baby lower – Page 7 – emerald city diaries

eloise {week 37}

{sweater: Gymboree (old) // dress: Crewcuts // jeans: Carter’s // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{week 37} oh boy is eloise on the move. she still sits & plays on her playmat well, but when she wants to move she is off! eloise has mastered the army crawl & has the ability to change direction now while staying on her belly, so she isn’t as reliant on rolling while on the move. she hasn’t shown any signs of actual crawling since she seems panicked when she is up on her hands & knees, but I know that will come eventually.

eloise started her tots swim class this last weekend. we chose a saturday morning class, despite it being during her AM nap!, so that aaron could join in on the fun too. the water was cold (85 degrees) & the class was huge, but I think it is good for her to have exposure to the water. she seemed to like kicking, but spent a lot of the class cuddling close to one of us as her lips turned blue. poor kiddo! we would dash into the nearby sauna every so often for just a few minutes to make sure she was staying warm enough. eloise loves bathtime & has finally become okay with water splashing on her face, so I think this is a great time to have her in the pool before summer starts & we hit up the splash pads around town.

{swimsuits // mine: TopShop // hers: Target & this Honest Co swim diaper // his: Target (old)}

in the last two days eloise has started a fake cry which is sometimes funny but gets old super fast! she only seems to do it when she can’t play with her spoon at mealtimes. at this point eloise is pretty disinterested in pureed food, so I haven’t needed to use a spoon much, except for the occasional oatmeal or cereal. I am hoping the fake fussiness is just a temporary thing with the re-introduction of the spoon, though I definitely could foresee toddler eloise throwing a very similar fit over who knows what! the crying (I don’t even think you could call it that!) subsides quickly as soon as you make a funny face or remind her of the food that is on her tray.

eloise has also started bobbing her head & rocking her body while seated in her high chair. I have noticed it for the past few days & especially when we had music playing in the living room while she was eating the other day. I don’t think she is correlating her movement to music, but it sure does look like she is dancing! every so often you will look over & she will be bobbing in her highchair. it’s, you guessed it, adorable!

happy 37 weeks eloise!

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diy quilted playmat.

eloise has a corner of the living room where she can sit & play with her toys. it is nice because it is out of the way of any foot traffic & allows her to have independent playtime. when I first set it up, it was a hodge-podge of thick blankets & her play gym since she was still learning to roll & sit up. I didn’t like the way it looked, so I made something I liked instead!

I knew I wanted something quilted to give eloise some padding on our hardwood floors. I really love hardwood, but when your baby is learning to roll & sit up, it can be brutal! I found this fun playmat on Purl Bee (via Pinterest) & made it slightly larger. I am really happy with the way this playmat turned out, I just wish I would have made it sooner!

{via Purl Bee}

supplies:

fabric (I bought two yards of Clay Sundot & Triangle Tokens Medallion from Etsy. both are part of the Arizona Collection by Amy Rhodes.)
thread (I used white)
contrasting thread for quilting (I used navy blue and yellow)
quilt batting
scissors
needle
optional: small square of white fabric & embroidery floss for name tag

{sidenote: I apologize for the iphone quality pictures. I did this project in tandem with my chair & needed the SD card in my computer (rather than in the camera) so that I could see how the pieces went back on. I guess that’s the problem with multi-tasking!}

I (mostly) followed the directions on the Purl Bee post, but added an extra set of four squares (so my finished quilt was six squares on each side rather than four).

first I cut out all 12 squares. I typically have issues with the cutting part of sewing projects, but squares are nice because you can cut two sides & then fold it in half & then cut the remaining sides.

then I pinned & sewed two sets of squares together (one of each fabric) & then sewed three sets together (to make two sets of six). the seam allowances for this project were really small (in my opinion) & I wish I would have followed my gut & made them bigger from the beginning. I was worried about it the entire time, & lo & behold, I had two places on the quilt where I didn’t quite catch enough fabric & have to handstitch the area closed… oh well!

