Baby Giraffe: 8 month update
Hey there! It's been a while! Mr. G and I are enjoying a few extra days off work for the 4th of July (Independence Day) and there's nothing as sweet as extra family time at home these days.
I figured I'd do a baby update and then you guys can leave me questions in the comments section if there's something else you'd like to hear about :) Not sure how the comments section is behaving these days - comments should show up immediately (otherwise, they've been lost forever). You can always email me instead thegiraffelife AT gmail DOT com if that happens.
So anyway! Baby stuff! I mishmashed this format from a bunch of other blogs that do monthly updates on their kids, like Kelsey, Amber, and Becky.
Growth:
weight - 18 pounds, 11 ounces (8.5 kg) last week
height - 26 inches (66 cm) at 6 months
wearing - size 4 diapers and 12 month clothes
teeth - the bottom 2! They popped through in June.
Loves:
bouncing
swinging in the baby swing at the park
clapping (she can't quite do it herself yet)
pulling hair
walks in the stroller
looking at a mirror
dancing (being held while I sway, bounce, "dance" to music)
cats
water! pool, beach, bathtub, whatever. She splashes up a storm!
peek a boo (makes her laugh every time)
watching fish tanks
putting everything in her mouth
I LOVE seeing her smile and hearing her laugh. It's seriously THE BEST.
Dislikes:
something being taken away from her. (like when I turn around and see her trying to put my shoe in her mouth, bleh!)
diaper changes! She screams and wiggles away immediately when I put her on her back.
Eats:
Still nursing 7ish times a day plus eating solids. We skipped cereals and just give her table foods (sometimes called baby led weaning). So far she's enjoyed everything we've offered (pear, watermelon, potato, broccoli, beets, carrots, spinach, rice, macaroni and cheese, green beans, pizza crust, pancakes, peaches, yogurt, asparagus, pickle, plum) except banana. I'm not a huge fan of bananas either so I can't blame her!
Sleeps:
two naps a day, usually one in the morning and one in the afternoon
bedtime is around 6:00ish and she sleeps til about 3:00 - 4:00, eats and then sleeps again til about 5:30 - 6:30
This has been the toughest part of parenthood for me (other contenders: sending her to daycare and the first 8 weeks of breastfeeding). Baby girl was all about partying at night when she was brand new and was still eating 3-4 times at night til she was about 2 months old. She gradually phased that out and we've been at 1 night feeding since she was about 3 months old. Plus she puts herself to sleep now rather than one of us rocking her forever. THANK GOODNESS. I couldn't function with the crazy interrupted sleep - it made me so impatient, irritable, super hungry, and unable to think. My husband would tell me things and twenty minutes later, I'd have no recollection of the conversation at all. These days I'm not as well rested as I used to be, but I'm very close! :)
Firsts:
crawling! She is all over the place and it's hilarious to watch. Ordered some stuff on Amazon so we can start baby proofing things!
2 teeth in June
baths in the regular bath tub (we had her in a baby tub previously)
So exciting to watch! I also love the inexplicable pride I feel when she does something new (as in - I didn't teach her to roll over, but I definitely teared up when she did it the first time, ha!).
And . . I think that about covers it. Life is good! Can't wait to see what this month brings!
Any questions? :) How's life in your neck of the woods?
I figured I'd do a baby update and then you guys can leave me questions in the comments section if there's something else you'd like to hear about :) Not sure how the comments section is behaving these days - comments should show up immediately (otherwise, they've been lost forever). You can always email me instead thegiraffelife AT gmail DOT com if that happens.
So anyway! Baby stuff! I mishmashed this format from a bunch of other blogs that do monthly updates on their kids, like Kelsey, Amber, and Becky.
 |
| My yoga assistant |
Growth:
weight - 18 pounds, 11 ounces (8.5 kg) last week
height - 26 inches (66 cm) at 6 months
wearing - size 4 diapers and 12 month clothes
teeth - the bottom 2! They popped through in June.
Loves:
bouncing
swinging in the baby swing at the park
clapping (she can't quite do it herself yet)
pulling hair
walks in the stroller
looking at a mirror
dancing (being held while I sway, bounce, "dance" to music)
cats
water! pool, beach, bathtub, whatever. She splashes up a storm!
peek a boo (makes her laugh every time)
watching fish tanks
putting everything in her mouth
I LOVE seeing her smile and hearing her laugh. It's seriously THE BEST.
