9 Months Already?

Current Stats: 17lbs 12oz, 28 in
Greta is modeling a 2008 KRMC original.

Wow time has flown. It's hard to believe Greta has been "out" almost as long as she was "in". This month she has really grown. The changes just seem to happen overnight. Her cruising skills have continued to improve although she's not ready to try standing or walking on her own. Graham likes to "force" her to balance on her own and she gets quite upset when he does that. She continues to use her car as a walker and except for steering problems she's quite good at it. Another favorite thing to walk behind is an empty clothes basket. Her sleeping habits have continued to improve and for the last 2 or 3 weeks Graham and I have enjoyed uninterrupted sleep. We still use the monitor but have it on very low so only the lights show up if she's making noise. She generally sleeps from 8 to 7 and is always very ready for her morning nursing. I've been rotating whether I nurse her before or after her naps so she's not dependent on being nursed before she goes to sleep. I can tell a difference in how easily she settles to sleep but it's not a huge difference (max of 5 minutes). She likes to use a pillow although she doesn't have one. She managed to pull her bumpers down and lays on that until I removed them from her crib. From what I've read pillows aren't advised until much later so we're gonna hold off. She's trying additional new foods and enjoying anything that is a finger food. Recently we tried broccoli which I was shocked that she loved. I think it's her favorite green vegetable. My main goal in introducing that was to try broccoli cheese bites for a finger food. I think they sound pretty yummy so hopefully she will too. She's also very fond of sweet potatoes in almost any format and recently I made her sweet potato oven fries when she loved (and Graham and I did too.) They aren't near as crispy as their fried counterparts but just as tasty and very easy to make. Still no real talking but she makes the cutest squeals and noises. She also has become much more cuddly and Graham and I enjoy that. I'm trying to teach her to give kisses but so far all she does is come at you with an open mouth!

Birthday Blues

No, I don't have the blues cause I'm now 28. Getting older doesn't really bother me. My birthday started off quite nice. Greta and I spent the morning together and then headed out to meet Graham for a birthday lunch. He surprised me with flowers and then G2 (Greta) and I headed home. Later that evening I prepped to go to step class. I had also bought a new pair of workout pants earlier in the day and debated if I wanted to wear them since wearing them would require shaving my legs (they are crop pants). I decided since it was my birthday it was a good day to splurge on a midday bath so I relaxed in the tub with a good book and then shaved my legs. Never have I been so glad that I did.

About halfway through step class I was bouncing a long having a good time and sweating up a storm and then I stepped funny, my left ankle twisted and I flew through the air landing on my butt. It was one of those slow motion things where each second seems like an hour. After landing I got over my shock and looked up for help (Julie & Mandi were in the class with me.) Julie noticed me first and to quote her "When I saw your face crumple I knew it was bad." Mandi noticed me next and quickly came to my aid and started feeling my ankle. I really couldn't stand any pressure so I asked her to stop. The instructor finally noticed I was on the floor and stops the class very flustered. She got the general manager who brought me ice and iced my ankle for me while I waited for Graham to pick me up. The pain right after I did it was REALLY bad. I would say it was as bad or worse than bad labor contractions because it didn't let up. At least a contraction has a peak but this pain just kept on going! It did settle down to a tolerable level and Graham finally arrived to take me to urgent care. The last time I visited urgent care I had broken my right foot. The doctor, nurse, & x-ray tech were super nice and we received very fast service. I had 3 x-rays and the doctor determined I did have some old bone chips that had popped off from previous injuries but he didn't see any new ones but couldn't give me a definite reading as the radiologist was not there. Today I am taking it easy keeping my foot up and catching up on some crocheting while Graham works from home and chases Greta. I am enjoying having the time to just sit, crochet, and read but I sure wish it didn't come with an ankle that's 2x the size of normal.

Just doing it for the entries. . .

If you enter and win I'd love to try some of these. :-)

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

You know you're a mother when . . . Part 2

...You jump out of the shower with conditioner in your hair because your child is screaming.

Yes, that indeed happened to me today. I was in the shower while Greta happily played on the floor. I wasn't facing her so I can't say what she did but all of a sudden I heard clunk which is not normally a good sound. I turn around to see what's going on and sure enough Greta was sprawled on the floor. She started to cry and I waited a moment to see if it was just an oops cry or a I really hurt myself cry. It was unfortunately the latter so I jumped out, quickly slipped on my bathrobe to comfort my very unhappy girl. She got soaked and her hair got conditioned a bit but I must admit I really enjoyed how snuggly she was. She cuddled with me for a good 10 minutes and then I finished my shower.

You know you're a mother when . . .

. . .You get excited over diaper rash ointment.

