Baby's First Christmas

I am about a week behind with everything- but I guess that is what happens when the computer where you are visiting dies from a virus attack!

As I mentioned earlier, we were in upstate NY for the week of Christmas. It snowed several of the days, including Christmas, but it was sooo windy that we stayed indoors for the most part. We didn't even get to use the snowsuit that my mom bought especially for E to wear on this trip :(

Christmas morning, E woke up about 5:30 or 6 for a bottle and went right back to sleep- we didn't get up until 8:30- glorious! We opened some presents and then the race was on the get ready and head out for Christmas day at E's great aunt and uncle's house.

It was a nice day for E to meet and play with a lot of relatives who will only get to see her once a year at most!

Hmmmm- maybe she doesn't yet realize what today is....

That's better!

Scrutinizing a present

Opening presents!

No matter what exciting thing she opened after getting that rubber ducky- she wouldn't put it down!

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Well, I think we were 2 out of 5 on our quest for Holiday Traditions. We didn't make it to Christmas Eve service, we didn't watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and there was no Swedish Tea Ring! We did get the tea ring a few days earlier for my Dad's birthday though, so we didn't have to suffer a total lack of it.
On Christmas Eve we did allow E to open her first gift, which was The Night Before Christmas, and read it to her for the first time. I meant to write a little inscription in it, but wrapped it before that got done. I was reminded that she wouldn't know the difference and that I should write it later and attach a copy of a picture with all of us reading it.
I think she enjoyed it!

Our little Jetsetter

E took her first plane rides over the Christmas Holiday and from all accounts she was the perfect little traveler. I can't speak from first-hand knowledge, because she flew with my mother while the rest of us scrubs (me, Michael and my dad) drove to upstate NY.
I am actually not that surprised, b/c our little monkey is generally in very high spirits when she is out in public and around new people. Such a social little girl. The thing I was most afraid of was how the pressure would affect her ears. Apparently she was all "PSSHAW, pressure shmessure!" They had to take connecting flights and on the first flight she slept through the landing and on the second flight she fell asleep before take-off and slept the whole way!
I'm glad that E had a good experience but mostly glad that she took it easy on her Grandma!!

Updates

Ack! It has been so long since I have posted. I am planning to add a few things before the new year, promise!

And just a quick note that E pulled up to stand in her crib tonight! She loves having us hold her hands to get into a standing position so I know she will enjoy this new trick- hehe. 

Photos are in!

We got the photos back from Emily's shoot a few weeks ago, and I still wish that I could afford to buy them all! The photographer's website has recently gone live so you can check out her work at www.christyjohnson.com . I hope we will be able to use her services again for E's first birthday!

If you would like to see E's gallery, leave me a comment with your email address :) I won't post the link here b/c they will only be up for a short time.

Baby Legs!

Thanks to an early Christmas present from her little neighborhood buddies (thanks Michelle :P ) E finally has her very own pair of baby legs. I have been eyeing some for a while now; target has their own brand, and there are several etsy shops that have them. These little leg warmers are great now that the weather is getting colder. We have laminate and tile flooring, so when E ventures off the area rug, she often encounters cold floors. She doesn't seem to mind but I don't like to feel her poor cold legs when I pick her up! Also, they are nice to use with dresses instead of stockings for quick diaper changes.

Now that she has one pair, it's going to be even harder to stop myself from buying these up!

Photo Session Teaser

Miss E was the star of a photo session yesterday. We were able to come across a young mother who is getting ready to start up a photography business, and was in search of clients to build her portfolio. I'm sure I couldn't think of a cuter model- hehe.
She posted a couple of sneak peek photos on her blog here. I am definitely excited to see the rest!

"Santa Claus is comin' to town"

E got to hang out with Santa for a while Friday night. He visited our neighborhood Cafe' so we had some supper and got some pictures. Hopefully his magical Santa powers allowed him to figure out her Christmas wishes even though she can't talk! She seemed way more interested in this Santa- the real one ;)- than the fake one they had at her daycare for pictures. She kept glancing back over at him all evening!

The Feeling is NOT Mutual

Most people who know we have a cat have asked at least once how the two are getting along.

Well.... E LOVES Spike. When she sees him she squeals and basically quivers with excitement. And now that she can move, she usually takes off after him if he is on the floor somewhere.

Spike is definitely not amused by the addition of this small and noisy person. Usually he just "cringes" when she squeals, unless she is after him, then he runs away. I think it's funny that even when she couldn't scoot herself across the floor yet that he would still run away if she looked at him. It is adorable when she knows he has gone in the kitchen and you hear her just grunting and squealing away as she tries to haul herself around the corner from the living room to get another peek at him.

