December 5, 2016

Marlowe update: 10 months

I can’t believe that Marlowe is 10 months old – and how much she’s changed from even just a few months ago. She’s so happy and content and loving. She getting more verbal and LOVES to eat food. She loves exploring (sometimes a little too much) and trying to do whatever Jenson is doing, but she was also so good when we were on the go a lot in October. We had a busy month with Jenson’s birthday party, overnight guests a few weekends, apple picking, lots of Halloween events, and a fire station open house, and she was SO good at all of the events. I can’t remember her even fussing at any of them. She just takes it all in and naps when she needs. Now nighttime…that’s a different story, but naps are getting better and I just deal with the night however I can manage. She loves giving kisses, swinging, music, and has started getting interested in books (sometimes reading them, sometimes just pulling them off the shelf). Her big milestones of the month are words, clapping, and teeth! Some many pictures this month. I swear she was just extra cute!

Marlowe: September 29 – October 28

Age: 10 months old. She’s been out as long as she was in!

Weight: 17 lbs., 5 oz. (40%) at her 9 month appointment on October 6. She was back a week later because she was running a fever and we wanted to rule out ear infections, but it was just a standard virus. She definitely tired and sick.

Length: 28.5 inches (90%)

Clothing size: She’s wearing 9 and 12 month clothing. She’s tall, so things get too short on her legs first. She’s a size 2 in shoes, though she’s only had them on for pictures. Baby shoes are cute, but not worth the trouble. She’s in a 3 for diapers and we switch between cloth and disposable.

Hair: Her hair is blond and is finally getting longer on the back of her head, and is getting long on the sides and top, so it’s kind of a inverted bob. It lays down stick straight now (like mine) and is almost starting to get in her eyes, so I’ve been experimenting with ponytails. The pigtails on the side are my favorite right now. It’s not easy to get these tiny pigtails with tiny rubber band even though.

Eyes: Blue. The color is so pretty…I really hope it stays, but Jenson’s turned from blue after 1 year, so I wouldn’t be surprised if hers still turned.

Teeth: She finally popped 2 bottom teeth on October 22. We knew they were coming – she was chewing on things like crazy, but she honestly wasn’t much fussier. She did wake 5 or 6 times the night before, but I didn’t think much of it until I saw the teeth, because she’d been waking 3-4 times normally.

Temperament: She’s so sweet and lovey. She loves giving and getting kisses. She prefers to be down on the floor exploring. She’s very nosy – always looking around to see what Jenson is doing, or where Boof is. She gets distracted easily while nursing because she’s such a busy body now. She really happy now, unless she’s hungry or tired or has a dirty diaper, and then she’s a little whiny or screechy. She has a quick temper, so if she’s ready for food and it’s not on her tray, she’s screaming about it. And it’ll nearly pierce your eardrums. She goes with the flow though, and if she’s in the stroller or seat for awhile while we are out, she’s fine. The knife picture cracks me up because it wasn’t posed at all – she was just playing with it one day.

Sleeping: We talked to the her pediatrician about our “sleep” issues at her 9 month appointment and the Dr. told us we should move her to her own room now. She said she’s such a nosy baby that she probably wants to check in with us when she wakes at night – so when she’s in our room, she’s too tempted. She reassured us that as far as they (the doctors) are concerned, crying isn’t going to hurt her and that we can let her cry as much as we are comfortable with. She wakes up between 8-9 am and will play in her crib sometimes before she wants out. She takes a morning and afternoon nap, and they are getting really regular. The morning nap ranges from 45-60 minutes beginning around 10:30, and the afternoon nap is from 45 minutes -2 hours starting around 2 pm. She goes to bed around 7:30 most nights and wakes every 2-4 hours to nurse for 5 minutes. Moving her to her crib in her room wasn’t a big deal – she goes to sleep pretty well on her own. I just nurse her in our room, and lay her down with her binky and leave the room. Sometimes she needs settled one more time before she goes to sleep but it’s still really easy, considering how bad the rest of sleep goes for us. If she wakes to nurse before 11 pm, Lo will go in to make sure she has a pacifier. She’ll usually settle a bit, but sometimes she gets more riled up when we go in to check on her. She cries harder and more consistent than Jenson did when we started sleep training him. Her cry is a scream…its loud and it wrecks you. I don’t even use a monitor for her because I don’t need it. I can hear her anywhere in the house. She doesn’t want held or bounced or anything to do with Loren…she just wants to nurse for 5 minutes and then go back to bed.

