Ruby learned how to wave bye-bye! She has been doing this every time someone leaves out the front door:
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Top 5 Mommy Moments
#5 - These days as Ruby is falling asleep, she likes to gently stroke my hand.
#4 - Sometimes she will give me a big sloppy kiss complete with a *smack* sound at the end.
#3 - If I show up while someone else is holding her, she will sometimes lunge her whole body towards me to get me to pick her up.
#2 - When she is tired or a little scared, she'll rest her head on my chest and grip tightly at my shirt.
#1 - I am getting more and more convinced that she is purposefully saying, "Ma-ma!" She has been making the "ma" sound since she was 4 months old, but at first I'm pretty sure she couldn't connect it with any meaning. Recently I've been noticing a definite correlation between me entering the room and her saying "Ma-ma." In the last few days there have been a few times when she has said it very clearly, not in a "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma" babbling sort of way, but a very distinct "Ma-ma" just like an adult would say it. It always correlated with her being hungry and wanting to be picked up. For example, one time it was when she woke up in the morning and saw me for the first time. Another time was when she wanted to eat but I had to pee first. I never felt so bad for peeing in my life.
#4 - Sometimes she will give me a big sloppy kiss complete with a *smack* sound at the end.
#3 - If I show up while someone else is holding her, she will sometimes lunge her whole body towards me to get me to pick her up.
#2 - When she is tired or a little scared, she'll rest her head on my chest and grip tightly at my shirt.
#1 - I am getting more and more convinced that she is purposefully saying, "Ma-ma!" She has been making the "ma" sound since she was 4 months old, but at first I'm pretty sure she couldn't connect it with any meaning. Recently I've been noticing a definite correlation between me entering the room and her saying "Ma-ma." In the last few days there have been a few times when she has said it very clearly, not in a "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma" babbling sort of way, but a very distinct "Ma-ma" just like an adult would say it. It always correlated with her being hungry and wanting to be picked up. For example, one time it was when she woke up in the morning and saw me for the first time. Another time was when she wanted to eat but I had to pee first. I never felt so bad for peeing in my life.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Ruby eating broccoli
As part of our solid foods trouble-shooting, we decided to try out baby-directed feeding where the baby feeds herself. Tonight I steamed some broccoli and gave Ruby a stem. At first she nibbled it cautiously, unsure if it was food or toy, but soon she was whole-heartedly chomping on it. She gnawed on it for a good half hour and would have continued to if I hadn't taken it away. I wonder if she gets used to using broccoli as a chew toy, if she will then be more receptive to a broccoli puree.
P.S. Steve and I got matching Droids, and it's made posting on-the-go much easier.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
I don't wanna grow up
For those who are keeping track, Ruby is now over 7 months old! We are already over the halfway mark of baby-hood. :-( Fortunately, Ruby seems determined to stay a baby for as long as possible.
Since we have the benefit of interacting with many other babies of exactly the same age through my playgroups, we have a pretty good idea of where Ruby is developmentally relative to her peers. We had missed playgroup a few weeks in a row over Thanksgiving and our trip to Hawaii. When we returned, I noticed that all the babies had undergone a significant transformation. Whereas previously the babies were all in the horizontal position, when we returned, everyone was sitting up - everyone except Ruby, who was still happy to play on her back. Since then, playgroups have gotten more and more interesting, with the babies becoming more and more mobile. The moms have to be much more vigilant because there is always a baby who has somehow gotten all the way across the room and halfway out the door. Ruby, on the other hand, is no more, if not LESS mobile than when she first learned to roll. She can now sit very well on her own, but anything less sedentary she shows no interest in.
I am pretty sure that Ruby's lack of mobility is related to her easy-going temperament. It seems like for other babies, increased mobility is often motivated by frustration. For example, in their struggle to get to a toy that is out of reach, they end up rolling/scooting/crawling. However, when Ruby wants a toy outside her reach, she'll swat at it a few time, realize it's out of her grasp, decide it's not worth her trouble, and start playing with something closer.
