Happy Easter

Today was Anabelle's first Easter and we had a great day. It started yesterday while Anabelle and I colored eggs. Well really I colored eggs while she squirmed in her high chair while I tried to convince her this was really fun. It was!

Then this morning Anabelle and I hid eggs and when Daddy got up the two of them did a Easter egg hunt. She just giggled and laughed every time Daddy found an egg and put it in her basket. Then we let her sit and play with them for a few minutes. I'm pretty sure she didn't break all of them...

Then we got on our Sunday best and headed to church. It was a very good service and she was a good girl in the nursery. I could hear a baby crying when someone opened the sanctuary door and even though my buzzer wasn't buzzing, I couldn't resist the temptation to go check on her. She was asleep in the arms of one of the helpers in the rocking chair. So sweet!

Then we got home and got into our Sunday cozies and had a great day hanging out at home. I made a ham and fresh green beans for dinner. And now baby is snoozing, I'm blogging, and Trace is watching Bill Engvall. Perfect.

Thank you Jesus!

9 Months

Today Anabelle is 9 months old. I just re-read my post from 7 months, I'm just in awe at how she is growing in the blink of an eye. Trying to cherish every moment.

The first part of April she got her first top tooth. It was a long process just like the bottom but now it's happily poking through and her smile is cute as ever. Now that she has a top tooth she likes to grind it, eeek! The second top tooth is finally broke through a couple days ago. She was fussy the night before and the morning but this one was much smoother. She's so cute with her 3 teeth, I can't wait until she has a complete 4 tooth smile.

She is also doing much better with eating solids. She still doesn't like baby cereal and doesn't open wide for any baby food but she will eat baby food carrots, pears, applesauce and some others a little bit at a time when she feels like it. My best trick is to put some Puffs on her tray and when she goes to put one in her mouth (which she can do by herself now) is to quickly get a spoonful of food in first. She tolerates that most of the time and I still let her get plenty of puffs in. But she has become much more interested in what we are eating and will almost always take a sample. Trace has to share almost a whole bowl of stroganoff noodles with her the other night and she really likes my turkey sandwiches. So we are just going slow and trying to give her as much as she will tolerate. She is making progress drinking from a cup when I help her hold it and we found a sippy cup that she is just starting to take to also. I can acutally see/hear her taking real drinks of water. She still likes sitting on daddy's lap after lunch and dinner in hopes of a piece of kit kat or some other sweet he might be willing to share with her.

She has become more vocal, up until 2 weeks ago she still had only her own sing-song voice. But lately she is making more syllable sounds. Mamamama, yayayay, ssssss, and some other babbling. Dadadada hasn't made it on the list yet but Dadadaada tries to encourage it daily.

She is developing a great personality and is very social. She will let almost anyone hold her and she is constantly giggling; at herself, you, the air :)

Sleeping is not any better than in my last post. I'm a walking zombie. Everyone has been so nice at sharing suggestions and we haven't tried the full blown Cry-It-Out yet and nothing else helps either. Just mommy getting up every 2 hours and holding and nursing her... this has got to get better! Praying my next update shares great improvements!!

Still doing better in the car than the first 6 months but no where near liking car rides. A friend gave us a couple "kid" cd's and she seems to like those, Dad's not that crazy about them :)

Today on her 9 month day, we went to the park for an Easter fun day. The Lions Club (where Trace is a member) were serving hot dogs to the kids so Anabelle and I went to check it out. Here is a little video of her playing in the grass.

Can't believe we are only 3 months away from her first birthday...

You crack me up

Today while we were "trying" to eat she got a case of the giggles. I would look away from her at the ceiling or around the room and then look back quickly and say BOO, she thought it was the funniest thing ever.

Spring is in the Air

Swim Time

Jessica and I took Anabelle to the local swimming pool for the first time. She would not sit still for a picture in her super cute bathing suit and we weren't allowed to take pictures in the actual pool so this is the best I got. But she had fun and we will go back again soon. The water was a little cold so we just sat there and watched some other kids play while we all "adjusted" but then she splashed around little and had a good time.

Mamamamama

Today she started saying Mama, well, mamamamama, but I like it just the same. I'm pretty sure its just noise to her and doesn't have meaning yet but it is music to my ears and she can say it all she wants!! Of course Dadadadada is waiting for his turn now too.

Old Town

On the last day in Albuquerque we went to the Old Historic District and walked around. They had a lot of shops, a beautiful old church that is still in use today, and a classic Spanish town square park kind of thing :) We all enjoyed the beautiful weather, green grass, and soft breeze.

I'm the Queen of the World

Jessica came to visit for Spring Break and we spent a few nights in Albuquerque. Anabelle could stand on the A/C and look out the window. She thought she was pretty cute. I thought so too!

