Calendar Girl - Four Months

One of these days I'm going to get this post up before she gets so close to turning the next month, I swear!  This month I was all raring to go, but then I realized her month sticker is orange.  And I didn't have any blankets or (big enough) fabric that was orange.  Or so I thought...  This month, she is laying on the fabric that is supposed to turn into a slip cover for her ottoman!  It's been kind of wrapped around it like a package since we went to the hospital for her to be born.  My mom (who doggie-sat for us) saw it just sitting there in the nursery, and arranged it like that to make her room more homey.  There it stayed!  Slip covering an ottoman is so dang simple, I need to just sit down and do it!

She's been waiting 4 months to show you that 4 with her fingers!

Oh yeah, then I realized I didn't have a headband to match, either.  So I had to make one of those, too.  And I couldn't decide what color to put the flower on, so... yeah, it changes.

Anyway...  Enough of my crazies.  Onto Miss Ruby in her 4th month!

If I thought she was putting her hands in her mouth last month, I hadn't seen anything compared to this one!  This girl is sucking her fingers all. the. time.  Mainly the first two, but she isn't too picky.  It means she's not that interested in a pacifier, but it also paved the way for losing the swaddle!!!

That's right.  Baby girl is no longer swaddled at night!  She was busting out constantly, but we started to notice that she was starting to be ok with it.  Mostly because she'd pop her fingers in her mouth and suckle them back to sleep.  I was SO apprehensive about it (we'd tried before with no success), but we haven't looked back since the first night.  Naps are a different story, though.  Little Miss No Naps won't take one without the swaddle, and even then naps are hit or miss.  I can usually get one out of her if we've had an outing that day, but otherwise, no.

Speaking of outings, Ruby was a lucky girl this month.  She got to participate in a Kindermusik class.  For free!  A representative came to our parent-baby class and did a mock music class for the babies.  Then emailed us a coupon code to use for a month of free classes.  Because it was summer, they were running month long "camps", which meant we got to do a whole camp for free.  I wasn't sure how much she would get out of it, but she really seemed to enjoy it!  I think her favorite part was getting to see and interact with the other babies.  This month she has really been into her buddies.

We're definitely getting tons of smiles out of this girl, but she is kind of stingy with her laughs.  Embarrassingly, a good way to get her to laugh, is to sing LMFAO's Sexy and I Know It.  Specifically, the "wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle, yeah" part.  It gets her every time.  It reminds me of that episode of Friends where Ross & Rachel sing Baby Got Back to Emma.  Another thing that gets her laughing is so sucking out her boogers.  Especially if you say, "boogie woogie woogie".  Yep, my kid is weird.  =)

Ruby had a doctor's appointment this month, and my suspicions from last month were correct.  Her growth has slowed.  I had a feeling, as she still has room in the 0-3 clothes, and her diapers are on the same snap setting.  Still, when we put her on the scale, I was kind of surprised.  She was 11lbs11oz.  My girl is a tiny peanut.  At only about 10th percentile for weight, she was at least 50th for height at 24.25".  Her head was 10th percentile, too.  At least she's proportionally small?  Her pedi isn't concerned, however, and she's a great eater.  She nurses at least every 2 hours during the day (which I attribute to her sleeping ~12 hours at night).

She had her 4 month shots at this appointment, too, and I was scared.  They were the same vaccines as last time, but luckily it wasn't so bad.  A little nursing right after, then home for a 2.5 hour nap to sleep it off.  At the end of the day, I think her legs hurt (based on her cries), so I gave her some Tylenol this time and it did the trick.  Phew.

This month, Ruby also got a lot more proficient using her hands.  She reaches out with both to grab things that she wants.  And she actually knows she wants them!  Lamar, her moose, is her favorite, but she also digs the o-ball and her taggie blanket.  Oh, and her burpies.  She likes to shove those into her mouth two-handed.

Blurry hands (oh, how I need a new camera!), but still a cute pic!