Being a stationary baby has definitely made it easier on us. We have not had to do any baby-proofing; we can still leave her sitting or on her back and not worry that she will get into anything. Almost all the other parents in my playgroups have had to lower the crib mattress to at least the middle and in some cases the lowest setting because their babies are starting to pull up to a stand in their cribs. Ruby is always in the exact same position in the morning as she was when we put her down the night before, so her crib is still in the newborn position.
Not wanting to move around isn't the only way that Ruby is trying to stay a baby. While her other little baby friends are becoming more advanced in their diets, experimenting with proteins and finger foods, Ruby has still not taken very well to any solids. We are giving her a little bit of oatmeal every morning, and she is very slowly making progress with that, but she is by no means excited to eat it. It is always quite a production of trying to trick her into laughing so that she will open her mouth long enough for us to stick the spoon in. If she had her druthers, she would just nurse 100% of the time with none of this "solids" nonsense.
In addition, Ruby still doesn't have any teeth. I am also fine with this as it eliminates the fear of biting and means that she's not going through any grief over teething. So, in summary, Ruby is still stationary, only eats breastmilk, and has no teeth, all of which is fine by me because it means I get to keep my little baby for longer!
This is not to say that Ruby has not developed in any way. In fact, there is one facet in which she seems to be way ahead of the developmental curve, and that is in her language development. I have been reading the book, Nurture Shock for a mommy's book club that my playgroup is starting, and one of the chapters is about language development in infants. It says that while infant babble may all sound like jibberish to us, there are actually stages of babbling that are progressively more complex. In the most complex form of babble, babies are producing "canonical syllables," where the transition from consonant to vowel is fast and the breath is quick, so that it closely resembles real speech (for example, "dat" or "bem"). According to their research, babies typically begin this type of babble at around 9 months; however, Ruby has already been babbling like this for some time now. Oftentimes, it really sounds like she is speaking actual words. Perhaps in another month or so, while all of her little friends are crawling and tumbling about, Ruby will be calmly sitting and sagely doling out words of wisdom.
Since we have the benefit of interacting with many other babies of exactly the same age through my playgroups, we have a pretty good idea of where Ruby is developmentally relative to her peers. We had missed playgroup a few weeks in a row over Thanksgiving and our trip to Hawaii. When we returned, I noticed that all the babies had undergone a significant transformation. Whereas previously the babies were all in the horizontal position, when we returned, everyone was sitting up - everyone except Ruby, who was still happy to play on her back. Since then, playgroups have gotten more and more interesting, with the babies becoming more and more mobile. The moms have to be much more vigilant because there is always a baby who has somehow gotten all the way across the room and halfway out the door. Ruby, on the other hand, is no more, if not LESS mobile than when she first learned to roll. She can now sit very well on her own, but anything less sedentary she shows no interest in.
I am pretty sure that Ruby's lack of mobility is related to her easy-going temperament. It seems like for other babies, increased mobility is often motivated by frustration. For example, in their struggle to get to a toy that is out of reach, they end up rolling/scooting/crawling. However, when Ruby wants a toy outside her reach, she'll swat at it a few time, realize it's out of her grasp, decide it's not worth her trouble, and start playing with something closer.
Being a stationary baby has definitely made it easier on us. We have not had to do any baby-proofing; we can still leave her sitting or on her back and not worry that she will get into anything. Almost all the other parents in my playgroups have had to lower the crib mattress to at least the middle and in some cases the lowest setting because their babies are starting to pull up to a stand in their cribs. Ruby is always in the exact same position in the morning as she was when we put her down the night before, so her crib is still in the newborn position.
Not wanting to move around isn't the only way that Ruby is trying to stay a baby. While her other little baby friends are becoming more advanced in their diets, experimenting with proteins and finger foods, Ruby has still not taken very well to any solids. We are giving her a little bit of oatmeal every morning, and she is very slowly making progress with that, but she is by no means excited to eat it. It is always quite a production of trying to trick her into laughing so that she will open her mouth long enough for us to stick the spoon in. If she had her druthers, she would just nurse 100% of the time with none of this "solids" nonsense.
