In Pictures...

Here's what Adele has been up to lately...
She has learned how to grab things...and put them in her mouth!



This toy kept ending up around her wrist...she's into jewlery already!






Another Teething Ring (Or Piece of Jewlery...):


She loves her Daddy!

No Peanuts for our Peanut :(

Well, our rashey-mystery might be solved.

Adele is allergic to peanuts, and guess what...I've been eating plenty of peanut products lately...oops! No more peanuts for mommy for now, and none for Adele when she starts solid foods. Poor little girl! I feel terrible that something I've been doing has made her miserable (okay, I'm not sure how "miserable" she has been, but she's got to be itchy, and that's no fun!)

At least it's not milk...I think it would be much harder to remove dairy products from my diet...especially since Memaw and Gramps brought a bag of cheese down with them!

Pictures

Gramps works his magic and calms Adele down


Gramps is a pretty funny guy!


Katie and Michael with Baby Adele



Memaw reads Chicka Chicka Boom Boom to Adele


Too Cute!

Toenails and TV

I forgot to mention that I found a very useful tool for cutting Adele's toenails: the TV. She loves watching it, and although I'm not a big fan of letting her, it did come in handy when I decided to cut her toenails today. She still wiggled her little feet and curled her toes on me, but she was pretty distracted so she didn't try to pull her feet away. I'll have to remember that one!

and yes...I promise to post pictures soon!

What a Little Treasure!

So far today, Adele has been a real treasure! She slept for a seven hour stretch last night...YAY! and is working on her second nap right now.

Memaw and Gramps are still here and they are eating up every minute with her today, especially since she is in such a good mood! We played with her mirror toy this morning and had some good tummy time. She still isn't interested in rolling over again, but she has been lifting both legs all the way off the ground-it's pretty funny, she looks just like a fish! She wore herself out playing, and went down for a nap without any real protest and slept for over an hour in her crib! Then it was time to eat and off to Target so Memaw and Gramps could spoil her with new clothes! She was so good on the way there that she "earned" a few adorable outfits (and Mommy must have been behaving as well, because she scored a crock pot!)

Don't tell Daddy, but Gramps treated us to Five Guys for lunch. Adele did great helping us wait for our burgers, and had no fuss on the way home either! She went down for her nap without so much as a peep, so I'm off to make more yummy strawberry bread! I'll post pictures later today.

One More Movie

Just some random clips of Adele as she figures out this crazy world that we live in!

Giggling with Gramps!

And here she is giggling with Gramps. She's turning out to be quite the little flirt!

Getting Dressed with Memaw

You can tell Memaw has lots of experience dressing babies! She gets Adele dressed without ever lifting her off of her lap! Guess I have a lot to learn!

More Visitors!

Aunt Katie and Michael are in town, so they are staying at our house. They got in very early this morning, and Cookie was very protective of her baby while they got settled. Adele slept through their arrival, but woke up to eat a record 4 times last night. Needless to say, I'm pretty exhausted! I tried to nap while she did today, but she wouldn't stay asleep long enough for me to fall asleep....its like she has radar that tells her when mommy is tired or something!

Memaw and Gramps got here this afternoon and Adele had plenty of smiles for them. She showed them how she likes "riding" in the Baby Bjorn as we walked around the backyard looking at all of our plants which have started to bloom. We spent a little time playing with a mirror we hung on Adele's bouncy seat.



Then it was dinner time (mmm...Puccini's!), bath time, then off to bed. We've got bigger plans for tomorrow, but right now we're all pretty sleepy!

Baby Noises

more video from today...

Adele and her Monkey

Daddy got the video camera out while I walked Cookie. Here is the first of two videos from today.



She is watching her monkey toy, which is hanging on her bouncy seat.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Last week we had an earthquake. This week it feels like we're in a tornado! Really, though, the weather has been great, its just our schedule that has been hectic!

Adele's rash is getting worse. Last week, we took eggs out of my diet to see if that would help her eczema, but that didn't seem to help, and the rash has spread to her face. So, on Thursday I brought her back to the doctor. She thinks that Adele might have an allergy to milk or soy since the medicine/change in diet didn't work. Apparently they can test for milk allergies by looking at your blood, so I had to take her to the Children's Hospital to get blood drawn, poor little thing!

