The Tidy Bowl Girl

When it comes to toilet paper, we are unanimously an "OVER" household. However, we are split when it comes to the toilet lid. Not the rim (Al always remembers to put that down), but the lid. Al is a lid down man so that every time ANY one wants to use the toilet they have to lift up the lid first. I have a definite problem with that. I want the lid UP (yes, I'm aware of "the mist")! One, provides easy access. Two, and most importantly, no surprises! How pissed would I be to lift the lid only to be greeted by something that didn't make its way down? And when you're visiting some one's home, it's just easier to make an instantaneous decision on whether or not you want to use their toilet because you can see exactly how clean it is (or isn't) WITHOUT having to touch it! So I vote we leave our lids up...and momma trumps Al on this issue :) Now that we have a little busy body crawling around and now that I do let her out of my sight for short little stints...I am having to change my position and now vote to keep the lids DOWN! What brought about this change of heart? Check out what I came across yesterday while she went on a little excursion for all of about 15 seconds!

*lol* She was waaay too excited with her find. Just because the lids are now closed doesn't mean she's done with the bathrooms. She still remembers discovering this source of water to play with, but now that she can't get to the water, she just beats on the lid like a drum and seems to be just as happy with that new 'toy'!

7 Months Young!

Kalissa turned 7 months old today! It's hard to believe that she's only been in our lives for 7 months because I just can't imagine life without her. I still need to write out our birth story before too much time passes and my memory fades. Once we mark her 1st birthday, I plan to have this blog turned into a hardcover book as a keepsake for her. I'm sure she would want to read all the gory details of the day she arrived into this world. Anyway, Kali is just as mobile as ever! She pulls herself to a stand on anything vertical. She is also becoming more curious. While I was typing away on the computer (and evidently not paying close enough attention to her), I started to hear the sounds of things dropping. I turned around to see her throwing my shoes from the shelves. Great. That'll teach me to try to have some 'me' time while she's awake! *lol* She also likes to crawl under things -- tables, her ExerSaucer, etc. and she's chasing the dog around. Don't worry, Graham is almost 11 years old and he knows to just get out of her way. She's still too slow to catch him but I keep a very close eye on her just in case. As for her development, she surprised me almost 2 weeks ago by getting herself to a standing position and holding it for about 5 seconds -- all on her own (no support at all)!! Her sisters witnessed it too but Al was shaving so he missed it. She hasn't done it again since -- that may be because I started screaming when she did it *lol*. She doesn't go back to the pediatrician until she's 9 months old so I have to measure her myself to get her stats. These are definitely "unofficial" but I'm sure they're pretty close:

length: 26.25" (44th percentile)
weight: 18.75 lbs (80th percentile)
weight for length: 90th percentile!
head circumference: 45 cm (93rd percentile)

She's just moving right along -- and in the right direction it seems!

Third Time's a Charm

When it comes to feeding Kalissa, I rely heavily on the internet for information. I love the Gerber website because I can get a semi-customized menu in just a few clicks. My only complaint is that it won't let me register her as a 'crawler'! When I select this option I get a blurb that says "this developmental stage is not typical for a baby of this age. Please change your selection." or something like that. Ummm...okay, but she IS a crawler and has been for TWO months now. I guess the good thing about this is that even though she is crawling, it's not going to suggest foods that are probably too advanced for her young digestive system. Anyway, ever since she started solids I've been going to this site every month just to be sure I'm feeding her the right foods at the right times...and in the right amounts. At 6 months old, according to Gerber, she should have been taking in 1/2 oz of meats per day. Well I tried that and she said NO WAY. That was my 2nd attempt at giving her meats (the first attempt was at 5 months) and her reaction was the same as the first time -- gagging and dry heaving and carrying on. Yeah, she can be overly dramatic like that. *lol* At her 6 month checkup, her pediatrician said to wait until she's 7 months before giving her meats. Which brings us to today. Kali will be 7 months old in just a couple of days so I was determined to get her to accept some meat dangit! I decided to start with STAGE 1 chicken just to make it easier for her. I heated about 1/3 of the jar mixed with her veggie of the day (squash) and got ready for battle. And wouldn't you know it, she ate it like a big girl! Not one gag, not one cry and not a drop of food on her bib! Goooooo Kali!! She is officially a carnivore!

Sidebar: I've since had to change her diaper and oh LAWDY!!! The smell!!! What a difference a little meat makes.

