Your Baby Book

Hey baby cakes!  Mommy just made your baby book (well, at least for the first six months of your life).  I feel like I worked on it nonstop for 2 days (probably because I did!)...and my eyes were all crossed when I was done!  I can't wait until it is mailed to us!  In the meantime, here it is online for you to see!  (And yes, I know...there is a typo on the first page.  Goes to show you that you shouldn't add stuff in at the last minute....oh well!)

http://www.mypublisher.com/share/sharepopup/e/ArhxoTVcWCNG83SYLTe-YUPCrkJB1k66g3uUXURaXNllKM8jCsy6bl712XSdaucO0N4kEnx-Jzo8JkTBOtrapgaHnnZHutcNBIwzArTgAQhhe0ougF0w_6wy2GNDGOBZL0WzfgHgw1zTdKHB7sfd23z934FExACR4ST6ADm9TrwEaVTE0NHvePeANnaGUfNB/s/fb/t/Click%20to%20see%20this%20MyPublisher.com%20creation

EIGHT Months!

EIGHT-MONTHS-OLD - that's you!  Your Daddy and I have already talked about how crazy it is that you will be a year in just a few months.  Before we know it - POOF!  You'll be there!  I am loving every minute of you along the way.  Every minute.

You are a mimic these days.  Whatever we do, you usually try and copy us.  That leads us to your first word (basically).  "HI!"... yep, that's it.  You lift your arm up, wave and say "HI!".  It's so stinkin' cute.  We always do this to you when you come in a room, so it only makes sense, I guess!  You can also give a high five too.  Pretty cool.  You also like to fake cough now.  Pretty cute.  You even cough on cue sometimes in a song we sing you (Bushel and a Peck).  So cute.  On this note, you are a bit of a show off.  You already like to perform...I'm interested to see how you are when you are older.  You love to be loud and make people pay attention to you!

You had a BIG first this past month.  First time being sick.  And pretty good and sick too.  Your Mommy was sick on our trip in Illinois...and I must've gotten you sick too.  A couple days after we came home, we thought you were acting a little different and you had a 103.2 degree temperature!  Yikes!  It was after our doc's office was closed (of course), so luckily there is an urgent pediatric care around us...got you right in and diagnosed you with your first ear infection.  Put you on antibiotics (which you HATED taking!) and some tylenol/ibuprofen...and you were all better in a week.  You got a nasty cold with this thing too and one day you had SO MUCH snot and stuff just dripping from you eyes.  We felt so bad for you.  But never once did you complain that much.  You still slept great for you naps and at night.  You were such a trooper!

You are growing so much too!  Not only in weight (you were over 19 lbs. at the doc's office), but in mobility too.  You officially can sit up.  That happened right before you turned 8 months.  And, you are loving all the diced up fruit that Mommy gives you nowadays.  Mangos and Pears.  Yum!  You won't eat either of these if I puree them up...but you could eat them all day long if they are diced up and YOU get to pick them up and put them in your mouth.

And one more thing that is growing - your first tooth!  Right now, you are right in the middle of getting it.  We can see it, literally, in your bottom gums.  And I can feel it in there - super sharp actually!  But as of tonight, it has just barely broken through.  You, again, are a trooper.  You are a little crankier at times...but truly, it's crazy that you are teething because you are still so cute and happy.

Let's stop right here for a minute and talk about something:  screaming.  Or should I say, SCREAMING.

So, let's talk about this, baby girl.  Why?  Why do you need to scream to talk to us?  The short little bursts of ear-piercing noise that could shatter glass.  No matter where we are or what we are doing, it can happen.  Sitting in your high chair, or in your jumperoo....or when we are in the middle of a store....or anywhere.  You just love to scream.  You aren't hurt or mad (usually).  You just like to scream.  I'm not so sure what to do about this, to be honest...for now, I'm hoping it goes away with teething...but I am just ignoring it at this point.  Although, I will admit, it has really gotten under my skin a few times!  You have a shrill scream baby!

Oh, and speaking of high chair -  you used to sit in your Bumbo on top of the counter to eat, wait for us to make your bottle, whatever.  Well, well, well...the other day, you had a REALLY slippery fabric on and as Mommy was making your bottle, I hear something.  I look at you and you are on your belly on the counter...with a HUGE smile on your face!  You scared me to death....and you thought it was the best thing that ever happened!  No more Bumbo...you are now only in a high chair for kitchen/food stuff.  Your Bumbo is safely on the floor in the family room now!

Your sisters love to show you off.  We were registering them at school the other day and Kyndall wants to pick you up out of the stroller to hold you.  Don't tell her I know this, but I'm pretty sure it's because she wants to show you off around her school.  =)  They love having you as their sister.  We can't imagine life without you!

