One Small Step For Ashton

We have big news! Ashton is walking!

11 Months Old

Weight:  21 pounds

Height: 30 inches

Clothing Size: Mix of 12-18 month stuff.

Special Outings: Nothing special this past month

Firsts: First time standing for more than a split second, first step (not walking yet), clapping, and blowing kisses

Likes: Pulling Mom's hair, pulling Mom's clothes, screaming in Mom's ears, being held by Mom, being carried by Mom, climbing on Mom, anything that has to do with being in close proximity to my Mom, blueberries, graham crackers, apples, crawling around naked, playing outside, storytime at the library, my Hey Diddle Diddle book, turning pages in books, and eating with a fork and spoon

Dislikes: Getting my top teeth, daycare, the sound of the drill and circular saw, little kids scaring me, naptimes, bedtime, and any time that doesn't involve being with my Mom

Any big changes: SEPARATION ANXIETY to the max! I hate being away from my mom! My parents keep telling me to get over it but I tell them that I love my mom too much to "get over it." Mom threatens that she is going to go crazy because of me. I think she already is crazy.

Biggest Lessons Learned: Earlier this month, I attended a baptism for an eight-year-old in our primary. I love going to baptisms and her's was no different. As I watched her be baptized, I thought about Ashton and how I hope she makes the same decision when she is eight. In "The Family: A Proclamation to the World," it states that parents "will be held accountable before God" for the responsibility of raising a child with love and righteousness. We need to teach them to love, serve, keep the commandments, and obey the laws. Ashton is already almost one, which means we have seven more years to prepare her for the decision to be baptized. While once eight years seemed like too long, I am realizing that time is speeding by. There is no better time than the present to help prepare my daughter to follow God's plan for her. We've started praying with her at night as well as reading scriptures when she's awake. I love seeing her grow quiet when we do those things. It's like she already knows the purpose behind praying and reading.

Monthly Pictures:

Playing with the abacus we found at a toy store in Houston.

She LOVES her touch and feel book.

 

Wearing a friend's hat when he was over for a play date.

Monthly Video:

What the next month should bring: A visit to the children's museum, Daddy's friend visiting, and more fun days with Mommy

Cloth Diapering

If you would have asked me if I would ever use cloth diapers, I would have said NEVER!

And then I had to buy swim diapers.

Since we swim a lot around here, I bought some and was so sad at the price. Eleven bucks for 20 diapers! That's ridiculous! Thankfully, Target put washable swim diapers right next to the disposables. I thought, "That wouldn't be too bad. Ashton never even goes to the bathroom in the stupid swim diapers." So for ten dollars, I left with a washable swim diaper. We used it a couple of times and I didn't mind washing it. I felt a lot better because I wasn't throwing away a diaper that wasn't peed in.

Then, Ashton started getting a persistent diaper rash. No matter how often I changed her and how much diaper rash cream I put on her, it never completely went away. So I did some digging and started using coconut oil, which helped immensely. After three weeks, we finally figured out it was a yeast infection from taking antibiotics for her strep throat. But I just couldn't help but think that the paper-y diaper rubbing against her as she crawls and walks around must not be comfortable. She kept getting red marks on her inner thighs too. So I thought about cloth diapers. Then I remembered a family in town who uses them. I went over to see their collection and was amazed at what cloth diapers look like nowadays. They're much different then I thought.

So I found some new/slightly used ones on eBay to keep costs even lower and I won some auctions. We bought Gro-Via hybrid diapers and we are now the proud parents of a cloth diapered baby. I made a wet bag to use since I couldn't bring myself to spend 30 dollars for one from Amazon. Total, it cost about 10 dollars to make and a trip to Hobby Lobby. Looking back, I'm not sure it was worth the savings because the waterproof material is tricky to sew with. It only took an hour, which isn't much. Thank goodness I'm not a perfectionist. Also, the type of diapers we got sell a flushable liner that costs about two cents each. This allows us to literally flush away messes. No scraping or spraying poop off!

So far, the only two things I don't like about cloth diapering are laundry and trying to change the cloth diaper on an active baby. Changing Ashton with disposables was already a challenge and then you add in the extra steps/time with cloth. But, I guess it teaches both of us patience, which we could use a lot more of. Laundry gets old but then again, I was doing laundry once or twice a week anyways. I like the fact that our garbage output as a family has decreased since we're not filling it up with diapers. That makes me happy. I also like not feeling guilty when I change her often because I am not throwing away money in diapers. Overall, we're pretty happy. Here are some pictures of Ashton showing off her diapers.

She loves that rocking chair.

A little close to the TV. I'm sure she'll be blind in a few years.

And an added bonus of her sleeping in her stroller. A rarity around here!

Double Digits

Weight:  21 pounds

Height: 30 inches
At my nine month appointment, I continue to be very tall and am finally averaging out in weight.

Clothing Size: Mix of 12-18 month stuff. Still have the issue of pants being too long and onesies being too short.

Special Outings: The beach and swimming a lot

Firsts: First word, "MaMa," and first time being babysat while awake! I did great!