In addition to taking Adele to two doctors, I had a meeting with my principal yesterday, which meant possibly several hours (yes...hours) of showing Ellie off again at school. She screamed the whole way to school (40 minutes) and missed her nap because of our driving. (I was REALLY hoping that yesterday would be the day she stopped crying in the car and started sleeping!!...no such luck) She was a cutie for the most part while we were at school, so that was good. She clearly needed a nap though, and amazingly fell asleep in the carseat as we left the buildig. Unfortunately, she woke up as soon as I clicked her in to the carseat base...bummer!

After our visit at school, we headed to the Children's Hospital (I decided to go to school first, knowing that she would probably be very cranky after no nap AND getting stuck with a needle!) It didn't take long, and in all honesty, she didn't scream any worse for the blood draw than she does in the car, so it wasn't that bad (on mommy...). I did have to nurse her in the car (there were too many people in the lobby of the hospital) before we drove home, but even a full belly didn't make her happy for the ride home. Yup, 40 more minutes of screaming! Aye aye aye! Fortunately, Daddy was home when we got there, and he gave me a nice break so I could take a tylenol!

Today, Daddy had the day off...yay! Adele woke up early and basically skipped her morning nap, but she was happy, so we took both Adele and Cookie to some woods near our house and walked the trails. Daddy had Cookie on the leash, and I had Ellie in the Bjorn. She did surprisingly well for our little "hike". I forgot her hat, but she probably preferred not to wear it anyway!

Daddy tried to put Adele down for a nap while I ate, he got her asleep, and sat in the chair in her room, holding her. I went upstaris to finish up a sewing project and saw Daddy zonked out in the chair, and Adele wide awake in his lap, looking around. It was priceless! I scooped her up and swaddled her and after about 40 minutes finally got her to sleep in her crib...and stay asleep.

Now I need to get the house cleaned up since we've got Aunt Katie and Michael coming tonight, and Memaw and Gramps coming tomorrow! I suppose I'll have to take some pictures sometime today...we forgot the camera when we went to the woods!

Hey Mom, This Baby Bjorn Tastes Good!

Well, I decided to try the Bjorn again, despite her fit on Monday night! This time, I put her facing out, and we used a hat instead of a blanket to keep the sun out of her eyes. (There's an idea!) She did great! At first, all she wanted to do was eat the Bjorn. In fact, she enjoyed that so much, she forgot to fuss on our walk. I had decided just to walk until she started fussing and before I knew it, we made it all the way down the block and back...without a peep! If she had been in the stroller I would have had to check and see if I remembered to put her in!


Mmmm...Bjorn!

What you lookin' at, Willis? (or Daddy???)

Bedtime took a while tonight, but it was my fault. It seems to have gone straight from winter to summer, and I was afraid Adele would be too hot in her swaddle tonight (it's flannel) so I tried to put her to bed unswaddled. That lasted about 2 minutes. She didn't cry though, she just kicked her little legs and "swam" her arms around in bed. I guess it must be pretty hard to soothe yourself to sleep when your limbs are trying to compete in their own little triathalon! So, we put a fan in her room and swaddled her. Last night, both times she woke up to eat, she had escaped from her swaddle anyhow, so maybe it is time to start weaning her off! Maybe this weekend when Memaw and Gramps are here (I know...his name keeps changing, but he signed his last email 'Gramps', and I like it!).

Strawberry Bread

1 cup smashed strawberries
1 1/2 cup and 1 Tbsp flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup oil (or 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce to make it healthier)
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350, grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan

Mix all dry ingredients, then add oil, eggs, vanilla to the bowl. Mix well. Slowly add strawberries and pecans. Mix only until blended.

Bake 45 to 55 minutes

This would be really good with cool whip and strawberries on top!

On Our Own

It was so nice having Daddy home for 4 days, we sure miss him today, but we're surviving!

Last night we discovered that Adele's humidifier filter DESPERATELY needed to be changed! It smelled like dead fish in her room...yuck! So, this morning Adele and I headed to Wal-Mart to get a replacement filter. Unfortunately, it is now DE-humidifier season, so we had no luck at Wal-Mart of Meijer. Bummer. Adele is fine without the actual humidifier (in fact, it has been making her room TOO humid in this warm weather), but I am afraid she will miss the noise it makes! Plus, she is a little stuffed up right now, and that's when/why you're supposed to use a humidifier in the first place. Oh well...she will survive! She slept last night without it running, and she's napping without it right now, so hopefully we're okay!

