Kayla takes on Rice Cereal... and wins!

We decided to try to give Kayla cereal from a spoon for the 1st time tonight. She sits up all by herself in the highchair, is never satisfied after a full 7+ ounces, stares us down when we eat... so we thought we'd try. Most people and pediatrician's say wait until 4 months... and on New Years Day she will be 15 wks old... we won't do fruits or veggies until the 4 months but we are going to do cereal for the next month. We have been giving her a plastic spoon to play with for about 2 wks, she picks it up and try's to put it near her mouth (not really aiming)... its a chunky "take away" so its safe. She was so excited... not that she had ANY idea what was coming... At first she was like... "mmm whats this". Then she pushed it out alot with her toungue. Then we figured out that if you keep the spoon near her mouth and keep scooping up the stuff that comes out, she likes to lick and chew on the spoon. We could actually hear her swallowing the very soupy like cereal! We'd say it was a big success!

All ready!

Holiday Travels to Virginia

We decided that this year we wanted to travel to see family during the holidays. After all, alot of people have come to us lately - for the wedding shower, the wedding and the baby shower. We thought it was time we paid back some of those visits. This year we found out that our Great Aunt & Uncle from Virginia Beach (Aunt Lue & Uncle Rock) were going to be just outside DC spending the holidays with their kids and grandkids at Cousin Kevin's house... We really wanted to see them so it made it that much more fitting to make the drive. Brian's Aunt Vivian & Cousin MaryBeth live only about 40 minutes from my family so we thought we could visit the lot of them in one shot. The drive normally takes about 4 hours... But the day after Xmas took us EIGHT hours!!! It was HELL. We learned that traveling with baby means you need to plan to leave an hour sooner than you wanted AND build an hour in for stops on the way (to play it safe). Once we got to our destination it was great to visit with the family. The 1st night we stayed in a hotel - Kayla loved this! She got to sleep in her brand new "travel bed"... its great b/c it folds up into a brief case like contraption! Perfect for traveling!!! The 2nd night we stayed with Brian's family... Kayla LOVED meeting all this new family and playing with her cousins!

Her eyes closed for the flash but this was at one of the rest stops ...

she needed a stretch break and some hot formula!

Hanging out with her cousin Keeley Hudson

Kayla with her Great Great Aunt Lue & Uncle Rock

Someone LOVED when mommy was bouncing on the bed!!!

Here she is doing Tummy Time with Colin & Caroline... she loved them so much!

While Kayla slept, Mommy crawled into the playhouse for a bit...

hoping to hide, but got the opposite!

Kayla and her cousins Colin & Caroline

Merry Christmas

"Twas the night before christmas and all thru the house..."

As a child, each year Brian's Dad would read this favorite childhood story to him and his two brothers. We bought the original version so that Brian could continue this tradition with our children. Kayla fell asleep a bit early on Christmas Eve so when it was time to put out the cookies for Santa and read our story, she was a little fussy but then went RIGHT back to sleep!

On Christmas morning, after Santa Clause came and left... Kayla awoke around 6am. She had been sleeping in until about 8am but that morning she knew something was up and did not want to go back to sleep... so we brought her into our room for a little while and then went out to see what Santa left!

Checkin' out her presents...

I did good this year!

After opening gifts at our house and getting ready, we drove a short 4 blocks to Grandma & Grandpa's house to see if Santa dropped off anything for Kayla??? Grandma made a special brunch so when we got there, we sat down to have some food... then it was naptime for Kayla. Since this is Kevin & Angela's 1st year as newlyweds, they went to the Kessler's to open gifts 1st. Gift opening did not begin until they arrived around 12:30noon time. Kayla decided that this would be her long naptime and slept thru at least til 2pm. When she woke up, she got such a great surprise... SANTA came to her house to visit! (Thanks to Uncle Denny who mysteriously disappeared when Santa came - maybe he is afraid of the big guy???)

With Grandma & Grandpa Christmas morning

The Wilson girls with Santa!

My Aunt Cheese is the BEST... she and Uncle Kevin bought me this walker

Our 1st family photo on Christmas Day!

Happy Three Months!

Can you believe that its been 3 whole months? We surely can't!!! Kayla has gotten SO big in these three months... She is 15lbs. & 13oz. and by Daddy's measurements is 25.5 inches long - although these are our measurements since there was no 3 month Dr. visit! She is sleeping about 8 hours thru the night... She loves tummy time now and enjoys laying on her back... much more than being in her bouncy chair these days. She has traveled to 3 states with a few more to next week. She knows her name and smiles at you when you talk to her. She grabs and plays with toys alot. She rolled from her tummy to her back. She loves taking baths. She sits up all by herself in her highchair & she watches you when you eat - which they say are 2 big signs she is ready for cereal on a spoon! We are going to try that New Years Day with her :) She has one baby tooth budding on her lower right side in the front. She had a cold but was a big trooper and got all better in time for Santa and our holiday travels! She LOVES watching the food network and football - two household favorites :)

Tummy Time in her crib

Start of a new tradition - watching Rudolph with Daddy

With her cousin Trevor

The Wilson Girls

Falling asleep during playtime

Helping Mommy wrap Christmas presents

She is always so happy in the morning - what a pleasure to wake up to :)

With her big Cousin Sarah... Future Babysitter!

