Sitting, Bananas, Squash, and Family

Scarlett has been making big strides! She continues to sit for longer and longer periods of time. She has graduated from rice cereal and has moved on to bananas and butternut squash. Paul and I have started making up her baby food in bulk and freezing it. It's pretty easy and we really like that we know what is going into her little belly. We're giving her the same food for 4 days straight before introducing a new one. Next on the list is avocado, sweet potatoes, and acorn squash. Last Sunday night we got to see Simon, Toby, Luke, and Michael while they were in town. It was crazy to see Luke (about 16 months old) because he was about Scarlett's age the last time we saw him and now he is a little person! It's hard to believe that in less than a year Scarlett will be doing all the things that Luke is doing now. Sunday we also started Scarlett on bananas. She seemed to like them better than the rice cereal... especially by the 3rd day when they were very ripe and thus very sweet! Then she was slurping them up and looking for more. The biggest problem in trying to feed her real food is that if you give her eye contact (especially any praise), she smiles and sticks her tongue out and whatever food is on it slides right off. The whole thing is pretty cute and very funny, which makes us laugh and her do it more. I've had to stop looking at her while I feed her. She seems to like the butternut squash, but it is much thicker, so she doesn't eat as much of it as she did the rice cereal or bananas.

Paul's mom and uncle Happy came into town this week for Flossy's 92nd birthday. Saturday we went up to have lunch, dinner, and spend the night so everyone could see Scarlett and celebrate Flossy's birthday together. It was great to see Scarlett with her Nana and she got a huge kick out of uncle Happy. She seemed to really like his voice. It took Scarlett a long time to go to sleep in the pack and play. It's a lot less firm than her crib mattress at home and she also seemed to wake up a bit more easily (it sort of sways when she rolls over). She also woke up when I coughed since the pack and play was at the foot of our bed so the rest of the night I had to try to muffle my coughs in the covers to not wake her up. It was sort of a long night! Today she hasn't slept much at all (about 1 1/2 hours compared to her normal 5) and has been a little more bipolar than usual! It makes me worry about leaving her with Paul's aunt when we go to Corinne's wedding in a couple of weeks. I would hate for our normally very easy baby to terrorize them for 3 days!

Crawling seems to be in our near future. Scarlett pushes herself all the way up when she is on her belly and in the last week she has started being able to get her knees under her and push. She also gets her butt up into the air and pushes over to her side. If she can get those two moves to happen simultaneously, it's all over!



Uh oh. Time to get serious! Reality is setting in and Scarlett is about to get to a point where her movements are out of our control. Up until now we have had the ability to know exactly where she would be when we stepped out of the room. We actually have to be more careful now. Stop growing up Scarlett! We really do love it, but at least slow down a little???

Like Shonna said earlier, Scarlett's sleeping pattern has started to change, and not just in the pack-and-play. When we go on these trips, she seems to sleep 20-30 min where at home she would be out for 2 hours. The strange thing is she acts like she just had a full nap. Wide awake, full of energy and smiles. She doesn't make up for it during the next nap, its just as if everything was normal. At home, she has started to fuss a little more when we put her down for the night. She is so excited about her ability to move that all she wants to do is attempt crawl, stand, or jump. The last thing she wants is to lose all of that time by having to sleep! In addition, I believe she is at the beginning of the "manipulation stage". She is starting to cry a little when we leave the room, and is all smiles when we return. Shonna and I just look at each other and say "oh no here we go". Don't worry, I work in IT and live in the middle of DC politics, so I'm used to game playing! Concerning IT, where the act can be conniving or at the very least self-promoting, I may play dumb, and the person will have no clue that I know they are full of it. On the other hand, if I call them out, 95% of the time they will attempt to deny and become defensive. So whats the right way to go about it? Not sure the exact answer. All I can do is be true to myself and take the moral and ethical high ground. Concerning a beautiful baby girl who is simply trying to get attention? I just might have to give in!!! :) It will be virtually impossible to keep from running to her every time she cries- no matter how manipulating it might be, but I'll try to stop myself... with Shonna's assistance of course. I would love to just say "nice try Scarlett" but I have a feeling that won't work.

Well, next weekend is the beginning of Shonna's birthday week (which is actually this weekend because we are a week late hitting send on this version of our blog), followed by Scarlett's 6 month b-day on the 8th, followed by SHONNA'S FIRST REAL MOTHERS DAY.