Dislikes:
something being taken away from her. (like when I turn around and see her trying to put my shoe in her mouth, bleh!)
diaper changes! She screams and wiggles away immediately when I put her on her back.
Eats:
Still nursing 7ish times a day plus eating solids. We skipped cereals and just give her table foods (sometimes called baby led weaning). So far she's enjoyed everything we've offered (pear, watermelon, potato, broccoli, beets, carrots, spinach, rice, macaroni and cheese, green beans, pizza crust, pancakes, peaches, yogurt, asparagus, pickle, plum) except banana. I'm not a huge fan of bananas either so I can't blame her!
Sleeps:
two naps a day, usually one in the morning and one in the afternoon
bedtime is around 6:00ish and she sleeps til about 3:00 - 4:00, eats and then sleeps again til about 5:30 - 6:30
This has been the toughest part of parenthood for me (other contenders: sending her to daycare and the first 8 weeks of breastfeeding). Baby girl was all about partying at night when she was brand new and was still eating 3-4 times at night til she was about 2 months old. She gradually phased that out and we've been at 1 night feeding since she was about 3 months old. Plus she puts herself to sleep now rather than one of us rocking her forever. THANK GOODNESS. I couldn't function with the crazy interrupted sleep - it made me so impatient, irritable, super hungry, and unable to think. My husband would tell me things and twenty minutes later, I'd have no recollection of the conversation at all. These days I'm not as well rested as I used to be, but I'm very close! :)
Firsts:
crawling! She is all over the place and it's hilarious to watch. Ordered some stuff on Amazon so we can start baby proofing things!
2 teeth in June
baths in the regular bath tub (we had her in a baby tub previously)
So exciting to watch! I also love the inexplicable pride I feel when she does something new (as in - I didn't teach her to roll over, but I definitely teared up when she did it the first time, ha!).
And . . I think that about covers it. Life is good! Can't wait to see what this month brings!
Any questions? :) How's life in your neck of the woods?
So happy that parenthood is treating you well! And glad that you're able to start getting something approaching normal sleep. I can only imagine what that must be like. My only comparable experience is doing hospice care for sick kitties, which often involves middle of the night medications. I'm NOT a happy camper when I'm chronically tired!
ReplyDeleteMy big "excitement" is a carpet beetle infestation. Oh, the joy! Long story, but basically I'm doing an epic purge and cleaning EVERYTHING in an attempt to get rid of the little suckers. It's tiring and annoying, but the purge was long overdue, and I'm really enjoying having less stuff to deal with!
Yes, I imagine it's a lot like taking care of sick kitties (except my middle of the night customer is very happy with what I'm offering - and none of my cats have ever taken medicine easily!).
DeleteI love your sarcasm! :) I'll be over on your blog shortly and can't wait to hear more about your fun with carpet beetles.
It's so great to read an update, Amanda! Baby Giraffe is *adorable*! Wow! I can't believe that in such a short time she's gone from not even being here to rolling, sitting, crawling and so much more!
ReplyDeleteAre you still doing your Yoga (with your assistant, I see!) That is fabulous if you have managed to keep it up in between the crazy mayhem of those first six months with a new baby.
Nursing 7 times a day + work must be crazy-hard. I remember that 'transition to food' stage being very demanding (my little guy at that stage started feeding much more, but he was just hungry and really needed to go on solids at that stage.) It got better once he was eating regular food. We also did the food from the table thing and I still think that did a lot to teach him to tolerate different textures and tastes.
Love that she is developing her Mom's love of reading so young :) :) :)
Aww, thank you! Do you still use the same email you sent me your postcard info with? I'll email a photo so you can see her face :)
DeleteYep, still doing yoga. Although not nearly as much as I used to. There's a lot of great videos on youtube that are only 10ish minutes and I'll do them as long as she's entertained. (Sun Salutations are her favorite because I clap every time I bring my hands up over my head, ha!)
Pumping at work is just plain awful. Wondering if I'll produce enough, cleaning all the parts, feeling guilty over missing parts of meetings. I won't miss it! But it's only a short time more and I do relish our time together breastfeeding so it's a worthwhile sacrifice :) Glad to hear the table food approach helped your son! I'm hoping for the same!
