Tabitha Jane

I can't catch up!

I may never be able to get caught up from August 2007, but due to societal pressures, I am "slapping up" a few more recent pictures so everyone knows I haven't given her up for adoption. Here is a picture of Tabitha and me in March trying out a new hairstyle (she still wears hers like that, but I didn't stick with it), Tabitha collecting Easter eggs in March, and Tabitha laughing at her grandpa in June 2008. She's home from school now, so that's all I have time for.

Mommy's Diary - August 28, 2007

Tabitha hasn't started pointing or identifying things, but she does move toward things she's not supposed to touch (like electrical cords or outlets), and turns and looks to see our reaction and smiles slyly. She claps her hands. And she'll hum when you bounce her so she makes vibration noises. She also runs her hand up and down over her lips while she makes noise to make that "bububububububu" noise. And you can roll a ball back and forth with her too. My favorite development which was a month or so ago has been graduating to the big bathtub. She crawls from end to end. It's much easier than the baby tub. But she keeps wanting to stand up, and that's not safe.

She also LOVES her Johnny Jump Up. Oh, she loves it. Bounce bounce bounce.

Tabitha stands up with only one hand on something for support, but she can't or doesn't do it with no hands. Yet. Last night she stood up and let go of the couch for a second before falling down. Very exciting!

We took Tabitha out last night and hung with some of Dave's friends and it was just one party trick after another with her. Waving, grinning, giggling, crawling fast, hanging upside down, rolling the ball back and forth, doing the bubububu and what I call her Raptosaurus impersonation (grrrrrooooowwwwwww!!!). They all thought she was adorable - even the guys.

Even in the last few weeks, Tabitha has really improved her ability to eat solid foods like the turkey sticks and diced fruit. At first it took her for EVER to chew and chew and chew. With the baby food I just spoon it in over and over and she swallows and swallows. I thought feeding her was going to take 2-3 times as long once she starts eating real food. But she's improved. She's much better at eating.

Zachary's First Birthday Party - August 11, 2007

Yesterday was Zachary's first birthday, and my daddy's 32nd birthday, and my Uncle Tom's 42nd birthday. Zach had a party, so I got to dress up.

He's older, so he must know what he's doing with that block....

Mommy's Diary - August 3, 2007

Tabitha is growing tooth #8. She bites me - broke the skin and left a bruise through my t-shirt last week. She still doesn't wear shoes. I guess she will when she starts walking outside of the house. She does crawl like a pro - all over the house.

She stands up with the help of her toys, and prepares to stand on her own, but doesn't quite make it. When she's on all fours, she pulls her knees up and plants her feet so she's flat footed and hands on the ground. Looks like she could just straighten right up and stand. But she doesn't. Yet. When she does stand, she's tippy-toed most of the time which seems like it would make walking harder.

And she has finished her swimming lessons. Of eight days, we missed two from lightning. (It's really just playing silly games in the water and dunking them every once in a while.)

We're about to start giving Tabitha grown-up food, but right now she's still on baby food and loves it. Yesterday I chopped up a banana and tried to feed it to her, but she wasn't enjoying the little chunks. She eats pureed banana like it's the greatest thing (like she eats all baby food), but she didn't take to the mushed banana. She doesn't appreciate having to chew her food. She makes faces and takes forever. I assume she'll get the hang of it. But she doesn't seem to eat nearly as much if she has to chew it.

It's funny that she seems to eat a lot and doesn't gain weight. She's dropped to the 10th percentile in weight. She was holding steady at 25%, after dropping from 50% early on. Right now, she weighs 16 lbs, 2 ounces.

I've started giving her formula in a sippy cup, and she has a ball with all the little Gerber toddler treats like puffs and wagon wheels, and these little Cheeto-like thing. She doesn't like the cookie/craker type food that she's supposed to hold in her hand and chew on. If she can't stuff the whole thing in her mouth, she eventually just drops it on the floor. Just like her sippy cup or a spoon or a toy. Everything she holds, she eventually just lets go. She still loves limes and chews them now, not just sucks.

My Cage - July 24, 2007

When we got back from vacation, it was back to the cage. It's not really a cage anymore. The fencing mainly just keeps my toys from falling underneath the couches and keeps me from trying to climb things. It's not closed off from the rest of the room. I cried enough that they stopped that business of trying to trap me.

First Trip to the Beach - July 22

We visited Port Aransas and Corpus Christi in July. I got to see the house where my mom grew up. And I got to surf! I don't think I've ever smiled that much in my entire life!!! I LOVE the waves!!!!! (We had a little trouble with the camera lens fogging up.)

We stopped for lunch on the way home and I still had the smile frozen on my face.

Mommy's Diary - July 16, 2007

Over the weekend, Tabitha learned to crawl up the two stairs from the sunken living room, so that's no longer an "enclosure."

Mommy's Diary - July 10, 2007

Tabitha now has seven teeth - I found three coming in just in the past 24 hours. (Apparently she has some alligator in her.) For the first week or so after she got her first two top teeth, she liked to make smacking-type noises using her new top teeth and her tongue just to test it out I guess. She has stopped that now.

