Harvest time!

Ok, so its really "planting time" and its about that time of the year when the tiller gets a workout. I've had at least some semblance of a garden for the last 10+ years. This year is going to be a little more challenging. Shonna and I have decided that we are going to try and make as much of Scarlett's food as possible. I have decided that I'm going to try and grow some of that food including veggies that I have never attempted to grow before (butternut squash and eggplant among others). I have A LOT of work ahead of me... so remember things like this, Scarlett, when you are a teenager and you like totally hate your parents :)

Scarlett is now approaching 5 months, and in 5-6 short weeks she will have her first taste of "solid" food. Yes I realize that the garden stuff won't be ready for months, but its not my fault that the sun doesn't move north fast enough...

I can't believe its almost been 5 months already. People have constantly said that time goes by in a flash, but 5 months ago it didn't seem like it would. Well... it was just yesterday that Scarlett was 7lbs and sleeping with me on the couch, so now I understand. She also giggles daily, constantly attempts to do crunches, appears to be a righty, and is learning the mechanics of crawling and standing. I assume she will crawl first, but she puts much more effort into standing. We will keep you posted.

Scarlett has gone through a few changes lately, which means we have had to make some adjustments in our habits. In addition to the list above, she is learning to move and has the power to make it happen QUICKLY. She has always "piked" and rolled, but has recently added the jerking "arch", so she is well on her way to swimming the butterfly or becoming a mermaid. We can no longer leave her unattended on the couch because she could easily fly off. We have to grip her much tighter when we hold her. By the end of the week, we will no longer be able to place her tub across the kitchen sink when bathing her. We will be moving the baby tub into the adult tub from here on out.

I can't believe the time, so thats it for now. I still have to add details on how Scarlett got us sick.

Next up- The First Easter, then 5 months

Week 19: 4 month check up

The post is a little late this week because it has been pretty hectic. The week started off with Scarlett spitting up A LOT -- enough that her daycare provider mentioned it too. We thought something might be wrong, but she was still smiling all of the time and otherwise acting normal, although she did have a small fever one of those days. By Friday, Paul showed up at Scarlett's 4 month well visit feeling pretty sick. He thought it was just from taking vitamins on an empty stomach, but it didn't go away. By the time we got home, he had decided he was officially sick. Keep in mind that I think Paul has only been sick once since I've known him and it was about 4 years ago. By 2 AM, I was also sick. We both seem to have had some sort of evil stomach bug. The big problem was that I had to work all weekend, so sick Paul was home with baby and sick Shonna was stuck at work. No good for either of us! We aren't sure if she was sick before and just the best behaved baby ever or if we still have to worry about her coming down with what we had. She seems like her gums may be bothering her, but otherwise she has been the same old happy Scarlett.

Her doctor's appointment went pretty well. She is very healthy -- up to 14 lbs even! They were impressed with her weight gain. All of the milestones they mentioned (e.g., belly laugh, rolling over) she hit 6-8 weeks ago, so she seems to be on track. We've noticed that she might have started teething and the doctor confirmed that it might be possible at this age. She was still about 24 3/4". They said she was up to 60th percentile in weight, 75th in height, and 25th(?!?) in head. I could have sworn they said 75th for head last time, so we're going to have to check on that.

I have to work again this weekend, so Paul and Scarlett may end up going to Baltimore to see some of his family. My friends were in town on Thursday and Friday last week so I really feel like I haven't spent much quality time with Paul and Scarlett in ages! We did get some nice long walks in last week though. The weather was gorgeous so we've been trying to walk/jog to daycare to pick her up and then go for a walk afterwards as a family. On Wednesday we did about 7 miles -- it was really nice. Hopefully we will still be able to get out a little bit this week despite my work schedule and all of Paul's meetings (and a hockey game!).

