Playing in the Grass

Yesterday was beautiful! It hit 87 degrees here in New York and it's only the beginning of April! We have a small patch of grass in front of our apartment (that's in a private house) so I put her down and had to grab the camera. She really liked it. She'd rip it out & dump it on her head or try & put it in her mouth....

Then I had to get in on a shot with her & she had to stick her little tongue out

8 Months Old

I can't believe I haven't done a post in a while! Actually, yeah I can. I hate writing long blog posts because I hate reading long posts (and I usually don't start reading them if they are long) but since it's been a while I think this will be pretty long....
Fiona turned 8 months a couple days ago (on the 31st) & I can now say the time is going pretty fast! I always hear people say "enjoy her, the time goes by so fast" & a couple months ago I thought it was actually going by slowly. Now I hear what they're saying! I guess because she's doing things now where as before she was just there. I haven't blogged in a while so i guess this will be for both her 7th and 8th month....
She grabs everything! If something is put down anywhere close to her she'll reach where her entire body will stretch grabs for it & it goes straight into the mouth. I'm such a germaphobe so this drives me nuts & I'm cleaning her toys all the time between throwing them in washing machine or wiping down with Lysol wipes (then plain water after of course).

She has her moments with strangers. If a stranger talks to her she'll sometimes cry. If I'm in the supermarket & she doesn't see me when a stranger comes to talk to her, she starts crying. I'm not crazy about it but it does show that she's learning faces & people. Other than that she's great with family even if she doesn't see them much with is the most important.
She's getting better with tummy time. She'll definitely last longer these days but she still hates it. I can maybe get her to lay on her tummy for maybe 10 minutes before she gets frustrated & that's really good for her. Her arms lift her upper body pretty well so that's a start.

She's still not crawling but maybe she'll just skip over crawling. I have been noticing that when she's sitting she'll lean all the way forward & put her hands on the floor. Or when she's on her belly her legs bend like she's trying to crawl.

She has been standing well with support. At Christmas time we got her a jumper thinking that will help strengthen her legs but it actually screwed things up so we took it apart & put it away. I remember at her well visits in the beginning the pediatrician would check if she would "stand" if you put weight on her legs. It seemed like she would do this until we got her the jumper. Once we got the jumper she'd jump every time we would stand her. When Early Intervention (this is another story which I need to post) came for an evaluation she said a lot of doctors tell parents to not get jumpers because of this very reason. She said the exersaucers are better for this. So the next day I went onto Craigslist & found one for $15.

The thing I liked about it was there were no toys on it so cleaning it was easy (germaphobe thinking) & we can put our own toys. It was really old but in very good condition. Once we got the thing cleaned & set up I noticed she was able to jump somewhat. It wasn't anywhere close to the jumper but there where springs. What's great about paying $15 you don't mind if it breaks so my husband took the springs out. At first she tried jumping but now she'll actually stand when you put her on her legs. We'll give her back the 1st jumper when she starts cruising but for now no jumper. After about 3 weeks she will stand supported & not jump like a nut! She only did this for a second but it's a start!

I got her a new bath tub. I hated her 1st tub since the beginning but now now she's bigger and can sit by herself so I needed a new tub. She loves it! She's loved getting a bath since the beginning so I give them to her very often, sometimes every day. This blow up duck tub is great.

Because we have hardwood floors, a small apartment with basically no large open spaces & 2 dogs it's hard for me to put her down and let her play on her own. Before she'd be either in her Bumbo, swing or I would hold her. When Early Intervention came she told me how important it was for her to explore on her own. This was the main reason she doesn't turn much or any other milestones that would come because she's never really given the chance. Now I got her the puzzle blocks for the floor & let her play in the Pack & Play - that way if she's sitting up & falls over she won't get hurt. This really got her sitting alone very strong to where she rarely tips over and she's reaching in all directions to get her toys.

If she's sitting or laying down in her pack & play, crib, Bumbo or anywhere else and you go to pick her up she'll put her arms up to you so you can grab her. Even if some one's holding her & you put your hands to take her she'll lean towards you with both arms wide open.
She drops stuff on purpose. This drives me CRAZY! You hand it to her then 2 seconds later she'll drop it. If you don't give it to her she'll start whimpering until you do...grrrr.
All part of being a baby I guess and I love her like crazy. No matter how annoying she can be I look at her & I'm so thankful to have this beautiful little girl!