Just chilling... I love to sit up in Mommy's chair!

Watching ELF with Mommy & Daddy... Santa comes soon!

She's on a Roll!

Guess who rolled from her tummy to her back for the 1st time??? You guessed it! We were hanging out watching Elf ... doing some tummy time, hanging out with my new buddy Floppy (the bestest gift from my auntie Marilyn!)... and BAM! Check it out!

1st Trip to Williamsport, PA

We just got home from my first visit out to Williamsport, PA to visit a bunch of my Grandma Karin's relatives. My Great Great Aunt Marguerite lives there and she has 9 kids... they are just "some" of my grandma's cousins... I think that there are over 60! Anyway, mommy tells me that she used to go to Williamsport to visit her Grandma Peggy's mom (her name was Great Grandma Maggie) and the Norris family. My Grandma Karin has a VERY big extended family and my mommy pretty much keeps in touch with all of them! Here are some highlights. We only went for one night but we got to see Aunt Marg, Uncle Jimmy and Cousins: Judy (she was Mommy's favorite growing up), Jon, Maddie, Hagen, Web (who is awesome b/c he bounced me in my chair), Tara, Kirk, Jack (he did lots of tricks for me!), Donny, Lori, Maggie (she bought me great clothes for the summer!), Mitchell (he makes the best salsa EVER), Neil, Kendra, Michael, Flor (she's pregnant yet again!), KC, Scarlet, Chris, Bridget... Did I miss anyone?

The Oldest and Youngest Ohnmeiss (83 yrs apart)

Maggie & Web - So much fun!!!

Empire State of Mind

Today me & mommy took a trip into New York City to visit Daddy at work... he works for Sony Music (so does mommy!). I am sorta bummed b/c my car seat is so comfy that I usually miss out on seeing things on car rides these days. I slept the entire ride in and the entire ride home... but I heard Mommy & Daddy telling me about all the things I missed. Maybe next year I will be able to check things out a bit more. I hear that there is the really big Christmas tree - bigger than my house! Well here I am with Daddy in his office...

Tummy Time

Hanging out on my belly is not nearly as bad as it used to be. I realized that the more I do it, the easier it is... plus I can see more stuff this way. Sometimes I do it on the floor or in my crib... either way, its pretty fun!

Big GIrl Bath Tub

Today I had my first Tubby in the big girl bathtub.... where mommy & daddy take their showers. I have to say that its alot cozier and warm than the kitchen sink. I can even splash my hands and water stays in the big tub! Mommy gives me all my baths right now but I told her that when I can sit up on my own I would like for Daddy to do bathtime... I have a feeling he will let me play more in the water!!!

Sunday Football w. Daddy

Let's GO Giants!!!! Ok so maybe those are not the exact words Kayla's Daddy shouts at the TV when enthusiastically watching his Sunday Football.... But either way, Kayla enjoys spending time with her Daddy and stares at the screen like she enjoys that past time just as much as him.
Here they are cheering on the Giants as they play the Dallas Cowboys!

Breakfast w/ Santa

To meet new other mom's in my area, I decided to join a "mommy's club"... very similar to the 200 clubs or junior leagues of days past... Its called "FOWE = Friends of West Essex". So far I am loving it ... the group of ladies is so diverse and they are all so wonderfully nice.

• Every Tuesday morning we have play group for the kids under 1 yrs old.. Which is nice for Kayla to be around other babies before daycare. Obviously once I go back to work I won't be able to go.
  
• Once a month they have a Ladies Night Out event - Last month was Wine Tasting! Its an opportunity for the mom's to get out for a few hours with no kids but spend the entire time talking about them!
  
• They have Family outings during each season... Pumpkin picking, Halloween parties.... Today was "Breakfast w/ Santa & Mr. Polka Dots"... see the pics below!
  

All in all, both mommy & Kayla are excited about our new friends! And I got to see my very 1st snowfall today!

She can fall asleep anywhere!

"Grandma's Here"

This is a phrase that originally created a stir of giggles when it was said in relation to an extended family member on the Wilson side... now Grandma Isabel says this and Kayla gets SOOO excited. Guess the oddest things we think are trivial catch on more than we could ever imagine! Kayla loves her grandma so much and get so excited whenever she hears Isabel's voice... even over the telephone! Check out this video!

