Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Haley at 7 months

It's finally here...just 12 days late.
7 Month Update

Height: 29 in. (by my expert guestimation)
Weight: 18.1 lb

Between her 6 and 7 month birthday Haley had several new experiences. She got her first doll in Atlanta. It's a cabbage patch baby and she loves it.

While we were in Atlanta Haley also went to her first movie. We went and saw Valentine's Day at a dine in movie theatre. It was great because there were big comfy chairs where I could feed Haley and a lot of space to walk her around. The movie wasn't loud enough to scare her, and we went in the middle of the day so there was only one other group in the theatre; a sweet older couple who thought Haley was adorable, even when she babbled through half of the movie. By the end she fell asleep hunched into a little ball in my arms. so sweet!

Haley also went to her first Oscars party- pajamas style. She had fun watching with all of the grown ups and snuggling with whoever took a turn holding her.


She sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time. Having her that close to the table can be dangerous though, especially for any adults who don't want slobbery baby fingers in their food.

Haley also got to go for her first walk in a backpack. Zach's mom got us a wonderful baby backpack that is perfect for going on hikes or just walking down to story time at the library. Her first time was when her daddy took her to the grocery store. This backpack is my new favorite way to carry Haley, and she seems to love it too. She grabs for branches as we pass trees and has fun exploring the sights of our quaint little town.

Haley has got some hunka chunka legs going. I love her little chub rolls. She also has chubby cheeks. Her hair is really starting to grow fast and become more and more fluffy. Also her eyes are almost always and fully brown.


Haley still has just one little tooth. I've started calling her "sharp tooth" because she loves to show it off. Haley spent the second half of her 7th month trying to push her second tooth through her delicate gums. She had several rough nights as a result, but apart from that has an incredibly sweet disposition.

Haley takes on Sunday mornings like a pro. Between directing children's ministries, teaching Sunday School to the older kids before church, preaching, and cleaning/ counting money after church Haley is often passed around, and left without food for longer than usual. But she takes it all in stride. She is usually one of the happiest babies in the nursery, and she loves being passed around to all of the adults, and playing with all of her little buddies.

On Valentine's Day we were able to pause after worship and take a cheesy family photo at the photo station that was left in the gym from the Valentine's dance the night before.


Haley is very chill, she does well with other babies, and doesn't usually mind getting "taken care of" by being covered with blankets, hugged to the ground or having her pacifier taken and then shoved back into her mouth. She's just goes with the flow of things, and takes it all in stride. Usually with a huge grin on her face. I love hearing other people tell me how good of a baby she is. Her smile is just beautiful, irresistable even.

But it can't be smiles all the time. Even the most cheerful babies have their moments. I am always amazed at Haley's ability to go from a smile, to screaming tears, and back to a smile in seconds. She will squeal in anger or in delight. And when she laughs or gets excited she shakes her arms and legs and pants like a dog. Unless you really get her going, and the full belly giggles come out.

She love to sit and watch TV with her Daddy. She also loves to listen to books either while sitting in my lap in our cozy glider, or while sitting at story time at the library. She's even been going to the preschool time since she loves the stories so much.

She is very tactile and loves to get her hands into things. Like bubbles, food, grass, and snow.


She loves to be touched and held almost all of the time. She plays favorites and will lunge out to get a hug and be held by mommy or daddy. Her little hugs are so sweet, and nothing beats the way she nuzzles her sleepy head into my shoulder. I have found that my sling is my new best friend. She hated laying in it as a new born, but loves to sit on my hip koala style, and with my sling she can sit there hands free.

Haley is starting to give great cues, she reaches up to you when she wants to be picked up or when she wants to get out of her high chair. Her adorable head shake has returned and she has mastered the sleepy eye rub. It's great because now I can tell without a doubt when it's time for a nap, or time to go to bed. She still loves her binky and cant go to sleep without it. She spent months as a tummy sleeper but now she seems to fight it sometimes, rolling back onto her back and then screaming. She seems to end up often sleeping on her side.

She also falls asleep easily in the car. She has taken several great naps sitting on the couch in her car seat. I love it because I can just watch her until she wakes up ready to start playing again.


She has the cutest hand movements. She likes to squeeze her hands as if she were doing the sign for milk, and she rolls her wrists in funny directions. Haley still works the pouty face and sticks her tongue out to the side. She make a really funny fish face a lot now too.

Haley is also making strides towards some other big milestones. She is starting to try to wave. She has gotten very close to standing herself up. When I was packing up some of the clothes she has outgrown she played in one of the bins, and tried to stand herself up in it several times. When we stand her up she is able to hold onto something and stay up for quite a while.



She is also getting closer to sitting herself up, but she still will do crunches some of the times instead of rolling over. She has no problem reaching her destination through a combination of rolling, scooting and crawling army style. She loves to get out her own toys.