She was incredibly good while running errands this morning! She only fussed for the last minute or so of the drive to Wal-Mart, and did great in the store! A man came up and asked why babies are so cute...we thanked him for the compliment (and told him that its so we still love them when they cry for hours!) And then the woman checking us out wanted to play with her. (I didn't like that too much...I'm not a huge fan of strangers TOUCHING my baby! Oogling over them is fine, but HANDS OFF PLEASE!)

She was a little bit more fussy at Meijer, but it was getting to be nap time, and I was going incredibly slow in hopes of finding a filter! She would fuss for a few seconds and then stop, no full out scream-fest, so strangers (once again) started coming out of the woodwork to talk to her. At least it helped keep her entertained!

She fell asleep on the ride home then. Of course, she woke up when we got home, but that was okay. She was cheerful and talkative while I ate lunch. While she was "talking" she "razzed" her lips and surprised herself into a giggle...it was TOO cute! I am pretty sure she did it on accident, since she hasn't done it again, but I can't wait for her to be able to "razz" when she wants!

I'm not sure if we'll try the stroller again today, but I may just take her on a walk in my arms. Yesterday we saw our neighbors with their new baby, and since another set of neighbors (and their 9 month old) was talking to them, I decided to bring Adele over too (make that: run across the street with Adele to catch a glimpse!). Adele did remarkably well in the sun! (I probably should have had her covered up some more, but she wasn't complaining, so I didn't even think about it!)

Well, as promised, here is a picture of her hat and sunglasses "get-up." And, yes, she was screaming when I took the picture!

Happy 3-Month Birthday, Adele!

I can't believe that our little girl is 3 months old already! Our neighbors brought home their brand new baby last night...even though I feel like Adele is getting too big too fast, I'm glad we're past those early days!

She never did wake up last night, and after her feedings, I put her back in her crib "sleepy but still awake" like the books all say (which I have never been able to do, due to her screaming the second she touches her crib) and she put herself to sleep! I'm not sure if it was a fluke, but I'm hoping not since it happened twice!

This morning, Daddy played with her while I ran errands. I went to Babies R Us and got her sunglasses and 2 hats (I got two because I wasn't sure one would be big enough...they're both huge...oh well!) She tried them on without screaming, but I haven't taken her outside in them yet. Daddy was mowing the lawn, and I didn't think it would be great for her to be outside with him mowing....and now she's sleeping (has been for almost an hour...wow!) so I'll have to try when she wakes up! I tried her in the Baby Bjorn last night, we walked down the block, she fussed and cried the whole time, but then again, I had a blanket over her head, so what should I expect?? Anyway, if we do make it outside with her hat and sunglasses on, I'll be sure to take a picture and post it later!

So far, during Adele's nap, I have folded laundry and made strawberry bread. Daddy thinks I'm a dork for posting recipes on here, but I'll probably post the recipe and pictures later.

Monday, Monday

It doesn't feel like Monday, because Daddy stayed home today, and Uncle Greg is still here. Adele was up early, but so was everyone else, so that was no big deal. For some reason she's only sleeping 3 1/2 or 4 hour stretches anymore at night...what happened to her 7 1/2 or 8 hour stretches??? I miss those! Oh well, at least she's sleeping, right? Plus, on average it is only taking half an hour to feed her and get her back down, it used to be an hour at least, so we're doing something right! And, I've been able to fall back asleep again after she eats, so that's good!

She wasn't thrilled about taking naps today...especially since it was time to cut her nails. It seems that on "manicure" days she never wants to fall asleep, and when she finally does sleep, she won't let me sit down with her in order to get at those fingers! (Part of the problem is that she has become used to being swaddled for her naps too....can't cut her nails when her hands are swaddled) I ended up cutting her nails while she was awake.

We took her to Ted's for lunch...Daddy had been looking forward to eating at Ted's for months! She was VERY well behaved! She stayed in her carseat the whole time (which gave me a chance to eat ALL of my yummy food!) and only fussed a little just as we were leaving. Of course, she cried the whole way home, but that's to be expected...

