7 months!

A week late. 

"I don't have teeth, but I DO have a neck!"

Well, she is now on her way to ONE YEAR!  I had a minor freak out when the doctor told us she'd see us "at her 9 month checkup then a year..."  What?  Only 1 more doc appointment then her YEAR checkup?  Shut it. 

This was a big month for little miss B, too.  I can barely remember what she was doing at 6 months, but she is a little PERSON now.  (I know, I know...she was always a person, but seriously, she is a person now.  Anyone who doesn't get this, doesn't know the transformation she has undergone.  She now has a personality, opinions, likes and dislikes, quirks.  Stephen and I often say that we "upgraded."  This is Blakely 2.0  :)

She is sitting up really well now.  She can play with her toys, reach for the ones she wants, occasionally dive for the ones a little too far out of her reach.  (In which case she then throws a fit because that means she ended up on her tummy...)  BTW she still HATES tummy time.  Stubborn little toot. 

She started sleeping ALL night about a month ago.  Not sure if she was doing that at 6 months... She goes to bed anywhere from 6 to 7, (occasionally crying for an hour...ugh...horrible....anyway) and sleeps until 6ish- eats, then usually goes back to sleep until 7, sometimes as late as 7:45!  Do you know what this does for me?!  I cannot even describe the joy of waking up and looking at the clock to see that it is 7:45. 

not sure what this face is about!

She is also NAPPING.  Yes, that's right, my little no- napper, stay awake, fuss all day, never give me a break- baby is taking 2, read it, T-W-O naps a day!  Woohoo!  Since she has been doing this for several weeks now, I feel that it is safe to announce.  She naps around 9sih, then again at 1ish for about an hour and a half.   Now that I feel I have read every possible book on baby's sleep needs/habits, I think I will write my own.  I'll call it "How to learn everything about getting your child to sleep, but not actually get her to sleep"  Think it'll sell?  I was so desperate I would have bought it. 

She is eating.  Not consistently, or well, or a lot, or much of a variety, but she is eating.  Sometimes she will eat a ton.  Then other days, like last week.  She didn't eat a thing from 1pm until she got up the next morning.  No lie.  She loves sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and pears (on those days she feels like eating....)  She is ok with peas.  She will not eat any other fruit or veggie.  But we will keep trying. 

She is a chatterbox.  Especially when she doesn't know anyone is listening.  But if she isn't super comfortable with you, then she is quiet as a mouse.  She is saying "da, ba, ma, and na"  She likes to whisper, too. 

She is obsessed with dogs. Real ones and fake.  In fact, obsessed might be an understatement.  She hung out with my SIL's dog, Presley, and was such a basketcase for her that we had to keep B away from Presley because she would get so excited that she would eventually start crying.  She was equally excited about my parent's dog, Barbara.  She would laugh hysterically when Barb would play in front of her.  She also gets pretty excited at the lamb puppet on Baby Einstein.  (PTL for Julie Clark (creator of baby einstein), amen?) 

Oh, and another feat that Blakely has conquered is her BINKY!  That's right, folks, Blakely can put her binky in her mouth all by herself!  It took LOTS of practice...but she even does it now just to show off.  She picks it up, pops it in her mouth, then looks at you like "Yeah?  So what?"  One day we looked over at her playing on the floor and said to each other, "How'd that binky get in her mouth?" We then noticed that she had a binky in each hand.  She's been in charge of the binky ever since.  :)

She is suuuuper ticklish, and loves tickle games.  She also loves glasses (eye glasses, as well as drinking glasses.)  In fact, she can sortof become obsessed.  Her favorite toy is an empty gatorade bottle. 

Stats:  She weighs 15lbs 2oz (15th%)
She is 26.5 inches tall (52%)- she grew 3 inches this summer!  Wowza!
She was eating about every 4 hours for a little while, but she went back to every 3, sometimes less. 

best for last! 

Yay for seven month old babies! 

Beach photos

I had every intention of NOT going back to the beach with Blakely, but as our time in Gulf Shores drew to a close, I couldn't help but wonder if I would forever regret not having some cute pictures of B and her fam at the beach....SOOOOO we somehow tricked our friend Claire into getting up at 6am and heading to the beach with us for a little family photo shoot.  I hear evening light is better, but after 6pm is just a big fat no-no for Blakely, so we settled for the dawn lighting.  Claire isn't a pro, and our camera is just a dinky little thing, but we were so pleased. 
This is our photographer...thought you'd like to know. 



