I got Scout's baby book out today and was documenting a few things before I forget....like the recent emergence of these big chunky molars jutting through her gums, making her wildly cranky. While flipping through the pages, I realized that I don't exactly know what Scout's first word was.

Her babbling evolved slowly into speech....so slowly, that both DH and I missed any clear cut moment that yielded the all-important "first word". {light streaming down from heaven and a choir sings}

But then, DH peeked over my shoulder while I was writing this post and reminded me that the first time that she ever said a word and seemed to actually understand the meaning of it was on our anniversary in January. Scout was almost 9 months old. A lady from our church was over because DH was repairing her computer. When she went to leave, Scout said "bah-bah"(clearly meaning "bye-bye"). And I *think* she accompanied it with a wave. She said it a couple times after that, but then didn't say it again for a while. Before that moment, she had been saying mamamamama and dadadadadada for a few months, but I'm pretty sure she was just babbling. Sometimes I would think she was actually saying dada and mama and knew what it meant, but it was so hard to tell because it was so sporadic.

There's a spot in her baby book to write down the first time she said "mama" and "dada". I have no idea what to write. She still hardly ever calls me "mama", although she has been calling DH "daieee" or "dada" for months now. I just wish I could remember when she started saying it on purpose. And actually, sometimes it seems like she thinks that my name is "daieee" too. There have been times when I have pointed at my picture and she will make the sign for "daddy' and then squeals "daieee!" Sometimes when I really need a break or nothing seems to be keeping entertained (I would say, maybe once or twice a week), I will pop in her Ba*by Ei*nst*ein My Fi*rst Sig*ns DVD. Man-o-man, she loves that thing! (Yes, yes...I know. T.V. is bad for babies. So shoot me.) When they show images of mommies holding their babies and then they sign and say "mommy", Scout says "daieee!" loudly, like she is disagreeing and does the sign for "daddy" instead. It's like in her world, Mommy and Daddy are this one Entity called "Daieee". Meh. Whatchya gonna do?

In more recent speech news, Scout has started saying "potty" (well, sort of....it sounds more like "pah-pah" ), when she used to just sign it. Before you get too impressed, she doesn't actually USE the potty, but she likes to walk past our bathroom while signing and saying "pah-pah". She also points to her little baby potty and says it. Yesterday, we were at the local farm supply and feed store {insert music from Deliverance here} because DH was working on their computer (surprise, surprise). Scout saw the bathroom there and excitedly said "pah-pah" while signing potty. Then, she immediately did the sign that we use for "diaper change". I was proud of her for making the connection. I guess it makes sense, though, because most of the time when I notice her pooping her diaper, I ask cheerfully, "Are you going poopy in your diaper? Do you need to sit on the potty?" I'm not very consistent with it, but sometimes I sit her down on the potty after I take her diaper off. Of course, by then it's always too late. But I figure it's a good habit to get into anyway.

And a pic of Scout, just because I like it:

Labels: firsts, scout talking

Scout knows some new words. She now says: Pee-pee, home, and cereal. I also think she tries to say potty, but I'm not sure.

The cereal one really blew me away because it seems like a hard one to say, but she does a good job. It comes out sounding like "See-weo". She also knows how to sign for it. It's a commonly used word around here, because she likes to snack on cheerios. I'm pretty sure that she wouldn't know to call oatmeal or corn flakes cereal...as far as she knows, cheerios are the only things called "cereal", but I guess that's okay for now.

***

I've been sewing a lot more lately. My plan is to start up an Etsy store and keep it stocked with stuff like purses and aprons and other odds and ends. I'm also splitting a booth with a friend at a local craft fair in October.

Here is one of my creations in progress:



He's not quite finished yet and I'm not very pleased with my wobbly stitching around the arms, but I think he's going to become part of a child's back-pack or small book tote anyway. He can be my test subject to see how my stuff holds up to wear and tear and washes up, since I don't think he's perfect enough to sell.

I have a brain chock full of ideas for things to put in my shop. I only hope I can come up with the time to do it. I feel a little guilty for working on things during the day and letting Scout wander around the house aimlessly while playing by herself sometimes, but I do try to take breaks often to sit and play and interact with her. Plus, with the time I spend nursing her, feeding her lunch and breakfast, and taking walks around the neighborhood, I suppose she's not TOO awfully neglected.

I've always been a late-nite seamstress, but I've been trying to go to bed at the same time DH does (for a change) because it's nice to be able to spend that time together and then I can get up early to cook breakfast and have some quiet moments before Scout gets up. So for now, I have to find bits of time throughout the day to do my sewing....and that ain't no easy feat, let me tell ya.

Labels: firsts, scout talking, sewing, sign language, wahm business

Scout's mattress is on the floor, and her door is never completely latched shut (because it sticks and is too loud to open and close when I want to sneak out of there), so she could easily walk out of her room whenever she wants. But for some reason, she has always stayed put after she wakes up until someone comes in to get her. Depending on her mood, she either rolls around and whines or just sits up in bed while happily talking and squealing to herself.....Until very recently.

And I can't get used to it. It's very unnerving to be sitting in a quiet house at your computer desk, thinking your baby's asleep in the other room, only to see a little person run through the hall out of the corner of your eye. Or worse, have the little creature walk up behind you while you're not paying attention and grab your pant leg while squealing "Hieeeeee!" Freaky.

Labels: baby sleep, firsts

Neglecting a blog is like losing touch with a close friend or family member. The longer you put off calling or visiting, the harder it is to pick up the phone. It's like you don't know what to say and you don't know how to excuse the fact that you've stayed away for so long.

Hi, blog! How've you been? I'm so sorry I've been a stranger. You know...life..ummm...so busy..er...I just never have the chance...uh..anyway, How've you been? Did I already ask that?


I'll just give a little recap, since I don't really know what to write about.