Tonight Daddy and Greg are at their Asia concert, so it's Girl's Night In! Unfortunately, Adele is being a party pooper and is sleeping already. (Of course, now that I've typed that she'll probably wake up and won't go back to sleep for several hours!)

Such a Sweet Baby!

I just have to say that Adele gets sweeter and sweeter (and cuter!) every day!

Uncle Greg is visiting this weekend. He got here Friday night, just as Daddy was finishing up "babysitting" Adele for about 4 hours while Mommy taught ballroom dancing to some girl scouts. Everyone survived! Yay! Adele went to bed a little later than usual, but she was tired, so she went down without any problem! Mommy was exhausted, so she went right to sleep too!

On Saturday, the boys planted two new pine trees in the backyard, so the girls ran to Five Guys to get burgers for lunch. As usual, Adele cried in the car, but she calmed down and was smiley while we waited for the burgers!



Today has been nothing special, we are thinking that Aldo might stop by for a visit, but we're not sure when he'll get here. Adele is sleeping, but she's probably going to wake up soon. She has been practicing using her hands more. Today, she held her blanket in both hands, brought it to her mouth and sucked on it. (of course, she was done sucking it by the time Daddy got the camera, but she still takes a cute picture!)



I am pretty proud of myself for keeping her on her "schedule" while Uncle Greg is here! Especially since we really just established this schedule last week, and then last Thursday kind of threw things off a bit!

Lovely Little Left Handed Lady?

First of all, I must say: Two Blogs in one day??? Someone must be a good napper! (yup, so far she has been!)

Okay, on to the good stuff! I had just got off the phone with Memaw saying that I can't wait for Adele to start grabbing things, but that she has no real interest in doing so yet, (although she would hold her rattle if we put it in her hand), and viola! I put her on the floor after hanging up the phone, and she grabs her rattle! She held on to it for quite a while! She smacked herself in the face once (I even captured that on film...) and managed to find her mouth and suck on the rattle! Yay Ellie! Later on, she pulled her paci out of her mouth...uhoh...she better learn how to put it back in!






She was looking awfully cute during tummy time, so I took pictures of that too!

Adele's First...

Earthquake???!!!!



At 5:37 this morning, Adele had her first earthquake. She slept through it...lucky girl! (of course, that's from mommy's perspective. I think Daddy probably liked it!)

All I know is that I was having another sleepless night and I had looked at the clock at 5:15, then I must have fallen asleep for a few minutes before our house started shaking!

For a second I thought it was just strong winds, but the bed was moving, and the wind shouldn't affect things INSIDE the house! We got up, I grabbed Adele and ran downstairs. Daddy turned on the news, but told me to stay in the front room. I started nursing Adele to help her stay asleep, and then Daddy said I could bring her into the TV room. We decided there weren't going to be any aftershocks so we headed back upstairs...or, tried to. I had a panic attack and was scared to go up. Eventually I calmed down and we got upstairs. I decided to go to the bathroom since we were awake, but I had another panic attack. I was afraid to ler Adele out of my sight, and I was afraid of feeling another quake! Eventually, I calmed down again and decided that if there were any way I'd fall back asleep, it would be with Adele in the chair, so she and I got situated (amidst more panic attacks) while Daddy got ready for work. Now I was panicking because I didn't want to be alone! Adele nursed some more and eventually we fell asleep. Fortunately when we woke up at 8 I was done panicking!!! Earthquakes and panic attacks suck!

Some Recent Pictures

Who needs thumbs when you can suck your whole fist??







Watch me sit like a big girl!
Are my bangs getting curly or what??






Babysitter Cookie:

School Daze!

What a day! Today my first graders had their music program at school, so I decided to take Adele...it was time to show her off anyway, and she's been so good lately, I figured I had a pretty good chance of showing off a pretty good baby.

We got up at 7 (Holy cow!! That feels early after sleeping in till almost 9 most days!) And we were ready to go by 8. We got to school by 8:40, and although she cried the first 35 minutes, she did settle down just as we arrived. Everyone ooh-ed and aah-ed over her until the music program started...then there was more ooh-ing and aah-ing. She made it through the program without any fussing (she actually took a little nap) and went 3 hours between feedings!! She wasn't too thrilled about her bottle though, so I found a quiet place to nurse her...yup, Adele got to eat lunch in the Principa's office! She took another nap as we made the rounds to say good-bye, but woke up happy before we could actually leave (there were just too many people to say hi to!)