Finally, at the end of this month, Ruby sat in her high chair for the first time.  Her doctor gave us the go-ahead to start solid foods when we see signs of readiness.  She's not quite there yet, and I'm in no rush to get her started.  It is great, though, to have her practice sitting in her chair!  It is the kind that straps to a regular chair, so we have it on one of the barstools in the kitchen.  Which means I can strap her in there and actually eat my own breakfast, yay!

I knew the crying pics would be back.  Haha, her moods can change by the second!

Free DIY Hair Bow Holder

An alternate title for this post would be, "OMG, I finally made something!"

See, I'm pretty crafty, or at least I try to be.  I like making stuff, and I get excited when I want something, but can make it cheaper.  And to my exact colors/specifications.

When you have a baby that doesn't nap, however, it's kind of hard to get anything done.  Which is why her two quilts remain unfinished on the dining room table.  And let's not even talk about the one I started for Mr. G two Aprils ago...

Anyway, I'm slowly but surely finishing up the nursery, and part of that included hanging a shelf above the changing table.  I needed stuff to go ON that shelf, and one of the things I had in mind was a cute holder for all of her hair clippies.  So I made one.  With stuff I already had around my house, so it cost me $0.00.

Want to make one, too?  I wrote up a little tutorial for you all!  But don't get too excited, this is really common sense...

*Gather your supplies.  An old picture frame (mine was 11x14, which I think was the perfect size), a piece of fabric bigger than your frame (mine was cut from an old sheet), ribbon or ric rac or both, something to "pad" your frame with (I used a scrap of terry cloth - a scrap of batting would be great, too), and if you want to paint your frame, you'll need sandpaper, paint, and a brush.

*Pop the glass out of your frame.  Either set this aside, or recycle it if you know you'll never use it again.

*If you're going to paint your frame, sand it down lightly to remove the glossy finish.  I often skip this step when I paint stuff, but I'm glad I did it.  There was a marked difference in the sanded/non-sanded areas as I was going along.  Use a fine grit sandpaper (I think mine was 150).

*Use a rag to wipe off the dust after you sand.  You don't want dust gumming up your paint!  I just used an old dishtowel, but if you have tacky cloth at your house, that stuff is awesome.

*Paint your frame.  If you're really smart, you'll use spray paint.  I didn't have any in the color that I wanted, but I did have acrylic craft paint.  So that's what I used.  Remember, I was going for free.  Make sure you paint the insides, too, you'll still see that part.

Like my painting mat?  I just dig in the recycling when I need cardboard to protect a surface.

*Let your paint dry fully.  I let mine dry overnight.  You could still see the woodgrain through the paint, because I only did one coat.  I decided I liked it that way.  If you want your paint opaque, do more coats (duh).

*Grab your fabric and padding.  Center the mat or cardboard from your frame over the padding and wrap it around to the back.

*I used a little bit of tape to secure the fabric back there so it wouldn't wiggle around for the next part.

*Decide how you want your ribbon to go.  I decided I wanted mine all going vertically, but I also considered criss-crossing them like a memo board.

*Flip the whole thing over and secure the ribbons to the back (again, so they don't wiggle around until you get it in your frame).  If you're really crazy, you can get out a ruler and make sure they are equally spaced apart.

*Once all of the ribbon is secure, pop that bad boy back into the frame and secure all the tabs down.  If you saved your glass, you could put it back in the back there where no one will ever see it.

*Voila!  You are done!  Go load it up with all the girly-cuteness that hair clippies are.  And do a little happy dance because I know how to spell "voila".  It really makes me stabby when I see "whalla!" and other horrible butchery of the word.

Separation Anxiety is No Fun for Anyone

This is what happens anytime I hand Ruby off to Mr. G.

I wish I were joking.  It's like a switch flips.  And then he hands her back to me, and she's just fine.  Well, usually.  If I leave her for a longer time, like, say, to take a shower, she is in full-on meltdown mode when I get out and it takes me a bit to calm her down.

I thought it was a little early for the separation anxiety to hit, so I brought it up in baby class a couple weeks ago.  Apparently, it's not.  It seems Ruby has figured out that she's not actually a part of me, and that is big time scary for babies.  So when she realizes she's not with me, that's just too overwhelming for her.