Scout:

• Says : "Daieee" (daddy), "Beebee" (baby) "Bad dah!" (bad dog), "Dah" (hat, light, and sock), "Tseecsh" (cheese), "Bah!" (bye), "Hieeeee!" (hi), "Ahhhow" (uh-oh), "Bawoh" (ball) and "Bayeee" (belly). She hardly ever says "mama". Hhmph.

• Doesn't really know the different parts of her face yet. When I ask her to point to her eye or her mouth, she always points to her cheek or her ear. She does point to her nose when asked, on occasion. She pats the top of her head if I say hair or head....or if she sees someone with a hat on.
  

• Thinks that all bare skin is "Bayeee" (belly)...so she will often point to my leg or her foot and say "bayeee!"
  

• Signs: drink, eat, nurse, bath, more, mommy & daddy (although she uses the same made-up sign for both), sleep, baby, hi & bye (of course), "I don't know", and ball.

• Doesn't show much interest in being read to. She likes to thumb through books herself, and sometimes will sit with me while I point out and name things in picture books, but she won't just sit on my lap and while I read her a story. She's WAY too busy for that!

• Loves her afternoon stroller ride through the neighborhood. If she is having a cranky day, it's almost like hitting a "reset" button.
  

• Is VERY attached to DH lately. When she gets up in the morning and he's not here, she often says "Daiee? Daieee?" while shrugging her shoulders and opening her palms upward. I'm not sure how much she understands, but I always tell her, "Daddy went bye-bye in his truck. He went to work, but he'll be home later. We will see him tonight." It's probably a longer explanation than what she needs, huh?
  

• Hits things/people when she is very angry. It's hard for me not to laugh when she gets frustrated over not being able to fit a toy into a specific place and then gets so angry that she punches her teddy bear as hard as she possibly can while grunting and making a mean face. It's not quite as funny when she does that to my face. We're working on that.
  

• Is generally a very happy little girl (above mentioned little frustration outbursts aside). I know you may think I'm just saying this because I'm her momma, but she seriously lights up a room with her smile and "Princess Diana wave" (as one friendly cashier called it). She says "Hi" to every single person we pass when out in public. No joke. Every. Single. Person. And she will keep waving and say "Hi" louder and louder until they acknowledge her. We recently went out of town for DH's job training and Scout liked one of the hotel employees so much, that she lunged for her with outstretched arms, demanding that the woman hold her. She doesn't know a stranger. Which, I suppose could be both a good and bad thing.

• Has been sleeping through the night from about 9 PM to 8 AM about 80% of the time. The other 20% of the time, she only wakes up once or twice during the night and goes right back to sleep within 5 minutes of nursing her back down. I'll take it.
  

Unkempt Mommy:

• Has a really hard time keeping up with household chores. Some days I try soooo hard to tidy things up a little and keep the kitchen clean and just generally make our house NOT look like a nasty pig sty. But most days I fail. Miserably. Scout keeps me so busy. I honestly feel like I spend all day every day following her around the house, playing with her, and feeding her. (Which isn't all bad, by the way. I really do enjoy it most of the time) DH says he doesn't mind that I don't keep the house as clean as I would like. But I still feel bad that he has to come home to a big mess every day.
  

• Has been sewing a little more lately, which has been very therapeutic. I am going to split a vendor's booth at a local craft fair with a friend of mine in October, so I'm gearing up to spend the Summer creating baby clothes, bags, aprons, slings, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I'm not sure where I'll find the time, but it's an outlet I really enjoy and hope to make it into something lucrative someday.

• Still has a giant storage tote FULL of cloth diapers to sell. Uuuughh. It's been looming over my head since January. I just can't make myself spend Scout's nap time (oh, how precious nap time is!) on the tedium of writing descriptions and listing used diapers on swap sites. I know that I need to, though. It HAS to be done.
  

• Feels all ga-ga in love with DH. I mean, I always have. But I guess that "new love" feeling has made a resurgence lately and I'm enjoying it. It's probably due to a combination of factors, one of which is the crumble of our very close friends' marriage. Seeing the state of their relationship and the pain they are going through makes me even more thankful that DH and I have such a healthy marriage. It makes me thankful that we are honest with each other, we communicate, and we are each other's best friends.

DH:

• Has been pretty stressed about money lately. I feel awful that he bears the burden of our finances all on his own. He pays all the bills and balances the checkbook. I am completely oblivious to the state of our budget most of the time. Maybe I should step up and offer to handle the bill-paying. Maybe I should be the one handling the finances. But I'm not sure how that would work. We've always done it this way and I'm sure it would be tough for both of us to change.
  

• Hasn't had much time for music lately, which is his passion. Again, another thing I feel bad about and wish I could help with.
  

• Sold his scooter so we could pay off some debt. Have I ever mentioned that I am married to the most responsible, practical man in the world? I know a lot of gals married to guys who spend tons of time and money on big-boy toys like motorcycles, boats, four-wheelers, fishing gear, paint-balling gear, etc. I know everyone needs a hobby and I think it's good to have an outlet like that, but you know the kind of guys I am talking about. The ones that put their recreational toys before everything else. I feel thankful that DH is NOT one of those guys.
  

Labels: baby sleep, cloth diapering, dh, family, finances, firsts, friends, scout talking, sign language

Scout had a great birthday party on Saturday (Which was on her actual birthday - How cool is that?) Just by some stroke of luck, the whole thing was timed perfectly with her nap schedule, so she woke up nice and refreshed just before it was time to get her dressed for the party. My mom made her a sweet dress out of Hello Kitty print fabric and a pinafore with machine-embroidery. It turned out so cute!



Here's me with my one-year-old!!



Scout seemed to have fun running around with all the "big kids" on the gym mats at my friend's gymnastics studio where we had the party. She chowed down on some Chick-Fi1-A nuggets (We got 2 large nugget trays and had a coupon for buy-one-get-one-free. Woot!) and some fruit salad and pasta salad, and then tore into her cake.

