Miss Scarlett Turns Six Months Old!

Our beautiful Miss Scarlett is now six months old - can you believe it? Here are the running statistics:

Six Months:
Weight: 14 lbs, 7 oz (5th percentile)
Length: 24.25 inches (5th percentile)
Head: 17 1/4 inches (85 percentile!)

Four Months:
Weight: 12 lbs, 6.5 oz
Length: 23.75 inches
Head: 16.5 inches

Two Months:
Weight: 9 lbs, 15 oz
Length: 21 inches
Head: 15.5 inches

One Month:
Weight: 8 lbs, 9 oz
Length: 21.25 inches
Head: 14.75 inches

Birth: Weight:
7 lbs, 5 oz
Length: 19 inches

Scarlett has essentaily doubled her birth weight. She's a chunky monkey, so she seems to be doing fine. Though, there was a family in the waiting room as we left the doctor's office, and they have a 2 month old baby who is 14 lbs - same weight has Scarlett. She had a much smaller head than Scarlett, but the rest of her (from what I could see) didn't really seem to be larger than Scarlett.

We've just got a petite princessa, I think. The doctor said nothing about her size - in fact, Jonathan was the one who researched the percentiles listed above.

These days, Miss Scarlett is rolling aroud like crazy. If I take my eyes off her and then look back a few moments later, she's completely rolled herself away from her original spot.

She's still waking up twice a night. The first time is often around midnight, and Jonathan gives her a bottle. The next time she awakens is anybody's guess. We're trying to not feed her for that second awakening, because she doesn't need it and we're trying to break her of waking up. But that doesn't always work out as planned.

Scarlett still doesn't like to sleep much in the morning - unfortuantely. But, I am able to (most usually) get Christian and Scarlett to both nap at the same time in the early afternoon. YES! And since both kids are asleep in the evenings (by about 9:00pm or so, Jonathan and I are out of each kiddos' room), we can watch TV, or work on the computers ... or I can do laundry or clean the kitchen, etc.

Scarlett attracts a lot of attention - there's just something about a baby girl that draws people in. I readily hand her to anybody who is interested in holding her. I remember with Christian, we didn't know many people and so he wasn't accustomed to being held by "strangers" and he's always been hesistant around people he doesn't know (not a bad quality to have, I suppose). So I'm hoping that by having Scarlett interact with a variety of people, we can steer her towards welcoming new people, rather than fearing them.

We're still working with Scarlett on eating solid foods. So far, we've done rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, bananas, peas and sweet potatoes. She's just not a fan ... she'll get there one day.

Little side note:  I thought it was interesting that Christian was so much bigger than Scarlett at this age:

Scarlett: @ Six Months:
Weight: 14 lbs, 7 oz (5th percentile)
Length: 24.25 inches (5th percentile)
Head: 17 1/4 inches (85 percentile!)

Christian @ Six Months:
Weight: 17.2 ponds (50th percentile)
Length: 25.5 inches (25th percentile)
Head: 18.75 cm (100th percentile)

The Princessa's First Independence Day

Miss Scarlett celebrated her very first Fourth of July today, which included a little nap while waiting for her first-ever parade to start.  I just can't stand how CUTE she is!!

The evening before at the bike decorating party:

Let the parade begin (and take a nap!)

Scarlett Gains Some Independence

It has been a few weeks since we tried leaving Scarlett in the nursery at church.  We were unsuccessful at the time.

Somehow, tonight I fet compelled to try again.

There were severa other children there tonight - a few around her ago, a couple of toddlers.  So there was activity and toys to keep her attention.

Laid her on the floor on her tummy and somebody rolled a toy to her and she was instantly interested.  I stayed behind her and rubbed her back and then left.   I checked on her a couple of times and was relieved to find she was never upset.

When we picked her up, she was being held by a grandfather-type who was enamoured with (as pretty much everybody is). 

I'm just so impressed that she was okay without us.

She gets held by a lot of "strangers" - usually teachers at Christian's school.  They all just adore her there!  And yesterday when I dropped Christian off at VBS, I was holding her (rather than her being in car seat) and the check-in lady held her while I got Christian taken care of.

I wish we'd had such a variety of people when Christian was an infant who could hold him. Might have prevented the separation anxiety he experienced (and somtimes still experiences).  But, it is impossible to tell.

The Big Day: Rice Cereal

Today was the big day we (specifrically Jonathan) had been waiting for:  Scarlett's introduction to "solid food" (aka, ric cereal).   She wasn't too sure what to think!

And of course, a lil' video of the big event!

Miss Scarlett's Swimming Class

Miss Scarlett had her first swimming class today and she did great! 

The water was nice and warm and she didn't mind going in at all.  I'm not sure what the class size is supposed to be, but Scarlett and I were the only people in the class this week, so it was like we had our own private lesson, which was nice!

This first class was just about getting her used to being in the water so we'd do things like lifting her out of the water and going back in, moving her though the water in large circles, taking her to the edge and putting her hands on the edge so she knows that is her "safe spot,"  pouring water on her head through a cup with holes in the bottom, etc.

The last thing we did in class was to put Scarlett on a foam platform that floated on the water.  She was put down on her tummy and after a few moments, started to protest, as she's still not a fan of being on her tummy.  But she was content longer than I expected.

