Keep in your Prayers...

I usually keep this blog totally Amelia-focused, but I'm making an exception today.

There's a family to keep in your prayers today, the parents of little twin girls, Sydney and Carynne. They received a diagnosis of Werdnig-Hoffman disease, a form of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, shortly before their 5 month birthday. They would have been 6 months old today. Instead, their parents are attending their funeral. I do not know the family, but know a few ladies that know the mother, Brook.

Today, in honor of two gorgeous girls that were otherwise happy and healthy up until a month ago, folks across the US (including Miss Amelia) are wearing pink.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy is the #1 genetic killer of children. If this cause sounds like something you could support, please sign this petition: http://www.petitiontocuresma.com/. One thing I found significant was that advances towards curing this genetic abnormality could have an impact in curing several other major diseases.

Terrific Thursday!!

It's been a LONG week!

Amelia still has the sniffles, and I can't decide if I'm sick or not! Amelia has also decided that she does not need as much sleep anymore. She still goes to bed around 7:15pm and rather than sleeping until around 7am, she's been waking between 5:30-6:30. Daylight savings time is coming up, so I guess if we hold out until then, it will all get adjusted in our favor. We spring forward, so she won't be sleepy until later and in theory would sleep later.

And Wednesday afternoon, instead of napping for the Sitter, she screamed so long that Chris had to go get her. Josie said that she's never called a parent for anything other than illness before, so I'm nervous that if she doesn't stop doing this (had 1 other scream-fest last week), we might lose another sitter....

Amelia has been trying a lot of things lately. Today she had grapefruit for the first time and really seemed to like it. She's also really into eating hummus - she likes to eat it smeared on a whole wheat goldfish cracker. She also tried couscous this weekend, too. I don't think she knows what to think of it though! Try #2 on pasta had a much better result than #1.

We've been asked by a couple people why she's not drinking juice yet.... our answer is - why? She LOVES drinking water in her sippy cup, so there doesn't seem to be any reason why we could introduce juice at this time, since she's getting fruits from other sources. No reason to make her want anything else more than water, right?



And she's pulling herself up more and more. Her little feet seem to be getting more stable. Eek!

And she now has SEVEN teeth! She has the 4 across the top (the one on the right is about halfway down), the 2 in the center on the bottom, and 1 to the right of center on the bottom just popped through over the weekend. She's so cute with the 4 teeth at the top especially. But I have to say as a mom that is still doing some of the feedings myself... those teeth are making me wary!

Week 42

So... a wrap-up from last week.

Things with her new Sitter went great.

On Friday night, we all went out for after-work socializing with work friends again. Amelia got to hang out with her buddy, Carrick.

I already blogged about Saturday. Sunday was uneventful. Amelia has a bit of a cold, so we stayed home all day.

Wow, very unexciting, huh? :)

Amelia is 42 weeks old today!

Saturday Fun!

Amelia and I went to a Valentine's Party this morning at Erin's house! She put back on her V-Day shirt, but this time with the matching skirt and fancy tights.

We had fun! She liked to hang out with me, as well as the other mommies and kids that were there (there were a LOT!).

But she's just as happy playing by herself!

She snacked on the sweet potatoes that daddy packed her, some crackers, apple and pear slices, and her first taste of goldfish crackers, thanks to another kid. :)

My favorite part of those tights....

Here you go!

Picture of Amelia standing in her crib this morning!

Not bad for a picture taken in the dark! You'll have to ask her why she felt the need to wake up at 6:30am on the weekend....

ACK!

Our kid is growing up way too fast. She initally pulled herself up on something about a month ago, but in the past week has really started getting into it, once she started at her new Sitter.

The past couple of days, she's been doing it more at home, too.

This morning, she was in her room, chatting away with herself. When the noise turned into more of a fuss, I went in there, and there she was -- standing in her crib (holding on to the front railing). I should have been ready for that, but I wasn't. It's just a pretty surreal moment, just like when I first saw her sitting up in there.

The next few mornings, I'll go in with a camera, in hopes of capturing the image for you.

We're headed to Michigan for the first time next month. I really hope she's still willing to show off her crawling at that time, because none of her Michigan grandparents have seen it in person!

Terrific Thursday!

Amelia rolling around on the floor, getting into trouble...

Funny outfit night!! One of the perks of having a baby that still lets you pick out all of her clothes. :)

And a video.... This was taken on our digital camera of Amelia eating Chris's pear sorbet last weekend. She made the same face she makes when she eats lemons, but then goes back for more!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5Q0IPl_Fy4

Week 41 Pictures

Pictures from Amelia's 41-week birthday!

