. The sound makes her pretty excited. She also just started clapping the other day. It isn't palm opening clapping but she puts her hands together and does it. Today she was clapping like crazy for some reason. She also waves too but its super uncoordinated and very sporadic. She is still learning these fun little skills. I find if I keep repeating things she is pretty quick to pick up on things. Especially noises. She will copy me whenever I make noises with my mouth. If I click she will click and if I make spitting noises she will do the same. Cracks me up.

Besides her laughing her snuggles are my favorite. Today we were playing on the ground and she gets so happy when I crawl on my stomach and put my head down. She immediately crawls up my back and dances. I was rubbing my nose on her stomach (cause it makes her laugh) and we were just laughing and playing on the ground. It was one of those moments that made me realize for all the stress and craziness we are dealing with financially having me (sorta) stay home that it's worth every second that I get to spend nose to nose with her on the floor. If only I could explain that to my credit cards bills.

I only feed her solids for two meals a day. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to add another meal yet but I think I may wait another month. I'm still slowly trying more foods and letting her get the hang of food. We still can't get a solid schedule down since as soon as we get comfortable something throws us for a loop but I'm learning that is just kinda the way it goes. She still isn't consistent with her naps. Some days she takes 30 min naps and will require 3-4 naps and other days she will sleep anywhere from an hour to two hours so it just kinda depends. Her night time routine also changes but for the most part she is up two times to eat. It's hard cause most people tell me at this point their baby sleeps through the night and they have a consistent nap schedule but she seems to be happy so I guess I can't complain.

I have noticed in the last week that she isn't fitting into her 6 month size pj's anymore and the foot is way too small. It's almost like it happened overnight. Big ol growth spurt combined with new front teeth. Being a baby must be really painful.

I feel like I could go on and on but I write so many little details about her in all my other posts that I'm sure I didn't miss anything.

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Rapture

Well people we survived the rapture. I still want to meet someone that actually believed it was going to happen. In the spirit off these nut jobs my friends through a rapture party. The weather was absolutely perfect, there was a ton of treats, booze, and good company. Olive was quite a little party animal. The first half of the party she was pretty ansy, just wanted to try and grab my beer and crawl dangerously close to the pool. Once she discovered she could pull herself up on the wall and pluck flowers in the garden she was pretty happy. Then she had a fan club of girls who I gladly let pass her around the party. My child does not have one shy bone in her body. She was bouncing on laps, grabbing sunglasses, and giggling like crazy with all the girls. It was enough time for me to enjoy a beer and for her to break one pair of sunglasses (sorry Tamar). I didn't want to go home but it was getting close to Olive's bedtime and we knew she would start to get her grump on she we left on a good note with a happy baby. It was a much needed time to get out and enjoy some party time.



















Today was a super fun day too. It was Evans birthday so we headed down to the beach in the afternoon so all the brothers could surf (minus Ross). Olive loved sitting on the beach crawling all over Grandma Rosie. Two blocks, a blanket, and a body to crawl on and she is pretty content. I tried to take her down to the water but it was just too cold for a dip with the feet. After the boys surf session we went to dinner. Olive slept through half of dinner and woke up in a kinda bla mood. She kept hitting her food out of my hand and made the biggest mess and if she wasn't constantly entertained she screamed. Just one of those nights I guess. We usually don't have any problems when we eat out with her so it was just one of those cranky nights.






And now I must crawl into bed. I've been getting into bed like an hour early just so I can read my Tina Fey book. I'm sorta obsessed with it and don't want it to end. I need something good when I'm finished with it which could be any day now. I tried reading the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and I'm just way too tired for something that like that. Anyone read anything good lately??

If you have a second please vote for me.

To add to the playroom

Olive has a good amount of toys but she is definitely getting more interested in different types of toys that do special things. I thought these were fun and I love that they are wood. We have plastic toys and I hope to avoid adding anymore if I can and stick with wood since there are so many options.




