Our little Scarlett Jean entered our lives at 6:25pm on May 16, 2019, weighing in at 8 lbs. 2 oz. and 21″ long, and you changed our lives for the better forever! Your dad and I had a really hard time choosing a name for you before you were born (a really REALLY hard time), so while I was pregnant with you we called you our little muffin. We both love food so much, we felt little muffin was a perfect fit for you, our little girl. I was 5 days overdue with you and so the doctor said it was alright if I set up a date/time to induce labor at Hartford Hospital. We set the induction for Wednesday May 15 at 2:00pm. I was told to call in to the hospital at 2 to ask if there was space for me on the labor and delivery floor and if there was we would go have our little baby. If there wasn’t, I was told to call back in an hour. I called in and they said there were no beds for me and to call back in an hour and a half. I felt so emotional about being turned away, not having anticipated that at all, my emotions quickly got the best of me and turned to frustration, so without hesitation in an angry tone I said, I will call back in an hour.
I spent the next hour curling my hair, then sitting watching a Disney movie with your dad, my mom (your Grandma Gina) and my little sister Maddie, trying to keep my mind busy. But who was I kidding!? I couldn’t take my mind off of the thought of calling back and being turned away again. It’s a pretty intimidating thing to gear up for labor and delivery of your first child, because you have nothing to relate it to and as a girl, you have heard birthing stories your whole life, however pleasant or unpleasant the experiences of the women sharing their stories have been, and this whole calling into the hospital waiting to hear if you are having a baby today or not was not doing well for my emotional or psychological well-being. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown before I called back.
When I called the hospital back for the second time, an hour later (no way I was waiting 2 hours to call back – OH NO!) the same nurse answered the phone. This time she said there was a bed available and to come on in. In that moment I froze and didn’t know if I should be jumping for joy or crying out in fear of what was to come, but for the most part I was in disbelief that I was going to the hospital to have a baby, because I wasn’t in any pain, yes uncomfortable, but not in pain, my water hadn’t broke, and yet I was going to the hospital. It all felt really surreal.
Maddie stayed home, because no one under the age of 18 was allowed in the hospital room with us, and if I was her, no way I would want to be in the room during a baby delivery at her age! No thanks. Grandma, your dad, and I drove downtown and parked at dad’t work and then walked about a mile to Hartford Hospital, where we checked in and got all set up in a room to begin the process. I was dilated to a 0 at this time… yes a 0, which means I was not in labor one single bit, and yet here I was at the hospital hah! Long story short, I was hooked up to an IV, and they began the induction at about 3:30pm on Wednesday May 15. I walked a ton that evening/night in the very tiny wing of the hospital that was labor and delivery. I saw other ladies in the hallway, some of whom were not moving very fast and looked more than uncomfortable. I slept really poorly on and off all night, because I was hooked up to two heart monitors, one to monitor our Scarlett baby’s heart rate and one to monitor my heart rate. I asked the nurse to re-adjust the monitors once or twice during the night because they were so uncomfortable and felt tight. The nurse told me she had never seen such a perfectly round pregnant belly before, and the roundness was making it hard to keep the monitors on my belly.
The next morning the resident doctor came and checked me and I had dilated to 1 centimeter. I was less than thrilled to hear that I had made so little progress in the last 12 hours, but she said going from 0 to 1 centimeter is the most difficult and often women don’t dilate at all in that first 12 hours, so things were looking up! I begged to get something to eat because I wasn’t allowed to eat anything other than clear liquids from the time the started the induction, so I was starving. The nurse let me have an hour to get something to eat before they started the pitocin + balloon catheter combo (yes sounds about as glamorous as it feels). I was so ecstatic to get to eat that I sent Rod down to get me a sausage, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich, a fruit+granola yogurt cup, and a chocolate milk – go big or go home and my appetite was ravenous for everything I could think of. I felt so much better after I ate, rejuvenated in body and mind, with energy and optimism to have our baby girl.
