As usual, as I write this I'm thinking about the 5 million things that I want to write so that when I look back at this in years to come, I can "cherish the moments" as every mother has advised me. I want to remember that Isabella got her first tooth when she was 6.5 months old and 2 weeks later, a second popped up right next door on the bottom. She sat up by herself for the first time at 6 months old and discovered her feet and toes around the same time. I want to remember everything, but I know that many of those memories are forever stamped in my heart.
As she grows, more and more of Isabella's personality comes out! It amazes me every time I'm around her in a social setting, how well she does. Every now and then, we encounter someone that might scare her or that she has no interest in letting hold her. She tries to pretend that she's shy for about 15 seconds and before I know it, she's reaching her arms out to someone to hold her. We went to the Museum of Fine Arts last week with Scott's mom and her husband to see the King Tut exhibit and it was wonderful!! It was so important for us to take Izzy to see her ancestry in rare form. She was such a good girl the entire time and rarely made a peep. She just sat in her stroller or strapped into the carrier on me as I walked around with her. The whole exhibit was exhilarating and mysterious. I couldn't have asked for better family time!
She is becoming more and more independent and absolutely LOVES play time! She sits on her rubber mat on the floor and drags all of her toys out of the toy basket and entertains herself for about 30 minutes at a time before she lets out a playful yell, "Mama, come play!" We finally got her a highchair a few weeks ago, instead of seating her in her Bumbo at meal time. She just sits in her highchair in the kitchen with me as I cook or clean. I put a toy or two on the tray along with a few snacks big enough for her to pick up on her own, and she again, will entertain herself while I complete my tasks.
Another exciting milestone for us is that she will go down for her naps and nighttime sleep with hardly any fuss. At her known ritual nap times, all I do is lay her down, kiss her, and walk out of the room, closing the door behind me. Of course, I have a few monitor screens in the house and constantly watch over her, but she typically stays asleep for about an hour and a half to two hours at a time! At night, she sleeps from about 8 pm to 7 am straight through, only waking once or twice a week not able to find her paci on her own. Overall, a great sleeper!
I introduced organic chicken breast roughly pureed a few weeks ago and she likes it! I do have to mix it with a veggie that she likes a lot, but overall, she hasn't rebuked anything that we've tried. I hope that her love for fresh fruit and veggies stick throughout her toddler and older years! My mother said I ate just about anything you put on my highchair tray and Scott did as a baby as well, so I really hope this sticks with her. Scott on the other hand, will not eat too many vegetables to count, but he's a very healthy eater.
I've gotta say, that for the most part, we are some super lucky parents. Everywhere we go with Izzy, we get complimented on how beautiful she is and how well-behaved she is for her age. She is coming up on 8 months old already, and just as everyone has warned me, IT HAS FLOWN! I can not believe that a year ago, I was sporting a baby bump and had no earthly idea what true love was. The minute I held that angel, I knew she would change our lives forever, but I had no idea that the meaning of love had completely changed so dramatically. She is the sunshine of my every day and her giggles and laughs are ridiculously infectious! I told Scott last night that I was worried about ever loving another baby the way I love Isabella. She truly makes my heart beat! My mother has always said that her kids are the reason her heart beats, and now I get it. My mother has always been my hero and my friend and I have never appreciated her more than now that I am a mother myself. My mother-in-law is just as much a mother-figure to me as well. She is always so wise in her words and so nurturing in conversation. She also encourages me to be the best mother I can be for my daughter. Scott is my biggest cheerleader as he always reminds me that he thinks I am a good mother and that I have a very tough job!
I hope that my baby's happiness and joy reflects in her personality forever! That giggle and laugh of hers sure tells me and everyone else that meets her how happy she really is!
Our Love Nest
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Thursday, March 1, 2012
I'm a big girl now!
We've had so many joyous moments in the past several months, but now we've been encountering the best of times with Isabella. SO much has changed with her and is constantly changing! Sometimes I look at her and the newborn days are foggy. Her personality is developing into quite the "Mini Mommy." She's hilarious and is incredibly happy! She has her sassy moments (wonder where that came from??) and she has her times of hysterical laughter, and her times of fussy mama. All in all, it is the general consensus in the Scarborough Palace that we are incredibly lucky!