She has outgrown several of her toys. I was a little sad when I disassembled her swing and her bouncy seat, and then packed them away with her bumbo, the boppy, her tummy time mat, and her play gym.

But Haley hasn't stopped playing. She still loves toys that make noise like her phone and her piano. But she's becoming more interested in non noisy toys, like her hedgehog and her bunnybee. She's also recently discovered the joy of balls!

Haley even got her own cell phone. She kept trying to eat mine while I talked to people so I gave her my old one to have for herself. It's amazing that with 20 toys on the ground she will still go for the one or two things she's not supposed (aka: cords, cell phones, cameras, or bibles and other books) to have every time. I might have to start calling this little technology loving bean by a new name... maybe gigabyte.


We have fun playing peek a boo while I sit with her on out bed and fold clothes. She's already becoming my little helper when it comes to doing chores around the house.


She has also learned that if there is a toy she doesn't want to put down while I'm changing her clothes, she can just pass it to the other hand until I get her sleeve situated. She can pick up even small toys with ease. She does not like having toys taken away, and if something falls or gets taken she will search for it with determination.

Much like her mama Haley is a picky eater. A picky eater who likes to make a mess, and hates wearing a bib. She has been trying several new foods, my mom got her several gerber 1st foods when we went to Atlanta and several of them seemed to go over well. I just try to remember that she may need to try something 10 times to really get a taste for it and decide if she likes it.

Oh course there are also foods she has already decided she does not like!

When it's time for a bottle Haley takes a no assistance required approach.
Slowly but surely she is learning to wash it all down with some water from her new sippy cups. She is taking to these pretty slowly, I think it's because some of their spill prof features make it very difficult to drink and because with her teeth coming in she doesn't want much near her mouth.


This month Haley discovered her inner rock star/ groupie. She also had fun getting all dressed up in cute outfits. Well... most of the time.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Friday Favorites

I have not had a lot of time to browse blogs lately, but of the ones I have browsed, here are a few favorite posts.

So much to do so little time: identifying your pressure points @ organizing your way

skinny dipping @ shifting life


taking care of me @ small notebook

from this day forward @ Glamorous life of a house wife

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Taggie Monster


I had a lot of fun making this little guy for my friends new baby.

I have realized that Haley really like to chew on the tags of her toys. She also seems to favor the smaller toys that are easy to handle. When she first started picking toys up the small ones were the only one's she could grab and support. So my goal in making a toy for my friends little boy was to make it cute, small, and fun to chew.

In response to those needs I created a little taggie monster. He originally was going to have fabric arms and tags on his legs but the arms were at an upward angle (instead of straight out) so it wasn't working out. I cut his arms off and used the ribbons as arms instead. I'm pretty pleased with how this little guy turned out.

A not on this fabric, it is actually from an old pair of boxers (and by that I mean ones I wore to bed as shorts, not ones a boy wore as underpants) I had actually "borrowed" them from my friend after I was in a car accident and I slept at her house. They were super comfortable and I wore them until they developed holes. I ended up using pieces of the fabric (since it was so soft and so cute) in a blanket I made for her first son, and I have decided to find a way to use it in gifts for all of her kids. I imagine the pieces will get smaller and smaller as time goes by, but I am kind of excited about the challenge, and I hope each time she sees the fabric appear in a package it will make her smile.

.


This guy was actually very simple to make. Here is what I did in 10 easy steps

1. Design your monster and draw a pattern on some card stock (I used the inside of an old cereal box). Cut your pattern out. I would keep it between 4-8 inches.

2. Fold over your fabric and cut out 2 pieces. Make sure that the back and front side of the fabric line up.

3. Stitch on the eyes and mouth to give your monster an expression.I used embroidery thread wrapped around itself an extra time for thickness. (You can use a button for an eye, just make sure it won't come off and be a choking hazard).

4. But your fabric together so the outsides are touching, Sew around the edges on a sewing machine leaving gaps for your ribbon and a gap to stuff. You probably want the stuffing gap either between the legs or on the side.

5. Sew in your ribbon. I suggest you double up to make sure it's durable.

6. Turn your monster inside out though the remaining hole. Check for any other holes in the stitching

7. Stuff with some fluffy stuff to the desired firmness. (You can use rice or beans for a bean bag texture)

8. Hand sew the opening in a way that hides the stitches as well as possible.

9. Admire your creation

10. Let that baby play and chew!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Haley at 6 Months.

Better late than never... I will have 7 months by the end of the week. I finally started organizing more pictures.


Here are a list of Haley's accomplishments and developments leading into her 1/2 birthday!

Height: about 27 inches (but it's hard to tell since she's so squirmy)
Weight: 17.4 lbs

This month Haley has done several new things. She held my hand and went down the baby slide. She played with some dogs. Her great grandma's dogs also played with her. They were very concerned with her well being and any time she cried they did too. She also kept up with her family by chatting on Skype.



