7 Month Update

Dear Lauren,

What is it about 7 months old that seems so grown up to me? Your father and I look at you and just can't believe how much and how quickly you change. You've always been right on track, if not ahead, but you've grown so much developmentally this past month. It makes you seem so grown up!

Awesome Stuff You're Doing: Baby girl, YOU CAN CRAWL! As of today, I am officially saying you can crawl! You've been going in circles for weeks, and have been able to crawl backwards for quite awhile too. But today you actually INTENTIONALLY crawled forward! I don't think you realize you did it which is hilarious, but I'm so proud of you! You have so many toys that you love and often can't decide what to play with, so I'll find you with a toy in your mouth and another toy in your hands. Your new favorites are anything that isn't a "toy" such as- the lids to my plastic containers, pulling your clothes out of your dresser, your hairbrush, your headbands, etc. And while you're not saying any words yet, you love to talk. So far you mostly just say "babababababababa!" and it is adorable. You love your voice and have figured out how to crescendo into an ultrasonic scream. Happy or mad, there have been days where you scream ALL day.

Eating: You've tried several different foods now and love them all! You've had bananas, sweet potatoes, avocados,  apples, rice cereal, and green beans. You LOVE green beans! And you really love playing with your food or the containers or utensils. We go through a minimum of two spoons with every meal... one for you to hold and play with, the other for me to help you eat with. If we don't use this system more food gets on you than in you; you grab the spoon before I can get it to your mouth and attempt to put it in your mouth yourself. You're successful, but in a very messy way, lol.

Sleeping: I've decided to follow your lead when it comes to sleeping. Our bedtime routine is still going strong and I'm loving every minute of it. Most nights I can lay you down in your crib and you'll sleep for at least a few hours or all night, but sometimes I get the feeling before I set you down that you're just not wanting the crib tonight, and sure enough you wake right up and won't go back to sleep until you're cuddled in my arms in the rocking chair. Those are the nights I bring you back into bed with me and Daddy, which I'm completely okay with. You're still sleeping at least 8 hours at night. Sometimes you don't get up all night, and other nights you get up a few times... I think those are the nights your teeth are hurting you.

Teething: Well Little Love, still no teeth yet. But the teething hasn't given you much of a rest. It's been 4 months now of teething and I hurt for you! I got you some teethers made out of natural materials- no plastic and no toxins- and honestly they seem to help more than anything else. Sophie, your giraffe, is made out of rubber and she's your favorite teether. (No, I didn't name your giraffe- she came with that name, lol). Your gums are super hard though, it hurts now when you chomp down on my finger (or shoulder, or hand, etc, lol), so hopefully for  your sake some of them will come in soon!

Nicknames: You've had so many nicknames since you were born based on what you were doing at the time. The one that has stuck since your birth is Little Love. Others right now may need a little explanation. They are Little Goose and Baby Turtle. You're hilarious, and I started calling you a silly goose. Somehow it got combined with Little Love, and now you're Little Goose, lol. Baby Turtle comes from this thing you do. Because you don't realize you can crawl yet, sometimes you won't do it. You'll lay on your stomach and put all of your limbs in the air and rock back and forth like you're stuck- which is just ridiculous. You are perfectly capable of sitting up from whatever position you're in. It's like a baby turtle that got flipped over onto it's shell and can't flip back over. And you let out this "Ahh! Ahh! Ahh! Ahh!" noise at the same time. So when you do it we call you Baby Turtle and remind you that you can roll back over, lol. That, or in this case take a picture of you:

Baby Turtle 

Lauren, I love you so much. You make Daddy and I so happy. As much as I'd love for time to slow down, I'm having so much fun watching you grow. I love you, Little Love! 

Lauren's First Easter!

Yes I am aware I am super late with this post. Lauren's first Easter was... well... probably not as eventful as it would have been. My boss was desperate to find someone to work so she offered me and extra $5 an hour plus the time and a half for the overtime it would put me into. I just couldn't pass that up. So I got off work in the evening and we headed to my parents house to celebrate Lauren't first Easter!

