Dog Toys

Somedays I look at Hannah and can imagine her as a 5 year old little girl - playing with Barbie dolls, dressed in pink with a bow in her hair. And then I think about how Hannah rips off headbands and bows the second I put them on her head and while she loves her babydoll, she's just as content chewing on one of the dog's old rubber balls.

While I was in the thick of Spring and needed to plan Hannah's Easter basket, distraction for the big road trip and fearing the teething phase, I realized I could kill three birds with one stone by purchasing the much Oooohhed and Aaaawed over Sophie the Giraffe.



Basically she's a $20 squeeker toy, but every parent I asked sweared by it and raved that it was made with natural rubber and inks.

So I bought it and hid the price from Christopher until he saw Hannah's little eyes beam over her new toy - That SQUEEKS! Then I slid in a quick "It was $20" that was muffled by Hannah's squeals. Whew!

It doesn't seem to be Hannah's favorite toy but it certainly is Apollo and Caesars. And I love my dogs, but not enough to buy them a $20 toy.

So Sophie lives in the carseat. She keeps watch in dark parking lots and entertains Hannah on trips to the grocery store. Since Hannah doesn't take that many field trips yet, Sophie's novelty has remained in tact and H is still excited to see her everytime we strap her in.

Now that I've replaced Hannah's love of dirty tennis balls and chewing on rawhide, I just need to find a way to keep her out of the dog food.
*sigh* .... My little girly girl...

Linus Van Pelt

Hannah slept through the night.  *angelic choir sings*

Chris said, "That was the best night's sleep I've had in months!"
And I said, "Where is my pump?!!!"

Hannah woke up shortly after, nursed and went with dad to play in the living room while I got dressed. 
A few minutes later Hannah walked back into the bedroom, barely paying any attention to me.  She walked straight to the nightstand, grabbed one of her blankets and toddled back to the living room.  She kept it close by the rest of the morning. 

I left for work and as closed the door behind me and heard Hannah crying  "Maw! ...  Maw!!", I began to wonder when, developmentally, children begin to form an attachment to items such as a 'blanky'.

Thanks to Google, Wikipedia, and a few scientific journals, I know a little more about the subject.

It turns out that blankies or 'security blanket' (which is what I search for) is actually called a transitional object. 

A security object can give a child both emotional and tangible comfort, especially during times of stress. When going to sleep or being read a story, these security objects can have a calming effect on children. They can also be helpful in a separation from the parent. The object reminds them of the parents; therefore, it calms them by giving them a peace of mind.

For more about the psychological role of a transitional item:

"Later on the child comes to realize that the mother is separate from him through which it appears that the child has lost something. The child realizes that he is dependent on others and thus he loses the idea that he is independent, a realization which creates a difficult period and brings frustration and anxiety with it. In the end it is impossible that the mother is always there to ‘bring the world’ to the baby, a realization which has a powerful, somewhat painful, but constructive impact on the child.

Through fantasizing about the object of his wishes the child will find comfort. A transitional object can be used in this process. ... These could be real objects like a blanket or a teddy bear, but other ‘objects’, such as a melody or a word, can fulfill this role as well. This object represents all components of ‘mothering’, and it means that the child himself is able to create what he needs as well. It enables the child to have a fantasized bond with the mother when she gradually separates for increasingly longer periods of time. The transitional object is important at the time of going to sleep and as a defence against anxiety."  (Wikipedia)

The term security blanket was popularized in the Peanuts comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz, who gave such a blanket to his character Linus van Pelt. The most common popular name for such a blanket is blanky – sometimes banky, if a child has not acquired the ability to pronounce complex onsets.  It was revealed that people who sleep with comfort blankets are in fact more independent than those who don't. The theory is that children who use a comfort blanket are more likely to detach themselves from their parents because of the increase in security which the blanket provides.

I have to admit that, having not used a security blanket late into toddler-hood, I don't have a first-hand understanding of the importance it might play to a child.  Instead I have this fear of Hannah toting around a ripped dirty blanket that I can only wash while she sleeping (after I pry it out of her hands).  I imagine the battle of wills whenever we've left home without it and we're trying to decide if we need to turn back and get it.  And then I flash to images of getting ready for prom and having to urge Hannah to leave blanky at home... *shudder*

But seeing Hannah carrying around the blanket this morning was so cute and endearing, and now knowing just how much it might help calm her while I'm at work and how independently minded it might encourage her to be, I'm okay with accepting a future blanky as a member of the family.

... As long as I can wash it once a week.

Birthday Boy

I met Jess through YouTube.  

Actually, I met her in the aisles of our local Target the day after Christmas.  I woke up early and Hannah and I went to peruse the half priced decorations when Jessica introduced herself. 