At five months, she started with rice cereal in her bottle and it seemed to satisfy her hunger just a bit more. She's been on formula since she was 3 months old when I went back to work and has been doing great on it. She likes to show off when she's super hungry and will hold her own bottle while we hold her. Her daddy likes to make her grab for it and that's when she hangs on to it for dear life while sighing with joy and every gulp. Towards the end of month five, we started putting about a tbsp of rice cereal mixed with water in her bowl and feeding her with a spoon. She had no idea what to think of all that and would push it all out with her tongue. She finally got the hang of it though! At five months, she was rolling over from her back to her belly. I would lay her on her play mat while I unloaded the dishwasher and I would come into the living room to find her on her belly and not a happy camper. We moved out of her bassinet and into her pack n play in our room until we move and feel more comfortable with her being in her own room. Right now, our room is upstairs and her room in down and I'm just not comfortable with that set up and her being that far. If we were down and her up, that would be different, but this is downtown Houston and I'm not ready for that kind of risk.
At six months, big changes began. First, she managed to get RSV from a little boy at her daycare which was the scariest experience we've had thus far. It started with a little sneeze and a cough here and there. Then...I got the call from the daycare that she wasn't responding to her bottles and was very lethargic. I of course dropped everything and made Scott leave early from work. I went and got her from school and we immediately rushed her to the doctor. Since her regular doctor was jam-packed with patients, we saw another doctor in the practice. Big mistake. We LOVE our pediatrician, Dr. Zuniga. She is so good with Izzy and always knows what's best. She has this amazing way of making us feel so comfortable! The first doctor diagnosed Izzy with Croup and gave her some in-office breathing treatments and prescribed us an at-home treatment as well as antibiotics. Ten days later, the poor baby was still sick. It was time for her 6 month check up so we took her in to see Dr. Z and sure enough, "This isn't Croup...that would've gone by now. This is RSV which is obviously much more serious." Awesome. At that point, she had an ear infection and lost almost a pound, which is a lot for a baby. She put us on a different antibiotic and so far, her symptoms have gone away and she's recovered. Much to their dismay, I paid a visit to the daycare's director and basically ripped her a new one for not posting that there was a case of RSV and for allowing that child to come back to daycare with his remaining symptoms.
Lots of wonderful things have happened in month 6! Izzy is now recognizing her name very well and is fully aware of who is who. When I walk into her daycare to pick her up sometimes or just to visit her on my lunch, she gets beside herself excited and starts giggling loudly and squealing with happiness when she spots me or hears me say her name. What an incredible feeling!! My baby loves me back!! She reacts the same way to her daddy of course, who is the apple of her eye. When he walks in the door from work, he calls to her, "Izzzzzzzzz!!" all the way up the stairs and she squeals and screams with happiness at the sound of his voice and the prospect of him picking her up and smothering her with kisses. What a happy baby!!
We have now started solid foods and she's doing incredibly well with everything...except bananas. Not a fan. She is eating sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, avocado, green beans, peas, pears, apples, peaches, and today we tried blueberries! So far, green beans, sweet potatoes and peaches are the favorites. She is also still out with the jury on the puff cereal bits. She'll eat them if we give them to her in her mouth, but if we put them on her tray, she tosses them on the ground to her big brother, Otis. My girl is pretty smart! She reeeeeeeeaaally loves Otis and will do anything for his attention. Otis is not so interested, unless there's free food involved.
In other news, she is totally sitting up on her own and will sit for about 20-30 minutes on the floor until she's had about enough of that and rolls over on her belly. Her favorite toys include a very LOUD and annoying (to us) sit to stand toy. It looks like a lawn mower and has a million buttons on it that play loud animal sounds and songs when pushed. She really likes pushing those and looking at me for approval at every smash of those buttons. She is also sleeping through the night again (hasn't done so in 2 months). Her bed time is at 8 pm and after she's had her bath and gotten to play in her pile of toys, we put her in her bed and she goes right to sleep. We had to let her cry it out the first few nights, but now she's got the hang of it. We've done her naps the same way and she's doing great! Last Friday we learned why she had been so fussy and upset...I was cleaning her mouth out during her bath, and there it was, sinking into my finger. Our girl got her her first tooth! It is the bottom right front tooth and is so pretty to me.
Overall, we have been so blessed!! We thank God every single day, several times a day for the abundant blessings we have received. We must really be loved. She's perfect! She will be 7 months old in just a few days. So hard to believe! We must be doing something right.
