Another month down! We didn't do a lot this month, but we celebrated Chloe's 2nd Thanksgiving and her first infection that made it's presence known on her face.
Thanksgiving was great! I had my sad moments (I REALLY missed my mom this year) leading up to and surrounding the holiday, but it all went very well. Chloe was happy to get to enjoy the food this year and ate well. I haven't gotten her official weight from the doctor in a while, but she is getting pretty solid. Maybe her weight is trying to catch up with her height, but the munchkin is getting heavy...good thing she can and likes to walk! With all the weight and height increases, we finally got her a big girl car seat, and will be ordering another one soon.
A few weeks ago Chloe had what I thought was a little scratch on her forehead...it turned out to be ringworm. We still have no clue where she got it from...we suspect daycare, but they seemed to be surprised by it too. The bad news about ringworm is that it is highly contagious, which meant Chloe had to spend about a week out of daycare so we could get it under control. Once it's treated it's apparently safe to have her around other people, but she was really scratching a lot and the doctor found that she had another ear infection. I really hope the ear infections stop soon. She had to stay home today because of a fever yesterday, but so far it seems like it may be from teething. Three of her first molars have decided to sprout at the same time, and I'm sure the fourth is close behind...yikes.
Walking around downtown Decatur
with daddy
She speaks! Chloe has been learning and spouting off more and more words lately. She randomly decided to start saying "shoe" about a week ago and The Husband got her to start saying "box" today. This is on top of all of the cute but nonsensical babbling that happens all the time. She also fusses at people by babbling LOUDLY and pointing her finger, which is really funny to watch. I can't wait to hear what kinds of things she's going to come up with in the near future.
We made it another month! I say "made it" because we had our first airplane trip with a baby and Chloe's second Halloween. Both events went really well, and I'll post more about the trip later. We also went to an event thrown by Atlanta Parent Magazine called the Family Block Party where Chloe got to play in the toddler area and visit a petting zoo!
"Don't let go daddy!"
I'm glad I got over watching for baby milestones early. It's so easy to get sucked into "She/He should be walking/smiling/clapping/talking/whatever right now...there's a chart that says so!" The problem with that though is everyone grows differently. It's nice to have the general knowledge of when things are "supposed" to happen to identify issues, but I'm SO glad I don't check it all of time to figure Chloe out. I did get caught up in the height/weight charts for a while because Chloe was always thinner than she "should have been", but once I learned that my baby was going to eat as much as she wanted and that was normal (even when it wasn't that much) and that her weight being lower than the "norm" was normal for her, I got over it. She is supposedly taller than "normal" too but that sounds about right. I was a little gangly skinny-mini when I was younger too.
Halloween was fun! We didn't do much of anything, but I did find a little wand and tiara to pair with a purple dress Chloe got for her birthday and voila, instant princess. The plan was to have her "help" me give candy out, but this munchkin is too nosy for things of that nature. The night quickly became a game of me taking as many pictures as I could and her getting herself into whatever she could and then getting to the door as fast as she could so she could stand in it with me when trick-or-treaters arrived. She didn't actually hand out any candy and I ended up having to move the candy dish from her reach to avoid giving people slightly baby-chewed candy. While it would have worked for most of the items, I'm pretty sure people would have objected to eating soggy boxes of Nerds. The night pressed on, it got dark (way early!) and she went to bed before the people stopped coming to our door. I'll call it a success as we got rid of most of the candy I bought and all the banana Laffy Taffy (ick!) we already had.
She's climbin' in ya candy dish,
snatchin' up ya Snickers, so hide
ya candy, hide ya sweets!
Fabulously happy princess
The best full outfit shot I got...