In addition, Ruby still doesn't have any teeth. I am also fine with this as it eliminates the fear of biting and means that she's not going through any grief over teething. So, in summary, Ruby is still stationary, only eats breastmilk, and has no teeth, all of which is fine by me because it means I get to keep my little baby for longer!
This is not to say that Ruby has not developed in any way. In fact, there is one facet in which she seems to be way ahead of the developmental curve, and that is in her language development. I have been reading the book, Nurture Shock for a mommy's book club that my playgroup is starting, and one of the chapters is about language development in infants. It says that while infant babble may all sound like jibberish to us, there are actually stages of babbling that are progressively more complex. In the most complex form of babble, babies are producing "canonical syllables," where the transition from consonant to vowel is fast and the breath is quick, so that it closely resembles real speech (for example, "dat" or "bem"). According to their research, babies typically begin this type of babble at around 9 months; however, Ruby has already been babbling like this for some time now. Oftentimes, it really sounds like she is speaking actual words. Perhaps in another month or so, while all of her little friends are crawling and tumbling about, Ruby will be calmly sitting and sagely doling out words of wisdom.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Nanny share
At the start of the new year, we began sharing our nanny full time. There was a transition period in December, where we shared with the other family one time per week in order to get the nanny and babies more accustomed to the arrangement. Our nanny share family lives in our neighborhood, but much further up the hill, away from Golden Gate Park, so we have decided to host the nanny share full time. Ruby is almost 4 months older than the other baby, so by hosting at our house, the other baby can use all the baby gear that Ruby has just grown out of.
During the transition period, either the other mom or I were always present on the days of the share care. Even though I was technically "working from home" on those days, there were always several instances throughout the day where I would have to intervene in order to prevent a Simultaneous Meltdown. Even when I was just observing, I felt exhausted just watching the nanny. Whereas when it was just Ruby she was caring for, her job was quite easy and low-key, with two babies she was juggling a constant cycle of feeding, diaper changing, putting to sleep, and entertaining.
The personalities of the two babies are quite different as well, with Ruby being more mellow, tending to do things slowly and thoughtfully, while the other baby is more high-strung, constantly wriggling around and quick to cry. However, since Ruby is older, she is in certain ways more demanding, sometimes only wanting to be held, sometimes only interested in the toy the other baby is currently using. It has only been one week, so everyone is still adjusting, but there was at least one day that got pretty hairy for the nanny, with each baby feeding off of the other's tantrums. As much as that makes me want to stay home with Ruby every day so that she is always happy and content, I realize that the experience of having a playmate will benefit her in the long run.
Hosting the nanny share has also caused our living room to be transformed into a play room, furthering Ruby's take-over of our house.
During the transition period, either the other mom or I were always present on the days of the share care. Even though I was technically "working from home" on those days, there were always several instances throughout the day where I would have to intervene in order to prevent a Simultaneous Meltdown. Even when I was just observing, I felt exhausted just watching the nanny. Whereas when it was just Ruby she was caring for, her job was quite easy and low-key, with two babies she was juggling a constant cycle of feeding, diaper changing, putting to sleep, and entertaining.
The personalities of the two babies are quite different as well, with Ruby being more mellow, tending to do things slowly and thoughtfully, while the other baby is more high-strung, constantly wriggling around and quick to cry. However, since Ruby is older, she is in certain ways more demanding, sometimes only wanting to be held, sometimes only interested in the toy the other baby is currently using. It has only been one week, so everyone is still adjusting, but there was at least one day that got pretty hairy for the nanny, with each baby feeding off of the other's tantrums. As much as that makes me want to stay home with Ruby every day so that she is always happy and content, I realize that the experience of having a playmate will benefit her in the long run.
Hosting the nanny share has also caused our living room to be transformed into a play room, furthering Ruby's take-over of our house.
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