Tate and Ainsley have been getting together a lot lately and are really starting to enjoy all the torment my SIL and I put them through to get their picture. Their most recent encounter together was a ride in the wagon, complete with luxurious Bumbo seats. It was very cute to see the two half pints being trolled around the house in their chariot.
Fine…we will hold hands if you insist!
The birthday girls has almost hit the half year mark. I can’t believe she is five months. I just can’t believe it. She is growing so fast, while I am happy she is developing well, I am a wee bit sad every time we take a new birthday picture. I just try to enjoy the moment and not think about it too much. The other day I was baking, with Ainsley in her Bumbo reading me the recipe, and I had one of those moments where I truly felt like life was perfect. I look forward to many more of those special moments with my lil’ fry. Anyhoo, Ainsley is up to what normal five month infants are doing.
- Solid foods–not a lover of them. She eats them without incident, but just not that much of them. She really is disinterested in food. So bizarre.
- Sleeps from roughly 7pm to 6am without feeding. She is starting to take some naps during the day, but we have still not perfected the nap.
- Flips around on the floor like a little monkey. When you lay her down, she will flip, not roll, over almost instantly. It’s like she takes it as a personal challenge to get off her back as fast as possible. Then she will look around for mommy and flash her gummie smile to make sure you saw her trick! It is sooo cute! Then she gets irritated that she can’t crawl. She is really trying to move. Sigh.
- Sits up on her own for a couple of minutes before starting to lean forward.
- Still LOVES to be held. But only by mommy and daddy. She really does not like to be held by others. We are working on this.
- The traveling is getting better. There is hope for a vacation! Not soon, but someday!
- Laughs hysterically. When she gets on a roll, she will just keep laughing and laughing. It is so sweet!
Here comes that flame again....
Happy Birthday to me!!!
Mommy and Ainsley!
Mmmmm...love my toes!
Happy New Year a bit late!! I hope that your NYE celebrations were everything you wanted them to be. We certainly brought in this New Year with a bang, but not the same type of bang as when we went to NYC and stood in Times Square for 7 hours to see the Waterford ball drop. Which I highly recommend to be on your list of things to do in your lifetime. It was great and I hope to do it again…now if I could just convince my husband. Anyhoo, as I said this New Years was certainly eventful in a way I could have lived without. It started on New Years Eve with a little GI distress which kept progressing thru out the day. By the time we went to our New Years Celebration, I was feeling flat out nauseous. We pulled up to the par-tay house and I warned my husband, that this could be a short visit. I stood in the house, trying to focus on what people were telling me, all the while sure I was going to pass out. We made an early exit, which was just in time. As the ball descended into Times Square, my dinner descended into another type of porcelain bowl. If you get my drift. I then proceeded to have various forms of GI disturbance for THREE days. At one point, it was so bad I was sure I was going to have to go to the hospital. I usually get the stomach flu once every three to four years and it is not fun, but this was abnormally bad. At least my parents were here to take care of the wee one. I finally recovered Sunday evening just in time to get a head cold. Yay for me.
Despite the above, 2009 has been one of the most blessed, surprising, and hectic years of my life. It included the birth of our daughter, the progression of our adoption, a career move, building a new house, selling an old house, and living in a run down duplex until it was finished. It exhausts me just thinking about it. As I look forward to this year, I can’t help but get excited! All the referrals to be had by friends and life surprises that I am sure will come our way (if last year is any indicator). It is interesting to think that one day, something will happen, and everything will change. You will get a phone call or take a test and your life will change course dramatically in the course of just one year or even one day. Bring it on!
Happy New Year!
Christmas was kind of crazy this year. It was tons of fun, but maybe a little too much for Ainsley. She was up for every single Christmas celebration and did enjoy looking at her presents…and anyone elses. Behold the photo barage……we started at our house Christmas morning…
Are all these presents for me?
What is he doing!!!
I am seriously unsure about the pig.
The on to grandmas where Ainsley received the most heinous dress of all time with dogs on the front. Horrid. Absolutely horrid. It was a Christmas story moment with the bunnie sleepers, only the ears were replaced by rhinestone scotties. She wore it for a moment, then ripped it off her like a bad habit.
Get this heinous dress off me!
We then headed to my husbands side of the family on Saturday where my SIL sure does look like she loves her kitchen shears…..
And then we tortured Ainsley and her cousin Tate with the token picture of them together. Ainsley is always grabbing for poor Tate and Tate always has the look in his eyes pleading with his mommy for rescue. Sorry Tate, that is what happens when you are so cute! Girls will flog you for the rest of your life!
In all it was a wonderful Christmas and we look forward to many more!
When you look like this in the front yard, maybe it is time to cut your home improvement losses and move on.
Happy New Year!
Someone sure loves their daddy!