Chloe: *drops wand, walks away*
No doctor's appointments for check-ups this month, but there was a follow up for her ear infections. Everything was normal and all better! I'm very happy we didn't need to start thinking about tubes for her ears. I've read that they aren't that big of a deal to have put in and they immediately fix the issues that lead to chronic ear infections, but I generally prefer not to have strangers all up in my body. She did get her first flu shot though, and will need to go back for the booster. I'm also learning how to deal with another person's skin issues. Chloe's skin is sensitive to being dry, and it dries out quickly. It'd be one thing if I knew she could handle coconut oil (my go-to for everything skin related...it clears everything up when I use it, and helps scars and things heal super fast), but the first time I used it on her skin she broke out from it. Maybe I will try it again soon, but at the moment I use a shea butter and extra virgin olive oil mix (which could use more olive oil in it...oops) for her hair and Cetaphil cream and Dove soap for her skin. It works well enough for right now.
Baby "artwork"!
Chloe is a genius! I'm sure every parent believes this at some point or another during the existence of their children, but I'm for real. For real, for real. Ok, so her genius status hasn't been tested officially or anything, but I still enjoy watching all the lights turn on in her brain. Her dexterity is awesome and she's understanding the associations between things. She has several toys that have a button with a music note on them and I'm pretty sure she knows what to expect when she pushes those buttons. She has also realized that they all cycle through the songs they have on them, and she will keep pushing those buttons until she gets a song she wants. For her birthday, she got some blocks that are shapes and a container to put them in. The lid on the container is meant to teach her about the different shapes and that they fit in certain holes, but she just takes the lid off and does what she wants. She also got a singing piggy bank for her birthday, and gets a delighted giggle going whenever she manages to get the coins into it all by herself. It's very entertaining to watch, and really funny when she gets frustrated and just hands things to me instead, but then still tries to do the task herself. She has also officially hit the high-pitched screaming phase of growing up. It's not bad so far, and usually only happens at home and for short periods of time, but man, those 4 second increments of life lost are crazy!
On an airplane for the first time!
I'm excited that Chloe's hair is starting to get long enough to style! Ok, so it was long enough before for basic things with the little barrettes and clips I have, but I mean the "Million Bows and Puffs" style or the "Hey, Look At How I Have 5 Ponytails In Random Places" style that little Black girls tend to have. Now I have to figure out what kind of bows work the best. I bought a pack of skinny, non-damaging elastic bows but they are still too big for the types of little ponytails I want to do. One day I'll head to the beauty supply store and pick up an assortment to try. Really, I like her little afro the most anyway. I don't even mind when little sections of it curl up into "naps" (I don't call them that, but that's what they get called). If I could finger or comb coil it I would, but she still has a wide area in the back that is growing in super slowly and I don't think the style would look that great with a chunk missing. I'm really interested in the growth of that area too...not just because it'd be nice if her hair would grow evenly, but because hair growth "problems" like that are usually attributed to the baby laying on it's back to nap and sleep. Chloe usually sleeps on her face though (or...however she ends up). In the end, it's going to grow in however and whenever it wants to, so I'll have to wait and see.
Chloe like trucks! Time to get her some....
Thanksgiving is approaching! While I definitely enjoy the holiday (free food AND an extra day off of work? FTW!) and am looking forward to this year's installment of family fun I am a little disappointed that we wont be able to travel like we wanted to. I have family in the Midwest I would love to visit and have meet Chloe, but the timing wont work for us this year :-(. My mother also passed away two years ago on Black Friday, so there's that to deal with as well. Approaching the date has been a little rough this year, but hopefully I'll pull through again. I'm so blessed and happy that I have lots of family and friends nearby that are helpful and loving and supportive to me during times like these. A plus for this year though, Chloe will get to enjoy the food this time! I'm sure she is going to have a blast...and then the next month will bring Christmas!!
Posting late, as usual, but Chloe is 101112 13 months old! Yes, this time it was so late, Chloe had her birthday! I was going to write 2 posts before this one and then a 13 months post, but forget it. It's hard to find time for much outside of working and taking care of a family, so you get what you get :-P! I did realize that it will be harder and harder for me to remember all of the the things I've been writing here as time goes on though, so I need to get back to it, especially when it's only once a month. We'll see what happens though.
