Nine Month Photos!

We're back from a jam packed Saturday in Ohio which was a lot of fun. I'll blog about that later on this week when I'm done running around trying to catch up and get ready for the week ahead. How is it already August tomorrow? I feel like this summer is flying by.

Here are some mine month pictures of Parker from our outdoor photo shoot. Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday: Take One Step Closer

I.dare.you.

What Goes Up Must Come Down

I am on a mission. To find a helmet and fluffy body suit, in baby size please. In the whole week and three days that the little miss has been mobile she has bumped her head a handful of times. It’s not the crawling that’s causing these bumps; it’s the fearless nature that Parker has when trying to climb up everything that she can now move to. I’m there with my hands around her to catch her falls, but sometimes she surprises us and falls forward when we thought it wasn’t possible. Like yesterday she was standing up playing on her musical table and BAM, face in the table. Sigh. Hence the need for protective baby gear. And perhaps a bubble.

It’s funny seeing the things that spark Parker’s interest. Anything new must be touched. I swear the electrical outlets send out some sort of signal that can only be picked up by babies, begging and pleading to be touched. Same thing with DVDs, cords, the cable box…Why I’ve bought loads of baby toys when all Parker wanted was to play with the Old School DVD case I’m not sure ;) We’ll be baby proofing asap.

I feel like Parker is going to be walking so soon. Every chance she has to pull herself up to standing she takes it. It will be so fun to have her running around, but for now I really enjoy seeing her crawl. The huge smile she gets on her face when Sydney’s back is turned, unaware of the 20lbs of curious, hair grabbing cuteness scooting her way. How excited she gets when she makes it to whatever has got her eye. You can tell how proud Parker is of herself.

I’m sure once walking starts we’re going to have even more bumps. It seems to be inevitable, but I’ll do my best to keep them to a minimum!

Splish Splash

Our whale pool met his maker so we switched to a plastic pool. Much easier to store and no chance of it leaking out air! I think that I’ll give the inflatable pools another try next year though. There are so many cool ones out there that I’m sure Parker will love! Ones with slides, with climbing walls, with things that spray you…all so very fun!

We splash around every weekend. Parker has a great time and it’s nice to be able to cool off a bit. It’s been in the 90s for what seems like forever so a little baby pool is a must have!

Wordless Wednesday: Dada and His Baby

Wordless Wednesday, where the pictures speak for themselves :)

Nine Months In...

...Nine Months Out!































































It’s been another month of crazy new developments in our house. Parker is getting so strong and adventurous. She is pulling herself up onto whatever she can--on the furniture, on me, on her bigger toys, on the bed--if she can get her hands on it she wants to climb it! She also tries to climb out of the bath tub every chance she gets. This keeps us on our toes during bath time ;) She is also “walking.” When we’re holding onto her hands she walks towards us. The balance isn’t there yet but it’s amazing to see her trying! And let me tell you…Parker LOVES standing. When she is on her feet she talks and yells in such a cute way. Will her yells be cute in a couple years? Probably not. But for now, I love the adorableness of it.

Parker’s list of foods has grown even more this month. She’s had whole wheat pasta, hummus, kiwi, chicken, kale, and cauliflower. I spread the hummus on bread, tear it into pieces, and let Parker go to town. She is obsessed with it, as is her mama. We haven’t given her any sort of poultry or meat until this past week. I go between two baby food resources—Super Baby Food and Wholesome Baby Food—and Super Baby Food leans more towards the vegetarian side so we sort of ended up that route. I didn’t really realize it until one day a teacher at daycare asked if we were vegetarian. I had to laugh when she asked this…if you know Kris you know that he loves him some chicken, turkey, burgers, and steaks so going meatless is not an option for us! I’ve been making sure that Parker gets enough protein from eggs, legumes, and tofu but figured there was no harm in adding some poultry to the mix. Parker didn’t see the harm it in either because she gobbled it right up. This girl loves her food. She loves it so much that when the other babies eat at daycare Parker grabs the food from their hands! Parker has mastered the pincer grasp, which is using her forefinger and thumb to pick up food, though she prefers to shove food in her face. I have some pictures that capture her unique eating style that I will surely be posting!

I have no height and weight stats (last weight in was around 8 1/2 months and she was 20lbs!) since we don’t have her 9 month well visit until the end of the month. Our poor, wonderful pediatrician fell and broke her leg so she’s cut back her office time temporarily. There is a back up pedi who works with her who is filling in who Kris and I both like. I had the chance to talk to him a few weeks ago when Parker was in for a visit. We got on the subject of vaccines and their side effects which then led into a discussion on autism. He told me that in his 25 plus years of experience he has never seen an exclusively breastfed baby with autism. He has seen autism in babies that have been fed both formula and breastmilk, but never in those fed just breastmilk. Incredible, right?

We still have separation anxiety going and it’s gotten worse. I can’t even set Parker in the exersaucer for the five minutes that it takes me to apply makeup and do my hair in the morning with out her crying to be held. Yes, I’m that raggedy looking mom now that can get ready in mere minutes. At daycare she doesn’t want me to set her down, though she is fine a minute after I leave and is playing with her friends. I love seeing Parker play with the other babies. It’s too cute and she really loves all the interaction.

Parker now claps and moves her arms around like crazy when she is excited. When she is happy, she hits her hands on the ground. When she’s mad, she does the same thing. The daycare teachers crack up at this because they’ve never seen a baby do that before! When Parker wants your attention she wants it now and you better listen ;)

We’re nine months in and Parker has yet to sleep through the night. I knew this would come with bedsharing since when Parker is close to me she wants to nurse. Honestly, we’ve done nothing to try to get her to sleep through the night; she stirs, I try to rub her back or give her the paci, and if that fails (85% of the time it does) I nurse her back to sleep. I don’t necessarily believe that babies are designed to sleep like adults so I’m not in a rush to “train” her to sleep. Is this the right path to take? For now it feels right to me so I’ll stick with it. One day she will sleep through the night and I’ll miss the late night cuddles. Or maybe I’ll realize just how blissful a full night’s sleep is ;)

I’m 28, my baby is 9 months…how did this happen?!?