Play Time

I read an interesting article last month, "Going Solo", in American Baby. The main idea of the article was about giving babies a chance to be independent players to develop confidence and to promote cognitive development. I thought it was such a change of pace from what I've seen on forums and other baby articles, but it made a lot of sense to me. If I structure Carly's day 100%, then where does she learn to think for herself or develop her imaginative play. I've started giving Carly this time each day, and gradually upping the time that she plays solo with a given toy or toys. It has blown me away to watch how she entertains herself. She will begin with banging two toys together, then throwing one and reaching for it - each time throwing it just a little bit farther than the last. She has also begun singing/telling stories to herself. (I can't quite tell with the tone she is using.) Unfortunately, I don't get to see her facial expressions while she is playing this way because as soon as she knows I'm watching her she stops.

Swimming Lessons 101 - Day 5

Today was Carly's last swimming lesson. She was quite perky when she woke up and overall had a great lesson. She was very interested in kicking while using her kick board, noodle, and when we were "swimming" the width of the lanes. She also entertained herself during our directions by splashing herself and other kids nearby. (Hopefully this won't continue when she heads to preschool.)

During the lesson the kids also put on life jackets and floated around the pool. She wasn't eager to put on her jacket, but enjoyed floating around at first. Unfortunately, she wasn't interested in floating for long. She wanted to kick and play, rather than just float around.

Five weeks ago Carly got into the pool kicking, screaming, and crying. Now she enjoys getting in the water (if it is warm), going under water, kicking and splashing, and earned her first certificate of completion!

7 months

Seven months ago today, David and I were checking into the hospital anticipating the arrival of Carly. We were told to not get our hopes up, sometimes women are in labor for 36 hours. Then upon my initial exam were told Carly would probably make her arrival by dinner time (I was convinced our doctor had jinxed us). Then at 2:17 Carly made her debut.

At seven months Carly loves:
~ her Daddy and Mommy
~ Jake
~ bananas
~ clapping
~ singing/telling stories (using the sounds: Mmmm, mamama, dadada, hihihi, aaaa, ahhh)
~ pulling hair
~ practicing her pincher grasp on Mommy and Daddy
~ Peek-A-Boo
~ bath time

At seven months Carly likes:
~ car rides (once she is in the car seat and the car is going)
~ stroller rides
~ boat rides
~ playing with friends
~ sitting up independently and reaching for her toys
~ spinning and scooting backwards on her belly
~ swimming
~ sleeping on her stomach

At seven months Carly doesn't like:
~ green beans
~ getting in her car seat
~ the fact that she CANNOT crawl
~ the fact that she CANNOT run and play with her neighborhood friends

Carly is eating:
~ apples
~ avocado
~ banana
~ butternut squash
~ carrots
~ rice cereal
~ sweet potato
~ green beans (when we force her)
~ lots of MILK

She is slowly transitioning to two naps a day, but still wants her occasional third. She is sleeping through the night, and tends to go to bed around 9:30pm and wake up around 9:00am.

I'm on a Boat!

We took Carly out on the boat this evening. David refers to it as her "first official boat ride" because it is the first one we took the camera out for; however, it is technically her second. On this trip she was squirmy for the slow ride out to the main water; however really perked up once we were out of the no wake zone.

Driving the boat while daddy looks at the scenery. (Not really)


Dancing to some tunes:

I Like to Move It, Move It!

Carly started playing here:


She then moved over to here:


Then she changed positions and rotated herself:


She still wasn't done:


This is as far as I let her go:


She is in no way a quick mover or an accurate mover, but she is definitely mobile.

If You're Happy and You Know It...

CLAP your hands!

Carly and I begin swimming lessons each week with this song. We also sing it a various points through out our day. Apparently she wanted to start her day with this song today. After breakfast, I put Carly in her exersaucer so I could clean things up and she started jumping and clapping. (At the moment she will perform her little fake cough while she is clapping if her hands aren't making a noise.)

Here is video from her happy start to the day -

BBQ confusion

Saturday night, David, his parents, Carly and I Skyped with Julia over in Oxford. She told us that dinner one evening had an international theme - American BBQ. She told us how she was looking forward to a dinner of pulled pork, but instead found a dinner of items prepared on the grill.