I made a smash cake especially for her out of somewhat healthy ingredients. She gagged on the first taste of icing, which was hilarious because I had just been bragging to the surrounding guests about how I made this delicious healthy cake from scratch for her. She seemed a little reluctant to dig in at first, but then decided it was tasty enough and got a couple of good fistfuls. My favorite was when she turned and looked at the video camera in the midst of the messiness and said, "Hiiiiiieeeeee!" with a giant grin on her face (I need to get hot on uploading that video so you guys can see it) She also liked to lean in and just suck the icing off the corner of the cake.









I didn't think she'd be all that interested in unwrapping gifts, but she really surprised me. She actually seemed excited about it and enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper and tossing tissue paper out of gift bags. She also had fun tossing the once neatly-folded clothes over her shoulder as she grabbed them out of the boxes. (Man-o-man, did she get a TON of clothes!!!! I won't need to buy her any clothes for Summer now!)



I had invited about 30 adults and 12 babies/toddlers to the party, but only about half showed up. Maybe not even half. I'm not sure what the head-count was. (I think more people did show up after I took this pic, though) It was super nice outside that day, so I bet a lot of families were taking advantage of the nice weather and doing things like cooking out and working in the garden. Can't blame them for that. If I would've known it was going to be such a gorgeous day, I would've planned an outdoor party. But we've been having copious amounts of rain around here lately, so I wasn't sure that'd be smart.



All the kiddos that did come seemed to have a blast romping around on the padded floor, trampoline, and big soft ramps and cylinders. It was a great place for a party and we were blessed to get to use the facility for free. My friend who made the gorgeous Hello Kitty cake, insisted on making the cake for FREE! DH does computer work for her and her husband sometimes and she just wanted to bless us back. What a wonderful gift!!






In fact, we really didn't have to pay for much of anything!! My parents and grandma paid for all of the decorations, the table/chair rental, and most of the food. I think the only thing we may have paid for was one nugget tray! We are seriously spoiled. DH's dad said to me, "Good thing she won't remember any of this, because this is one heck of a party! It would be tough to top this with future parties!" He's right. From now on, I'd like to do smaller "family" parties at home (at least until she gets old enough to care)....but I'm sort of glad we went all out for her first birthday. It was really special.

Labels: birthdays, firsts, pics of scout, special occasions

We're going to pick up the ingredients for Scout's smash cake today while we're out and about. Ever since I started planning Scout's party in my head, I have been giving much consideration to that fun and messy tradition of letting baby tear into her very own cake while friends and family gawk and giggle. I couldn't wrap my head around letting her dive into a sugary cake frosted with grocery store buttercream icing (which mainly consists of partially hydrogenated oils and other nasty things....not to mention the mass amounts of artificial colorings), and just had to come up with an alternative. I wanted a cake that would be a sweet and tasty treat....still indulgent, without being a total shock to her system. Scout doesn't get much in the way of refined sugar in her daily diet and I can't in good conscience let her devour something that will probably end up giving her a tummy ache. I mean, it would be different if I thought she would just play in it like many babies do, but we have a GOOD eater on our hands. She pretty much shovels anything we put in front of her into her mouth frantically like we've never fed her before.

Here is the recipe I plan on using for her very own cake:

Baby's First Birthday Cake (Carrot Cake)
(Makes 1 double-layer 9-inch square cake adapted from "What to Expect")

~ 2 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrots
~ 2 1/2 cups apple juice concentrate (you may use slightly less)
~ 1 1/2 cups raisins
~ Vegetable Spray/Shortening
~ 2 cups whole-wheat flour
~ 1/2 cup vegetable oil
~ 2 whole eggs
~ 4 egg whites
~ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
~ 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
~ 1/2 cup wheat germ
~ 2 Tbsp low sodium baking powder
~ 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Prep: Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two 9 inch square cake pans with waxed paper and spray the paper with vegetable spray/shortening.

1. Combine the carrots with 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the juice concentrate in a medium size saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, covered, until carrots are tender, 15 to 20 mins. Puree in a blender of food processor until smooth.
3. Add the raisins and process until finely chopped. Let mixture cool.
4. Combine the flour, wheat germ, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups juice concentrate, the oil, eggs, egg whites, and vanilla; beat just until well mixed. Fold in the carrot puree and applesauce. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.
5. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 mins. Cool briefly in the pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely. When cool, frost with Cream Cheese Frosting.

I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to make the frosting yet, but I know it will involve cream cheese, yogurt, fruit purees, and a small amount of sugar. We recently went to our friends' son's first birthday party and those are the ingredients that were used to make the frosting on his cake (which was delicious, by the way). We're going to have a separate fancily decorated "normal" cake for the guests that will match the party decorations. I may make a few cupcakes with the "healthy" cake batter just in case there are some other parents there that don't want their toddlers eating tons of sugar. You know, other cake Nazis like me.

Labels: birthdays, firsts, food, special occasions

I am sad to say that I have no pics of the mullet yet. I tried to get some last night after DH had it done, but it was late and DH assured me that since the mullet was here to stay for the next week, there would be plenty of time to capture it in all its glory. You see, DH just got a new job that he will be starting a week from today. It will require him to look...umm....NOT like a dirty hippy. His scruffy neck-beard and beautiful long locks will have to go. For a long time, he has said that the next time he cuts his hair short, he wants to walk around with a mullet for a while before chopping it the rest of the way off. I guess just to look like a total jack-ass....because it's funny.

Oh dear, is it funny! I cannot even look at him with a straight face. He shaved off the neck-beard and left behind some wicked-cool chops to go with his trashy new 'do. I am chuckling just thinking about it. He usually wears a hat when he makes service calls at his current job, so at least he can hide the wavy waterfall and look halfway professional when working on dental office computers right now.

I promise to post pics soon...if he'll let me.

In other news, Scout got her first real boo-boo. She's had plenty of bumps and bruises before, but nothing that has been accompanied by blood. This weekend, she fell on the concrete in front of our house and banged up her nose. I'm sure it won't be the last time.