On the way home, she cried for about 2 minutes then started looking around. I think she eventually fell asleep, but it didn't matter much to mesince she wasn't screaming. So, 5 hours after leaving, we arrived home safe and sound! Cookie was glad to see us, and I'm ready for my nap!!!

She's sleeping in her crib...

For the third time today! Hooray!!!

She took two short naps in her crib earlier today, and now she's been in there for about 25 minutes. I'm not betting that she'll stay asleep much longer, but at least she's not in my arms! I did tae-bo during one nap, and now I'm blogging. During her first nap, I stayed in the room and patted her to keep her from startling herself...I forgot to swaddle her, and she kept hitting herslef in the face. It's a good thing that nap didn't last long...my legs and back got pretty tired from standing over her crib, but I worked so hard to make her sleep in there yesterday, it was a small price to pay for staying consistent.

We have had a busy day, or at least, it feels busy.

I didn't sleep well at all last night again, I was pretty much up from 3:30 until 7. Then I did sleep (with Adele....in the chair.....oops, so much for consistency there, but I needed my sleep) from 7 until 8 or 8:30.

Adele had some great giggles for me this morning...it was the first time she laughed for me and not Daddy...yay! She had great tummy time too..check out the picture of her watching herself in the mirror...she loves mirrors!



We also braved a stroller ride, it is absolutely beautiful outside today. I swear, Adele has radar or something that tells her when we've gotten as far as we're going...she does fine on the first half of her stroller rides, then screams the whole way home. This time we went to see Clutch...Cookie has been SO good lately, she deserved some time with her "boyfriend." She was excited to see him, but since Adele was there, she didn't play long. She ran over to us just as Adele started to fuss, and didn't put up too much of a struggle on the way home.

Well, I'm going to get some rest...4 hours isn't enough sleep for this mommy!

Taco Soup

Okay, here's the taco soup recipe and pictures (if Blogger works...) I got the recipe from someone on my Babyfit website...thanks Navy!!!

1 lb ground beef
1 package low sodium taco seasoning
1 package ranch dressing
1 can corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes (or use 2 cans of plain if you prefer)
1 can white beans
1 can black beans

Brown meat. Drain. Stir in seasonings. Stir in all of the cans without draining them. Simmer. Enjoy!

Optional Toppings: Shredded Cheese, Fritos (or other corn chips) Also- you might want to add some extra water (1 to 1-1/2 cups), mine turned out really thick, almost like a chili instead of a soup, but I liked it that way.

YUM!!

Looking this cute is hard work!

12 Weeks!

Adele is 12 weeks old today! Where has the time gone???

Today was rough, but its my own fault. I decided that it's time for Adele to start taking naps NOT on me again. Yesterday I caught her sleeping in her pack-n-play. I love the arms behind the head look! She woke up about thirty seconds later, but she sure looked cute while she was asleep!

So, for naptime, I took her up to her room to get her to sleep. She has hated that in the past, and she hated it today. Oh well...I stood my ground, and she slept all of about 45 minutes total today...until Daddy got home. Then I decided I was done fighting about naps, and she slept from about 4:30 until 5:30 in the living room...in my arms. Hey, I can always try again tomorrow!

On a positive note, I did keep her in her crib all night!!! Well...sort of...she was up almost constantly from 5 until 8, wanting to be rocked back to sleep (I knew she couldn't be hungry that whole time) but I kept putting her back in her crib. I think in all, she got up about 5 times last night: at 2, 5, 6:30, 7:30 and 8:15 (well...the 8:15 time was for good...)

well, she's crying so I'd better get going...bath night, fun, fun fun!

I'm back...Blogger won't upload my pictures (as usual...) so I'll write more :)

Bath time went extremely well! I had Adele dried off and lotioned up before she started to cry...she did that when I got her jammies on her. She hates getting dressed! Now, more than an hour later, though, she still won't go to sleep. I hope I didn't traumatize her by trying to get her to nap in her own room today! Well, I think it's time to try some laundry...I'll have to post my taco soup recipe later

Fans and Farting are Funny!