I also learned that this is a sign that she has a secure attachment to her primary caregiver.  Which is a good thing.  Apparently I've done a good job getting her to trust me, and teaching her that I will respond to her needs.

But it sucks if you're her dad.  Or her grandma.  Or anybody else who may want to hold her.  And if you're her mommy?  Well, you better not have any plans of doing anything that doesn't involve holding and touching Ruby.  Naps, if taken, are now only taken ON me in the Beco.  If I want to get ready in the morning, I will lay her beside me on the bed, and she rolls to her side so that she can touch my leg the whole time.  And she often stops nursing to look up at me and touch my face.  Oh yeah, and on the changing pad, she must reach out and touch me the entire time.

In a way, it's flattering.  I'm glad my girl loves her mama.  I'm even more glad that she feels safe with me, and that we've created a good attachment.  I'm really glad that she knows I will meet her needs, and that she's never had to just give up on me because she thinks I won't.  I do wish I could shower without hearing a crying baby when I get out.  Or that Mr. G's feelings wouldn't get hurt.  Or that I could be not touched by anyone for more than 5 seconds during the day.

But like all things in parenthood, this too shall pass.  One day she'll be off on her own, and I'll be sad that she doesn't want her mama anymore, I'm sure.

Week in iPhone Pictures

Another week flown by.  They are going in the blink of an eye.  Last night we were giving Ruby a bath, and Mr. G told me it feels like she was born 100 years ago.  It really does, not literally, of course, but we could think back to those first days (like where he spent the night with her in the bathroom with the fan running for white noise, or when I didn't leave her hospital room for 2.5 days when she had to go back for jaundice treatment).  Those days seem like forever ago, and it's hard to remember life without her.

September 16-22

Sunday:  Rolling around (around, not over).  Playing with Lamar.  Monday:  Braidy started acting weird on our walk... turns out she saw a bunny!  Love those baby blues.  Post car seat meltdown grouchysleepface.  Tuesday:  Listening intently in baby class, as always.  Finally, my Amazon order (Anne of Windy Poplars, a paci clip, and a new (wipeable) changing pad for the diaper bag)!  Wednesday:  Obligatory high chair/fingers in mouth shot.  Reeeeeally getting roly poly.

Thursday:  A new headband, and a paci-leash for a snack apparently.  She chewed on that blanket a LOT on our picnic.  Beautiful beach park.  Friday:  She was pretty amused that she could put her feet on the counter.  A little Pinterest project during naptime.  A smile that I so wish wasn't blurry.  Saturday:  Mmm... antlers...  Loud noises led us to discover this whole little valley was cleared, probably for even more houses, barf.  My walking buddy in her Beco.

What a Day

I'm going to be sad when the weather turns.

This here is my little picnic buddy:

She begrudgingly endured her car seat to come along with me to a beach park where I spent a lot of time as a child.  It's on the shores of Lake Washington.  I spent many summer days there with my cousins, playing in the creek and swimming in the lake.  I remembered it being a good time, but that was about it.  So I suggested us mommies take our babies there for a picnic today.

It. Was. Perfect.

What you can't see in the picture are the tall tall trees we spread our blankets under, so that the babies had shade.  And the bridges going over the little creeks that meander through the park.  Or the very, very quiet street this little park rests on.  I should have taken a better picture.  

It was really the most perfect park for a baby playdate, and for five straight hours, we marveled at it.  Of course, there was nursing, playing, lunching, napping (not Ruby, of course), laughing, and chatting in those five hours, but it was just... great.  The babies must have liked it too, because there was hardly a cry.  It was well worth the hour it took us to get home in rush hour traffic.

I hope I make it back before the weather turns to its typical Washington rain.  I hope that more people don't discover our secret perfect spot.  And I hope Ruby has many more days there, hanging with her friends.

This was just the girls.

And if we don't make it before Fall decides to hit, well, you can bet we'll be there next year.

A Day in My Life

It's Tuesday!  Tuesday is my most regular day of the week, because we usually go to baby class that day.  In case you missed it, last week I was over on Ashley's blog sharing a Tuesday of my life.  So, since Tuesday has rolled around again, I figured I'd share it here, for posterity.  Luckily, I don't think today will be as crazy as this one was!

