Selby Loves Nika

As Tom and my mother would say -- at least someone loves that dog. I do admit to ignoring her (the dog) more frequently than I did before Selby was born. I doted on Nika before the baby like she was my first born. Tom warned me (and Nika) that my affection would be short-lived once Selby came along and I swore he was wrong. But he was right. Don't you hate that?

So, Selby. Almost 11 months. She is crawling at top speeds, pulling herself up on just about anything that's the right height and even standing on her own for short periods of time. She claps and waves. And -- my favorite-- when you ask her "How big is Selby?" she throws her arms up in the air and flashes a huge smile. It's pretty adorable. Also, she can climb up several flights of stairs, which is both exciting and scary. Another trait that's become even more pronounced is her fondness for crawling under or into things -- tables, chairs, her high chair, a bathroom cabinet, etc. Not sure what that's a sign of.

I just came back from shopping at the mall and every once in a while I'd find someone smiling and waving at Selby. Apparently she was smiling and talking to them and they were completely charmed. She's finally getting her top teeth in. I can see one, but think I can feel two. And her new favorite food is veggie burgers.

Help! I'm being chased by a meatball!

She is 10 months plus now, but at her 9 months check up on 9/7 (she was about 9 months 2 weeks) we learned she was stretching up and thinning out.

Weight: 18 lbs 3.5 oz 35%
Height: 28 inches 60%
Head: 17 1/2 inches 60%

Her thighs are still fleshy and her cheeks are still full. It's hard to believe our little meatball is only in the 35 percentile for weight. She is a great eater (we tried cottage cheese this morning and she scarfed it up). I always trying to think of new foods for her to try. We've had yogurt, chick peas, swiss cheese, turkey and avocado.

She's now beginning to copy us a little. We'll point to the dog and say "doggie" and she repeats it back (more or less), which is pretty exciting. We're still working on trying to get her to direct mamamamama and dadadada toward the right people (us!).

Here's a video of her chasing me.

Summer of Cousins

So much has happened in little Selby's life. Where to begin? Let's start with her mouth, and her tongue. She is constantly blowing raspberries and spitting and moving her tongue from side to side making all kinds of noises. Then, there's my favorite. I call it our little trick. I pat my mouth, as I go "ooooh" and I make these "oh oh oh oh" noises, and then I pat her mouth and she does the same thing. It's all very funny.

She also says "dadadadada" AND "mamamamamama", although neither is directed at Tom or me. Ok, next up.. she's crawling!!!!!

We were at my parents place in Quogue and she was rocking back and forth so much that we knew crawling was coming soon. She started with a few crab-like movements to reach a toy, and now she crawls a few feet. She is also pulling herself up. We are in trouble now!

She's also eating lots of real people's food like strawberries, pasta, watermelon and cheese.

We just got back from a week in Quogue with her cousins and she bonded with all her cousins.

On the only little downside is that she has her first really bad diaper rash. We are trying a whole host of creams but nothing seems to be helping. Hopefully now that she's in a dryer climate.. maybe it will do something? We have her 9 month doctor's appt. on Friday so maybe I'll learn more. Here she is on the beach. Will upload more photos later.

Going Bananas

She's about 8 months now and 17 1/2 lbs. We've decided that she's going to be a party girl (how could she not with parents like us?). At every party we take her to, she never sleeps. She's always happy and awake and not wanting to miss any of it. And no matter how little she's napped that day, she is hardly ever irritable or cranky.

She is still trying to crawl AND pull herself up to standing. She does this tuck and roll move when she's trying to cover some ground, after her attempts at crawling don't get her anywhere. She tucks her head under and rolls on her back. And then her stomach. And then her back. She rolls like a log across the living room floor. And is always very proud of herself when she gets to the other side.

I've been cutting up a banana and letting her feed herself. Yesterday I was so happy to discover that half of the banana pieces I gave her were gone from her high chair tray after about 15 minutes. I went to wipe her face with her bib only to discover that most of the pieces were in her lap. I think she ate about two. But that's better than nothing! Here she is with fistfuls of banana (warning: the photo quality is poor, your eyes are fine).

Selby's Summer So Far

We started the summer with an overnight trip to Breckenridge. She sweated on Tom's back as we did a grueling hike (at least it was grueling to me, and I didn't even have a baby strapped to my back). But she seemed to enjoy the scenery as she babbled for an hour before falling asleep. The next big summer event was a trip to NYC and Quogue over July 4th weekend while Tom was in Steamboat. Selby saw the ocean for the first time and really seemed to like it. I dipped her feet in the freezing water (water so cold that only cousin Alexa was brave enough to go in), but she just seemed excited as the waves washed over her chubby legs.

She is becoming more mobile and animated every day. She's not crawling yet, but this morning she pushed herself from her tummy to a sitting position. She's anxiou to move, though. You can tell by the way she reaches and scooches. And she's almost able to pull herself up into a standing position.

She's now taking about three food meals a day and is down to breast milk just in the morning and evening. It's a lot easier on me. I took her to a concert at the Botanic Garden this past Friday and she charmed everyone around her.

One somewhat concerning thing is that she's developed these red dots on her face, legs and arms. They seem harmless as she's not scratching or bothered by them at all. I'm taking her to a doctor on Monday just to have them checked out.

Selby Swims

Once again I've been remiss is posting about my amazing daughter. She's now eating two real meals a day (bananas and sweet potatoes seem to be winning out as favorites so far). Grandma came to visit last week and the two of them bonded big time. We had our first parent/tot swim class at the Cherry Creek Athletic Club and we've since been back to the pool two more times. She's pretty happy in the water but I suspect she thinks of the pool as a giant bathtub. She's also getting another tooth. Now the first little jagged edge has grown into a jagged stump. And last, but not least, she had her six month check up. Here are the stats followed by photos from Grammy's visit.

6/11/07

Weight: 16 lbs .04 oz 40%
Height: 26 1/2 inces 57%
Head: 17 inches 64%

Moab and Meaty Thighs

We got back last week from four days in Moab, Utah. Tom did a lot of hard core mt. biking while I hiked and did some damage at a local Arts Festival. We considered camping but opted to stay in a beautiful home rented by Betty Ann and Chip from Vail and their two boys Bryce and Luke. But, we did expose Sebly to camping. She hung out with all the boys at the campfire two nights in a row and was very chill while they shot a potato cannon at neighboring camp sites and drank enourmous ammounts of cheap beer. We definitely made the right choice to stay at the nice house.

We all did a couple of beautiful hikes, one in Moab called Negro Bill Canyon and one in Glenwood Springs. It was Selby's first long road trip and she was great. Although she was a little irritable the first few nights days, she got used to the heat and was eventually her normal awesome self.

Her big news these days is that she a. sits up by herself and b. is getting her first tooth! I can feel, and see, a little white jagged lump coming in. My news these days is that I've been diagnosed with Deguervain's Tendonitis, basically wrist tendonitis common among new moms caused by holding and picking up Selby. It sucks. I tried a wrist splint at first, but found it unbeleivable cumbersome. I'm now trying to rest it and take a lot of advil. Soon, I'll get a cortisone shot.

Check out those meaty thighs!