Simultaneously with the first two top teeth coming in, we made it through her first illness which was just a virus that caused high fever and unhappiness all around for almost a week. Dave and I are now pros at taking her temperature in the bee-hind while she plays with a toy. Tabitha is a pro at opening her mouth when she sees the Tylenol dropper or the teething-gel-covered index finger. She doesn't ever see the thermometer coming, so she is not trained to do anything for that.

Mommy's Diary - July 9, 2007

We just found Tabitha's FIFTH tooth yesterday! I didn't even know she had another one coming in and now it's there. To celebrate her 8-month birthday, both her top teeth came in at the same time. Ouch! And now she has a third one on the bottom. It seems like she's ahead of schedule with all the teeth.

Tabitha is crawling like mad now, and Saturday she pulled herself up to stand using the couch - twice. She's been trying this for a week or two, but her choice of supports hasn't been good - toys, people...all things that move or fall over. The couch was a better choice.

She also fell / rolled down the stairs for the first time this weekend. Only two stairs into our sunken living room, and she didn't hit her head, so no crying. But it startled her and us, as you can imagine.

And she has started babbling more - again. She has gone through babble phases before. She started out a week or two ago with "Ga ga ga ga ga ga GA!!!" Now she says "Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba!" And sometimes "da da da da da." Once or twice, she's said, "ma ma ma." But that's not common. Mostly it's "ba ba ba ba ba ba ba." No real words.

When I look her in the eye and clearly say "Ma ma. Ma ma. Da da. Da da. Dog-gee. Dog-gee," she just smiles at me.

She has also started to flash a sly smile as she reaches for things she is not supposed to have. Like piles of magazines or newspapers which she loves to grab and stuff in her mouth. Not a problem with us until she starts choking on a wad of paper. She can crawl very fast when she's moving toward an electrical cord. I am happy to see that she comprehends the world enough to know when being quick and sly is appropriate. That's a major step from the days when she was the mental equivalent of a rock. A sweet, soft, warm rock, but a rock nonetheless.

I love to take her to the grocery store because she loves all the people, and generally, "the people" love her. She has become obsessed with having the grocery list, which again would be fine except she stuffs it in her mouth and if I don't intervene, she will ultimately choke on it, which is embarrassing in the middle of the grocery store. It is to the point that I can't hold the list or any coupons in my hand while I push the cart because then she can reach it and does everything she can to take it out of my hand. On the last trip, I finally had to put it all in my pocket. I realized when I got home that I still had ten dollars in coupons in my pocket, and groceries that I never would have purchased if it weren't for the blasted HEB Meal of the Week. I was not pleased, and I blamed Tabitha -- not enough to take the ten dollars out of her savings account, but in retrospect perhaps that would have taught her a lesson....

We went to Pedernales Falls State Park yesterday so Dave could kayak the river. The current was a *little* strong, so Tabitha and I just sat on the edge of the river in a few inches of water and splashed around as we waved goodbye to her daddy. We picked him up downstream near Hamilton Pool a few hours later. No helicopter rescue necessary.

And she can eat puffs with her fingers now. That was a pretty cool skill to watch her master. At first, she picked them up with the palm of her hand, and the puffs would stick to her hand and she couldn't get them in her mouth. She's a pro now.

First Trip to Pedernales Falls - July 8

Right after all the flooding in July, my mom and dad took me to Pedernales Falls State Park. We dropped off my dad so he and his friend could kayak downstream. We picked him up at Hamilton Pool Road. It took him six hours! My mom and I were planning to swim in the river, but the water was running so fast that I could only sit right at the water's edge. Otherwise I probably would have been swept away. Seriously, the current was incredibly strong.

Mommy's Diary - June 21, 2007

Tabitha's Week O' Firsts seems to be neverending. It started last Wednesday when she sat up by herself. Thursday she started trying to crawl. Friday she was pulling herself up to stand (then quickly falling back over). Monday night she had her first night away from home - slept over at Dave's parents house. Home Tuesday afternoon, and then Tuesday night, she slept 13 hours straight. During the day on Wednesday, she was falling asleep in odd places and not eating right. And by last night, she had a fever of 104.3. Holy cow!!! That was before we gave her Tylenol; it went down a little. She doesn't have any symptoms other than reduced appetite, sleepiness, and fever. So far anyway. Anyway, this goes in her baby book along with the others. First Illness. We're lucky she went eight months without being sick. It was only a matter of time. Sigh.

Tonight I also noticed another tooth! It's her third!

Just Hanging Around - June 19

I finally figured out the Johnny Jump Up! It's a lot of fun!

Mommy's Diary - June 15, 2007

Last night, Tabitha started crawling - stomach up off the floor! She's not very good at it, but Dave kept pulling a book just out of her reach, and she pulled her knees under, lifted her tummy up, and was crawling toward it.