I am wondering if he will ever get over this- our friends have a 2 year old little boy and he still vanishes whenever they come over. I really thought he might have gotten more used to her by now and start tolerating her enthusiasm to pet him (or more likely pull his hair).

Poor E, she just doesn't understand why he doesn't want to be her friend, but it isn't getting her down!

Here are a couple of videos for your viewing pleasure. These really aren't the best examples, but I never seem to be ready for the exchanges when they take place, so these will have to do!

Oh- and updating from the other day, apparently E does NOT like peaches. How can you not like peaches?! Oh well- once again, the real thing is probably a lot better.

Peas and Thank You

No that is not a typo, and this post is not a lesson in manners.
I have been really lax about posting lately and I feel kind of weird talking about Thanksgiving now that all the food has been eaten and it's not even November anymore! It's pretty obvious what precious gift we are thankful for this year.

Now on to the peas. E has tried a variety of solid jar foods including bananas, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes and... peas. She is definitely not impressed with the only green thing she has encountered. And since being offered peas 3 days in a row- she has been suspicious now when any solids are offered. She wants to make sure nobody is trying to sneak any of those nasty peas in there! I can understand her aversion though. I wouldn't say that any jar food is particularly appealing, but the peas seem especially bitter and unsavory to me as well! I think we will hold off on peas until we are giving her table food and can put a little flavoring on them for her.

Today she is trying peaches, so fingers crossed that she likes those!

Almost there!

I finally have a couple of videos of E getting on her knees and then pushing up on her feet. She really wants to get onto her feet and loves walking along while someone is holding her hands, so several people have commented that she may end up walking before she crawls. I'm not so sure about that, but I think if she figures out how to move her knees, she will realize how much faster it is to really crawl than just scoot/army crawl. She'll love being able to get into trouble even more quickly!

Holiday Traditions

I know it's not December yet, and I am supposed to RESPECT THE TURKEY, and all that, but something started me thinking about what I want to incorporate into our family traditions for Christmas.

Of course we will try our hardest to go to a Christmas Eve church service. I also want to buy E "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and begin reading that every year. That can be her one gift to open on Christmas Eve this year! And I can't believe it has been playing on TV already, but I LOVE "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and want to make sure we watch that. Although maybe not until Christmas day.

The Grinch may not make an appearance this year though, because I am trying to wait for at least a year, maybe longer, before E is consciously plopped in front of the TV for her entertainment. Now, she has definitely watched the TV- whether by just being with us while we have the TV on or when she was younger to get her attention enough to stop her crying, but I am not ready to include it in her life as a go-to activity at this point.

Also, something that we had a lot growing up- since it is one of my Dad's favorites- is Swedish tea ring , for Christmas morning. Luckily, my mom will be around this year, so I won't have to start making that just yet :)

And I think a really important thing to realize is that we are a complete family- there are others that we love and want to see or miss- but all we really NEED to do is be together and enjoy the day. This is especially true while E is young and still caught up in the magic of Christmas. As I have already seen and my co-workers keep telling me- she will be grown in no time and I want to be able to squeeze every bit of joy out of this time as possible.

OK- now I promise to think about Thanksgiving for the rest of the day....

First birthday as "Mommy"

When we got up this morning and I told Michael that E didn't wake up during the night last night- he told me that was my present. Not a bad one as presents go I would say! Maybe she will think I deserve a whole week of celebration for my birthday- that would be nice.

Michael worked today, so us ladies hung out. I felt like the whole day was a process of putting down for naps and trying to fit in enough quiet housework before E woke up. I rocked her to sleep 3 times before it was even noon! Needless to say, I didn't get a lot done. We did go shopping though. There is a children's consignment store across the street, so I went in search of a few new toys. E got a toy telephone just like the one she likes to play with (chew on) at daycare, and some fabric block with nesting toys. Also, she found a couple of warm hats for the cold weather- she will be especially needing them when we visit NY for Christmas- brrrrr!

#2 on its way

E's second bottom tooth is coming in!

Only Mommy will do!

Sometimes this can be a frustrating thing, but it is hard for your heart not to melt when a screaming baby immediately rests her little head against your chest and relaxes into peace as soon as she in your arms. The bad thing is that Daddy has pretty much given up trying to help put E back to sleep, so Mommy is still going to bed about 8:30 pm because she knows she will be getting up numerous times during the night. For the most part she doesn't get fed during the night, but she must be having teething issues, because sleeping through the night has been occuring very rarely for the last couple of months.