That was the last time I went to Target without makeup on.

Last Saturday was Ethan's first birthday party so Hannah donned her party dress and pretty shoes and away we went!  

Party Tricks

Weekends like this one make me loath going to work.

Hannah is at such a wonderful developmental place - she is constantly learning new party tricks and is so pleased with herself whenever she manages to get in 'trouble'. 

Her latest fascination is my makeup bag. 
Whenever she manages to sneak away (usually while I fold laundry) I'll silently bet myself money that I'll find her digging into my makeup.  I remember that I hid it in my bedroom, but she spotted it while I was nursing her, and even though I distracted her she probably still remembers.  As I open the door to the master bedroom, I spot Hannah crouched over a floral print bag that has been over turned.  Compacts and eye pencils and a lash curler are strewn about.  She hears me enter and tries to scurry away from the scene, but she forgets to sit down the evidence - a tube of mascara is clutched in one hand and in the other is my expensive blush brush now wet with baby drool.  She waits for my reaction and when she sees that I'm not mad, she stands up - giggling - and runs to me.  She hugs my legs and then reaches her arms up so that I'll pick her up.

She gets into everything nowadays.  I find baby toys in random places where she's carried them to and then dropped them, trading them for some shiny adult object she'd rather hold.  She's trying to find her voice, but in the meantime just screeches an ear piercing scream of excitement.  She's just learned how to crawl onto the couch and likes to jump on the love seat and she keeps attempting to dive head first off the arm rest.

And even though she keeps me on my toes all day long - she's so fun.

Our Wild Day at the Zoo

fLots of planning goes into an outfit for a day long adventure.  Since she was going to be strapped in the carseat AND the stroller 75% of the time we opted for pants.  I bough this Nicole Miller outfit off Zulily a lifetime ago and thought the zebra print was an obvious choice for a zoo trip.  Knowing how unpredictable Oregon weather can be (and to limit sun exposure) we put a lightweight sweater over it (plus a pop of hot pink with a neon green outfit is always a hit).  The shoes were a big fuss - Now that she's walking she needs to wear shoes when we go out, but I wanted her to be comfortable and many of her Stride Rite shoes are not broken in enough to be comfortable for all day wear.  The clogs were slightly annoying in that they were easy for Hannah to kick off and we had to keep a close eye on them, but they were comfortable, breezy, and easy to knock the sand and dirt out of after she went walking in this grassy area.  Overall, I think she looked adorable.

The No Pants Dance

Hannah has one of the cutest baby wardrobes I think I've ever seen.

(okay I'm sure there are plenty of girls out there with better wardrobes, but considering how little I payed for hers by shopping at consignment sales and receiving hand me downs it's hard to beat the quality or quantity of clothing options available to her.)

And yet my mother and husband refuse to dress her in anything cute.

I try to make it easy for them by having outfits matched up on one hanger or dresses organized by 'fanciness'.  Her shirts are hung up by sleeve length and the pants are stacked in rainbow order.  Yet every time I come home from work my baby looks like pitiful Pearl.  (Pitiful Pearl is a family term for a .... homey looking child.)

Most days she doesn't even have pants on.

But if I had a booty that cute, I'd run around in my underwear too.

Whoever said 'It's No Use Crying Over Spilt Milk' Obviously Did Not Have a Low Supply

Chris was such a fabulous husband this morning.
(I attribute 50% of his productiveness to Hannah sleeping through the night.) 
While I took a shower he made everyone breakfast AND packed my lunch and pump bag.  This allowed me time to pump (hello engorgement!) AND nurse Hannah, as well as shower AND blow dry my hair.  I picked out a cute shirt and paired it with a Mommy Necklace - I actually look pretty cute today.

Or at least I did.

7 Directions

Most days I think the need for sleep is a major flaw in human evolution.
Needing to sleep takes up so much of my day, and I'd rather be completing items of my supermom wish list instead.

{one}

Freezer paper stencils.  I really want to create custom designs on Hannah's blank onesies and shirts but I can never find freezer paper.  Every time I go to Target I check again to see if they've magically started carrying it since last week.  Even my grocery store doesn't carry it.

Target and the grocery store is about the extent of my shopping excursions lately, so I might just have to make a specialty trip somewhere else to find this elusive freezer paper.  And then what do I use you actually paint the shirts?  ...  I need to rewatch that YouTube tutorial again.

So freezer stencils are not going to get checked off anytime soon.

