My 1st HALF Birthday!!!

We have been having so much fun this month... the weather has been crazy!  It snowed and rained and then was really hot out.  We've taken so many trips and adventures! 

Had my 6 month doctor's appt today... I currently weigh in at 20 lbs 2.5 oz and am 27.5 inches long.  Dr. John told me that I am 97 percentile... not sure what it means but Daddy & Mommy were happy.  Dr. John also asked 2 times if we were there for the 6 month visit or the 9 month visit b/c he said I was doing things a 8 or 9 month old would be doing... Guess I am ahead of the game!  Should I keep up at this pace so Mommy & Daddy have to put gates up or should I just sit back and chill?

We pretty much tried all the Stage One foods... I definitely have my fav's (almost any fruit, squash, zucchini, peas)... and my "not so fav's" (green beans, sweet potato's, carrots)... Mommy tries to hide some of the foods I don't like though... I deal with it. I am really looking forward to Stage Two foods... I like the thicker consistency of the foods and Mommy says there are some cool ones that she thinks I will like... Next week we will try something new.  Dr. John told us that we can start yorgust cereal and biting cookies soon! I also have to start taking a vitamin - yucky! I also have two teeth now... They are my front 2 bottom teeth - check out the pictures below!

I am moving all over the place now... As you can see by my last posting, I am rolling over. Mostly on my left side.  I like sleeping on my belly nowall the time, although when I wake up in the nighttime, I find it hard to get comfy... I talk and make some noise.. which wakes mommy and daddy up - I feel bad about this but I miss them and want them to help me out.  The rolling started when I was in my crib at night but now I do it while I am on the floor playing.  But the thing is... once I get to my belly, I get bored kinda fast. I try to crawl but its just not working out so well right now. Maybe by next update... I like tummy time in the kitchen and on the floor at Gram's. I also love to play this "stand up / sit down game".... We will have to take a video and post it too!  I also know exactly how to get someone's attention when I want it now!  I can shreak loudly or do this deep cough thing that sounds sorta like a laugh and cough...

Sleeping is not something I am interested in these days... I want to stay up so I don't miss out on anything exciting.  I usually wake up by 7am for the day... Mommy tries to put me in for my first nap around 9 or 9:30am... Then I sleep for about 2 hours - mind you I still love my swing and Mommy lets me sleep in it for my morning nap.  I wake up and we have lunch... After lunch, when its nice, we go to the Park and meet up with my friends to play on the swings (Mommy likes this b/c the walking helps her feel better)... We come home around 3pm and Mommy tries this nap thing again but since I have been up so long I have a ton of energy and fight it!  Although Mommy puts me in my crib and lets me cry for longer these days... It upsets me but I think she is trying to teach me something... I wish I could just go to sleep but I miss mommy.  I know she wishes I would sleep too.  We eat around 5:30 and then play for a bit... Then Tubby Time is at 6:15pm... Mommy gives me a nice massage and then we rock together while I drink my last Baba.  Lately I am not falling asleep on mommy, I wriggle around until she just puts me in my crib.  But since I sleep on my belly now, it takes me a little bit to roll over in my sleepsack and find a comfy place in the corner of my crib.

Here are some great moments from this past month - see you soon!

She loves playing with fruit... this is an apple.

She rolled over, grabbed mommy's hat and started playing with it... so we put it on her head!

Just chilling out - we were waiting for Daddy to get home from work...

it was snowing hard outside he walked almost 4 miles to get home!

A fun day at the park with Mommy & Daddy

Sleepy little girl... rolling half way over...

A short visit with my grandpa... I always make him smile :)

Loving my sippy cup... it was a warm day out and the water was nice and cold!

My Uncle Robert came to the Turtle Back Zoo with us... he told me all about the animals!

A new trick... pulling myself up in the crib...

My Daddy & Maddie's Daddy pushing us on the swings!

Yeah ok so I am lazy... Sitting there watching TV...

I fell forward and did not feel like moving...

So I watched them like this...

With my cousin Hunter - He comes over to play with me after school somtimes!

Mommy Vs. Daddy

So the 1st question people do when they see a new baby is try to figure out if they look like the mommy or the daddy.... Here are some of our baby pictures... You be the judge!

Here is Schelli

Here is Brian...

Daddy is the one on the right!

Rockin and a Rollin!

Kayla first rolled over during the night about a week ago and we have not been able to capture it on video until now... Since this video was taken, she goes much faster at the roll over and does not take such a pause... soon we are going to have to baby proof!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Wishing everyone a very Happy St. Patricks Day... I have so much to be thankful for!  My mommy is home with me these day so I get to play with her lots more, Daddy spends so much time with me on the wkends, my Grandma & Grandpa seem to smile so big when I come around, my aunts & uncles love me SOOO much, I have tons of new friends.

Have a great big green beer for me today and count your blessings!