Oh, and if you came to my blog because of my post over on Ashley's blog, welcome! =)

***  

5:30 - My alarm goes off.  Yuck.  I want to shower before Keith leaves though, so I have to get up this early.  I'm exhausted because I stayed up late watching Coma, but it's now or never.  I turn on the news for a minute to help me wake up, then I hop in the shower.

6:05 - Ruby is still asleep, so I pump the side she's not going to nurse off of.  I stay home with her, and we rarely do bottles, but I got nervous thinking something might happen to me or my supply so I'm trying to create a freezer stash.  I get 3.72oz.  Not bad!

6:30 - I do my makeup, and finish just in time to do the "car rodeo" with Keith.  We have a 1-car garage and 1-car driveway.  My car was in the driveway and he had to leave, so a rodeo was necessary.  We call it that because K used to be a firefighter, and the driving test for the engine is called a rodeo.  How that translated to our driveway shuffle, I can't even remember, but the car rodeo is seriously a pain.

Ruby is still sleeping when we're done, so I take the time to make coffee, check emails, make a list of all the errands we need to do today, dry & straighten my hair, and read blogs because she's still asleep after all that!  I am really fortunate, Ruby is a great nighttime sleeper.  As in, she doesn't wake at all from the time we put her down until she's up for the day in the morning.  I'm terrified the four-month wakeful will hit and it will all go away!  And before you all hate me, she doesn't nap well at ALL.

Good morning!

7:50 - Ruby is awake!  Good thing too, I was about to have to wake her up, we're going to our parent-baby class at the hospital today.  She nurses, then we play for a bit and I trim her nails.  She scratched me good while she was nursing.  That's usually how I know it's time for a trim.

She loves to play with her burpies, too.  Weirdo.

I take her into the nursery and set her on her playmat so I can figure out what to dress her in.  She is just starting to bat at the toys, and today she managed to turn the music on in the little tiger-thing for the first time, sweet!

I can't figure out what to put her in, though.  It's going to be a weird weather day - 74 later, but it's in the 50s now.  And her little cardigans are too big for her, but I don't find that out until I've made her do several outfit changes, and now she's not too happy with me.  I realize her jeggings are down in the diaper bag, so I just put her into the car seat without them.  I'll dress her when we get there.

8:50 - Crap!  We're late!  I meant to get out the door 10 minutes earlier.  It's the first day of school in the three districts we have to drive through and I know traffic will be a mess.  I'm not wrong.  It's horrible.  After enduring an aggravating interchange, we get into the carpool lane and cruise the rest of the way to the hospital.

9:27 - We pull into the hospital garage.  It takes 10 more minutes to park (the spaces are soooo narrow, but I manage to snag one on the end), get all our stuff loaded into the Snap N Go, and get into the hospital and down to our classroom.  We stroll in and...  No one else is there.  Whaaa?  We're 10min late!  I guess everyone else is, too.

I take Ruby out of her car seat, put her pants on, and hand her off to Wendy, our instructor, so I can run down the hall to the bathroom.  It is really weird to be able to pee in peace, alone.

When I get back, a few other mommies and babies have trickled in.  Wendy told me that Ruby cried after I left.  That's new, I wonder if the separation anxiety phase is kicking in.  I open up some yogurt I brought along (Fage raspberry, SO good!), and class begins.

Our little square of the room.  We have everything we need!

Class today is awesome.  A woman who did parent-baby long ago, also happens to be a therapist.  She came to talk about the adjustment to parenthood, and then helped us out with role-play and suggestions for our own personal issues with our spouses/parents/inlaws/etc.  It was good to know that pretty much all of the other mothers there share the same struggles I do (I notice this every week and it always shocks me, but always makes me feel better).  Class today was small, so she had time to help all of us.  Usually we only have guest speakers for half of the class, and the other half we spend with questions/concerns about what our babies are up to that week, but we spend the whole time with our speaker.  She was that cool.  During class we also nurse, change, and play with our babies.  I try to get Ruby to nap, and even though I'm usually able to in class, she's not having it.  Even sitting on one of the yoga balls they bring in for us doesn't help.  Oh well.

