An update

There was this time where I thought I would be better at blogging, and it would help me remember what was happening in my life as a mama every month. But here it is, February 29, and I haven’t posted since November. What a slacker.

Life for us has been unbelievably busy in the past couple of months. We sold our condo and moved to a townhouse in Murray, and we have about two boxes left to unpack so we are slowly making progress. It is a lot bigger and has another bedroom, plus a full finished basement, so we are loving the extra space. I am coming up on six months at my new job, and so far everything has been great. I really like my team, and I have learned a lot. Chris is still loving his job on a construction management team, and we are nearing the countdown of the end of school….(three semesters, I think?) So, progress!

Thea is still just about the sweetest baby I know. She is now entering a little bit of a shy phase, where she hides her face when she doesn’t know someone super well. She still is fine going to people, although we don’t interact with a ton of strangers. I think the fact that she goes to both of her grandmas and her aunt’s house every week while I work is helping her not be afraid, although it’s hard to say. She lights up when I pick her up every day and that is the absolute best part of my day. I also work from home every Friday, so I love having an extra day with her. 

Hanging out with Mama on Friday

Weekends are our favorite, since we can hang out together as a family as much as possible. Since the weather started getting nice, we love going for walks on the river trail near our new house. Thea loves being outside, as long as it doesn’t interfere with her mealtime.

Hanging out in the stroller

She likes most foods and is getting better at eating. When we first started she pushed everything out with her tongue, but now she gets excited and tries to grab the spoon. She also likes puffs, yogurt drops (kind of), and we gave her an apple chip at Costco over the weekend, which she seemed to like. I get nervous feeding her new stuff because I’m always afraid she will choke. She also has two teeth (front bottom), and getting those in was a little tough but she was a champ. We are still using the amber necklace, and it’s hard to say how much of a difference it makes, but people always comment on how cute it is, so win-win. I make most of her purees with the Beaba Babycook, and the only thing I’ve made that she didn’t like was green beans. They are really hard to get totally smooth though, so the texture might have been the problem because they made her gag.

Thea is also still pretty small, and 3-6 month clothes fit her well. 6 month pants tend to be the right length, although they are a little baggy in the legs, but they work. She also still wears 0-6 month socks and shoes. She is currently wearing size 2 diapers during the day, and size 3 overnights when she goes to bed. She loves to sleep on her tummy and will turn over as soon as I put her in the crib.

She is a fantastic sleeper at night. Lately she has been getting tired earlier, so we put her down around 7 p.m. Her nighttime routine is a bottle (between 4-8 oz, depending on when she last ate), bath (every other night), and a bedtime story or two. Then I lay her down in her crib with her kitty paci, and she goes right to sleep. The only time she cries is if she hasn’t gotten enough formula, in which case I’ll give her a little more. In general, she naps very well too, although sometimes she cries for a couple minutes before falling asleep.

Just after waking up from a nap after church

Her favorite toys are things she can put in her mouth. She likes teething rings, key-type teething toys, and bath books that she can chew on. She also loves books and will sit very still while we read to her. Otherwise she is usually wiggling to get down and crawl. 

Stacking bowls that she loves to chew

Yes, she can crawl! She started when she was about 7 months old, and has gotten really good at it in the last month. Before I know it, she will be across the room and trying to climb the stairs, chase the cats, etc. Sully is very patient with her and will just sit there while she tries to pet him or grab his tail, but we always show her how to “be nice to Sully” and “be soft to Sully” while guiding her hand gently on his back. Caesar is not interested in her and takes off when she gets too close.

We better learn how to climb stairs soon...

 We also got to spend some time with Lis and the Nilsson family when they came in February for Charlie’s baptism. The baptism was wonderful and we got to take Thea swimming, which she only thought was medium fun.

She smiled when we got out of the pool.

Overall, life is great in the Blackham household. We are looking forward to the spring and summer so we can spend as much time as possible outside, and have longer evenings to take walks on the parkway trail. Things are busy, since I am still doing freelance writing for two other companies along with my full-time job, but I love having the opportunity to keep writing.