Don't take anything in life for granted..

give lots of smiles & hugs & kisses to the people you love!

Loving this spring weather...

We have been taking walks and going to the park almost everyday... I love playing on the swings with my friend Maddie... our mommy's love talking too so it really works out!

 

My FIRST Tooth!

It seems that the reason I have not been able to sleep very well at night is because my first tooth was coming in... boy did that thing hurt!  I had to get medicine to make it feel better and everytime I woke up (and sometimes I never actually woke up, I would just cry in my sleep!) Mommy or Daddy came in to make me feel better. Sometimes just being close to them, in their warm comfy arms was all I really needed.  In the end though, I may have felt better but boy were they cranky!  Grownups need more sleep than babies - sheesh!

Anyway, Mommy tried to capture this big breakthru  (LOL) on camera.  Check out the photos!  In the one, where Mommy put cool blue arrows, you can see it best!

Our Big visit to the Big Apple!

On the very 1st "spring day"... ok so it was not officially Spring but damn is was nice out... we took a trip into NYC for the day. We had lunch with Daddy and saw his colleagues - they really seem to go nuts when I visit... pinching my cheeks and wanting to hold me. It's really quite nice. Then Mommy & me took a walk along the busy streets of New York City. There were some very interesting things... I hope to one day work in the Big Apple like my mommy & daddy... doing something I love and that makes a real difference in this world! So our adventures took us to a place called The Central Park Zoo! Now we all know Daddy is not a fan of any sort of animals and Mommy loves them (except the creepy crawly ones) and since Mommy is the boss of me during the week... WE GOT TO SEE THE ANIMALS! There was not much to see b/c it was still a bit chilly... but we saw the snow leopard, a little tiny panda bear (it was about the size of my Aunt Gloria's dog Morgan!), the big polar bears, the pink nosed monkeys (they were sorta gross!), the seals and the penguins (boy are they hyper!). Of course when the excitement was over, I was a sleepy little girl so Mommy took a stroll around the park to visit Wollman Rink (I did not see it but I understand that its a Ice Skating place... I will go there when I get bigger!) I woke up just as we were getting back to Daddy's office. Boy it sure was a fun day..> Can't wait for more adventures!

Shall we swing now or swing later?

Although Kayla's 1st trip to the park was back in October 2009 (last fall when the temps went up to close to 70 one day)... due to the rise in temps once again and Brian's desire to push Kayla on the swings for the 1st time all by herself... we took Kayla to the local park Sunday.  We got lunch, saddled up and took our baby girl!  So funny, everyone always asks us how old Kayla is and we know why... its cause she is such a big girl for her age. Well, we put her in the baby swing (you know the one with 4 holes - are those used to put another baby in too?  Back to back or something?)... Anyway, we put her in the swing and off she went. She laughed and shreaked in joy. She was having a blast.  Another couple with 2 children walked up and they putt their older child up in the swing - I think she was maybe 3 yrs old.  Then the younger one - who was being carried in a baby bjorn - we were not sure how old the kid was... They asked how old Kayla was and when we said "5 months", they said "well I guess its ok for us to put our 9 month old in the swing too".... LOL ...  Side Note: the ground was completely covered in snow by the playground so it was slippery and mushy - they did not clear the playground of snow...

I am such a big girl now... and I love the swings!

My buddy Lucas was at the park too!

After a walk back to the car I was pooped!

Swinging Video

Here is some video of our giggle monster on the swings... Apology's for the background conversation... Daddy was talking to Kayla's friend Lucas' Daddy!

The Little Mermaid of Caldwell...

It was such a beautiful day in our area that we decided to take Kayla swimming at our local Community Center.... We belong to the Center and typically use it for the gym... Although during my pregnancy I did frequent the pool for exercise and to keep cool. Its an indoor heated pool and its pretty big. They have "Family Swim" in the afternoon's on the weekend which means we kind of have free reign.  So we ot her all suited up and she went in with Daddy.  He dunked her once and she was all out of sorts but NEVER cried. She actually ended of kicking and kicking and LOVED being in the water.  This is great b/c taking her to the town pool that is outside this summer will be so much fun. Although it may be more difficult with me doing it on my own (especially when I have to pee).   After taking video and some photos, I joined Daddy and Kayla in the pool for some fun!  Below are some photos of our fun times at the pool!

Our little girl is 5 months!!!

Our little ladybug is now 5 months old! Can you believe it? Everyday we marvel at the fact that we are parents and everyday we count the blessings the the Lord has given us... But neither of us could believe (just 5 months ago) how much our lives would have been altered by this sweet baby girl!