I had the day off, for the President's Day holiday, so Amelia and I enjoyed the day together. After a loooong morning nap, we drove down to see Melissa and Gabby at their house for lunch.

Gabby didn't know we were coming and LOVED the surprise!

Then, we went to see my stylist and get my hair cut. All the women in there were going crazy over Amelia. On our way out, I heard one girl sigh and say "now that was the best part of my day". Amelia has admirers all over!

I can't believe that we're only 11 weeks away from Amelia's first birthday. A YEAR old!? Put it on your calendars - her party will be May 2nd! I know some of you might be thinking.... how long will we be doing the weekly photo shoots? While it would definitely still be a reasonable expectation for us to take pictures of her on a weekly basis, the weekly Monday morning photo shoot is all part of a master plan to make a special photo book - showing the progression of our bambino.

So we'll have to see what direction this blog goes in after her 1st birthday! I imagine it will still be full of pictures and tidbits and such, but on a much less structured basis.

A big change in Amelia's world

I want to thank everyone that has been aware of this situation and has kept us in their thoughts/prayers for a good resolution.

Amelia changed daytime babysitters last week. I won't go into the reasons, but we ended up at the point where we needed to find someone new - and quickly.

I found a lovely mom, Josie, that stays home with her 3 kids (2 are in school all day) and takes in 3 little boys. Amelia took to the new place fabulously. She played all day with the kids - even Josie's older girls included Amelia in playing house. And there's a doggy there! Josie had him caged up when Chris dropped her off, and Amelia crawled over and kept sticking her finger in the cage, the doggy would lick, and she'd laugh and laugh.

She ate well and even took a 3-hour nap on her very first day!

I felt awful that the previous situation ended as abruptly as it did, because I know that Amelia loved her sitter and the other kids there. And her previous sitter did a fabulous job with her, helping her learn new things, and helping us a new parents. But honestly, Amelia's young - it's better to have made a change now, rather than later.

So, we're happy to have found someone new, just in time, and someone that I think will do very well with her.

Week 41

Wow, what a week! I'm exhausted.

Last week we had a lot going on, most of all not worth mentioning on here. One major thing I'll save for another post.

Then, over the weekend, we had a visit from one of Amelia's biggest fans - Christine! This was her first trip to town since the wedding in 2006, so she had never met our little bambino. Amelia took to her so well and loved all of the attention.


On Saturday, we showed Christine around to a few things. Amelia has decided that whatever we're eating, she wants. As long as it's still avoiding the list of things she shouldn't have yet (meat, eggs, and potential allergy items), we generally give in. She shared some of my corn chower at lunch, and then slurped down some of Daddy's pear sorbet:

Then, we headed back home for the college basketball game. We had Josh, Lisa and little Joey over for dinner. Amelia gave Joey his t-shirt valentine, and then they posed for pictures together:

Amelia finished the day out by hanging out with Mommy and then taking a ride on Daddy:

On Sunday, Amelia wore the fabulous new tights that Christine bought her, and we all went out to lunch before she headed back to Chicago.

Amelia was mad to see her go.

All in all, it was a great weekend. It was nice to see Chris have to put his work aside for a day and enjoy time as a family.... plus one. :)

Happy Valentine's Day from Bambino!!

Amelia had a great first Valentine's Day!

She got a great card from Gramma D, a handmade valentine from her buddy Joey, several store-bought valentines from other friends, cards from Mommy and Daddy, fun heart sunglasses from Christine, and a new dolly [yes, the one that she found the other day and decided she couldn't wait for her birthday to get].

Oh and she got a visit from one of her biggest fans - Christine! She lives in Chicago and this is the first time she's been to town since Amelia was born. So Amelia has been spoiled with lots of attention all weekend, and she's really grown attached to Christine. Christine was also asked by Gramma D to bring a mylar helium balloon for Amelia (for Valentine's Day) - which was sweet, because she loves balloons!

Happy Valentine's Day from Bambino!

Where did my teeny baby go....

1) We got her first "official" word today. (Mama and Dada don't count). "Ducky". We were playing with her rubber duckies (she LOVES them), and I was saying "ducky, ducky, ducky". Then she goes (clear as day) -- "ducky". I take it away and give it back -- "ducky". We call Daddy and she does the same thing for him. A short while later, she's playing with something else and I said "where is ducky?" and she goes and gets one! I kept thinking it would be "kitty" or "cat", but no.