Here's some pictures of you (and a video too!) of you sitting up (and that lovely scream of yours)!  Hopefully I will be posting again soon with your "official" 8-month-old pictures.  I have a fun idea that we are working on for a back drop.  Can't wait to show you the final product soon!  In the meantime, here's some good ones too!

Way to go baby girl!  You are finally sitting up!

Yeah, I think you have him wrapped around your finger!

I don't believe you.

Big girl!

Your Daddy captured this picture!  It's the best!

Love you baby girl!  Can't wait to show you your 8-month pictures....and can't wait to see what all I can write about next month!  Maybe you'll be crawling?  You really have no interest right now...so we'll see!  Oh, and your Aunt Nora and Cousins will be coming this weekend - can't wait for you to meet them!  We'll have some pictures of all of you too, I'm sure!

Peek-A-Boo - Where'd Your Mommy Go?

You do love peek-a-boo nowadays - it really gets you chuckling!  And there is NOTHING better than that!  But, I've been hiding from writing on here too...playing a little blog peek-a-boo too.  I should've at least written you a couple weeks ago...when you turned seven months...and now we are a good 2-3 weeks past that!  And here's my excuse.  We've been sooo busy!

First, baby cakes...here's some things that are new for you in your 7th month:

• You can undo your own diaper!
• You have started feeling the hair on your head.
• While sitting on the Bumbo on the counter while we feed you, you found the sink faucet and can turn it on and off!
• You are a regular octo-baby!  Sometimes I feel like you have eight arms and legs reach out for any and everything in your grasping radius!  We have to clear the area before we sit you in your Bumbo on the counter!
• Knows how to fake cough.
• Did not like green beans at all - you basically made yourself gag and threw them up.  I put them in your avocados instead.  Sneaky Mommy!
• You are so easily distracted.  You have started not finishing bottles...I have to feed you as much as you will take and then let you play for a while and then feed you the rest.  And if someone is in the room or the TV is on, forget it, you are paying attention to them and not eating!
• You have started to breath in and out of just your nose real fast and scrunch it up with you are frustrated.  It's really pretty cute (at this point!).
• You can sit up pretty well on your own...but you are nowhere near crawling!
• Took your first plane ride to Illinois at the end of your 7th month.  You did pretty good babycakes!  Thank goodness for the little puff things.  If we fed you those, you were "entertained" for a long time!
• And right about at 7 months you have done much better with strangers holding you.  About a month ago, not so good at it.  At this point, you aren't as overwhelmed in a room with a bunch of strangers talking and in your face.

So, the big plane ride was to go see our family in Illinois for two weeks.  Let me first say, that even though Mama was a little worried how you'd sleep in a big, unfamiliar house, you rocked it baby girl!  We had a time change to deal with as well, and you really stuck to your schedule of sleeping and did just great.  You even went over to Aunt Nikki's for a whole day and took your naps in a pack and play while the rest of us when to the Abraham Lincoln museum in Springfield, IL.  

We did so much in Illinois and had such a great time with all the family and friends we saw.  So many people had never even met you, so you got to meet all kinds of new faces!  Lots of people came over to swim at Pa and MiMi's place, so you got to do some more swimming too.  You really like the water and are pretty comfortable in it.  You have started to realize that you can kick and hit the water with your hands and splash.

A lot of the days in Illinois were HOT and HUMID.  We had a 4th of July cousins reunion for MiMi's side of the family - it was so super hot.  You and I stayed inside this little cabin with some air conditioning and your Sisters got to go and swim in the lake to cool off.  Luckily, all the kids and some of the adults did too.  There were so many in our family there.  The girls really had a great time playing in the "rough" outdoors.  Your Daddy even got to shoot some clay pigeons and fish.  He was in heaven!

All in all, the trip was awesome.  You were a trooper (as usual) and made everyone smile and want to hold you.  I have been really trying to work with you sitting up fully on your own...but that definitely couldn't be practiced in Illinois...too many people to hold you!  =)

Mommy was a happy camper in Illinois - got to see so many family and friends, eat at all my old favorite restaurants, and do stuff with you and the girls around my old stomping grounds!  Your Sisters loved all the green that there is in Illinois too - cornfields, trees, grass - crazy how different things can be in another state!  The houses are just different too - and the girls always love looking at the houses when we are there.

Here's some pictures of our trip:

Kiara had a loose tooth!

You and Grandpa Bud!

You and Grandma Carmie!

You loved the little inner tube.  You just chilled and floated.  =) 

You liked Uncle Ryan a lot this trip - you would be content sitting on his lap!

Kiara could not get enough of you!

You started loving a sippy cup

Your day with the Wollands...we were off to see Lincoln!

Abe Lincoln's house

Lincoln impersonator - but he looked like the real thing!

Wax figures - except for Pa and Kyndall =)

Having fun with Pa

Sisters and Kiara - went to the Ronald Reagan Museum at Eureka College (where he went to college)

Being GOOFY!

Cousins!

Eating lunch on the last day - love this picture!

Kiara and your Daddy were tickling each other!

Sisters!

Being cute with Pa

And that's about it baby girl.  You are still such an easy going baby.  Your Sisters are still IN LOVE with you and yell "BABY!!!!!" whenever you come into a room.  No one can quite seem to get enough of you!  You love your jumperoo and bounce so high in that thing I wonder if you are going to fly out sometimes!  I just love you.  Period.  You are such a cutie...I can't kiss you enough!

6 Months! A Month of Firsts!!!!

Hi baby girl!!!! You are now six months old!  And your Mommy is a late with the blog post, but we've all just been a little busy lately.  You have so many "firsts" this month, it's crazy.  Here's a run down:

• The day after you turned five months, you rolled from your back to your belly.   A couple weeks later, you learned how to get from your belly to your back.  You can officially now go either direction, back to belly and vice versa.  And you do it all the time now - we have to really watch you on the bed or couch!  You seem to really like to roll when we are changing your diaper!
• Speaking of diapers, you went up to size 3 a few weeks ago!
• This past month was the first time that your Mommy ever left you for a few days when I visited my college friend in Michigan.  
• After I came back from Michigan, you and I went on a different feeding schedule...no more exclusive breast feeding...we started a couple times a day of formula.
• Here's a big one:  you ate your first real food!  And your Grandma Frances was in town, so she got to feed you avocados.  Your Mommy is making your baby food at this point, pureeing it and putting it in ice cube trays for freezing.  You loved the avocados - you did so well!  See below for some pictures!
• You now have two sisters who go to high school - your sis, Megan was promoted from 8th grade this month!
• You met your Uncle Ryan and Cousin Vera for the first time a couple weeks ago!  Pa, Mimi, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Nikki, Kiara and Vera have been in town for a week or so.  We have been hanging out and loving on them!  Pictures are below!
• A HUGE first - you were dedicated to the Lord a week ago!  We had an awesome ceremony for you at church with great church friends and family there.  They all agreed to help raise you to love Jesus - how cool is that?
• You are starting to really babble - and syllables too.  Other times, you just scream and shriek. And you are not even in a bad mood - you are happy - just in a screaming type of way!
• You tried sweet potatoes and LOVE them (probably your favorite so far)...and tried apples, bananas and prunes.  You aren't really a big fan of apples or bananas, which is really strange - I thought'd you would love them.  We'll keep trying!
• Right at six months, we stopped breastfeeding altogether.  You are now officially a formula fed baby...we made it six months, which is what I was hoping for!  You eat four times a day - we dropped the dream feed at about 5.5 months (10:30pm feeding)...and it was pretty darn easy to do.  You now sleep from 7pm - 7am - such a good baby!
• And finally, we had your six month well-check today and you are growing like a weed!  You are 18 lbs and 1 oz and are 27 inches long.  You are in the 81st percentile for weight (dropped from 95th at birth) and 88th percentile for height (was at 95th at birth).  So, you are just perfect!  The doctor even said so!  She said to keep doing what we are doing, because you are a healthy little girl!  You did so good with your shots too - cried at first (who wouldn't, right?) and then you were smiling again by the time we were leaving the office.

Getting ready for your dedication

Sisters loving on your before dedication

You and your Mama!

During the ceremony at church

Family!

Kinda had a hard time when Pastor Brett took you!

Kiara and you - getting a little tired!

All worn out after your dedication

Grandma Frances and you for your first try of avocados!

Yummy!

Having fun with Kiara

Sweet faces!

You and MiMi hanging at the pool

You liked your pool time!

Your cousins - Keely and Kiara

You with Daddy and Nate

Vera - she's hard to grab a picture of!

Your Mommy and Cousin - somehow I got her to sit with me and take a picture!

We love you baby girl!  I can't tell you how much you have changed this past month.  You are such a little spunky monkey!  You are such a good baby - but you are a loud one!  You make the best noises.  Not so much baby babble...more like "Wooo!" and "AHHHH!".  It seems like you try to participate in conversations.  And your eyes are still your show stoppers - everyone loves them.  I feel like I have so many things to write about you, but words don't ever seem to match what I type out.  You are just the ultimate best thing ever.  That's about the best I can do with words!