Swimming champion :-)

G has restarted swimming lessons.  We started them when she was four months but then stopped after two lessons because it was a bit to cold and we were a bit to busy.  I rebooked her in to start again at six months at a different swimming pool that was closer to our home.  I highly recommend doing some research before booking swimming lessons, like perhaps finding out the price instead of assuming it was as cheap as the last place you went LOL, I had to pay the $145 term fee straight away when I didn't want to sign up for a term or pay $145!  So I will chalk that one up to lesson learned, the classes are good but not as good as the other cheaper place we were going on a casual basis.  Most importantly though G loves swimming, like loves it - she now puts her whole head under her self and splishes and splashes and has an awesome time.  I also love the ASOS swimmers I bought myself to wear to swimming lessons, but need some more - am waiting for ASOS to have a sale or a discount code soon. I am also waiting for Target to have a sale so I can get some more swimmers for G, since ironically she had heaps of swimmers in the smaller sizes when we didn't really swim (some didn't even get worn), but only two pairs in the size 0.  Target actually haven't had a baby clothing sale for a while, how annoying!  This is a picture of my chubby cutee pie, clearly she floats in the water ;-P.

This week we are going on a plane flight (two actually), I am very worried as we last flew three months ago when she was four months old and still breast fed, and didn't move or need to be entertained.  EEK, wish me luck!

Being a Big Baby about it ;-P

My baby is ten kilos. TEN kilos, little chubba six month old (only one more week till 7 mths OMG).  Everyone always says 'wow look at those cheeks' or 'your eating well aren't you'.  Actually she isn't eating well, milk is like normal (I am trying to introduce water and sippy cups with no success at the moment) but no to the solids still.  Its now been over a month and I have got her to open her mouth and actually eat only a handful of times, maybe not even that.

I have tried everything, different spoons, different foods, different chairs, pretending to eat it myself, pretending its an aeroplane..... nothing is working.  So although I did not want to do baby led weaning, I decided I had to try something!  So I bought this mesh feeder from Coles from Tommee Tippee, so basically you put large solids in there and the baby eats through it (without choking on the big bits), while they get used to eating solids.  Have I mentioned that G does not like putting things in her mouth, she is not like a normal baby who puts everything in their mouths!  She only puts her fingers in to chew on them (she is teething), so naturally when I presented this to her with a banana in it, she had no desire to put it to her mouth!  But she did like the texture of the smooshy banana, so she played with it for ages lol.  I am really struggling with this as I feel like I am failing, how am I going to teach my kid to eat! I have borrowed a whole stack of weaning books from the library so will continue to try and get G to willingly have some yummy food :-).  Wish me luck!

I got a Yeller! And pretty headbands :-)

My baby yells, loudly.  She is 6 months old and she yells when she is frustrated or bored - which is a lot when you are a 6 month old baby who cannot move anywhere (why won't you move baby!).  At first I thought, oh no way I will put a stop to this.  Rookie first time parent mistake.  Baby makes the rules sometimes, especially when they are to young to discipline or reason with.  So I went on my normal baby forum and expressed my anxiety about the yelling - apparently other people have yellers as well.  They could not help me find the magic button to switch the yelling off.  I then was reading my baby magazine that I get though Zinio (and its free!), and found the following pages helpful.  Apparently if you have a yeller, that means your child is a social child and thats the way they express themselves and you should talk to them in a 'quiet' voice so they learn whats acceptable.  I am using my quiet voice a lot (unless I am really getting yelled at a lot and then I may say loudly please stop yelling!).

G is at the age where she is perfectly cute and interactive (people love her!), she also loves other babies and small children.  She can grab at things and is really curious (apart from the not trying to move anywhere).  This is helpful as she is also at the age where she yells loudly and gets cranky easily - its harder than when she was a newborn as I was prepared for the newborn stuff, not prepared for this bit.  She is teething as well and having real trouble with it - her top two are coming through and she is biting hard on her fingers, drooling and being very sad at times.  Poor baby G.  I bit the bullet and bought the Ebook Wonder Weeks, as I have the hard copy but it was just to hard to access since I am not home all the time and we tend to travel a bit.  It was only $9.99 from amazon, so I was glad I did because I got to learn that although she isn't in a Wonder Week, she is in a clingy, cranky phase that is not linked to developmental leaps (which is why its not a Wonder Week), and that by week 30 she will be her happy self again (pending teething issues).  We are in week 29 - one week to go whoo hoo!