Fortunately, during the day, E still seems happy just to be with anybody who will give her attention. She is getting a little closer to the stranger identification and separation anxiety age, but hopefully since she has been in daycare for the past 4 months it won't affect her too badly.

Developmental Update

Just wanted to say that for the last couple of days E has been getting up onto her hands and knees by herself (as opposed to us putting her down on the floor that way) and rocking back and forth! It won't be long now before she is off to "real" crawling.

It is her daddy's job today to make sure the floor in the living room and the stairs are clean- and then we will need to move the shoe rack up to the top of the stairs b/c she definitely loves to get into those! I wish I could put up a gate in front of the area around the door to keep her away from all the leaves and dirt that are brought in. The wall there is kind of angled so I will have to do some searching online to see if there is something that will work. I will have to wait until the weekend to clean up and finish baby proofing her nursery since she basically crashes for the night as soon as we get home from daycare.

I'll keep everyone updated on the crawling adventure!

So are we cosleeping or not?

For the past week or so, and off and on for the past 6 weeks, E has been sleeping in the bed with her mommy- and sometimes her daddy, but that isn't as comfortable. She will go to sleep in the evening without a problem and sleep in her crib for a few to several hours. But then... she wakes up and will not tolerate being put back in her crib. No matter how asleep I think I have gotten her, as soon as she hits the mattress it's like a little electric shock has gone through her!
And then there was last night...she only woke once and was content to be placed back in her crib- YIPEEEE!

It's not that I mind co-sleeping so much. There are definitely pros and cons. Firstly, she gets some great sleep when she comes to the bed and it really does make me happy to have her there with me, even though I often don't sleep as comfortably myself. My main concerns are the fact that I don't want it to become an unbreakable habit should we enter a situation where mommy can't or doesn't want to co-sleep anymore. And also, I can't really get up during the night to go to the bathroom or wake up early to get ready in the morning. Not only would I be concerned for her safety when I wasn't there, but she needs the opportunity to sleep longer in the morning without being woken up at the same time I am.

So now I am wondering- was she just being really "needy" recently since she has obviously been teething, or was last night just a fluke. I guess only time will tell. All I know is a person could go crazy trying to figure a baby out.

"WE'VE GOT ONE!!!!"

A tooth that is :) I need a firehouse bell to ring a la The Ghost Busters.

I found the little sucker last night. One of E's daycare providers and I had been talking about her teething- we both really thought she had been lately- so I decided to stick my pinkie in her mouth when we got home. There it was- the sharp little edge to her first tooth (it's on the bottom right)

So bittersweet- I just loooove her big toothless smiles but I am so happy that she is growing up and we are able to witness it. It's truly amazing.

I am sure the next tooth isn't far behind- I'll definitely be on the look-out!

BOO!

You are surprised right?!? That I am posting I mean....

My work computer has been on the fritz, so no updating on lunch breaks, and we have been busy busy at night. In fact, E went 4 days without a bath b.c we were so busy in the evenings and she would get too sleepy before getting to bathtime. Do worry though, she was a clean girl for the big Halloween festivities at daycare.

I thought I might be updating with some fun Halloween stories, but E decided that when she got home from daycare, that it was bedtime! I thought I was just putting her down for a nap, but apparently she had other ideas. So I will just have to share some pictures from the daycare, where she dressed up for their costume parade! All the little babies and kids were so cute. It was adorable b/c in the infant room there was two of everything: 2 lady bugs (that was E's costume) 2 lions and 2 peas in pod.

Alright, must go! E has been sitting with me while I type this and she is getting very "grabby"!jhhh hy,p n (that was her saying "goodbye!"

It's Sate Fair time!

The North Carolina State Fair is going on right now, so we took the opportunity to take E out for her first fair experience. Mostly for us older folks it's about eating- haha- but we thought E might enjoy seeing the people and animals.

Well, we went to a few barns and even watched racing pigs/ducks/goats, but E was definitely more interested in the people and lights/sounds than any smelly animals! She is usually pretty "talkative" but she barely made one or two sounds, she was so engrossed in taking in all the new stimuli. Of course she was perfect during our entire visit, but as soon as we got into the car the meltdown started :( Luckily it didn't take as long as I feared to get her to go to sleep- although she did wake a few times during the night.

Daddy got to wear her during the evening so she was nice and toasty even though the air was quite chilly.