Here's hoping that my video worked! We caught more laughs on film tonight....yay! Yesterday I tried to save Daddy from embarassment (yeah right..) and didn't share that the way he got Adele to laugh was by making farting noises and saying, "farting is funny" over and over again, but he edited the video and you can clearly hear him farting and saying "fans and farting are funny" (she was watching him spin the ceiling fan in the kitchen) so I guess he's not too embarassed about it!

Adele was in a great mood tonight considering the busy day we had! I finally got her in to the doctor....right at naptime! After the nurse took her stats, she fell asleep while we waited for Dr. Freeman. This was probably the only time I was glad that it took a long time for the doctor to come into the room! She probably got a good 15 or 20 minute nap while we waited. Amber-you were right, it is eczema :( Oh well, at least it isn't a contagious fungal rash or anything! I do have to put special cream on her "creases" twice a day (it's not only behind her knees, but on her ankles, elbows and wrists too...poor baby!)

She was a trooper at CVS. I had to do bicep curls with her carseat while we waited, but as long as she was moving, she was happy. Fortunately, I didn't get worn out too quickly. I don't care how much fun Daddy pokes at me, I know my Tae-Bo efforts are paying off!

For lunch, I managed to make Taco Soup (recipe and pictures later) while Adele took a nap IN HER PACK N PLAY! She slept for half an hour in there...YAY!

Tonight, after laughing for Daddy, Adele and I spent some time "playing" in her room. She stared at herslef in her little mirror and smiled and smiled. Then she spent a long time (6 minutes is long when you're not quite 3 months old!) watching me shake some links for her. I don't know what it is about red, yellow, white and black that grabs her attention, but she loves those links! As we played, I just kept thinking about how amazing she is and how much she has grown in the past (almost) 12 weeks! She is working on starting to grab things (and put them in her mouth, of course) I'll bet within the next week or so she will be grabbing at things all by herself. It was very peaceful spending that time with her tonight! I have to remember to treasure all of these moments because she is already getting too big too fast!

Daddy's Funny!

No pictures today...sorry. We have video footage, but I'm still having trouble figuring out how to add video on here. I have figured out how, but appear to be missing an icon if that makes sense....oh well.

Today was a pretty big day for Adele. We finally braved taking her to church. She didn't start out as the loudest baby there, but I think at the end she did bring that title home. We sat in a different spot than usual...close to the door. That was very smart! There were 2 other little babies sitting right by us, and one of them started screaming right away. Fortunately, she was happy when we got there, but about 10 minutes into mass, it was naptime. Surprisingly, she took her paci FROM DADDY! without any problems, but she didn't really want anything to do with falling asleep. (Too much new stuff to look at, I'm guessing) So, he took her into the lobby. After a while, Daddy brought her back in to me because he wasn't getting anywhere with her...but she was calm. I had her almost asleep without even standing up (sometimes she just wants mommy...) but then she remembered that she is Adele and that she must put up some sort of fuss at naptime (or something like that) and she did start fussing. It was my turn to take her into the lobby. Of course, she slept fine as long as I was up and walking around with her, but when I tried to sit down she'd fuss again. And soon enough, mass was over. All in all, I think she liked church, it's just that the timing was off a bit today. We'll try again soon I'm sure.

When we got home, Daddy went to get groceries, and I fed Adele. When he got home, I put her in her bouncy chair and helped put groceries away. Daddy started talking with Ellie and apparently he's a pretty funny guy because she had her first belly laughs and tons of giggles. We tried to caputre it on video, but she clammed up when she saw that we were taping her. We did get one little laugh on tape though. It was VERY cute! I think she has been trying to laugh for a while, but instead of laughs, coughs come out, then she will fuss and think she's upset for a minute....that's pretty funny to watch too, but the real laughs were better!

She had lots of really intense crying today, I'm not sure why. She slept really well last night and although her naps were short, she took several of them today. (The crying usually came right before a nap, or as I was trying to help her fall asleep). The doctor wasn't open on Saturday, so I'm hoping to take her in tomorrow....maybe the rash/infection on her legs is making her uncomfortable, it sure seemed that way tonight. Poor baby!

Well, she's asleep, so I should be going to bed too!

So Much Fun!

The one good thing about Adele growing up so fast (I can't believe she's almost 3 months old!) is that she gets more and more fun each day! I've been bragging about her peek-a-boo piano, which is still her favorite, but she has been interacting with us so much more with everything we do! It's pretty amazing! She is also trying to sit up so much...it's crazy to see her strain her little muscles to pull herself up higher!

She is still not reaching for much with her arms, but she loves to kick! She was cute in her bouncy chair, kicking at the toys I hung from the bar. She couldn't care less about the "doggies" that came with it, but she loves when I hang different toys on there. I wish I could have captured her smile when she realized that she could kick those toys today! With as much kicking as she's been doing, I can't help but hope that dancing will be next! I couldn't resist the "little dancer" shoes...they're size said "0-9 months" and they're really too small...come on...her feet aren't THAT big...are they?! Hey, maybe she'll be an Irish dancer, they don't move their hands much, and there's tons of kicking involved in Irish dancing! (Daddy can't believe I just said that, and Aunt Katie is laughing and thinking about the Beckmanns...)

She has also been more and more interested in books. Her favorites are Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? probably because I sing them to her all the time...that and they have really bright, but simple illustrations. My copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar is pretty small, so she hasn't been as interested in that one.

Unfortunately she has some sort of rash thing going on behind her knees so I have to call the doctor in the morning. It has been there for a while, but today it was wet like she was extremely sweaty all day (even right after I would wipe it off). Of course, I didn't decide that I needed to get it checked out until after the office closed for the day. (I didn't want to overreact, but Daddy and Memaw both said to get it checked out...) I believe our pediatrician has hours on Saturday mornings, so I'm at least going to call and see if I can get her in.

I know the quality of the pictures isn't that great this time, but its hard to catch her in action!!!

Well, I'm going to enjoy my evening, since Adele went to bed pretty early (and with that said...hope she doesn't wake up soon!)

Gloomy!

It's probably a good thing that it is gloomy outside today....the house is nice and dark. I didn't sleep well last night, neither did Daddy. Adele slept fine, but neither of us could stay asleep...that's a pretty mean trick to play on the parents of an infant! I think I got about 3 hours of sleep total last night. (And Adele got about 11) ARGH!

I tried to nap with Adele this morning, but she wouldn't stay asleep...of course! At least she has been laid back and is content to sit on my lap and look around. She actually sat on my lap and watched me eat my lunch...how exciting! She has also been loving her piano (of course). We did go outside for a little while, but it is much cooler than yesterday, so I put a hat on her. That didn't go over so well! She hasn't been on any kind of schedule at all today which is fine with me! I'd like to do Tae-Bo, but sleep is much more important!

Right now she is sleeping on the couch. If I curl up in a little ball, I can lay on the couch with her, which sounds like a really good idea! Maybe I'll take some pictures after my nap!

Another Milestone!

Probably only one that Mommy cares about, but today she fell asleep for Daddy!

Woo Hoo! We had another fairly stressful day, Adele woke up pretty much for good around 5 this morning...that's WAY too early! And she fought me when it came to napping all day long. So, when Daddy got home, I got a bottle ready for Ellie and headed to Target for a break. We needed lots of baby stuff, and it all was on sale, so everything worked out! When I got home, Daddy was working on giving Adele her bottle. She's not too keen on taking the bottle from him, but she drank about 2 ounces....then fell asleep! I couldn't believe it! He didn't have to rock her or anything, she just spit out the bottle and closed her eyes. She only slept for about 15 minutes, but by then it was almost 5:00 and I don't like her sleeping for too long in the evening anyway.

Like I said, she's been going from one extreme to the other today, and has been fighting her naps like crazy! She did sleep on her boppy for about 45 minutes right around my lunch time, which was VERY nice! But the rest of the time, she cried and cried when she got tired and would only sleep (in my arms, of course) for about 3 minutes at a time. Then I had to stand up and rock and shush her all over again. When she was awake (or, not overtired...) and happy, she played and played with her peek-a-boo piano and would scream if I tried to get her to do anything else. I'm so glad Tim and Laura gave her that! It has been a lifesaver today!