Week 18: Baby's first bridal shower

Scarlett went to her very first bridal shower today! Auntie Corinne is getting married in May so we headed out to Accokeek to the bridal shower. The timing was such that we had to wake Scarlett up from her nap to get in the car, which seemed to confuse her. For once she didn't go to sleep in her car seat (after all, we woke her up, so it must be time to be awake) so she got very little nap. There were lots of little kids there so Scarlett was pretty excited until she hit a little wall. She actually got a little bit cranky and even fell asleep in my arms in the middle of all of it for 10 or 15 minutes. She must have been really tired to miss out on the action! It was a lot of fun and wonderful to see so many old friends and wish Corinne well in her upcoming marriage but by the time we got home, Scarlett and I were both pretty tired! We each took a nap for about an hour and a half!

This weekend, Scarlett continued her trend of sleeping in a little on Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday she slept until about 8:45 am as opposed to her usual 7 or 7:30. Today she slept until 9:25! Well, it would have been 9:25 if it weren't for daylight savings time (which the whole family forgot about!), so it was really 10:25! Needless to say, she has been a little off all day because of it and didn't really go to sleep until midnight tonight. Keep your fingers crossed for us tomorrow!

Scarlett has really been putting on a lot of weight. She has filled out a lot in the past few weeks and is over 13 1/2 pounds now. She has taken to sticking her tongue out all of the time again but "flying" and bouncing in her jumperoo are really her favorite activities. She has a few little issues that we need to ask the doctor about on Friday during her 4 month well visit... She has gotten a few little bumps under her right eye and she seems to favor her right leg over her left, especially when she bounces. It could just be because she leans to one side, but we want to make sure she is okay.

In other news, my mom (Nonni) is going to be coming out here for a visit April 13-17th! We are very excited that she will get to see Scarlett again. Paul and I may go on our first date since the last time my mom was here in early December!

This week begins my two consecutive weeks of working weekends. I don't mind it much, but I know the time away from Scarlett is going to be pretty tough. Trying to cram a whole day worth of bonding into a nighttime routine is pretty difficult. We also have friends coming to stay with us for a few days this week, which will be great, but it also means I won't have much alone time with her at all. It's funny how much those little moments alone with her are worth so much to me. Just the little gazes and interactions back and forth... she is growing so fast and I don't want to miss it! I really enjoy working but sometimes it is hard to get back from a long day and still give her the amount of energy she deserves. Of course it is also hard to give work the amount of energy it deserves! I guess I will feel like I'm doing one of those jobs to the best of my ability in another 18 years or so?? :)

Week 17: 4 months old and warm weather hitting!

Scarlett will be 4 months old tomorrow. It has gone by SO quickly. I see babies who are only a little older than her sitting up and looking quite child-like, so I know she will be doing all of that before we know it. We got her a jumperoo last week and finally got around to putting it together this weekend. She LOVES it!!! She looks so proud of herself when she is in it. She bounces (with the assistance of a tray under her feet -- she isn't quite tall enough on her own yet) and swings and hits the toys. She smiles really big and looks around at the room and the little stuffed animals that hang down. We have taken a few video clips of it. She usually moves around more when the camera isn't on, but we did what we could to get some of the action. We had a little bit of sleep trouble for a few days this week where she was going to bed at 9 but then getting up from 10-11:20pm. It seems to have corresponded with a growth spurt where she was eating a lot those days (well over 30 ounces). The past two nights have been back to business as usual though and her feedings have slowed down again, so we may be through it. We were starting to think we had gotten into some accidental parenting! This weekend we did our usual errand running, visited with a few friends (Scott & Dave), and packed up all of her 0-3 month clothes. We are lucky that she was in them as long as she was, but it still seems like she outgrows things really quickly. She will be out of her #1 diapers by the end of the week. She is continuing to laugh more and more; in fact, today Paul was finally able to get her to laugh! I think it was starting to hurt his ego that she wouldn't laugh for him, so I'm glad he finally broke her! We are really excited that the weather is reaching the 60s finally because we can't wait to get out more with her. In a few months we will be able to hit the parks!