Hip Hop Harry

This morning I was browsing the tv guide channel in search of something OTHER than Tiger Woods' apology (don't get me started!) and stumbled across a program titled "Hip Hop Harry". The name alone piqued my interest so I hit 'select' on the remote and was greeted by a dancing Barney-esque character and about six little dancing kids. I don't know if it was the huge medallion on a rope chain (think Flava Flav) or the "Who's Next?" (think Lil John) chant, but I had to pause at first glance. Kalissa caught sight of it and, as you can see from this photo, was pretty engrossed with it. Uh oh...has she reached that age? The age where she wants to start watching children's programs? Up until this morning, she had shown zero interest in watching tv. She would stare at it during football season while hanging out with her Daddy, but I think she just liked the colors. This morning was completely different. She went from watching it while standing at the coffee table to crawling closer to it and getting her bounce on! *lol* We only caught the last 5 minutes of it so I'm not sure if it's something I will let her watch on a regular basis (Al has adamantly said she will NOT watch Barney). It airs on the Discovery Kids channel and I have it set to record an episode later today so that we can form an opinion of this program and decide if we will allow Kalissa to watch it. From what I saw, it seemed harmless but you never know these days!

LOSOVE

One of my favorite things to do when on the road is guess personalized license plates. The title of this post happens to be my all-time favorite plate. I can't remember if I actually saw it on the road or in a magazine but it's always stuck with me due to its cleverness. Can you guess it? It says "So in Love"! Get it? The word "so" is in the word "love". Anyway, one look at the little girl to the right of these words and that license plate describes my feelings exactly. Not that we don't have our ups and downs cuz Lawd knows that we do...Trust me, that little "I'm so innocent" look she's giving is a lie! *lol* But I wouldn't trade this journey for ANY THING!!

So, how are we doing since my 6-month meltdown? Well...it's still a work in progress. Kalissa sleeps through the night about 4 times per week. When she does wake up, it's usually just once. I still go in her room to quiet her though. Oh the shame! I justify this with the fact that I don't comfort her when I go in. I just lay her back down (because she'll be in a standing position) and that usually stops her from crying and she goes right back to sleep. The hardest thing I'm dealing with is her bedtime!! You moms with your 8:00 bedtimes make me sick!!! *lol* How do you get your child to sleep at 8??? Kalissa gets sleepy between 9:30 - 10:30pm and then wakes up between 6am - 7:30. Last night I made her go to sleep at 9:30 and she woke up twice! It seems the later she stays up, she more apt she is to sleep through the night. I don't know...I think I'd rather stay up with her that extra hour and get a full 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I really just don't understand how you guys get your babies to sleep so early.

Other than that, we're still working on introducing more solids. She has finally accepted the sweet potato puffs! She'll grab a handful of them and try to shove them into her mouth! *lol* She usually gets one or two in there. She's also still trying out her push walker. She hasn't really gotten any better at it but she really enjoys trying. The fun thing is that it also doubles as a ride toy so Daddy has been teaching her to scoot around on it. I worry so much with her and that toy. Check out this picture...it looks like she was giving me the "thumbs up" as if to say "mommy, I got this!" *lol*


She has also taken a liking to licking the walls. Aye yi yi!! She's starting to give big, nasty, wet, open mouth kisses on command. Mmmmm....yeah, we have to work on getting her to give them with a CLOSED mouth! And we're working hard on teaching her the word "no!" and the consequences of ignoring it. Everyday there is something new to teach her and something new I learn. Six and a half months down.....only a lifetime to go! Have a great weekend!

Baby Steps...

At Kali's 6-month checkup, her pediatrician gave us the green light to introduce her to push toys. The thought of Kalissa being able to walk is insane to me but since she cruises the furniture on her own, the doctor says there really is no harm in helping her take the next step. She assured us that Kalissa won't get bowlegs. So a couple of days ago I picked up a little push/ride toy just to see if she would like it. If she didn't take to it on her own then I wasn't going to force her to do it. Well, this was the result:

Just a couple of steps but my girl was doin it! Did you hear her blowing spit bubbles? *lol* I have to monitor her very closely when she plays with this because she hasn't fully mastered the balance requirement. For not yet being 6 1/2 months old, I think she did rather well! If you look closely, you'll see that her feet aren't straight but I think putting shoes on her would force her to keep them facing forward.

All things considered, I don't think I'll encourage her to play with this but if she crawls over to it on her own then I'll help her. Both my mom and my best friend said to take it away -- she's too young to walk! I think I just might agree with that!

The Great Debate!

Ever since Kalissa was born, I've heard over and over and over again about how much she looks like Al. It's not that I disagree...at times I do think she looks like him but most days I think she looks JUST LIKE ME!! Why can't other people see this?? Al always says that she looks just like me, but I know he's only saying it to make me feel better (he's good like that *lol*). So I dug through some photos and did the following side by sides. What do you think??

Me?


Or him?


The only problem with doing this baby picture comparison is that people who claim she looks like him have no idea of what he looked like as a baby! *sigh* She still looks mostly like me though. Right??