6 Peeks into our Week, 8 month old picture overload edition (#5)

1. Gianna turned 8 months old last week! Here's what's been happening this month: crawling, standing, free-standing attempts, saying mama, and 2 teeth! In the last few days, I've also noticed her trying to develop the "pincer" grip and picking up smaller and smaller food pieces. She is happier and smily-er than ever, and as always, makes all heart break and melt into goo piles, in particular, mine and Chris's.

Solo stand... less than successful attempts to catch on video 

Giant Baby used to sleep in this.

 Throw back to February...so small!

 You can kind of sort of see her teeth in these two pics

2. Gianna has a new fruit obsession: MANGOS. She literally went crazy for them. Proof is in the video below. I also made this overnight vegetable dish that I had with my Aunt Karen and grandmother, and Gianna loves that as well. It's got celery, onion, french style green beans, peas, and corn with vinegar, oil, and sugar. The pieces are so easy to hand feed her and for her to try to pick up.

Mango crazed Gianna

3. Facetime.We use facetime on our iphones pretty much every day to chat with Chris or my mom. Gianna's favorite part is seeing herself in the screen before they pick up, but she also likes to "chat". There are lots of negatives to technology, but for us, facetime is a definite plus. Chris has recently taken to screen shotting our convos:

 Mess in the background created by Gianna in approximately 2 minutes. Like 5 times a day. This is another reason for our big toy chest "storage" (TOY JAIL), which you'll read about next.

 We break up our day by breaking Mama's face!

4. Speaking of breaking up our day, thanks to interest sparked by my friend Renee and an upcoming CMOM mtg at a Montessori school, I went a little crazy this week researching Montessori style learning for babies. I really identify with a lot of the methods because they make sense. For example, letting a baby learn to feed themselves. Duh! I also appreciate the practical style of learning. To "Montessori-ify" our house, I've done a number of things:

• Put "discovery boxes" in each room. These consist of 6-8 toys/every day objects, that will entertain Gianna for a period of time. In the kitchen, the box is exclusively kitchen items. The point is to learn about their environment and be familiar with objects that we use every day, not just toys. We have a "toy chest" that I put all the extra toys in, and each week will swap out the toys and household objects to keep each discovery box fresh.
• Made sound toys using old spice containers. One has paperclips, another pennies, and the last is beans. Gianna loves these.

Noise makers, "in and out" puzzle-y toy that Gianna is a little too young for getting the toys back in, but she sure does like to take them out. Ignore nasty fireplace...it's getting painted soon. :-)

• Stacking toy. My mom bought this for Gianna, but Chris is specifically showing her how to stack and unstack each morning. Sometimes she watches, sometimes she doesn't. She'll learn eventually though. 

 Discovery box underneath table, stacking toy and puzzle on table, and baby/high chair to the left. Chris likes play baby dolls with Gianna to (in his words) "work on her mothering skills". Those two crack me up.

• Made a mirror accessible and make a point everyday to do different things in the mirror, like standing up, putting on a hat, etc. so Gianna gets a first person perspective on what she's doing and how. 

 Mirror and discovery box in the guest room/office, since I've been working on the computer a lot, we spend lots of time in here. Of course, Gianna loves annaiG. We have 3 new videos of that, here, here, and here. 

• Work on drinking out of a cup by herself. Gianna is good at drinking out of a cup, but I thought it would be a good skill for her to learn to do on her own. She really wants to do it, so it's not really a stretch. She can do it when she's in the bath tub laying down, but usually just throws the water all over herself while at the table. I just put the tiniest amount of water in it, show her how a few times, then let her loose. 

I like that doing these different things punctuate our day, and I can already see Gianna has become super excited to get to her discovery boxes, particularly the kitchen one. She remembers it's there and will go to it on her own, even if I'm in another room. Will I always do this kind of stuff with every kid? Eh, we'll see ;-) For right now, it can't hurt!

5. We haven't done too much work on the house at all in the past two weeks. Last weekend, the Grossman's came over, and this weekend, we took it easy and focused on stocking the fridge--much much much needed! Instead, I've been focusing about 20 or so hours a week on updating/creating Lectio Divina guides for Communities of Prayer. I am really good at tedious sort of work like that, but I always feel like I'm losing my mind and that it will never end. I also hate that it takes time away from Gianna, but it has made me more thankful to be able to stay at home. I work during her naps and when she's playing on her own...I can't imagine having to be away from her all day!