Sleeping like a baby

Anabelle is not the best sleeper to say the least. So when she fell asleep in the car I was able to get her upstairs and lay on the couch with her & cuddle for a few minutes before I put her down for her nap I was thrilled. It's amazing how time flies. We spent the first 3 months with me holding her like this as she slept and I rocked in the rocker and watched her and the TV all day long. Now she almost never lets me hold her while she sleeps. I had a huge smile in my heart for the few sweet minutes of holding my sweet sleeping baby!

crawling

She is a go go go kind of child. she has never wanted to sit still and now that she can crawl there is no stopping her. Heaven help us when she learns to walk. I think that will be soon too.

Pulling Up

Almost as soon as she started crawling she was ready to move on to standing. She hasn't mastered it yet but she pulls up on everything and is very good at it. She is almost always standing up holding something. The couch, the tub, the cabinets, my legs, anything she can get a finger to grip on she's using it to stand up. Here are some shots of her standing holding on to her toy. She can easily climb her way up this and is one of her favorite things to climb on. She's also really good at getting down. I've heard some babies learn to stand before they learn to sit back down but she's pretty graceful and getting back down and moving on to the next climbing wall. She is cruising along the couch and has had a few seconds of standing solo here and there. I won't be surprised if she's walking soon.

Swing Time

Trace and I took Anabelle to the park today and put her on the swings for the first time. She had fun and so did we.

Crazy Hair Day

These boots were made for walkin'

Anabelle love's Trace's boots, I'm not sure if it's becuase he tries to keep them away from her or if she has just inherited my love for shoes. She'll play with any that are left within her reach but his boots are her favorite. And by far the dirtiest in the house. They play a little game of shuffle when he gets home and gets them off and has to put them out of sight and out of reach. I think babies just seem to know what they aren't supposed to have and naturally want them. Aren't we all like that?

7 months

Today Anabelle is 7 months old. Can't believe how time flies and yet I am so grateful that I have been able to spend every day with her. I feel like this has been the fastest month yet. I was reading that the second 6 months months are some of the best. I believe it. She is such a happy baby and so much fun to be around. Here is a quick recap of some of the things she's been up to this month.

In my last post I shared a video of her sitting skills, she is doing great with that and had incredible balance and agility. She can lean in all directions to reach for something and bring herself back to a sitting position with out falling over.



This month she started pulling her knees underneath her and getting her belly off the ground. She started out by putting her head down to get her knees underneath her but couldn't get her head back up so she would flop back down and move on to something else. Now she can get her knees under her and her arms straight and holding her head high. She's done a little rocking but not much. She's not crawling yet but she has done an army crawl for something she really wanted once or twice.

This month she also got two teeth. Both her bottom teeth came in at the same time. She was pretty fussy and miserable during the process and seemed to settle as soon as they popped through. I didn't even realize she had two until a few days later when she finally let me take a peek. I guess my brain didn't think about the size of a baby tooth when I was feeling them. I just thought it was one big tooth. She hasn't had any more yet but I think the upper left will be next. That area is just starting to show signs. We'll see.



During her 6th month she decided to like cereal and baby food and just as quickly change her mind and now she's back to shunning it. I was so excited when she finally decided to give it a try. she decided oatmeal cereal was better than rice cereal and was doing really well with sweet potatoes, carrots, and prunes. Now I can only sneak in a few bites while she trying to get something else in her mouth before she catches on to me and throws a fit and meal time is OVER. She will chew on a teething biscuit and has been doing well with puffs. She can't quite get the puffs in her mouth by herself but she has fun trying and let's me help her. She has also been making progress on the sippy cup and regular cup. she likes to chew on the spout of the sippy cup but will suck and take a drink every few times. It has water in it most of the time. I put milk in once and she could tell something was different. I was hoping she would chug-a-lug but no such luck. But she has been more interested in what I'm eating and has taken a few bites here and there. She had some mashed potato, a piece of tomato and barley from my soup, a little bit of bagel... so I'm hoping she picks up on this food thing pretty soon.



I bought a sign language DVD and book and am hoping we can all learn a few words. I know many of my friends have had success with this so we're going give it a try. Nothing to report yet, we're just getting started. I can remember some of the signs, now I just have to remember to use them.

Just 2 days ago she began getting herself in a sitting position from her tummy. We were all so proud. she is so anxious to be mobile. You can't hold her with out her squirming like a fish. I'm not sure if I want her to hurry up and crawl or wait it out becuase once she does, I'll never get her to sit still again!

Her favorite thing lately is for Daddy to take her for a walk around the house. They have their favorite spots: the plant by the stairs, the diaper bag, the frame in the hall, and the clock in the bathroom are some of the hot spots. Trace picks her up and she instantly starts leaning in one direction or the other and he lets her direct the walk. She just smiles and squeals in delight when she sees her daddy. I makes us both melt. Some of her other favorite "Daddy time" things are chewing on his can of Copenhagen and sharing a candy bar. Mommy's not as excited about those things but at least they aren't sharing crown & coke so I'll let it go...



