It has been a really fun month saying goodbye to winter and hello to Spring!
The biggest thing that happened this month is that we switched daycares. I don't talk about daycare details too much on here for safety reasons obviously. But we switched her from a center to an in-home where she is the only baby and so far we LOVE it. Her new nanny is the bees knees. We are hoping being around less children will keep Abby healthier. It has been a rough winter for all of us.
Now that the weather is getting nice, I am hopeful that we can get Abby out and about more often. I'd like to take her to play in the park on the baby swing. I have not gotten her out very much since she was born and I see all these people taking their babies places and it makes me feel bad. I mean, don't get me wrong, she rolls to Target and Babies R Us like a champ. But she's never been to the park or the library or the pool. So I gotta work on that. But then again she is 8 months old. A big day for her is going in the stroller around the block. ;)
How many? 8 months!
Stats: Heavy. I don't have any stats because (thankfully) she hasn't been to the Doctor since her 6 month appointment. Let's hope it stays that way for another month.
Diaper Size? Wearing Swaddlers size 3s. I'm considering switching to Cruisers, although I hated Baby Dry so maybe I won't like them either. Who knew there were so many different types of diapers?
Clothing Size? 9 months. I put her in a 12 month outfit this weekend but luckily it was a little big. Some of her 9 month clothes make her look like a stuffed sausage though. I think we will be in 12 month size long before we hit the 12th month ;)
Feeding Abby is a rockstar when it comes to pureed food. She eats 3 solid meals a day and eats the entire bowl at each sitting. I have given her puffs but she basically picks them up, inspects them, and then drops them off the side of her high chair (to the patiently waiting dogs below). She has not brought them to her mouth by herself and when I put them in her mouth, she makes a terrible face and spits them out. One time, I put a puff in her mouth and she gagged on it. And now I'm terrified that she's going to choke on everything. How is she going to learn to eat? How big/small do the pieces need to be? I have also given her cheerios to play with but she has no interest in eating them (fine by me) and she will hold onto and nibble a rice rusk maybe for a minute or two before it too becomes a sacrifice to the Min Pins.... I've been reading up and I'm looking forward to discussing this stuff with her doctor but any gentle advice is welcome. Otherwise Abby will be 10 years old and eating pureed sweet potatoes.
In terms of formula consumption, she still drinks 4-6oz per bottle and she has 5-6 bottles per day.
I have tried with several different kinds of sippy cups and failed with all of them. The best one I have found is the Avent soft spout, which she will gnaw on but hasn't shown much interest in drinking out of. I stopped wasting formula and started putting water in there to get her used to it. I don't think she has consumed much, if any, water though. Anyway, she can hold her own bottle if she's laying down and she prefers to feed herself. But she hasn't mastered putting her head back to drink while she is sitting up.
Sleeping Now that Abby is the only baby in the house with her new nanny, she gets all the sleep she wants and needs. She was not getting enough sleep at the daycare center and I'm SO happy she is able to nod off whenever she wants now. She also sometimes needs help going to sleep (i.e. to be rocked) and she is able to have that too. The individual attention is so nice. She is napping about 3 times per day- morning, afternoon, and late afternoon. No set times. At night she still goes to bed around 8 and she wakes up around 530am when I do.
Personality Abby is such a happy baby. She is ALL smiles. Even when she has a cold! She really really loves her Dad. She cries when he leaves her. It's sad and cute at the same time. She also loves her doggies. We have noticed that she verbally acknowledges them every time they walk into the room. It's a very definitive "Duh!" sound. I swear she is trying to say Dog. That was my first word so I will of course, die, if she has the same first word as me. :)
Milestones
-Sits up by herself and can get to the floor (mostly by leaning over/falling backwards) but can't sit up from laying down yet.
-Teeth: She has one and a half. But there are at least two more coming in. All on the bottom. All at once! Poor babe! She's constantly chewing on her hands and drooling like crazy!
-Can roll all directions and creatively move to reach things on her belly but I wouldn't call it crawling or anything close to that (although I think we are getting there. Give us another month.)
-All consonants, stringing sounds together, being loud, laughing, etc.
-She has surprised me a few times with her talents when it comes to her toys. Like putting a ring over the stacker, or putting a ball in her Dinosaur toy. Or, ya know, picking the entire thing up and holding it in her lap sideways even though it's pretty freaking heavy!!!
-We are still doing basic sign language and she definitely knows what the signs mean (I get a huuuge smile when I ask her if she wants her milk). But she has not done any of them herself. Yet!
-We have started learning about the word "no" and what it means. Mostly when it comes to the dogs. "No, Abby, you can't grab Doc's butt."
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| Caught untying the breathable bumper... |
I know that this is an Abby post but there are other house projects that deserve a shout out. 1. the side porch has been in limbo all winter but we are working on finishing it so we can have a fun place to hang out in the summer nights that is bug-free. 2. we really need a new refrigerator and I'm excited about getting a new appliance. 3. speaking of appliances, I finally figured out how to turn off the obnoxious beeping on my Bosch dishwasher. If you have one you will understand that this is a big deal!!!
Back to your regularly scheduled programming:
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| Hangin in Abby's room |
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| But first.... |
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| This Princess mirror is the greatest toy ever |
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| Ridin' Dirty in Target |
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| Watchin' Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, chillin with my feet on Cinderella |
Happy Monday!!!
~SG
I love the Abby posts! I need to work on one as well but there's a lot in my head and I don't know how to get it all out. Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about the gagging. That's a reflex that prevents choking, so it's a good thing that works! Luke has gagged on a number of things as he is learning. One thing you could try is experimenting with really soft cheese (like the laughing cow type) or really soft pieces of fruit or veggies. She might be able to adapt to gumming some softer things and then you can work up to the puffs/crackers. I would definitely not worry about it though. She will get the hang of eating. I was convinced Luke would never roll over and he finally did 2 weeks ago... well behind most babies his age. For the sippy cup... have you tried drinking out of those things?? They are hard to get water out of! I ended up removing a valve from one of the them so he got the idea that water can come out. He still struggles with the sippy cup, but is much better now. Be forewarned, the approach I used ended up with water everywhere!
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