I didn’t get a picture of this part, but then I made the quilt batting “sandwich” where you layer the fabric right-sides together on top of the quilt batting. then you sew around the entire perimeter, leaving a few inches to reverse the fabric right-side out. then you sew the hole shut by hand. I normally would top-stitch something like this to give it a nicer finish, but I didn’t think I could do a good enough job going thru the batting.

next it is time to quilt! I chose contrasting thread colors like in the original post. since I didn’t use exactly the same fabric though, I had to make up my own way to quilt the shapes. I had though thought about this when I bought the fabric, making sure I ended up with two patterns that would lend themselves to this type of quilting.

once I got started, I found that it was easiest to pin all around the area I was quilting to keep the fabric & batting from moving around.

on the Clay Sundot fabric (peach) I quilted a quarter circle with navy thread. you can see what it looks like on the backside of the quilt too.

on the Triangle Token Medallion fabric (mint green) I quilted some of the gold triangles with yellow thread. you can (sort of) see what it looks like on the backside. I followed the advice to have some quilting at least every eight inches in order to keep the batting in place. for each square, I quilted the first shape & then measured out eight inches or so to pick the remainder of the quilted shapes.

and the finished product! I really LOVE how this turned out & that I was able to choose fabric that was fun, but not too juvenile. it coordinates (sort of) with our living space & hopefully it will be a quilt eloise can use for years. I especially adore the embroidered name tag – a fun last-minute addition! (I just cut out two smallish rectangles of white cotton muslin that I had leftover from the chair project & ironed them flat. then I lightly traced out the letters spelling “eloise” before hand embroidering along the penciled lines. I stacked the second cotton muslin piece behind the embroidered one before hand sewing it onto the corner of the back of the quilt.)

this is such a great place for eloise to play now when she isn’t rolling or crawling all around!

how have you set up the playspace for your kiddos?

eloise {week 36}

{dress: Carter’s (old) // bloomers: babyGap (from this dress) // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{week 36} this past week my mom (Grammie) was in town & we spent the better part of our time up in La Conner, WA enjoying the Puget Sound & the tulips. despite being in a completely new place, eloise did so well!

stretching is a new fun thing eloise has started in the past few weeks, mostly after diaper changes or when she wakes up from sleep. we are starting the “eloise is SO big!” when she stretches & it is awfully cute! I wonder if this means she is growing?

eloise has mastered a straight-arm wave. it took a while for me to figure it out since it is very low (at belly level usually) & often is while she is tapping on something, but she is waving. aaron & I frequently wave to her with our entire arm from across the room & say “hello eloise!” to see if we can teach her to wave with her arm instead of just her wrist & hand. clapping is still elusive, though she LOVES when someone else is clapping – she just laughs & laughs. the issue is mostly that her hands are closed so she basically ends up fist bumping herself!

eloise’s top four teeth are in & it looks a little strange. where did my toothless little baby go? they aren’t as obvious as her bottom two teeth (because of her lip) & they make her look so grown up. we have to be careful now with her teeth though since she doesn’t realize she can bite! she grabbed my finger last week & bit down & I still have a cut! there have been a couple of times where I have felt teeth while nursing (SO painful!) but it has mostly been an angle thing & not that eloise has actually chomped down (thank goodness!).

solids are still going well & eloise is loving eating three meals a day (in addition to the five nursing sessions & one bedtime bottle!). while eloise still likes purees, she is much more interested in finger food (BLW) so I am starting to offer her more of that. my thought is that in the coming weeks I will finish off the remaining purees & then be done with them.

happy 36 weeks eloise!