Labels: dh, firsts, hair, holy crap

Scout learned how to do the sign for nursing yesterday. I am a proud momma. It is the most wonderful thing in the world to watch your child learn. I know that she has been learning things from DH and I all along, but lately the results have become much more tangible and it's so exciting. I am soaking up every moment of this stage in her life.

She first made the sign yesterday afternoon when she was nursing in my lap sitting upright. (a strange habit she's taken up lately) I had put my shirt back down when she seemed to be done. She quickly decided that she wanted more and started lifting my shirt when she remembered that there is another way to ask. She stopped tugging at my shirt, looked up at me with her great big blue eyes, and squeezed both fists open and closed. I asked with enthusiasm, "Nurse?" and she smiled a huge smile as I met her request.

Last night, we were playing in the floor next to DH, who was eating his dinner at my computer desk. Scout toddled over to me, sat on my lap and asked to nurse. DH thought she was waving at first, but I told him that she was signing to nurse. He was so proud. It was close to her bedtime, so I didn't really want to nurse her, for fear that she would fall asleep on my lap diaperless and barefoot and I'd have to disturb her to get her into bed. But I could not resist her request. How could I? I nursed her there in the floor for a few minutes and talked to her a little so she would stay awake. She unlatched long enough for me to close my shirt and quickly hand her to daddy so he could say goodnight. She wasn't pleased at all because she wanted to keep nursing, but I stuck her in the bathtub and she was happy again. After her bath, we went in her room and got her jammies on. As I walked over to the light switch with her in my arms, I asked, "Are you sleepy?" She replied with squeezing both of her fists and then rubbing her tired eyes.

Labels: firsts, sign language

I've been a bad, bad blogger lately! I just can't seem to get motivated to post anything these days. The only time I have to sit at the computer for any real length of time is during Scout's one (sometimes short) nap a day and then after she goes to bed. These days, I've been using those times to either sleep a little or get things done around the house....OR just to sit on my rear and watch soap operas while eating lunch. I miss blogging so much, though. I'm going to try hard not to be as lazy about it in the future.

I should summarize the happenings around here.

-- Scout is walking almost full-time now. She went from only taking maybe 10 steps at a time sporadically throughout the day to using walking as her main mode of transportation almost over night!

-- She is sleeping soooooooo horribly lately. She developed a nasty yeast diaper rash from the antibiotics she was on for her ear infection and I was thinking that might have something to do with the crummy sleep. But her butt is almost clear now and she is still waking frequently through the night. I have resorted to letting her fuss a little longer than I used to because sometimes she will sound like she is not really "awake" when she cries and will just roll over and go back to sleep within a few minutes.

-- She says momma and (maybe) dada pretty frequently. Yesterday she said "baby" plain as day after I had pointed to a picture of a baby and said it...but I have yet to get her to say it again since then. Little stinker.

-- She has learned sign language for "more" and uses it in the correct context all the time now. I love it! She made up her own little variation of the sign and that's what we use now. I watched a baby signing video that said to go with your child's signs instead of forcing them to adapt to the real signs, so that's what we've decided to do. We're now working on "potty", "milk", "eat", and "diaper change". Sometimes I remember to sign for "mommy" and "daddy", but I'm not very consistent about it.

-- If she's in a rotten mood, Scout throws little tantrums now by flinging her head back then forward and arching her back while screaming if she doesn't get what she wants. Yeah. Fun. I particularly love it when she does this in my arms and head-butts my nose several times in the process. I think that's why I am all of the sudden getting proactive about the whole sign language thing....I know it'll help her not to get so frustrated if she has the ability to communicate better.

Here are some recent pics, for those of you who haven't already seen them on my Flickr page:

My new haircut:

Hhhmmm....what else?

-- DH has been having to work really long and hard hours lately. Maybe I'm just all wacky and hormonal from my stupid period (which came 2 weeks early...ggrrrrrr) but yesterday I was just thinking about how grateful I am to have him. He does so much and works so hard so I can be at home with Scout and we can have nice things.

-- My mom, step-dad, and grandma will be getting here soon. April 12th, to be exact. They will be staying 2 weeks and will be here for Scout's birthday! Woohoo!

-- We just hired someone to maintain our lawn for us this summer. DH HATES yard work with a passion and I can't seem to find the time to go out there to mow and weed-eat and rake, etc. I don't know where I would put Scout while I'm doing all of that and doing it during her nap is not feasible for many reasons. (including the fact that it takes 3-4 hours to mow and trim our yard with our push-mower) The guy is supposed to come within the next couple days to do a "spring clean-up". There are a ton of leaves smashed up against the back of the house, the flower beds are overgrown and ugly, the ditches are full of leaves and branches, and all the bushes need cut back. I really wouldn't mind doing all of that, but I just can't find the time! We normally wouldn't be able to afford a service like this, but we are able to use some of our tax refund for it. I'm so excited that our lawn will no longer look trashy!! (umm...which is more than I can say for my car)

Labels: firsts, my car, my house, pics of scout

Scout has been sick for a week. Not just like sniffly-nose sick, but like the can't-keep-anything-down-high-fever-no-sleep kind of sick. Last Tuesday she puked once and had no fever. I just thought it was something she ate. I had given her some lentils and rice earlier in the day and I think that was the first time she had eaten lentils, so I assumed they didn't agree with her tummy. Wednesday, she had one BAD totally sick-smelling diarrhea diaper, but no vomiting and still no fever. I was still thinking it was the lentils. Thursday, she had a high fever, vomiting, AND diarrhea. Then I realized it was a virus and not just a sour belly from some new food. I think it was either Thursday or Friday when she had a temp of 104. If it wouldn't have gone down fairly quickly after a couple doses of Tylenol, we would've taken her to the ER. In retrospect, that's probably what we should've done.