She got two Easter baskets this year! One from us... ahem... I mean the Easter Bunny, and one from my parents!

The Easter Bunny brought her some cute outfits, bunny ears, and adorable little stuffed dinosaur toys! The Easter bunny likes dinosaurs- who would've thought? ;) 

 Lauren with her Aunt Emily, whom she completely adores! 

Happy Easter, everyone!

Adventures in Solid Feeding

I don't know why I was so nervous about starting Lauren on solids. Seriously- super nervous. It's like I was closing a chapter on part of her babyhood and I was a little sad about it. Before she was born I had decided that I was going to give her only homemade foods- including only homemade baby cereals. She's never had a can of processed baby food or anything out of a box and I intend for it to stay that way. Breatfeeding may not have worked out how I wanted it to, but THIS is in my control. I am so determined, lol. I did SO much research and changed my mind a dozen times about what to feed her first and how long to wait between introducing various foods, whether or not to add formula to it, whether to use a spoon at first or let her eat off my finger, etc. Eventually, I decided to go with bananas first, waiting 4 days between introducing each new food, not to add formula to it unless it was just super thick and seriously needed thinning down, and to use my finger at first so I didn't throw too many new things at her at once. So far we've done bananas, sweet potatoes, avocados, apples, rice cereal, and green beans. And so far my sweet, super opinionated baby has loved EVERYTHING! With the first few things we tried after bananas (sweet potatoes and avocados), it took her a few days to decide what she thought, but she loves them now! And based on her reaction and sweet little hands reaching for the bowl, her favorite food....? GREEN BEANS! :) Here's a few pictures of my very happy and well fed little girl:

Very first bite! Bananas!

Loved them!

Yummy avocados! Regardless of whether she's wearing a bib or not and has the high chair tray or not, this is a messy process. So sometimes I just put her in clothes I don't care about and skip the bib. She's happier that way anyway!

And her very favorite part of any meal... when she's done I hand her the container and let her play with it. It always results in changing her clothes and mopping the floor, but look how happy it makes her! 

For anyone who's curious about my homemade baby food making process... it's super easy. With the exception of bananas and avocados, I cook the food, then puree it in a blender and freeze it in ice cube trays. Once frozen I pop the cubes out and put them in freezer ziplock baggies. Before I go to bed I decide what she's going to eat the next day and I take a few cubes out and put them in airtight containers in the fridge. Then when she's hungry it only takes about 10 seconds in the miccrowave, and voila! Homemade, healthy, yummy goodness for Lauren! Bananas and avocados don't need to be cooked obviously so I just mash them with a fork when she's ready for one! As far as rice cereal goes- I only use short grain brown rice right now. I turned it into rice powder using my kitchen mill (so easy, I adore that thing!) and store a ton of it in an airtight container in my fridge, and it's just 1/4 cup rice powder to slightly more than 1 cup boiling water. Whisk and boil for 10 minutes and you're done! I don't add formula to it, but I do add fruit to thin it down and she loves it! Making homemade baby food has almost become a hobby for me- I have so much fun doing it!

The Park

The weather this past weekend was so beautiful, we just couldn't resist the opportunity to take Lauren on her very first trip to the park! It was just the three of us, and Lauren just soaked up the sunshine and took all the sights in!



Later that day we made a second trip back to the park with Robbie's parents and brother, and Jana and her girls! Seriously it was such a fun day, and Lauren loved every minute of it!







Lauren and her cousins!



I need to start bringing my camera places. Thank goodness for iPhones huh?

6 Month Update

Dear Lauren,

I'm sure by now I sound like a broken record, but you are growing and changing so FAST! You're having so much fun with all the new things you can do, but this is happening way too fast for Mama! When you fall asleep in my arms I just want to hold you and cuddle you and cherish the moment for as long as I can, because I know some day I am going to miss this stage of your life so much.