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eloise {week 35}

{hoodie: Childhoods // jeans: Carter’s // puppy: JellyCat}

{week 35} this week we are still battling a cold. (so much mucus!) between that & the (at least) two other teeth that are making an appearance, some naptime sleep & a lot of nighttime sleep has been disrupted… but during the day, eloise is still happy & joyful!

not much has changed this week. I think we’ve hit our new normal for at least a while. we are in a really good routine each day & it’s nice when eloise knows what is going on & I can meet her expectations. it makes it easy to know when we can go out & run errands or have play dates without being so disruptive to napping or eating, etc. the biggest things are still: solids three times a day (& figuring out how much that is!), army crawling, & teeth. two of her top teeth just came thru (left) and the other top two are going to break thru any day.

short post this week!

happy 35 weeks eloise!

this post contains affiliate links.

eloise {month eight}

{lion: jellycat via nordstrom // onesie: babyGap // jeans: babyGap // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{month eight} this month eloise seems suddenly so much older! (like light years older!) I think it’s just that she is more independent & is able to do so much more on her own. it is very bittersweet for this mama – I am so excited for this little one to be growing & learning, but am also sad to be losing my tiny little baby.

she has kicked off this month with some nasal congestion which doesn’t seem to bother her as much as it bothers me. I thought I had my normal spring allergies, but I am suspicious since eloise also is a snot machine (which is what aaron affectionately refers to me as when I have a cold). as long as eloise can sleep & breathe normally, I don’t worry about her nose being stuffy. getting mucus out of her nose is pretty much impossible these days. she HATES the nose frieda or any wiping of her nose or mouth. so I guess it’s a snotty nose for me & eloise until we beat this. super fun…

eloise is all about blowing raspberries the past few weeks. she often does it while her diaper is being changed or while she is in her exersaucer. it is so funny to hear her babbling to herself & then start blowing raspberries. I have been trying to get it on video, but she’s pretty camera (phone) shy. her tongue has definitely become a fascination (as well as other people’s) and she likes to stick it out. sometimes you can get her to play mirror & stick your tongue out & she will reciprocate.

related to eloise’s new tricks with her mouth, she is teething like crazy! her left front tooth has finally cut, & the next two are well on their way (the right front tooth & the one just next to that). the drool seems to be increasing & eloise seems to be sucking & chewing on her thumb more these days. neither of these are definite “teething” symptoms since she does them pretty much all the time, but I feel like they are probably related somehow.

meals & eating have been going really well. just yesterday eloise started eating breakfast, putting her solid intake to three times a day. I need to figure out how much food to give her for breakfast & lunch since her usual large lunch portion seems to be too much now that she is eating just a few hours earlier. though eloise has continued to be a great eater, she seems to be slightly pickier the past few days. sometimes it takes a few attempts to get food into her mouth since she always makes a face during the first few bites. up until now there hasn’t been anything eloise wouldn’t eat & she has always been excited about eating. just last night we made beef ragout from Bebe Gourmet since we could just add pasta & have an adult meal as well (love only cooking one meal!) but eloise was not a fan. I was super surprised. she was interested in eating & opened her mouth wide for the spoon, but as soon as the ragout hit her tongue, she was spitting it out. the ragout had beef, tomato, & celery in it (none of which she has had before) but I am still surprised since aaron & I both enjoyed it. I saved some in freezer trays to try again this weekend.

since we are doing BLW solids, eloise has learned so much about how to feed herself. the tricky part is that many of the foods that are easy for her to eat are also super slippery (avocado, mango, kiwi, etc.) but she is managing really well. sometimes I have to help her get the piece of food from the tray into her hand, but she can take it from there. she has now learned that she can move her hand around & bring it to her mouth at different angles which helps once she has bitten off the top part of the food & there is nothing left sticking up out of the top of her hand. she will also use her left hand to help her move food around in her right hand to eat it, though her right hand does nearly 100% of the self-feeding. eloise isn’t as interested in grabbing the spoon to feed herself purees these days, & normally just opens her mouth up like a baby bird to take a bite. on occasion, & usually towards the end of the meal, she will grab the spoon handle & try to flip the food out. she really just wants to bang the spoon on the tray.

eloise’s favorite part of meals these days though is water, specifically drinking water from a straw. we are back to using just a small glass & plastic straw since it seems easier to use than the straw on her sippy cup. I think the sucking motion to use for drinking is similar to blowing raspberries (just the opposite, right?) & sometimes eloise will end up blowing bubbles in her water instead of drinking. she smiles when she sees the bubbles, but hasn’t figured out that she is doing it yet, so I think we are in the clear for now. (pretty soon she will probably be blowing bubbles all the time!)