She listens really intently to the speakers.  It's so cute.

Class ends at 11:30, but I spend the next 40min chatting.  That's the best thing about it, I've formed friendships with other mothers, and all of their babies are Ruby's age.  We frequently have picnics or playdates outside of class, and we discussed what we wanted to do next.

12:10 - I take the tunnel from the building I'm in to the main part of the hospital.  I need to go upstairs to the Baby Boutique and buy Ruby a swim diaper.  I signed her up for an infant swim class and it starts soon.  I buy the smallest one they have (3-6mo) hoping it will fit her.  She's a peanut.

12:25 - Finally leave the hospital.  We drive 20min south to the dealership where we bought my car.  They have a car wash there that is free to use if your car is from there.  I try to take advantage of it whenever I'm in the area.  It's a nice day, so there's a ton of people there, but Ruby seems to have fallen asleep in her car seat, so I use their wifi to browse on my phone for the 20ish more minutes it takes.

1:03 - Clean car!  We're off to Whole Foods now.  I need to buy some no-salt black beans (my husband has Meniere's Disease, so has to eat an extremely low-sodium diet) and some other stuff for dinner.  After I park, I hop in the back and find this little lady:

She's awake, and hungry, so we nurse right there in the car.  A quick diaper change in the trunk of our SUV, and we're ready.  I pop her in my Beco so I can have both hands to shop.  Miraculously, Ruby does not spit up all over me while she's in there.

Please excuse the blurriness!  I was a little nervous someone would come into the WF bathroom and wonder what the heck I was doing... but I also figured I should be in at least one picture!

2:10 - We leave Whole Foods and I decide to take the scenic road around the lake to our town.

2:30 - We stop at Michael's.  This is finally our last stop!  I decide to risk it, and put Ruby in the Snap N Go, instead of in the Beco.  She hates her car seat, so this is always risky, but she seems like she's in a good mood.  We go to the back corner of the store where the yarn is.  I need more to finish a hat for her, and two for my friend who just had a baby (and her 2.5 year old, so she doesn't feel left out).

The Snap N Go was a mistake.  My arms are loaded with yarn, and Ruby decides she's had it.  I hustle out of there.  We get back to the car, and...  crap.  I forgot I needed a lime when we were at Whole Foods.  Ugh.  I decide to stop at Fred Meyer, since it's in between Michael's and home.

3:00 - Ruby's still crying, so I take her out of the car seat and just carry her into the store.  This actually pacifies her, so it was a good call.  I grab my limes, strap an again-screaming Ruby back into her car seat, and head for home.  Apparently this is too many errands in one day for her.  The lack of nap in class probably didn't help either.

3:20 - Home sweet home!

The garage is the first story of our townhouse, so it takes us a bit to get all of our stuff inside and up the stairs.  I put the groceries away, then whisk Ruby upstairs to change her diaper.  I leave her naked, but swaddle her up.  It's late, but she needs a good nap or she'll be a mess by bedtime.  She nurses for a while, and at 4:15, I put her in her crib.

She still needs a swaddle for naps.

4:21 - She's awake.  Ugh.  I rock her for 10 minutes, then put her down again.  She's out.  Phew!  Keith comes home right after.

I realize that I never ate lunch today and am starving!  Keith says he's hungry too, so I head downstairs to get dinner started.  I get the quinoa started, and then am interrupted by the doorbell.  Diaper mail!  We ordered Ruby some more cloth diapers, since we were able to get 7 for the price of 5 during an awesome sale.  After I ogle them a bit, I finish making dinner: quinoa salad with black beans, tomatoes, orange bell pepper, red onion, avocado, and a lime-cumin dressing.  I don't get to eat it though, little miss is awake.