Haley has outgrown her baby tub and moved to the real tub. She loves to sit and play with her duckies and then switch over to play time on her tummy. But her favorite new bath time activity is splashing.

Haley has also nearly outgrown her car seat. I took out the infant insert and moved up the straps, hoping it would last the 6 months that we need her to be in a rear facing seat, but it looks like we may be out of luck. Her feet are still dangling impressively far over the edge. I think purchasing a convertible car seat may be in our near future.


One of my favorite Haley quirks is the way she shakes her head. She will mimic people or just do it for no reason at all. It's fun to ask her questions and giggle at her constant "no" response.

Haley loves to chew on things. My little fuss ball has really suffered through the teething process, but all her tears were rewarded with the appearance of her first tooth. The night before she turned 6 months old we were able to see and feel the first sharp edge of a little Haley tooth.

She has a tendency to let her tongue hang out of the side of her mouth, carefully massaging her swollen gums. It's a little goofy looking, and coupled with her panting laugh makes a great dog impression. Haley is constantly chewing on anything near her, she loves teething toys but more than any other tooth relief she love to chew on cords, computer cords, TV cords, Wii cords, if it's potentially dangerous Haley loves to sink her gums into it.



Another endeavor for Haley has been expanding her world of solid foods. She has expanded beyond her rice cereal days and added banana and avacado to her palate. She is a pretty good eater, usually having solids once a day.

She likes to help...

but, sometimes she can't decide if she likes the food we give her or not...

and sometimes she makes a mess!

In my quest to help Haley communicate I have tried to start teaching her a few baby signs. I have no method to my madness, but I will probably be more consistent when she starts copying my motions or showing some response that indicates she understands. So far I've just been focusing on the signs for more and all done, especially as they pertain to food.

Haley has mastered the art of sitting. She will joyfully topple to the side sometimes, like when she is chasing after a toy. But she can sit for a long time.


She is also doing a great job of standing when she's propped up on something like the edge of the couch or an overturned laundry basket. She loves to be on her toes. She has likes to be placed on her hands and her knees, she gets a kick out of working those crawling muscles. She can't get anywhere in that position just yet, but she is able to hold herself up for longer and longer.

She has learned to jump up high in her jumpy seat. Its her favorite place to giggle.

She loves all of her toys, but has really taken to the her telephone. It plays music and lights up so it was an obviously choice to become an instant favorite. She will still sit in her Bumbo and play when I can't be right near her to help her if she falls.

She has also really taken to her car seat mirror. She could spend hours chewing on the caterpillar and spinning the entire toy around and around.



Luckily she has also discovered that toys do not have to be expensive to be fun. If you want to keep a Haley entertained for hours, just give her a box.


But of course no toys beat playing with Mom and Dad; singing songs, especially bouncy songs, doing Haley presses, swinging upside down, turning flips. It's all in a days play for my little smiling bean.

After really discovering her toes around Thanksgiving Haley has finally discovered that she can get those same toes into her mouth. Its adorable to watch her expand her flexibility as she grabs her feet and tries to eat her toes.

Haley has officially slept through the night.

On Saturday Jan 6th she went to sleep after eating at 10:00. I gave her her binky one time in the middle of the night, and then work up for church on the 7th between 8:30 and 9:00am.

Haley is also trying to decide if she wants to take two naps during the day or three.

For a while I though she would grow up comforting herself with a suck of the thumb, then I though she would suck on her fingers; but, she is a binky girl through and through


Haley hates having her face wiped after she eats. She screams if you get near her wit the aspirator.

But, generally she is a happy baby with a cheerful disposition. She loves to be held, almost all of the time. When I need to get stuff done around the house she is much happier if I put her on my hip in the sling and keep her close than if I put her down to play. She even tolerates my one handed/hip carry around the house where she nearly slips out of my grasp.

She is a very snuggly baby. She loves her Mommy and her Daddy. I love the way she has started reaching for our hugs.

She does a great job being left in the nursery at church, and she is always on her best behavior for visitors. She has even had a few "play dates" and she enjoys interacting with other babies. She hasn't mastered the art of gentleness yet, but she seems to take her own hugs and hits pretty well.

I think her favorite social event is story time at the Library. She love seeing the other babies, singing the songs, and listening to Ms. Laura reveal page after page of beautifully illustrated stories


She has been a champ through the winter, braving the cold without a fuss, and tolerating all of the extra clothes we have been bundling her in. One day she seemed particularly amazed at the mittens we put on her hands, it was adorable!

And last, but certainly not least, she looks really cute in my baby clothes. Her eyes are turning more and more brown, so she might end up looking a little bit like me after all.