It's pretty hard to get a good picture of three people, when one doesn't know she is suppose to always be smiling at the camera, and the other two are constantly doing ridiculous things to get her to smile and look at the camera.... 

<--By far her best smile of the day...too bad my head is cut off!  But then again, who are we looking at in these pictures anyway?  Not me! 

Here is my favorite picture of the shoot.  This IS Blakely...hands in mouth, tongue out, looking like a stinker, but a CUTE stinker.  And then, of course, her second favorite person in the whole world.  Yes, I unashamedly take first.  I am her source of life, so it's pretty much no contest. 

 I wish this one (below) was a little clearer.  This one is funny cause it is totally out of Stephen's comfort zone.  He doesn't exactly walk around with her on his shoulders often.  I think it freaked him out a bit, but I figured it was a good foreshadowing of his days to come.  I am sure she will spend many hours riding up there. 

Blakely was not a fan of this one.  The beach was slanted, and just after this was taken she got a wave under her booty.  This is how she felt about it...

And last but not least....

I am SO glad we got up early and had our little beach shoot!  Blakely did so good, and I know I will always be glad we have these pictures!  Even if I paid for it all day for messing up her schedule.  :)

oh BOY!!!

B frequently gets mistaken for a boy.  It doesn't offend me...sometimes she does look like a boy.  A very feminine, pretty boy...but still.  And I am sure I have been confused about many a baby's gender before. 

The other day we were at the grocery story.  Despite the fact that B's clothes had flowers on them, this sweet woman came over and was talking to B, getting her to smile and show off.  The woman said "Oh my, he is SUCH a cute little fella!  He is gonna be a ladykiller!"  HA!  Usually I feel like I owe it to Blakely to correct people and tell them she is a girl, but I just didn't have the heart to tell this woman.

Here is another cute little fella, who also happened to be a lady killer (I made it out alive though...)  Any resemblance? 

 

Swim time, And sleep problems

Blakely loves the water.  Bath time is a hit these days- now that we are in the big kid tub.  She squeals and splashes (until she gets water in her eye, and then the fun is over.)  She also loves swimming in the pool.  I try to go every day since it usually means she will sleep better.  I am considering going before every nap and before bed too...

As I type this post, I am listening to her cry.  I am at a complete loss of what to do about her sleeping.  For every good day, she has three bad days.  I have read 3 books on babies sleep needs, who knows how many articles I have found on the internet, blogs, and tried (what I feel like...) is anything and everything.  Her door is closed, my door is closed, the dish washer is going, the tv is on, the monitor is off, and I can still hear her.  I have gone in several times, and she will calm down if I hold her, but won't go to sleep.  I have tried putting her to bed earlier- yep, 5:30 one night... (per one of my books suggestions...) She woke up at 4 ready for the day.  I have put her to bed later....she woke up at 5am.  (I guess that's better than 4, right?) Lately I have just been letting her get up for the day at 6, despite the pain it causes me to be up at 6am.  At least it's light outside. 

And I can't get her to nap.  She is so bizarre.  She is awake and will not go back to sleep after 6am- most days.  But then she is getting tired by 7am.  So I usually put her down for a nap.  She sleeps anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours.  Usually closer to 20 minutes.  Then she is usually tired within an hour after she wakes up.  That's her cycle.  That means she would be taking like 8 naps a day.  I have even tried letting her do that.  She just ends up tired and fussy all day long cause she never gets good sleep.  I have tried keeping her awake until her "optimum nap times.."  (9am and 1pm-according to one book)  She is cranky until 9, then doesn't sleep long enough, so she can't make it until 1.  It just won't work.  I let her cry sometimes...but I can only take that for so long.  She isn't a quiet fussy cryer.  She is a screamer, sounds like she's going hoarse, hiccuping on her spit cause she's crying so hard, laying in a puddle of her tears type of cryer.  It's pitiful and heartbreaking.  I have tried just not worrying about it, but I keep going back to the fact that she is constantly overtired.  And one thing all the books tell me is that it won't just go away on it's own.  Though I pray regularly that it will...

Maybe I am not consistent enough?  I have yet to really let her cry it out, for several days.  I just can't- so far.  That doesn't mean it won't come to that- and I certainly don't judge any mom who does that.  I also wonder what role her binky plays in this horrible sleep problem.  I have considered just taking it away cold turkey and forcing her to learn to fall asleep without it.  But it seems cruel since the reason she is addicted to it is cause I gave it to her in the first place. 