Three hours later my water broke on its own and we found out I was at 5 centimeters – yeah! My body was progressing on its own and that made me so happy and feel so much better about the pace things were going. Around noon I started really hurting and about an hour later got an epidural. The nurse and resident doctor kept telling me that things were progressing steadily. Around 5:30pm the nurse said we were ready to have this baby, she could see her head! Then they came back and asked me to wait another 10 minutes for the doctor to arrive before beginning to push. My body was really experiencing the pain of everything that was going on, but gratefully I wasn’t feeling much of it due to the epidural. Because of all of the build up, and baby being ready to come out, but the doctor not being there, I started to shake really bad throughout my body. My teeth were chattering, my head was bobbing, and I couldn’t control any of it. My entire body was exhausted, and don’t ask me how, but someone I was able to fall asleep for a few minutes and was in and out of sleep until the doctor arrived. Finally the doctor arrived 30 minutes or so longer than the original 10.
I pushed for about 45 min to an hour and our very long baby was born. Dad and Grandma standing by me. They placed you on my chest and with your dad by my side, we looked at you for several moments completely speechless. You had so much hair and the most beautiful round face with double dimples. You were truly the most beautiful little thing your dad and I had ever seen. I looked at your dad and said, does she look like a Scarlett to you? He didn’t say anything which if you know your dad is rare, but just looked at you and then looked back at me and nodded yes. That is the moment we decided together to name you Scarlett Jean Spangenberg.
You didn’t cry much at all when you came out, and the doctors and nurses were very calm when they said you had gunk in your lungs, which really meant that you were not breathing very well yet. They took you over to the little baby hospital bed in the corner of the room and you dad followed after you, as I watched you in disbelief. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. After a half hour or so, we were informed that your oxygen levels were too low and that you would be taken to the NICU. I was so scared and didn’t want them to take you. They wheeled me downstairs to my room on the maternity recovery floor, and because my legs were not working yet, Dad left me there and went to be with you in the NICU. He gave you your first bottle and you binki and you took right to them! You have always been a great little eater! You had to stay in the NICU for the night, but your oxygen levels were improving throughout the night, you weren’t hooked up to any breathing machines or anything. You were the biggest baby in the NICU. You were only there to have an extra set of eyes on you, which brought me a lot of reassurance, because I was so worried about you and hated not having you with me that first lonely night. I was so grateful dad could be with you.
The next day you were released from the NICU and after a short exam in the nursery, the nurse released you to us. I will remember this moment forever, because as your dad and I walked down the hallway, pushing you in your cradle on wheels, dad looked at me and said, “they just let us take her and just like that she’s ours? What are we suppose to do with her?” I said yep and just like that she’s ours and we have no idea what we are doing. Here goes nothing! We had a good laugh! This was a parenting moment neither of us will ever forget.
The first thing dad did with you when we got to our little hospital room was spinners! Dad loves doing spinners with our other nieces and nephews and he was so excited to do spinners with you, our own little precious girl. As he spun you around slowly in your little cradle, I watched his face and it was one of the sweetest moments for me as a wife and a mother. His joy was beyond full and he was so thrilled to have you here with us.
That afternoon Grandma, Aunt Maddie (14), and Aunt Allie and Uncle Anthony came back to the hospital, this time with their four beautiful little girls to meet you for the first time. It was so sweet watching each of the girls hold you and dote over you, especially Azzy. Azzy was so in love with you and she did not want to share you with anyone else. It was so cute and special watching her hold you and give you kisses. It meant so much to your mama that your Grandma, Aunts and uncle, and cousins loved you so much from the very moment they met you.
The next day you and mom were discharged from the hospital and we took you out into the real world for the first time. Dad was more cautious than normal driving home with you from the hospital. We were both still in a bit of shock that this bright-eyed little bundle was ours and she was coming home with us. We entered the hospital as a couple, a family of two and left as a family of 3. It was all so surreal.
You made us parents and it was one of the most special and terrifying moments of our lives. I hoped and prayed and continue to hope and pray everyday that we will be able to teach you all that you need to know to be happy in life, desire to seek your heavenly home, and that you will feel of our and your Heavenly parents deep love and concern for you everyday. We love you more than words can express and we always will.
Now for some stories and milestones from your first year of life! 🙂
10 DAYS OLD
Grandma and Grandpa Marchant had a flight to catch in Philadelphia just 10 days after you were born, so being the adventurous parents that we are, we volunteered to drive them our to Philly! Your mama was in the beginning phases of nursing, still figuring a lot out, but figured I would learn as we went and off we went! Your Aunt Allie and Uncle Anthony, and cousins Jade (6), Bryn (4), Azzy (2), and Rosie (8 months) lived in Philadelphia at the time and so we went to stay with them for two nights, celebrate Anthony’s graduation from physical therapy school, and to enjoy the city. We took a little detour on our way there and stopped off in New York City, because we wanted you to get your first taste of NY and Grandma and Grandpa hadn’t seen much of NYC the one other time they visited. We had tasty pizza (famous NY slice from Joe’s) and dipped ice cream bars PopBar. Your dad and I are foodies, we LOVE food!
