I Could do Month Ten Again and Again‏

Margo has been so much fun this month! She is changing by leaps and bounds everyday and experiencing this with her has been incredible!

This month, Margo moved to two naps a day! She is still a ridiculously early riser (5:30 am), but I wouldn’t ever trade that for sleeping through the night! I love the two naps because we can do more in between since she goes about three hours and we have a larger window of awake time in the evening before bed. We have actually started to go to lunch and dinner more frequently and Margo loves to get out and see the world, run errands, etc…

The biggest blessing of the month is that Margo is reflux-free! I cannot tell you how relieved this makes us. No more meds, no more bibs and burp cloths 24-7, no more changing sheets every other day, etc… Most of all, it means relief and less discomfort for my sweet girl! She is eating like crazy as mentioned in my last post and loves her food. She loves to drink water (I am staying away from juice as long as possible) and can drink from a sippy cup on her own. She can also feed herself a bottle for a period of time, but still likes to be cuddled and fed by someone else. I will keep feeding her her bottle, or sippy cup when we switch, for as long as she lets me. Feeding time is my favorite because she is usually calm, quiet and affectionate.

The rest of the time, Margo is on the move non-stop. We are told by our moms that she has more energy than we ever did—oh’ no! It is clear we have our hands full, but she is sweet and pleasant, understands and usually obeys “no”, etc… She just loves exploring her world and having the freedom to be mobile! She loves to look out all the windows and if it wasn’t so darn hot, I am sure we would spend most of our time outside. She has been able to push her walker for most of the month and gets stronger and stronger every day. I have to hide it because I am afraid to let her play on it without my supervision and it is her favorite thing to do. She also loves the old school style walker you sit in and practically runs in it, banging into furniture and walls. It’s funny!



In month 10, she started waving and clapping. She doesn’t do it a lot and I am not sure she associates it with anything, but I am working with her. She is becoming more and more verbal everyday and saying so many new consonants. Most exciting is dada… I love to hear her say it and cannot wait for the day she finally says mama. She has begun to babble and talk jibberish all day long. It is hilarious and I just wish I could get into her head to find out what she is trying to say! She got her second tooth this month and I think the new object in her mouth drives her crazy. She is sticking out her tongue all the time!



Every day is a new adventure with my sweet girl. This has been my favorite month yet, discovering new things with her, sharing in hysterical laughter and bonding closer every day. Margo makes my world go round in ways I could have never imagined. The fun continues and I am eternally blessed by her beautiful little spirit!

I Conclude, Margo LOVES Food!

Since I started Margo on solids, I have been so grateful that it has been so easy and she has liked so much of the food I offer her. I have been making all of her baby food, 100% organic, and have truly enjoyed feeding her such a healthful diet. I was a very picky child, to say the least, and Margo is quite the opposite.

Some of the cool combinations she has really enjoyed are peas, edamame and apples, carrot and ginger, apples or pears with pomegranate, peach and apricot and so many more! I even made her French lentils.

In the past 2-3 weeks, I have been giving her more and more finger foods. She only has about two purees a day as an addition to her finger food meal. Now that she can feed herself (sort of—I help a lot), I think she is enjoying food even more, although sometimes the textures throw her off. Watermelon was not a hit, but we will try it again and fresh green beans were too tough, but the canned ones were gross and salty to her.

Here is what Margo ate today:

Breakfast: Teething biscuit, kiwi and cinnamon apples with oatmeal


Lunch: Puffs, chicken, a few French fries from mommy’s lunch, edamame and blueberries


Dinner: Whole wheat pasta, chicken, sweet potato fries, asparagus and peaches

Usually, she eats every last bite and LOVES it! Feeding time in our house is a fun time. We play music, act silly and laugh a lot! It is my time to sit in front of Margo and interact with her when she is not distracted by her toys and other things which I love… but hate the clean-up! On a side note, Margo does not like to drink her bottle. These days, we are doing great if she eats 18 ounces a day, which is the equivalent of three 6 oz. bottles. Hopefully she is getting the extra nutrients she needs in her food.

I find that feeding her only finger foods is a bit harder because I can’t exactly feed her off of my plate yet. Once we can introduce dairy and eggs, it will be easier. Margo still loves her purees, so the dilemma is… do I keep making the purees and feed them in addition to finger foods or move on and switch exclusively to finger foods. Moms, what did you do?

Lemony Herb Grilled Jumbo Shrimp

I pulled out a favorite this weekend and made it last night for Cary and I… oh’ so yummy and the perfect summer grilling recipe. Served along a side of grilled vegetable, we surely stayed within our daily allowable calories. This would be great for an appetizer too and you can make the marinade ahead. I don’t even measure or chop the herbs, garlic and ginger… just throw it all in the food processor, marinate and enjoy!

