SHE...

Today was a frustrating day for mommy (and one day Carly will look back, read this posting, and agree). Carly had story time at our local library, and then I had a retirement reception to attend this morning at school. Lucky for us we had exactly five minutes between the end of story time and the beginning of the reception, and the library is directly across the street from school.

Knowing that Carly would be seeing a lot of familiar faces at both events and meeting even more faces I planned her outfit accordingly. I wanted something that was cute, easy to crawl around and pull up in, simple for diaper changes, etc. So, Carly wore a white onesie with green gingham trim on the collar and sleeves with a khaki skort that had pink and red flowers and hot pink flamingos embroidered on it and matching belt.

And off we went. Unfortunately at BOTH locations I was asked by various strangers, "How old is HE?," "How much does HE weigh?" SERIOUSLY people, are you that blind. My response was always, "SHE..." They would then apologize and comment about how beautiful some feature of Carly's was, but SERIOUSLY people - SHE is wearing a skort!! and there is PINK on it!! Unfortunately, my tone got harsher and harsher each time I had to correct someone. Which I know isn't fair to the last people I encountered, but I was frustrated. (I was even standing next to a friend of mine one of the times this happened. Her response afterwards was, "Do they not see her wearing a skirt?")

I think Carly will be wearing A LOT of pink the next time I know she is going to be around many new faces, the subtle traces today in her skirt were not effective enough!

Date Night

Dave and I went out for our first "date" night since Carly was born (thank you Kelly)!! As we drove away from the house tonight we discussed the other times we have left Carly alone with someone else -

1) Around week 4 with my mom- I went shopping for a pair of non-maternity jeans, and Dave was at work.
2) Around week 8 with Dave's mom and family - Dave, a few family members, and I went to watch part of the Eagles game at a nearby bar.
3) Around 4 months with my mom - We went to buy Dave a new suit.
4) 7 months with my parents - Dave and I attended Megan and Trey's wedding
5) Tonight!!

However, tonight was different. First we were leaving Carly with a non-family member. (Although, Kelly is eating dinner at our house about once a week. I think that is going to start classifying her as family.) And secondly, we were going out to have fun just the two of us!

We had a lovely dinner at Alton's Kitchen, followed with dessert at Brusters. We did talk about Carly (some), but we also had a very relaxing meal and dessert. We didn't have to entertain her with one hand, while trying to eat our food. Nor did we need to move all of the dishes and utensils across the table and out of her reach. Instead, she was home have a WONDERFUL time with Kelly and we were out having a relaxing dinner!

Lake

Carly ventured out on the boat for the third time this season!! Dave got the boat ready, while I got her ready. We met at the neighborhood pool to soak her and her life vest before getting on the boat and travelling through our short no wake zone. This soaking actually worked! She didn't fuss for fidget while we motored slowly out of the cove, and got a huge smile on her face when seeing friends she knew.

After a short ride we arrived at a favorite spot of ours to anchor and float. Anchoring and floating was a first for Carly. She really seemed to enjoy herself. While floating in her life vest, she kicked, dunked the top of her head and hat, and enjoyed being passed/floated between me and Dave.


Unfortunately, she became bored of floating in the lake and wasn't interested in sitting on the boat - although she perked right up during our trip home. (Maybe she just likes to cruise the lake.) Dave and I weren't able to enjoy a nice picnic on the water this evening, but did enjoy it once we returned home.

Partying Down

We went to a neighbor's house last night to celebrate her daughter's engagement and pending nuptials. They had a little singing and dancing dog that kept Carly occupied all evening. Below is a movie of the resulting antics.

8 Months

Today Carly turned 8 months old. It absolutely amazes me that 8 months ago from right now she was swaddled tightly and sleeping in her rolling bassinet, unaware of everything going on around her. And now, she is very aware of her surroundings and loves to look around and take everything in.