First bites, Aquarium, and Nonni's visit

This week we tried to give Scarlett "solid" food for the first time... rice cereal. My mom got into town on Tuesday so on Wednesday we decided to give her a show! First of all, Scarlett loves her high chair. She seems to love sitting straight up "on her own." She did quite well with her first feeding. She opened her mouth for the spoon and sort of chewed it. The first half came out a lot but she got much better at the end. In subsequent feedings she has seemed a little bored with the whole thing -- definitely not as exciting as it was at first! We plan to try her on yams this week and then bananas next. On Thursday we went to the Baltimore aquarium and met up with my Uncle Ray and Aunt Glenda. We had a very nice time. Scarlett loved the coral reef exhibit because the fish were more colorful and moved faster. She didn't seem to really grasp the dolphin show. Scarlett and her Nonni got a long really well! They got some good alone time while Paul and I went out to a happy hour and had our first date in 4 months (since the last time my mom was here). It was wonderful to see them together -- lots of laughing and cuddling. We dropped my mom off at the airport yesterday afternoon. Very sad but hopefully she will get to see her again this summer. Yesterday Paul went on a man date with Dave to the Capitals play off game. While he was gone Scarlett sat up for what I would call her first time. She has been sitting for short periods of about a few seconds at a time or longer times if she is sort of collapsed forward but last night she actually sat with her torso pulled up on my lap for about a minute. She is changing so fast! Such a big girl now! The three of us have a pretty bad cold and lots of congestion, which we will hopefully shake in the next few days. Paul's mom gets into town this week so Scarlett will get some more grandmother time. It's been a big month!

5 months old!

Scarlett hit the 5 month mark on Thursday! She is trying to sit up still and can now balance herself in the seated position for a few seconds at a time. She has turned into the little social butterfly lately (possibly because her parents have been dragging her to every social situation you can think of... 2 Easter gatherings, Sequoia for dinner, JT's for dinner Friday 4/9, and a new coffee/wine bar in Clarendon late afternoon Saturday after Shonna and Claire had their 2 hr walk. Oh yea, and we walked to Rockland's BBQ last week. Phew. Sorry Scarlett! As unbelievable as it sounds, the only reason we can do all of these things is because Scarlett is amazing. She loves performing in front of a crowd and folks take notice. The first thing people comment on is how happy she is because she is constantly grinning from ear to ear. They then observe that Scarlett makes eye contact with EVERYONE not just her parents. I can't tell you how many comments we get from complete strangers regarding her demeanor and awareness. And the folks in restaurants only get to see half of it! Luckily friends and family get to witness ALL of her entertaining qualities. Over the past week, I believe Scarlett made the biggest impression on my cousin Amanda, JT's "father-in-law", and Dottie's son Cade. Cade is unbelievable- and he is 8 or 9??? I can't remember. He brought Scarlett appropriate toys (how did he know?) and spent most of his time on his belly playing with her.

Anyway, it was a long 9 days starting Easter weekend, and Scarlett made it through without a fuss. I'm sure things won't always be this easy, but we have been blessed so far!

No, I'm not a proud father at all... :)

Scarlett's First Celebrity Sighting (and Easter...)

Scarlett will be 5 months old on Thursday! The weather has been beautiful this week so we have been trying to spend as much time outside as possible, which means lots of family walks. We went around the neighborhood on Wednesday and Thursday and then ventured down to Georgetown for dinner on Friday. While we were at the Georgetown Harbor, we saw Ben Stein! It was Scarlett's first official celebrity sighting. We had our camera and are now kicking ourselves for not stopping him :). Yesterday we went to Baltimore to see Paul's family for easter. First we saw Flossy (GiGi). We almost missed her because she thought we were going to be there today. When we got there her door was unlocked, her car was there, but there was no Flossy to be found. Paul was freaking out running around the house looking for her when he found out she thought it was Sunday and was out. Luckily, she came back shortly after and we were able to have our visit. Afterwards we went to Aunt Cathy's house and saw all of the cousins. Jennifer was up from school so they prepared a big Easter dinner. On our way back, we stopped at Dave's long enough to say hi and for Scarlett to blow out. Dave has that effect on her! She had only slept about an hour all day long (as opposed to her normal 5 hours), so by the time we were heading home, she was CRANKY. Actually crying and very upset. The only thing that seemed to calm her down was Paul and I singing to her very loudly. Over and over again. All the way home... So for 25 minutes we sang a stupid little song that I made up for her months ago over and over. Anyway, considering what a long day it had been for her, it could have been worse! Our trips to Baltimore always throw her off quite a bit. Today we went to Tracy's house to see everyone for Easter. On our way home we stopped and got Scarlett her first Easter basket (she likes chocolate... well, she likes that her parents like chocolate) and then tried to take a few low budget Easter pictures. The huge dress is courtesy of my mom (Nonni). It's a 3-6 month but still a little big on her, but we figured, when else will she wear it? In addition to her 5 month birthday, Thursday will be my first night away from her. I am flying to Atlanta for a conference. I'm going for 1 night instead of 4 because I didn't think I was ready to be away from her that long and I didn't want to throw out 5 days worth of breast milk. I know she will be totally fine with her daddy while I'm gone but I also know it is going to drive me crazy not to see her all day. She is right on the cusp of sitting up and I don't want to miss it!