2) She loves to be chased. She will crawl away at top speed and get all excited when we run after her.

3) She was crawling around in my office and found a doll that I had gotten for her birthday. It was not-so-well hidden under the spare bed. Suddenly I hear a giggling and sure enough, she had found the doll and was playing with it. I said "hey, you can't have that!" and she gave me a silly grin.

4) She is a picky reader. If we're reading a book at bedtime that she's not a fan of (and it goes in phases), she will look around the bed for a better one. She will not patiently listen to one that she doesn't like.

5) We have a small step in our bathroom and she crawls up it.

6) She understands "no"

7) She knows her bedtime routine and who usually does what part and gets fussy if the other parent does it.

Terrific Thursday!

Being serenaded by Daddy

How she looks when we wake her up (instead of the other way around)

PJ smiles

9 Month Stats and Valentines Fun

We went today for Amelia's 9-month appointment.

As I said in my last post, she gained a half pound in the past week - she must have lost a few ounces while she was feeling so bad, and totally made up for it when she was eating regularly again!

She's now 17 pounds, 12 ounces, which is the 32nd percentile. She is 27.5 inches, which is the 45th percentile.

Her 40-week pictures are below. She was wearing her Valentine's shirt, for the party at her Sitter's house today. Her gift to all the other kiddos were similar shirts, with a heart for the other girl, and stars for the boys. I made them myself - plus 2 more - definitely the shirt factory is CLOSED for now! That's what I get for my fancy ideas (actually I stole the idea from my friend Erin).

Week 40

Amelia had a great week last week, once she got over all that sicky-yuck.

She got her appetite back, and what's funny is that in a week, she gained 1/2 a pound! That shows how little she was eating last weekend and how much she made up for it since.

Grandpa Larry and Grandma Cathy came into town this weekend for a night. They hung out with her a bit before bedtime on Friday and then were on baby monitor-duty while Chris and I went out for a date.

On Saturday, our initial plan was to take advantage of the nicer weather and go to the zoo. However, it wasn't as nice as originally thought. So, after lunch with everyone, we left Chris behind to work on his classes, and the rest of us went to the Mall. After dinner on Saturday night, my parents headed home, full of love for their granddaughter. :)

On Sunday, we had brunch with the crew at Michelle's house. Then, Chris and I left Amelia behind, to go see "Spring Awakening". This was Michelle's first time babysitting "the peanut" and they both LOVED it! But I have to admit, walking in and having Amelia crawl her little heart out to get over to me felt good! :)

Her newest game - she likes to "feed" us, too.

Happy to be dancing with Grandpa.

A beebee-sized chair at the Mall.

A ride on Daddy down the block.

9 Months Old!

Amelia is 9 months old today! We had to re-schedule her 9-month well-check for Monday, so we'll have an update at that time with her official stats.

Amelia is such a joy to be around. She is a happy baby.

Her favorite things....
- Mom and Dad
- The two kitties. Bella will do anything at all to avoid her. Penny will slow down and let her catch for a moment.
- Rubber duckies!! Thanks to her new bathtub, rubber duckies have skyrocketed up Amelia's list. And bathtime has skyrocketed up Chris's list of the best part of his day. They have such fun together.
- Racing around the house on our shoulders
- Kisses and hugs
- Crunchie/chewy foods, like Gerber puffs, pizza crusts, veggie bits, rice, pretzels, etc.
- Mom's cell phone
- "Talking" to people on the phone
- Other kids
- Seeing herself, mom and dad, and pretty much any baby/kid in pictures

9 Month pictures:

Terrific Thursday!

Here's a cute video of Amelia crawling around today. She's gotten so fast!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofRpTa4NZ60

Week 39

I gave you enough updates of our week already (Amelia was sick, we were home bodies!). So this will just be some pics from our day....

Some of the day, she looked like this.... poor baby.

Trying to decide what her next adventure will be.

Playing with her friend in the mirror at the pediatrician's office.

High 5!

Happy baby.

"Outta my way, Mama!"

Best 39 week shot.

** Did I ever mention that Amelia has a birth mark? You can see a bit of it in the 1st diaper picture above - it's just above her diaper on the left side. Dr. K says it's a vascular birthmark (aka- "strawberry") and is nothing to worry about. She will monitor for any changes, but it shouldn't require any attention beyond that. It's not that big... maybe the size of a large multivitamin.