http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10954700


http://www.granolababies.com/pound-and-tap-bench/prod_930.html


http://www.babyearth.com/educo-pyramid-of-play.html


http://www.babyearth.com/melissa-doug-first-bead-maze.html


http://www.babyearth.com/melissa-doug-chomp-clack-alligator-push-toy.html


http://www.babyearth.com/melissa-doug-clapping-elephant-push-toy.html


http://www.babyearth.com/sassy-touch-talk-laptop.html

lots of photos for a thursday

I went a little crazy with photos today (a few were from yesterday). We didn't really do much but I was camera happy. We made a little run to babies r us for some practical and non practical items. We mostly played in the house, backyard, did some laundry, and then walked to the park. Olive took an hour and a half nap in her carseat again. I still can't figure out what it is about being in a carseat that makes her sleep but I'm totally ok with it. With the longer nap she isn't really interested in her last nap so I think as long as she gets a nice long nap in we can try and go for two naps. I got the most wonderful package in the mail today from Ashley with the sweetest card in the world. I swear its like there are those friends that just time things right and don't even mean to. Ashley just got back from Paris and found the cutest Chloe dress for Olive. I had to try it on her but it's still a bit large but I think it screams out first birthday party. To make the day even better I had a wonderful chat with Marisa who later called back with her fiance (ohhh I like the way that sounds) to face time with Olive. It made me so happy to actually see their faces. I love technology. The last few days have sucked balls but I'm finally snapping out out so hopefully there won't be any more emo posts from me for awhile (at least until I start to PMS)






I'm making a playroom for Olive. It's slowly coming together but I'm pretty excited about it.

boobies

Today my thoughts are consumed by boobs. Not mine but my cousins. I know it sounds weird. I got a frantic text from my cousin at 6am to call her when I got up. When I called she was hysterical crying. Once she was calm and could talk she told me she was in so much pain and had clogged ducts on both sides of her boobs. She has a one month old and has been doing everything in her power to breastfeed her. Last week when we talked she was so happy and felt she was finally getting it (after seeing a lactation consultant) and felt confident. I was seriously so happy cause the first few weeks are so hard (for most people) and she was really struggling. But now she is back in a shitty situation. Even if she wanted to stop she couldn't cause she needs to clear the ducts and the only way is with baby. She is a smart cookie and has done everything under the sun to try and fix the problem. Her dr was a complete asshole to her and she said she was walking out the door before she was even done talking. I mean what is wrong with dr's and our medical industry?? What about taking the time to offer advice or refer her to a lactation consultant or something. Fuck I mean you get paid a trillion dollars to look at tits and vaginas all day and you can't spend 5 min with a new mom?? I just feel enraged for my cousin. Why does is have to be so difficult to breastfeed when it's supposed to be natural? I think about this all time. What did cavewomen do when they had clogged ducts? I always wonder if putting babies on schedules has anything to do with all the problems? I'm pretty sure 100's of years ago there wasn't a schedule for a baby? I dunno this is the shit I think about. I've become pretty passionate (aka borderline nuts) over boobs. I just feel its such a special bond. I didn't always feel that way. Two months of thrush and multiple clogged ducts really made life difficult but I look at Olive and I LOVE that I can comfort her with something no one else can and I love that I can sustain a life with my boobs. Ya its a lot of pressure but its pretty amazing. I love when she grabs my mouth and hooks me like a fish when she is eating and that her nails scratch my side when she feeds. I always know when its time to cut the nails this way.

Obviously everyone has a choice to breastfeed or not. I don't really care but what I do care about is when people want to and they can't because of complications or stress or lack of education. Of course there is Le leche leauge but sometimes the motivation to go to a meeting and sit with strangers might not be everyone's cup of tea. I know I had that option and I didn't use that resource. If I knew what I know now maybe I would but as a first time mom whipping your boobs out in front of a stranger might be a bit intimidating. Lactation Consultants are great, I would say the best resource out there but they are expensive. The women who came to see me was $175 for like an hour or two. Not everyone has that money lying around. I didn't, my mom paid for it. And honestly I would of loved for her to come a few days after I gave birth and then maybe 2 more times to check on me. I wish there was a resource out there for women that wanted this service that wasn't super expensive. I know insurance is getting better about paying for lactation consultants but my insurance at the time didn't cover it and I'm sure mine is not the only one. There just has to be a way to make breastfeeding easier for anyone that wants that as an option. I was thinking about my birth experience with a midwife and how much I loved it. I would do it all over the same way but I was thinking how amazing it would of been to have a lactation consultant part of her team. Obviously my midwife was there to help me breastfeed right away but she was a little busy delivering my placenta and stitching up the vag to spend that much time really showing me a proper latch. I went home really clueless. Of course I had books, you tube, the moms, but its a totally different experience to have someone sit with you and show you tricks and give you that confidence and then to check back in a week after the blur of birth passes over you to make sure you are on the right path. For some people the baby latches on and there is never a problem. I love when I hear stories like that but the reality is most people have problems and there should be options that aren't super expensive.

Yep that was my rant for the day. I hope more than anything my cousin can beat the boobie monster and have a successful breastfeeding relationship like she wants and deserves.



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the park and backyard