Skylar's Nursery

I have been meaning to post pics of Skylar's nursery for months.  She is 8 months old now and it has been finished for... 8 months.  Our theme was lavender & butterflies. It is so pretty and I wish we spent more time there.  We are usually downstairs.   Patrick built the bookshelf himself to match Leila's.  He also refinished the chest of drawers and the changing table.  He is amazing!

Skylar is crawling really fast now, pulling up on everything and trying to walk.  She likes to push baby strollers and such.  She is so active.  I have been meaning to work on sign language with her--we used it with Leila and it was so helpful.  Somehow we get too busy but I work on the words I remember.  She loves to eat and especially likes those Gerber puffs and melts.  She kinds gets hysterical over them, actually.  So far she likes everything now, even avocado.  I learned she just does not like it pureed, she likes chunks.  She is having a tough time with digestion so we are taking solids kind of slow. 

My two girls LOVE each other. It is really sweet to watch. Skylar laughs at everything Leila does. Leila always makes her smile, and tries hard to make her laugh. She makes silly faces and will entertain her when I have the baby in her highchair while I cook. Sometimes it keeps her from screaming... sometimes not. "Skylar the Screamer" is going to haunt her.

Shuttlebration

We were there!  I took the girls to Clear Lake Park to watch the shuttle come in on Clear Lake.  It appeared to be pulled by a tug boat.  We got the last parking spot there, but the girls were unimpressed.  We left before the shuttle got too close because they were tired.

Skylar's 6 month portraits

My has she grown!  Thankfully, Skylar had a good nap that morning.  Once she decided the camera did not want to hurt her, she actually smiled.  In fact, she she did surprisingly well and we got many more good shots than I expected.  She turned seven months yesterday, and is about to start crawling.  She is sitting up pretty well.  We are still introducing solids and she has yet to cut a tooth.  She is still terrified of a lot, but honestly I am ok with a child that is not a daredevil.  Skylar is my cuddlebug and a pretty happy girl.  We love you cupcake :)

 Patrick says: this picture sums her up (see her expression in the photo above above)

Sister Fun: Skylar & Leila both at 6 months

 Each photo: Skylar on the left, Leila on the right

 

Bad, Bad Bumbos

I never had a Bumbo chair for Leila.  They were one of those cool kid things I figured we could live without since we own every other cool kid thing ever made.  When a friend offered to let me use hers for Skylar, I was thankful and have used it for a month or two... until today.

SKYLAR FELL OUT OF HER BUMBO.  She is officially a reason the CPSC issued a recall for the Bumbo several years ago. 

NO, SHE IS NOT HURT.  And no, I did not see her fall out.  I placed her in the chair on the floor, placed two toys on her lap and next thing I knew she was on her tummy next to the Bumbo.  Not crying, just doing the superman thing and looking around.

BUT IT GETS WORSE.  I googled "Yellow Bumbo" to find a picture of the chair to show you, and guess what?  Those yellow bumbos are full of cadmium and lead.  And it is not even from China.  They are made in South America.

NO MORE BUMBOS FOR US.  I will tell everyone I know that is having a baby this story.  We were lucky.  Other babies suffered skull fractures, or concussions.  This is not a safe product.  It just takes a second for an injury to happen.  If you have one and never had a problem, say a little thank you prayer.

QUESTIONS?  See these articles:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/story/2012-02-09/bumbo-baby-seats-safety/53032746/1

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/7_on_your_side&id=8538195

http://www.cpsc.gov/onsafety/2011/11/infants-in-bumbo-baby-seats-falling-from-elevated-surfaces-and-suffering-serious-head-injuries/

http://blog.essco-safetycheck.com/2010/01/30/lead-cadmium-found-in-yellow-bumbo-seats/

Skylar is 6 months old!!

Sweet girl deserves a post.  What a joy she is!  We just got back from a trip to Orlando with Skylar (Leilabug had her own adventure here) and she was just wonderful.  She certainly has her own personality at only 6 months old.  Skylar is more reserved than her older sister.  She is playful, happy, hungry, and quite the cuddler.  She made her way into our bed every night in Orlando and I have to admit I loved cuddling with her.  She is back in her crib now.  Skylar is more uncertain of things, and needs to feel comfortable.  She doesn't quite know what to do with solid food.  She loves her sister and laughs hysterically at everything she does.  She likes to be outside and swing.  She is quite the observer and seems to be taking things in and thinking about them.  In the morning, she rolls around in her crib until she turns her mobile on and just stares at it--so cute.  She loves her room.  On Easter, she cried the entire hour home from my parent's until I put her in her bed to sleep.  She just rolls over and goes to sleep, just like that.  Sucking her left thumb, of course.  With her bottom in the air.  Cutest thing ever. 