So nice to see an update! I can't believe she is mobile now. Looks like baby-led is really working for you. It is great she is eating such a wide variety of foods and textures already. How was the transition back to work? How have things been going on the goals/savings front?
ReplyDeleteGoing back to work . . ugh. It's been rough. I feel guilty taking her to daycare. Thankfully she loves the other kids and her teachers are great so that eases my worries. Plus I'm always busy at work which helps the days fly by. My husband's odd work hours mean he's not home in the evenings (except on Saturday and Sunday) so the house is pretty much always in shambles now. But at least she gets that hour or so of one-on-one attention from me before bedtime :)
DeleteSavings wise - my husband got a raise last year, allowing us to pay off my car loan. Between not having that monthly payment and the raise, we're able to pay for daycare without really changing our finances! :) So we still pay a little extra on the mortgage each month (less than before, but every little bit counts) and we save the same amount for retirement. We are lucky!
Wonderful to hear from you, Amanda! Little G is thriving! Here are my questions: what is her temperament like - shy, quiet, boisterous, attention-seeking, active, etc. How long were you off work, and what kind of childcare arrangements did you make, and are you happy with them? It's good to hear you are getting some sleep :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Dar! I'd say she's curious and cheerful. Always smiling! And she loves to watch everything that's going on, especially what other people are doing.
DeleteI took off work for 4 months and really appreciated the time. It would've been nice to have more but my employer doesn't offer maternity leave. They were only required to hold my position for 12 weeks (they were nice enough to allow me 4 months!).
Baby G goes to daycare. I'm happy with the daycare center we chose. The people who work there seem to really enjoy their job and Baby G loves the other kids. I miss her, but it makes me truly cherish the time I get to spend with her on weekends!
Congratulations, Amanda. I had commented on your birth announcement post but I think Blogger and Wordpress were at war.
ReplyDeleteDespite the tiredness, are you enjoying motherhood? My only regret/advice is to enjoy it. I know everyone says it goes quickly, because it does. Way too quickly. Don't worry about anything else except enjoying your sweet one.
Thank you, Lucinda! I'm so sorry about the lost comments. Glad this one worked!
DeleteI am enjoying it! She brings so much joy to our lives. I love how even the silliest little things can make her smile, like on the car ride home today when she ripped off her sock, haha :) It is going too quickly - hard to believe she'll be a year old soon.
I'm going to blame a comment eating monster, but I've also been swamped at times with work, and tired, and rubbish at managing blogs and comments. I'm so pleased to hear and learn about baby wrangling.
ReplyDeleteI fear the sleep deprivation SO much, as I'm horrible when I'm sleep deprived for other reasons (working long days with storms, and being unable to calm my mind to sleep). I worry oh so much about the support I'll have from my partner too, and it shouldn't be something I worry too much about, but at the same time, I do. BUt enough about me...
Has she had her first haircut yet? Did you save a lock? What does her daddy do, that she particularly relishes?
No need to apologize! I love comments no matter when you leave them :)
DeletePeople told us all kinds of sleep horror stories but really, the worst of it was over by about 12 weeks. Did we have a miracle baby who slept through the night at 3 weeks old? No. But around the 3 month mark, I could count on a solid 6 hour stretch of uninterrupted sleep (usually followed by another 1-2 hours of sleep) and that is enough to get by. Plus I didn't go back to work until she was 4 months old so on days that I was truly exhausted, I would feed her in bed and try to sleep when she took her long afternoon nap. It won't always be pleasant, but you will survive!
As for your partner . . I was worried too. I forget where he heard it (may have been childbirth class), but someone mentioned that if you're breastfeeding, both mom and dad should get up with the baby every single time for the first 2 weeks. And my hubby took that to heart. (He actually never stopped - he still gets up every single time if he is home. Unfortunately, he works until midnight so there were some feedings I did alone in the beginning when she was still waking every 2-4 hours.) It became really apparent when I went back to work that we HAD to redistribute chores. It's a work in progress, but it's much better! I don't feel so overwhelmed and I'm much more lovey toward Mr. G than when I was feeling crazed! :)
She hasn't had a true first haircut, though I have trimmed the hair a little so it's not in her eyes. I didn't even think to save some! I probably will from her first haircut when there will be a nice lock to set aside.
She loves her daddy! He is the best at making her laugh! Her favorites are when he kisses her belly and when he runs around with her on his shoulders. My heart could burst when I watch the two of them having fun together :)