Technology

It really is amazing to me how these little babies come into a world that is filled to the brim with technology. I am a huge fan of technology. I use my phone to stay in touch with friends and family all over the country (FaceTime is the actual best thing ever), I am able to work remotely because of my laptop and internet connection at least one day a week and spend more time with my baby, and even can keep myself entertained while exercising or in my downtime.

Thea is fascinated by technology too. At first she didn't really get it. We went to San Diego last month and took a later evening flight in hopes that she would fall asleep, but that was not the case.

(Side note: babies who are in good sleep routines and have good habits are GREAT until you try to shake up their routine, like take them on a plane or to church, and they can't sleep in a dark room in their cribs. But anyway,)

So in a desperate attempt to keep her from screaming, we pulled out Chris' iPad to see if she would be distracted by Baby Einstein videos or anything....and all she wanted was to put the whole tablet in her mouth. So that didn't work.

But she does love music (as mentioned in my previous post), especially The Wheels on the Bus song. So one day when we were on the way home, I had just picked her up from one of her babysitters after work, she was screaming and we were stuck in traffic. I found a version of that song on YouTube and she was riveted. She instantly stopped crying and was quietly listening all the way home.

I also love to work out, and I have both an elliptical and treadmill in my basement. She used to sit in her swing and be entertained by that, but now that she is getting bigger and busier, she wants to be down and crawling. I know that regular exercise helps with my mental and physical health, helping me to be the best mama I can be, so I make it a priority. If Chris isn't home to watch her, I let her watch one of these nursery rhyme/singing videos on YouTube while I work out.

In the last couple of weeks, she has also become fascinated by the TV remote, my phone, and my laptop that I use for work. When I'm working from home and she is crawling around the family room, she comes right to the ottoman where I have my computer and starts trying to "type" on the keyboard (AKA hitting it and adding a bunch of extra letters to whatever I'm writing :) ) She also will find the remote if we have left it within her reach.

I'm certainly not against TV, as both my husband and I watch quite a bit of it, but I do want to limit how much she gets every day. I also think it is also a balancing act, ensuring that she has plenty of interactive toys and books so she isn't driven by TV or playing on my phone at every chance she gets.

It will be so interesting to see how her fascination with technology grows and changes along with the industry.

(Side note: I am sick with a cold today so she has watched more than the average amount of nursery rhyme videos. Thank goodness for those when I need to get a work task done while coughing and generally feeling blah.)

Music.

I really love music. If I am in the car, as the driver or a passenger, I immediately turn on the radio and bop along to whatever music is playing. I used to attend a lot of live music shows, although that has changed since having T. I also love to sing, and music is my absolute favorite part of church. It is nearly impossible for me to hear a song I like without immediately singing along.

So while I was pregnant, T heard quite a bit of music while in my womb. My favorite genre is folk rock, although I have quite a broad range. My playlists include lots of Ingrid Michaelson and Joshua Radin, with a sprinkling of oldies and emo songs (leftover from my high school days). During the holiday season, I play Christmas music nonstop, especially the Carpenters album.

I remember a day before I was pregnant that I was driving in the car with two of my sisters and my nephew. We got stuck on the freeway behind a really bad accident on our way to meet up with the rest of the family to eat sushi. My sister's son was hungry and she was nursing him with no pumped milk available. So he was screaming and screaming, not understanding why the car wasn't moving, or why he wasn't eating. She told me that "his song" was a new church song in the Children's Songbook, so I immediately pulled up a video of kids singing it on Youtube. We played that song on repeat for at least an hour until traffic cleared and we could get to the restaurant. She recalled what each of the "chosen songs" were for her other two children, and we laughed about it.

T's chosen song is The Wheels on the Bus. Hands down, no question. I have played hundreds of other songs for her when she is upset, but nothing quiets her the way that song does. If we are stuck in the car for longer than she would like, all we have to do is start singing that song and she goes completely silent. I found a video of kids singing it on Youtube as well (for some reason, every version is British kids) and she will sit absolutely still for the extent of the video, listening to the words and the tune.