After dropping Grandma and Grandpa off at the airport Saturday afternoon, mom was sobbing, we went to a local park to meet up with Aunt Allie’s family. Parking was absolutely terrible and the park was extremely crowded and noisy. Dad dropped you and I off at the entrance while he drove around trying to find a place to park not too far away. You were hungry and crying loudly as I walked around the park trying to find Allie’s family. After walking around for a bit without spotting of Allie, you had become hysterical and everyone was looking at me as I walked looking frantic I am sure. I sat down on a short concrete wall to try to nurse you, but it was so windy that the blanket I was trying to use to cover myself as you ate was blowing around all over the place. Feeling defeated with you screaming and being unable to get a modest covering over me while trying to feed you, I began crying there by myself. A few moments later Allie called me and guided me to where they were playing on a playground near the water. I felt somewhat relieved as I found them, but was still feeling incredibly emotional as Allie gave me her nursing cover to cover myself with and her cute niece Teigan sat behind my back to keep the cover from flying up in the wind. You finally stopped screaming when you got food in your mouth and I calmed down some as I felt you calming down. Phew… in the car later I said to Rob, what were we thinking bringing a 10 day old baby to a crowded, weed filled, noisy park in downtown Philadelphia?? What kind of parents are we?? That was our first not so great parenting moment and I am sure there will be many more to come!
We left the park after you finished eating and sought out the most incredible old school ice cream shop in all of Philadelphia where we ate the richest, most delicious hot fudge sundaes out of Chinese take-away boxes on the street. Ice cream makes everything better for your mama! Allie and Anthony had lived in Philly for over 3 years and they had never been to or even heard of this ice cream parlor and they were blown away by how good it was. We all need to go back there when you’re bigger and can appreciate every bite of your $9 one scoop hot fudge sundae! Yum!!
1 MONTH
22″ long
9.1 lbs.
You are so adorable and you sleep a lot, just not at night. :} Mom is managing, but starting to get worn out. She naps when you nap as often as she can.
Grammy and Papa Spangenberg, Aunt Lins and cousin Teigan, Aunt J and cousin Jack came to Connecticut to meet you. It was so sweet and special to see how much they cared about you from the moment they saw you. We traveled all over the place together the week they were in town; to Boston for banana pudding and lobster; New York City to see Central Park, the World Trade Towers and Memorial, the Statue of Liberty, and anything else we could squeeze into one day; It was a very packed week!
2 MONTHS
24″ long
11 lbs. 7 oz.
She looked like a whole new person than the little baby girl we brought home from the hospital. I did not anticipate such a long baby, even her fingers and toes were very long. She definitely gets her length from her dad and the Spangenberg side, not from me! People often comment that she has piano playing fingers. The doctor gave her an A+ at this visit. She gained over 2 pounds and grew 2″ in just a month! She also received her first round of vaccinations. I think I was more emotional than she was during the shots. She is such a champ and teaches me so much everyday. This little woman and her healthy growing-self makes this mama heart so happy.
Cross Country Road Trip
In July we traveled across the country from Connecticut to Utah in the Spangenberg bus, you were only 2 months old and already traveling across the country! We stopped in Ohio and went to the biggest roller coaster park with some of the largest and fastest roller coasters in the United States. Your dad and my favorite was Top Thrill Dragster – it was the last ride we rode right before the park closed and we left for the night. It was awesome!!! I don’t know if you noticed the coasters much, but you were certainly alert and aware of all of the noise coming from all of the rides in the park. I don’t think you were a big fan of all of the ruckus, but you didn’t cry about it much, other than once when you and I were both spent from the heat, hunger, and exhaustion from not sleeping well for the past two months. We survived this road trip and I was grateful you didn’t have to be in a car seat while we traveled or this trip from the East to the West would have felt a whole lot longer and we would have had to stop and pull over every time you needed to be nursed.
Utah & Oregon Visits
We arrived in Utah in late July and you met Grandma Great for the first time. She loved you instantly. It was so cute to see you two together! After a wonderful, but short, visit with family and friends in Utah, we headed off to Oregon for Mom’s Marchant family rendezvous on the Alsea River. We stayed in a cabin along the Alsea River and enjoyed so much family time, food, and sunshine!
