Monday, October 27, 2008

25 weeks old!

Amelia is 25 weeks old today! Bambino is getting so big!

She has her 6-month appointment with Dr. K next Monday and her 6-month photo shoot with Erica next Saturday.


We had an awful time getting her to sit still this morning for her 25-week picture, and took probably 40 shots. And wouldn't you know... when you can hardly get one good one, you always get two.





Sunday, October 26, 2008

Boo at the Zoo!

We went to Boo at the Zoo in Saturday.
Amelia's original Halloween costume is a pea pod, which she will wear on Halloween. But her friend at her Sitter loaned us some stuff that doesn't fit her, and it included a little Lion outfit. Because the pea pod is just that, a pod with the legs both together, we decided to put her in the lion outfit for the zoo, so she can ride in her stroller or the Baby Bjorn, with the split legs.
The little Lion, before we added non-matching gloves and an extra hat (with ear flaps)


All of Us


Amelia's favorite spot at the zoo, the aquarium. Her little head swings back and forth, watching the beautiful fish swim by.


Watching the sting ray and manatees with dad and grandpa.

Cute little Lion

She fell asleep before we got to the Lion exhibit.


Week 25

Not much exciting stuff during the week.

But on Thursday, Chris finally hung Amelia's swing. It's still pretty big for her (and a bit crooked), but it will be great for next year!


She's moved on to sweet potatoes for her baby food snack in the evening. Quite messy!


AMELIA HAS HER FIRST TOOTH!!

She's exhibited the signs for months - shoving her hands in her mouth and excessive drool. In the past week, she started rubbing her tongue on her lower gums, like she could feel something. I thought I was seeing something, but just thought it was a figment of my imagination. Well, on Friday, her sitter found her first tooth popping through the gums on the bottom in the middle. This explains the really bad sleeping habits she's had lately.... :)


Since we have no shots of the tiny little tooth just barely surfacing, I'll just show her cute outfit on Saturday. We didn't get to see it much, because she was wearing a sweater over top, and then we changed her to go to the zoo. But she looked so sweet! :)


On Friday, Chris's father and stepmother came into town to see us. Friday night was only play time and Amelia showing off her various tricks before going to bed. On Saturday, we walked a bit around Delaware, and then went to Babies-R-Us for some shopping (thanks Tom and Linda!). You know grandparents and the eternal desire for spoiling. :)

Afterwards, we headed to Boo at the Zoo! It is a thing that the Columbus Zoo does on weekends in October. The kiddos wear their costumes and there are treat stations all around the zoo. Yes, I pimped out my daughter for a bit of candy. I will do a separate post with pictures.

And one non-Amelia note. My family's beloved miniature dachshund, Samson ("Sammy"), passed away on Thursday. He was 13.5 years old and the only dog I have ever had. We miss you, little guy!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

24 Weeks Old!


Amelia is 24 weeks old!

Week 24

Last week was a crazy week!! I already talked about Monday in my last post.

Tuesday -- Normal day with the other kiddos at Sue's house.

Wednesday -- Jammies and Special Friend Day at Sue's! All of the kids looked cute. Here is Amelia just before she left to go. That is her favorite stuffed animal of the moment -- a hippo that Chris has named "Pickle".


We left at the end of my work day to go up to Lakeside. Chris's colleague has a house up there, where we went last year for a weekend with his mother. It's where we told her that Amelia was coming! Wednesday night we just got all settled in.

Thursday -- We walked around Lakeside, shopped a bit, and just enjoyed each other as a family.


Then we took Amelia to her first pumpkin patch! She picked out two pumpkins for our house.

Friday -- Since Dona (Chris's mom) was coming to visit for the weekend anyway, we suggested that she meet us at Lakeside. She and Chris reinacted the moment when the news came out last year. If you recall from the early days of this blog, the story goes that I was taking their picture and said "say.... 'Julie's pregnant!'" See below to see what a difference a year makes!


2007


2008

We headed back down to Columbus on Friday afternoon, because we had some plans there for the weekend. Chris's college hockey team was in town and Dona watched Amelia on Friday so Chris and I could go to the game, and then I switched off with her on Saturday, so she could go with Chris.

Saturday -- Amelia hung out at home with dad and Gramma D, while I went and scored some bargains for her at a baby consignment sale. Then we all met up for lunch. Dona fed her green beans later -- she loves green beans!


Amelia seemed to really enjoy the extra attention she got this week. Between mom having a holiday and taking off 2 days for a mini family vacation, dad being off for 3 days for fall break, and Gramma D coming into town for a couple of days.... little girl got a lot of attention.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Comment

Just a comment to clarify the end of the last post. In order to view Amelia on the webcam, one does not have to have one of their own. A second webcam is only needed for us to see you, and Amelia is probably not at the point yet where that would make sense :)

Monday, October 13, 2008

Week 23

Amelia is growing up so fast. It's so amazing to see how much she changes week to week. I've heard that the time between months 4 and 6 are the most filled with change, and I believe it.

This past week started out the same old way with days at Sue's and nights with mom and dad. On Friday, Grandma Cathy and Grandpa Larry came over to see Amelia, and give mom and dad some time off. They watched her from the afternoon until her bedtime, while we attended the inauguration festivities at the University (new president).

On Saturday morning, we all went downtown to the farmer's market together. Then, Amelia stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa again, while Chris and I went to the OSU football game. She seemed to really enjoy having them around, and they seemed to just totally eat up every little thing she did. She even showed them her adorable little laugh once. :) It was nice having my parents over for a little more than a day, their first overnight together at our house.

On Sunday, we went to church down in Columbus and then to the Italian Festival. We ended the day at a get-together with some friends. Amelia took an uncharacteristically long nap in the afternoon, allowing us to go to the dinner without her getting too upset being out a bit past her bedtime.