She also has a little toy bus that sings the first line of the song at certain intervals, and when she hears that, she stops what she is doing and listens. Occasionally she will even dance.

No other song has this effect on her. I have tried other church songs, pop songs, classic rock songs, oldies songs, and everything I can think of, but her song is The Wheels on the Bus.

Finding her voice.

Before T was born, Chris and I would sit on the couch after work and talk about what she might be like. Chris' cousin has an adorable little girl with the sweetest, high-pitched voice and we wondered if T's voice would sound like hers, or how she would giggle. Now that she has been with us for nine months (!!) we still like to talk about what activities she will like (swimming or running like mama, soccer or music like Dad?) and envision ourselves sitting in the stands at her matches/meets/games/events and cheering her on. We also wonder what her voice will sound like. She makes a lot of noise, and started saying "dadada" and "mum" pretty early on, but most of what she says is in her own language. This past weekend, she really found her voice and started making growling and roaring noises at her toys, her toes, and everything else in her sight. This brings back a memory of my nephew, James, at a grocery store or Target or somewhere with his mom. She is telling him, "we do not roar at people." I feel like I understand this more than ever before. Thankfully, yesterday was our church's general conference, which means that we get to stay in all weekend and listen to our church leaders on TV instead of going to church. Trying to control those roars and growls in the quiet of sacrament meeting probably would have been near impossible.

In the last week or so, she has also drastically amplified her need for independence. When she sits in her high chair at the table while we eat dinner, we give her puffs and other finger foods to snack on. If we try to feed them to her, she turns her head and closes her mouth. But place them on her tray, and she will dive right in, even making excited "mmmm" noises as she eats. Except yogurt drops, which she turns down with great disdain.

She had her 9 month well check last Friday, and is very healthy and happy.

• Weight: 15.75 lbs (5^th percentile) – the pediatrician did mention that her weight gain isn’t quite as rapid as he’d like, but isn’t too worried. He just said to start adding chicken and other foods to her diet, since she won’t gain much weight with what she is eating now (fruit and veggie purees J )
• She still wears some 3-6 month clothes (mostly onesies) and all 6 month pants. We have tried a few 9 month clothing items on her, but they are always really loose. Most pants are too short on her, which makes us think she is tall. But she is 24.5 inches long, putting her in the 18^th percentile for length
• After our San Diego trip (where she had 2 blowouts and wet through five diapers) we moved up to size 3 diapers during the day, size 3 overnight diapers at night. Putting her in the next size at night (or overnight-specific ones) has been a real game changer and she hasn’t wet through one since.
• Her hair is getting longer and lighter! Her cousin KK always asks, “when do you think it will be long enough for pigtails?"
• She has two teeth (bottom front). Gma thought she felt a few more poking through the top, but we haven’t seen them yet.
• We hit a bit of a sleep regression, which was tough. The night before Easter was the worst because she woke up 10 times! Every time I went in there, she was standing in her crib and was very sleepy. From what I have read, this seems normal because of developmental changes, but that doesn’t make it any easier! She is doing better now, although she is fighting going to bed lately. She immediately stands up and starts crying, especially once I leave the room.
• She loves to eat real food, and will say “mmmm” while eating. This is especially pronounced when I give her little tastes of my frozen yogurt or other treats. She isn’t too picky, although she hates yogurt drops (I have even tried multiple flavors!). She gags and chokes a little bit when I try to give her pieces of food, but hopefully she will get the hang of it
•  Loves to crawl and stand up to EVERYTHING (even things that aren’t very stable, like her swing). If you are holding her, she will wiggle until you put her down. The only exception is if you are reading her a book – she will hold totally still and turn the pages
•  Her bath seat had a little hammock thing that suspended her kind of above/in the water, but she seemed to be getting too long for it so we took it out. Her first few baths without it have been a little questionable, and it seems like she feels unsteady so she holds on to the sides.