Every day after that, she would have a few good hours when she would actually lift her poor little sweaty head off of my shoulder and she may even have enough energy to get off of my lap and play a little. I would think that she was getting better and then, boom....puke is projected onto my shirt and splatting onto the floor, while her fever would be up again. Night time was pretty miserable for her and she was waking every hour or two. Sometimes she would refuse to nurse. Instead of just turning her head away when I offered my breast, she would get angry and bite my nipple. Not fun for either of us.

DH was so extremely helpful through all of it, even though he was sick and had a fever at one point too. I honestly don't know what I would've done without him. When I would change Scout only to discover a bad diarrhea explosion, I could yell for DH to get me a change of clothes and some extra towels. He would hold Scout so I could go pee or change my clothes and scrub the carpet after being barfed on. Administering medicine and sucking snot would've been really difficult without his assistance. Thank you, DH!!

I continually put off taking her to see the pediatrician because she kept tricking me into thinking she was on the mend. I also just assumed it was a virus that needed to run its course and it would be a waste of time and not very much fun for Scout to drive 30 minutes into "town" only to be given some tylenol samples and told to keep her hydrated. I hate to admit it, but the fact that we are self-pay also plays a part in my reluctance to take her to the doctor when I feel the situation is non-emergent.

Yesterday, I broke down and took her in to see the doctor. Even though her fever was completely gone by late Saturday night, she was still puking and having diarrhea all day Sunday.

Turns out she has an ear infection on top of the tummy virus. The doc said that the infection is probably what caused the fever to spike to 104.

I feel so bad that I let it go on for so long. Who knows how long the poor thing has been suffering through the ear pain. Even though we did give her Tylenol a few times to keep the fever at bay after it reached 104, I don't think it would've been enough to relieve any pain she may have been having in her ears. She never grabbed at her ears (that I noticed), so I had no clue there was an infection.

The doctor was super nice and saw that we are self-pay, so he gave us enough samples of the antibiotic to last the full course. I am not a big fan of administering antibiotics willy-nilly. But I really didn't see another option. Maybe some of you mommas who embrace more natural remedies when it comes to treating sick kids can tell me.... What do you do when it comes to ear infections? (or any infection for that matter) I think I would've been comfortable treating it with garlic oil and skipping the antibiotics if we would've caught the infection soon enough, but I don't want to take any chances with letting an infection rage on in her little ear just because I am too stubborn to give antibiotics. It's so tough to know when to stray from medical advice in favor of a more natural approach and when to just heed the advice of the doctor and give meds instead. I really don't want to pump her full of antibiotics every time she gets sick.

I learned my lesson, though. If her fever spikes that high again, I am not messing around next time - I'll take her in to be seen by a doc.

She is doing a lot better now and has only vomited once since Sunday night. She is nursing better, but I can tell now that her ears are bothering her. Hopefully the meds will take care of that soon.

Somehow, I managed to escape this awful plague that had infected my household. Woohoo!

Here is a pic of DH and Scout* during one of her brief stints of feeling better the other day.



*Scout doesn't normally romp around in a diaper and nothing else in the winter time. I just happened to be changing her on the bed and she was taking a little break to snuggle with daddy.

Labels: dh, firsts, health, pics of scout

Scout has a fever and has diarrhea this morning. Poor little gal. She is such a trooper, though. Yesterday, her peppy spirit and will to play had me convinced that she was fine, even though she had a little diarrhea yesterday morning as well. I am very thankful that she is still nursing fine. I think she will be on the mend really soon.

She's napping right now, but here's a pic from a few days ago when she was actually on top of her game:



She has just learned to "brush" her hair. It's so cute! She starts at the back of her head and brushes it all forward into her eyes. (that is, when she is actually holding the bristles in the right direction)

Labels: firsts, pics of scout

I think it would've been a nicer video if my hands wouldn't have constantly been in the shot, fumbling with the juice box. But I was all paranoid that the teeny straw would go too far into Scout's mouth and potentially jab her in the back of the throat. I need to get her a good toddler cup with a straw. Juice boxes are (obviously) not ideal for babies, but I had some natural apple juice boxes laying around and thought it might be fun for her to try one out.

Labels: firsts, video of scout

Scout just took her first steps last week. She started out with only 2 steps at a time, but very qickly got brave enough to try for more. The most I've seen her take has been 10-12 steps in a row. So far, we've only been able to capture 8 in a row on video.



Go Scout, go!

Labels: firsts, video of scout

Scout took 7-8 steps in a row yesterday while I was in the church nursery with her. She was holding onto a chair and just decided that she wanted to come over to where I was sitting. But instead of plopping her booty down on the floor to crawl, like she normally does if she has her eyes fixed on something she wants, she just let go and stepped on over. She almost made to my arms, but got wobbly and fell before she reached me. It happened so fast, I don't think she even realized she did it. Yikes!

Labels: firsts

I know it's a little early to be planning Scout's 1st birthday, (or maybe not - it's just 2 months away!) but I've already picked a theme for the party:



My mom has offered to buy all of the decorations, which is so awesome!! I know Scout will have no recollection of the party, but I want to make the event extra special because I have family coming in from out of town. Besides, I think it's great for friends and family to gather around and celebrate this little person who just completed her very first year of life on this planet! Most importantly, I just like Hello Kitty and want an excuse to plan and decorate :)

DH is not big into parties and holidays. I'm not sure if his family made a big deal out of birthdays or not, but mine did and it's a tradition that I want to hold onto. Some of my fondest memories are from the big birthday parties my parents had for my sister and I. It was always a big deal. We would have pinatas and sometimes clowns and tons of food. All of our friends from school were invited, as well as our grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It always made me feel so special. I think that it's great for kids to have their own special day like that.

Labels: birthdays, firsts, parties, special occasions

I know I haven't posted any videos of Scout in a while. I've been too lazy to figure out our video editing software. Now that I have a decent grasp on it, no more excuses. You should be seeing a lot more videos around here from now on.