5:45 - I change Ruby's diaper, then take her back downstairs to nurse.  I'm starving, and I manage to eat while nursing without spilling anything on her!  Success!  I hand her off to Keith when she's done.  While he's holding her, Braidy barks next to them and it totally freaks Ruby out.  Weird!  She has never had that reaction to Braidy barking before.  It takes a few minutes for us to calm her down.

6:30 - We head out for our evening walk.  Ruby is being super crabby in her stroller.  This is also unusual.  Usually she likes looking out at the world on our walk, but she is just not having it.  We're about 3/4 of a mile from home when I decide to just take her out of the stroller and carry her.  She's much happier after that.

We try putting her back in the stroller a when we're closer to home, but she gets upset again, so this time Keith takes her out and I walk the dog/push the stroller.

7:30 - We get back home and I start her bedtime routine.  It's not bath night, so we skip that part, but do vitamins, lotion, diaper, and pjs.  Ruby is clearly way tired, because she cries again.  She usually cries when we put her pjs on - she wants to stay up and not miss anything, I think - but this time it's a total meltdown.

7:40 - I nurse Ruby to sleep, put her in the crib and she stays out.  She was tired!  I relax a bit with the Food Network, keeping an eye on the monitor to make sure she's really out for the night.

8:42 - She really is asleep, so I get the new diapers ready to go in the wash, and dump in the dirty ones.  I go downstairs to grab a popsicle (the Dreyers Real Fruit ones, yum), and my yarn that we got at Michael's.  After I finish the popsicle, I crochet the beak and one of the owl's eyes for Ruby's hat, but I'm too tired to continue (I finished it a few days later, see it here!).  I put it down and turn on the other half of Coma.

10:08 - We're interrupted by a LOUD beeping sound.  It's a furniture truck backing down our street.  Um, what?  Of course, it stops at our new next door neighbor's place.  They moved in 3 days ago, hit Keith's car while it was in our driveway that day, then hammered nails at 7am the next day (a Sunday).  Now they get a (noisy) furniture delivery at 10pm.  They're officially on my not-happy list.

We gripe about the neighbors, get back into bed, and eventually I fall asleep watching tv.  Ruby sleeps until 7:45 the next day, so luckily, I get a decent amount of sleep!

***

Now, for Ashley's questions...

1.)  What is the most surprising thing for you about being a mom?

How hard it is, but yet how amazing.  Breastfeeding was SO hard at the beginning, and made me feel isolated.  But now we're going strong, and that feels awesome!  And some days I'm so tired, I can't wait for her bedtime.  But I still get blown away by how much I love her.  Motherhood is such a dichotomy!

2.)  What advice would you give to new or soon-to-be mamas?

I'm going to pass along my favorite piece of advice that someone told me: you should read the (parenting) book your baby wrote.  In other words, follow your baby!  When Ruby was first born, I freaked out because I was pretty much an expert on fertility (you can read about that here), had read up a ton about pregnancy, but I didn't know anything about newborns!  I thought I needed a book, and I knew which one I didn't want, but not which one I did.  Then I got the advice above, and thought, "Of course!  You're a Montessori teacher, you should have known, follow the child!"  I was already doing that, but once I realized that was all I needed, things got much easier.

3.)  What are your top three baby products?

* Cloth diapers.  Love, love, love these!  We haven't spent a cent buying diapers, they look cute, and well, Ruby only poops once a week, yet we have never ever had a blowout (in spite of her massive poops).  Also, I feel better about not putting crap (literally) in the landfill.

* A mommy-group.  Ok, this isn't a "product," but I'd never have kept my sanity without the camaraderie of the other mothers I've fell in with.  Find some that share your parenting style and have kids the same age as yours.  It's an awesome, awesome thing.

*  Beco Butterfly II.  Pretty early on, Ruby decided she hates her car seat.  Wearing her in the Beco is the only way I can run errands.  Plus, it's really hard to push a cart and a stroller at the same time, and there's not really enough room for groceries if you put the seat in the cart basket.  She also wants to be held pretty much 100% of the time.  The Beco helps out with that a lot.

That's it!  Thanks so much for allowing me to share our day with you!