16 jumbo shrimp, peeled & deveined
¾“ piece fresh ginger, peeled & grated
1 T. chopped oregano
1 T. chopped sage
1 T. chopped cilantro
1 t. crushed red pepper
1 lemon, zest finely grated & cut in half
1 t. kosher salt
½ c. EVOO

In food processor, combine ginger & next 5 ingredients w/ lemon zest & salt until a paste forms. Stir in the olive oil & pour the mixture over the shrimp, tossing well to coat. Let stand at room temp for one hour. Grill the shrimp over med-high heat for 2 minutes on each side until white throughout. Transfer to a platter, squeeze lemon halves over the shrimp, drizzle w/ olive oil & season lightly w/ salt & pepper.

My Sunshine in Month Nine

Three weeks of Margo’s ninth month were consumed by the virus from hell! Poor Margo’s little intestinal system needed a lot of time and TLC to heal. Apparently, it is somewhat common for a baby’s first stomach virus to be severe because after the virus works out of the system, the intestines have to rebuild their lining. Until the lining is back to normal, symptoms continue. Needless to say, we endured three long weeks of terrible diarrhea, diaper rash and more. It is over now and we are grateful for a happy and healthy little girl.

So… month nine was pretty uneventful. Margo went backwards on her diet and sleep. She was only allowed apples, rice cereal and bananas. She drank special formula that smelled awful. She awoke several times in the night needing diaper changes and her schedule was a mess. Through it all though, you would have never really known. She didn’t act tired or sick or hungry for something different. As always, my little sunshine went along happily being the trooper she is!

In month nine, she did perfect her crawling and followed mama everywhere. She cannot stand to be out of my sight and has become very attached. I am hoping this phase turns into a more independent one soon! She is pulling up on EVERYTHING and desperately wants to walk. She also got her 1st tooth which was huge for us!! I started to worry it was never going to come. She barely fussed and the teething didn’t seem to bother her any more than normal.

She truly is my sunshine and the light of my life. Her 1st birthday party will appropriately be a “You are my Sunshine” theme. Her sweet and beautiful little demeanor seems to spread light to everyone around her. Many new fun and exciting developments in Margo’s world coming to you in month ten!!!

Margo did not need prunes in June, but Cary still makes me swoon!

This month I watched my sweet Margo suffer her first illness with the most horrible stomach virus I have ever witnessed. Poor baby managed to catch a nasty bug at her nine month check-up. Since she is not in daycare, she is not exposed to anything and I am guessing that whatever she was licking off of the mirror in the exam room infected her with a vengeance. I know, as a mother, I should not have let her lick that mirror, but we had been waiting for at least 45 minutes and I just could not contain her anymore. I have been trying to be a little less sanitary, so Margo is exposed to a few germs and hoped that the mirror was sanitized after each visit. Clearly, the physician’s office is not as clean as it should be.

Margo’s bottle, food and everything in between went straight through her at least 15 times a day. We are now on day seven and she is still ill, but improving everyday and went the whole night without a dirty diaper or waking. You would not have known she was sick though, watching her laugh, play and eat as usual, except when it was time to change her diaper. Margo never cries, much less screams, and to endure daily screaming episodes up to 15 times a day was torture on my heart. She would shake in pain it hurt her little bottom so badly. We eventually started washing her in the sink each time which helped and thanks to Michelle, we were given the miracle cream, Resinol. If you are a mom with a child in diapers, buy this now to keep on hand. It is hard to find, so you must order it online in advance, but it has been a true Godsend. It is better than Margo’s prescription, better than Triple Paste, better than Dr. Smith’s, better than anything I have tried.

Sick, but happily playing under a chair.

So… back to that nine month appointment. Here are Margo’s stats:

Weight: 20 lbs. 6 oz. (75.57%)

Height: 27 1/4" (37%)

Head: 17.13" (34.17%)

She is clearly short and chunky… all you have to do is look at her adorable rolls to figure that out! The appointment went well and although Margo is still refluxing a lot, we have quit her meds. The MD just doesn’t think it will make a difference at this point, so why unnecessarily medicate? I desperately hope that by the time she is a year old, it will be gone. We were also referred to a pediatric dermatologist to look at the beauty mark on Margo’s face. It is tiny and I do think it is truly beautiful, but I just want to make sure the MD thinks it is ok, given I have a history of melanoma in my family. Otherwise, Margo is right on track and I am going to be introducing meats and other finger foods after her body is a bit more recovered.

Poor Cary spent his first Father’s Day helping me tend to Margo since it was a two-man job. He has proven over and over what a great dad he is, but during this extremely stressful time with Margo he was truly amazing! He was so loving, comforting and patient to both Margo and I. He woke-up without complaint, tended to her with perfect care and was a great support system for me. I must say, when the going gets tough, Cary and I are a great team! Margo is so lucky to have such an attentive, wonderful father.