The first part of the video is Scout's valiant (yet unsuccessful) attempt at pushing her noisy walker toy thingy. (Leap Frog Learning Band Walker) The second half of the video is Scout using the walker to triumphantly cruise through the house.



**ETA** Just to be clear, Scout hasn't taken any independent steps yet. She can only "walk" using her little push-toy. I can barely keep up with her crawling all through the house....I don't know what I'll do when she's walking! Yikes!

Labels: firsts, video of scout

Oops. I was too busy to post an entry yesterday. I guess I just can't keep up with blogging 365 days a year. Oh wait, does it count that I post to my food journal every day without fail? I think that counts.

Here is a shot of Scout's top 2 front teeth. They just poked through the gums a couple weeks ago and they have become some nice nubby little chompers already. The 2 beside these front middle ones have poked through as well, but you can't really see them in the pic. An then, of course she has the bottom 2 front teeth that came in when she was 6 months old.

Labels: firsts, pics of scout

It snowed here today. I think it was the first snow that Scout has ever seen. Well, I'm sure she's seen some flurries, but nothing substantial enough to stick. (not that this snow was substantial...just a couple inches, but 'round these parts, that's grounds for school closings and folks driving like grannies)

Labels: firsts, pics of scout, weather

Lately, I have been trying to teach Scout to stay away from the dog's bowls. On more than one occasion, I have caught her putting dog food in her mouth, which doesn't really gross me out as much as it scares me because the pieces are perfect choking size and they're way too hard for her to chew up. Anyway, whenever she is making a bee-line for the dog's food and water, it's my first inclination to just pick the bowls up and put them on the counter.

But I would rather TEACH her that the bowls are a no-no, even if it requires more work on my part. So, every time she darts straight for the bowls, I say "no" firmly to her and redirect her to play with something else. And it's actually working! She does get pretty mad when I do that, but she quickly forgets about it and gets interested in whatever thing I directed her attention toward.

Now, most of the time I don't even have to redirect her because she'll go over to the bowls, get really close and then she looks over at me and shakes her head and crawls away! I guess whenever I tell her that the dog food is a no-no, I must shake my head. She also shakes her head randomly just for fun throughout the day, so I suppose I shouldn't be so amazed....but still, that just seems like a smart thing to do. Yay Scout!

I'm sure that her impulse control is not the best, so I doubt if she could resist without me in the room with her. I think it's more like a game at this point...like, "Hey, if I stop and don't touch the bowl but look all cute and shake my head instead, mommy claps and smiles." .....but I'm still proud of her and it's so much fun to watch her learn.

Labels: discipline, firsts, teaching

My baby gal turned 9 months old today! It's hard to believe that she's been outside my belly for as long as she was inside. She has become quite the little character. She is crawling at the speed of light and is very good at pulling herself up to stand and cruise while holding onto the furniture. We're *pretty sure* she is waving bye-bye now. She's done it quite a few times and it is usually accompanied with "ba-ba", but I'm still not sure if I should count this as her first real word. She also says mama and dada, but never in the correct context. Pointing is something she enjoys doing as well. This morning, it seemed like she was pointing at things just so I would describe them to her. She would point at the dog, pictures on the wall, the microwave...and then promptly look at me so I could tell her what they are.

Her appetite for solid foods is insatiable. That happened overnight! Up until the last couple weeks, she has been content to skip solids some days and live on breastmilk alone. Now, she is eating 2 big meals of solid food a day and she's not happy unless she gets it. After she has nursed in the morning, she has some fruit and oatmeal. She nurses throughout the day and then at dinnertime, she has some organic chicken & wild rice baby food and some sort of fruit or vegetable. I usually put about half a teaspoon of probiotic powder in her food a day. It seems to keep her bowels nice and healthy - I've noticed less gas and tummy aches since we started doing that. She also snacks frequently on organic puffed brown rice. She loves that stuff!

It makes me a little sad that she is not satisfied with my breastmilk alone anymore, but it also evokes a sense of pride and gladness when I watch how happy she is as she is shovelling bite after bite of food in her mouth. She has never let me spoon-feed her. I have to hand her the spoon and she puts it in her own mouth. She looks like such a big girl when she's feeding herself and she's so good at it! After she spoons the food in, she hands (or throws) the spoon back to me and looks at me as if to say, "Okay, mom... reload!" She eats little bite-size pieces of food sometimes as well and her pincer grasp is great. Such a big girl!

She has 2 bottom teeth and one top front tooth just poked through last weekend. The one right beside it is just under the surface. That explains the rough nights she was having there for a while.

Scout has never really been all that fond of baths, but for the last few nights I have bathed her as part of a bedtime routine. She seems to enjoy it and it does wonders for relaxing her and helping her wind down. She doesn't like to have her hair washed, so my plan is to keep bathing her every night, but only use soap and wash her hair once a week or as needed. I just wet a washcloth and wiped her hair down instead of dumping water on her head, which seems to get it plenty clean and allowed her to actually enjoy the bath and relax. I put olive oil in the water and then rubbed her down with lotion before getting her dressed, so her skin will not dry out. I know that I thrived on consistency and routine as a child, so I'd like to start putting a little bit of structure into Scout's daily life.

She recently started doing this thing where she shakes her head as if she's saying "no", but I'm sure she doesn't know its meaning yet. If we shake our head at her, she usually mimicks us. It's so cute!

She hates diaper changes and having her clothes changed. I have to work hard at keeping her entertained and occupied long enough for me to get a diaper on her. Just the other day, she had a super messy poopy diaper and I didn't know it and she stuck her hands in it as soon as I unfastened her diaper! Ick! She was flailing all around and screaming and when it was all said and done, she had gotten poo on her hands, feet, thigh, and onesie. It was awful. I needed about 8 arms at that moment.