{two}

I keep thinking about the master bedroom transformation.  When we moved into our house we painted the living room and decorated the guest room, but once we directed the movers on where to place our bedroom set we gave up on the room.  It still has the yellow toned neutral paint found sporadically throughout the house, there isn't a single photo or piece of artwork hung on the wall, and since our master bath is basically a glorified hole in the wall with no actual storage, we have a 4 foot high stack of towels constantly perched on my dresser.  I rented rooms from slumlords while in college that had more style than my room does now.  I'm leaning towards a gray/charcoal/purple color scheme but keep getting cold feet when it comes to picking out a GRAY paint color.

So that'll have to wait for a really long weekend with amazing childcare available to me.

{three}

I'd love to finish that scrapbook from our day at the Tulip festival.  I only have 3 pages left and it'll be complete.  I really should move this to the top of my to do list.

{four}

I need to make the thank you cards for Hannah's baptism.  I finally found a store with enough sheets of pink cardstock, but I need to send H's photo off to Walgreens to include in the envelope and ... where did I put that list of names to thank....?   Ugh.... I suck at this.

{five}

Work.  With the recent exit of a coworker whose work has been split between the remaining three in my department, I'm now doing 133% of the work in 75% of the time (I'm still working part time on an extended maternity leave schedule).  It's stressful to constantly be so busy and behind at work.  I feel like a rodent running on a wheel.  Rat Race perfectly describes my current work environment.

{six}

Hannah is learning to blow kisses.  It's the cutest thing in the whole wide world.  I'm not sure if it's an issue with eye hand coordination or depth perception, but somewhere around the third kis she starts smacking herself in the eye instead of the lips.  She then pulls her hand away - offended - and gives it the evil eye... gives it the stink eye...  er..  gets mad that it dare slap her in the eye when all she's trying to do is blow kisses to mama.

Love her!!

There is so much personality emerging from that toothy grinned little face.  She's learning everyday and I'm so amazed by her.

{seven}

I'm so excited about growing theBubblelush.  Besides being a mom and wife, its the one thing that I'm constantly brainstorming about.  I want to become a professional vloggin' blogger.  It's become my dream job and I'm working hard to make it a reality.  I'm so grateful to have found a community of individuals that value my voice and with whom I've helped to create a wonderful community.  I love that someone stumbles across my videos on a daily basis and finds hope in my journey.  I began vlogging because I needed support and now I'm also giving support.  As Chris and I plan to begin trying to conceive baby #2 this summer, I can't help but feel like it's all coming full circle.

---

And those are the 7 directions my mind is currently pulling me in.  If I didn't have to sleep, I could probably check at least 2 things off my list before sunrise.

Then again, perhaps the real flaw is that I have to go to work in the morning.

If I was independently wealthy,  I would pay someone to worry about things for me 

I would definitely be on my way to super mom status.

Hannah's 9 Month Update

Hannah's 9 month birthday coincided with Father's Day, but her doctor's appointment was today, so I pushed her big update back a day.

Doctor's Appointment Stats:

Height: 29.5" - 97.5%

Weight: 19lb 1.1oz - 56%

Head Circuference: 17.5" - 72%

Happy Father's Day

Words cannot describe what a wonderful father Christopher is to our daughter Hannah, but these pictures can.  Even though Hannah is to young to remember these first 9 months, I want her to be able to look back and know what an amazing daddy she has.

He was in awe of you from the moment he saw you.

9 Month Milestone Questionaire

Communication
Answer yes, sometimes or not yet.

1. Does your baby make sounds like 'da' 'ga' 'ka' or 'ba'?
2. If you copy the sounds your baby makes, does your baby repeat the same sounds back to you?
3. Does your baby make two similar sounds like 'ba-ba' 'da-da' or 'ga-ga'? (The sounds doesn't need to mean anything.)
4. If you ask your baby to, does he play at least one nursery game even if you don't show her the activity yourself (such as bye bye, peekaboo, clap your hands, so big)?
5. Does your baby follow one simple command, such as 'come here' 'give it to me' or 'put it back' with your using gestures?
6. Does your baby say three words, such as 'mama' 'dada' and 'baba'? (A word is a sound or sounds your baby says consistently to mean someone or something.)

Gross Motor
Answer yes, sometimes or not yet.

1. If you hold both hands just to balance your baby, does she support her own weight while standing?
2. When sitting on the floor, does your baby sit up straight for several minutes without using his hands for support?
3. When you stand your baby next to furniture or the crib rail, does she hold on without leaning her chest against the furniture for support?
4. While holding onto furniture, does your baby bend down to pick up a toy from the floor and then return to a standing position?
5. While holding onto furniture, does your baby lower himself with control (without falling or flopping down)?
6. Does your baby walk beside furniture while holding on with only one hand?

Fine Motor
Answer yes, sometimes or not yet.