Ainsley turned 4 months old on December 4th. It is hard to believe she is going to be 19 weeks this week. I just can not believe where the time goes. Anyhoo, we had our four-month check up (along with some shots!!) the doctor said she looks great! She was a whopping 13 lbs 12 oz and only 23.5 inches long. She is definitely our little munchkin. I really like our pediatrician. When I walk into the office all the receptionists say “Ainsley is here!”. I guess that means her outgoing personality is already at work. We just came back from a weekend at my parents house and I must say that she is getting better with the travel. She is a home body, but it is getting better each time we go somewhere overnight. Her four-month picture is a little less feisty than previous months as she was having a serious boogie issue around that time. She might have had a light cold, but I think it is more allergies. Poor kid. But never the less, she was still comical as usual!
I am tired of you taunting me. Give me the cookies!!!!!
Happy Birthday!
Well, we have taken the plunge. I resisted for so long to start Ainsley on solid foods and I finally gave in. In truth, since she is not a big eater, I really didn’t see the need–I wanted to wait until she was around 6 months and eating more. Alas, I figure this will give us some extra time to practice and she isn’t really getting that much anyway. I don’t force a lot on her and don’t really plan on getting on the solid food fast track. We, like most parents, started with the rice cereal. Much to my surprise, she took to it as much as she could. The first time I held the spoon to her mouth, she opened up and I shoved it in. I actually tried the cereal, it was NASTY. I repeat NASTY. But in all, she is a good sport.
As previously state, Ainsley is starting to really love her Bumbo. I love putting her in it as she is so cute. It practically swallows her up, but who wouldn’t love a little 17 week, 14 pound shrimp in it. I just want to squeeze her cheeks!!!
I thought a would do a quick post on what Ainsley has been up to. She is 15 weeks this week and I can’t believe she is almost four months. It seems like yesterday that I found out I was pregnant and here we are almost a year later. I remember the exact day and time I found out I was pregnant and it replays over and over in my mind. And it is good and a bit of a wild story. I always mean to post about it, but I need to feel reflective and most the time, I just feel exhausted. Maybe soon….Anyhoo, just a quick update on our little bundle of personality.
- Ainsley is a gourmet eater. She is not a big eater, but loves to savor each drop like a fine chocolate. Since I have converted to full on bottle feeding (hal.le.lu.jah) she loves to hang on the bottle just as she did when she was nursing. I think it is a soothing thing.
- HATES the pacifier. I repeat HATES. I tried, I really did. I even tried this week. As mentioned above, she loves the bottle. She would probably sleep with it if I would let her, so I tried to trick her. I pulled it out after she was asleep and inserted the pacifier. What did I get….two sucks, eyes popped wide open, and it was projected across the bed. I am thinking that is the last straw. No more, she wins.
- Not a sleeper. Probably never will be. First, Ainsley does not nap–and i am not exaggerating. Today she woke up at 7:30am, took two 30 minute naps all day, then went back to sleep at 7:30 pm. That is a typical day. As far as sleeping through the night, only in the swing. Call me a bad parent, but if that is what it takes, then so be it. I just figure she won’t be hanging from a swing sleeping in her dorm room, so why worry? I have bought a contraption that is supposed to help with soothing her to sleep, but I am not going to hold my breath. Stay tuned.
- Loves to look around and watch cartoons. She can be mesmerized by the cartoons on TV. Good for me since she is up for about 12 hours straight. I pace the house with this child showing her EVERYTHING and she is very interested in all of it.
- Holds her head upright with ease and is starting to really love her Bumbo. She has held her head up since she was born, the first night in the hospital she rared back and gave me a stare. I guess she decided I was good to go.
- Is a feisty little thing. Might have gotten that from her mother also. She wants what she wants and she wants it yesterday. The first thing I was told when they brought her to me in the hospital is that “she is a feisty little girl”. Um, thanks…I know.
- Loves to grab onto everything. A few weeks ago she realized she has hands, now she is using them to grab everything and anything. Including my nose.
- Loves music and can listen to it all day and be satisfied.
- Talks non-stop.
- Loves to fart–got that from someone who will remain nameless. She will rip a big one then giggle. That will come in handy when she starts dating.
- Is a girl on the move. At 8 weeks she started rolling from her stomach to her back and has almost mastered from her back to her stomach. I used to be able to put her with her girlfriend the octopus and she would stay, but now I will come back and she will have traveled off the mat.
- Is a lover. She loves to be held and snuggle, which is great for me! One of my favorite things is when I hold her and walk around with her she drapes her arms around my neck and holds on. LOVE it.
- Loves to cook, but just doesn’t know it yet!
Ainsley’s three month photo has been long overdue, but with my return to work we are so busy just adjusting. I was conflicted about my return, but it seems to be working out. Ainsley actually let us put something on her head, but not for long. At least we got some cute pics!!! Since she is learning that she has hands and can use them to grab whatever she wants (including my hair), she now wants to grab the flame instead of stare at it. I love it!
GIVE ME MY CAKE!!!
Happy Birthday to me!!!