Scarlett’s Baby Blessing: August 4, 2019
When you were still very small you received a very special baby blessing by your father with the power of the Melchezidek Priesthood. He gave you a very simple but powerful blessing that mom has written down for you in her journal. This was such a sacred experience for your mom and dad for our first baby girl to receive a name and a blessing with the power of God.
3 MONTHS:
You laughed for the first time and it was the cutest thing I’ve ever heard! You started smiling a TON, would wake up smiling, or crying hysterically (not very often), and we see more of your big personality coming out each day. You are so cute!
Isaiah and Raven Wedding: Meridian, ID
You and mom flew to Idaho near the end of August so that mom could be in the Meridah, Idaho temple for Uncle Isaiah and Aunt Raven’t special wedding ceremony where they were sealed as a couple. You were too young to go into the temple with mom, so sweet Aunt Maddie watched you in a nearby church so that I could be in attendance at this sacred ceremony as this incredible couple made covenants with each other and with Heavenly Father for time and all eternity. It was a blistering hot, but absolutely beautiful day for the whole family. At the wedding reception that evening in Nampa, I learned something new about your uncle Isaiah, his favorite kind of ice cream is cotton candy, a combination of neon pink and cookie monster blue – mom had no idea! That day mom also learned how to get creative with your car seat cover and used it as a skirt so I could nurse you in my one-piece dress! Mom’s are pretty amazing and I learned from the best, your grandma.
That evening you also got to meet mom and dad’s very close friends who we met in South Africa, Lucy and Travis. This was a special moment.
4 MONTHS
26″ long – she grew 5″ in the first four months of her life!
lbs.
She is sassy but oh so sweet, smart, and lovable. New developments this month, rolly legs and knees – good girl, putting on that weight. She makes the sweetest little noises, and I could just eat her round-dimpled cheeks!
I was running on less sleep these first four months of Scarlett’s life than I ever have, my emotions were usually running close to the surface leading to lots of loopy laughs or lots of tears, and it is truly the biggest adjustment I have ever felt. With some days feel overwhelming, but I have also had many precious moments with Rob and little Scar baby that I have felt joy beyond comparison. We love our little girl and her WILD, highly-opinionated self SO much! We get so excited with every new thing she does. Who knew rubber duckies, squeaky toys, bedtime songs, and bows could be so exhilarating! She makes baby life look good!
After we started sleep training, the night after your 4 month doctor appointment, things began to look up for me, your mama, because you miraculously started sleeping through the night after a few days of training. It was truly amazing!!
5 MONTHS
She found her feet, and oh goodness it is cute!
Dad ordered a few bows for us, totally sweet of him, but they were falsely described as “newborn baby bows” on the website, and they are large enough to fit a small pony – hah! She of course can pull off and look adorable in anything, so she is rocking these enormous yellow, purple, and magenta bows from dad.
Scar’s First Halloween
Scarlett celebrated her first Halloween as a five month old. I searched and searched for weeks to find a costume I was in love with for her, and when I finally found a furry, full body, hooded, LION costume with a full mane, I knew I had found exactly what I was looking for! It was a little more than we wanted to pay for a costume, but since she’s our first little baby and it was her first Halloween, we splurged and decided it was ok this once.
Our little city does something called the Halloween Stroll every year on the last Saturday of the month. Most of the businesses located along Farmington Avenue in Blue Back Square open their doors for trick or treaters to come get candy for a few hours that morning. This year was our first time participating, because last year we didn’t know about it and we didn’t have a cute baby to dress up and take trick or treating. I put Scar in her costume and then painted little black whiskers on her cheeks and painted her nose pink. Putting face paint on a 5 month old, that was really tough. She was moving all over the place. I think I painted, removed and re-painted the whiskers 3 times before they resembled something like whiskers. Luckily the finishing touch on her nose was just a blob of pink paint, because that I could do while she was moving her head like crazy. It was all worth it, and such a special moment to be dressing our first little baby up for her first Halloween. She was THE CUTEST little lion I have ever seen; oh my word, so stinking cute! Rob and I dressed up as lions too, going for Simba (Scarlett) and his parents Mufasa and Nala. Not sure people could tell what we were, but we had so much fun trick or treating at the Halloween Stroll and at our ward truck or treat afterwards! Halloween is so much more fun with a kid!