Another perplexing thing about her sleep issues is once she is asleep for the night (knock on wood...) she stays asleep until morning (with the exception of her occasionally early morning wakeup call.)  She will sometimes wake up and put herself back to sleep, but for the most part, we don't hear from her til 6am.  She also will, on multiple occasions, put herself to sleep during the day.  I guess my timing is perfect on these occasions or there is a full moon, or someone slipped her an ambien, cause I'll just lay her down in her crib wide awake and she falls asleep on her own.  Then other times, like tonight, it has taken her an hour and a half to fall asleep, and I'm not convinced she is asleep yet anyway. I have studied other mom blogs, read about typical schedules for 6 month old babies, and attempted to follow many different schedules, but it never works. 

It even causes me anxiety when I think about our near future.  What will we do at Stephen's parents?  Where can I buy a black out curtain...or twelve?  We can't plan on going anywhere or doing anything cause we never know when she will need to take a nap.  What about my parent's house?  They have wood floors, a small house, and my dad is loud (sorry, Dad.)  What if she doesn't nap at all?  Are people going to judge me when I won't go do something because she needs to take a nap?  What if they wake her up?  Will I have a meltdown?  You get the picture.  The worst is when people try to downplay it like it's not that big of a deal.  Well, you try spending all day, alone, with a (very fun...) hyper, sensitive, emotional, energetic, ticking timebomb of a 6 month old, with no guaranteed breaks during the day.  It'll make you feel like you might get knocked off your rocker...

Sorry for my little sleep tangent....And I know, judging by how cute she is, you could never believe this sweet little girl could cause so much trouble.  Feel free to think that all you want, but please don't say that out loud.  I might end up in jail. 

Road trip, open wounds, and Father's day!

We had an eventful week, to say the least!  Tuesday some of the kaleo mom's all got together in Destin for hanging out, eating, and pooling!  It was SO refreshing, even though I paid for it for several days with Blakely's sleep and fussiness! 

Simeon was such great entertainment for Blakely!  Looks like Blakely needs a tan!

Friday, I decided it was time to clip B's nails.  They grow like CRAZY, and I probably cut them once a week.  So, I've had some practice.  Well...B got a little too squirmy this time and I clipped off the tip of her thumb.  Yes, you read that right.  Clipped it off.  I heard it happen and we both gasped.  She screamed...and the bleeding started.  I felt like the worst mom ever.  Luckily, she stopped crying pretty quickly, but the bleeding was a different story.  I made an emergency call to a mom friend and she brought me a princess bandaid, some alcohol wipes, and some medical tape.  We attempted the bandaid- too big.  And let me tell you...getting a bandaid on the teeny tiny thumb of a squirmy 6 month old is near impossible.  There was blood everywhere.  I kept trying to put pressure on it and keep it above her head but she would wiggle her finger away and get more blood everywhere.  Then Stephen ran to the store to get gauze, liquid bandaid, and a steptic (sp?) pen.  Finally, after 30 minutes of bleeding, the steptic pen stopped it.  I don't know what this stuff is...but its a white pen- looks like a piece of chalk- you dip it in water and just touch the cut, and the bleeding stopped immediately.  Amazing.  We opted out of the liquid bandaid since on the warning lable it says to call poison control if ingested.  Here is some of the clean-up. 

I think it stung a little when she took a bath that night, but other than that it hasn't seemed to bother her.  Thank goodness! 

Blakely and I are two lucky girls.  We have the two best dads in the whole world.  Blakely is extra lucky cause she has the best dad, AND the best gramps.  Blakely is my dad's "little buddy." 

Stephen is such a good dad.  He and Blakely spend mornings and bath time together, and I am pretty sure those are Blakely's two favorite times of the day!  She is seriously just enamored with him.  No one can make her smile and laugh like her daddy! 

Can you see where B gets her good looks? 

6 months...

Every mom blog I know of starts each "month" post out with "I can NOT believe my baby is blah-di-blah months old..."  But....SERIOUSLY.  I CAN NOT BELIEVE MY BABY IS 6 MONTHS OLD! 

The last couple of months Stephen and I have really been trying to enjoy our baby.  We are trying not to say things like "I can't wait until she ___"  Insert whatever developmental thing she can't do yet- crawl, walk, talk, etc.  We are trying to really enjoy exactly where she is right now.  And we ARE.  Last night I was holding her after I fed her and she was asleep and I thought "One day she is going to have kids of her own..."  SCARY.  And I then also decided not to dread or fear her growing up.  It seems like my baby was just born yesterday, but at the same time, it feels like the longest and hardest 6 months of my life!  Ha!  But she really is halfway to a year and that is insane to me.  She gets more and more fun each day. 