Eating: She’s loves her some food. We give her bits of whatever we have if it’s appropriate for her. She loves yogurt drops, cooked apple pieces, eggs, banana, and O’s. She’ll eat pretty much any baby food that we give her, except one mango and avocado pouch I gave her – she made such a horrible face and absolutely refused to eat it. With Jenson we didn’t do a lot of actual baby food, but we do usually give her some every day just because she screams if there’s not something for her to eat immediately. She prefers to eat real food though. As far as nursing goes, she gets so distracted while nursing during the day, but she’s obviously getting her fill at night. She’ll go about 3 hours in between nursing sessions during the day.

Movement: Now that she crawls, she’s all over the place. She’s fast and fearless, and will make a break for the bathroom if the door is open. She pulls herself up to stand against everything now. If Jenson is eating snacks, she’s on him trying to get some. She’s big into dancing now too – she somehow shakes her head and move her arms in opposite directions without (usually) falling over. She loves to clap now too. Sometimes she claps when she’s crying, so she doesn’t quite have the appropriateness for it yet, but she still loves it. She always claps into one hand rather than moving both hands – it’s like a polite golf clap.

Milestones:
–Clapping!
–2 bottom teeth on October 22. We went apple picking the next day and she was thrilled to be able to scrape a little bit of apple with her teeth.
–Pulling up to things on her feet
–Several words regularly (mama, dada, boof, papap, papaw, Jenson, baby)

Favorite toys/activities:
–Crawling and exploring (wrecking things)
–Swinging on the playset
–Baths
–Eating….and she means NOW. She especially enjoyed eating outside a few times when it was nice.
–Watching Jenson and trying to get to him
–Chewing on her pacifiers and offering them to us
–Papap: she’s so into my dad when we get to see my parents. She honestly lights up for all of her grandparents, but she’s especially intrigued by him right now. I think it’s because he’s more of a dog person (ask Boof) than a baby person and she’s trying to convince him otherwise. Or it’s because they are 3 hours apart from sharing a birthday. (If I hadn’t gone in for my induction that morning, she probably would have been born on his birthday since I was technically already in labor when I arrived, but they helped it along a little). She’s always trying to get his attention and saying “papap” when he’s around. She loves it when he talks to her and perks up when we say Papap to her.
–Being tickled – she has such an amazing belly laugh!
–Her favorite toys are usually whatever Jenson is playing with, but she really likes things that make music. I’d say her absolute favorite is a musical card that Jenson got for his birthday – Jake and the Neverland Pirates. She dances and laughs when its playing. She’s pretty happy with anything she can put in her mouth too.
–Aggressive kisses. Not only are her kisses rather forceful and open mouth, she often does an almost angry “AAHHH” sound along with it when she’s kissing a stuffed animal. She’s just mocking my “mwah” sound that I do when I tell her to kiss her baby or stuffed animals, but it’s still hilarious.

Dislikes:
–Taking things from her that she was playing with or chewing on
–Waiting to eat once she’s in the chair
–Being held instead of crawling around
–Sleeping. She just doesn’t like doing it for more than 2 hours at a time.

Sibling Rivalry:
She LOVES Jenson. She watches him constantly and all he has to do is talk to her and she’s happy. She tries to get to him and play with him. Jenson loves her and will play with her and talk to her, but he does (often) take her toys and he gets mad when she’s trying to get his snacks or get to something he’s playing with. They are really starting to play so well together and he is generally gentle with her.

Sounds and Words:
–Big belly laughs
–Loud, girly screeches. So loud. I guarantee my hearing has gotten worse this year just because of her screaming.
–Words: mama, dada, boof, papap, papaw, Jenson, baby
–expressive faces and scrunchy nose when she’s really happy
–mocking sounds, like Mwah (for kisses), but hers is AAHHHH!

Special events:
–Jenson’s birthday party: She was SO good! I was so busy and she did letting others hold her and not fussing for me.
–Fire Station Open House
–Fall farm activities
–Zoo
–Meeting Curious George at a local bookstore
–Apple Picking
–Halloween events and trick or treat. She was a pink flamingo, but went as an aerobics instructor to a party because her costume hadn’t arrived.