Swings..

I haven't taken her to a park with baby swings lately, mainly because I don't know where any are near us.  However, during practice the other day a mom watched her for me and there were baby swings.  She loved them this time!

Here she is patiently waiting at Shane Co to get our rings cleaned...

Being a good girl...

This week she really enjoys passing items from one hand to the other.  Back and forth, back and forth.  She also will bang them together.  She has had a cold this week, so lots of snot!  But she has been pretty good.  She hasn't wanted her puree's this week, so that has been a challenge.  Instead she wants to have "real" food, which is great but not a lot she can eat on her own and sometimes she doesn't want me to feed her anything.

On to another week...almost 8 months old!

Pictures..

 So, I was just thinking.  I posted she is 32 weeks old.  She is 32 weeks but she is still only 7.5 months (vs. 8 months old).

Playing in the pack 'n play

Enjoying the nice weather

HI MOMMY! (actually she was probably saying da-da-da-da)

Helping me wash diapers

Relaxing

Talking away...

A new day..

Zuri has decided that babbling DA DA is great for her conversation.  I know she doesn't equate it with anyone, but it sure sounds like DADA and when Pedro came in to say hi to her this morning before he went to bed, she said it multiple times.

She literally went from just screaming and making funny noises, to more of baby talk over night.  She has also started working on her pincer grasp.  She can pick up foods with her finger and thumb, but then she squeezes them into her palm.  So, still no idea that the pincer grasp would help her with some of the small items so she can get them in her mouth vs. squishing them in her hand and only being able to eat the bigger items alone.

Almost 7.5 months (32 weeks old)

Zuri is sooo old!  I would say her being a "Firecracker" is a good description of her personality.  She definitely isn't easy going, "lovey" or calm.  She is quick to tell you she doesn't like something and super happy if she does like something.  When she is tired or calm, you may get a "squeeze" out of her, but otherwise, she pushes you away.  She would rather be doing something else than giving you a squeeze!

When we get up in the morning, she wants nothing to do with me, she is happy to see me and then she eye's her toys/playmat and won't stop looking at them until I let her go play.  It is part of our morning routine, but you would think she would want to give some loving!  Nope!

This week she enjoys clapping (but not when you ask her to) and she enjoys pancakes.  She screams in her high chair until I give her a pancake to eat.  Most of the time she eats it, sometimes she feeds it to Polar.

She really does not like being on her belly, but when I put her there, for the one minute it lasts, she is capable of doing what she needs to do!



Pigtails is the new "do" at our house...hard to tell because she wouldn't give me a straight look.

Clapping for me!

Weekly update..

This week we learned that we can eat Mum Mum's because they are big enough for her to put the death grip on and still have some that ends up in her mouth..(notice the right hand that has only food in her palm left, this part usually goes to the dogs because she can't figure out how to use her pincher grasp yet).

 We also discovered that mini pancakes are very delicious!  Again, only a small portion ends up in her mouth most of it goes to the dogs.

We practiced our standing...

We went to the pool and realized that she can use me as a "crutch" and pull herself up to a standing position, which is easier in the water.  Then she actually let me get dressed while she laid on the floor, bundled in her blankets...this is a first, as usually I am shivering getting her dressed first.

Nothing else too exciting this week...pulling up on her own, nope.  Crawling, nope.  Not that I am looking forward to her moving all over the place, I have a feeling she will be an active child.  I did weigh her at the gym and I believe she weighs about 17lbs 6oz (on the scale with clothes on she was 17.9lbs).

7 months..

Zuri is 7 months old!  I figured I should do a day in the life of a 7 month old.

Wake up: 6-700am.

Hopefully, the wake up is closer to the 700, but some days it is earlier than the 6!  I let her talk in her crib for at least 20 minutes before I go in, of course I am always hoping that she will go back to sleep. But that never seems to happen.

I always come in with a bottle to see if she wants to eat.  Some days she does, some days she doesn't.

Play time (hopefully alone) 7:00-830am:

After a quick change of the diaper, I lay her on her play mat which she has been eyeing the whole time I have tried to feed and change  her.  I take advantage of the fact that since she doesn't crawl yet, usually where I put her down is where I find her (she squirms on her back but never too far).