"I haven't seen daddy in a while, where is he?"

"Oh! There you are!"

Eyes peeled for deep fried mac n' cheese!

Mommy got her mac n' cheese, daddy got his jumbo corndog and they both got some ice cream. E wants to know when SHE gets a bite!

Grocery Day!

Michael and I usually go grocery shopping together, and have done so even before little E came along. However, today we were out of some important things for the upcoming week, and Michael would not have been home from work until 6:30. This is not the first time E and I went on a major grocery trip alone, but she no longer fits in the infant cart and her car seat is too big to attach, so she rode sitting up in the cart for the first time. She is growing up so fast! She looked like such a big girl riding in the cart, and was stylish too with her Eddie Bauer shopping cart cover. And let me tell you, she LOVED it! It was a whole new perspective on things and she was just having the best time looking around- and turning sideways to grab stuff out of the cart! She is so strong and dexterous, she was able to get a yogurt cup up and over to the front and almost got ahold of a heavy pizza sauce can. Geez I am really going to have my hands full soon.
I think we are both excited for another shopping trip soon!

The Ants go Marching....

I am not saying this song is a miracle worker, but it really is quite efficient at putting my little E to sleep. She is known to fight sleep (mostly naps) but this song works probably 90% of the time. I have to say that I was a little skeptical at the thought of singing (especially me singing) helping her fall asleep. I mean I get the vacuum thing kinda, and the car seat, but singing... really??
I admit that while I am singing she also has a paci and is being rocked, but I take what I can get.

Now I just have to see if Ican get her daycare providers to do it. There are many days when I pick her up and her nap log has only one 30 to 45 minute nap on there. Sometimes the one nap might have only been 15 min! I know that it can sometimes be hard work getting her to sleep even in optimal conditions, not to mention a super bright, noisey room with tons going on, but it's almost as important as food to her wellbeing! That one short nap means that she is EXAHSTED when she gets home, and so instead of trying to spend a little time with her or try to get errands done after work, she really needs to be taken straight upstairs for a nap. Lately I have been lucky to have 2 to 3 waking hours with her in a day- and half of that is probably in the morning when I am in a rush to get everything done and get myself to work at a reasonable time.
Whew- what a whiney post! But this whole sleep thing just seems to effect every other aspect of our lives in some way. Hopefully things will work out soon.

Beautiful Weekend

As a lot of you know, the previous weekend was absolutely GORGEOUS! And we had a great time with several fun activities.

Saturday we went to a local farm to visit their pumpkin patch. We didn't end up buying a pumpkin (they were expensive for such small pumpkins) but little E was able to go on her first hay ride and hang out with Nate. Hopefully they can be buddies as they grow. Saturday she seemed a little more interested in hay or any other vegetation she could get her hands on, than playing with little boys :)

Then we had a nice time at a coffee shop with great conversation and company with other mommies and mommies to be.

Finally, Saturday evening (it was a reallllly busy day!) we went to my friend Jill's wedding. I was so excited and suprised to see so many of my old middle and highschool buddies there. E did great but was overly tired by that point, so she made a few rounds at the reception and then my parents took her home so Michael and I could enjoy ourselves a little longer.

All in all a wonderful day!

Sunday was a lot more relaxed, but we still were able to get outside and enjoy what may be the last warm weekend in a while. We toured a few Parade houses, as it is Parade of Homes time here in Wake Co. Unfortunately, we aren't able to actually BUY any of these houses, but it is a fun way to get out of the house and see some different areas around where we live.

To end this post I'll leave you with some images from this weekend :)

Baby's first hayride!

Checking out the pumpkin

The beautiful bride and some old buddies

6 Month Check-up

E had her 6 month check up yesterday and the consensus is that she is a *big girl*! She is up to 19 lbs 10 oz (from 8 lbs 14 oz at birth) and 26 3/4 inches long (born 21 inches).
Apparently being at 97% on the growth scale for weight isn't a bad thing when you are a baby. The doctor said she is doing great and seemed happy with her weight, so way to go E!
She also had 3 dreaded vaccinations. She cried, but was easily calmed down. And unless there are some latent effects, she doesn't seem to be having any reactions to them- yay! After her 4 month shots she started crying about an hour afterwards and continued all afternoon- it was heartbreaking :(
The doctor said there is no rush, but I could start feeding her some mushy fruit (or veggies) and give her a sippy cup with an ounce or two of water in it to start practicing. She is growing up sooo fast!!