1. Does your baby pick up a small toy with only one hand?
2. Does your baby successfully pick up a crumb or Cheerio by using her thumb and all of her fingers in a raking motion? (If she already picks up a crumb or Cheerio, mark 'yes' for this item.)
3. Does your baby pick up a small you with the tip[s of his thumb and fingers? (You should see a space between the toy and his palm)
4. After one or two tries, does your baby pick up a piece of string with her first finger and thumb? (The string may be attached to toy.)
5. Does your baby pick up a crumb or Cheerio with the tips of his thumb and a finger?  He may rest his arm or hand on the table while doing it.
6. Does your baby put a small toy down, without dropping it, and then take her hand off the toy?

Problem Solving
Answer yes, sometimes or not yet.

1. Does your baby pass a toy back and forth from one hand to the other?
2. Does your baby pick up two small toys, one in each hand, and hold onto them for about 1 minute?
3. When holding a toy in his hand, does your baby band it against another toy on the table?
4. While holding a small toy in each hand, does your baby clap the toys together? (like patty-cake)
5. does your baby poke at or try to get a crumb or cheerio that is inside a clear bottle? (Such as a plastic soda pop bottle or baby bottle.)
6. After watching you hid a small toy under a piece of paper or cloth, does your baby find it? (Be sure the toy is completely hidden.)

Personal-Social
Answer yes, sometimes or not yet.

1. While your baby is on her back, does she put her foot in her mouth?
2. does your baby drink water, juice, or formula from a cup while you hold it?
3. Does your baby feed himself a cracker or cookie?
4. When you hold out your hand and ask for her toy, does your baby offer it to you even if she doesn't let go of it?  (If she already lets do of the toy into your hand, make 'yes' for this item.)
5. When you dress your baby, does he push his arm through a sleeve once his arm is started in the hold of the sleeve?
6. When you hold out your hand and ask for her toy, does your baby let go of it into your hand?

Overall
Answer yes or no.

1. Does your baby use both hand and both legs equally well?
2. when you help your baby stand, are his feet flat on the surface most of the time?
3. Doe you have concerns that your baby is too quirt or does not make sounds like other babies?
4. Does either parent have a family history of childhood deafness or hearing impairment?
5. Do you have concerns about your baby's vision?
6. Has your baby had any medical problems in the last several months?
7. Do you have any concerns about for baby's behaviour?
8. Does anything about your baby worry you?

Hello Cool Kids

So some of you have found this blog, and if so, you're so clever! It's a work in progress. I'll be posting the vlogs here and including some of the back story or links to products mentioned. It'll be like youtube+.

:)
Stay tuned!
Loves!
Carla

Peaceful Baptism Cookies

I stayed up WAY past my bedtime to make these for the family members that attended Hannah's baptism, and they were So worth the loss of sleep. They turned out so cute, people didn't want to eat them. (May2011 photo)

Cookie cutter was purchased from SurLaTable.com

Cape Horn

While travelling for work I stopped at the Cape Horn lookout for my lunchtime pumping session. It was such a beautiful view that I just had to share it with y'all.

Hannah's First Steps

Sunday morning (June 5th, 2011) I woke up and realized that Hannah was still sleeping, Chris was preoccupied with the newspaper and I was free to take a not-so-quick shower. Amazing! When I got out and looked at the clock I realized that the timing of Hannah's nap and feedings were off and asked Chris if we could play hookie from church.

We usually don't skip church, but I had been trying to nurse Hannah as often as possible to increase supply and didn't feel like nursing in public that day.

Chris was a sweetheart and offered to make blueberry pancakes once Hannah woke up and as H played in the living room I was thinking to myself that I really needed to work with her on taking those first steps today and Monday, because she was SO close and I didn't want to miss them while at work.

Just then, Chris popped his head in quickly to ask how many pancakes we wanted and, having caught Hannah's attention and mentioned food without actually producing food, Hannah pulled herself up on the ottoman and took at least 6 steps with the intention of finding daddy (I'm assuming to submit HER breakfast order). My gasps and crazed laughter had Chris running in just to see her fall on her butt.

But she took more steps for daddy to see - walking towards bits of pancake of course, and later that day I was able to catch lots of first steps footage for the Bubblelush archives.

Now that we've seen her first steps and successfully captured them on 'film', we don't bribe her into walking make her walk anymore, but she takes multiples steps throughout the day on her own, and it's awe inspiring and utterly frightening when we stop to realize just how fast she's growing up.

She took her first steps 2 days later than Chris took his as a baby (257 days old vs 259 days old), and a whopping 19 days after Christopher's baby sister Jessica took her first steps. So no new family record, but early walkers must be genetic in their family!

Here is the vlog:


And because I get the question a lot - her outfit is from Nicole Miller and I bought it on Zulily.