After about 20 minutes of alone time on the mat she is bored.  So, I go in and sit her up and let her sit next to her mat and play with the mat this way.  I give her a few toys and turn on one of her baby einstein videos, which she LOVES.  Sometimes I can hear her laughing at them.  This can keep her busy for 30-50 minutes.

Once she is bored with that, it is usually time for us to read story or two.  Then we play with the dogs for a few minutes (another favorite time of the day)

It's about 8:45 now and I change her into her clothes for the day and we go downstairs for breakfast.

9:00am: Breakfast

Breakfast consists of a fruit, oatmeal and sometimes yogurt.  I have also been giving her small pieces of peaches (since they are amazing right now) and I have tried some small bites of toast.

9:30am: Outside play time

We head outside for a bit to let her play in the shade of our one "stick", I mean tree.

10:00am:  Nap time and bottle (this use to be closer to 11, but I am moving it up slowly).

She drinks about 8-9oz and then has been going down for her morning nap.  She sleeps anywhere from 2-3hours.

12-100:  This is relatively new wake up time and so we are starting to have some lunch at 1:00.  If she wakes up earlier than we will play for a bit before lunch.

1:00: Lunch plus a few oz of milk

Lunch is an orange vegetable and a grain.  If I am trying a new food, that would be considered a dinner food, I would try it now to make sure she is good with it.

1:30: Play time, plays with her toys, jumper or something like that.  Lately, she has been more needy and when she sees me she cries.  So, I try to let her play on her own, or put her on the floor near me so that she feels close.

2:30 Bottle 8-9oz (usually gets this before nap, but schedule is changing since we are napping earlier).

3:30 Nap, trying to move this time up, today I tried at 230 after bottle and that was NOT successful.

5:00 I do not allow her to sleep past 5:00pm.  Some days I have to wake her, other's she has been awake for awhile, which means we play.

5:00pm-6:00pm: Play time.

Taking dogs for a walk, going to the park, running an errand, something relatively active.

6:00pm:  Dinner

Dinner is a green vegetable and a fruit.  Some of the purees are too thin so I thicken them with a grain.

6:40pm: Bath

Bath time is one of her favorite times of the day!

7:00pm Bed time and 8oz bottle.

She drinks her bottle, I lay her down, give her, her blanket and she talks for a bit and goes to sleep.

Hopefully, there are no wakeups till morning.  Last night we had a 10:40pm wake up and she was hungry, so I am trying to find a time for extra calories.  Yesterday was the first earlier lunch day, we use to have lunch at 3:00pm, because her morning nap was so late.  But now that I am moving it up, she might need something else around 3:00 for a snack.

Her current favorites activities:
Standing
Jumperoo
POLAR
Eating finger foods, although she hasn't figured out how to get them in her mouth and only sometimes will she actually swallow them!
Shoelaces
Making the pllleeeehhh sound
Going outside
Her blanket
Baby einstein videos!
Playing on the computer (hitting the keyboard).
Drinking from a straw
Having me sing ABC's



Least favorite things:
Getting changed under the cold air vent!
Not being able to reach something she wants
Me leaving the room

She can stand on her own (after I stand her), but I do not dare let her go or she will reach for something and tumble!

Where..

Where has time gone?  Zuri is ALMOST 7 months old.  That is crazy!  She is definitely finding her own personality.  Which still includes almost no time on her belly.  Now that she sits, she definitely doesn't see the need to lay on her stomach.  The only way she gets there is when she has a nice face plant while trying to reach for an object.  Will she crawl?  I would be surprised.  She can also roll over, but who needs to roll over, when you don't like to be on your stomach?  So, I haven't seen her roll over in a long time.  Her method for movement is lying and wriggling on her back.  This morning during her play time laying on her mat (which is followed by play time sitting by her mat and reaching), I came in to her room to find her off the mat and playing with her blue elephant backpack.

Here are a few pictures from the week:

 Her first time in a baby swing.  The parks near my house don't have any!  Don't let this picture fool you, she was kind of nonplussed about the experience.  Hopefully her next experience will be more fun, when the confusion of what's going on goes away!  She seems to enjoy swinging with me, but this was her first time alone on a swing.

The slide was a similar experience.  Again, no real "baby" slides near my house.

Zuri standing on her own!  It didn't last long because she doesn't quite understand that she has to HOLD ON!  She wants to reach for things while holding on, which obviously doesn't work.  I was holding her standing and had her grab the gate.  She is not capable of standing up without help.