Savannah Month 9

Loves: Still loves being tickled and being outside, whether we are on a walk or swinging at the park, she loves her pacifier, and loves all dogs. She got in the pool for the first time this month and she is a water baby for sure!! She could spend every day in the pool and that would be fine with her!

Eating: She has a bottle at 7, 11, 3, and then right before bedtime at around 7:30.She still eats 3 meals of baby food a day. She is getting much better with solid foods. I usually feed her some solids with every meal. She has tried watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, pears, strawberries, peaches, green beans, ground turkey, corn, peas, and I am sure I am missing some! Her favorites seem to be watermelon and pears. She definitely prefers fruit over vegetables. 

Sleeping: Sleep is still the same. She still sleeps from around 8 pm- 7:30 am, with a morning nap from 9:30-11 and an afternoon nap from 1:30-3. No complaints here!

Clothes: She wears a mixture of 6-9 and 9-12 month clothes. She is now in only 12 month pajamas. She still wears Size 3 diapers, and Size 4 night time diapers.

Fun Facts: Savannah is a ham for the camera. She loves it! Every time we take pictures she makes the cutest little scrunched up face. She loves to crawl to the kitchen gate we have set up and talk to the puppies while they are in the kitchen. We have a couple of family pictures hanging in our stairwell. Every time we go up or down the stairs we stop and look at them. She will talk to them and wave her arms at them. It is too funny.

Mommy Moments: It is funny how when you are a parent, you are SO proud of every new thing your baby does! I get so excited when she figures out how to work a toy, or waves at pictures, or holds herself up on things. I have also noticed that since Savannah has started eating more of the food on our plates, I am much more conscious of what we eat! We are eating healthier now that we know she will soon be eating what we eat!

Firsts: She started crawling on all fours this month! She has gotten very good at it, and she is quite fast! One of her top teeth broke through the gums so she now has 3 teeth! She also got in the pool for the first time, and we did so much swimming this month. She can easily stand while holding onto things, and can pull herself up on a few things if they are low to the ground (not furniture yet).

Now for some pictures of Month 9!

 Water baby!

 Family time at the pool

 

She loves to splash!

 Sticking her tongue out at me at the grocery store. Goofy

 Park time!

 Cheese face!

 Smiling for Daddy!

 Woohoo!! I am 9 months old!

20th Century Parent

I had a conversation with a good friend earlier about the kind of parents we want to be. She doesn't have kids yet, but we share similar views on raising children. It prompted me to write a post about the kind of parent I hope/strive to be. I was born in 1989, meaning I spent most of my formative/childhood years in the 20th century. I think my parents did a wonderful job, and while no parent is ever perfect, they came pretty close. They raised 3 children, all of whom graduated college and are now married and leading successful adult lives. This is definitely no accident, and they worked very hard to raise us to be successful people.

It seems to me that a shift in parenting philosophies occurred as we moved into the 21st century. As a former teacher I witnessed this first hand. It seems that many 21st century parents have been bombarded with fears of hurting their children's emotions, wanting to be their friends, and worrying that their children will not like them if they discipline too harshly. Many parents I observed in teaching seemed to always think their children were right, and felt that their children were innocent until proven guilty. My parents did not share these views. They had a few important parenting views that contributed greatly into shaping my brothers and I into the people we are today, and I hope to take these things and put them into practice with my own family.

1. Guilty until proven innocent. Our teachers/authority figures were always right. There were a few rare times when the authority figures were truly wrong, and my parents acknowledged these, but it definitely took effort on our part to prove it. 

2. If we acted up in public, we left. Period, the end. If we threw a tantrum at the store, the mall, a restaurant, anywhere, my parents grabbed us and took us straight home. We were expected to behave, not bribed to do so. And if we didn't, it was sianara to whatever fun activity was happening that day.

3. Parent first, Friend second. Sure my parents wanted to be our friends, and they enjoyed the moments when they were considered our friends during our formative years. And now, as adults we are all GREAT friends. But they were always parents first. If we yelled that they were "ruining" our lives as we stomped up the stairs, they smiled and said "okay, you'll thank me someday." If we told them we hated them in teenage angst, they didn't worry. They knew we would be over it by the time the sun came up. They knew that taking a few years of not being our friends, but being our parents, meant we would be successful, responsible people one day.