At the moment that's all I can think of. As the day goes by & she does something I'll think "oh yeah I forgot about that. I need to add that to my blog post" and I'll probably forget.

Fiona's Best Friend

Fiona loves my little Yorkie Shea (my big dog Lexi & Fiona don't pay any attention to each other). Shea is like a 2nd pacifier to Fiona, if Fiona is in a bad mood just put Shea right in front of her & she'll make her happy. Fiona will be in her jumper & when Shea walks past her Fiona will just laugh & laugh, it's so adorable! I was actually very worried about how Shea was going to react to Fiona when we brought her home from the hospital because Shea acted like she owned me & I treated her like a baby. Shea was great with her. At first she was curious, always following & sniffing her but didn't do anything bad. Now Shea doesn't do that anymore & doesn't pay too much attention to Fiona but seems to understand she's a baby. If Fiona is kicking her legs & kicks Shea, Shea will turn to see what's hitting her, sniff Fiona's foot, lick her foot & will just stay right there being kicked. I have a feeling Fiona & Shea will be buddies.

Rubbing Eyes

Fiona's been rubbing her eye while she eats. I don't know why she does this. You'd think it was because she's tired but she just woke up 45 minutes ago. Who knows, it's cute anyway. It's a good thing I was her hands with antibacterial soap in the sink a couple times a day...yeah, I'm a bit of a germaphobe.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Almost 5 months old

Nikon D5000 Pictures

I got a new camera (early Christmas gift from my husband)! Here are some pictures of Fiona using it. I hope to look back at this post in a few months thinking to myself "wow, what a long way I've come in such a short period of time". These pictures look pretty darn good but I know after I actually learn how to use it I can get some awesome pictures with it.
Here's my girl at 4 months old:



My favorite outfit.

First Photo Session

I can't believe I didn't blog about our very first photo session at Sears...

We went for Fiona's very first (of many to come) photo session. I kept meaning to go but didn't. I'm really kicking myself for not getting pictures done when she was 1st born & still had her belly button stump...I love those photos where the baby is laying on their tummy on the father's arm sleeping (in black & white) or when they put her on a shelf on top of towels in the bathroom. Then blow it up, frame it & hang it on the wall...but I didn't. I've loved those kind of pictures from before having my own baby. Oh well next time I will for sure, by then I hope to be a decent photographer myself so I can do it.

So about 2 weeks ago we went to Sears. I was up at my parents so me & my mom went over to have them done. When I got there I remembered all the coupons I had at home which was 45 minutes away. I get Sears photo coupons all the time, they usually pile up with some other mail then eventually go in the garbage. When I was there I remembered the coupon had a no sitting fee which is $15 but that's all I remembered. My mom didn't care & said she'll pay for the sitting fee & her pictures, and I buy what I want. Each page is $9 and they didn't have any packages. I thought it was all a bit steep but this was my 1st time so I didn't know. I ordered 2 pages for now & if I wanted more I would order them. My mom also ordered 2 pages and she wanted hers printed on the spot (which is why we went there & not Walmart), $4 per page extra so the total came out to like $80. When I got home I wanted to scream...and loud. Those Sears coupons are very good. If you don't have a coupon I would not go to Sears to have pictures done. We could have gotten more than what we ordered for $7.99 TOTAL! No sitting fee PLUS they have packages if you have a coupon. If I knew this and actually read the coupons I get in the mail I would have NEVER, in a million years had them done unless I had a coupon.
Anyway the pictures came out great. She was in a great mood and kept smiling & smiling. The photographer had even said "How old is she?" "She smiles a lot for her age". I put her in 3 different poses & backgrounds: casual wear, her christening dress & a pumpkin outfit. The pumpkin ones didn't come out the greatest so I didn't order those. I did take a screenshot from the Sears website so the photo's are small but these are all of them-


We picked this christening one:


The only reason I have the baptism one is because my mom had the printing done on the spot. Once I get the casual one I'll scan it & add it to this post.
Even though it was really expensive (when it didn't have to be) it was a great first photo session, Fiona did great!