Gift Wrapping

So, tonight I told Z since she woke up at 8pm that she had to help mommy wrap gifts....what was mommy thinking! It started out good I gave her a bow to play with and that seemed to be working and then I brought out some ribbon...after that she was all grabby and I thought her and the cat (Tater Tot) were going to come to fisticuffs. They were actually playing tug of war with the ribbon, it was hysterical. I was going to get the video camera and I noticed Z getting a little too close to the kitty who (hasn't so far but protecting her ribbon) looked like she would definitely invoke the warning nip...which would not have turned out good for Tatie so I stopped the game and tried to get Z involved in another bow.

From there it only spiraled downward. Whatever I gave her she was much more interested in the stuff she couldn't have plastic bags & scissors and she always wanted the bow attached to a present. So we wrapped three gifts and when she pulled a bunch of wrapping paper off the roll and smashed her face in it I decided to give up for a while. (It was still pretty cute too watch, though) I did save the paper she ripped off for one of her gifts since she will never know it doesn't look like it should.

Baby's 1st Christmas outfit from Great Gma & Gpa Penny

These start with the ones that turned out blurry and work it to the good ones. The third one is my favorite.

Dinner or Playtime?...

9 mo appt

oops...I was supposed to update this after her appt on Monday. Here are stats

weight: 18 lbs 9oz

height: 28 inches (they originally measured wrong and the nurse said she was 25 but the doctor said it is not likely that she shrunk since she last saw her and I know I haven't tightened any straps...)

The doctor said she looks great and to keep doing what we are doing. She wants us to work more on the sippy cup to have her weaned from the bottle by 1 year and to up the amount of table foods avoiding choc, honey and too much sugar and salt but beyond that if she will tolerate it she can have it. I need to go buy a bunch of fruit and veggies to a) eat more fruit & veggies and b) have something to share that is healthy. Hopefully by Christmas she will be able to steal whatever is on my plate. She got one shot, her last Hepatitis, it was super quick but still sad to watch.

On another front last night, she decided to wake up at 12:30 and was not going back to bed..She alternated between screaming if we were trying to hold her still and playing when we just went fine do whatever you want until we got our resolve back. Finally @ 330amI held her in the glider and she fussed a bit and quickly fell asleep yay we love the glider although someone needs to stop the squeals...

She is starting to stand so well that you have to be super diligent because right when you think it is fine to sit her down for a minute and walk away she decides she will stand up on something and then fall back to sit down....as you can expect I have had a few heart attacks on this front.She also picks some of the most unsteady things to use as walkers...the diaper bag, her high chair, etc.

Anyway, I am excited for her to walk and I am sure it will be sometime soon since when you put her down there is no sitting it is right to firmly grasping your hand and standing, then forward a few steps. Maybe I should have asked for baby gates for my house for Christmas, along with all the other safety stuff out there.

random photos

Here are some random baby photos that I thought were pretty cute. Tomorrow is Zatanna's 9 month doctors appt so stats tomorrow. Apparently there is only two types of shots this time. They are due between 9-12 months if they want to wait I am ok.

I don't really know what to say about her progress she changes so quickly one day you look at her and just marvel at how much she knows and does.

She is standing up on everything, especially the bedroom mirror which scares me since it isn't hooked to anything which will be remedied shortly. I don't need the problems that foreshadows.

She picks up new sounds every day. She even does a specific baby word that means "I am not happy and here is your warning" similar to a rattlesnake only it sounds nothing like that :) It is more of a "niy, niy, niy" sound.

She can eat puffs and cinnamon maple crunchies all day long. She is not a fan of the cheddar ones but will eat them if nothing else is available. She still thinks that anything I eat should be shared. Unfortunately I eat a lot of chocolate and she cannot have that for 3 more months.

Diaper change has become more and more difficult. I am trying to learn to change her while she is still in motion but right now it is a lot of Zatanna stay!...no don't...here hold these...ugh!! It takes a few more minutes than it used to.

Anyway, she is doing good!