Since Greta started solids we've had an on again off again battle with diaper rash. Not the really bad kind caused by a yeast infection but the contact dermatitis sort. It was exacerbated by the one downside to cloth diapers...you can't use any kind of paraben (meaning greasy) ointment with them because it coats the fibers and causes them to not be as absorbent. A workaround is to use liners which we've done with great success but occasionally the ointment would seep through if we used a lot on her little bum. Since birth we've been using Boudreaux's Butt Paste and it works quite well and smells a whole lot better than most other ointments but (no pun intended) it just wasn't clearing up her rash as fast or as well as I would like. I decided to shop around and see if I could find another that would work well. I know I like other California Baby products so I picked up their diaper rash cream. It is a bit pricey but we've found we don't need to use near as much so it evens out. I also like that it's more of a lotion vs a cream. It still provides a barrier on her skin but it soaks in much quicker which keeps it from soaking into the diaper. And, best of all, it smells really good. I've decided though that Greta's skin is just sensitive (what baby's isn't?) and so we put it on her at each diaper change and that has made a world of difference.

This may be a continuing series as I amuse myself with things that now make me happy that I would have never considered before.

News Flash

Greta has 3 teeth coming in. Her two front teeth and the next tooth over on her right. That'll make five!

We figured she was cutting teeth as she's been a bit cranky but today we actually saw them for the first time....granted she had to be upside down to do so but still, we saw them!

Good Eats

It seems that at 8 months a whole new world of food is opened up to a baby. Greta has greatly enjoyed expanding her culinary horizons and has become quite the little foodie. Her new love is yogurt. I think she would eat it by the gallon if I would let her. She also enjoys a bottle with drinkable yogurt in it (thanks for the idea Jen). Other new taste sensations are cheese & eggs (just the yolks). These are great because not only does she enjoy them but they make GREAT finger foods and keep her occupied. Coming up pretty soon will be the introduction of meat. We'll probably start with chicken first.

I'm curious, what are the favorite foods at your house?

Sitting Pretty

Today Greta and I had a little photo shoot. Enjoy the pictures!

Her gorgeous dress is courtesy of her Mimi who made and smocked it.

Saying Hello & Goodbye

As Greta outgrows various pieces of baby equipment and moves into new ones I gleefully move the old ones to the attic. I detest clutter so anything I can do to minimize it is wonderful. So far we've moved the bouncy seat, swing, stroller (that the car seat fits into), Bumbo, and various little baby toys to the attic. I feel fairly soon we'll move her exersaucer and Johnny Jump Up to the attic. Now that she's mobile she's not very content to be constrained to any one location. The good news of being mobile is she's even more able to entertain herself. That has been such a blessing. I do find myself saying "No" a lot and for the most part she obeys. She occasionally needs a bit of reinforcement (light pop on the hand) but once that occurs she almost always obeys. It amazes me how well she understands No.

I also have developed a keen sense of hearing for trouble. Generally trouble involves her sticking something in her mouth she shouldn't. If she finds something other than food to stick in her mouth she just gums it rather than trying to swallow it. She also makes a particular umm umm sound while chewing so I can almost always tell if she has something in her mouth she shouldn't. Even if she's in another room. Removing items from her mouth almost always results in her pitching a bit of a fit since she wants to keep the item and really hates me prying open her little jaws and digging in her mouth.

We've said Hello to a few new items around our house. Our first new item is a walker/riding toy that I bought Greta around 7 months that received rave reviews from others who had bought it for their children. At the time she loved walking behind it but was super unsteady so she needed major assistance. Since then she's gotten her land legs and scoots around pretty well. Her only major issue is turning so she walks until she runs into something and then needs help turning around.


Our other new item is a new carseat. I knew Greta would be out of her old car seat before we knew it so I wanted to get her new carseat ASAP. She's not near the weight limit of her current car seat but she is approaching the height limit. I found a super good deal (on eBay) on a Britax Diplomat which is their compact car seat so it fits very nicely in our car. I installed it today and am very pleased with it. Greta has yet to take her first ride so we'll wait for her to pass judgment on it. Had I not gotten the Britax seat we really liked the Graco Nautilus. If for some reason we need an additional seat for Graham's car we'll get that one.

A walk around our yard

After hanging out the laundry (see next post), Greta and I took a walk around the yard to look at all the pretty flowers.

We had several gardenia bushes but they were blocking the window so they were taken out. This one is still blooming quite happily though.

We have a volunteer lantana in the backyard. The bush we actually planted is in the front yard near the mailbox and this one just showed up this year. Graham figures a bird ate the seeds and then "planted" some for us in the backyard.

One of my favorite spots in the yard. I really love the Hosta Lillies and the tree they are under provides excellent shade. Greta and I will sit here sometimes and just watch the world go by.

We have a neat little flowerbox out by the road that covers the culvert. The only problem is very little will grow in it since it is shallow and doesn't hold water well. A few years ago we planted portulaca and although it's an annual (or so I was told), it has come back each year. It thrives in the dry arid soil.

Last is my favorite, my daylilys. We planted these our first summer and they have come back beautifully each year. I only wish they bloomed over the entire summer.

My Little Laundry Helper

Greta loves to be outside...she doesn't seemed to be phased by the heat as long as she's enjoying the sunshine and a breeze does help. :-)