Miss Marlo: 11 Months!

On Marlo's 11 month birthday, we went to her friend Magnus's 1st birthday party.  We dressed her up in this crazy adorable Baby Boden dress from her Nonni + matching mama stripes.  

At 11 months, Marlo loves to wave to every person and animal she encounters.  She climbs UP the ramp part of the slide on the playground!  I know the pictures aboive are blurry, but they are most representative of her right now since she's moving so much.  She's all about her push cart/walker--she LOVES that thing.  She look so proud and walks all around with it.  One morning, she melted our hearts by clapping when her papa and I kissed.  She's fascinated with hardware like hinges, locks, and  door jambs.    She points out dogs and yells, "Dah!"  She says, "Mama!"  She says "Ba-Bye."  She clearly signs for "more" and "diaper" (although at this point, sometimes the diaper is a false alarm).  She uses a fork and spoon (when loaded by us and handed to her).  FORTUNATELY, she's sleeping for longer stretches, typically waking about 2 times per night.  As co-sleepers who are hoping to avoid sleep training, that's good news for us!  She now helps put away some of the things she loves to pull down like books, records, toys.  

And most sweet, is that she's a huge nuzzler and snuggler.  She leans in and nuzzles, and presses her face against other babes, the cats, and us.  She can also pat too hard, which looks like a slap!  We're doing our best to teach her to be gentle.  Marlo snuggles for everyone!   

Miss Marlo: 10 Months!

Marlo's first birthday is Tuesday so I'm trying to catch up on these (FIRST BIRTHDAY already!!!).  At ten months, Marlo's all about crawling on her hands and knees, standing, climbing stairs (up, up, up, the on belly and feet first to go down!), clapping, taking steps with a push walker, and going through the tunnel at Recess!  

In these pictures, she's wearing a vintage onesie from 1980--it used to be her papa's!  Below, she's chewing on my bookmark.  You can still see her sweet ankle rolls, but they're starting to shrink with all of her mobility.  Baby's a mover and a shaker!

                   

2 Year Wedding Anniversary: First Dance

Our two year wedding anniversary was March 4th!  Here are some pics from my one of my favorite moments:  our first dance to this song. 

If heaven is like in the film Afterlife, where you just relive your favorite memory over and over, this one would be a strong contender.

Two years ago, I was hope hope hoping we'd have a baby by this time.  She's more incredible than I could have imagined.  She must have spent a long time thinking about what to get us for our anniversary.  On that day, she began signing for the first time!  "More."  More of ALL of this, yes please.

Miss Marlo: 9 Months!

       

        

        
She looks SO much like her papa in this one!

        

As as an English teacher/mama, this picture of her at the library is my dream come true.

MissLady just started pulling herself up to standing.  She's only done it a handful of times so far so I hope it continues.  She also crawled on her hands and knees for a very short distance today, but I'm counting it.  She's on the move so much now.  A few days ago, she started trying to climb our stairs!  She even wakes up in the middle of the night and starts rolling and crawling around, trying out all of her new skills.  I don't try to hurry her back to sleep, so far it's worked out where I can half sleep while she's partying, then nurse her back to sleep when she's ready.  

We had her 9 month check up and she's doing great.  I feel very lucky that we like our pediatrician so much.  She pointed out that Marlo's two front top teeth are coming in and that makes sense because the baby's been noticeably more irritable lately.  We'll get through it, little sweetie.

Miss Marlo: 8 Months!

        

By eight months, Marlo started crawling!  She began with a combo of the yogas pose "cobra" and an army crawl--dragging herself forward on her belly with outstretched open palms.  It happened when my BFF was visiting us and felt extra special.  Now she does a full army crawl and booty scootch.  Not crawling on her hands and knees yet, but not even sure if that will happen since all babies crawl differently.  She's also pulling herself up onto her knees by grabbing onto furniture or other things.   

She finally cut her first teeth!  The bottom right was first and the bottom left followed a few days after.   

Here's Marlo at Recess.  Note the small red mark on her forehead from being more mobile and falling.  That's what these days are all about lately.  On this day, she had discovered that stop sign was on a hinge and kept swinging it back and forth.  We've been going to Recess several times a week.  I like taking her from 4-6 pm.  She'd typically be bored at home, but gets to explore and watch or play with other babes.  I get to chat with adults, too, so it's a win win.

BabyButt Sunday

Was there a football game yesterday?  We went to the Academy of Sciences where we some some penguins, and checked out the exhibit on Africa.  Marlo stood for quite awhile (I placed her there--she's still working on regularly pulling herself up), then cried because she couldn't get down. :)

We just became members.  It's great with the baby since we can go back anytime and there's no pressure to see everything in one day.

