Ten Months

Cecily turned ten months on Tuesday, 20 August. Stacey was in town so we got to spend the day with her and Frankie! We met up with them at the Abbot Kinney Intellegentsia and did a little browsing at Firefly Kids. The babies were all over the place at the coffee shop so we ended up meeting up again for dinner in the early evening after naps. We had a really great meal but a super bad dining experience at a restaurant in Manhattan Beach. It was actually laughable!

We got Silly a new, full-size crib this month! It was actually quite an adventure getting it because, apparently, Ikea is re-doing the only crib we wanted/could afford so there was only one left in all of Southern California! We tracked it down though and actually had fun driving to Covina in my brother's car to get it. Silly is adjusting pretty well to sleeping in her new crib but still joins us in bed at some point most nights.

Levi gets up with Cecily every morning (usually around 8:00) while I get some extra sleep all by myself. They usually make coffee and go on a walk and just enjoy some good, old-fashioned daddy-daughter time. I love that they have that time together! I also love the extra sleep. ;)


At ten months, Cecily:

• thinks my eyelashes are hilarious and fun to play with.

• is a sponge and is great at repeating things I do.

• tries to snap her fingers when she sees me snapping mine (she's actually been doing this for ages, but she's getting a little better at mimicking the movement now).

• gives lots of kisses... but not to Daddy. He's scratchy.

• is such an examiner! She loves exploring objects more than most things.

• claps for real now! She loves clapping, and we clap for everything!

• still doesn't crawl, but she's trying!

• is still a music lover. I don't see this ever changing. She'd prefer it if we ALWAYS had music playing.

• can put two hands on the side of the pool while we count to five at swimming lessons.

• is super talkative and cheerful in the mornings.

• notices all the little things. I think this is why she hasn't started crawling or pulling herself up to stand. She doesnt' need to get far to have things to explore.

• sits up on her own!

• sometimes sits up while sleeping in her crib and wakes herself up.

• tugs at her ear and hair while nursing.

• squealshriekscreams a "meow" in response to Gretel.

• HATES having her diaper changed. This is annoying since she used to love it. :\

• loves Yo Gabba Gabba.

Piggie Piggie

^^cecily and piggie piggie taking a nap^^

This week, I'm working on getting Cecily attached to a lovey,  specifically a tiny, soft, pink pig called Piggie Piggie. So far, we're doing really well! Cecily really likes her! Piggie Piggie only comes out for naps and bedtime. We talk to Piggie Piggie and give her kisses. Piggie Piggie always tells Cecily that she's very sleepy and asks if she can sleep next to her. I put her in Cecily's arms while I feed her. She really likes that! She periodically stops nursing to say hello to Piggie Piggie and give her a kiss. It's so sweet. At bedtime, I've been sleeping with Piggie Piggie to get her to smell like me before I start giving her to Cecily at nighttime. My hope in doing all of this is that Cecily will be comforted by her little pig when she stirs at night and soothe herself back into a deeper sleep. Plus, every child needs an inanimate best friend, be it blanket, stuffed animal, doll, toy car, or wooden spoon! I still have my ee-ee, a tattered green blanket that I slept with into my early twenties. I used to joke that I'd take that thing on my honeymoon with me (I did not). Here's hoping that Piggie Piggie turns out to be Silly's first best friend!

35/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 45 weeks. "Hello, fountain." We've been waving hello to everrrrything lately. People walking by. Appliances. Gilmore Girls characters on the television. The kitties. Flecks of nothing on the floor. Cecily's an extrovert.

Linking up with Jodi.

34/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 44 weeks. Levi and I are referring to this as Cecily's senior portrait. She looks like she's pondering her future behind the bars of her crib. Such a little character. I'm just happy to have a photo that shows her face still and clear. That's a rare occurrence these days! Oh, and by the way, that lump behind her is me sleeping. Levi took this one while I obliviously snoozed this morning.