6 MONTHS
26″ long
14.8 lbs.
Mystic Aquarium
Scarlett met Santa Claus for the second time at the aquarium and she wasn’t the least bit scared of him. She looked at him and his beard and sat contently on his lap. We got to see and interact with a beluga whale, my and Rob’s first time, and it was incredible! Because we were at the aquarium in the evening, the white skin color of the beluga glowed in the water. It was awesome. Scarlett has seen so many amazing things in her first year of life and she doesn’t even know it!
Scarlett’s First Thanksgiving
New York City, NY
We spent Scar’s first Thanksgiving in New York City with Grammy and Papa, dad’s sister Sarah, and brother Ryan. We got to watch the Macy’s Day Parade for the first time ever and it was spectacular!! It was a little chilly, but not nearly as frigid as it normally is in NYC in November, we were so blessed! Poor Scarlett’s little pink snow suit I had gotten for her was not as warm as I thought it was and we didn’t realize that until we could see that it wasn’t keeping her warm enough while we were watching the parade. That broke my heart. Her little cheeks were so red, but she didn’t even cry much until near the end of the parade.
We enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant right by the river and found a tasty cheesecake dessert in China Town! You were getting fussy and cold in the evening and I was ready to head back to the hotel with you, but Papa snuggled you close in his coat and you calmed down and stayed nice and warm with him. We all had such a wonderful time together celebrating this beautiful holiday of gratitude. We are so grateful for family.
7 MONTHS
15.4 lbs.
Scar and I flew to Utah on December 16, the day she turned SEVEN MONTHS old! When we arrived in Utah she was not able to sit up without support, whether it was pillows around her, or me sitting her in front of me with her back to me using me for support, but just before Christmas she started sitting up all by herself! Sitting up on her own felt like such a big milestone, turning her from a little baby into a more independent little person! Now she is a sitting champ! She loves to be UP – whether that’s sitting up on the floor, sitting in her bumbo, sitting in her high chair, sitting on my or dad’s lap, she wants to be UP! When she was about 2 months old I switched her from facing in to facing out in the front pack, because she was just not having it facing in. When holding her, she has preferred to face out from about 2 months old too, and she has never been shy about making that known through her squirming or crying protests whenever someone held her in a way she was not appreciative of. She has always and continues to love to see the world around her.
Scar’s First Christmas!
We spent Scarlett’s first Christmas in Centerville, UT with Rob’s family. Grammy’s house was so festive, with beautiful Christmas decorations everywhere – I love that! Grammy and Papa gave all of the grandchildren pajamas to wear for Christmas Eve and Scar and her cousin Teigan’s jammies were matching! On Christmas day I put her in footy pajamas that said “My First Christmas” on them. She looked adorable. She loved looking at the colorful twinkling lights on the Christmas tree. We gave her with wrapping paper partially pulled up so she could grab and tear it off, but she didn’t show much interest in unwrapping anything. She loved playing with the boxes and scraps of wrapping paper after they were off of the gifts. And last but not least, she got her 2 front teeth for Christmas!
When I was a little girl my mom made me a Christmas stocking, a beautiful stocking I still have and cherish today. I wanted to do the same for our Scarlett and make her her own special stocking patterned after mine, so I set out to do just that. The biggest change I made was to make the head of the stocking a lion for Scarlett’s, and I plan on making each of our kids their own stocking with a different animal head for each of them.
I do not own a sewing machine and I have done very little sewing in my life, but I was determined to make this stocking myself. I asked a sweet friend in our ward (Hartford 1st Ward) for her help, Emma Fischera, who has an entire room in her house dedicated to sewing and has three sewing machines – that is someone who is a serious sewer! She was so kind and was willing to help and she was so patient with me. She taught me how to sew, pin, shape, and let me do everything myself without taking over, which I am sure was incredibly painful for her at times given my lack of skills in this department.
Scarlett didn’t like anyone she doesn’t know well to hold her, so there were a lot of times that Emma and Anne would hold her to try to let me work, but Scar would sit and cry her little heart out. So several times, I would sit with Scar on my lap as I worked, my little sewing buddy. I love that she loves her mama so much. I spent about 12 hours making the stocking and I learned so much and felt so accomplished and grateful to have had such a patient and awesome teacher. I couldn’t have done it without her. I now affectionately call Emma Scarlett’s Connecticut grandma. 🙂 I really enjoyed sewing, way more than I could have anticipated, and I would love to do more of it. I am so happy with how Scar’s stocking turned out. I think it will mean a lot to her one day.