The best daddy ever!

I too, am so blessed and lucky to have such an awesome husband in Cary. Today, Cary and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary! I cannot believe it has been a decade and what fun it has been! It is amazing how solid and bonded a relationship becomes after 10 years. Cary and I have experienced so much joy, pain, adventure, loss, triumph and struggles throughout the past decade, but one thing has always remained steady… our incredible love for one another. I would be lost without Cary and he truly makes my world go round. Cary loves me unconditionally because goodness knows, I have lots of “conditions”—ha ha! If I could write a definition of Cary, it would include kind, genuine, loyal, honest, funny, sentimental, determined and so many other awesome traits. Who wouldn’t still be madly in love with a man like that after 10 years? Becoming a parent with him this past year has taken our relationship to new heights and there is just about nothing more special that watching him be a father to Margo. I cannot wait to share in many more decades with the man of my dreams!

The day Margo was born, a great memory for our 9th year together!

Month Eight was Great!

Words cannot even express the fun we have been having in month eight. Margo’s little personality is really blossoming and she is such a hoot! Everyone who meets her says she is the best baby they have ever been around… she takes after Cary… we are so lucky!



This month Margo has learned to go from her belly to sitting and does this over and over. It is funny to go in her room and see her sitting up and holding the rails in her crib or standing. She is basically crawling, but will only go a few movements before she sits back up. Her new eagerness to stand and pull up is taking the focus off of the crawling and she now seems to enjoy sitting and standing more. We do not have any play areas where she can actually pull up onto something, but she has just started pulling up in her crib and uses Cary and I to pull up all the time. We do this over and over and she cries when we stop. I have to walk away and leave her to play alone because my arms get so tired of holding her up. So… we got one of those great sit-to-stand walker toys and she seems to really like it. The fact that it is on wheels though, and she is not ready to use it as a walker, requires careful supervision. She can pull up on it alone and it’s pretty cute to see her excitement at herself. She opens her mouth big and wide in awe!

I had also been getting concerned because Margo could roll over from her belly to her back, but could not go the other way, yet was hitting all of the other usual developmental milestones. FINALLY, this month she can roll from her back to her belly and now I know if she is fussing in bed, I can leave her to go to sleep because I know she can’t be stranded on her back!

Margo is an early riser, which is really hard for me, but she sleeps great… 10-11 hours a night. When we put her in bed, she plays for a few minutes and goes right to sleep usually without any problems. We have never had to battle crying it out, thank goodness, because I don’t think my heart could handle it. She also still loves to nap to a point that I am getting concerned that she is napping too much for her age. She naps three times a day for a total of 3-4 hours. It is hard to get out during the day because she will not nap on the run and we only have a few hours out at a time before she gets fussy. By bedtime around 7:00 pm, she is utterly exhausted. We cannot go out to eat or take her anywhere in the evenings because this is her fussiest (which is not really all that fussy) time of day. With her bath at 6:30 and bedtime following, it doesn’t allow of much of a life for us, but I know I am doing what’s best for her and that is my #1 priority.

Margo still does not have a tooth and poor thing has been teething for months now. She scratches the insides of her ears from tugging on them and has intermittent fussy days that I know are due to her teething. I will be so glad when she gets a tooth just so I can know how easy (hopefully) or hard it will be. I love that toothless grin though and will miss it when teeth do arrive. I have just started to introduce finger foods in the form of puffs. Margo didn’t know what to think of them at first, but loves them now and in a few short days learned to pick them up and put them in her mouth. Her pincher grasp is getting better each day! She is a great eater and I can barely seem to make enough food to keep up. Every few days I am making a new batch of something and she almost always likes it pretty well. I love that I can make her a huge variety of healthy choices and get her interested in so many different flavors. This week it is edamame, which is nutrition packed! As we move on to meats, I will probably buy the jarred stuff. There is just something gross about pureeing meat to me!

Margo is also making lots of new sounds. She purposely says “moo” to imitate a cow and has started saying ba ba ba. She is also forming a lot of other new sounds that sometimes make it sound like she is having her very own conversation with herself… wish I knew what was going through her mind.



This month we have introduced Margo to water play and our sweet little water baby just loves it! Her splash pad is a blast and she was so excited by swimming I could not believe it. She wasn’t even afraid to put her face in the pool. We will have to be paying our friends with pools lots of visits this summer! Her other favorite toys are the jump-a-roo and she still loves most of her old stand-bys. The new toys never seem quite as exciting as the old ones, which surprises me. I guess she is a creature of habit like her mama.