 This is the only picture I took when the Grossmans came to visit. Story of my liiiiiiiife. This one is super cute though. Stella crawled in to be with baby Blaise and Zion is showing him some of the toys. Clare was playing with Gianna when this happened. Gianna LOVES Clare and gets super peaceful around her.

This is what "cooking" is like at our house these days:

6. Fall is Here(ish)! We're loving the 80 degree days. A welcome respite from the heat and foretaste of lots of outside time to come.

Miscellany from the last week:


OMYGOODNESS I die for these giggles. 

 10:02 am

 10:03 am

 10:04 am. No one can accuse her of not having a range of emotions...

 She used to eat her umbilical cord/play with it in the womb, too, according to our sonogram. 

 Closets are great places to hang out

 Getting her learning on

 Something makes me love this picture, but I can't put my finger on it.

Note the sweet fall inspired outfit. Baby jeggings and knit top. Par Excellence.

 Practicing her "mothering" skills LOL. Clearly not at peace in that vocation just yet. We'll get there.

 We're really bad at selfies.

 Gianna is obsessed with this toy. Actually, every kid that comes over to our house is. Like...they cry over it. Something about the combo of sound/movement/light...

 Gianna loves to be carried on Chris's shoulders. Watch "Papa the Bull" here. Note that it looks like Gianna's head is about to be chopped off by our fan in the video, but it's totally not, trust me.

A mini peek into our week (#4)

Hey y'all! No time for a legit update this week so just 2 quick things:

1. Gianna cut her first tooth!!! Bottom middle left side (whatever the technical term is...). Glad that's over. Only 20ish more to go! LOL.

Gianna was super sweet at the beginning of the week as a result (not sweet that she was in pain, but that she needed me more than her usual "I need you but I'm pushing you away at the same time" demeanor). She nursed a lot and was tamer than usual. I even got a few kisses :-)

2. Lots of visitors in the past 2 weeks! Had a few local friends + kids come over during the week, and my mom and grandmother drove up last Saturday from Houston. The Grossman clan are in transit right now to come and visit, too! 

She is just so super precious to watch playing, I die

Devious and mischievous. Need to keep that bathroom door shut from now on, lest she turn into a toilet flusher/toilet water toucher...

5 Peeks into our Chill Week (#3)

1. I made Gianna a mobile for her crib! I based it off of this Martha Stewart version, except without the "Martha Stewart flower punch cutter thing" that probably costs $10 by itself. And without a stick from the yard. Chris said no organic things in the house (which makes...total....sense...) so I used an embroidery hoop that I upcycled from another DIY project. I made the birdies out of cards from Gianna's baby shower. I knew I kept those colorful pieces of delightfulness for a reason. I bought the beads ($2.50...but I only used like $0.50 worth) and thick string from Michael's ($0.70), so the whole thing cost me less than $1.50.

 Up close

 Hanging in her room

High up enough that she won't use it to pull up on or strangle herself ;-)

2. Finally took Gianna to the chiropractor to get adjusted post-birth. Yeah, I know, that was like almost 8 months ago, but hey, better late than never, right? Babies are cooped up for 9 months and particularly squished at the end without much room to move, and then squeezed out of the womb like a tube of toothpaste, so it makes sense that they can be a little out of balance. Because she's crawling and will most likely walk in the new few months, I wanted Gianna to have everything in proper alignment.

 Dr. Ashley Feldman, recommended by my friend Lisa, is pretty cool and adjusts babies for $10. It was so quick and gentle. She did most of the adjusting with her fingertips while I was holding her, some while Gianna laid on top of me (we both laid down so that she would be more relaxed), and some with this clicker device.

**I know some people have beef with chiropractors. That's fine. I know there are some total medical quack chiros that really mess people up. I'm mostly friends with hippies, so we tend to seek out a more holistic type that can in many ways, serve as primary care when something is wrong or you feel like you're getting sick, and even help with problems from chronic ear infections to food allergies and more.