Happy 6 months!

Little E is 6 months old as of Sunday! I can't believe it, half a year gone by already- truly amazing. She is such a social little girl and just getting bigger and learning to do more every day.

Here is her 6 month picture. Just check out that hairstyle! Her hair has gotten so long that it is constantly in her eyes, so we have to find something to do with it (and I'm not cutting it!)

We love you little princess!

3 videos: scooting, sitting, and superman!

The scooting video was a little over two weeks ago. I talked about it earlier. We were on the floor and E just HAD to get the remote!

This second video was the beginning of last week . She all of a sudden started sitting up so well on her own- like she has been doing it forever!

The last video was taken earlier this week. E has started this weird "pose" that looks like she is trying to take off into flight! She lays on her belly and lifts all her hands and legs off the ground- it is a really great back exersize that I have done in classes before! And most of the time she gets a look on her face like she is expecting to zoom off at any moment- she is just waiting for it to happen. So cute

Excited for Cool Weather!

This past weekend I washed all of E's fall/winter clothes that have been bought in the last couple of months. I got so excited about the new clothes that I decided to try one of the outfits on her- and O.M.G.- sooo adorable! I can't wait until it is cool enough for her to wear all these adorable things! I know I will miss the cute little sundresses eventually, but for now I am just impatient for a cool down!

I didn't have the camera with me when I used E as a model, but later when I was hanging up the clothes, I laid a few out as a sampling of the cuteness :-) Behold!

Just look at those heart shaped pockets on the white hoodie and check out the adorable magenta trench coat....sigh...I don't think that there will be any hope of keeping me away from the Carter's outlet for very long, so I can stock up even more.

Look Mom, no hands!

I have a feeling E has been doing this for a while now at daycare, but I never really think to sit her up on the floor, so I haven't seen it very much. This definitely isn't the first time she has been able to balance, but I am not very swift with the camera, so it's the first time I have thought to take some photos.
Enjoy =-)

Sick Days

Poor little E got sick on Friday- well I guess it started Thursday. We took her to the Peds on Friday where they said she had an eye infection and slight ear infection in the right ear. She seemed to be feeling ok so we went ahead to visit Michael's family in Jacksonville NC as we had previously planned.

Well, that wasn't such a good idea. She ended up with a low grade fever Friday night and just wouldn't sleep unless I was holding her or she was laying in the bed with me (Fri or Sat night).
Needless to say, none of us got the sleep we needed. So when we got home everyone was tired, I got sick, and there was still TONS to do at the house, since generally the weekend is when things like laundry and cleaning are slightly caught up.

E still has a cough and stuffy nose- it seems as if the eye infection moved to her respiratory tract. But she is definitely her happy little self so I am hoping the sickness is mostly over and will just keep improving as the days go on.

Testing Testing...

I don't have the video mentioned in the post below uploaded to the computer yet, so I am just testing out with an old video. E is probably about 1.5 to 2 months here.




**edited to say** Sorry, I didn't realize it was so long! Feel free not to watch the whole thing, she really doesn't do a whole lot- haha

Fun Baby Purchases

Yesterday we bought a new convertible carseat that should carry little E through the next several years. She is likely to grow out of her infant seat before reaching the one year rear-facing requirement, so we wanted something that would work forward as well as rear facing.

We got the Britax Marathon in aqua blue and black. I haven't seen it in person yet- it's scheduled to arrive tomorrow!- but it looks pretty from the website.











Also, a few days ago I went to Smart Momma in the Stonehenge shopping center to pick out my birthday present. I am getting a new diaper bag to better fit my needs.


It is the Skiphop City Chic. Which is nice and big, has bottle pockets, and has a detachable purse so my personal items are always kept separate and I can quickly just take what I need when going out without little E. It also has stroller attachments and changing pad included, among other neat options!

I haven't decided which style to get, but it will probably be the black one. What do you think (poll to right)?











Too bad my birthday is still two months away!

More Movement

Last night while we were playing on the floor little E was trying to get the TV remote that was just out of reach. She started pushing with her feet and pulling a little with her hands and moved herself forward! She did this several times as I kept moving the remote out of her grasp.
So we have forward movement!
I have video of it, but will need to get it onto the computer somehow before I can upload it here. Stay tuned!

Post one- what a catchy title!

I'll add some updates on little E for this first post.
When picking her up from daycare yesterday, the caregivers told Mike that little E sat herself up, all on her own! That is a surprise, and likely a fluke, but we will definitely be on the lookout this weekend.