Today  at the local library baby playgroup (check your local library most have some kind of baby get together), there was a tiny baby girl wearing a headband that G has, that I bought from Ebay. So cute!  This week I finally got a bunch of headbands that I bought ages ago from Ebay (so long ago I can't leave feedback because its gone from my buying history!), it was an absolute bargain about ten different coloured headbands for $9.  Here is a pic of one of the colours:

The three T's

Teething, traveling and toys. This week we have been away on holidays, this week G has been teething really bad. We have also discovered that at 6 months G is not good on long road trips! Now that she is very active she does not want to be strapped in her seat for hours at a time. I believe that some of it can be contributed to her being uncomfortable in her car seat. I am so annoyed at myself for buying that stupid seat! If you are in the market for a car seat please buy the Meridan, I have heard great great things about it. It costs about three times the amount of the one we have but if I had my time again I would of just bought it and not worried about the budget! In general G is a good traveller still, but the teething is not going well the poor darling. I have tried to keep the Bonjella and the panadol to a minimum but she is really struggling.

We stopped into the local Toyworld and grabbed her some stacking cups (which are a big hit, she loves them!) and the Toy Story doll Jesse. The doll says 3+ but her cousin has this toy and when G has visited she has fallen in love with it. She stares at it and has the motor skills to turn it her hands and she laughs at it. She is not interested in any of ethe stuffed toys I have bought her to date! The stacks cups cost $6.99 and the doll was $39.95.

After this trip I am really contemplating buying a DVD player if we go on a long trip again. I have always been against DVD players for kids in the back of cars (and especially babies). But I think this is one of those things that when you become a parent you eat your words about the 'rules' you thought you would have lol.

Whoops!

So turns out I accidentally did a baby post in my blog - Everyday Girl, instead of in my Oooh Baby Baby blog! Whoops.  I will blame this on sleep deprivation, G is cutting her top two teeth and is not sleeping at all, nights are a nightmare - as bad as the newborn days (well nearly).  We can't even blame a Wonder Week as we are no where near one :-(.  So to read about the latest fashion splurge on G please click on:

http://howdidigetinthisnutshell.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/fashion-binge.html.

Stroller, Stroller, thats just to do the shopping

We have a purple city mini pram, there are quite a few posts on this blog about the pram purchase. Originally I wanted a Phil and Teds peanut smart stroller then decided it was to hard to operate and the mini was a more practical purchase. I tossed up having two prams but decided that was silly, I really really wish I had of got it and had two (the Mini is awesome by the way). The bassinet insert of the Phil and Teds would of satisfied me on the days I really wanted the baby facing me, and then I would have the stroller now to use as well. Next baby I'm definitely getting another pram that has a bassinet where the baby faces me .

The mini has been awesome, it's so light and easy to fold but the other day I left it in the car when I put the car in for a service. Big whoops as I was going straight out shopping with G. Then I remembered a cute stroller I saw in the Big W catalogue so headed to Big W. We picked up this very cute Minnie Mouse stroller for $35. G loves it! I think because it's completely upright and she can see everything. There are a few drawbacks - its really flimsy, it's beyond awkward when she falls asleep (she is only little-6mths) and you can't hang toys off it for her to play with. It's perfect for quick outings when you have to get in tight spaces though (markets especially).

I also bought another two pack of tights from Target - Target sell the cutest baby tights!