3. We got sick! Stomach bugs for me and Chris last week and then Gianna had a fever and maybe a slight stomach bug earlier this week. Now we all have allergies. Gracious. We have been slacking on our probiotic beverages (and I can't eat yogurt anymore anyway) so we will need to up that now that Fall is nearing. I took Gianna getting sick it as an excuse to chill a little bit and take a break from unpacking/organizing and instead watch a couple movies, play, work on artsy stuff (see above) and Communities of Prayer guide.s

4. New Feeding Strategy. Gianna is, to say the least difficult, to feed. She is not content with holding 1 spoon, but needs to hold 2 spoons. She will then take a bite of whatever I've given her and then puts a spoon in her mouth and spits all the food onto it (accidentally at this point). Or alternatively, she will take a spoon full of food out of my hand and put it in her mouth (and not effectively get any food off it) and proceed to fling it everywhere.

Now, from the beginning, I had planned to do mostly Baby Led Weaning (which is the British version of baby led first foods), but I honestly don't feel super comfortable giving her really solid hunks of food to knaw at until she has teeth. She can do pretty well with a potato, peach, avocado, orange slice, etc for now. However, I did my share of spoon feeding with a piece of mashed banana, chicken and rice, etc. She was getting pretty good at eating, too, except she has a "do it self" attitude of a toddler, so...yeah.

Well, on a whim, after a chat with my friend Josie at a new baby welcoming get together, I just nixed the spoons altogether and put small pieces of food on Gianna's tray and a couple big chunks of fruit and hand fed her while she hand fed herself. If she had too much in her mouth, I encouraged her to swallow by giving her sips of water from a small cup, which she prefers to a sippy cup. OH MY GOSH. She has never eaten more at a meal! It worked beautifully. Good bye spoons, good bye plates! For now, at least.

You know. The thing is. All along I planned to wait until after she was 1 before introducing utensils and tableware because I thought it was silly for a baby, and then I just got so excited to use them, I forgot my initial resolve.

5. Gianna has become a little bit too cocky for my personal taste in her one handed standing trick.

This cracks me up. Chris took G on a stroll to get her some fresh air after being cooped up all day as my little sick nursling.

10 Peeks into our Busy Week (#2)

1.  PEACHES. Fresh, local peaches from Crawford Farms. I love The Fair Market here in Tyler (Thursdays in the square 4-7 pm) because it's producers only, meaning that you can only sell what you grow, which is not the case for many markets. The peaches were picked THAT morning by the people who are selling them. Delightful. Peaches are literally the best fruit in the world. AND the best part about buying seasonal produce (as in, when peaches are out of season, I will not buy them or eat them) is you get to be excited about things like buying peaches (and they taste 134098235x better). Simple pleasures ahhh.

2. Gianna's cheeks have exploded and we aren't sure why. They are HUGE!

 See?

 Side Note: We are big fans of Sweet Potato, Carrot, and Quinoa Soap

 HAHAHAHAHA 

But seriously, this girl has got some killer eyes!

3. Did that girl just say MAMA?!?!?! Yes, yes she did. She's been babbling "dadadadada" "bababababa" for a while now, and then "bababamamababababa" also. Well on Wednesday, she woke up from her nap and started crying out "MAMAMAMA! MAMA! MAMAMA! MAMA!" At first I was still engrossed in whatever menial task I was trying to finish in the short, glorious span of nap time, but then I realized what she was saying and jumped and went running to her! She was standing up holding on to the crib rails and as soon as she saw me she stopped and smiled. My heart was literally outside my chest. I thought it might be a fluke though. UNTIL. She did it again at 2nd nap. And AGAIN when Chris was putting her down to bed (kept calling MAMA MAMA and looking at the doorway awww).

I'm loving it. Except for how she doesn't want me to leave her room and screams MAMA. Oh sweet Gianna. Please. Go. To. Sleep.

Earlier this week:

1. "I love you Gianna, have a good nap." (Kiss on head and put down in bed)
2. Gianna plays until she falls asleep or just turns and falls asleep. If she's being fussy, I'll scratch her legs and head
3. 1-2 hours later: Gianna is playing in pack n play or crib, I let her play for a few minutes on her own and then naptime is over.