Linking up with Jodi on Che and Fidel. Every week, Jodi links to a few of her favorite portraits from the previous week. I was thrilled and very flattered to find that she shared Cecily's portrait from last week on her blog over the weekend. :)

33/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 43 weeks. Cecily outgrew her Bloom Alma Mini crib at six months. I was pretty irritated by this because we had intended to keep her in there for at least the first year, and we didn't want a full-size crib because we live in a small, one-bedroom apartment. But we have a very tall daughter (99th percentile). Because we couldn't afford another crib at six months, we put the mini crib away and Cecily started sleeping in bed with us. It was all very cozy and sweet, but it was also completely nerve-wracking for me. I wake up every SINGLE time she shifts or moves at all. I've read that breastfeeding hormones make mothers more sensitive to their baby's movements while they're sleeping (some even say that formula-fed babies shouldn't sleep with their parents due to a lack of heightened awareness). And I'm just a paranoid person. Levi and I don't really move in our sleep at all, and we were very very careful, but it was still worrisome for me. Plus, I really missed being able to cuddle with my husband! Or talk to him in bed. Even though I had all these reasons for wanting her in a crib, I got so attached to sleeping next to my sweet baby. I loved looking over and seeing her breathing softly with her little, sweet, full lips parted. I loved seeing her smile and hearing her laugh (she's a sleep laugher, this girl of mine). There's nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby, and sleeping next to mine definitely had its good qualities. But I reached a point where I had had enough. Levi and I decided to put off some other very important financial decisions in order to get Cecily into a new crib. So all that to say, here is my sweet girl asleep in her new crib! Her new, big, GIANT crib next to our GIANT, king size bed in our small bedroom! It's pretty much wall-to-wall furniture in there, and it looks slightly ridiculous, but that's okay. You gotta do what you gotta do. Cecily is doing a great job. She's had two nights and one full day of naps in her new crib. I'm putting her in the crib after she has fallen asleep while nursing just to get her used to it. After awhile, we'll start working on getting her to put herself to sleep again. She was SO good at that before she outgrew the mini crib and her first sleep regression hit. But she likes sleep so she'll get back to a good place. I trust her. I love my sweet girl so much. Seeing her sleep is a cure for any frustrations I experience. It's good for my soul... especially when it's in her own bed. I'm so proud of my Cecily.

32/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 42 weeks. We went to Ikea today (actually we went to two Ikeas to track down a sold out, discontinued crib that we had our hearts set on... it was kind of a nightmare Ikea day). While we were at the first Ikea, Cecily tested out some sheepskin rugs. We are totally the type of parents who pull things out, put our baby on the floor, and play with her in the middle of an Ikea. I've started noticing that Cecily is getting bored pretty easily lately, and I think it's because she isn't stimulated enough during playtime. So I've thrown myself into researching age-appropriate activities. We're focusing a lot on sensory play now (hence, the rug). She loves it! She's such a little sponge right now. I've noticed that she's gotten a lot better at mimicking me (kinda scary actually...), so I really want to take advantage of that and dive right into teaching her and interacting with her more. I feel ashamed to say that I've been ignoring her too much up until this point. I hadn't quite accepted that I can no longer lay her down on her activity mat and do my own thing while she quietly plays next to me. She needs a lot more interaction now. And when I give it to her, she's much more content when it's time to play on her own. Motherhood is tricky because it changes ALL the time.

P.S. I've pretty much given up on trying to get portraits of her face at this point. She moves around way too much now. ;)

Linking up with Jodi.

Nine Months

Cecily turned nine months on Saturday, 20 July. She weighs 19 pounds 13 ounces (75th percentile) and is 29 1/2 inches tall (98.7th percentile). Her head is still in the 75th percentile.

At nine months, Cecily:

• is really into clicking her tongue.

• loves pickles.

• covers her eye, holds her ear, or scratches her head while nursing.

• asks me to read to her and loooooves it.

• is very, very loud.

• is a bit of a pill.

• has some pretty major separation anxiety (which I've read is super normal at nine months). She acts like I'm leaving her forever if I even walk in the opposite direction of her. Heaven forbid I try to get myself a glass of water or go to the bathroom. The bumbo is permanently in the bathroom now so that I can pee without having to put her on the bathroom floor.

• has two teeth trying to get through! One of them has popped through the surface. It's sharp!

• leans forward and to the side to get things she wants while sitting and props herself up and kinda scoots backwards while on her tummy. The backwards tummy scooting  is very frustrating to her though.

• is a really great eater. She likes almost everything! Except puffs. She thinks she's too good for puffs. Tosses them off her high chair like they're beneath her.

• STILL doesn't seem to have an eye color. Sometimes they're still sort of grey blue. Other times they look blue or blue with a little yellow-brown around her pupil. Or violet or just dark.