She's showing her attachment to DH a bit more lately. She's constantly making a bee-line for his office and when she gets there, she looks up at his computer chair for him. It's so adorable. When I'm holding her in his presence, she just about leaps out of my arms reaching for him too. It's no wonder. He is much more fun to play with than mommy!

Car rides are getting a bit better. She still fusses some, but she will normally go to sleep after just a little bout of crying. I'm very excited about this because for so long, I have found myself avoiding the 25-30 minute ride into "town" just so I don't have to put her (or myself) through that. Her happiness in the car still depends largely on how we time our outings, though. Tonight, we went to our friends' house, out to eat, and then shopping. She screamed for 20 minutes straight on the way home. Poor thing. It was all just too much for her.

I guess that's all I can think of for now. Scout is such a joy to be around. She has her cranky moments, but for the most part she is a happy little girl.

Labels: baby sleep, being sappy, birthdays, firsts, food, scout talking

Tonight, DH and I are going out by ourselves for the FIRST TIME since Scout was born. Tomorrow is our 7 year wedding anniversary and a lady at church offered to come over and watch Scout for a few hours while we go out to dinner. She has pretty much been begging me to let her babysit ever since she kept Scout in the church nursery for me. Scout took to her really well and she's an experienced momma who I trust, so I figured now would be a great time to take her up on her offer. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. I'm not worried about Scout's well-being - I know she'll be in great hands. I'm more nervous about timing things so that DH and I can get a good long date in, while keeping Scout in a relatively good mood. My plan is to put Scout down for a nap right before the babysitter gets here. That way, when Scout wakes up in her normal chipper mood, she will be ready to play and have fun - rather than being on a downward spiral toward sleepyville. Here's hoping!

Labels: dates, dh, firsts, holidays

Scout had some organic puffed brown rice for the first time today and really enjoyed it. I wish I would've gotten a pic of the grains of rice sticking to her face, creating a puffed rice goatee, but she was able to shove them into her mouth before I managed to turn on the camera. Shoot.







She also managed to get a little bit of watered-down apple juice out of a sippy cup. She could grasp the concept of holding the handles and sucking on the spout, but couldn't quite figure out that she had to keep tipping the cup as well. Better luck next time.

Labels: firsts, food, pics of scout

Labels: firsts, pics of scout, travels, trips

Scout is getting over her first fever. I must say that the absolute worst thing about being a parent is seeing your child in any type of pain or discomfort. Monday evening, DH noticed that Scout felt a little warm, but I didn't take her temp.

I was still up at 2 am, making chocolate covered pretzels for christmas gifts and heard her fussing. I could tell by the sound of her cry that she didn't feel well. When I laid next to her to nurse her, she fought it and would not calm down. I picked her up and realized she was really hot. She had a 103.2 degree fever and was just inconsolably cranky. She vomited once. I've always wondered how one could tell if a baby is vomiting or just spitting up...I mean, after all food is coming up either way. But I knew this was vomiting - it was accompanied by that gaggy upchucking sound and there was much more force behind it than when she spits up. She's had a little bit of clear snot running since her cold a couple weeks ago, but her chest sounds clear and she hasn't been coughing or pulling at her ears.

The fever did not let up through the rest of the night and through the morning, so I called and got her an appointment with the pediatrician for yesterday afternoon. I got maybe 2 hours of sleep that whole night because she just wanted to be held...but even in my arms, she would cry and squirm like she just couldn't get comfortable. There was a long stretch when she wouldn't nurse at all and wouldn't take a bottle filled with water, so I took the bottle of water and squirted it on her tongue. I got about 2 ounces in her that way. She wouldn't nap. She was just miserable.

Right before we left for the doctor's office, I took her temp and it was exactly 103.2...no change. Usually she is very rambunctious while I am strapping her into the car seat and super vocal during the whole car ride into town. But this time, she was limp and had a glazed listless look in her eyes. It scared me. I kept reaching back to make sure she was still breathing while I was driving. I know that's stupid, but I had just never seen her act that way. I could tell that she wanted to scream in the car seat, but couldn't even muster a cry, so she just moaned until she fell asleep.

In a way, the doctor's appointment was a waste because all he did was tell me that it was a virus and to give her baby Tylenol and wait it out. I could've figured that out without paying $48. But I'm very glad we went because he did get a good look in her ears and throat and they looked fine. If I wouldn't have taken her in, I would've been left to wonder if she had something going on in her ears or if there was more to the problem than what I could see.

Instead of taking her to the last pediatrician she saw, I took her to the clinic where she had her first check-up at one week old. I wasn't impressed with the other pediatrician and his office is an hour away, so I decided I am done with that place. She had never seen the doctor she saw yesterday (the clinic has something like 11 pediatricians, so you pretty much never see the same one). I was surprised that he didn't chide me for not keeping up with her well baby visits. He asked if we have her on the state-subsidized free health insurance for children that is available for low-income families. Sadly, our income is just above the maximum amount a family can make to qualify. He said that at the very least, I need to take her to the health department to keep her shots updated. I should've just kept my mouth shut and said, "okay". But instead, I said that we are thinking of delaying or selectively vaxing (or not vaccinating at all) and all he said was, "The health department will not allow you to make up your own vaccination schedule, but we do have a modified vaccination schedule for parents who would like to space the shots out." That's all that was said. I was glad. I did not have the energy to get into it with him.

He gave me several bottles of baby Tylenol, which was nice because the thought of having to stop at the store on the way home was exhausting. He told me to come back on Friday if her fever did not let up by then. I'm a first time parent, so what do I know....but I'm thinking that letting a 103.2 fever last for 4 days without seeking any more medical attention is a little weird. I don't want to be the kind of parent who runs her child to the doctor with every sign of the sniffles and doses her up with Tylenol at the drop of a hat. I really would rather treat her illnesses with natural remedies. But to be totally honest, I'm too scared to do that. I'm too nervous that I'll let something go on too long and will do my child damage by being too stubborn to seek help from the medical establishment. I guess my natural parenting license needs revoked.

