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.

Merry Christmas

We made it through Anabelle's first Christmas! I'm going to miss this time of firsts. I read a line in a baby magazine that tells you what's going on with baby each month and it mentioned that she's almost half way through her first year...I teared up! I can't believe how fast the time is going and how big she is already. I remember when she was born counting out how old she would be at Christmas, 5 months seemed like an eternity away. I couldn't imagine her wearing anything bigger than newborn clothes and now she's starting to wear 6m.



We spent Christmas in Colorado this year at the Ranch. We left NM Wednesday afternoon and came home Sunday. It was rainy and gloomy for the first few days. This is the first year in a long time there wasn't a white Christmas at the Ranch. But the rain finally ceased and the sun came out for Christmas day. It was cold but beautiful.

Before dinner there was some cowboy work to be done so half the group headed out to unload a trailer of hay and seperate calves from the mamas to wean them. I wish I took some pictures but I'm finding its a lot harder to play photographer with a baby in my arms. Not to mention it was too cold to take Anabelle out so we watched from the window.

Truth be told, I'm having a hard time remembering to take any pictures of anything besides Anabelle. I took one token picture of the crowd but it was so blurry I had to delete it.

Trace's mom made a ham and turkey and I made my near famous bacon wrapped smokies (yum!) and we had 16 people for dinner. We had a great time. It was really fun to see everyone and Anabelle got to show off her party dress. Then when the crowds died down we still had 7 of us there for the night and we ended up playing a few rounds of Mexican Train dominoes. Anabelle napped through the 1st half and then decided to join the game. Trace won but we all had fun.

Sunday came and we had some bacon & eggs, cleaned up our party messes, and headed home to Gallup. There's nothing like your own bed. :)

A baby will get you everywhere!!

Just had a funny moment at the grocery store. Anabelle and I were there this morning getting some snacks for our trip to Colorado and some Southern Comfort to go with the eggnog for the non-nursing family members. When we got to the check out the cashier was super nice and talking to Anabelle and so on. When she got to the SoCo she said they don't sell alcohol until after 10:am (it was 9:40). I told her that was a bummer, I had just got done telling her how mornings are so much better for us to shop when it's quiet and Anabelle is awake but that she was ready for a nap, blah blah blah... So she said she would let us buy it this one time since my baby was soooo cute. Aw thanks!! Trace and Uncle Dave say thanks too.

As I was walking out I heard her talking to the next group in line. Two guys, mid-twenties, wanted to buy just a case of beer. Not gonna happen. She put it aside and told them they had to come back at 10.
But that lady just bought alcohol
Yeah but she had other groceries... (then I was too far away to hear them)
They walked by my as I was loading the car.
Sorry Guys, she wouldn't let you buy it, huh...
No, and I'm even active military....

Guess it pays to have a cute baby!!!