8 months old...daily schedule

It occurred to me today after talking to my Mom's Club friends that even though we all have kids almost exactly the same age, they are all on very different schedules. So here's my attempt to put our schedule down on paper, since I'm sure when baby #2 comes, I'll be trying to remember exactly what Penny did at this age!

With the exception of the "finger foods" part, she has pretty much been on this same schedule since she was 6 months old.

8am - Penny wakes up and plays in her crib for about 15 minutes

9am - 6 oz bottle of formula

9:30 - 10:30 - plays with toys with Mommy

10:30 - goes down for a nap. She doesn't like being rocked anymore, so I just put her down awake in her crib, and she'll roll around and talk to her toys until she falls asleep

11:30 or 12:00 - wakes up from her nap

12:00 lunch - usually 2 ice cubes worth of homemade baby food (fruits or veggies), 2 tablespoons of baby cereal, Cheerios, and some finger foods (little veggies or cheese)

12:30 - 2:00 - playtime, walk in stroller, run errands, go to Mom's Club, or playgroups. A 6 oz bottle is in there somewhere.

2:30 - nap

4:00ish - wake up from nap, 6 oz bottle

4:30 - 6:30 - playtime, stroller walk, or run errands

6:30 - Daddy gets home and plays, and Pen eats dinner. Lately it's been more finger foods (chicken, veggies, cheese, etc) and less and less baby food. She likes to eat by herself!

7:00 - walk with Daddy in stroller, and usually a short 15 or so minute cat nap

8:00 - bath time with Mommy and Daddy

8:30 - 6 oz bottle and bedtime


We're pretty lucky with regards to our schedule - not only is she a great baby, but she's very flexible. Some days we're in the car a lot, and she'll sleep there if it's nap time. Or she'll eat dinner out if we're visiting friends, or running errands. No matter what we are doing, she'll adapt. I ask myself every day...how did we get so lucky???

On another note, every baby needs their "naked baby rolling around on the floor pictures", and I could never think of a place to put it. So here it is!! Notice her little cute birthmark on her back...

Bunky, uh, I mean, Penny's nicknames

As Jason and I were talking to Penny today, it occurred to me how many nicknames we have for her. In fact, we probably only say "Penny" when we're out in public! I'm pretty amazed that Penny seems to know her name.

So this post is dedicated to all the names we have for our little Princess. Oh look, there is our first nickname.."Princess".

Here we go...I'll attempt to remember where exactly these nicknames came from (because I know we'll look back someday and say, "why the heck were we calling her Pink??")


Pumpkin - this is where it all started. I think my mom used to call me Pumpkin, so that may be where it came from.

Punk - shortened version of "Pumpkin". Because, you know, "Pumpkin" is sometimes just too darn long.

Bunk - morphed name, hailing from root word "Punk"

Bunky - extended version of "Bunk". Mostly used when calling for her ("Buuuuuunkyyyyyyy, Mommy is cooooooommmming") because of course, "Bunk" would be too short.

Meesa - started from the phrase (in sing-song voice) "Miss...uh...Punky, Punky!". I guess the "Meesa" came from the "Miss...uh..." part. Don't ask.

Meese - shortened version of "Meesa"

Sweetheart - Stock nickname. Mostly Daddy uses this one

Princess - Stock nickname. Mostly Daddy uses this too

Blueberry eyes - We've called her this from the day she was born. Big blue eyes = blueberry eyes.

Pink - offshoot of "Punk".

Pinky - full version of "Pink"

Pinky-Pinky-Pink-Pink-Pink - this seems to be the most popular nickname these days. Used mostly when we are playing with her, and usually used in a very high pitched singsong voice.

This next one isn't really a nickname, but you'll often (and when I say often, I mean like 50 times a day) hear us say it...."Who's a big girl, in her big girl _____". Fill in the blank with whatever is applicable such as, "Who's a big girl, in her big girl pants!" or "Who's a big girl with her big girl toys!". Feel free to use the "big girl" song whenever you see her doing something "big girl" :)

Here is what Penny thinks of all her nicknames:

So now you know the story behind all her nicknames, just in case you hear us calling her "Meese" or "Pinky". And c'mon, what do you expect from someone who calles their 4 cats by 25 different nicknames!!! Don't get me started on THAT list...

Seaside vacation

I've been a little delinquent posting pictures from our beach vacation in June (yes, June...as in 2 months ago). So anyway, we had a FABULOUS time at our beach condo - it was a great way to kick off our summer.

The weather was perfect - beautiful sunny days at the beach, and nice warm nights on the boardwalk. For the first 3 days it was me, Penny, and Kelly (and the twins in her belly!), and we had a visit from Grammy, Nana, Aunt Peg and Uncle Dan. Then on Wednesday Jason and Uncle Smitty came up too. More visitors came on Friday...Nancy, Bryan and little Ethan and Nina, Chris, and little Frank.

