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!

Lazy Saturday

So, I've been a very bad mommy and not writing in this Blog. So much has happened in this brief time.
1) We've since fed her peas, sweet potato and squash.
2) She pretty much sits up on her own!
3) She skooches everywhere. On her back or her front, she wiggles and slides her body to propel her in the direction she wants.
3) And I know you will find this hard to believe...but she said her first word. The other day our cleaning lady Fabiola s said bye to her and Selby looked at her and said "bah." I swear. Fabiola and looked at each other in awe and shock. We repeated the word bye back to her about 20 times, but she didn't repeat it again. I've since tried bye, buh bye, bye bye and bah bah about a hundred times but have not been able replicate the situation -- yet.

She continues to be an absolute joy. On the work front... Since it's been easier, and more enjoyable, than I expected I've increased my hours from 20 to 24 and now I'm going 30 hours a week. I'm only in the office 3 days a week and get to stay home with Selby the other 4. I really like the balance.

Here she is playing with Dad on a lazy hot Saturday afternoon.

Oh!

Selby is in a very funny phase now. She opens her mouth into a big O all the time, as if everything is very exciting to her. She's also in a chronic good mood, laughing and giggling all the time, except when she's hungry or tired. Sort of like her mom, at least the irritablity with being hungry or tired part.





Also, we started feeding her solids last week. And she's taken to it like a champ. Here she is eating rice cereal for the first time. We've since tried carrots and will be moving on to oatmeal this afternoon. It's so cool to see her eat and think about how we're introducing her to different textures and tastes for the first time.

Nudie Patootie

Big, or medium, milestone here this week. Two mornings ago she rolled from her stomach to her back. I was so happy when she did this she must've thought she won the lottery the way I was smiling and clapping. You see, all the books said she was supposed to be able to this little stunt by now and I had never seen her do it. Being the neurotic, yet loving, mother that I am, I was getting a little nervous. But, she did it. And now I'm nappy, and I need to watch her even more closely. Here she is this morning in all her fleshy glory.