Her nicknames are: Skylark, Cupcake, and Baby Bit.  I can't believe she is 6 months old.  She is 50% for weight and 60% for height, but everyone says she looks tiny.  As her mother, I carry her around all day so I can assure you she is not that tiny.  She is wearing 6-month clothes, some 9-month, and her hair is growing slowly.  It is turning light brown and blondish, so perhaps may not have red in it after all.  She has been teething since 4 months but no teeth yet--that is ok with me though.  She is sleeping all night with only one feeding around 2:00 a.m. so life is good. 


We lost our precious pet last month, and I still get sad about it.  We are really busy right now so I am not blogging much.  School is wrapping up, dance recital is coming soon, my sister Lisa's wedding is next month (!), so lots of posts to think about. 

 Hanging out in Skylar's crib

Looking fabulous at our resort in Orlando

Avacadoes... not so much

Her onesie has a picture of a chick and says "Just hatched"

Our family on Easter

With my brothers Jimmy & Josh

With my sister Lisa & sil Courtney

Thank you for the chick Uncle Sean & Aunt Aimee!

Farewell, old friend

09/22/00-03/01/12

2 little girls= Loud and Louder

My subtitle to this post should read my girl's nicknames are "Loud Leila & Screamin' Skylar"

Our house is LOUD.  People are always amazed that Skylar can sleep in public places, but our house is unbelievably noisy so it is just white noise to her.  Leila is 3...enough said.  At 4 months, Skylar started SCREAMING at the top of her lungs when upset or excited.  It is ear piercing.  The irony is when she hears an extremely loud, startling noise, she cries.

Skylar is five months old on February 29.  She is so cute.  She has a beautiful smile and laugh and a wonderful disposition. Gorgeous blue eyes!  She wakes up happy.  (Nope, still not sleeping through the night.)  She can roll around all over the place and push her arms and head up.  She figured out the jumperoo last week and can jump like crazy.  It is sooo cute.  We started rice cereal last week and she LOVED it.  Skylar did not even hesitate and ate the whole bowl (a whole 1 TBS!!)  She is on a break from it for a few days since she started having gassy crying spells again and I want to determine the cause (please don't let it be my much-needed coffee in the morning...) 

Skylar likes to be held, upright, and especially held so she can stand on her little legs.  She sleeps on her tummy with her bottom in the air, which is how my parents told me I slept as an infant.  She goes nuts over her bed when it is naptime (when placed in her bed will immediately roll over and go to sleep) and Patrick's mom said he was the same.  She LOVES her left thumb.  My mom calls it her "be happy" button--and it is.  The right thumb will do, of course.  Sadly,(for me) she knows who her mommy is which means she knows who is NOT her mommy and will cry if handed off when she is sleepy or cranky...sigh. 

She likes walks in the Baby Bjorn--Shrek is still hanging in there so we try to take him as much as we can.  She loves her sister and thinks anything Leila does in hilarious.  Leila is so sweet to her sissy and will entertain her for me while I am cooking dinner.

As sweet as Skylar is, she is also opinionated and is proving to be another high-maintenance child....  I love my girls and I love being home with them.  We have so much fun!  But mama is tired!!  Leila does not nap and Skylar's naps are still not super-scheduled due to always running around for Leila's stuff.  We were very strict with Leila's sleep schedule so I hope Skylar can adapt--we promise to do or best for her with what we have...  Skylar is in her beautiful nursery now so hopefully I will get more sleep soon. 

I have to close with an update on Shrek (aka "Shrekie-pooh" or "Shrekers".) He is still alive. It has been 3 weeks since we were told he had only days left. He is not doing great, but he is still eating, going on walks, going in and out his doggie door, and hanging out with us. The vet said he is "not in pain" and that the "quality of life" was still there. I am not kidding myself, it is coming soon, but I love him and love him being with me. He started a steroid after seeing the vet that day which has slowed the growth of his tumors for the time being. So he takes his 5 meds a day and eats his $2 cans of dog food and he is ALIVE and doing WELL. I guess as well as you can be with terminal cancer, that is. My talented sister-in-law, Courtney Griffin, has taken some beautiful photos of the girls with him to preserve his memory. I could barely look at them they were so beautiful. Thank you, Courtney! (www.courtneygriffinphotography.com.)

 What a cute doggie.  You can see his tumor on the right side of his face.

 Sweet babies

 This is just a great picture.  Age 3 going on 20.

 Yes, she is adorable.

This is Skylar's serious face.  There is a lot going on in there for such a tiny little person.