eloise is still on-the-go & I don’t seem that stopping, well, ever. she still prefers to roll if she can since it is much easier for her to do. she seems to be able to maneuver really well & can change directions surprisingly well. eloise is, though, officially army crawling in addition. she has one arm down on the ground & the other hand down, so I think once she gets that other hand down (instead of the entire arm) she will be able to crawl on her hands & knees. often when I put her down on her playmat, I will set her down in a crawling position to see what she will do. most of the time she will instantly drop down to her tummy, but sometimes she fusses like she doesn’t know what to do. also, she has started the wiggliness during diaper changes & instantly flips when you lie her down on the changing pad. super fun! if aaron is home & I am changing her diaper, I recruit him to help me keep her on her back. during the day when it is just me & eloise, I give her a toy (usually one that rattles or squeaks) to keep her attention & then attempt to do the quickest diaper change ever.

we’ve noticed over the months that not only does eloise like to tap her foot (usually her right one) when she is laying down or sitting, but she likes to tap with her hand as well. books, toys, & most recently the table top. just this past week aaron has started playing a tapping game with her where she will tap her hand or hands on the table & aaron will mimic. she loves it & laughs & laughs. it is super cute!

{weight} last we checked, 19 lbs.

{hair} dark reddish brown.

{teeth} bottom two teeth, two top teeth (left front & incisor), & two more on the way (top right).

{eyes} dark brown/grey.

{clothes} 9 (or 6 to 12) month.

{diapers} full-time cloth* {bum genius freetime, pocket, & elemental} & honest company size 3 diapers at night with a bum genius diaper cover.

{feeding} during the day, 3 hour cycles. when e gets a bottle, she will take 4 oz. at bedtime when she takes a full 5 oz bottle of pumped milk*. we are still nursing 5 times per day, and eloise is eating two solids meals per day (lunch & dinner) which is a mixture of purees & BLW solids. introduced egg yolk, cheese, yogurt, ground chicken, & salmon this month to add to the variety of veggies & fruits.

*just these past few days I have dropped my extra morning pump session (for a variety of reasons) which means that if I don’t pump at least 5 oz. during my evening pump, we have to make up the difference with formula. it is something that is still really new for us & while there is nothing wrong with formula, it has been weighing heavily on my mind (for the past few months). this is the first time I haven’t been able to completely fulfill eloise’s needs & it’s difficult for me to comprehend & accept. I am almost sure that if I nursed eloise at bedtime instead of giving her a bottle & pumping my supply would be enough (pumping isn’t as effective for me) but we are happy knowing exactly how much eloise is consuming at night & that aaron can do bedtime too. on a happier note, we are trying the new Honest Company formula which seems really great & also have some from Europe en route (European standards for food, including infant formula, is much, much higher than those in the US).

{likes} books, her Papa, anyone’s cell phone, FaceTiming, Sadie, music & songs, bath time, wiggling!

{dislikes} the Nose Frieda, being on her back during diaper changes, being hungry.

{nicknames} Bug{s}, Love Bug, E, Wheezy, Kiddo, Little Love, Bugaboo.

happy EIGHT months eloise!

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eloise {week 34}

{jumper & bloomers: babyGap // tights: babyGap // bow: Lululuvs // moccasins: Freshly Picked // bunny: JellyCat (similar)}

{week 34} this week has been busy as eloise is pretty much on the move! up until last week she has rolled to get anywhere she has needed to go, & still does but has know also started army crawling. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she has also learned to get from sitting to her tummy (gracefully). she is figuring out what her arm strength is & boy is she a quick learner! we have “baby-proofed” the house via the outlets (either plugs or new face plates) but will probably need to be mounting the TV and (maybe) putting up a gate on the stairs sooner rather than later (among other things!). we are trying not to go crazy baby-proofing everything right away since some things won’t need it. we obviously don’t want to wait for an accident, but some things seem a little overboard.

eloise has also been teething these past weeks which has resulted (I think) in her middle-of-the-night wake-ups last week. those have finally stopped (knock on wood!) & she has been sleeping really well. just yesterday morning I noticed that you can see the white little bud of her left front tooth popping thru. those three teeth (the two front & the right incisor) have been trying to come thru for weeks now! when eloise first got her two bottom teeth, it was really hard to see them since she would stick out her tongue if you tried to open her mouth. now she proudly shows those little pearly whites off with her grins & smiles. the top teeth are harder to see since her lip is in the way (obviously). it is so crazy to think that our little one is already getting teeth!