They say that this time moves really fast, and THEY ARE RIGHT. It seemed like she was getting bigger and learning something new every single day. The growing process has gradually slowed down some...we are still using size 3 diapers when I thought we would have gotten way past them by now. I figured things would slow down eventually, but I wasn't sure when. She is just now getting big enough for a "big girl car seat" which is pretty cool. I already have one picked out (the Evenflo Maestro) so all we have to do is order it/go buy it! Well, two of them...this switching the seat between the cars hasn't been too bad, but it will be nice to finally be able to leave it in there all the time. Plus, we think she would really enjoy facing forward now.
4th of July!
Done by this point. I think
she was mad at the fireworks
for keeping her awake.
Still a fun day though!
Getting through the first year was amazing. We made it! Our baby is happy, healthy...and still alive...time to celebrate! They say the first birthday party isn't really about the baby...it's a reason to celebrate and all, but it's more for the parents than anyone else. Which was true. Face it, little kids (babies) can't hang! We had all kinds of burgers, hot dogs, beer and wine (there were NO other babies/kids there, lol) and sat around catching up. Chloe wasn't feeling well at her party and gave up right around cake time. We had to redo the "baby smash cake" photo op on her actual birthday. I'm not sure if she didn't like it or if she didn't know what to make of it, but there was minimal smash and lots of staring. She managed to eat a little of it though.
Somebody started walking right around her birthday! She managed to take the first few steps while we were on our way out of town for the National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, NC. I think she decided to take some time and get her balance and everything together, and then really started cruising a couple of weeks after. She could basically walk on her birthday, but kept cruising in between people and objects until one day she just let go and that was it! She still occasionally crawls shorter distances, but it's all about the walking now!
Watching her work out the cause and effect of something is more of an event than I'd ever thought it would be. A couple of months or so ago, she started trying to figure out what the buttons on a Playstation 3 controller do, instead of just trying to push them all and put the controller in her mouth. I'm pretty sure she hasn't put together what each button does yet, but just the exploration alone will help with that. You can definitely tell when she's deeply observing something to figure it out, and watching all the little light bulbs turn on is amazing. I'm pretty sure a lot of people say this, but I really could just stare at her all day and be happy with my life (as long as everything else is being taken care of while I'm staring).
Beating the system...
Daycare has brought lots of great things and a few not-so-fun things into our lives. Chloe still seems to be the favorite in her class...which is interesting. On one hand, it's kind of nice to be the parent of the favorite kid, but I think she does get spoiled a little and fussed over more than others. It was a joke that she would be/is a diva, but it might be something that is happening. Help! Either way, she seems happy with her teachers and still nonchalant to the other babies. They tell me she plays with who she wants to, so I guess she's made a couple of friends. Now, when school started back, we got ALL THE GERMS. I didn't think that would even really affect us this early, but sure enough new babies started when school did and they turned our immune systems upside down! It seems like either all three of us are sick at the same time or just one or two, but almost never none. Our place is often one of quarantine...complete with soup, cold medicine suited to varying symptoms and lots and lots of Puffs (Plus Lotion...I don't play with my nose). We are exploring some things to fix that and keep ourselves healthy...hopefully they work. I'M TIRED OF BEING SICK.
Aww...lil sick baby :-(
She had her 12 month checkup a few days after her birthday. She was 30 inches tall, 19 pounds and her head was 17.5 inches around. She got some more shots, was cleared for the switch from formula to milk and everything was normal. I'm glad, because we'd experienced her first ear infection right before her birthday. She ended up getting sick again with another one a little while later. The second one drew some concern because it happened so soon after the first one, and she ended up having a fever for longer, but it eventually got better. We haven't seen another yet, so we're really happy about that. The doctor told us she was getting them from being so congested all the time (from the aforementioned germ infestation), so I traded one of her birthday gifts (she already had it) for a vaporizer (and a baby cell phone ^_^). It has really seemed to help...whenever I use it she sleeps much more soundly. Our water sucks though, apparently. I have to keep adding salt to the water when I use the vaporizer to get the dern thing to work. Oh well, whatever it takes.