Gearing up for the Holidays!!!

Mommy & Daddy decided to take me to the Mall before Thansgiving - when the malls were not so crowded to have my picture taken with this guy they call Santa Claus. I am not quite sure who he is but they keep talking about how he brings you lots of toys and gifts during Christmas if you are a good little boy or girl! I was a little tired from the car ride - not that it was long - I just love my car seat! So it took me a minute to wake up to meet the "man with all the toys" (yes this is a song reference for us Wilson's!) But once I got a good peek I realized what all the hype was about! Check out my pictures!

Happy Gobble Gobble

First things 1st... Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Kayla has been referred to as our little turkey for many weeks now but this week she will share the spotlight with the 18 pounder that Daddy picked out... I think next year Kayla is going to LOVE eating turkey and will be then, have a new nickname I am sure! We had a fabulous time with Brian's family over... Kayla now loves playing "pee-a-boo" with Grandpa!



On Turkey Eve (this is the evening before Thanksgiving in which traditionally we would go to the Ringside Pub and enjoy a nice evening of complete debauchery) we instead went to Uncle Kevin & Aunt Angela's house... Kayla was a little fussy so we did not stay too late but she had the pleasure of meeting her Uncle Jeffrey (he lives in Indiana now while he goes to Grad School).

Fighting the turkey for the name "little turkey"...

Getting ready for dessert

Watching the Parade w/ Daddy

Two Months!!!

Kayla turns 2 months old today!!!

Not too much to write about in the past few weeks... We've been trying to get ourselves on some sort of schedule. Kayla is sleeping about 12-15 hours in a 24 hour period and she is eating about 30-35 ounces in that same period. She is fully on formula now and is doing well with it (so is Mommy!) Breastfeeding was something that was really important to both Brian & I - especially for the first 6 wks - but it really depends on how the mom and baby do together when push comes to shove. For Kayla & I it just was not the best thing for us.. we are much happier now! She is sleeping a good stretch at night - about 4.5 to 6 hours... we have not figured on the specifics on what dictates how much sleep she gets though... its still a work in progress. She smiles SO much and laughes out loud - sometimes very loudly! Her giggles and laughs make us smile so much that we all end up laughing. She is gorgeous and melts our hearts with those big smiles! She is ALL GUMS! She no longer wants her paci and would rather stick her fingers or fist in her mouth... She holds her head up all by herself and can sit in her Bumbo with no assistance. She is about to bounce out of the bouncy chair so we may not be able to let her hang out in this without supervision... she kicks her legs so strongly! She is eating and sleeping very well but the Dr. tells us we need to start getting her on a good schedule ... You'd think Mommy would love that but its going to be much harder!!! She turns when you say her name and follows you across the room when you walk away from her... you may even get a squeal from her if she's not ready for you to go away from her. She loves laying in her crib watching the fishes on the mobile go round and round! We swear that she is actually trying to have a conversation with them - of course like her mommy, she is doing all the talking! She loves talking to Grandma on the telephone and smiles big when she hears her voice. Her new favorite game is "peek-a-boo" with Grandpa - I think they played for hours on Turkey Day. She is drinking a little fruit juice each day and loves it - of course its in her bottle - no sippy cups yet! She is tolerating tummy time more and more and we think she may be doing the crawling sway before Xmas!

We had our 2 month Doctor visit this week... Current Stats: 13 lbs, 24 inches long! So she has gained (since birth) 3 lbs and 3 inches... Three is this weeks big number! She is also wearing 3 month clothes... some brands she is already a 3-6 month. She has also graduated to Size 2 diapers! She had her first big round of immunizations (since those she got at the hospital when she was born) ... she was such a champ! Not like Mommy (who cries or freaks at the sign of needles - good thing I never saw that spinal needle!!!!)... She has Daddy's tolerance for pain :) Seems like she has his metabolism too (thank god!).

This is what I do during Tummy Time!

I found my fingers and they taste yummy!

Kisses from Kayla :)

Mommy takes this picture to see how much I grew - soon I will be bigger than Pooh!

Cartoons with Daddy is the bestest!

My Two Month Video

Dinner Parties!!!

We had our very 1st dinner party with friends last night... I got to see my Aunt Melissa and Uncle Frank and meet Mommy's friends Matt & Joanne... They are having a new baby boy after Valentines Day... Maybe it will be yet another future boyfriend??? I can't wait to meet Baby Golino...

Here are some pics that Aunt Melissa took with her new camera!

The girls!

In my favorite place - my swing!

Uncle Frank trying to feed me a yummy cookie!

Mommy to be Joanne :)