She is making some major strides and accomplishing some major feats for a 5 month old! While no teeth have broken thru the gums, we see the white's of the tops of them. She produces more drool than a bulldog, her cheeks are forever pink (maybe she will never need blusher), the fever goes up and down every now and then... but the #1 thing that gives away how much she is teething... EVERYTHING... and there is NO prejudice here... EVERYTHING GOES IN HER MOUTH. Sometimes, if your face is close enough, she even tries to get her mouth around your nose! I know its all about her testing out the things around her too... she learns if they are hard / soft, hot/cold etc.  Its just hysterical to watch!

She weighs a little over 18 lbs and is pretty much wearing clothes that are sized 6-9 months. Although the legs in the pants are a bit long. Looks like she has mommy's long torso and short legs... I better learn how to hem on that sewing machine!  She also grew out of size 2 diapers MUCH sooner than anticipated...we have a ton of them still!

Her menu has widened from the average 7oz bottle - of which she still takes 4-5 of those a day. We have added lots of fruits and veggies though!  So far we tackled apple puree, pear puree, peach puree and bananas in the fruit category. As for veggies... we got zucchini, butternut squash, sweet potatoes (although we took those out of the rotation and will add them again later) and peas.  Peas and pears are her fav's!  She eats those 3x a day and then has cereal in the am and oatmeal in the pm.  She just started eating out of this mesh thing that you can put a banana in and freeze it!  Fabulous find!

She is down to 2 naps a day... one is longer than the other and the long one USUALLY ends up being in the afternoon. Its great having her be awake more of the daytime than asleep but its also nice to have the down time...  We finally got the bedtime routine down (thanks to many of my new mommy friends!)... We do bathtime, read books, watch a little tv (like 10 minutes... she loves Caillou), bottle and then she goes in the crib.  Most nights she talks herself to sleep but sometimes if she is really cravin some Daddy time, she stays awake until he gets home. They hang out for a few and then she is able to fall asleep much better.  All this by 8pm (most of the time)!  She still gets thrown off when we eat out of our home or there is too much excitement.  She is much like both her mommy & daddy - we need wind down time so we can sleep good... or else our bodies lie there and our brains go a million miles a miunte!~  We are still trying to cut out the swing for naps but with the weather being so crappy and us being STUCK inside all day / every day... I am letting go for a few weeks!

She is so much more aware of what is going on around her too. She has been answering to her name for quite some time but now she knows voices on the phone or when you enter the room.  She demands an audience and if you don't pay attention, she will GET IT!  She is quite the conversationalist these days... babbling in her crib when she wakes up is the best. We actually leave her there to enjoy her alone playtime... Its a guilty pleasure to hear her squeal in delight when she grabs her Piglet or Frog.  Although she is not actually MOVING yet, she finds ways to get what she wants.... she will pull a blanket closer just to get a toy... she will roll over half way just to get a toy then bring it back. Kayla loves to be lazy! She works us over alot and we fall for it! She is not yet sitting up on her own but if you sit her up, she stays put and balances pretty good.

Like I said... EVERYTHING goes in the mouth!

Peas please... my favorite!

Super Kayla... one of her favorite playtimes!

I found my grandpa's glasses - you like them?

Happy Valentine's Day!

This is me visiting Mommy's old high school - the home economics room -

where mommy learned how to cook!

Grandma & Granpa came to our house for dinner on Valentine's Day...

Grandma was letting me play with her hands!

We are in trouble once she starts moving... I found a great thing for the stairs though!

Frozen Bananas!!!!

Check out the newest video of our muchkin gnawing on a frozen banana! Definitely helped her teeth pain this morning!

SNOW STORM 2010

Kayla got her 1st real glance at some serious snowfall this year. We think she wanted to go out and play in it... She's gotta wait until next year though!

Nap time... Away with the Swing!

It seems that we have officially broken Kayla of the swing naptime... with the exception of her long afternoon naps. Which I might say, she very well COULD sleep in her crib but to make sure she takes a nice LONG nap, we are keeping to the swing for a bit longer. Kayla only has ONE requirement when napping in her crib... her friends must all be there to join her or she will not fall asleep... Take a look!

One sleepy girl

This is hysterical! Someone was too sleepy for lunch! I ended up letting her sleep it off in the chair and when she woke up she was quite hungry!

Laughter is so therapeutic...

A few weeks ago (before the holidays) we heard Kayla laugh so hard that her whole body shook... she made us laugh and we just went back and forth... we finally caught it on vidoe one night when Brian got home from work...

Little Miss Chatter Box

Kayla LOVES telling stories... we only wish we knew what she was saying!

Sitting up like a Big Girl!

Guess who is siting up all by herself... what a big girl! Only 4 months and she is already becoming so independent...

Sippy Cups are the RAGE!

So at Kayla's last Dr. visit, the Dr. suggested we start giving her a sippy cup to play with... not only does she play with it, but Jesus, she knows what to do with it too!  Funny thing is that when we used to give her water in a bottle, she refused it... now she can't get enough!