We tried to take her to the planetarium, but learned it's only for 4 years & up!  Papa went while Marlo and I looked at the animals.  Maybe I'll go next time.  I want to learn about dark matter and dark energy, too!

I have a confession.  After the museum, the baby was napping so we drove to In 'N Out in Daly City.  Eric went in and ordered and so as not to wake the baby, we decided to let the car run the whole time.  Ironically, there's no such thing as getting in and out of In 'N out quickly, so the car running for probably a good 20 minutes.  And it worked!  The baby stayed asleep and we were able to enjoy our food.  We were not kind to the environment, but the burgers were so tasty.  Worst part: would I do it again?  Yes.    

Miss Marlo: 7 Months!

Trying to catch up on these while the babe naps!  I finally put her in a swing at the park and she LOVED it!  HUGE hit.  Now we try to go every day.

         

I love these pink moccasins, which were a gift from another mama friend.  Pink moccasins + monkey bum = win. 

Here's my delicious babe inspecting the flower on her swimsuit just before her last swim lesson at the Janet Pomeroy Recreation and Rehabilitation Center.  They have a saltwater pool, so no chlorine, and we very much enjoyed the lessons!  We sang and "danced" with other babies in the pool and it did wonders for accustoming Marlo to the water.  We're going to sign back up again in March (didn't want to go swimming in Jan & Feb, although it's been warmer in SF Dec & Jan than in Aug!).  

That tote is from this podcast.  My mamafriend told me about a meet up at Zeitgeist to chat with Cristen.  So we went with other fans of the show and had drinks--my first beer with a ladyfriend outside of the house, post-baby!  It was great and Cristen is, of course, funny.  

                      
Marlo and Eric in Hilton Head, SC, for Thanksgiving.  She had just learned how to wave so there she is looking unsure about it.  :)

Seven months was a pretty exciting time!  Marlo learned how to drink from a tiny, normal cup.  On the advice of a child specialist, we used a shot glass because it was just her size and wouldn't break if thrown.  We've since graduated to small, normal glasses.  I didn't know she was old enough to learn that, but the specialist encouraged us to try and she's become an old pro.

Marlo began trying to crawl and would rotate 360 degrees on her belly.

She began "talking" quite a bit more, especially the word "ball."  I'm still not sure if she's intentionally saying it, but when it's obvious we can count it as her first word.

At 7 months, baby girl began exaggerating her moods.  She's always been smiley, but now she'll definitely let you know that she no longer enjoys diaper changes.  Fake cries, as I call them, or big cries without tears made their appearance.  We try to stay calm and reassuring, while not making too big of a deal of it.  Finding that balance can be a challenge.  Hello parenting!  :D

Finally, a huge family change was we moved!  We're now in a beautiful home in Potrero Hill, where it's MUCH warmer and sunnier!  We also have many more conveniences in our home that we didn't have in our NOPA apartment, like parking, laundry, a heater we control, and no steps (before we were up 3 flights of stairs)!  I'm building up a great community of mamafriends in the city and our parking space allows us to visit our friends in the east bay more.  I am SO much happier and am finally beginning to be able to see ourselves staying here for awhile.  

Miss Marlo: 6 Months!

        

Six months is a big milestone to reach.  Sweetie has started eating real food!  She started swimming lessons!  She can go in a jogging stroller (though we have yet to purchase one)!  She's sitting up more by herself lately, not for too long, but each day she gets stronger and stronger.

She still loves baby rhyme time at the public libraries and we're still making the rounds.  Her favorite is Jim at the main library.  The man is so great with the babies and deserves his own children's show!  Marlo loves the song in Spanish where we walk, hop, and run (caminando, salta, corre).  I still love watching her watch scarves blow in the wind.  Her face really does light up.

We're trying out baby led weaning with her, and so far so good!  It is so impressive--her first food has been carrots and she just eats sliced, steamed carrots, even though she doesn't have teeth yet.  We're going to try steamed broccoli next.  The book on it has these wild pictures of other babies chomping away at foods I would have never guessed babies could eat on their own, like broccoli stalks, raw apples, and bread.

On her 6 month birthday, we went to the doctor and we're always thankful when we hear that all's great and baby's healthy.  Poor sweetie got 4 shots that day--it pains me to type that, but she still seemed in good spirits so we went to her second swim lesson later that day.  She did great and is already so much more comfortable in the water!  During her bath that evening, she rested and floated on her back for the first time without trying to arch and keep her ears out of the water.  It's so cool to see her adapt so quickly!