Scarlett also got to spend time with Grandma Great, Great Aunt Sherry, Aunt Kath and Uncle Kel; Aunt Kathy and Uncle Rick and some of their kids Ellie, Libbey and husband Jase and 2 their 2 girls (Ricky and Ruthie), Joey and his wife Erica and their 2 kids; Dad’s cousin’s Jod and Bernd (everyone calls him B) and their 2 kids Owen and Nelly; cousin’s Jake and Kenna, and Josh and Sabrina and their 4 kids Harrison, Cole, James, and Porter, while we were in Utah. Cousin Jod even made her beautiful and delicious sugar cookies! Grandma Great (Joyce Barton) lives with Grammy and Papa in Centerville and Great Aunt Sherry lives not too far away in Bountiful. Everyone else, except for Rick and Kathy’s families live in the Salt Lake Valley. Rick and Kathy live down in St. George.
Hogle Zoo
Salt Lake City, UT
The day after Christmas we took you to Hogle Zoo, your first time at the zoo! It was a little chilly, but neat to see some of the animals out and active, especially the lions. They were making all kinds of loud cat calls! After being out in Kruger National Park when we were in South Africa, before Scar was born, we have talked a lot about not taking our kids to the zoo, because we’ve seen how special and different it is to see wild animals out in their true home, the wild. We wanted to be with family and it was a free day at the zoo so we went as a family, but the zoo isn’t something we will probably seek out to take the kids to in the future. We had fun being with everyone at the zoo though. Scarlett just enjoyed looking at everything, people, colors, mountains, and animals alike. She’s always curious, which I love about her.
8 MONTHS
Our little baby has grown and changed so much over the last 2 months (6-8 months), I truly can hardly believe it!
At this point, 8 1/2 months old, whenever I am cooking or getting ready in the bathroom, and she is sitting by herself in the living room, she begins to cry. The moment I put her up in the high chair next to the bathroom where she can see me, or sit her in the bumbo on the counter while I am cooking, and she is at my level, she is totally happy almost 100% of the time; unless she is very tired. 🙂
She is such a happy and sweet natured little girl. I so enjoy the little adventures we have together every day. I look forward to seeing her tender, double-dimple faced grin every morning when we get her out of bed. She wakes up happy almost every day and rarely cries in the morning. Usually she will make noise or be talking to herself after she wakes up and that’s how we know she is awake. She still sleeps on her belly with her little knees tucked up into her tummy every night, and naps too (naps, what are those?! – hah!). It is the cutest thing! I screen shot pictures of her sleeping on the monitor all the time, because the way she sleeps, the way she breathes, its just the cutest thing in the world.
February 17th I took Scar baby to the doctor because she has had a cough, runny nose, very low fever, and wasn’t feeling so great, and even though I thought most of her symptoms might be related to the two more bottom teeth that were coming in, I wanted to make sure she didn’t have another ear infection. Doctor said she had fluid in her ears but no ear infection – grateful for that, but sad to know that she might be toughing out the virus/cold for another week or so before she feels better. As per routine, the nurse weighed our Scarlett girl and she is 18 lbs. 4 oz. (with her clothes on)! Growing like a champ!
9 MONTHS
28.75″ long
17 lbs. 15 oz.
Scarlett’s First Valentine’s Day ❤️
Romantic Valentine’s Day as a family of three out at Mohegan Sun Casino. It was only an hour drive from our house and we thought it would be fun to check out the restaurants and enormous casino we had seen thousands of commercials about. Best parts of the evening were being together and poke for dinner with gelato for dessert! Your dad loved the giant “cookie grump” mug I got for him just for our special dark chocolate chunk cookies!
10 MONTHS
Scarlett officially started crawling! Yay baby!
Scarlett experienced her first ever quarantine due to the corona virus; a first for the whole family!
As the weeks have gone by, Scarlett has become more and more interested in discovering everything in the house. We’ve had to move everything potentially hazardous or breakable off of open bottom shelves, and now second shelves, as Scar has started pulling herself up and standing anywhere she can! She pulls with her arms and hops like on her knees to get around. She is all over the place and she has become such a quick little bunny-hopper!