Mommy's Diary - June 14, 2007

Yesterday, Tabitha mastered moving from lying down to sitting up by herself. During the day, Dave told me he thought she was doing it while he wasn't looking, and then last night, I saw it! And once she sat up, she flapped her arms with glee! Just one more step toward independence....

If she's sitting or lying and you offer her your fingers, she grabs on and pulls herself to a standing position. (Regardless of whether that was your intent when you stuck your fingers out!) So it's only a matter of time before she realizes she can grab onto the side of the crib and pull herself up. And then over....

Last night she slept with the side of the crib pulled up for the first time since we lowered her mattress all the way down. Just in case.

She also mastered rolling across the floor a couple of weeks ago. She's not quite crawling, but it's coming soon.

Despite having half her hair cut off, everyone still comments on how much hair she has. I worry that she looks like a boy now, but I can't justify the concern. Who cares if she looks like a boy, right? What am I afraid of? That someone will try to play baseball with her? That she'll get drafted? Maybe she'll get offered a higher paying job.

She still loves baby food. On an empty stomach, she'll eat two containers of baby food plus some cereal for dinner. Then she practices drinking a little water out of a sippy cup to wash it down. She has not mastered that - which is why I'm sticking with water and not something stickier.

Mommy's Diary - June 11, 2007

I heard at this age they start giving kisses, but Tabitha hasn't yet. She smiles and laughs and beams at us; it's almost as good as kisses. But not quite. Tabitha gives me hickeys - on my face and arm. And I think she bit me a couple of times this weekend on my shoulder. Oh, I had forgotten, but in the middle of the night this weekend, she bit me while nursing too. That wasn't cool. At least it was only once and it was brief.

I say Tabitha laughs, but still not out loud. She makes this sound that's more like a cough or sneeze. She's never made a "ha ha" sound. She really likes to play the game where we put a burp cloth over her head/face and she pulls it off and grins really big, then we do it again. I guess the thing she does when she's excited, instead of laughing, is bouncing and flapping her arms. Bouce, flap, bounce, flap. That's her laughing with her body. She gets very excited.

She isn't quite belly crawling - at least not forward. She's rolling all over. Yesterday she was moving backward. She was on her tummy with her arms straight, chest in the air. She would plant her arms and push and move backward on her belly. Back and back and back. It was cute. I couldn't tell if it was on purpose. I thought not.

Tabitha has her two bottom teeth. Learning how to use a sippy cup, but hasn't mastered it yet.

Tabitha squawks, but I understand they should be mimicking at this age, and she doesn't. The milestone chart we have says at 8 months, "most" babies say "mama" and "dada" but not parent-specific. She is two weeks shy of 8 months, but nowhere near saying anything. She doesn't repeat anything. She won't stick her tongue out if I do mine. She won't mimic any noises.

I'm not sure Tabitha understands anything we say. Although sometimes I think she understands "no." I can do certain things that always make her laugh, but otherwise, she doesn't really respond to anything. Our big accomplishment this weekend was that I got her to take her naps in her crib instead of in her swing. First time since she was born! That's such a relief since we can't take her swing on vacation in July.

She also had her first haircut on Saturday. She didn't cry, but she wouldn't smile for the camera. She was stoic about it. My mother-in-law's been bugging me about getting her a haircut because her bangs covered her eyes. But now it's all so short, she looks like a boy. She'll have to wear pink until it grows long again! :-)

She only woke up once last night, and that was a first in a week or so. She's been waking up two or three times. But we really wore her out last night. We had a few people over including her grandparents, and she got a ton of attention and bounced and laughed and played until past her bedtime.

Rosalia's Citizenship Party - June 10

Our friend Rosalia became a U.S. citizen, so we had a little surprise party to celebrate. Rosalia and Phil thought they were just coming over to dinner, but when they got there, the whole house was decorated in red, white and blue. They thought it was a little early fur July 4th. Even Alex and Frank got to visit! And I got to dress up! Congratulations Rosalia!

Mommy's Diary - June 9, 2007

A couple of days ago, I put Tabitha on the floor with her toys while I got ready for work. She slowly worked her way across the room, rolling, rolling, until she got to me and grabbed hold of my skirt. It was SO cute. It was the first time I've seen her roll to get somewhere.

That same day, Dave set up a baby fence in our living room, so she now has her own little 6'x6' "cage." It keeps her on the rug, so she doesn't roll onto the hard floor and hit her head on the floor or on the furniture. It's better than putting her in the Pack N Play because it's big enough that we can actually climb into it and play with her. It's really more of a "pen" than a "cage" but "cage" sounds more evil, so that's what I call it. She seems okay with it so far. It's big enough that she probably doesn't really know she's in it. The dogs know she's in it and they walk around and around it trying to figure out how to get to her. And she watches them going around and around....

Dave also has her holding her own bottle to drink and is even working on drinking from a sippy cup.

First Hair Cut - June 9

My Granny complained so much about my hair hanging in my eyes that my mom finally took me in for a cut. In fact, we got our hairs cut together. I refused to smile for the camera, but I didn't cry.