Pomp & Circumstance.

Sophie's getting so very big so very fast! First we've had some "graduations". (1) From size 2 diapers to size 3, (2) more baby food to move towards more solid food, (3) size 1 shoe to size 2, and (4) from size 2 (medium flow) to size 3 (fast flow) nipples on the bottle!

The highchair I posted about that I wanted a while back, come to find out, was a recalled item by the company so we didn't get that one. However I did my normal mommy research--looking at all that other mothers recommended and got high ratings and reviews and I discovered the Graco 4-in-1 Blossom Highchair! It' goes from highchair to infant seat (will fit securely in an adult chair), to a booster chair for toddlers, to a seat for kiddos!


She is also spitting and talking and doing a whole lot of playing with toys. She grabs and stares at things and then puts them in her mouth. She's becoming a huge grabber and I know that will only get worse! She grabbed the lotion bottles off of her changing table this morning. She also tries to grab the spoon when you are feeding her.

I sat in the back of the car next to her seat today and noticed how her legs almost touch the back of the seat already! We are going to graduate to a big girl seat sooner than I thought! I have been doing lots of research and although they say you can do either 12 months or 20lbs for turning them facing forward, you should keep them rear-facing as long as possible. It's much, much safer. Infants and toddlers can very easily get neck and spine injuries if in a head-on or side-impact collision. So we'll be rear-facing until she just can't do it anymore. I've also done research on the safest and highest rated seats for big kids and I have decided on the Sunshine Kids Radian 80 (seen in the list to the right). If anyone wants to suggest others or knows someone who uses this seat I'd love to hear about it!

I got 4 sets of ASL Sign Babies flash cards for her that cover an array of baby signs--25 signs in each set! They are great. I punched a hole in the top corner and put a binder ring in them so we can tote them around! She's really starting to get what "milk" and "more" is. She also seems to know "diaper change" as she will stop screaming if I put her down on the changing table and then say, "We're gonna do a diaper change [show the sign]". She just stops and stares at me.

She's gonna be a handful of a little toddler. She already kicks the whole time you hold her, just like she does when she's in her jumperoo. She absolutely loves that thing! She also kicks when she's sitting in her swing or on your lap. Maybe she'll be an athlete like her dad, not like her mom. We'll see . . .

I just finished going through her clothes in her bins and weeding out the outfits that she can't wear. There were a lot of them! She's up to 9 months, some 12 months. She can wear some 6 months but a lot of them are too short, she's so long! Well, it's Sunday afternoon and the floors are dirty--time to clean house before a long week of work begins!