Penny had a blast on the beach, pretending she was a big girl drinking from a big girl bottle...

...sitting in her big girl chair...

...and wearing her big girl sweatshirt!

Apparently the big girl got way too tired and fell asleep in her stroller after a day at the beach and a night at the boardwalk...

So anyway, here is the gang - we had quite a set up (taking up half the beach)

And here is Penny having a laugh-fest with Daddy

More shots of the gang...

And our little angel sleeping on the beach...

Next year should be interesting...Penny will be walking around the beach, and Daddy will be running around after her! (Notice I said "Daddy" not "Mommy"...)

Wormeck Landscaping Services

2 things Jason is most proud of: his lawn and his daughter. And when the two combine, here is what you get:





At first Penny was scared of the loud noise the mower made, but she soon got over it when she saw her favorite thing - her Daddy - sitting on top. Then the smiles came out, and all was good!

Now Jason just needs to train Penny on how to work the mower (which I'm sure he's already started thinking of). Although even when she's 16 and mowing the lawn, I'm 99% sure Jason will STILL have to go out and fine tune things, because we all know that no one can do the lawn as perfectly as Jason does.

Comedy Club, Wormeck Style...

"Well, how ELSE do you expect me to drink my sippy cup???"

"I just need a minute to re-center my Chi...OOOOOHHHHHMMMMMM"

"What, you're telling me this ISN'T my blanket??"

8 months old!

I know I say this every month, but, where does the time go????? I can't believe Penny is 8 months old...I can' t believe summer is almost over...I can't believe we're FINALLY leaving for Disney in a few days...I could go on and on.

Anyway, back to Penny. Here are some of her milestones and other "stuff"

1) still on 2 meals a day, and 4 bottles (6 oz each). Grammy found the greatest nipples that are "fast flow", and now feeding Penny a bottle doesn't take 30 minutes anymore.
2) we dropped Penny's crib mattress to the lowest setting. She's not yet pulling herself up, but she's rolling ALL over the place. She even sometimes sleeps on her belly.
3) We've started to install our baby gates around the house! Pen still isn't crawling or scooting or anything, but she'll roll all over the place.
4) Penny is now in her big girl bath tub! We bought an inflatable insert for our big tub, and last night was her first bath. Hmmm..I"ll have to post pictures of that too.
5) Favorite foods are still green veggies, cheerios, and some fruits (but still prefers veggies).
6) Meal time is fun now, because Penny would prefer feeding herself little pieces of finger food. We've started on chicken, cut up veggies, cottage cheese, small pieces of hard cheese, and Gerber biscuits.
7) She can "re-binkie" herself!!! For all of you who have kids, you know that this is a big deal. When Pen is falling asleep in her crib and her binkie falls out, she puts it right back in herself. Whew!
8) Penny's swing has officially left the building. I think this one deserves its own post too. More on that later.
9) And finally, our little girl can pull herself to a stand. She will not do it holding on to furniture, though, she only does it when holding on to our hands.

So here are some pictures from her 8 month photo shoot. My little girl is growing up *snif, snif*

New Camera = Model Baby

Everyone knows how cute Penny is, but does everyone know that she's a fantastic model too??? I mean, really, who else could take shots like these?

Hmmm...after looking at these pictures, it really makes me wonder why EVERY time I point the camera at her, she puts her hands or toys in her mouth!

I had to throw this picture in...I know it's blurry, but I love the fact that the entire picture is black and white except for her blue eyes...

Enjoy Penny's first official model photo shoot. And if you're a modeling agent, have your people call our people :)

New camera

FINALLY after lots and lots (and lots and lots) of researching and waiting, I got my new camera!! Thanks, Smitty, for your help picking out the best camera ever.

I'm still trying to figure it all out, but here are some cool shots I got so far. And even though I was shooting to get the cool effects, Penny happens to be pretty darn cute in the pictures too:

Who's a big girl with her big girl teeth?

After trying for about a month now, I FINALLY got Penny to keep her mouth open for long enough for me to snap a picture! I was probably holding a Cheerio or something in front of her to make her open up.

And even though it looks like Penny is about to cry in this picture, she actually is not. For anyone who has been around Penny recently, you probably heard her do her high pitched "AHHHHhhhh" squeak noise. Well, this is a picture of her revving up right before we hear the "AHHHhhhh!!!". Very cute.

Yes, the noise is cute now, but is it going to be so cute when we're on the plane to Florida surrounded by a bunch of people?? I think ANYTHING my daughter does is adorable, but a plane full of strangers might disagree. To be continued...