I almost hate to bring it up because it is going so well, but sleep (particularly napping) is really going well. eloise still naps three times a day & starts showing signs of sleepiness like clockwork (eye rubbing & yawning) even if she is playing & seemed wide awake just a second ago. lately when I have put her down in her crib to zip her into her sleep sack before story time, she will grab her lovie & her pacifier. I could probably just turn on on her white noise & turn off the light at that point, but she LOVES books & I enjoy the cuddle time.

happy 34 weeks eloise!

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eloise {week 33}

{chambray: babyGap (similar) // leggings: Target // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{week 33} this picture is such a good representation of eloise lately – she is always babbling & talking, & she is curious about everything. the chat bubble (no surprise) ended up in her mouth during this photoshoot which I thought was funny since it’s, well, a chat bubble.

this kiddo is constantly on the move, whether it is her foot tapping, her arm waving, backwards scooting on her tummy, rolling everywhere & anywhere, or pulling up on things (like the arms of her nursery glider to see over the edge). eloise isn’t quite doing the rocking on her hands & knees yet, but is definitely making a move towards army crawling. if she wants something, she will reach towards it, but hasn’t get made the move forward if she is on her belly & something is just out of reach. she will, however, push herself backwards if she is on the hardwood floors until she gets to where she wants or gets stuck.

sleeping has been a little challenging this past week since we think she is getting three (yes, THREE!) top teeth, including her two front ones. her little gums are swollen & you can see the outline of those little chompers just waiting to break thru. naps have been pretty consistent & she is taking at least one, if not two, really solid naps every day, but nighttime sleep is another story. she is still going down well after her bedtime routine (which now includes a bath since dinner is always such a mess!), but she is really fussy between 1 AM and 4 AM. so just enough time for me to get a few hours in before I am up with her 4 to 5 times & then she will go to sleep for a bit just before she wakes up to eat between 4:30ish & 6 AM. she doesn’t seem to be able to do more than about a 3 hour stretch of sleep these days. poor kiddo. her fussiness is different though than it has been in the past since she will cry & fuss but she won’t be awake. sometimes you can go in & she will take a pacifier & continue to sleep peacefully, but a lot of the time she will just continue to cry or even yell a bit. she doesn’t seem really upset though while she is sleeping & the other night she woke up after a crying-while-sleeping fit & was super smiley & happy when she saw me standing over her crib. so weird. I am hoping this is just a phase & she will move onto better sleep really soon!

solids & eating are going well still, & eloise expects two meals a day (lunch & dinner). I am still offering a mixture of hand-held solids (BLW) & purees which seems to be perfect for her. eloise also learned how to drink out of a straw this week & I have been offering water in a (straw) sippy cup after each meal. it was a little tricky to get her to understand the concept of a straw, but this article was super helpful & lays out really good steps. eloise has a cup that has both a sippy cup top & a straw top, but we found the sippy cup top to be really difficult for her since you basically have to turn the cup completely upside-down in order to get water out. some time soon we will tackle that, but for now the straw works wonderfully. eloise also is learning & perfecting her pincher grasp. I introduced ground turkey last week & she was able to pick up a piece that was on her tray & eat it – it was pretty impressive! sadie has also discovered pretty quickly that if eloise is in her highchair, she should be close by because food will magically start appearing on the floor. I believe this is the start of a beautiful & lasting friendship!

happy 33 weeks eloise!

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diy easter baskets.

just wanted to share a pretty quick & easy DIY easter basket made from a paper grocery bag before Easter weekend. I made two last week – one for eloise & one for our niece charlotte. the finished basket is pretty small (like the size of a CD case) but perfect for just a little stuffed rabbit & some eggs.