Week in iPhone Pictures

As I'm writing this, Ruby is having bad dreams.  She keeps crying out in her sleep, and it is really unnerving.  She sounds so sad!!!  I went in to check on her, to make sure I wasn't missing anything over the monitor, and she's fine.  It just breaks my heart to think of her having bad dreams.  I feel like she's dreaming about riding in the car - she had a total meltdown when we went to leave for Keith's parents' tonight.  I actually had him pull off the road and park so I could take her out and calm her down, since she was crying so hard she was having trouble catching her breath and was choking on her spit.  Poor baby.  She wasn't a happy camper the rest of the night.

Anyway, here's a peek at our past week.  It looks like Amy went to Mt. Rainier this week.  Jealous!

September 9 - 15

Sunday:  Loungin' with her taggie blanket.  The playmat is suddenly very interesting.  Monday:  That deer-in-the-headlights look kind of makes her look like a doll, and not a real baby.  Sleep-nursing.  Tuesday:  Naps are laughable.  She reached out and grabbed that burpie!  Eating hands, while getting ready for a walk.  Wednesday:  She was content there the whole time I did my hair and makeup.  Daddy came home, so she ate his hand, of course.

Thursday:  Doing push-ups on my shoulder.  I made her a little pumpkin hat during nap time (which somehow turned out waaaay too small, so I guess I'm going to have to try again...).  Self-portrait.  Friday:  She always holds that piece of the left strap - figures she'd try to eat it.  Hood's up and on our way to swim class!  Saturday:  Practicing with a spoon; she put it into her mouth all on her own.  In honor of game day, I had some "Block O"s for breakfast.  It was my weekend to dress her, so she was a little Buckeye!

My Buckeye Baby

I'm so thankful for my friend Nicole. She sent Ruby a package of OSU onesies, Buckeye sippy cups, and a cute Ohio State hairbow (that I need to find a headband for, asap!). This stuff is way cuter than anything I could find online - perfect for my Buckeye baby!

Splish Splash

Guess who started swim lessons today?

"Mom, I am not so sure about gettin' in that pool..."

There's a fairly large infant swim program around here, and babies as young as 4 months can attend.  So after an incredibly frustrating registration process that made me want to pull my hair out, and throw in the towel (no pun intended), Ruby and I donned our suits and headed to class today.

Let's not talk about my first post-partum swimsuit experience, ok?

Instead, let's talk about Ruby.  Ruby liked being in the pool.  She liked the other babies, all of whom are double her weight, if you can believe it (I can't).  She liked the singing.  She did not like being held in the cradle position in the water (she never does on dry land either), or having to face me.

So, we'll see how it goes next week.  I, for one, am hoping that this fosters a life-long love of the pool so she ends up a back stroker like her mama.  =)  Also hoping this means good naps on Friday.  She's taking one now, cross your fingers!

I Have No Dignity

Do you have any phobias?  I do.  I pretty much don't like any living things except for large mammals.  Well, unless the large mammal is a bear.

My biggest fear is bugs and creepy crawly things.  Which leads me to this tale.

Yesterday, Ruby and I were at our second home Target.  We'd been running around trying to find a swim diaper that was small enough for her (since the one I bought the other day had big, gaping legholes...).  So when we got to Target, I parked out in the boonies in the shade of a tree, so that I could nurse her in the car before we went in.

We shopped (Target has CUTE baby girl stuff for fall right now), and came back out to the car.  I was taking Ruby out of the Beco, when I saw a WASP in between us.  Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!  A wasp!  By my baby!!!

I held her out, and spun us around to try to get it away from her.  I deposited her into her car seat quickly, but the dang thing was all. over. me.  I've never been stung by a bee or wasp, and my mom is allergic, so I'm kind of afraid I will get stung and I will be allergic.

Which leads to the no dignity part.  Picture me running around my car, waving the Beco wildly, and yelling, "Nooooo!  Toots!" (because it had gone back into the car and buzzed her face during this, too).  After what seemed an eternity, it flew around the corner of the car, so I jumped in the back with Ruby and slammed the door.  I was shaking all over, no joke, and she just sat there looking at me like, "WTF Mommy?".