Stats: Weight: 16.03 lbs Length: 24.25 inches :)

Sleeping: You and I have established a wonderful bedtime routine that we both love! Bath time, then lotion and get dressed in jammies, then Daddy makes a bottle while you and I get cozy in the rocking chair and read a story. Right not we're reading Itsy Bitsy Spider every night. You adore this book and I have it memorized now, so I can keep reading while you have fun turning the pages and chewing on the cover. When we're done reading we turn the lights out and turn on some music and cuddle while you drink your bottle and fall asleep in my arms. It's one of my favorite parts of the day. And you usually sleep at least 8-10 hours! You're not sleeping in your swing anymore. A few weeks ago you rolled out of your swing, and that was it (I was at work and Daddy is the one who came in to you crying on the floor- thankfully you weren't hurt- you stopped crying as soon as you saw him- but you sure scared your Daddy Little Love). No more swing. You sleep either in your sleeper next to our bed, or in bed with us. You are such a little cuddle bug, I just love it!

Eating: You're eating solids now!! We started solids just a couple days before you turned 6 months old. I was going to wait another week until your Dr appointment, butyou have your first cold right now and all the yuck in your nose is making it hard for you to comfortably drink a bottle. So far you looooove bananas, and aren't sure what you think about sweet potatoes.

Awesome stuff you're doing: You are still this close to crawling! And while before you mostly played with toys while laying on the floor, now you play while sitting up or STANDING! If I set you up you can stand while holding onto something. Your favorite toys consist of a Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal, a snail that lights up and plays music when you bump it, and a set of plastic balls that you love to push around. But it's the simple things you love most- the tags on stuffed animals or a washcloth make you so happy. You've lost interest in your bath toys recently and just want to suck on the washcloth. You have your own washcloth for this purpose during bath time or you get MAD. Last night we even had to bring the washcloth with us while you got ready for bed because you let out the most heart breaking cry when I took it away as you got out of the bath. You love to yell to hear your own voice, laugh, and talk in your adorable baby babble!

Your favorite things: Your voice, your toes and fingers, when someone kisses your belly (so much giggling, it's so cute!), Daddy's light saber, bananas, being naked, mommy's hair, cuddling, flowers (we took you to a bridal flower exhibit while visiting Grandma and Papa- I think this is where you got your cold. But you were so happy and so interested in everything you saw, it was so sweet), and the computer (I've let you type a few times, and it seemed like it just made your day).

Mama's favorite things about you: your sweet baby kisses, the way you turn your head into my neck and lay your head down and laugh when you think something is funny, how you're already developing your sense of humor (the peeing on me and you thinking it was hilarious incident...), how happy you are when you wake up in bed with us, how sometimes all you want is to cuddle with me, how excited you are when you discover something new.Baby Love, I could go on and on, I love every single thing about you!

Daddy's favorite things about you: the way your face lights up and the big grin when you see me, when you fall asleep on me and how when you're happy you stick out your tongue.



Happy half birthday, Lauren!!

Lauren's First Joke

Who needs words to be hilarious? Lauren certainly doesn't! Today when I was getting Lauren ready for her bath, she did something that she thought was just hysterical. Our bath time routine goes something like this: I gather up everything we need for bath time- shampoo, bath sponge, bubble bath, towel, etc. then I take Lauren into her room where the changing table is and get her ready for her bath. Naked and diaper-less, I pick her up and carry her into the bathroom where I then turn the water on and fill up the tub before putting her in the water. She's usually jumping all over the place, super excited about her bath. Today was only slightly different, in that she held still for a few minutes before getting in the tub. She was standing on my lap while the tub was filling, when suddenly my legs were very wet. She peed all over my lap. When she was finished she turned around, looked at me, and started laughing! It was like this little "ha ha! I peed on you!" delighted laugh. She knew she was funny, and she thought it was HILARIOUS that she was funny. I love my silly baby!

A Note From Lauren

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Love,
Lauren