Update: 1 week later and she's conquering so many new skills! She sits up for extended periods of time now and even kicked the soccer ball back and forth with me! And by luck, I mean tapped and pushed with her foot.  My new favorite thing is how she reaches her little arm out of the carrier to grab things now.  It surprised me so much the first time!

Baby Rhyme Time

 

Baby Rhyme Time is a free music class offered at the local libraries in SF.  Marlo loves songs so we are the Baby Rhyme Time groupies over here.  We make the rounds and check out different libraries each week, depending on our schedule.  There's an open play time after singing and now that Marlo's sitting up all on her own, we've been staying (she used to get crawled on by the other mobile babes!).  Two weeks ago, we went to the Eureka Valley branch by 16th and Market, which I'd driven by a million times and never realized was a library!  It was such a beautiful November day that they held it outside and here's Marlo chomping on some soft blocks in the sunshine during play time.  We tried to go back this week in the rain, but it was cancelled because the librarian was sick.  After Thanksgiving, you'll see us back on the circuit.  

I'm really trying to work on getting Marlo more comfortable around folks who are not her mama or papa.  I hope activities like this are helping and, of course, we just love going to the libraries.

Hott husband

My husband is hott, no joke.  He's even hotter when rocking a 3-piece suit and baby carrier! I can't get enough of these pics of him in his suit, taking care of our baby.  These are from our friends' beautiful wedding this weekend at the Palace of Fine Arts (and reception on a ship!).

Mama Do

Chopped off my hair and it feels great!  Went to my hairdresser with my usual pics of Cat Deeley (that woman rocks long layers) and then decided last minute to be brave and go for a longish bob.  I still have fantasies about going with a shorter pixie, but this is a good transition for now.  Plus, I know from experience that pixie cuts make for cold ears during winter.  Anyhow, so much time is saved with washing, combing, and styling, even though I can do most of my same long hair styles from before.  I'm really glad my hairdresser encouraged me to cut more off--it feels so much better!

Marlo's First Halloween

Yes we can, Y'all.

Marlo and me as Rosie the Riveter:  Marlo thinks strong women are no laughing matter.  

Happy Halloween!  Tonight we're going to a neighborhood block party and Marlo and I are entering the costume contest.  As always, I'm looking forward to seeing all the cute littles in their costumes!

Good morning, soccer baby

At tumetime, I learned that Marlo loves playing with shiny soccer balls.  She gets so excited at the spinning ball and reflections.  In fact, this morning she rolled from her back to her tummy two times in a row in order to get the soccer ball and she'd only ever done that one time before, probably two months ago!  I figured she needed incentive, but it's been tricky figuring out what would do the trick!  Her papa was the soccer captain in high school; he's so proud.  I can't wait for the day (if Marlo wants to play) when he gets to coach her little soccer team!

P.S.  Check out this amazing baby quilt that my foreverfriend from AmeriCorps, Emily, made us!  Marlo loves looking at and feeling the different fabrics.  The letters are hand-stamped and one of square reads, "OHM."  E-Boss knows me so well.  :D

5 Months: Miss Marlo

(I'm late posting, but these pictures are from her 5 month birthday a few weeks ago, September 29th.)

Five months, she's such a big girl now!  At five months, Marlo absolutely loves songs and dancing.    I try to take her to Baby Rhyme Time a few times a week at the local libraries because she loves it so much.  It's also nice to see the different libraries around the city.  So far, the best one has been at the main library.  The man who led it was so animated and he taught me that Marlo's fascinated by scarves blowing in the wind.

Yesterday at Duboce Park, I took out a scarf and let it blow in the wind while Marlo was lying on a blanket on the grass.  It was the greatest thing; she just started laughing and smiling so big while she watched the polka dots flap in the wind.  She laughs a lot, usually me or Eric when we're being silly and singing, trying to make her laugh.  But this was different.  It was really an amazing moment to see her experiencing such joy through simple things in the world.

On this note, other things that babe is into right now:  peek-a-boo; Whitney Houston's, "How will I know?"  That songs gets her to smile so big!; her feet!  She just discovered these a few weeks ago and when I walk into the room, I often find her studying her feet (or hands); the cats!  She's much more aware of Blue and Bell and gets so excited when she pets them.  She grabs clumps of their hair and luckily, they are patient with her.  We are trying to teach her to be gentle and have added it's sign to the ones we use daily.  It's funny that the sign for gentle is stroking the back of your hand with your other hand--just like petting a kitty; and rolling over!  She's gotten pretty good at rolling from her tummy to her back.  If one side doesn't work for whatever reason, she'll try the other until mission accomplished. As for rolling from her back to her tummy, I know she can do it, but it's been more than a month since I've seen it!  Sneaky girl.