Baby has a lot to wear, but perhaps little time to wear it

 So I picked up more clothes, because I was getting quite annoyed at the lack of choice in G's wardrobe.  The problem is now that she is 9.5kgs and 0 finishes at 10kgs and then size 1 starts!  Im assuming a slight plateau of weight though, she isn't moving so I may be being a bit to hopeful about that, but she is only 6 months old and size 0 is supposed to last from 6-12months!!  I am really not buying her anymore things now, this is quite enough to get her through the next couple of months while I wait and see whats happening with her sizing :-).  At the moment, she has finished the 26 week Wonder Week and has still not get separation anxiety - YAY.  But she is teething very awfully at the moment as her top two teeth are coming through and must be hurting, night times are terrible with a lot of wake ups (well three on bad nights) and whimpering in her sleep :-(.  She is sitting up awesome by herself now and today she was grabbing at a doll I was giving her with two arms in the air, so her skills are growing :-). Still no desire to move anywhere though.

two long sleeve tops from Cotton on for $20

Minnie Mouse onsie from Big W $12

Two pairs of socks Big W $9.00 (I know - $$ right, I didn't realise how much they were until I was a the checkouts.  For the record they are VERY cute on her feet though :-).

Tutu from Kmart $12

$5.00 from Cotton On Kids - you can't get better than that :-D

from the Markets a reversible dress, the other side is denim - was $39.95 reduced half price!  A little bit out of my price bracket, but because its a market stall item I decided it was okay.

Two bibs for $20 from the markets, they are actually thick flannels with print on the front

Baby has nothing to wear ;-P

I am trying to find G some nice new clothes, since her size 0 wardrobe was very bare and she is past the newborn age of everyone buying her clothes :-(.  Im not sure why, but the clothes at the stores instore and online are just not doing it for me at the moment.  Target obviously still have their winter range in, we don't need any more Winter clothes and I am hoping they start restocking the cool licensed Miss Kitty, Minnie Mouse etc clothing that I got a ton of in the smaller sizes earlier this year.  In fact when I was vacuuming packing the last lot of 00 clothes away I was really sad at the awesome clothes G had in the smaller sizes compared to the quite boring wardrobe she has at the moment.  Having said that, a lot of things become restricted now because of a) the chilly weather and b) she is sitting up and starting to move - not really moving to much but its not that long off!  So no impractical things that I could get away with earlier.  Best and Less have brought in some great coloured jeans, pants and skirts.  I felt that the jeans and pants would be to restrictive and tight on her when she is trying to move so I just got her a bright pink denim skirt $12- perhaps a little impractical still as well :-), but awfully cute with tights under them.  They were having a sale and I managed to find a bonds singlet suit in size 0 for her -there was only one left, i guess because they were only $5.00.

I went into cotton on kids and didn't have much luck their either except for a pair of ruffle pant leg gins in pink for $5.00 - I previously got a pair in the blue but they must have got new stuck as they had pink now :-).  I then went to Target and got her two pairs of tights at 20% off and snuck in some Lamaze blocks that were $10 off.  Because our little Buddha is already 9.5 kilos at 6months and size 0 is supposed to stop at 10kgs then its size 1 10-12kgs, I am only looking for a couple of dresses to get us through as she only has a couple, I think I found some handmade ones on Ebay/Etsy that I might purchase.  Cmon Target already, get some new stock!

The toy sales sucked me in!

 Sooo, I had previously gone into Target then walked out with two small things (as previously posted about), with the resolution that we didn't need any of this stuff and we would just borrow from the Toy Library.  Afterwards though, I had a good think about what kind of toys Baby G would need and I had a look at the online at the Big W toy sale and found some toys I was really happy with, they were a good price and they covered all the bases in education etc.  By the way Big W have an awesome online shopping site, including their online lay bye facilities its truly amazing - they got the right tech people to do the job!  Also they are heaps cheaper than Target!  I have yet to check out Kmart, their online website is no good so I would have to go instore which I am not sure i am brave enough to do!  So Big W had free shipping over $50 and I ordered on the Sunday and it got delivered on the Friday (a regional area).   The LeapFrog Violet teddy was $20 - this toy is amazing you hook it into your computer set it up to say your child's name, their favourite songs, colours, animals and food.  I think we are going to get a lot more than $20 worth out of Violet!  I bought a Fisher And Price picnic basket toy that sings and says educational things and G can put shapes in and out of it $18, an activity walker that she can play with now as she can sit and then when she walks she can use it to walk around with.  Lastly I bought a 'cd player' that plays music, numbers, letters and has some cds that go in and out of it (but are only toys).  My husband commented that I seemed more excited than the baby about the toys, and its kinda true but I am excited to see how she develops with these toys - its so exciting :-D.