Margo also spent her first weekend away from us this month and did fantastic! GiGi and Grandpa watched her at our house, so she would have the comforts of all of her things and she didn’t even really miss us at all. Cary’s mom watches her once a week, so Margo was already familiar with her and I had the comfort of knowing that Georgie already knew how to handle everything. I definitely think the weekend was harder on me than Margo, but it was also nice to have a break.

Margo & GiGi

Things with our sweet Margo could not be better and we are so lucky in love with our precious angel! I cannot believe she will be one-year old in just three short months. Let the party planning begin!!

In Month Seven, Margo's Great Grandpa went to Heaven

Margo’s seventh month has been a bit hectic for us. Cary lost his beloved grandfather to cancer and we were all so sad to see him leave this great earth. Someone (I think Jesus) came for him on the day he died as he repeatedly asked to be lifted up and was looking and reaching to the sky. It is comforting to me to know that God is so good to us in our final hours. Cary’s family is small, so I am grateful that Margo got the chance to meet her very special great grandfather, if only briefly. We will treasure the precious birdhouses and piggy bank he made her forever. I have no doubt that Grandpa Lorance is watching over her now.



At the same time that Cary’s grandfather was ill, we were running into some childcare complications. I will spare you the details, but it has been stressful, dramatic and frustrating. We were scrambling to find some alternative childcare and had an open slot at the daycare we originally picked for Margo. Unfortunately, as soon as I learned they were not allowed to put her to sleep on her tummy, that option was done. Margo cannot sleep on her back and is a very sensitive sleeper in general, but I do understand the daycare’s position. It all worked out and my amazing and generous sister gave up her day to let us use her wonderful (although expensive) nanny, Maria, on Mondays. Margo took to Maria wonderfully and things are going well. Cary’s mom and my mom are each still watching her one day a week and I just hope things will continue to work out in this way for a while because we need a mental break from stress and drama. The set-up is not ideal with Margo having three caregivers, but I am at least hoping it will help her to be more flexible.

Thank goodness for our dear, Margo. Seeing her face melts away the stress and our time with her in month seven has been such a joy! Margo is sitting up like a champ and has become much more interactive with her toys. It is so much fun to watch her turn, move and inspect things with her hands. She can push buttons and knows what she is doing, she loves to throw toys and wants it all in her mouth. She, of course, loves our cell phones and glasses and has the sweetest, funniest reaction to some of her favorite toys. She has begun to get up on her knees and rock and she is scooting backwards. I keep trying to show her how to crawl to her toys, but she hasn’t quite got it yet. You can tell she thinks it is pretty cool to be up on her knees though, which is so cute. I suspect she will be fully crawling in a few weeks—let the childproofing begin!

Margo still has not cut a tooth. This doesn’t bother me except for the fact that she has been actively teething and having discomfort for more than three months. I keep thinking a tooth is going to be coming in at anytime, but it never does. As you can see, Margo loves to eat!! She hasn’t fully rejected any food I have offered her except avocado and green beans are not a favorite. I have discovered that if I mix anything she doesn’t really favor with cereal, she will eat it, so I am still managing to get a her a nutritious and well rounded diet. I love making her food and take so much pride in knowing that it is fresh, organic and free of chemicals and preservatives… plus it saves a ton of money! The reflux is still the darn reflux and I am so sick of it I could just cry. I know we are getting closer to the end of the line with this battle and I cannot wait until I do not have to clean-up spit up everywhere. Our new carpet is practically ruined, my clothes are stained and I am so sick of changing the sheets almost daily. She is happy though and that is what matters most.

For Easter, Margo got a new swing outside and she loves it. She loves being outside and especially enjoys looking up at the trees. I think she could sit in her swing for hours and if she is ever cranky, it is the perfect activity to settle her. Margo is sleeping great overall and naps fairly well and sleeps around 11 hours a night. I keep trying to make her bedtime a little later so she might sleep a half hour later, but her little body knows and is already well programmed—bed time is 7 pm—even if she has a later nap. If I try to push it beyond that, she has major meltdowns and cannot finish her bottle from falling asleep. Pre-Margo I loved nothing more than sleeping in. It has most certainly been one of my hardest pleasures to give up, but so worth my sweet angel baby. On Mother’s Day Cary let me sleep in, which was wonderful. Even better was when I came out of the bedroom and she started jumping up and down when she saw me. I have never seen her quite so excited to see me and it was truly the best Mother’s Day gift I could have ever imagined!

Margo is definitely a little angel. She is so happy all the time, smiles, laughs and talks away all day. She dislikes being left to play alone, which is my fault, but other than that she could not be more perfect! To say that I love her is a true understatement. There really is no greater joy than being a mother. I love our little family and thank the good Lord for our many blessings each and every day.