Overalls!
Being this particular little baby's mama is kinda awesome. She started to repeat things (actions and "words") and hands us almost everything she picks up. Her personality is coming through more and more and it's so interesting to observe. She is such a little crowd pleaser! I figured she wouldn't have all of my awkwardness since The Husband is a performer (although I am too, but you wouldn't be able to tell), but she really puts on for people when she's in the mood. It's the cutest thing too, smiling and throwing back her head in glee and waving and blowing kisses and dancing. She keeps us laughing with (and at) her.
As usual, I can't believe my daughter is 9 months old. I know these things happen...you grow older and older and then you eventually pass, but that doesn't mean I can't be in awe of all of the stages! I had very limited experiences with kids and babies before I had my own (had to ask the nurse in the hospital to show me how to change a diaper!) so every new stage is amazing.
On Father's Day Chloe was officially out longer than she'd been in! Finally (it seems like they're in there for soooooo long).
I wasn't able to take her to her doctor's appointment this time, so The Husband did. He ended up having to fill out a form that asked about a lot of developmental things and stages for Chloe, which was new for a doctor's visit. Some of the questions seemed to make absolutely no sense ("If there is a crumb in an empty bottle or cup, does the baby poke at it?"), at least by "these are things I normally do at home" standards, but she'd done a lot of the things asked about. She was 17 lbs, 11oz, and 27 inches tall (The Husband forgot the head measurement, and I forgot to get it for myself). With those measurements she's right on target to fit 6-9 month clothes (according to their tags), but 9-12 month clothes fit better (especially over that baby noggin). I guess it just goes to show that with ALL clothes you have to buy/wear what fits, not what size they say it will fit.
Oh, you want some? Good luck with that...
The doctor told The Husband that we should start giving Chloe vitamins everyday. That concerned me a bit because there was no extra information given about it. The doctor (in the past) and one of the ladies at her daycare have been concerned about her weight, so I figured that was the reason. I don't have an issue giving them to her, but I was doing some research about it and some people would comment "Well, it does more good than harm, so just do it," and the thing is, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Chloe usually eats like a champ and I haven't been worried about her getting all of nutrients or anything, so I decided to buy the version of the vitamins without iron. Her formula is already fortified with iron, so I figured she didn't need any more since too much of it can be a bad thing and it stains teeth. She developed a rash all over her body, and we thought it was the vitamins and monitored it to see if they were the culprit, but it turned out to be a heat rash.
Chloe is still getting stronger and stronger. She "rawls" (run-crawls) behind us now and pulls up on EVERYTHING. She's also starting to get a hang of swinging one of her little legs onto something so she can crawl up it. She's also louder and happier and so much fun to just tickle and play with. Every time she moves on to a new stage or learns something new it's awesome. She can clap, high five, kiss (open-mouthed, lol), and do all kinds of things. Being a parent really is one of the most amazing things. No matter how tired I get I can't wait to give my attention and time to her. I love it!
Chloe became an 8-month-old this month! She is still such an incredibly happy baby and keeps getting more and more vocal (about what though? lol) and loud and awesome.