• loves taking her medicine so much that I sometimes give her water with a syringe if she's cranky.

• is ticklish on the inside of her wrists. Levi discovered this one while trying to clean her hands with a wipe.

• sat up from laying on her tummy ONCE with Levi. While I was in the other room. And wouldn't repeat it for me. Of course. Her first back to tummy roll was for him too! Little minx.

• might refer to me as "ah-baba." Not entirely sure.

• LOVES the intro to Doug.

• does her own version of clapping, which involves hitting her diaper or the floor. It's soooo cute!

New nicknames:

• sesame (this one's from Levi 'cause she's his seed - HAAA!)

31/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 41 weeks. She loooves food (as in the kind that grown ups eat), but she's still predominantly breastfed (we haven't done any bottles so far). We've been doing this breastfeeding thing for nine months now, and we're pretty good at it! Nursing has been such a bonding experience for me and Cecily, and it has really empowered me and helped me to trust my instincts as a mother. I always thought I'd be a very strict, by-the-book, anxious, worried mother... but I'm not! I frequently go with my gut, and I'm not afraid of making unpopular decisions if they seem right for my family. I, honestly, attribute most of this confidence to my experience and success with breastfeeding. Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

30/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 40 weeks. She's such a little gem. Especially when she's sleeping.

29/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 39 weeks. Me and my fountain-loving babe at the Hyatt last weekend. Cecily took her first dip in a swimming pool at the hotel and loved it. She may not like the ocean, but she's certainly a water baby.


P.S. My girl is nine months today. Practically a little old lady.

Fountain Girl

Cecily is a major fountain lover (so am I), so whenever we're around one, we stop and take a look. 

^^ the best is her squeal at the end ^^

Apparently, we go to lots of places with fountains. This is just from the last week or two. Having a baby makes you slow down and enjoy life more.

28/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 38 weeks. With her sippy straw cup yesterday afternoon. I don't know what it is about Veggie Tales, but she loves it. I'm happy to have found something that she's content to sit and watch on her own for a good little chunk of time. Thank you, Dave and the Giant Pickle. Also, she can drink from a straw now!!


Linking up with Jodi.

27/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 37 weeks. Just trying out some headphones with Daddy at the Apple Store.

Linking up with Jodi.

To the beach!

We did one of the things on our summer list yesterday: we took Cecily to the beach in Huntington. It was... interesting.

She had woken up from her nap on the wrong side of the rocker seat. So much crankiness. But we went anyway! After driving around the parking lot looking for parking forever (this whole having to pay to park to go to the beach thing is soooo weird to me having grown up a block away), we coated ourselves in sunscreen, dragged all of our crap (blanket, towel, backpack, baby tent thingie, umbrella, etc.) out of the car, and began our trek to the water.

First stop: strips at Dwight's! Of course!

^^ reaching for the strips. smart girl. ^^

I really wanted to eat on the sand because it's more fun that way so we added two boxes of food to our haul.

After setting up our blanket and umbrella (and making an attempt at setting up the borrowed baby circus tent thingie), we ate.





Cecily really liked strips (the cheese and the sauce part anyway)! She liked them so much that she didn't really let me enjoy them because she demanded bites every two seconds! Haha! This girl loves to eat! We're working on patience right now... as much as you can with an 8-month-old anyway!

After eating, we put on Silly's Esther Williams swim cap and took her to the water. By the way, I bought this suit for her last summer while I was pregnant. I couldn't resist that swim cap. She looks like a little tomato head.










^^ she looks like a squinty old man in all the pictures. it was BRIGHT. ^^


^^ "i hate it, momma. i hate it!" ^^


^^ choose "original" under the settings for the best quality! ^^

This was her second time touching the ocean, and she still hated it. Haha! Poor girl! We tried for awhile after taking pictures and video, but she kept making these miserable little groaning sounds. She looooves water, but I guess she prefers it warm and not freezing cold/filled with sand/rushing at her.






^^ "save me, daddy!!" ^^

After our "swim," she was totally over the whole beach thing so we left. I think we were there for about 20ish minutes. Haha!




^^ she fell asleep nursing in the car. she was so tired that she didn't even wake up when i put her in her car seat. this never happens! poor sleepy babe! ^^

Oh well. We tried it! Even though we live so close, we probably won't go back to the beach until she's old enough to actually enjoy it. I'm sure she'll be a total beach girl next summer. :)

Eight Months

Cecily turned eight months on Thursday, 20 June.