Just before Grammy was here she developed a new language. She began squawking again but different from when she was two months old. This was more shrill and had tones and real definition to it. We all took turns trying to imitate it ourselves and if we were close she would "talk" back. it was something between a monkey and a parrot... but before I got it on video, she's moved on and hasn't been doing it anymore. She still enjoys razzing and we just crack up at her facial expressions.

Our latest and least fun adventure has been a change in her sleeping patterns. I don't want to write too much becuase it has been the only thing on my brain for the last several tired days and I'm tired of it all myself. but bottom line we have been trying the cry-it-out method for the last two nights in an effort to get her back on track and try to teach her to sleep with out so much help from me. The day before we tried it I read about it in my books and online and just weeped at the thought of letting her cry and cry and cry. But we were tough and we let her cry the first night and she fell asleep in 20-30 minutes. but she woke up all night, at least 4 times and I went in to be with her each time. Last night we tried it again and she only cried 10 minutes and this time didn't wake up again until 6am. AMEN! Praise the LORD! She's napping now and only cried about 2-3 minutes. So I pray pray pray this works and is as painless as possible on all of us becuase it is sooooo hard! Enough of that, yuck!

Last thing I think should make the list although it has been an evolving process not just a last month thing is she is finally making progress in the car seat. We can usually get around town now with out a complete meltdown, although there are still a few. We drove to Albuquerque to get Grammy from the airport and she made it an hour and a half before she got upset and even had a short nap too. Can't wait till she's old enough to watch a DVD in the car!

So thanks for reading all about our little angel. I can't even begin to tell you how much we love her but I have a feeling you already know.

Sitting Pretty

I wanted to follow up with my last "sitting" video. Anabelle was just starting to sit around New Years (5 months old) and now at 6 months she's an old pro. She can sit and play with a toy that interests her for more than 20 minutes before she gets bored or tired and rolls over. She never did the balancing with her hands thing. She just went from not sitting to sitting and playing with things. But we are very proud of our litter sitter!!

Sweet Potatoes & Peas

Monday Daddy and Baby were home playing while mommy was out running errands. Trace mashed up a banana for Anabelle and she ate some. Then later that evening we opened a "jar" (even though baby food doesn't come in jars anymore, they come in little plastic tubs) and she did so well with it. She actually leaned in and opened her mouth. We have been trying to introduce her to cereal and baby food since she was 4 months. I know most baby books say to start at 6 months but daddy was just too excited to wait. Well baby wasn't very excited about it at all. She hasn't wanted any of it until Monday. We have tried cereal, pears, peaches, and bananas all with no success. And then Monday something changed.



So each day this week I have given her a little cereal or more sweet potatoes to try to keep up on this new trick. I haven't had the raving success Daddy has had but she's been doing pretty well considering the last 6 weeks of uncooperation. So tonight, having surpassed the 3 day rule of only trying one new thing at a time, I thought we would try some peas. So Daddy got her in the high chair and he gave her a big bite and she opened wide like a good girl. Then she made a face and we laughed...then she gagged and we laughed some more... so she's not a fan of peas...

We decided not to push the peas and went back to sweet potatoes and she was a happy little girl eating for her Daddy. he has better luck than I do. Guess she sees me as a milk factory but I sat and watched and cheered as she ate and ate. So excited... Maybe we'll try carrots next...

Yum

I bought myself some fruit roll up things the other day. They are made by Cliff Bars and marketed as organic kids fruit things. I decided to let Anabelle give it a shot. She LOVED it!! It was so funny. Its formed like a twisted rope so it was easy for her to hold and easy for her to get in her mouth and not choke. It took her a minute to realize it was yummy then she had a ball.

She sat happily for a good 10-20 minutes sucking away. It was too thick for her to bite any off and Dad and I were right next to her smiling and watcing the whole time. Trace took it from her once to see what she would do and she instantly frowned and reached for it. She's never done that, especially not for food. We just cracked up. She made a mess and got mushy sticky stuff all over her face, hands, PJ's, me, the blanket, couch, etc. But it was so worth it.

After she was done eating/playing I thought OMG I hope there's nothing in there that she allergic too or isn't safe for babies. But I read the label and it was pretty much Apple puree so I felt ok and she had no negative affects. I haven't given her any more but I probably will. She has been less than interested in any food or anything other than breastfeeding so this was a great way for her to see food can be good.

I got a little video on my cell phone but it's pretty dark. I'll post it any way :)

She sits!!

Anabelle has started sitting and gets better every day. It's still pretty wobbly but we're getting there. It's so hard to say when she actually gets something becuase it's always a process and by the time she's mastered something I realize she's been working on it for a while. So I'm considering this sitting. I know she'll only get better at it as we move forward.