I have been wondering about what Marlo’s personality and her likes and dislikes will be as she gets older and I think I am getting a good idea about some things. She is all about money. At the tender age of 7 3/4 months, her favourite plaything is now Mommy or Daddy’s wallet. She still loves the cell phones and remotes, but give her a wallet and she knows she is someone then!
Of course we are not helping the matter by falling into the baby gadget trap…we said we would not need the latest and greatest in baby gear, but more and more, I find myself hankering for the cool stroller (which we bought…1/2 price, though!) or comfiest sling, or best shoes, but we seem to have a lot of these things. So much for making Marlo learn to appreciate the small things. Oh well, we knew we would scar her sooner or later.
And, she started to crawl (commando-style…pulling with her hands, hen pushing with feet) today. The object of her desire? mommy’s credit card.
WHat is up with babies and phones, remote controls and keys? Marlo LOVES any and all of these. And she will go coocoo bananas to get them, it seems. And she is no dummy- she knows when we are trying to give her a child friendly version ‘toy’ keys/remote and will not take it, but will actively push us away to get to the real deal. I have spoken to other parents and they say it is a common phenomenon amongst these tech-savvy babies. I think there must be something in the water these days that is programming the children towards them towards the tech age. It is like Marlo is just getting prepped for the day we set her up on the computer or give her her first Ipod or blackberry. My question is, what did babies back in the olden days do for fun? THere were no phones or remotes for our parents when they were babies…what did they go ape @#$% over?
Marlo loves animals. She absolutely lights up and the sirens go off (…really, her squeal sounds like a siren at times) when she sees our cats or any dogs. She loves to get her hands on them, and fortunately we have 1 cat who will put up with it. Reilly has a great temperament with kids and it is so sweet to see her allowing Marlo to pet her down. She wont even run away if Marlo tries to pull her hair (doesnt happen often as her cat sessions are always monitored by Mom). We have 1 cat who, on the other hand, runs out of the room in deathly fear if Marlo tries to approach her. The 1st time we heard Marlo laugh to something other than tickles was when she saw the cats jumping after a toy and she just thought it was the cats meow (so to speak). It was just the most amazing moment to see her react to an event outside of herself and know she found amusement in it.
Of course, the cats have been such troupers with this past year and its major upheaval…first Mom and Dad return after a year away and pluck them from their new and happy home with their Auntie, then they have to get used to a new (temporary) house, then the baby arrives and steals all their former glory and attention, then they have to move house yet again and in this new house there is a barky dog next door! What is a cat to do!?! Well, they have had a few bumps along the way, and I feel sooo bad they are not getting the same attention as they used to get, but I think things are finally starting to settle down somewhat. Of course, we will be starting major renovations soon, so they will love that I am sure!
Lori
Marlo loves animals. She absolutely lights up and the sirens go off (…really, her squeal sounds like a siren at times) when she sees our cats or any dogs. She loves to get her hands on them, and fortunately we have 1 cat who will put up with it. Reilly has a great temperament with kids and it is so sweet to see her allowing Marlo to pet her down. She wont even run away if Marlo tries to pull her hair (doesnt happen often as her cat sessions are always monitored by Mom). We have 1 cat who, on the other hand, runs out of the room in deathly fear if Marlo tries to approach her. The 1st time we heard Marlo laugh to something other than tickles was when she saw the cats jumping after a toy and she just thought it was the cats meow (so to speak). It was just the most amazing moment to see her react to an event outside of herself and know she found amusement in it.
Of course, the cats have been such troupers with this past year and its major upheaval…first Mom and Dad return after a year away and pluck them from their new and happy home with their Auntie, then they have to get used to a new (temporary) house, then the baby arrives and steals all their former glory and attention, then they have to move house yet again and in this new house there is a barky dog next door! What is a cat to do!?! Well, they have had a few bumps along the way, and I feel sooo bad they are not getting the same attention as they used to get, but I think things are finally starting to settle down somewhat. Of course, we will be starting major renovations soon, so they will love that I am sure!
Lori
I was just reminded by a friend (thanks, Aida) that I have not been a good blogger lately…in fact I have not posted anyting in 2 months! I could blame it on that whirlwind of activity around here, but I should have at least been able to write a line or 2 every so often. Anyway, we moved into our new house a month ago and so sorting that out has occupied a lot of our time. We are now living at 89 Quidi Vidi Road in a semi-detached 100 year old home. We absolutely love the location…5 minutes walk away from most of our favourite parts of town, in an old historic part of the city. The house, of course, being 100 yrs old needs a lot of work, which we knew, but maybe didnt realize how much. SO we are trying to decide how much we can/cant should/shouldnt do with the house to bring it up to it’s potential.
On the baby front, Marlo will be 6 months old tommorrow (July 26) and she is now a rolling machine! She can move pretty much anywhere, if she is on the ground. Through a combination of rolling front to back, back to front, twisting and wiggling, she can get whatever she wants if it is on the ground. Of course, as exciting as it is to see her do this, it now means we really have to baby proof the place…and no more laying her on the bed for a minute while I get something from another room!