To celebrate turn 8 months old Carly decided to accomplish another milestone. Last night David lowered her crib to its lowest setting so that we would be prepared for when she wanted to stand up in her crib. Well, today she did it. I tried to put her down for an afternoon nap following lunch and she fussed. While fussing she managed to sit herself up in her crib (facing the wall), rotate 180 degrees (so she is facing out of the crib) while also getting up on her knees, and pop herself up using the crib rails. I entered her room, told her "no", laid her back down, and got back to the video monitor in time to watch her do it again. At this point, I caved and decided nap time was over.

Later in the afternoon she managed to repeat her standing adventure in her crib and using our sofa and love seat as her assistants. She also managed to try to walk the length of the love seat; however, her hands move slightly faster than her feet - causing her to be unstable.

It amazes me to think that in her 8th month of life she began army crawling, being able to put herself in a sitting position, and pulling herself up in her crib and with the assistance of other furniture.

At 8 months Carly is eating:
~ apples
~ avocado
~ banana
~ butternut squash
~ carrots
~ Cheerios
~ green beans (Gerber only)
~ oatmeal
~ peaches
~ rice cereal
~ yogurt (mixed with banana)
~ zucchini

At 8 months Carly makes sounds that sound like:
~ mamamama (mama)
~ dadadada (daddy)
~ nana (banana)
~ aa don (all done)
~ a (hey)
She doesn't say these sounds with accuracy, but she does start with "mamama..." when she wakes up, then transitions to "dadada..." if there isn't an immediate enough response for her (as in a response within 15 - 30 seconds). She says "nana" when we tell her she is eating a banana, and any other time she feels like saying it. The same is true with "aa don", and everything else is "a".

At 8 months Carly's favorite toys are:
~ bobble sports balls hatching various fowl animals
~ tiger piano
~ shape sorter (she just carries the shapes around, no sorting yet)
~ wooden puzzles (they make fun noises when you bang the pieces together and on other things)
~ books
~ Jake
~ her hands

Applauding Herself

One of my favorite times with Carly is listening to her wake up from nap and bed times. She typically will sing and babble to herself or play around with her hands/feet. Today she woke up from her afternoon nap and began playing. I then noticed she became silent, then I started to hear her clapping. Using the video monitor I was able to see what what her applause was for - she had gone from her belly to sitting up all by herself.

She had completed this feat once yesterday for her daddy (what a great trait to show off just for Dave on Father's Day), but hadn't repeated it. Last night Dave and I discussed needing to lower the crib during next weekend since she would probably be doing this with more regularity soon. Well, her regularity started as soon as Dave got home today. She would crawl, then sit herself up, and then applaud at her accomplishment. We would applaud as well. This attention from me, Dave, and our friend - Kelly, led Carly into going into her crawling position then immediately back into a sitting position (without travelling anywhere) - so that she could applaud herself and receive our applause.

Big Weekend!!

Our family had a big weekend, at least for us!

Friday we went to a neighborhood pool party, Carly's first. We all had a wonderful time. Dave and I ate pizza, and Carly enjoyed being held by a neighborhood mommy while we ate. Then she and Dave ventured into the pool with her new alligator kickboard, and I joined them later on. We all played in the water, with Carly splashing, kicking, and "jumping" off the side.

Saturday Carly was left with "babysitters" for her longest time period ever. We have left her before to go watch a bit of football over Christmas and another time to buy a new suit for Dave; however, Saturday night was her first extended time without us. She had a wonderful afternoon and evening with my parents; however, only seemed to want her parents to put her to bed. Luckily we returned home just as my dad was putting Carly down. Her tears were big, wet, and loud. And eventually we did get her up and repeat the last portion of her bedtime routine.

Sunday was Dave's first Father's Day!

We began the day with having our membership to Bethel Presbyterian Church announced to the congregation. After a warm welcome we had a wonderful lunch at McAllisters. Carly rewarded Dave for being an AWESOME dad by taking a 2+ hour nap while I went grocery shopping. Dave's first Father's Day also consisted of of yummy rotiseree porkloin from his grill and a trip out for ice cream. Carly also gave Dave his Father's Day present early - a canvas print of a photo from her spring photo shoot with him.