Matilda's Nursery

We've made some changes to Matilda's nursery in the past few days.  But before we share how it now looks, I wanted to share how it's looked over the past 8 months. 

 

I must say, I do love her room.  As I explained when we were getting the nursery ready, we didn't change much.  We already had the twin bed, nightstand, lamp, rug, curtains, and desk.  The only pieces of furniture we added were the crib and the glider set which came with an ottoman and side table.

 

 

Her nursery has a lot of handmade touches.  I sewed the pennant banner, made the mobile, crocheted a blanket, and customized the curtains after they shrank in the wash.

 

 

Here's a view of the other side of the room.  The "M" art is also handmade with the same scrapbook paper used in the alphabet poster and mobile.

We also painted and hung Ikea spice racks for her books.  She already has a nice little library!  We put her board books on bottom so eventually she'll be able to crawl/ walk over there to get him herself.

In the other corner, we hung baskets to hold diapers and supplies next to the desk which we used as a changing table.  We kept her cloth diapers in the desk drawers.  The embroidery hoops above the changing table were made from the same fabric as the pennant banner. 

Her room also has plenty of blankets made by wonderful family members. It makes me happy she is so loved and our family is so thoughtful.

Eight Months Old

We're a week late!  Disclaimer: Her eight month picture was taken today.  She didn't actually know how to sit on her 8 month birthday since that was the day she got her cast off. I know, what a spoiler for next month's post!

Stats: At 8 months old, Matilda weighed 14.5 pounds which puts her in the 6^th percentile for weight.  Still a wee one, but at least she’s still on the growth curve!  We didn’t get a good measurement of her length since we don’t want to stretch her legs down straight until they have loosened up a bit.

 

 

Sleep: No change.  Still waking twice at night to eat and taking 2-3 good naps during the day. 

Eat: Still nursing the same.  As far as solids, we’ve moved from just doing purees to doing more finger foods which she seems to enjoy.  In addition to the foods she already tried last month, she’s also had broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, turkey, chicken, and buttered bread.  Her favorites from this month are mango, strawberries, and cantaloupe.  She definitely prefers the sweets!  She likes drinking straight from a cup, although most of the liquid ends up down her front.

 

 

Play/ Milestones: No significant changes here either.  We visited family for Thanksgiving, and found out that she LOVES watching and playing with older kids.  She adores her cousins.  Jason hosted a stay-at-home dads play group at our house last week, and she had fun with that. 

 

This past month she also went on a few nature walks and we went back to the Renaissance festival for a day.  She loves observing the world from the Ergo carrier.

 

Matilda responds to her name (although she’s been doing that for a while now) and she’s also saying more consonants.  She can do M’s, B’s, N’s, G’s, and most recently D’s.  I think she’s also learning P’s… it’s just like she’s doing B’s, but really softly.  I’ve also heard her say “unga” a few times, but don’t know what she means by that.  She whines when she’s bored or tired and that usually sounds like “mmmmmm,” or if she’s more upset, “neeeeee”.  She also makes plenty of funny growls and screeches.  She’s also starting to laugh more, which is nice. 

 

 

This next month will be a huge transition for us as she gets used to playing on the ground vs. being in her spica table a majority of the time.

 

Hip Dysplasia/ Leg Update: Speaking of her spica cast, she got it removed on December 9th – her 8 month birthday!  Between her two casts, she was in them a total of 15.5 weeks.  Based on the x-rays, the doctor said that her hip is progressing nicely, so she only has to wear the Rhino cruiser brace at night.  It will still take months to years to fully be able to tell if we’re in the clear, but so far so good!  She was scared of the actual cast removal and didn’t like the x-rays, but other than that, she had a really good cast-off day.  Her skin was really dry and flaky under the cast, but improved after just one bath.  She was in a bit of pain a few days after her cast, but is doing much better now. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having a baby in a cast became second nature to us.  Now we have to adjust to having a non-casted baby.  She seems so small and fragile to us!  It will be fun to watch her start reaching gross motor skill milestones this next month.