Next month brings another trip for Chloe to the doctor. I had to call them to get her shot records, as she started daycare!!! I'd gotten used to the idea, but it stressed me out. I'm just supposed to trust people I don't know with the most precious thing I've ever made?!?! It was okay, I just wished I knew more people in the area who could have given us recommendations. I think we picked well though. My MIL checked it out as well, and she's got a lot more experience with daycare, and made me feel a lot better when she gave it the thumbs up too. We have several reasons why daycare was our choice:
The Husband works weird hours, so he would get to sleep more
I wouldn't have to worry about whether or not I need to take her to work with me, for any random reason that may come up
She'll get to be around more people her age and hopefully make some friends
They'll do better with her feeding schedule than we do...we're not bad at it (just haven't had to plan a diet before), but they'll definitely make sure she's eating what/when she needs to
They can probably teach her a lot more than we've been doing...we talk to her and play with her, but we need to get better at things like naming items when we hand them to her and talk about colors and noises and such
I personally trusted a commercial daycare over an in-home one, mostly because I didn't have anyone to really ask about the ones in the area and the commercial places seem to have stricter rules about who can come in and out of the building, they have playgrounds and lots of people employed there to watch all of the kids, they have little buses that can pick up and drop off kids at nearby schools and take them on field trips when they're old/big enough, and all of the reports I read about places in the area just made me fell better about a commercial place
When it's all said and done though, it's SCARY! I finally calmed down about it though, right after I dropped her off for the first time. I managed not to call and bug the daycare, but I called The Husband a couple of times around the time he picked her up to see how things went. She has to get used to being there (she got to a point where she didn't want to be put down and she didn't like the other babies) but I think she will do well.
She may look like her dad and uncle, but she acts like ME!!!
This past month was huge for Chloe. Not only did she finally start crawling, but she's also added pulling up to stand to her list of abilities. Since she's been practicing walking since she could hold her head up, she just keeps getting better and better at it. We're pretty sure that as soon as she gets her balance while standing we wont have a crawling baby anymore...and that time will be SOON. Someone has already made the old joke to me that since she's learning to walk so fast, she must be getting out of the way for the next one. *Ahem* NOT.
Chloe has two teeth! She has been enjoying eating her solid foods as well. We haven't found anything that she just completely dislikes (we thought she didn't like carrots at first, but my homemade version may have been too thick), but we found that she didn't seem ready for homemade beef or raw blueberries. I've still been making most of her food, but I've bought some too. I couldn't find peaches in the store the week I decided she needed to start eating them, so I had to buy a few jars of it. I also bought food to take to daycare because it just seemed easier on them and us. I also decided to buy jars of turkey and ham because I didn't feel like making them and getting the consistency wrong again. I still make most of the food she eats at home though.
Blurry, but there are teeth!
Being a mommy can be HARD! A working mommy? EVEN HARDER. I will say I'm blessed to have the baby and husband I have, and wouldn't replace them for anything in the world. Some weeks are pretty rough physically and/or emotionally, but they both get me through. I'm often still surprised at how everything happened so automatically...one day there were two of us, and then all of a sudden there were three, and I was immediately in love all over again! Keeping us all together and happy and healthy instantly became goal number one, and I'm a much better person with them in my life. I love my little family!
Looks like I'm starting to get behind...Chloe turned 7 months old almost a week ago! We've been pretty busy lately, with the slam (poetry) season picking up. No doctor's appointments this month (*phew*).
Happy Chloe! Mike took a great pic with his iPhone!
Even though she still falls over from time to time (usually when she's sleepy), Chloe can sit very well on her own now. She's become a shopping cart sitter, which is awesome. I almost always have the cart cover on though because I'm slightly mysophobic like that, but I think it also helps because she falls around a little in the cart sometimes, and the extra padding is nice. Still no crawling, but it looks like it will be soon!
Being a big girl
It looks like the baby swing will soon be retired. It was one of the most helpful things we owned once she stopped being scared while in it...now she naps in her bed or happily sits on the floor and plays, so we don't need to use it anymore. It's a little sad but mostly nice to clear a little bit of our living room. There is a little debacle going on, but soon she'll have a high chair all set up!
Easter this year was GREAT! Chloe spent the night at her grandparent's house and we got there in the early afternoon for dinner. We helped Chloe open her Easter baskets and took pictures of her looking quite clueless about the whole situation. My MIL got Chloe a dog that I got to program with her name and a few things she likes and it talks and sings to her, which is cool. She also got a bunch of other stuffed animals and we got a bunch of candy!