Another thing that's new is teething.  Poor sweetie's been a little more fussy lately and needing to constantly chew on things.  She's been waking up much more frequently at night to nurse.  I'm fine with it and want to sooth her as best as I can.  However, I also worry that I'm getting her so accustomed to nursing that she won't learn how to sleep on her own.  How do I balance that with taking into account that she's teething?  She's still so young and it doesn't feel right to let her "cry it out."  Although, I don't know if it ever feels right for parents--most I've talked to about it really struggle with it, but they do it because they need to.  Her 6 month check up at the pediatrician is in a few weeks so my plan is to wait it out and ask then.

I think I saw this quote somewhere recently, but I hope there's some truth to it:  "Behind every great kid is a mom who's sure she's screwing it up."

Happy baby pose

It's so sweet that she's doing this now.  Having discovered her feet, she tries to put them in her mouth.  But it's a no go.  Poor baby.  Her papa and I gifted her tight hamstrings!  When the time comes, I can teach her how to do modified downward dog for those tight hammies by bending her knees.  For now, I'll take all her happy babies and hope they never stop.

Babysitters Club 90s overalls

I picked up these sweet, 90s Express floral overalls in the Mission last week.  They were in front of a vintage store in a trunk where everything was $5.  I hemmed and hawed, going back and forth about whether or not to get them.  They're bad, but in a good way.  I walked away and then went back after realizing that I could basically spend that much on a cup of coffee.  Now, the soft rayon and loose, forgiving style make it my new favorite thing to throw on.   Good thing I don't own a scrunchie because that would just be over the top, although this outfit is pretty much there anyway.  

Flying lessons

Marlo absolutely loves flying.  She cracks up when we do this so I love it.  Plus, i think all the rocking is good strengthening for my core. :)

Also, check out baby MJ's Jock Jams/Space Jams outfit from her auntie.  Baby jocks are the best kind.

4 Months: Miss Marlo

I'm a bit late in this post because we've just had a fun-filled, busy stretch of traveling with loads of folks meeting Marlo for the first time.  In the past two weeks, we've been "bamping" (camping with babies!), flown to San Diego, and flown to Austin.  All of this travel and exposure to new people has worked wonders for Marlo's stranger danger.  On our trips, she was so much more comfortable around others and it was a big relief for me.  I also learned to wait to have people hold her until she's been around them for a good hour or two.  This paid off and by the end of Austin, we could hand her off to folks within just a few minutes.  She was even cracking up with new folks when before I'd only seen her laugh hard with me or Eric.  And that laugh is what I live for! 

At four months, sweetie is so engaged with the world around her.  She's figuring out how her body works--occasionally rolling and this week she discovered her feet!  She tries to put her pacifier in her mouth using all fingers and putting it in backwards.  She's digging tummy time more and can be on her belly for longer periods of time now.  She likes to pet the kitties by grasping their fur and is just into exploring different textures in general.  She'll scratch her crib sheets, diaper bag, and anything else that has a different feel.  And baby girl just keeps growing and getting bigger and bigger!  She's so long now that her little feet push against the diaper bag when we go for walks in her stroller.  It seems like she's going to outgrow her carseat pretty soon when I thought it would last us least a year.  She's bigger than babes that are twice as old!  People are always shocked when I tell them how old she is.

I swear her pediatrician told us she's as healthy as can be and to just keep feeding her on demand for now.  I'm so grateful, but sometimes I second guess when I see that she's bigger than babies who are walking!   If I can just learn to stop comparing, I think parenting will a whole lot smoother--I need a mantra to repeat to myself every time I'm tempted to compare my baby or myself to others.  :)  I think her doctor's words will do for now, "She's perfect."   

This romper + ankle rolls are my fav

These tiny pink and purple cartoon ponies are too sweet!!  Marlo has her Nonni to thank for a whole batch of new, adorable clothes that came just in time as she's already outgrowing much of her 6 months wardrobe.

Today I woke up with Eric's sore throat so we took it easy.  We did manage to go on a walk for lunch with Papa at Herbivore.  We read some books, did some baby stretches, and walked to the Whole Foods on Haight to track down our favorite summer beer.  I may be imagining this, but I swear Marlo is beginning to turn the pages of her board books for me.  Mama's little reader loves story time and I love it.