At eight months, Cecily:

• waves hello.

• is always scratching at her diaper or pulling at the tabs. So grateful for diaper covers.

• is such an adventurous eater! She loves artichokes dipped in balsamic vinegar and tomatillo soup. She also really likes peach yogurt. And she may have had a taste of Momma's soft serve ice cream and LOVED it.

• still loves music. Her favorite song is still "I'll Fly Away" by Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch.

• has to stop in the middle of nursing to sit up for no apparent reason.

• thinks laying down is lame and likes to nurse sitting up.

• loves to hold things she's eating, and if you try to take them away, she will scream bloody murder.

• frequently needs to hold my face to fall asleep at night. And when she stirs, she searches for me in the dark. As soon as she finds my hands or face, she settles and falls back asleep.

• whines frequently but only to Momma. I'm the complaint department.

• loves getting her thumb stuck in the nipple of her didi.

• claws at my face while trying to fall asleep.

• rolls around A LOT in the falling asleep process. She would just keep rolling and rolling in the same direction and fall off the bed if I didn't stop her. She also likes to get on her stomach, forcefully slam her head against my brow bone, and fall asleep while resting her head on my face. Super cozy.

• dances when I sing "dance, dance! Cecily will dance!" or "wiggle wiggle wiggle. wiggle wiggle wiggle."

• waves bye bye.

• is starting to say hi.

• coughs for fun.

• babbles A LOT. Her babbles are starting to sound more like words.

• has officially outgrown her infant car seat and is now in her awesome convertible car seat. It's like a throne!

• loves being doted on and talked to.

• hates being ignored and hates when I leave the room. HATES it.

• begs for food while we're eating.

New nicknames:

• toot-toot

three / 52

Cecily - 01/52: 11 weeks. Lounging in front of the Christmas tree. She was annoyed when I picked her up.

            17/52: 27 weeks. Enjoying a Vivian Maier exhibit.

           20/52: 30 weeks. So many times throughout the day, I clutch my heart and say, "OH. I love her                 SO MUCH." She is so beautiful. So sweet. So perfect. So funny. So so so so so lovely.

These are my three favorite portraits of Cecily from the first half of the year. It was hard deciding (week 4 was verrrry close to making it in the top three). Funnily enough, I took all three of these with my iPhone. I initially started out wanting to use my Nikon and improve my manual shooting skills, but if you can take beautiful photos with a camera that fits in your pocket and weighs next to nothing, why not?

Looking over the past 26 weeks through portraits of Cecily just solidifies what I have already learned - nothing makes time go more quickly than having a baby. Cecily has grown and changed so much, and I have too. I have learned so much about myself through becoming her mother. And this is only the beginning.

26/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 36 weeks. We took her to the library for the first time this week. The library I loved as a girl! She enjoyed pulling books off the shelves and listening to Momma read a story. I really hope to help her develop a love of reading, books, and storytelling.

Linking up with Jodi. This week marks the halfway point of the year (and this project)! I can't believe I've stuck with this so long... even though I haven't really been blogging anything else (even though I have tons of posts swimming in my head and on my hard drive). I'm also going to be sharing my three favorite portraits from the year later on... hopefully, this afternoon. :)

25/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 35 weeks. The cheese stands alone. After a huge group shot of all the babies at her cousin's 2nd birthday party, Cecily was the last one hanging out. Just happy to be sitting. She loves sitting. Haha!

Linking up with Jodi as usual!

24/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 34 weeks. So much celebrating going on in these parts! We celebrated Levi as a father on Sunday. It was a great day. And yesterday, we celebrated my birthday! Coming back from the restroom yesterday, I caught this sweet moment between Silly and Levi. He was helping her smell a "Momma flower" (jasmine flower).


Linking up with Jodi this week and every week.

23/52

"A portrait of my child once a week, every week, in 2013."

Cecily: 33 weeks. Even though this looks like a serene, beautiful moment, this was probably the crankiest day we've ever had, which is why practically every toy in the house is laid out in front of her. She had either just been screaming or started screaming after this photo was taken. Who knows? It was all a blur of screams. Poor girl needs her teeth to break through! 



Linking up with Jodi this week and every week.