Scarlett’s First Easter:
We celebrated SCARLETT’S FIRST EASTER with a special day trip to Cape Cod on Saturday, a first for all of us! We visited Plymouth Rock, where the pilgrims first landed in 1620, the National Monument to the ForeFather’s, and stopped to eat sandwiches in Sandwich, Massachusetts! We spent some time on the beach in Cape Cod and Scarlett loved the soft, silky sand. I love the beach, especially the sound of the waves crashing on the sand. The sun was out, the birds were chirping, and we would have spent more time on the gorgeous beaches, but there was a bitter cold wind chilling our bones from the moment we stepped out of the car. While there, we saw our first wild fox! He was a little guy, and pretty cute, but definitely not someone we would mess with. Scar was fantastic in the car, on our long 7 hour round trip drive and she enjoyed her first McDonald’s chicken nuggets with sweet and sour sauce!
Easter morning was such a treat for Rob and I as first time parents. Rob kept Scar in her bedroom while I set out the dyed Easter eggs and her Easter basket. When we opened the door, Scar’s eyes grew big as she spotted her first egg and went after it. She picked up the egg and put it right in her mouth, then dropped it on the floor and went for the next egg. She did that with every egg, and the last two she smashed together like the little egg moroccos, only they made a funny crunching/cracking sound with each hit. She was more than happy with her eggs and didn’t need a basket, but once the eggs were out of sight, she hopped her little bunny-self over to her basket. The most special part for me was sitting with her and looking at/talking about the picture in her basket of the Savior holding a little blue-eyed girl in his arms as they looked at a butterfly together. I thought this picture was perfect for Scarlett, our little blue-eyed girl. She wanted to hold the picture and surprisingly she didn’t try to crumple or throw it, but instead pointed and poked the faces of the Savior and the little girl. This sweet teaching moment was so special to me. In the evening Rob and I saw with her and watched a short film about the Savior’s life and spoke to her about the meaning of Easter, and how much Jesus loves her. I am so excited for more moments like these that we will be able to share with our little girl. She means so much to us.
11 MONTHS
Scar loves to join me and cheer me on on while I am working out. She will often stop what she is doing if she finds some exercise I am doing to be funny or amusing, and she will sit up and look at me with a big toothy grin and start clapping for me – it’s adorable and her little smile really gives me a boost! Today while I was lying on the ground doing some ab exercises, she crawled up on top of my arm/shoulder and used my face as a drum, pat pat pat pat. I continued to crunch up and down, kissing her little cheeks every time I curled up; we both thought it was pretty great fun, grinning from ear to ear. I definitely get a better workout with in her company than I do on my own. Half of the time she becomes my weight for squats, wood choppers, and her favorite, thrusters! Her little 18 lbs. is the most motivating weight lifting I have ever done. 🙂 When I am done with a workout with my Scarlett, my face hurts more than anything else, because of all of the smiling. She’s such a dolly and quite the personal trainer! Sure love her to pieces.
12 MONTHS
30.5″ long (89th percentile for height – woot woot!)
17 lbs. 15 oz.
Scarlett grew 9.5″ in the first year of her life! She did so much growing! She is so long and lean. She is in the 32nd percentile for weight. She crawls around and likes to investigate everything! She wants to know what is inside every garbage, behind every door, stacked on every shelf.
She is so close to walking! She can stand up on her own, walk along the edge of any furniture that is close to her size, crawls up and down in our big Joe bean bag chairs, can climb up stairs, but usually wants to go face forward down them. She has the cutest wave, opening and closing all of her fingers into her palm. She copies us with clapping, clicking her tongue, shaking her head from side to side, and most recently she has started dancing by moving her shoulders forward and back along with her head shake when she hears music she likes! She is her mama’s girl, a little dancer! She says ma ma and da da, but da da way more often then ma ma. She says ma ma ma ma ma ma over and over in a sad tone when she is sad, wants to be held, is hurt, or needs anything. She said her first official word hi and now she says it all the time when she sees someone she wants to talk to, when she is in her car seat and we are driving around, she says it back to you when you say hi to her, and often when she is really happy she will just say hi hi hi over and over again. She says it with in a really hi pitched tone and it is so cute. She is adorable and we love her in every way possible.
We are in awe of you and all that you do and your sweet, always loving, curious, happy personality. You bring so much sunshine to our lives.