Christian was in his own class in the lane next to us.  His class then moved to the other side of our lane and when he noticed us nearby, he'd tell his classmates and teacher, "LOOK!  It is my baby sister, Scarlett!"  He's still so proud of her!

The classes are each Sunday for 1/2 hour and are held year-round (the pool is indoors), so the kiddos will be in the classes as long as we'd like - we're not just limited to the summer season.  And I'm so glad we're able to do this with Scarlett at such a young age!

Miss Scarlett is Five Months Old

Our sweet princessa, Miss Scarlett, turns five months old today!

She's just so cute, and a lot of fun to interact with .  She loves to hold onto her feet and pull them up to her chest.  Actually, she loves to grab just about anything within reach - often my hair.   I'm debating cutting my hair, as I did when Christian reached this age.

We're on the verge of starting Scarlett on solid foods.  We were going to do it this week, but Scarlett has been having a hard time keeping her milk down.  Lots of "projectile vomiting," which usually lands on me (eeew).  We thought we maybe narrowed down the culprit to my love of McDonald's Frozen Strawberry Lemonade.  I had three over the weekend (ever had one?  They are delicious!).  But, she threw up again today, and my last lemonade was Sunday.  So ... who knows.  

Scarlett has now slept through the night for two nights in a row.  It is amazing how much better one's day is when having received a full night's sleep.

Scarlett's rolling around a lot these days - both back-to-front, and front-to-back (I posted two videos below for your entertainment).   She tends to get pretty upset once she's rolled onto her tummy, and then I have to rescue her.  She knows how to roll over to her back, but I think she gets so worked up about being on her tummy that she doesn't realize she's got the solution herself.

A Trend has to Start Somewhere ...

Our Miss Scarlett still isn't sleeping through the night.  She's been scooching around her bassinett a lot lately while sleeping and I was wondering if to shrinking confines of her bassinett were disrupting her sleep.

This is how she looked yesterday morning:

We decided it was time to set up the crib.   She went down, as usual, at around 8:00pm ... and shocked us when she didn't wake up to eat until 4:30am.   That is just about 8 1/2 hours.  YES!

In fact, after her feeding at that time, she stayed up for a bit ... but then let me put her down to sleep ... IN HER CRIB.   Another YES!

She's got plenty of room in her crib now!   Now we just need a mobile, and she's all set.  Until I get the mobile, I put up Hello Kitty wall decals for her to look at, as Scarlett loves Hello Kitty. :)

We'll see how she sleeps tonight.  I'm hoping for the best!

Scarlett at 20 Weeks: The Sippy Cup

Our Miss Scarlett is now 20 weeks old!  And to celebrate being a "big girl," I've been working on getting her to take water via a sippy cup.  And it WORKED!  She's AWESOME! :)

I wasn't too sure how she'd do, since she likes her milk so warm.  So I had the water at room temperature and after a few tries, she started drinking a little on her own.  When Jonathan came home, he held her cup, and she reached for it.

Why a sippy cup so early?  My feeling is that a bottle should be reserved for milk only.  I think if a baby is served milk, water and juice in a bottle, she never knows what she's going to be drinking.  While Scarlett is breastfed, she does get a bottle on two occasions:  

1. Most overnights, Jonathan gives her a bottle of pumped milk and 
2. If I'm out and about, and Jonathan has Scarlett at home.

If I give her the sippy cup, she knows she's getting water - and staying is hydrated is crucial during a Phoenix summer.  

Also, I'm just not a big fan of prolonged use of a bottle.  We've all seen three year olds who are still hooked on a bottle, rather than drinking from a regular cup.

But hey ... we all have our own parenting styles.  Mine is to encourage progression the moment I think a baby is ready.

Scarlett is so interested in whatever we eat or drink - she watches very intently and even mimics our eating motions.  These things are telltale signs that a baby is ready to try solids.   My preference, however, is to wait until she is six months old (which is how we did it with Christian).  That is that is what the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests as does "Dr. Sears" - the current "baby guru."  

But we'll see.  She's an awfully hungry baby and I wouldn't want to deny her Royal Chunky Legs some fine baby rice delicacies. :)

She's a Beauty!

The Bumbo Seat

Our Miss Scarlett loves variety.  She doesn't like to be in same position or the same place for very long - and she makes sure we know it.  So we added a "Bumbo" seat to our arsenal.  It was so cute to see her sitting up like this (she still can't sit up on her own).

Scarlett's Four Month Exam

Scarlett's four month doctor exam was today.  We are happy to report she's perfectly healthy - here are her stats (and past stats for comparison): 

Four Months:
Weight:  12 lbs, 6.5 oz
Length:  23.75 inches
Head:  16.5 inches

Two Months:
Weight:  9 lbs, 15 oz
Length:  21 inches
Head:  15.5 inches

One Month: 
Weight:  8 lbs, 9 oz
Length:  21.25 inches
Head:  14.75 inches

Birth:
Weight:  7 lbs, 5 oz
Length:  19 inches

We asked about her size, as several people have commented she seems small for her age.   He assured us Scarlett is fine and produced growth charts that show she's in the 25th percentile for girls her age.  And as I once heard, "As long as they are actually on the growth chart, all is well."

Mother's Day

Today marked my first Mother's Day as a mother of two amazing children (okay, three children - if you count Bella.  And we do!).  Alas, I didn't get a picture with both of my kiddos for this special day - drats!