Being a southern girl, I've always thought of BBQ as pulled pork. My first experience with "BBQ confusion" was at my wedding rehersal dinner. Some of our guest from the New England area came to our Wedding BBQ expecting grilled meat... OOPS. Then today when I was browsing through the mail sale ads I found the following picture:

No wonder there is "BBQ confusion," even Party City has it all wrong.

I'm Moving (kinda)

Carly wants nothing more than to be able to get up and go. She spends much of her day working towards this goal. Today she started in the middle of our family room playing with a rolling duck toy, she then rotated, spun, and scooted herself around to the piano.

WaHoo, the SUN!!

I was named "project manager" for our home's tree removal project. I got a quote last week and another this weekend. Over the weekend I realized I didn't have a clear understanding of David's "vision," so recalled my first quote for an updated quote. The owner came out this morning at 11:30 and returned before 2:00 with his whole crew!

Before pictures -




After pictures -








Dave was so energized by the new found sun light in our back yard that he pulled out his chain saw and cut down one of our smaller trees. Only a few cypress trees to go until we can start landscaping!

Swimming Lessons 101 - Day 4

Carly had her fourth lesson today! I was nervous - she had gone to bed early last night and took more effort to wake up this morning than usual. However, we had a great day! Her favorite parts of the lesson were when she got to use the kick board and noodle. She even went under water twice. The deep water portion of the lesson was a lot easier than I expected. We gradually walked into the deep end with noodles under the parents' arms and started to tread water once we could no longer touch. While I would hate to be in that situation for a long period of time, I at least know Carly and I can handle this type of experience.

Next week is our last week. Carly gets to show off her life vest during this lesson.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

or in this case - Carly See, Carly Do! After a fun evening at the pool, her first taste of Cheerios, and a LONG nap Carly awoke in a very playful mood. She had a wonderful time using her dad as a jungle gym before we all retired to the office so Dave could download and post today's picture of the day. While in the office Carly began copying her daddy, more so than ever. I placed "her" keyboard in front of her and put my monitor on a photo slide show. She began hitting the desk top to the right of the keyboard (where Dave and I both keep our computer mice). We were able to find her a spare mouse (big surprise there). She immediately began banging on the keyboard, then moving her right hand over the mouse, banging some more, and then returning to having both hands on the keyboard. It really was cute to watch her "work" on her computer while Dave worked on his.

The Little Hostess

Carly played hostess for the first time today! She hosted a playdate for 3 other infants. We had a 6 1/2 month old girl (who was born 5 days after Carly), a 3 month old girl, a 6 week old boy, and their mothers over to the house today. Carly really enjoyed showing off a few of her toys, watching her new friends, and playing with some of their toys.

She even received her first hostess gift, The Very Ugly Bug. We haven't read the book yet; however, Carly is very fascinated with the bright colors and illustrations.

She and I both had a lot of fun. I look forward to Carly hosting a playdate again really soon. (It's cute to watch the babies interact, and it is fun to interact with other mommies.)

Determination = Frustration

Carly's 1 goal at the moment is to CRAWL! I know she will eventually get it and be very proud of herself, but I am wondering how many gray hairs or wrinkles her determination will cost me. She has become quite the big girl recently and will roll from her back to her tummy when we place her in the crib; however, she won't fall asleep without a few minutes of attempting to crawl. Which then leads to a very tired frustrated baby who eventually just passes out (as a result some of her positions have been quite humorous). While she is awake she only wants to work on crawling, but again she gets very frustrated at herself. She is also getting frustrated with me when I place her in a sitting position during play time. She expresses her dislike and then attempts to put herself on her tummy. Unfortunately, this results in her legs doing a full split. She will have one leg out in front, one leg out behind her, and her tummy and chest against the floor. She is not fond of this position and clearly expresses her dissatisfaction. (I guess we don't have a gymnast on our hands.)

