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.