I apologize for how many pictures I will be posting of her.  It was hard to narrow it down to these out of the 40 something that I took!  What's harder than taking good pictures of a 5 month old?  Taking pictures of a 6 month old.   But, at the same time, when you are her mom, they are all good! 

Everywhere we go people comment on how cute Blakely is....When she has a bow in her hair or she is wearing pink people say she is beautiful.... However, if there is no pink in sight, EVERYONE thinks she is a boy.  Sometimes even when there is pink involved.  It is hilarious. 

As you can see, Blakely is sitting up very well now.  Though if the tv is not in her direct line of sight, she will topple over to get a good view.  I had the tv on during her photo shoot so I could count on her looking in one direction.  So when she is smiling...it's most likely because she loves "Say yes to the dress."

Dad says, "Enjoy wearing short dresses while you can..."  And she will enjoy...eating them.

Blakely is still drooling oceans of saliva, and wants to eat everything- but still no teeth. 

She is also obsessed with me, if I do say so myself.  It's quite flattering.  She is especially enamored with me in the morning and after she has taken a long nap.  I guess she misses me.  :)  When I am around and Stephen is trying to play with her, she will not even look at him if I am nearby.  It's hilarious.  And my hair needs highlighted. 

Please mourn with me over how wonderful, yet blurry of a picture this is.  Stephen says I need to just go ahead and delete it cause I get sad every time I look at it.  I am sure we will never again get this great of a picture of the two of us. 

Blakely is sitting up but will topple from time to time.  She also gets tired and eventually leans so far forward that she just flips over onto her belly.

She is eating solids twice a day.  She is really excited when we start- will open her mouth wide, but after the first two bites she is uninterested and I have to pry her mouth open.  She eats oatmeal every time, and has had apples and prunes.  She isn't crazy about either.

She sleeps from about 7pm until 6am.  I have tried everything to get her to sleep later- and she is just an early riser.  She does, however, go back down for a nap by 7:30 usually.  As do I.  I feed her around 10pm to get her to sleep a little longer. 

She has almost no predictability to when she eats.  Sometimes she is starving after 2 1/2 hours...sometimes I couldn't get her to eat if our lives depended on it until it's been 4 hours.  She is strong willed. 

She is getting more hair!  And it's blonde. 

She loves her jumperoo- she is still too small to reach the ground, so we have a box underneath her. 

I think I can finally have dairy!  I had my first non-soy starbucks yesterday, and so far so good.  I am so excited.  Oh how I have missed milk, and cheese, and milkshakes, and starbucks....

She is still a bad napper- but I think she is getting better.  She has taken two- 2hour naps today- which is unheard of for us.  I am sure she will be on a nap strike for the next week since I put that. 

She LOVES the water!  I try to go to the pool with her every day. 

Her favorite thing to do is watch tv while holding her feet in the air and blow raspberries with her pacifier in her mouth. 

Friends

Thursday morning the three of us packed up and headed to Destin for a day trip.  Our friends Jason and Molly are leading a Kaleo project there for Oklahoma State and Tulsa University, and Stephen was speaking at their weekly meeting.  Despite the fact that Blakely only took a one hour nap the whole day, she was in pretty good spirits.  Probably because she got to hang out with her friend Selah!  Blakely is one day older than Selah. 

Selah wasn't sure what to think about Blakely goobering all over her toys, but she was a good sharer.  We might have to get us one of those Sophie dolls- apparently they are a big deal.  No one told me! 

Yesterday Blakely was particularly cuddly.  Since she hasn't laid her head on my chest in for.ev.er I thought I should snap a picture before she changed her mind. 

Isn't she pretty?!?!?

We had quite the fiasco yesterday morning.  We drove back late Thursday night from Destin, then Stephen had a 6am flight out of Pensacola Friday morning for his best friend's wedding- so he had to leave by 4am.  Luckily someone else got up to take him... He called me at 5am when he got to the airport because he forgot is WALLET.  V-E-R-Y important to remember your wallet when you fly!  So he was alone at the airport at 5am with no ID, no money, and no breakfast in his belly.  He called the guys that took him and lucky they had some cash on them.  He was then able to be "questioned thoroughly" by a TSA person.  He answered all the questions correctly, so after what Stephen called an "intense pat-down" they let him on the plane just in time for take off!  Whew!  We don't recommend it, but you can fly without an ID....  So the wedding is over, and Stephen is on his way back right now!  We really miss him! 

Blakely loves dad cause he lets her have fun things like coke-zero and lemons!  No, he didn't actually give her a drink of coke.  :)