{original pin: The Elli Blog}

supplies:

paper bag
hot glue gun & glue sticks
scissors
ruler
pencil
ribbon (optional)
green construction paper (optional)

I followed the tutorial linked above (it’s a pretty good one). I always forget how hard hot glue can be to use & gave myself a blister, so be careful! I also found the handles to be tricky to attach.

I added a bit of grass to two of the sides of the basket without handles. I cut a piece of paper the same width as the basket & then randomly cut the edge of it (a few inches) to make blades of grass. then I trimmed the bottom of the paper & glued it inside the basket so the blades stuck out. repeat for the other side.

{a little white bunny for eloise}

{a little ballerina bunny for charlotte}

note: both bunnies are JellyCat.

how are you celebrating easter with your little ones?

PEPS annual luncheon.

I am certain I have PEPS before {see here} because it has been a HUGE part of our life since eloise arrived on the scene. eloise & I ended up in two different PEPS groups since last fall – a mamas’ group & a parents’ group. I still continue to meet with my fellow mamas & their babes every monday morning (despite the formal group being over), & all three of us (aaron, eloise, & me) meet with our fellow parents & their babes every month. it is such an amazing community & I know that so much of the joy that I have found in parenting & being home with eloise has come from these groups. I only wish that every parent had access to a group like this! & if you are lucky enough to live in the seattle-eastside area, definitely look into PEPS if you are expecting or have very small children.

each year PEPS hosts an annual luncheon which brings together it’s board members, volunteers, participants, & others to join together & raise a large part of its annual budget. I was thrilled that eloise & I were able to attend, along with another mama friend. the food was amazing as was the company. PEPS is doing amazing, amazing things both in our local community & far beyond the state borders (like partnering with programs in Germany!) & it was exciting to be a part of it.

there were event photographers floating around the event & happened to take a few snaps of eloise & me. that first one of us even made the PEPS website (scroll to the bottom) & the thank you letter emailed out to attendees!

{photos via The Happy Film Company}

I am so thankful for our ability to be part of PEPS & can’t wait for next year’s luncheon!

are (or were) you part of any parenting groups or communities?

eloise {week 32}

{top: Carter’s // jeans: babyGap (similar) // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{week 32} this week has been all about teeth. eloise has been cutting her bottom two teeth for some time. the right one is very visible, & the left is well beyond just a little white spot. I just assumed that her two front teeth would be next (since that has been the typical growth pattern for all of eloise’s friends) & although those front teeth look imminent, it is actually the one to the right of the middle that has made it’s entrance. aaron discovered it this weekend & we didn’t even realize eloise was cutting that tooth since she didn’t seem fussy/drooly/stuffy/etc.

beyond growing teeth, eloise is busy. she is constantly moving (even in her sleep – she is all over her crib!) & never staying still. I think this is good practice for, well, the rest of her life. if eloise is being held, she either wants to be facing you & poking or pulling at your hair or nose; if she is nursing, she is constantly looking around & grabbing what she can & waving her arms; if she is on the ground, she is rolling & scooting around; & if she is sitting, she is tapping her (right) foot – tap, tap, tap!

eloise can also sit completely by herself now, & since she can pretty safely get down to her side or tummy from sitting, it feels much more real. you can set her down now on her playmat on her bum & she will play independently. she loves to pull everything out of her toy baskets, examining each toy & tasting any tags she can find along the way. I find that I am often putting toys back in the baskets for her after playtime since it makes me feel better (organized!) & eloise prefers a cleaned up playspace – win-win! I know it will get old very soon for me to continue cleaning up toys, but for now I don’t mind & I find that it also increases eloise’s exposure to some toys that may otherwise be forgotten. that said, when (if at all) did you mamas out there start rotating toys? we have toys in the living room, toys in the diaper bag, & toys in eloise’s nursery, but I haven’t started rotating things out yet (but would like to at some point).

happy 32 weeks eloise!

P.S. only 20 weeks left until she is one – where did the time go?

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