Oh, I found the neatest thing at Babies R Us. It is a Stove guard. It looks like an upside down sneeze guard for a buffet but it keeps babies from being able to reach up and touch anything on the stove. They have so much baby protection stuff it is awesome.

I went because a little girl I know was gnawing on her crib and when I lifted her up she had paint chips on her cheek...not cool!! so now we have the teething rails on.

Lastly, tooth number 4 is present and accounted for!!

Some Baby Pics

Here are some pics of Z kneeling in her crib. She was pretty close to standing although she kept dropping to her knees. Shortly after these pics were taken I lowered the crib mattress so we don't wake up to her trying to jump out of it.

She was trying to get the camera during these pics which explains the arrrgh face she has going on in the first pic.

The last pic is her in her bear footie pj's they were a little too snug to begin with and since she just graduated to 9 month(or 12m since I can't find anything between a 6-9 and a 12m) this was one of two times she got to wear that outfit.

Zatanna weighed in at 18.4 lbs at my mom's house. I am not sure how tall she is. We have her 9 month appt Dec 17th so we will find out the latest and greatest stats then.

As to foods, I am going to get some 3rd foods when I am out friday to see if she takes to them. She is definitely into people food and is constantly smacking her lips like she needs to eat any food she sees. I let her try a taste of the pizza sauce on my pizza a few weeks back (on Papa Johns customer appreciation day). After she tried it, she made a lunge for my slice which was still rather warm so I caught her just in time but that at least gives an example of her belief that all food should be shared. :)

Tomorrow is Z's first Thanksgiving! Nothing big just us, my parents and brother. I wonder if she will be happy sitting with the guys or if she will want to help in the kitchen....probably a little of both.

Three teeth

Zatanna got her third tooth earlier this week. They are very cute except when she tries to use my finger as a teething biscuit...those little things are sharp!!

Here are a few pics of Z drinking from her sippy cup.

this one is a little blurry but it shows how big she is getting.

Zatanna and her very spacious new playard

Teeth

This is a little late but we have teeth. Two poking through in the front!!

Nothing too interesting I just can't believe how much she has changed

a little bouncing

Trunk or Treat

Z and I went with my parents to their church trunk or treat. Here are some photos of my little bunny. No I don't know why rabbits have a pom pom on their head...

almost crawling

10.18.09

Now that I let Zatanna feed herself baby food, she only lets me help for a few minutes. Obviously, this has led to a lot of bath times. Tonight we tried to use the big bath tub instead of the infant one. I don't think we will do that again until we have some non slip stuff on the bottom. Nothing happened except that mommy didn't get to let go at all and worried every time Z moved to grab something. She was a big fan of the rubber ducky and how every time she would grab him he would go under water and pop back up. Also, now that she has decided reclining is no longer acceptable in the tub that she has to be sitting with her face down staring at the rubber ducky or playing in the water, bathtime has become increasingly more difficult for mommy. This not only makes the rinsing the soap out of the hair more difficult but hopefully the front of her body is actually clean since I can't see it. On a good note, her back is very clean :)
I have decided I need to find a baby outfit just for eating. One that covers her from neck to toe. Like when little kids paint they use garbage bags...this is very similar but I don't want to use garbage bags. I think I am going to have to make one...sounds like a simple project.
It is pretty funny to watch her eat. Seating there minding my own business when she takes her little fist and pounds it into the green beans splattering it all over her, me, the high chair, floor whatever is within a short range. What I wonder is why does she grab the food with her hands and not try to eat it. She only ever tries to eat what is on the spoon. The rest is for decorating.
Oh and when she is tired and she has her hands full of food and rubs her eye...sweet, funny and Oh my gosh all rolled into one.

Dinner and shopping

Tonight, I tried to get Z to feed herself. She has the spoon thing down but she hasn't mastered getting the food on the spoon. As you can see from the video below it was a messy time but lots of fun!
After bathtime, we went to walmart to buy some cold weather clothes. I still need to get outerwear (mittens(too cute), hat and a coat) they don't have many when I look for them...but they have to be somewhere, right?