Likes: Swimming, walks with my cheerios, unstacking blocks and towers, taking EVERYTHING off surfaces around the house, playing with Mom's hair, playing "shot put" with my parents (Dad pretends I'm a shot put ball and launches me to Mom), playing on my mattress, playing with the Wii remote, and rolling the ball to Mom

Dislikes: Mom walking away from me, water in my eyes, rashes, mosquitoes, solids most of the time (still not hooked on eating solids), taking naps, sleeping through the night, and being sick

Any big changes: Nope, I'm a happy little girl who loves Mommy and Daddy

Biggest Lessons Learned: I can honestly say that I love this stage that Ashton is at. I didn't think I would with her mobility increasing every day. Once again, Ashton surprises me. She loves exploring and learning. Sometimes, she'll just being sitting still on the floor opening and closing her hands. She'll be looking at that so intently and I love imagining what she's thinking. She learns more things each day and I love being able to witness that first hand.

Monthly Pictures:

Pulling books off. We recently moved these bookcases to our spare bedroom for this reason.

 

 

Laying in bed one morning.

I love this trick of Ashton's but Joseph is not a huge fan. She has started pulling out silverware to help us.

 

Monthly Video: Sorry it's long. Just watch the first minute or so.

What the next month should bring: Switching to cloth diapering

Fourth of July- Baby Style

No fireworks for us this year. I could see the tops of some from our window but that's all. Ashton's bedtime is 8:00pm, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. So we'll have to wait for a few more years before we celebrate this holiday with fireworks. However, we did have some fun. We mowed the lawn, went on a walk, and met up with some friends for dinner and swimming. I realized after the fact that I didn't buy Ashton her first 4th of July outfit. Luckily, a friend gave us a bunch of clothes and that included a festive skirt. Then Ashton wore her BYU shirt that sort of fits her. I'm not the best at buying Ashton festive, holiday outfits. Here are a few pictures of us celebrating the weekend.

Matching shirts

A little side part going on

First tasting of ice cream

Love at first taste

Weekend Excursions

Last weekend, we had Joseph's brother and his family visit from Austin. It is always fun to see Ashton with her cousins. It reminds me of my childhood filled with big family gatherings. We played at the splashpad and then went to the beach on Saturday. It was Ashton's first time playing in the ocean and she warmed up to it. At first, she didn't really like it but once she realized she could eat the sand, she loved it. I learned that I can no longer say, "I never burn." My back burned pretty badly to the point of peeling. Overall, it was a great day at the beach. Joe's family watched Ashton for a little bit so Joseph and I could swim in the ocean.

This weekend, we visited the city of Sugar Land. We wanted to go to Joann's (well, I wanted to) because Lake Jackson only has a Hobby Lobby. Their choices of fabrics is not the best so any chance I get, I want to visit Joann's. I found awesome fabric for a new dress for Ashton. We also went to a local farmer's market and the mall. After that, we stopped by a few furniture stores because we're still looking for a tv armoire. Ashton loved playing and smiling at all the people everywhere we went. After our day in Sugar Land, I bought a little pool for Ashton. She loves it as long as someone is in it with her.

Playing at some pond thing outside a mall

In other news, our air conditioner broke. We noticed it at about 8am so I called our home warranty company. The repairman was unable to make it until the next day. Fans are much cheaper than a hotel room so we ran out to the store. Ashton and I spent the day swimming at a friend's pool, walking around the mall, and playing at the splashpad. While it gets hot during the day, it never really cools off at night so our house was about 80 degrees at night. Ashton slept just fine but Joseph and I tossed and turned a lot. The repairman came the next morning and fixed the part in about ten minutes. Fortunately, we didn't have to pay much because of our warranty! Hooray!

A fun train ride I made for Ashton. She was less than impressed.

9 Months Old

Weight: 20 pounds
Height: 29 inches

Clothing Size: 12 month

Special Outings: Splash pad at the park, a day in Houston, and feeding ducks with Mom and Dad

Firsts: First official time pulling up and standing, first cookie (an arrowroot Gerber one), first time with lots of more foods

Likes: Walks, the splash pad, pulling up on the rocking chair, listening to "Forever Young" by Bob Dylan (Mom has been watching Parenthood obviously), music in general, my rollie walker thing, Cheerios, feeding myself, finding dirt and grass on the floor and eating it, and playgroups

Dislikes: When Dad takes me to Young Men's, when Mom takes me to Primary (Sundays are not my favorite day of the week!), and eating solids on a spoon

Any big changes: Just a busy little girl. I am constantly moving and on the go. Even when I hit my head, I don't slow down enough to be reassured. Mom hugs me and then I'm off again.

Biggest Lessons Learned: During a recent family home evening activity, we were asked to write down talents, gifts, and abilities of each member of the family. We believe in inclusion so Ashton was included. It was a very interesting activity to look at Ashton and think of her gifts, talents, and abilities. We decided she is fearless, determined, persistent, confident in herself, energetic, forgiving, a good crawler, a good puller-upper, and enjoys making people laugh. While most babies have these abilities, it definitely made me look at Ashton's behaviors in a more positive light. Instead of thinking she always fusses when she wants something, I think of her as very persistent. It helps change my attitude towards her and the situation.

Monthly Pictures:

We used this carseat once when we took Joe's car. I couldn't believe  how big she is in it.

 

Splashpad time!

Puff in the hair. A usual circumstance.

At a park having a picnic

Modeling pose with her fat rolls

Monthly Video:

What the next month should bring: Weekend with family, going to the beach, fireworks, and more of a hot summer