Wednesday, May 21, 2014

9 months!

OMG time is flying by! I actually cried a little the other day as I watched my daughter push a walker across the room... will she be walking soon? I don't know if I am ready for this!

Baby Z turns out to be a little motor and loves to move around and explore! She can now:
-crawl
-crawl and sit and crawl and turn, basically, she can get around and get into things...
-pull herself up
-cruise around while supporting herself on the furniture
-walk with the help of a walker
-play ball with our dog Taco (CUTEST THING EVER!!! - she throws it and he gets it)
-initiate 'peek-a-boo' by hiding behind a blanket/book/something like that and then pulling down so we can see her again
-throw tantrums when she doesn't get what she wants (I thought this was supposed to start at 2 years old?!?!)
-sleep through the night (it's happened 4 days out of 7... I might be pushing my luck on this one, but I'm hoping it sticks!)

She also just had her first fever ever yesterday & today (started last night and lasted all day today). She seems fine otherwise so we're not too worried. Maybe we'll see more teeth soon? She only has the bottom two so far! Oh and she still eats like a champ! I'd say her favourite foods are fish, bananas, black beans, avocados, and berries.

We may have found a good daycare for her, I'll keep you updated about that!

Friday, May 2, 2014

Finger painting with an 8 month old

Oh what an adventure! My wise sister-in-law had cautioned me against doing finger painting and play-doughing too early, she said it would make a mess and Baby Z would just end up eating everything. Even so, I was all together too excited to let the opportunity pass me by, especially because I thought the finger painting project could be turned into a Mother's Day present for my mom, so why not try?

Of all days, I chose the day I had to bring the car to the shop to get the tires changed (here in Quebec we change from winter tires to summer tires and back every year and it is against the law not to do so!). It was very eventful because I couldn't find my summer tires in my parent's garage where they were supposed to be. I finally got hold of my mom who told me they were under the deck, and was able to drop them off at the shop and all was well that ends well.

But I digress. All that to tell you that while looking for the tires, I was also making home made finger paint for the first time in my life using this recipe:
http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2011/06/squeezable-homemade-finger-paint/

It worked out really well actually, I liked the texture of the paint and the fact that I knew exactly what was in it so I wouldn't mind too much if Baby Z ate some.

The project I had in mind for Mother's Day was found on Pinterest:
http://deborahgilbert42.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/capris-valentine-craft, and instead of writing 'LOVE', I spelled out Z's name using tape, which actually turned out to be fairly time-consuming.

Once we (I) got everything ready, we got started! I set the paper in front of Baby Z, put a spoonful of finger paint on the paper and showed her how to smear it around on the paper. She did not want to play nicely with the finger paint. Oh no! She did want to eat some of it, but mostly, she wanted to pick up the piece of paper, rip it, and then eat it. I figured I would remedy this situation by giving her a blank piece of paper she COULD rip, not the beautiful work of art we would later give my mom, but no no no, she had her mind set on the piece of paper with her name on it. Once she realized I wouldn't let her rip THAT piece of paper, she started howling! So much so that my dad came in wondering what had happened. Oh not much, just that my 8-month-old daughter won't cooperate with my art project for my mom.

I'd like to say I've learned my lesson and that there won't be a next time and that I will listen to my sister-in-law's recommendations, but I know myself. I know I like projects way too much to give up this easily. Anyway, I do have some of Baby Z's finger prints on the paper, of the times she tried (and failed) to grab and rip the piece of paper, so all in all, I won the battle and my mom will receive a beautiful piece of art for Mother's day. Maybe next time we'll try to make homemade play dough?