Now that she is 6 months old, we have also started feeding her some solids. We did start 1.5 months back with some mashed banana, but when we got her shots, the nurse there strongly encouraged us to hold off until she was 6 months, so we did. So when we started feeding her this weekend, she had rice cereal and most recently canned banana. The rice cereal was pretty , I thought…kind of like cream of wheat or something, but canned banana! Yuck! that stuff was positively sickening! So, I think I will start making her food myself as I dont want to feed Marlo something that I would really not want to eat! That being said, she didnt seem to have near as much trouble with it as I did!
The last thing that has come up recently is work. It looks like I will be going back to work in September for 20 hrs/week. I would have loved to take the full year off with Marlo, but an opportunity came up and I would be silly not to take it as opportunities in my field do not present themselves that often. SO, I will be working as a private practice speech language pathologist come mid september. Wish me luck!
That’s all for now, I hope to be a bit better with updating this thing from here on in.
Lori
Looks like 1ce a month is all I am getting to do with this blog right now…Oh well, I have different priorities! Anyway, for those interested, Marlo is now 4 months old and wow! She is just a different baby than she was even 1 month ago! The top newsbreaking items are: 1. she has discovered that those hand are terrific at putting things in her mouth! Everything from the corner of her bib, to her stuffed cow to mommy’s finger (that is the yummiest, it seems). 2. Standing is what all the cool kids are doing! Marlo has been able to stand with just minimal support from us. She can even push herself to standing from sitting with only a little help from me…what a superstar! 3. she has learned that she can make many new and interesting and LOUD noises. SHe loves to squeal and shout with both delight and dismay. Our favourite sound, however, is her new little laugh that she saves for only the funniest or most special of occasions 
We think she may soon start teething as she is drooling andchwing her hand more and more and she had a diaper rash this week…why is teething related to her bum and it’s situation?
On the mommy front, I have started to lose my hair! I thought I knew anything and everything related to having a baby from all the reading I had done, but this one passed me by apparently. I didnt know what was going on with me! I couldnt understand why I was losing my hair and in passing I mentioned it at my La Leche League meeting and a girl there said ” Is Marlo 3 months?” “Yes, why?” ” that’s why you are losing your hair. It’s a normal hormonal thing” As far as I’m concerned there is nothing normal about these freaking pregnancy hormones! So anyway, I took it as a reason to do something new with my hair and got a new short and ultracute haircut (Colin’s first reaction: “I liked it better long” ) Well, I think it is cute!
Lori
I really dont get much time to write anything and I will probably have to cut this post short if she wakes, but here goes:
I cant believe how quickly babies grow! It really seems like everyday I wake up and see something different in her. As great as it is to see her grow and experience all the milestones of babyhood, I am feel like I am losing the baby that she was just last week and I will never see that tiny little person again.
She is now laughing and talking up a storm….especially when she gets her diaper changed. Who knew cleaning up poo could be such a social experience! She is also starting to reach for things. Not consistently, but with a few things, she knows her hands can get her some cool stuff…they will play music if she hits the toy the right way, she will get my hand to suck on if she pulls it to her mouth!
Mommyhood is pretty cool!
Lori
Our little girl turned 2 months 2 days ago and it seems like whoosh! she jumped a mile in her development. All of a sudden she is making so many new sounds, exploring with her voice…squealing, laughing… and her hands! She is trying to get the hang of using those things at the end of her arms for more than just scratching her face. For the last few weeks, we have been trying to get her to take a pacifier/dummy/soother…whatever you want to call it…as she wants to suck a lot, but only on my boob and this was making me a bit sore. Anyway, she would have none of it…it was my boob or nothing. Now, just this evening, she has turned a corner and started to *horror* find her thumb and suck it! So, given the choice of thumb or dum, I want her to choose dum…at least we can take that away from her! So, Colin’s mom, Nanny Greene, got her to suck the dummy for about 10 minutes and later in the evening, I got her to take it again, but then she started to use that dang hand to get the dummy out and try to put the thumb in! What a little devil! The cutest little devil ever!!!
Our little baby is already 6 weeks old and I cant get over how much change goes on in a newborn in these first weeks. She is now showing lots of interest in things other than sleeping or eating (although those are still the priorities) such as toys like a baby gym that lights up and plays music. SHe is holding her head up on her own when she is in our arms and is getting better at it when she is on her belly. But she hates being on her belly so she doesnt get much tummy time these days. SHe loves to talk how, but I guess she doesnt have great control of her volume …sometimes she just lets out a bellow for no apparent reason!!
On the breastfeeding front, I think she is still having a bit of trouble with getting the right amount. She is getting more green watery poos and is wanting to feed really frequently when awake (every hour, basically). It seems to be that I am actually producing too much, according to many websites!
Gotta go…she’s crying for more!
Lori
Marlo has reached two milestones this weekend. One good, one bad. Yesterday she got her first cold. She is all congested and sniffly; Colin and I are finding it troubling to hear her having difficulty breathing and in discomfort. We have a syringe to extract the mucous, but she hates it and it doesnt really work. There is no fever so there is no need to go to the doctor, we just have to wait it out.
THe other milestone is her first real attempts at ‘talking’…she has started to coo in amusement when playing with her musical hangy toy (she lies beneath it and looks up at it as it makes music).
Now we are just waiting for that really intentional smile. I think I will get it before Colin 
Mommy Lori