Chloe has gotten really, really good at stringing together "da da" babbles, which is pretty cool. I've been trying to get her to say "ma ma" as well, and today I got one! Hopefully I will get some more soon. I love how well she can pick things up and how strong she is when she holds on when we carry her. She smiles at EVERYONE and flails and laughs and makes everyone happy when she's around. I love being a mommy!
Chloe got to daddy's wallet a bit earlier than we expected...
The sweetest, happiest, most spastic little baby I know just turned 6 months old!
Look what I can do! Sit!!!
I know, I know, here I go again. But she is! The Monday after the six month mark I took her to work with me so The Husband could help put down wood floors at his parent's house, and as usual, she was calm, cute, happy, and made everyone's day. I had to take her to her 6 month checkup, but had to stop at Subway first. She made the customer in line and the guy behind the counter happy for the day and then made everyone (patients, parents, and staff) at the doctor's office have a better day. One of the receptionists almost booked her next appointment wrong because she was so absorbed in the cute. While I don't hope that her overpowering cuteness goes away, I do hope that she learns not to use it as a ticket through life.
Om nom nom nom....decapitate.... giraffe...NOW!
Speaking of the doctor...this time I got to go twice. <sarcasm>Yaay!</sarcasm>. We went the first time Friday afternoon, but when we got there the receptionist told me that she wasn't six months yet, so they couldn't give her any vaccinations and she couldn't be seen. Um, then why was I scheduled for that day??? Lesson learned. We went back on Monday, sat for about 45 minutes, saw the doctor and left about 20 minutes later. I wasn't thrilled with the waiting, especially since we had an appointment, but I guess it wasn't that bad in the end. As of Monday, 12 March 2012, Chloe was 15 lb 8oz, had 42 cm head circumference, and was 25.5 inches tall. She has a case of dermatitis on her chest, back, neck, arms, and legs, but now that I'm using a better bath time technique it's clearing up. Right when she came in the room the doctor noticed that Chloe was teething...for real this time! She does keep her hands in her mouth now. She used to really only chew on them when she was hungry, but now it's all the time. Anything she gets into her little chubby hand goes into her mouth as well. The doctor also let me know that I can start feeding her meats now, which is exciting. I've been using a website, http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/, to plan out what to make for her.
I've had to go through and switch out her 3-6 month clothes with 6-12 month clothes. My mother-in-law has been particularly good at finding 9-12 month clothes that fit her well, so I figured I'd just have the 6-9 and the 9-12's out and ready so I have a bigger pool of clothing to pick from. I still haven't had to buy very many clothes for her, which had been a huge blessing. She's also at the point where we probably wont buy any more big boxes of size 2 diapers because she wont be able to wear them them soon. I'm glad I have a couple of packs of size 3 diapers from my first baby shower. It was funny though, no one got her any even-number sized diapers, just 1's, 3's, and 5's. I still hope to switch to cloth diapers one day, but the initial cost of them just doesn't elicit any happy dances. Maybe I'll do like it seems a bunch of people do and use disposables for Chloe and then switch to cloth when there's another baby (or two).
As far as skill development goes she gets better and better by leaps and bounds from week to week. She's gotten used to sitting (although she usually falls over after a while) and has been almost refusing to lay on her back. She can grab things much better than she could before and is much more deliberate with her hands. Sometimes she can calmly and nicely play with The Husband's beard and other times she grabs and pulls it like her life depended on it. I really like that she reaches out and touches my face now, and attempts to kiss me (well, that's what I'm calling it when she grabs my face and plants an open mouth on it and then closes her mouth, lol). She also asserts herself more verbally. Nothing concrete has come out of her mouth quite yet, but it's gotten louder and much more fun.
"But you can't see past my shades, past my shades, past my shades" ~ B.o.B.
I brought this up to The Husband recently, but it really feels like taking care of her is easy. Easier than I ever thought it would be, at least. We do have an awesome situation though...we're married (and still like/love each other), we both love everything about her and want to be there for her, and we have an awesome support system of family and friends. She wants for nothing and gets a ton of attention from a lot of people and I love that all these people love her too and want the best for her. Life is good!