4. The battle you should ALWAYS win as a parent is their peer group. My Dad gives this advice to any young parents and it's great advice. They picked their battles,and they certainly never fought all of them. But they always monitored our friends. Because those are the people that have the biggest influence on children as they grow. They never hesitated to call the parents ahead of time to make sure they were home before we went to any party. They flat out refused to let us hang out with certain people. They never gave this fight up. And they won. And we are all better for it.

I know I will make mistakes as a parent. I expect it. But I want to be a 20th century parent. I want to never be afraid of disciplining my children, even if they tell me I am "ruining" their lives through a tear stained face. I am forever grateful to my parents for NOT letting me do all of the things I wanted to do, for allowing me to "hate" them for the day, for fighting the battles to the end that needed to be fought, and for loving us unconditionally.

So even though this little face is as cute as can be, and even though I would walk through fire for her, I pray that I will always remember to be a parent first, tell her "no", and give her the boundaries she desperately needs to grow up to be a successful and respectful member of society. And one day we will be the best of friends, and one day she will thank me for saying "no". Mommy loves you so much Savannah!

Yummy AND Healthy!!

I wanted to share a recipe I found on Pinterest that was tasty and healthy! My husband is pretty picky about "healthy" food and we are really trying to eat healthier, so I have been on the hunt for recipes that he likes that are also healthy. This one was a hit and the hubby actually said he was a fan (a big feat around my house!) Savannah even enjoyed eating some of the ground turkey which shocked me, because she is VERY picky about solid foods! So without further ado, here it is!

Skinny Turkey Burger Casserole

April 2nd, 2013

   

This is another great recipe that I adapted from Skinny Kitchen to make even healthier!  This is a great replacement for the boxed meal ‘helpers’ that are full of so much “gunk”! Enjoy!

Print

Skinny Turkey Burger Casserole

Yield: 6 servings

Serving size: 1.5

Ingredients

• 1½ cups (6 oz) uncooked whole wheat or whole grain pasta
• ½ pound extra lean ground turkey
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup onions, chopped
• 1 jar container light Alfredo sauce
• ½ cup fat-free cottage cheese
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• Fresh black pepper, to taste
• ½ cup reduced-fat cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions

1. Spray 2½ -quart casserole with nonstick cooking spray
2. Cook pasta as directed on package. Drain.
3. In large nonstick skillet, brown ground turkey and drain
4. Stir in the fresh garlic and cook for about a minute
5. In the meantime, add the zucchini and onions to a microwave safe plate. Cook in microwave for about 4 minutes, or until soft.
6. Add to skillet of browned meat.
7. Stir in cooked pasta, Alfredo sauce, cottage cheese, tomato and a little pepper.
8. Mix well. Spoon mixture into sprayed casserole.
9. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top of casserole.
10. Bake uncovered at 350 degreesF for 20-25 minutes or until thoroughly heated and cheese is melted.

Nutrition Info and Tips

Amount Per Serving (approx. 1.5 cups):
Calories: 256
Fat: 8g
Carbohydrates: 25g
Fiber: 1g
Protein: 20g
Sugars: 2g
Weight Watchers Points: 6pts

"Oh, look at that hair!"

As a background to this story, I have board straight hair and had almost no hair until I turned one. My husband has very curly hair and was born with a full head of hair. So I was curious throughout my pregnancy of what Savannah's hair would be like. Would she have any? Would it be curly, straight, thick, thin? Well, Miss Savannah was born with quite a bit of hair, not as much as my husband had, but certainly more than I had. So far it has stayed straight, although it seems to be thick. 

Well anyway, when she was around 5-6 months her hair really started growing. And the more it grew, the more it stuck straight up!!! As her hair has continued to grow, it has continued to stick up, and I swear it is even starting to curve backwards! I certainly think it is quite adorable, and it makes me feel like a celebrity any time I take her out. I get at least one comment about her hair any time we go anywhere! People think it is so funny/cute! This doesn't bother me in the least and I enjoy hearing all the comments people have about it. 

That being said, if I ever do want to get hair to stay down to put a bow on the side of it, how on earth would I go about doing that without making it look weird? Any Mommas out there who have babies with hair like hers? What did/do you do?  Without further ado, here are some pictures of "that hair!"

 Just starting to stick up, the faux hawk look

 Really getting up there now!

 Blowing in the breeze

 Post-pool hair

 Sticking up in the back, practicing her crawling!