Here is a short video of her determination/frustration:

Swimming Lessons 101 - Day 3

Carly and I had swimming lessons this morning. She wasn't eager to get out of bed, and many of the other little swimmers seem to have been in the same boat. (It was a cold, rainy morning... perfect sleeping weather.) Carly did not fuss at all during the lesson, but she did take a more relaxed approach. When she should have been kicking her legs or reaching with her arms, she was very content just letting me glide her through the water. She did reach for the kick board and put herself in position for our Motorboat song. But then we worked with noodles and she made her daddy proud! The moms were supposed to put the noodles under the babies' arms to support their upper bodies and encourage them to work on kicking. Carly on the other hand thought this was a GREAT position to float in, just like her daddy and mommy do on the lake. The instructor even walked over and commented on just how relaxed Carly looked. My response was that she and I had practiced this position a lot last summer in the lake. Next week we will be venturing down to the deep end to practice holding our babies in such situations. This is honestly the part I am nervous about; however, I have 5 days to drop my fear and 1 day to get excited about it.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all our Mothers, Grandmothers and Great Grandmothers.

Mother's Day "Our" Style

Recently I have read about and heard how different moms are spending their Mother's Day weekend or how they wanted to spend their Mother's Day weekend. As this weekend approached I also heard a lot about how this would be my first Mother's Day with Carly and how she and Dave must have something wonderful planned. I just kind of nodded and agreed and went on about my merry way. I knew I'd get a card from them both and maybe one other little treat, I never expected everything that came my way this evening.

I was away this afternoon at a friend's wedding shower, and Dave and Carly were busy little bees. When I returned home four hours later I found a dozen roses in a vase sitting on our kitchen table.



Dave then proceeded to ask a leading question about if I was hungry. Curious about what he was leading to I responded with "yes" and watched my Mother's Day unfold. He began preparing a sweet onion, bell pepper, and asparagus for the grill as I went upstairs to change. Once I returned back down stairs he brought over my cards, placing them against the vase, and my gift. He and Carly had purchased me a new brownie pan from Williams Sonoma that makes brownies to mimic a HUGE Hershey's chocolate bar, and then he even made the delicious brownies during Carly's nap! While I read my cards and marveled at my flowers and chocolate he was busy preparing our pre-dinner appetizer (Chili Lime Chips and salsa) and drinks (pineapple margaritas).



He then grilled out a delicious dinner of bratwursts, bell peppers, sweet onions, and asparagus. And we had chocolate bar shaped brownies for dessert. Our wonderful meal was completed with a stroll around the neighborhood on this cool, breezy, May evening.

My first Mother's Day wasn't a trip to the spa or a fancy dinner, but it was Mother's Day our style. I spent it with my wonderful loving family and everything they did was from the heart. We had foods that we enjoy and spent time relaxing together. Maybe in 10 years I will want to spend my Mother's Day celebration alone, but at the moment I love spending this time with Dave and Carly and soaking up every moment of Carly at this young age.

Swimming Lessons 101 - Day 2

SUCCESS!! The lessons I learned last week and Carly's extra lessons with her Daddy on Saturday and Sunday in the neighborhood allowed today's lessons to go WONDERFULLY!!! She sat on the edge of the pool with a large grin on her face while I got in the water. I did a little splashing and wiping her down with the water before I made a big production of putting her in the pool. I got her feet wet and bounced her out, then she went in up to her knees and bounced out, then her waist, and finally her chest. The entire time with a HUGE smile. We continued to play while others got into the pool and she was eager for today's first song - The Wheels on the Bus. She also really enjoyed shouting "HOORAY!" in If You're Happy and You Know It because then she was bobbed in and out of the water.

During the first part of the lesson we practiced blowing bubbles (which Carly wasn't into today, but enjoyed having them blown into her face), practiced moving our arms and legs through the water, and grabbing on to the edge of the pool. Then we got out the kick boards and sang Motorboat, Carly absolutely loved this. She held onto the top of the kick board and let her feet dangle off. The objective was that each baby would kick as we pushed them through the water singing. Carly just really enjoyed holding on to the board and having the water rush around her while we sang. She then worked on floating and actually did really well. She rested her head on my shoulder while the rest of her body floated along. Then came the BIG event of today's lessons - submersion. Which she did!! There was a slight (5 seconds or less) fussy spell afterwards, but it was very short lived. Then when we were pushing and swimming after a Mickey Mouse ball she was actually putting her face in the water to extend her stretching ability/length. We ended today's lesson with two more songs and a very tired little Carly.