Today (Monday), I had the day off for Columbus Day. Amelia and I had a nice ladies day out! We went to lunch with my friend Erin, and her little 8 week old, Arden. Arden was a dull lunch date, she slept the whole time! :) Then, Amelia and I did a little shopping, before heading home to wait for daddy to get off work. She must have had an active day... it was a stressful time keeping her up to her normal bedtime tonight!

Amelia at 23 weeks with teeny baby toes:


Amelia at 23 weeks with teeny little sneakers:

Goofy picture from last week:

In her Buckeye gear on Saturday:

One more thing.... Gramma D got one of her birthday presents (belatedly) this week -- we gave in to her begging and got a webcam! :) She's been watching Amelia eat (and spit out and eat again) green beans and such. So after Gramma D gets bored, perhaps someone else would like a few minutes of Amelia time?

Monday, October 6, 2008

Baby Food

I missed posting one new thing last week!

So you all know that Amelia started eating baby cereal once a day when she turned 4 months old. Well, it didn't agree with her too much. After about 3 1/2 weeks of attempts, we decided to move on to the veggies. Her tummy seems to appreciate them much more.

She started with yellow squash two Sundays ago, and ate that for 5 days, and then moved on to butternut squash, which she has had for 4 days. They say to just introduce one veggie at a time, for 4 days straight, to look for any food allergies. She seems to prefer the butternut squash over the yellow squash. And she's a much better eater now that she's getting veggies rather than cereal! I'm thinking.... green beans next?

I never posted about this before, and I'm not sure why, since it's baby-related.... but I'm making all of her baby food at this time. I've been getting veggies at our local farmer's markets, steaming them, pureeing them in the food processor. Then, I fill a normal ice cube tray with the food. It freezes and I pop the cubes out and fill plastic freezer bags with the cubes. For greater protection, I put the bags in tupperware. So when we're trying a new flavor, I go down to our chest freezer and bring up a bag of something. Then, it's just a matter of grabbing a cube or two and heating in the microwave for her to eat.

So far I've made.... yellow squash, butternut squash, zucchini, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes and applesauce. For a while still her primary source of nutrition will come from mommy, with occasional formula, but this is a good opportunity for her to learn how to eat from a spoon and to try some new things.

At this point, it seems like a fun activity, as opposed to a necessity! :)

Week 22

Last week, Amelia started laughing a bit more frequently, so that was fun. I'll have to pressure Chris to offload some stuff off the video camera, because we got it on video! :)


On Friday night, we went down to First Friday. We didn't stay long, because of her bedtime schedule, but I think she enjoyed the sights and hearing people fuss over her wherever we went.


On Saturday, we did our usual walk downtown for the Farmer's Market (not many left!). Then, Amelia and I went and had lunch with my friend Katrina, and her 4 year old son, Ryan. Ryan was a bit in love with Amelia. He kept calling her "pretty" and loved making her laugh! And she kept making eyes at him, too, so you never know.... 20 years from now...? :)



On Sunday, Amelia woke up with the cold that I mentioned yesterday. She had snifflies for a few days, but this was a full-blown cold. What a way to spend her 5 month birthday! But she did her best to be happy despite, and loved playing with the 5-month present that she picked out for herself a few days before:



Look at those little pink cheeks. She was so sad to be sick yesterday.

She was so (unusually) cuddly yesterday. The only way we could get her to nap was to hold her, and it was the only way that should would go to bed (for good) last night. Napping on Mommy:


This morning I took her to her Pediatrician, because I was worried that she kept rubbing one of her ears (which can be a sign of an ear infection). It wasn't infected, but had a lot of gunk that she cleaned out. Dr. K just prescribed tylenol, lots of cuddling, and our best attempt at giving her a good night's sleep. She said that the congestion would bother her until it went away, but there's nothing we can do.

And of course, her 22 week birthday shot! She's wearing pj's, because isn't that what we all want to wear when we're sick? Look at her being happy..... she's trying her best. :)

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Happy 5 Month Birthday, Amelia!

Amelia is 5 months old today!!! Yay!!

She doesn't have a well-check this month, so no updates there.

Unfortunately, she is feeling awfully crummy today. River of yellow snot, tiny little cough, lots of sniffling and sneezing.

She doesn't look sick, you say? Here's proof:

More Amelia Favorites

Favorite Activities

Amelia's favorite thing to do is sit out on the front porch and watch the cars go by. She watches one go by, face turning to see it go, and then it whips back to see if another one is coming. I'm sad that it's starting to get cold out, because this was our one thing that was almost a never-fail thing to get her to stop fussing.

Her second favorite is to look at herself in the mirror. It almost has that same ability to stop her fussing. She thinks that she's the cutest thing ever and loves to smile, coo and squeal at herself.

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Favorite People

Of course, Mommy and Daddy!! She is so fascinated with us especially lately. It does get in the way of feeding, because she will stop eating and stare when Chris comes in the room or if either of us talk. But it feels awfully special to be the top people in her world. She thinks we're hilarious and has been rewarding us with laughs more and more.

Sue -- her daytime babysitter. She loves her and gives her a smile every time. They have little silly songs and other such inside jokes.

Cami -- her best friend (BFF) at Sue's. Cami is a month older than Amelia and they love to hang out with each other. Sue says that in all of her years of watching kids, she's never seen two bond like these two before. They will sit and stare at each other, smiling and chatting.

Family -- She's never met a relative she didn't like!

And anyone that will tell her how cute she is and give her a smile. She's a sucker for anyone that will talk nicely about her.

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She recently started crinkling her nose, which is funny: