When Daddy Naps the Baby...

In spite of the title, this isn't actually a funny post. Sleeping our baby is serious business around here, because in this house, if baby isn't happy - nobody's happy! ;-)

 

And when Daddy puts the baby to sleep, I find his touches.

 

 

Found a good spot for her hair clip!

 
 

Daddy always folds this blanket special

 

 

And a few more sweet naptime pictures I found while looking for the two above:

 

 

 Sweet sleeping (and unswaddled!) baby...

 

 

 Popped out of her swaddle blanket, a common sight

 
 

A normal naptime "look"... Wide awake!

 

 

 This was back in early April before the temps started to drop for winter.

 

 

 Slobber face!!

Jake recently told her, "You could water an orchard with that face!!" and I laughed out loud. :-)

   

 

The Yellow Outfit

 

At some point, all three of my sisters and I wore this sweet smocked onesie:

 

 

 

Last week it was Sophia's turn! She has almost outgrown it so I got it on her just in time. I just hadn't been able to find a time when she was happy, rested, and hair clean - all during daylight hours when I have a moment!

She also pretty much HATES clothes changing time. Coming out of clothes is usually okay, but being dressed again is the pits, so this was the very first picture:

 I'm offended, Mom!

(Come on, don't you want to play doll?!)

My bright-eyed baby!

I love these on her dad's colorful baby quilt, one of my favorite things!

Here's our little sitter!!

Looking like she needs a nap here, but still so cute!!

Jennifer went to the market to buy vegetables...

Special post by Jacob Beaty

 

Jennifer went to the market to buy vegetables, and I stayed home with the boys and Sophia. I finished what I was reading on the internet about geology and propped Sophia in her bouncy chair. Michael was recreating a soccer game on the floor of the living room using colored plastic bottle caps for the different teams. I thought I would sit down with my book in the living room, watch the baby a little, watch Michael a little, but mostly read.

I sat down with the book and read half-way through one sentence. “Daddy, look!” Michael then showed me how the white cap with red letters was Messi and how he could kick the rolled up gum wrapper ball. I re-read the first half of the sentence. “Daddy, look!” the white cap with blue letters was Ronaldino. I re-read the first half of the sentence, and managed to make it through two more. All the while, Michael was saying, “Daddy, look! Daddy! Daddy! Look, Daddy, look!”

The red caps were Real Madrid. I read a sentence. “Daddy, look!” Real Madrid scored a goal. “Daddy, look!” I read another sentence. “Look, Daddy!” I ignored him and kept reading. “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” I looked up. I don’t even like soccer. There was a fight with the goalie. Michael was making punch impact sounds with his mouth and producing a spray of spittle with each hit. I tried to read another sentence, but had to read it again for the sound of spitting concussions. He was adding to the drama by making some sing-songy string of seven distorted notes, repeated endlessly like a drunken rendition of the Mario Brothers background music.

“Daddy, look!” Some other story about the bottle caps. “Daddy, look!” I read another sentence and put my finger on the spot. The white team was subbing in blue caps, they’re not as good, but Messi was injured. I lost my spot on the page. After some searching, I found it. “Daddy, look! Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! Look, Daddy!” It was like a battering ram! He was relentless! Even a pencil can break down a door with enough hits.

Jennifer left me for over an hour. She finally came through the door, arms loaded down with bags of vegetables. She set them on the floor and walked into the bedroom for something, it doesn’t matter. I followed her and told her about my day, well, the hour. She walked back out of the bedroom into the kitchen to deal with the vegetables. I followed her and kept telling my story. I think she was trying to get away, but I wasn’t going to let her. “Honey, listen!”

“Now you know how I feel!” she exclaimed with a grin. “It’s going to be great when you’re working from home.”

“Oh no, I’m going to have my own private little special little office!”

“I want my own office, too!”

It’s a good thing I have so much patience.

Pinterest Fail :)

Now that the grandparents have received their little gifts from their grandchildren, I can tell the "behind the scenes" story! :)

Jake's dad sent us the above picture, with the hint that we should try to do it. I thought "How cute!", then, "What an easy keepsake!"

As a warm-up, I first had all the kids give me their handprint. That went well enough! Sophia's print was a little complicated to get, but this was back when she was barely 5 months old and definitely less active than now.

It took over a month later to realize that I had a volunteer heading back who could take these for us, and that I needed to actually do the requested handprint picture.

Jake did his the day before, to let it dry. Then me that night, then Sophia the next day.

Now remember, this was our goal:

After Jake did his handprint, which came out decidedly less "defined" than the above, he asked "Is this going to be like those pinterest fails?" I replied "Aw, of course not. It will be great!"

Famous last words!

Here's our BEST attempt:

...and with the caption

 

Joel helped me with different colors for Sophia's handprint, but to no avail.

Our last three attempts...

We cleaned up the baby's hands and clothes, and I washed out my jean jacket. And then I thought to myself, "Why waste all of that beautiful rosy paint?" I grabbed some good paper and painted Sophia's hands again.

 

Well, that also didn't go so well!! She's just so ACTIVE and grabby now!

 

At one point Joel was hollering "MOMMY!! SOPHIA!! LOOK AT SOPHIA!" I looked up at him and he was demonstrating how I was holding her neck while stretching out her arm for the handprint.(See retake, below.) OOPS!

 

 

 

So, yeah.... 

That's the end of my craft attempts for now. :)

 

Happy 7 Months, Sophia!

Somehow 7 months seems so big! We're now closer to one year than newborn. And we say: bring it on!!! Each developmental stage is better than the last! For someone who loves babies, the smaller the better, I’m again surprised at how much I love her growing up. It was the same when I was 17 years old and watching Emma grow and change and just become more and more fun!

She's now just over 15 pounds, and today she wore a 6-12 month outfit for the first time and it fits fine!

May 13, 2014

Sporting a new bonnet!

 

 

 

It's fun to watch her be so self-entertaining when sitting. She can teeter over when reaching for a toy, or straining to look at a brother, so we keep her in safe places on this tile floor!

She can finally play with her "sit up" toy that my family brought back in January!

 

  

She's particularly happy sitting propped up in the crib. This is great for being able to get work done in our bedroom.

 

 

Her "gardening lady" hat

 

 
Her hair is getting so LONG! I love it!! If I don't clip it up, it falls in her eyes.

 

 

My wild-haired baby! This is what happens when the brothers "fix" her hair after a bath and then she naps on it. :)

 

 

If it weren't for her hair, I probably wouldn't remember to bathe her all that often. :) But because her fine blonde hair gets so greasy and messy, I could wash it DAILY. I wait till every second day so that her skin doesn't dry out.

 We had a little detangling session today with daddy's conditioner... (Very successful, I might add!)

 

 

Off to her first wedding!

 

 

...But this is a versatile baby. From one day to the next, she does a wedding and then firearms...

I know it's hard (or impossible) to tell from the pictures, but we still have a very demanding, feisty, unscheduled, unpredictable baby. If we actually have an outing that goes well, or where she falls asleep and gets a little rest even without all the "right" conditions in place, or a day where she naps and/or falls asleep without a long screaming session first, I am pleasantly surprised. There's nothing like drastically lowered expectations!!

 

 

The day after Sophia turned 6 months, we took a four day trip, in which she of course became overly tired, but it took her TWO WEEKS to somehow recover and get happy and rested again! I kept looking for teeth. She had some mild cold symptoms, and how we suffered along with her.

As her attitude (and drippy nose) finally started to improve, I decided to start her on solids, hoping that someday soon she won’t be eating every 2-3 hours all night long. But she first became constipated, so we had a VERY rough weekend. She still nurses about 10 times a day, so it's pretty intense...

Having fun with her first pear meal!

 

Trying out avocado and making faces!
(Jake would have me point out that he's also at 7 months without cutting his beard!)

 She’s a really light sleeper, which keeps things interesting. Jake and I have learned that no matter how much you plan beforehand to have a baby who grows accustomed to the normal noise of a busy household, you can’t actually FORCE your baby to be noise resistant! The good news is, she can be happier on less sleep now. She naps 2-3 hours a day total if we are at home.

Ah, blessed sleep!

We are very blessed how much the boys love and adore Sophia anyway. Sometimes I feel like all I’m saying is “SHHH!!” or sending them outside to play. In fact, practically every day they are rigging up something cute for her, their "princess". They are life savers when I need to get something done or cooked and Sophia insists on personal attention! 

 

New hanging toy that Joel rigged up for her today 

 Look, Mom! Sophia is buried in our room!

 

 

 

Her shirt says "I love books" (and she does, if mainly for chewing, ha!)

We are looking forward to another visit from Grandma Thompson and Aunt Heather next week!! Sophia has changed so much since my family's last visit. Even more exciting, this will be Heather's first time to meet her niece, and to meet her nephews now that they are ours!