Oct 7th...7 months

Zatanna turned 7 months on the 4th of Oct and she has started to say "mom". I am pretty sure she doesn't fully know what it means but she says it a lot and I love every second of it. 

In other news, I heard that today at Grandma & Grandpa Penny's house she pulled herself up to standing in one of their laundry baskets...although I am sad to have missed it the visual is pretty cute and I am sure she will do it again at some point although I don't think I have a laundry basket that sturdy. :)

I am trying to avoid the TV if at all possible after work (except Biggest Loser and the Office) . I find that I spend most of my time trying to keep Zatanna entertained so I can watch it and I would rather watch her grow than find out I spent her childhood watching the TV instead. We have instituted a mommy baby dinner when I get home. We sit at the dinner table and I feed her dinner while I eat mine. Hopefully, I can keep it going. The thing I wanted most when I first saw my mom after school or whatever was to have time to sit and talk about what was going on so I definitely want to keep that up with Z. 

She has been waking up in the middle of the night once or twice this week. She is not hungry she just wants to cuddle or play. I am not going to complain we have been extremely blessed with her sleep schedule it is just something to get used to and I would be ok if she decided she wanted a full nights sleep instead:)

Z's first study session??

Doug caught these photos yesterday. I can only assume she is working on her counting skills  by applying them to the story she has just finished reading :) 

Mac n Cheese

Zatanna tried the 2nd foods mac and cheese tonight. She liked it but could not eat as much of it as other foods which I think is normal for mac n cheese. Wed night Turkey and rice or sweet potatoes whatever Z votes for :)

Great Grandparents House 9/26/2009

After going to the Hunters to meet Bailey. Z and I were on our way to the great grandparents house. She slept the whole way there so when we got out she looked a little grumpy but she warmed up after a bit. We put her on the floor for a while for 2 reasons a) for some reason she tends to get pouty lips and cry when she hasn't warmed up to someone yet and b) me and Grandma Penny (I will use this instead of continuously putting great infront of it) were eating lunch. Grandpa Penny was at a Kiwanis Peanut Event for the first part of our visit. Gma Penny put a Beauty & the Beast music globe infront of Z and she was enthralled with that for a while. Other than that we all talked and had a great time. 

When Grandpa Penny got home, Z watched him like a hawk and whenever he got close out came the pouty lips and crying...I am not sure why she does that. Maybe there was just too many new things today plus she was getting tired. 

Grandma Penny took Z and I shopping at JCPenney and Z now has some super cute clothes that you may be seeing in posts to come. Sending out hugs and kisses to the great grandparents. 

Meeting Bailey

Zatanna and I got up, dressed and out the door to go meet Bailey Lynn Hunter today. Bailey is the newest edition to the Ron and Kathy Hunter (the youngers) family. She is super tiny and super cute. I can not remember Z being that small even though I know she was. She was asleep for the first part of our visit but when Z got fussy and hungry Bailey was too. So Zatanna and Bailey got to eat lunch while mommies conversed. Shortly thereafter we had to leave for our scheduled lunch with the great grandparents. Kathy said we should take pics which I am glad she did because I took my camera for that purpose and would have been sad not to have any after I left. Kathy told me to take them quickly so I did :) (so you can blame her if they aren't as super cute as they should be; just joking Kathy!!) Beyond Z's slightly askew appearance (I don't know why I put socks on her and you gotta love that belly) both pics are pretty cute. I get a kick out of the one where Z looks like she is licking Bailey's head. Anywho, I asked to hold Bailey before I left and she is just so sweet. She looks at you so intently like she is trying to figure you out. She made the cutest noises and I realized how many things you forget about as they grow up. I can not get over how tiny she seemed...Anywho, we finally had to say goodbye and as I was walking out the door Ron met us in the front yard with an umbrella for Z and I. I thought that was such a sweet thing to do and I sincerely appreciated it. The visit was a great start to our Ofallon trip. I will write more about the great grandparents on my next post.