She fought off taking a nap during much of the car ride home. Instead she babbled for much of the route, I'm sure telling me all about her big and happy adventure in the pool, until she finally crashed.

Manic Monday

Just another manic Monday in the life of Carly! Today was quite a day... we started with a rather sleepless night (our longest stretch of sleep was 2.5 hours) and a trip to the doctor. Carly has had a spot on her leg that we have been watching for a few days; however, a sleepless night was our final straw. The doctor felt like the spot on her leg was nothing to be concerned about; however, agreed that it was causing her discomfort. She is on a low dose of antibiotic to help clear up the infection quickly. The doctor, nurse, and pharmacist all commented on how happy and playful she was for a baby who was sick and hadn't slept much the night before. While Dave and I agreed with them, we also knew she wasn't her normal SUPER happy self. I will say that she is super happy even when she doesn't feel well until bedtime, then she lets her discomfort known.

Carly and I then ventured home for some lunch before heading out to run an errand or two. (Car rides help her nap when she is over tired or uncomfortable... we were fighting both battles this afternoon.) During this errand I accomplished one of my goals of returning a pair of pants I bought for Carly in the wrong size. I also accomplished getting Carly to take a wonderful nap, which continued for 1.5 hours once we returned home... allowing me to nap too!

Our day continued once Dave returned home with a trip out for dinner where Carly sat in a high chair for the first time! She played and talked with us (and near by guest) all through dinner. She didn't fit perfectly in the high chair (we needed to pad her with a blanket), but she sat independently and pulled up to the table. We then headed off in search of a bathing suit that actually fit Carly. Hers is slightly too big in the waist and isn't tight enough on the swim diaper to the Y's standards.

When we were leaving Target tonight Dave put Carly in the car seat, but she refused to lay back. Instead she put her arms out so that she would continue to sit upright. The remainder of our evening was rather low key. She played with her tiger piano, flower pot, and some homemade musical instruments (shaker - plastic container with Cheerios, drum - plastic container and lid) before heading off for her B.B.B. (bath, bottle, bed) routine. Hopefully tonight she can sleep a little bit more comfortably (so I can too).

Swimming Fun

Based on our past experiences swimming has been either hit or miss. She loved it one day in Seabrook, but hated it the next. She wasn't thrilled about her first swimming lesson or her time at the pool yesterday with dad. But today, the sun, stars and the Charlotte heat index all aligned for a great day in the pool.


Not sure about this

While she wasn't too sure about the pool at first we stayed in though the initial fussing, and after a couple of minutes Carly realized a couple of things. 1. Daddy isn't trying to kill me. 2. I am not going to freeze. 3 This is a lot of fun... Daddy will splash with me.


Swimming

Needless to say we had a lot of fun. She climbed on what I referred to as Daddy Island, slashed with Mommy and tried some face down swimming, or dunking (You pick).


Daddy Island


Splashing with Mommy



We had such a great time splashing, and swimming that we managed to stay in the pool a whole 30 minutes before Carly got cold and it was time to head on home. Hopefully, this will carry over to tuesday's Mommy and Me swimming at the Y.

Really Growing Up

We spent a lot of time staring at Carly today amazed at how big she has gotten.

Our day started with her "standing" against an ottoman.


David and Carly then ventured out to the pool for a little fun. Unfortunately the water was cool and all of the neighborhood kids were gathering in the baby pool, so it was a short trip.

After the pool they got dressed for the day...

...and they matched!

Our day ended with Carly deciding she was done taking a bath and ready for bed.


I guess it is time for us to lower her crib mattress.

The most depressing realization today was when Dave reminded me that she is 6 months and 9 days old and in 6 months and 9 days she will probably be toddling around the house... Our little girl is really growing up!

Giggle Monster