Now that she "speaks":

1. "I love you Gianna, have a good nap." (Kiss on head and put down in bed)
2. Gianna plays for .5 seconds and then starts fussing and then screaming MAMAMA MAMA MAMA until I come back.
3. Scratch until she calms down or pick Gianna up, bounce/sit with her until she's relaxed again.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 three more times
5. 30 minutes later: MAMAMA MAMAMA MAMAMA MAMA

le sigh.

Gianna, with her usual antics, but a bonus "Mama" thrown in :-)

4. Crawling update. As I type, Gianna has crawled under the desk and is now seated under the chair. Cute. Unfortunately, giant baby is too big to sit under the chair and will hit her head. Like 5 times. Must remove her from under the seat now for the billionth time today. Also, Gianna is faster now. I can't escape her quite as fast, because she will actually get to the place I went to before she loses interest. Also, we're having some serious attachment issues and she always crawls and stands up on my leg. Which is awesome and cute (for now), except for when I trip over her and almost bust my butt.

5. Home update: Gianna officially now has her a crib and dresser in her room! It's so exciting to get her more settled and unpack all of her clothes and have places to put things. We also put up shelves in the closet and will add one more above her clothes rack. We also did a massive unpack/clean up because Father Braun came over for breakfast this week. It was delightful and there's truly nothing like company coming over to make you speed through some lazy unpacking.

6. Chris and I are going to take a legitimate NFP course so we can understand postpartum fertility at the Cathedral starting this Sunday (we previously just read the book) and I'm pretty excited. I got 2 new books, one for postpartum and the other one was about breastfeeding (the Catholic Church is very supportive of continued breastfeeding for health of the baby and way to space children naturally) and I did a cursory glance through it and noticed an appendix in the back about how to save money and eat healthier. Being the thrifty, Catholic, hippie that I am, it obviously caught my attention and made my heart happy. Some excerpts:

• Produce in season is often less expensive. Buy asparagus in spring, etc, etc, etc
• Locate a farmer's market in your area. 
• Grow your own herbs, vegetables, etc.
• Buy from bulk food (scoop) bins whenever possible.
• Consider joining a food co-op
• Use beans as a meat substitute (amen to that) 

(source: The Art of Breastfeeding by Linda Kracht and Jackie Hilgert)

I know that using NFP was my open door to healthier, cleaner eating, so I loved seeing some of the same principals I live by now (although I'm still just desperately trying to keep herbs alive...no veggies yet LOL) in a book about breastfeeding that's written by NFP people.

7. Gianna pulls up to stand on everything now. She finally figured out the crib and pack n play (I was hoping the mesh would throw her off for at least another week). It's like seriously cute to me, except:

• when I want her to be napping
• when it's pitch black in her room at 4 am (then it's just creepy)

 

 My mom bought Gianna her first pair of standing/walking shoes this past weekend at Stride Rite. She's pretty stylin' in her new kicks.

Gianna and Chris playing with her sit'n'stand (literally the best toy, ever)

8. Gianna HATES scruff. Chris notices that when he hasn't shaved, she really avoids his face at all costs. My step dad has a beard/mustache and she avoids his faces too. I can really attribute Chris shaving more often to Gianna. Thanks, sweet child! Now I don't have to whine and beg. Bwahaha!

9. Help! Chris and I are pretty sure Gianna is almost at the "I'm aware of what I'm doing when you say no and I do it anyways" age, AKA age of discipline. Anyone know any good behavior/discipline books, in particular those that use the Bible and good sense as the basis? Y'all know my e-mail ;-)

10. Quotes of the week:

Rachel: (blah blah blah maybe our next baby will be calmer blah blah blah...) I'm so sick and tired of hearing how sweet and calm Gianna is
Chris: I wish I carried a pistol on me for people just like that.

At Mass...
Nice old man: She seems like such an easy and well behaved baby!
Chris: *smirk* Just wait.
(10 min later)
Gianna: *screaming* *laughing* *trying to escape captivity (being held)*

LOL. Seriously though. Gianna is sweet. In a non-tradition sort of way. And calm. When she's asleep. So I guess it's not so far from the truth. Love that girl. Wish I could squeeze the noise out of her sometimes, but man oh man, does she keep me laughing and smiling.

A minute in the life of Gianna's toys

Chris and Gianna make an apology video (Chris took my garage door opener and something else that seemed important at the time...)