 

Goodbye Radar

?? - December 14, 2014

 

Last night we said goodbye to our beloved fur-kid, Radar.  He had been sick on and off for several months.  Despite several rounds of testing from several vets and specialists we never got a clear diagnosis, although the emergency clinic yesterday seemed to think he had a very progressed stage of pancreatitis. 

 

We adopted Radar shortly after we got married in August 2007 from the Cocker Spaniel Rescue of East Texas.  He was probably one to two years old at the time.  Before being fostered by the rescue group, he was found roaming the mean streets of Pasadena, Tx.

 

 

Radar was part of our family from day one.  Our first memories of him include him stealing a bag of sliced bread and hiding it around the apartment (including behind books on the bookshelf!), howling every time we left him alone (bet our neighbors loved us), and him trying to run up the stairs full-speed despite having a collar and leash on.

 

 

 

Radar loved his plush toys with all his heart and carried around his favorite plush bone until his last hours. 

We found out pretty early on that he had severe animal aggression issues.  Despite intensive training, he never quite shook it.  Our mission became keeping Radar safe from the world and the world safe from Radar.

 

Despite his behavioral issues, he was loved by our extended family.  He traveled home with us every holiday.

 

He went through several moves with us until we settled in our current house.  He lived a life full of comfort, joy, and lots of cuddling.

 

Over the years, he developed a refined taste for gummy bears and Kleenex tissues and never past the opportunity to steal/ pilfer/ scavenge either of them.

 

 

When Matilda came along, we couldn't believe how good he was with her.  We will forever be grateful of this.

I hope he knows how much he was loved.  He will be missed.

Seven Months Old

Another month has flown by!

Stats: When Matilda had her cast change a couple of weeks ago, they weighed her prior to the cast change and then weighed her cast once it was cut off.  Based on that, we'd estimate she weighed between 14-14.5 pounds and is around the 10% percentile for weight.

 

Sleep: No change in sleep habits this month.  She's waking twice during the night to eat and takes at least two good naps during the day.  She's still being swaddled, although we know we need to kick the habit before the cast comes off.  We tried to go cold turkey one day, but quickly rethought that strategy since she was only sleeping 30-40 minutes at a time. 

Eat: No big changes here either.  She nurses 6x in a 24 hour period.  The doctor said we could try to cut out the night feeds, but with her only being able to nurse 4x during the day (before work, lunch, quick snack in the afternoon, and then before bed), I rather just keep the night feeds for now to make sure she's eating enough. 

We're still testing out solids.  So far she's had banana, sweet potatoes, avocado, apples, carrots, and peas.  She likes bananas and hates apples and has been ok with the rest.  Lately she just wants to blow raspberries with food in her mouth instead of swallowing, so she really hasn't been eating that much.

 
Play/ Milestones: Matilda's nickname this month has been "Miss Grabby Hands".  She gets bored with her toys and instead just wants anything and everything she shouldn't have.  If you have a cup in your hands, she will grab it and try to drink from it.  You have to watch your jewelry, or it will end up in her mouth.  Phones and remotes and junk mail are all fair game in her book.  Even when she was coming out of anesthesia for her cast change, she wanted to grab and chew all the wires she was hooked up to. 

We've done a ton of fun fall events this month.  We went to the pumpkin patch, our neighborhood fall festival, dressed up for Halloween, and went to the Renaissance festival.  We even camped for a night at the Renaissance festival.  She did great!  She especially loved walking around the festival and seeing all the people dressed up.  We might try to go back in the next few weekends since she had such a great time.

Hip Dysplasia/ Leg Update: Matilda had her cast change a couple of weeks ago which was a good thing since her original cast had gotten so tight.  The surgeon said her hip still felt good, and she only needs to be in her new cast for 6 weeks followed by the rhino cruiser brace at night.  She is scheduled to have her cast removed on Dec. 9th - her 8th month birthday!  I'm excited but nervous at the same time because I've heard she might be really sore for a few weeks once the cast comes off.  It will take some time for her to regain muscle tone in that leg.  Depending on her mobility and progress, I guess we'll see if her pediatrician recommends doing physical therapy.