Our little Strawberry

Get it..... STRAWberry. ;) 

We had a fun few days celebrating Julia's first Halloween. She was battling a cold that turned into an ear infection, but her spirits were still up. We had quite a few Halloween celebrations that gave us the opportunity to put her in her costume. Here are a few pictures:

8 Months!

Age: 8 Months

Weight: 18 lbs

Length: Will be measured at her 9mo well check-up.

Hair: Still lots! 

Teeth: Four! The top two front teeth and bottom two teeth.

Sleeping: A little bit more intermittent here due to a persistent ear infection and teething. 

Eating: Getting better. She loves oatmeal, avocados, pears, carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, peaches and bananas. We just tried "Beef and Vegetable Pilaf". Jeff feed it to her and she loved it! He was happy and said "That's MY girl! I think she's ready for a steak!".

Movement: Officially crawling! Can transition from laying down to sitting on her own. Pulls herself up to standing in her crib.

Milestones: Crawling, pulling herself up to standing, first ear infection.

Favorite Toys/Activities: Still loves her exersaucer and jumperoo. LOVES baths.

Dislikes: Diaper changes resemble "catching a marlin"! She flips, flops and rolls, anything to avoid the diaper. Getting dressed is similarly as difficult. 

Words & Sounds: All kinds of noises, still lots of squeals, but we're getting more sounds that sound like words like: Hi, Da, Ga.

She is just so much fun. I LOVE seeing her soak in everything around her. It is just amazing.Here are some pictures from her 8 month "photo shoot". It's a lot more challenging taking her picture now that she's so mobile!

Soaking up the weekend

Last weekend was absolutely gorgeous! Temps in the 80s and days filled with sunshine. Knowing that these days are quickly coming to an end we decided to put most of our chores aside and soak up the beautiful weekend. We went to a pumpkin patch, an apple orchard, took a Sunday drive and explored a new park. It was great! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Note to self: Don't wear hat so low! Jeez!

Only family pic. Not so smart taking it under the pergola. Oh well.

These weird "people" were all over the park. They gave me the heebee jeebees!

Jeff's new friend Stanley. 

7 months

Age: 7 Months

Weight: 17 lbs? (not sure exactly)

Length: ?

Hair: Lots 

Teeth: And we have a tooth! 

Sleeping: Having a little bit of a tougher month in this department. I think it’s been due to a cold that she’s been fighting for about two weeks and those two pesky teeth that are still deciding if they want to make an appearance or not. Typically, she goes to bed around 7:15-7:30pm and wakes up at 7:00am.

Eating: Nursing and has pretty much refused all solid foods over the last three weeks. It’s been tough…..and messy! I want to make sure she’s eating enough, but those lips clamp shut and there is nothing we can do to open them up! She’s pretty strong willed! We think this may also be due to the cold and teething. So, hopefully she’ll get back on the “solid food train” soon.

Movement: She can now get up on all fours and will rock back and forth, but if there is any movement is backwards! She’s really good at spinning around on the floor to reach toys or Baxter.

Milestones: REALLY good a sitting up on her own, rocking back and forth on all fours

Favorite Toys/Activities: Jumperoo, Sit n' Play, turning on the mobile in her crib, absolutely loves splashing and kicking while taking a bath (so cute!) and when she notices me when I walk into her room at daycare, she smiles and squeals and flaps her arms like she’s going to fly. Melts my heart every time!

Dislikes: All solid food. Diaper changes have gotten a lot more interesting. “Someone” likes to grab my arm with her legs and then flip over. I think I saw the same move on the WWF (or is it WWE now?). I wonder if I should be worried…

Words & Sounds: Still lots of squealing and I mean “high pitch, I’m definitely a girl” type squeals! I think she’s just preparing us for the years of squeals to come! 

Hi Mommy!

Oh, that lower lip..... It gets me every time!

Hi sweet girl!

"Excuse me while I check out my toes."

"Are you still taking pictures Momma? 'Cuz I'm kinda busy."

"101, 102, 103.....How many more push-ups?"

Firsts and Lasts

Recently, Jeff was talking to a co-worker who has a baby a few months older than Julia. They both swapped stories about their babies, but one thing that hit home with Jeff was when the co-worker talked about "lasts". She said "So many times we focus on firsts, first smile, first food, first steps, that we often forget to notice the lasts, last time she slept in your room, last time she fit in a newborn outfit, last day in an infant carrier." As Jeff was telling me about their conversation I realized that I had pictures from her first and last day in her bouncy seat. It actually brought a tear to my eye! (I'm such a sap.) I'm sure there will be many firsts and lasts to come. I hope we appreciate both.

Snoozin' in the bouncy seat.

Yes, there is a baby in there! 

I looked over and there she was SITTING up in her bouncy seat! Ahhh!

"Hi Mommy! It's probably not safe for me to sit in here anymore!"

6 months

I can't believe it, but Julia turned 6 months old yesterday! Wow, that went fast! She's just such a fun baby, we are so lucky. Here is a little bit about what she is up to and a few pictures from her 6 month photo shoot.

Age: 6 Months

Weight: 16lbs, 10oz (64th percentile)

Length: 29 inches (99th percentile)

Hair: Lots 

Teeth: Still no signs of any little chompers.

Sleeping: Again, we are spoiled…

Eating: Nursing and have moved on to sweet potatoes and carrots.

Movement: When she is on her tummy, she makes all the crawling motions, but doesn’t actually go anywhere quite yet. I’m thinking it will happen soon.

Milestones: More solid food, sitting up unassisted, first “ride” on a swing and slide down a slide. First Badger football game!

Favorite Toys/Activities: Jumperoo,  Baby Einstein Sit n' Play, colorful rings, bunny blanket

Dislikes: I can’t think of one.

Words & Sounds: Lots of squeals of delight and excitement. Sometimes I can just look at her and she squeals! She’s also been making this really cute face where she scrunches up her nose and smiles/laughs. It’s very cute. I think it is something that I used to do as a baby. It the first thing I see of myself in her.

Let's Go Swinging!

We took a little family trip to a nearby park today. We wanted to see if Julia would like the swings. The jury is still out, but we did see a few smiles! Although she may have been distracted by the windchill. It was literally 95 degrees two days ago! Here are a few pictures.