Showing posts with label lil bit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lil bit. Show all posts

Monday, August 11, 2014

Carla is 7 months old

Carla's seventh month has been a fun one! 


She still has no teeth, and no hair (but she's working on both), but she has really figured out how to get from point A to B. She has been army crawling, and is practicing getting up on her hands and knees and rocking. A little more upper body oomph and she will be full fledged crawling. She also loves to pull herself up on our pool that I've filled with balls and reach over to grab the different colors. 


My favorite thing about her this month is her sweet babble. Carla has turned out to be a Chatty Cathy. A few days ago, NZ was changing Carla and she was talking to him..we know it was probably pure coincidence, but she definitely said dada. I shrieked, "Did you hear that?! She just said dada!". Of course he heard, he was right there. Lucky guy.

Carla generally sleeps through the night, with occasional wakings in the late evening, and naps twice a day for an hour each. She still loves sleeping in the ergo if we are out and about, and often ambushes her afternoon nap by falling asleep in it before we get home from morning errands. It makes for a long afternoon when that happens, but what can you do?



She's willing to eat just about anything, although I learned the hard way that cherries are a bit hard on her tummy. We spent a few late hours bonding this week after I treated her to cherries. Lesson learned. She added pumpkin, green beans and papaya to her pallette this month, and I look forward to trying some pinto beans with her next week. 


She's started drinking formula, although I still nurse her when she wakes and before nap and bedtime. My supply plummeted a couple of weeks ago, and despite drinking water and eating oatmeal, I just can't seem (or have the energy) to get it back up. Five and a half months of being exclusively breast fed will have to be good enough. I didn't make it past the first few nights with Sal before supplementing with formula, so I'm actually proud that I stuck out those first few weeks with Carla to get as far as I did without supplementation. 


July was a slow month for us- no big adventures out--it was just too hot. We spent afternoons at the playground, took a couple of bus rides and one day trip into Shanghai. She's at an easy age right now, where everything is new to her every few days, so I rotate toys around and she is totally content playing at home. Wish I could say the same for my two year old. 


I'm looking forward to month eight and what she has in store for us. More giggles, babble and maybe even pulling herself up to a stand. This girl is tenacious and has a lot of willpower. There's nothing she can't do. 



I'm so proud to call her my own.



Monday, March 10, 2014

For like ev-er: nursery reveal

I've finally gotten around to taking pictures of Carla's nursery. Up until this week it has sat empty (aside from diaper changes) since she came home.  We, *ahem*, I finally pulled the trigger. NZ was ready from night one, I'm sure. However, it took some time before I was comfortable having her across our flat. We have a good quality audio monitor, but due to our concrete walls, reception from her room to ours is crap. Now that she usually sleeps in a seven hour stretch, waking at 3:30-4:00 each morning, I feel more confident in waking to feed her without use of a monitor at all.

So here it is..a pink explosion that would make Elle Woods and the 818 proud. 

                     

We utilized some existing furniture, and bought a sundvik crib and coordinating dresser at IKEA. The dresser is the perfect height for diaper changes, with just enough space on top for a changing pad & wipes. The drawers are nice and deep for storage.


 I was able to maximize storage by using zippered boxes from IKEA to organize diapers, toiletries and clothing. The long narrow ones are perfect for onesies and cloth diaper soakers, while the large square ones easily fit folded sleepers and two rows of disposables. 


I attached two little dog booty hooks to the side of the dresser using 3M tape which are the perfect height for her to hang her coat or hat when the time comes for her to become independent.


On the walls, I made a collage of prints that fit my color scheme above the changing table and finished it off with her framed birth announcement from tinyprints. Frames used were from IKEA. Channelling my crafty side, I painted a couple canvases with two of my favorite Valley Girl-esque quotes. I fell in love with the "for like ever" print way back when pregnant with my first girl, but having it shipped here would be a lesson in futility, so I made my own to go above her crib. 

                             

Above the futon, I painted " love you more" in gold on an aqua background, and weathered it with sandpaper. The angle and lighting of this photo doesn't do it justice--it's cuter in person. The pillows are covered in an extra receiving blanket and Victoria's Secret "one size fits all" wrap dress that no longer fits (explain how that works?!). I followed a pinterest pin on no sew pillow covering and these were a snap! The pillows that were on the futon were even more chinese (& hideous) than the futon itself.

                             

The flat came furnished with the fugly futon and a bookshelf. I've used the bookshelf to store burp cloths, bibs, blankets, and her shoe & bow collection. One of my college besties sent us a bow board full of texas sized bows, and my sister has been buying headbands off etsy to fill our bow apothecary jar. Carla better grow some hair so I can put them to use--no pressure, my bald little baby. 

                          



Since we are short on space and this room was our office B.C. (Before Carla), I purchased white magazine and storage boxes from IKEA to disguise our paperwork, office supplies, and extra stroller parts to keep mischievous little hands out. 

                             

Here's my favorite part...the linens!

My super-awesome-couldn't-ask-for-a-better-best-friend, sister made fitted sheets for the crib using a tutorial over at the Dana-made-it blog (see link at end of post). I purchased fabrics within the general color scheme and she whipped them up and sent them our way.
                  
 
 I like to change out the linens to change the look of the room. My favorite sheet is the chevronish herringbone print, but I also have a dainty gray & pink floral sheet and festive turquoise, coral and yellow one waiting for their time to shine. I don't use crib bumpers because they freak me out, so changing crib sheets is really easy because there's no disassembly of a crib bumper to contend with each time the sheets need changing. 

Well, that's Carla's "crib"...hope you liked it...but I must say, my favorite part of her room is walking in to find this little girl waiting for me...



Like the crib sheets? Want to make your own? It's easy..follow Dana's instructions here:
http://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/tutorial-crib-and-toddler-bed-sheets.html

Like the burp cloths? Visit my uber-talented sister-in-law's etsy shop, Coral Tree, here:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CoralTree?ref=shopsection_shophome_leftnav

Like the birth announcement? Here it is on tiny prints:
http://www.tinyprints.com/product/33589/girl_photo_birth_announcements_sweet_salutation_begonia.html#color/01/pid/33595/paper/2