Scarlett's First Turkey Day

I always want to remember Scarlett's first thanksgiving. She had 3 diaper blowouts that day. I thought moving up to size 3 would solve our blowout problems--wrong. 

She ate some ham and stuffing for dinner, then had a 40-minute nap right through the rest of the meal. I enjoyed that time so I could focus on my food and help clean up. After she woke up she played and had a bath. She was a wild woman in the tub--splashing and shouting all the while. Then she ate some more ham, applesauce, green beans and stuffing. She was very social with every single one of the 20 guests in attendance and even learned to climb stairs. She climbed them over and over as I followed closely behind her, returning her to the base once she had reached the summit. She stayed up until 9! But that was simply because the house was so full of people and on Nevada time it was only 7, so kids were running and jumping and adults were laughing and talking. There were lots of times during the day where I wished Texan was there. While I bathed her, while she climbed the stairs for the first time, while she ate her thanksgiving meal.

This is what she looked like 5 minutes before I took her upstairs to see if she wanted to nurse and she instantly passed out in my arms. 

I love her more with every breath. I am beyond thankful for my Scarlett Janie-Poo. I am also thankful for the beautiful outfits given to her by her Mimi, Nanny and Aunt Shoe. She was the belle of the ball, as usual. All she was missing was her Prince Charming--Daddy, of course. 

But we know he works so hard so we can have fun with our extended family who we rarely see. And we will make up for lost time by making extra special memories at home for Christmas! There's no place like home for the holidays! 

Ten Months Today

I wish I could've captured the first time Scarlett showed preference. Now, that sounds weird, I know. But in a sea of Cheerios, I witnessed that girl pick out the one banana-flavored-hydrogenated-bleached PUFF and gobble it up with glee.

 I have never bought puffs, (she said, turning her nose up at the rest of the puff-feeding mothers--I'm not being snooty, I just prefer to give Scarlett Cheerios because their ingredient list is more no-nonsense) but puffs seem to be the "happy pills" of baby land these days. They are stored in cases at our wonderful church nursery and I have seen many a cry turn to smile at the taste of these manufactured "fruit" treats. So when Scarlett joined the crawler room in nursery I knew she would be given many puffs by the caretakers, and when it was Mama and Papa's turn (that's us) to work in the nursery room last month, I saw it for my own two eyes. I placed the babies in the feeding chair--described in a blog post of mine from last year-- and sprinkled some plain Cheerios on the table. Then I added just a few puffs. And I'll be darned if Scarlett didn't shove a couple unassuming O's out of her way on the way to the chemical candy, as I like to refer to them. Then today she did me one better. It was afternoon snack time and I sprinkled some Cheerios on her tray then cut (bit) some raisins in half and poured them amongst the Cheerios. She reached for a raisin but accidentally grabbed an O and actually chucked it. Threw it with gusto across the room, she did--much to the delight of her dog, Bentley, who has recently acquired a pallet for whole grains. 

**I found a brand of "puff" snacks that are made with rice flor and dried fruit and no artificial anything!**

At 10 months, Scarlett:

-waves and says "bye-bye." 

-says Pa-pa, Ma-ma, Da-da and lots of other more meaningless "words."

-"pets" the dogs with lots of enthusiasm.

-naps twice a day.

-goes to bed at 8.

-loves to watch kids play.

-loves her Daddy, who has decided he wants to be called Papa. Not pronounced like "paw-paw," or like "p'PA," like a snooty rich kid in a movie (I don't know) but more like "Papa bear, mama bear and baby bear." You know? You know.

-is very ticklish under her arms,

-loves books. She has a bookshelf, but I often store her board books in the pockets on either side of our rocking chair in her room. I reach in and pull out a book, then put it back and find another one and so on until we have read about 5 each night before bed. Recently, this week she has started to kneel in my lap and lean over the side of the chair and reach in for a book. It's  basically the first one she can reach, but it is still adorable to see her reach for her book then lean back in my lap and hold it up for me to read to her. And as I read she strokes the pictures as if to say, "pretty," or, "that bear sure is fuzzy!" I would read to her all night if I didn't suspect her of stalling bed time even at such a young age. Last night she was getting a little rowdy, wanting to keep reading as I turned off the light to rock her to sleep. So I said sternly, "No more playing. It is time for bed." She looked at me and threw her head back, and cried out like I had pinched her. I had hurt her feelings and I knew it. Of course Texan came running in, "What's wrong with my baby? Come here, what did Mommy say?" *pause while my eyes roll back* 

-has started challenging Mommy at bedtime.

-is almost off puréed food. It's easier to get meal time over with if we are rushing to do bath and bed if I can shovel in some puréed green beans or mashed sweet potatoes, but most of the time I let her feed herself whatever we are eating or something especially for her. A typical day of meals for Scarlett is as follows: 

Breakfast>scrambled egg yolk with avocado or toast then yogurt or fruit.

Lunch>veggie pasta w/ puréed veggie then fruit or yogurt.

>cereal, fruit pieces for snack

Dinner>whatever meat/veggie we are eating if possible, if not I make her shredded chicken and a veggie with a biscuit or bread of some kind. Scarlett loves carbs. Any bread or pasta she can get, she is all over it. 

And finally, Scarlett has learned that being tall is awesome. She is in the 40% for height, but those long legs do so much to her advantage in reaching up to grab exciting things that I didn't think she could reach--out of the refrigerator mostly. 

I love her. Her laugh, her sweet baby smell, her toothy grin, her chubby cheeks, and every single solitary cell of her being! 

Tomorrow I'm going to photograph her in her beautiful November outfit that doubles and her 10-mo suit and a thanksgiving dress. Stay tuned!