Hawaii

Violet and I just returned from Hawaii where we were visiting my friend Jenee and her family.  The flight over was a bit of a nightmare but Violet did great on the rest of the trip and the return flight home. 

Violet went in the ocean for the first time and hung out on the sand. She was mostly interested in playing with sticks and eating sand. 

She refused to sleep at the beach but was definitely exhausted afterwards.

Violet did great at Jenee's house.  She loved all the pets and Jenee's parents too.  Mom loved the baby jail we borrowed.

 Violet especially loved Jenee's dog Zoe who was just the right height for french kisses through the cage.

We both had a great time and I was sad to leave.  As Jenee pointed out, next time she sees us Violet will be walking and talking.

And here's one from before the trip just to show how much Violet loves blueberries.

And just looking super cute rocking her baby legs.

8 months!

Violet turned 8 months old yesterday. I can hardly believe it. She looks more and more like a little girl every day and less like a baby. We didn't get too many pictures with the 8 month sticker on because Violet started to eat it.

No more pics with the sticker mom!

Developmentally, she is changing almost every day. She knows her name, the word "no", and she will sometimes come when called. She crawls everywhere now and pulls herself to standing constantly. She even is starting to let go to what she is holding on to and stand for a couple of seconds.

One day last week she woke up and started babbling "ba ba ba ba" and didn't stop. She thinks she's talking. It's really loud (i.e. annoying) and usually punctuated by a scream. I swear it seems like she's going to bust out with "Redrum, redrum" from The Shining.

She really enjoys playing with dad--he makes the pillow attack her and she attacks back. It's super cute. She is going through a separation anxiety phase though where she only wants to be held by me if I'm around and she cries every time I leave the room or even set her down. It's a little hard on me and everyone else that takes care of her.

She's got a great sleep and nap schedule down for right now. She sleeps from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., usually waking once overnight. She takes two big two hour naps during the day. Most importantly, she is crib trained, which means she doesn't have to nap on mom and no one has to wear her to induce sleep. The 6 a.m. wake up is a killer but beggars can't be choosers.

In exactly one week, Violet and I head to Hawaii to visit Jenee--Violet's first foray into travel. We also are trying out a new pediatrician this week with a smaller office. And next month is Halloween. We just bought her costume but for now it's a surprise. I wanted her to be a "Zombie Baby" but shockingly there were no costumes like that on the market.

She's coming for you!

New pictures!

Violet and I were lucky enough to have some pictures taken by a fellow mommy (Jennifer Christensen) with a baby the same age of Violet. Jennifer had a studio in the front room of her house with tons of props just for babies. We had so much fun picking out what tutu we wanted from the wall of tutus. Violet refused to sit still so we put her in the bath tub!

This week Violet gets to try applesauce. I think it'll be a bigger hit than the peas were. We've been having to mix the peas with other vegetables to get her to eat them. She's truly her mother's daughter.

Violet hates peas

The videos really speak for themselves.

She's really mad in the second one. She tries to hit me when I give her the peas.

7 months!

Well 7 months of age brings a whole new Violet.  She is crawling with finesse.  She is getting into everything.  You have to constantly be watching her.  She puts everything in her mouth.  Trying to get good pictures was close to impossible mostly because she wouldn't sit still.

We took her back to the park and this time she really enjoyed the baby swing.

She was unsure about the slide.

On the food front, I actually baked a squash for her (yes, I actually cooked something) and pureed it into baby food.  It looks like she likes squash!

Milestones!

This was a big week for Violet!  She learned to crawl, learned to pull herself up to standing, and last night she slept 12 hours.  That's a lot of changes for one week.  The 12 hour sleep was from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. so I wouldn't mind it being shifted later by two hours, but beggars can't be choosers.

Now that she can sit and crawl, she can entertain herself for a while with toys without constant interaction which is really nice.  She still wants you close by but you don't have to be holding her.  It means you can actually eat a sandwich while she plays, or check your email.  Just don't try to leave the room to go to the bathroom!

Here's some crawling videos:

Faceplant @23 secs:

She also tried sweet potato yesterday to a lukewarm reception.  She likes carrots better for sure.
Coming up next: Violet turns 7 months and we travel to Oahu next month to visit Jenee.  She's got her own seat, but I dread officially being "that person" who brings a baby on a plane.

Solids!

Violet started solids this month.  It's been fun trying to feed her.  Only about half of it makes it into her mouth.  The other half gets everywhere else--even in her hair.

Yummy rice cereal.

Eating carrots for the first time.

She is definitely more mobile and is working on crawling and pulling herself up to standing.  She has mastered sitting up.

We've been enjoying the summer.  The weather has been great.