I was afraid to get out of the car.  I buckled her in, and then texted my follies to Mr. G.  He pretty much made fun of me.  I was certain that as soon as I opened the door, the wasp would be all over us again, and now Ruby was strapped in, so I couldn't get her away quickly!  Her seat is in the middle, though, so climbing over wasn't an option.  Yes, I considered it.

Finally, I jumped out, opened the my door, and jumped back in.  After checking to make sure it didn't follow me in, I actually saw that freaking wasp fly right past my window.  

I must've smelled really good.  And I must have looked absolutely ridiculous to all of the other people at Target that afternoon.  Made me glad I parked out in the boonies!

And since posts are boring with no pictures, here's one of Miss Ruby playing after we got home:

Check Me Out!

Do you want to see what a day in my life looks like?

Head on over to Ashley's blog and see!

Bye-Bye Swaddle

She always has a smile on her face when you come in to get her.

A couple of weeks ago we stopped swaddling.  Cold turkey.

It was a night I thought would never come.  Ruby always hated the swaddle, but yet she couldn't sleep without it.  Her wild "rodeo arms" would always wake her up.  We actually tried putting her down without the swaddle a couple of times before (I'd read that when they are busting out, it means they're ready to lose it.  Not so with my Ruby).  It never was successful.

Then this happened.  And that scared me, because she'd actually pulled the blanket over her face, we'd just pulled it down when we took the picture.

So, a day or two later, I decided the swaddle was gone.  We'd noticed lately that when she'd bust out, she didn't always cry.  She'd wave her little arms around, and then just go back to sleep.  It was time.

What a goober.

So we gave it a try.  Judge if you will, but I nurse her to sleep.  We both love it.  I did that first night, but she woke up when I put her in her crib.  I gave her her paci.  She pulled it out almost immediately, but she never got upset.  Just like when she'd wake up, she wiggled her arms around for a bit, then popped her fingers in her mouth and went to sleep.

We've been going strong since then.  On occasion, we have to go back and rock her back into sleepiness before she is out for the night, but we haven't had to resort back to the swaddle at night.  Phew.

Don't ask me about naps though.  We still have to swaddle for those, and even then, it's still a fight.

Week in iPhone Pictures

September 2-8

Sunday:  We were lazy bums, but did manage to take a walk.  I finally tackled this pile.  Thanks to my generous friends, Ruby has an entire hand-me-down wardrobe for her 2nd year.  Monday:  Good morning?  Links in the mouth.  First time in her high chair, I think she likes it!  Tuesday:  Time for a change (and a nap).  Not enthused about a trip to Michael's.  New diapers!  Our evening walk - not tolerating the stroller.

Wednesday:  Playing in the high chair means I get to eat breakfast now.  Chillin'.  Thursday:  Not so sure about Sophie yet.  Costco had Fage yogurt, and it lived up to its hype.  Friday:  This pathetic look is the result of 4-month shots.  Feeling well enough later to try to shove the O ball into her mouth.  Saturday:  I like to think she's saying "Go Bucks," in spite of her Washington onesie.  Finished her owl hat!  Keith doesn't get to dress her on Saturdays anymore...

As always, head over to Amy's blog and see what everybody else was up to!

Finished - Whoooo Hat

It's been quite a while since I've made anything more substantial than a headband.  A good friend of mine recently had a baby boy, and I wanted to make him a hat for a gift.  This little boy has an older sister, too, and I didn't want her to feel left out, so I wanted to make her a hat also.  I could just make them different hats, but I wanted them to have something similar, that worked well for boys and girls.

Enter the whoooo hat.  At least that's what we call it.

This one's for Ruby.  I'd never made this pattern before, so lucky her, she gets my prototype!  I wasn't too sure about how it would turn out, and I made several modifications to the pattern along the way, but I love it. 

My husband insisted on putting her in that onesie today.  Ugh.

And she's got plenty of room to wear it all winter.  Now I just have to make two more!

The pattern can be found on Ravelry here.

One Year...

One year ago today, we found out about our miracle "Freebie".

And went from this:

to this

to this

to this

and this.

What a year it has been!