After the first dose of Tylenol, her fever let up a little bit and she was acting more like herself. She played and smiled and nursed great. She went to bed very easily and slept wonderfully. This morning, her temp was down to 100.7 and she is completely back to her old self.

Labels: firsts, health, tough parenting decisions

Just a quick post to say that Scout started actual hands-and-knees crawling yesterday. (as opposed to her usual belly-inchworm-army-crawl.) She also got really good at pulling up on things to stand up all of the sudden. It seemed to happen over night. She's already had a few nice little wipe-outs. This morning, she was sitting in the bathroom floor and decided that the metal magazine rack looked interesting. So she crawled over to it and pulled herself up and was having fun crinkling the magazine pages, when WHAM!..her feet went out from under her and she hit her brow on the corner of the rack. Poor girl. The price of mobility, I suppose.

It feels strange that she can now follow me from room to room. I have been vacuuming like I've never vacuumed before. I wish we had a hairless dog, I really do.

Labels: firsts

Lookie what I got today!



My MIL bought it for me. She knows I've been wanting a new serger to replace my old crappy broken one for a long time. She made sure it has all the features I need and then ordered it the day before yesterday. Sure, many people think that Wal-Mart is evil, but dang they're fast with their online orders! I am really grateful. It was so sweet of my MIL to do that for me!

I haven't sat down to piddle with it yet. I've been organizing my sewing space and taking inventory of my fabric so I can figure out what my first project should be. The machine comes pre-threaded, but got all wonky and tangled during shipment. That's just as well, because I need to learn how to thread it on my own anyway.

Something else I received in the mail the other day:



It's a Bummi's Super Whisper Wrap diaper cover in the Flower print. I have a couple used plain white BSWW's that fit Scout really well, so I just couldn't resist this cute print. Scout seems happy about it. (don't ask me what she's wearing)



I am starting to get over my fear of Scout feeding herself. Since we started giving her solids at 6 months, we've been spoon-feeding purees and putting pieces of fruit in her mesh feeders. I do believe that there are a lot of benefits to letting babies feed themselves and wanted to go that route with Scout...but I just have not been able to get over the fear of choking. I know that proponents of baby-led feeding say that infants are much more likely to choke on purees than pieces of food that they bring to their own mouths and bite off (because "the action used to suck food off a spoon tends to take the food straight to the back of the mouth, causing the baby to gag"), but I just have a hard time wrapping my mind around that.

I recently steamed a butternut squash and gave Scout some chunks that she could easily fist and bring to her mouth. She probably only managed to get one or two bites in her mouth, but had fun playing in it and examining the texture. Tonight, DH and I watched as she brought chunk after chunk of squash up to her mouth to lick and take tiny bites. It was cute. She would poke the pieces on the table with her index finger, enjoying the squishiness. A few times, she got some big pieces in her mouth that made me a little nervous, but she spit them right out. We video taped part of it. Maybe I'll post that later.

Labels: cloth diapering, family, firsts, food, pics of scout, sewing, tough parenting decisions

Scout has her first cold. I feel very blessed that as of tomorrow, she will be 7 months old, and she has never even had so much as the sniffles until now. But I still hate that my sweet little girl is all snorkly and gurgly. Poor thing HATES having her nose wiped. So on top of feeling crummy, she has to deal with mommy coming at her nose every 10 minutes with a wash cloth. Even more than getting her nose wiped, she despises the nasal aspirator.

I know it looks absolutely ridiculous, but I am seriously considering ordering a product I first saw featured at Thingamababy:

The Nosefrida Nasal Aspirator



If I do, I'm sure it will arrive when her cold is past the nose-full-of-snot phase, but after reading the rave reviews, I think it would be worth it to have one on hand for future snot-sucking.

Because I am cheap...er..I mean, innovative, I tried fashioning my own hill-billy Noefrida by taking the bulb off of a large baby medicine dropper and sucking the snot out that way. The shape and size of the medicine dispenser is pretty similar to that of the Nosefrida - the only things missing are the long tube and the snot filter. (I'm really not afraid of a little bit of baby snot getting in my mouth. I guess I'm just gross like that) I only tried it once before I decided that is was a bad idea. First of all, I don't like it that my face was 2 inches away from her face while I'm performing this highly irritating and maddening thing on her. If I'm going to make her that made, I don't want her to only view to be a close-up of mommy's face attached to the device that is torturing her. Seems like that would be disturbing. Second, I'm sure that the Nosefrida is designed the way it is designed for a reason. The fact that there is a long tube probably prevents the parent from sucking too forcefully.

Babies are expensive. We just bought a humidifier for her room last night and now I want this fancy Norwegian mucous collector? Gees. I guess we just love you that much, Scout.

Labels: baby gear, firsts, health

Scout just bit me on the boob for the first time. Oh my gosh. It. Hurt. Bad.
I was nursing her down for a nap, but the 15 minutes that she was asleep in her car seat on the way back from breakfast this morning must've refreshed her, because she was flailing her arms and and kicking toward the end of the feeding and I knew she wasn't going to fall asleep. Just as the thought, "She's just playing now" popped into my head, she bit down hard but let go fast. I gasped pretty loud, but I don't even think she noticed. She rolled onto her tummy and was ready to play. Gosh, those two little teeth are sharp!!

Danielle, you were so right. I guess it was inevitable and (sadly) it probably won't be the last time it happens.

Labels: firsts

I forgot to post a pic of Scout in her Halloween costume. We didn't have anything special to do on Halloween and it was a church night, so we didn't stay home and pass out candy. But I thought it would be sad if she didn't get dressed up at all for her first Halloween, so I threw a hand-me-down Humpty Dumpty costume on her and took a few quick pics. She hates getting dressed and undressed sometimes, so I didn't want to press my luck by fiddling with the costume too much.

Looks like Humpty lost an arm in the Great Fall.

Labels: firsts, holidays, pics of scout