At five months, she started with rice cereal in her bottle and it seemed to satisfy her hunger just a bit more. She's been on formula since she was 3 months old when I went back to work and has been doing great on it. She likes to show off when she's super hungry and will hold her own bottle while we hold her. Her daddy likes to make her grab for it and that's when she hangs on to it for dear life while sighing with joy and every gulp. Towards the end of month five, we started putting about a tbsp of rice cereal mixed with water in her bowl and feeding her with a spoon. She had no idea what to think of all that and would push it all out with her tongue. She finally got the hang of it though! At five months, she was rolling over from her back to her belly. I would lay her on her play mat while I unloaded the dishwasher and I would come into the living room to find her on her belly and not a happy camper. We moved out of her bassinet and into her pack n play in our room until we move and feel more comfortable with her being in her own room. Right now, our room is upstairs and her room in down and I'm just not comfortable with that set up and her being that far. If we were down and her up, that would be different, but this is downtown Houston and I'm not ready for that kind of risk.
At six months, big changes began. First, she managed to get RSV from a little boy at her daycare which was the scariest experience we've had thus far. It started with a little sneeze and a cough here and there. Then...I got the call from the daycare that she wasn't responding to her bottles and was very lethargic. I of course dropped everything and made Scott leave early from work. I went and got her from school and we immediately rushed her to the doctor. Since her regular doctor was jam-packed with patients, we saw another doctor in the practice. Big mistake. We LOVE our pediatrician, Dr. Zuniga. She is so good with Izzy and always knows what's best. She has this amazing way of making us feel so comfortable! The first doctor diagnosed Izzy with Croup and gave her some in-office breathing treatments and prescribed us an at-home treatment as well as antibiotics. Ten days later, the poor baby was still sick. It was time for her 6 month check up so we took her in to see Dr. Z and sure enough, "This isn't Croup...that would've gone by now. This is RSV which is obviously much more serious." Awesome. At that point, she had an ear infection and lost almost a pound, which is a lot for a baby. She put us on a different antibiotic and so far, her symptoms have gone away and she's recovered. Much to their dismay, I paid a visit to the daycare's director and basically ripped her a new one for not posting that there was a case of RSV and for allowing that child to come back to daycare with his remaining symptoms.
Lots of wonderful things have happened in month 6! Izzy is now recognizing her name very well and is fully aware of who is who. When I walk into her daycare to pick her up sometimes or just to visit her on my lunch, she gets beside herself excited and starts giggling loudly and squealing with happiness when she spots me or hears me say her name. What an incredible feeling!! My baby loves me back!! She reacts the same way to her daddy of course, who is the apple of her eye. When he walks in the door from work, he calls to her, "Izzzzzzzzz!!" all the way up the stairs and she squeals and screams with happiness at the sound of his voice and the prospect of him picking her up and smothering her with kisses. What a happy baby!!
We have now started solid foods and she's doing incredibly well with everything...except bananas. Not a fan. She is eating sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, avocado, green beans, peas, pears, apples, peaches, and today we tried blueberries! So far, green beans, sweet potatoes and peaches are the favorites. She is also still out with the jury on the puff cereal bits. She'll eat them if we give them to her in her mouth, but if we put them on her tray, she tosses them on the ground to her big brother, Otis. My girl is pretty smart! She reeeeeeeeaaally loves Otis and will do anything for his attention. Otis is not so interested, unless there's free food involved.
In other news, she is totally sitting up on her own and will sit for about 20-30 minutes on the floor until she's had about enough of that and rolls over on her belly. Her favorite toys include a very LOUD and annoying (to us) sit to stand toy. It looks like a lawn mower and has a million buttons on it that play loud animal sounds and songs when pushed. She really likes pushing those and looking at me for approval at every smash of those buttons. She is also sleeping through the night again (hasn't done so in 2 months). Her bed time is at 8 pm and after she's had her bath and gotten to play in her pile of toys, we put her in her bed and she goes right to sleep. We had to let her cry it out the first few nights, but now she's got the hang of it. We've done her naps the same way and she's doing great! Last Friday we learned why she had been so fussy and upset...I was cleaning her mouth out during her bath, and there it was, sinking into my finger. Our girl got her her first tooth! It is the bottom right front tooth and is so pretty to me.
Overall, we have been so blessed!! We thank God every single day, several times a day for the abundant blessings we have received. We must really be loved. She's perfect! She will be 7 months old in just a few days. So hard to believe! We must be doing something right.
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