Week 20

Aidie always has this super intense look on her face of: "Yes. Can I help you with something? Oh... these? They are toes and are quite fascinating. Now if you wouldn't mind, I would like to return to my previous dilemma of attempting to fit them in my mouth. Thank you." She's quite the little proper lady in my head. LOL.

I think that at some point in every blog I have exciting news, but Aidie's little life has just been one excitement after another. So, surprise, surprise, we have another exciting news flash: Aidie is now rolling over back to front AND front to back! Yippee! So exciting. She rolled over back to front for the first time yesterday evening. She was playing under her play gym rolling side to side and just went over. I think it kind of surprised her, and no wonder as she got stuck on the side of the play gym. When I moved it, she went all the way on her tummy and she had this look on her face:

I feel like it says "What the heck just happened!?!" Super exciting!

On other news. We are happy and healthy. She and daddy are still having some issues getting used to one another. I think it may be better when we send her to daycare and there aren't mommy smells about all the time. She is just particularly fussy for daddy and super excited and happy for me, which makes daddy feel bad... I just keep telling him that while she may want me more now, his time is coming. Most girls are daddy's girls at some point ;-)

Week 19

Well, we finally had our four month appointment and we have been given the go ahead to start Aidie on "solids". Which is great news as she has been obsessed with eating for some time now. We got her on video the first go around and she cried. This time she was much more interested and ate quite a bit for the first times. About an ounce! Although alot of it went on her face. So funny! At her appointment Daddy found out that she is in the 50% for height and weight, but her poor little head is still at the 25%. Maybe she'll just have a small head, but it doesn't look small to me!
Daddy has been having a great time with Aidie while I've been at school. He is apparently teaching her to love Star Wars, Guns and videogames... what am I going to do?
Look at those beautiful blue eyes! This little girl has been cracking me up. She is apparently a fan of Achmed the Dead Terrorist... but only when mommy tells his jokes. She thinks it is the funniest thing in the world when I lean in and "I kill you". She laughs and laughs. I just love it. We showed her the actually video and she kept looking at us like- why are you making me watch this? This is dumb...
This was Aidie's first day in a jacket. This was taken the morning of her doctor appointment. It was at 8am. So I got to see them off, which made my morning! I just love that her hair is long enough to put into pigtails. It is so curly that it is all over the place unless put up. It is going to be so beautiful when it finally grows out. I can just see the beautiful long, loose ringlets. But right now it is just a mass of craziness :-)

Last little tidbit of excitement. I think Aidie is going to crawl early. Today we were doing tummy time and she pushed up onto her knees. Belly off the ground and ALL!!! It was only for a second, but she did it like three or four times. It was amazing. Daddy and I were so proud!!!

Week 18

Well, we have had a very interesting week. With my student teaching started, I am finding out what normal people experience during the work week... and I HATE IT! I don't see how people go through the week seeing their family so little. I didn't think I saw my husband enough before. Now (excluding Tuesdays and Wednesdays) I see him for half an hour at the most every day. It is horrible. Poor Aidie isn't hardly going to see her parents together for the next three and a half months. After this, I am not sure what I will do. But whatever it is, will allow me more time to spend with my family than what I have right now. I need to stay at school until about five or six just to get enough school work done to keep moving. Argh! I can't wait until Dec. 3rd!!!
On the baby front, Aidie is super active. She is officially loving the idea of walking some day. She will "walk" when you hold her hands. Way unstable, but she loves to do it. She will stand in her crib if you put her hands on the railing for about 30seconds. She is just too big! She wants to grow up ahead of schedule. I think this is just a taste of what's to come. She has also started a new trick of blowing raspberries. SO CUTE! I just love it. Granted that means she is drooling even more, but oh well. Babies are supposed to do that!
Any other updates: We love to be outside! All the time! All day! We want to be constantly moving. And we are eating up to six ounces at a feeding. And she and Caina have become best friends! So fun!
We had a super fun day yesterday. First we went to the farmers market and then out to lunch with a our friends Tifo and Dane and their little girl Evie. Aidie had her first eat out experience and did a super job! No fuss! Excellent! We also had a visit (albeit a short one) from cousins Jessie, Jared, Bonty, and fetus Rust. Much too short and makes me realize how much I miss seeing them. We shipped off some of Aidie's more neutral items that no longer fit with them (more room. Yay!). So we know Aidie's old stuff is going to a good place. I can't wait to meet little baby Rust. January's not too far away! Yippee!

4 MONTHS!!!

FOUR MONTHS OLD! YIPPEE!!!



A fun bath photo from Grammy and Grampy's house

An old photo from Biruk and Ellen's marriage celebration that I finally got from my parents
Vampire baby nomming her favorite toy

Daddy and Aidie playing with a guitar hero guitar. Aidie thought it was awesome!

Aidie, as of yesterday, is 4 months old! I can't believe it! When Aidie was born, I thought that this time would never get here. It seemed like forever, and now... I wish it was four months ago so that I could still spend every day with Aidie like I have been. Monday I'll be heading to school for my student teaching. Dan will be staying home with Aidie until I get home each day, at least for a while. She still hasn't finished with her first round of vaccinations. So I don't really feel comfortable putting her in daycare until she is safely vaccinated against the major stuff. She still has a couple more to go. So it will at least be another month before she starts any daycare.
She seems to be developing so much lately. I feel like I say that on every blog, but she is just growing up so fast! For the past four days she has been chatting up a storm. She starts when she gets up in the morning and doesn't stop until she goes to bed. It's absolutely adorable. She has the sweetest little voice. I could just listen to her all day long!
She has been taking a bit of a break from rolling over. However, she is starting to move her knees into a more bent position. She seems to be eager to get moving.
Another big development. Aidie is sitting up with very little support these days. I sat her up on her own the other day and sat there for about 30seconds before she started to slump over. I was SO excited. She is loving to sit in her bumbo seat and is using her boppy for support. She still needs constant supervision with it, as she slumps over at some point each time, but she is doing so great! I'm really excited.
OH! And another. Dan stood her up, holding onto the play gym yesterday and she stood there all by herself!!! Isn't that AMAZING!!??!!! Wow!
SO much so fast. I wish I could be a stay at home mom forever. I'm really going to miss being home with her, but it will be nice to be done with school and be able to get a job. Ahh... and life goes on...

Week 16

This week's update will be a photo update. Not a whole lot to report in general news. She's been a pretty happy, healthy little girl. We are so blessed!
Daddy has been on a kick about putting blankets, burp cloths, etc. on Aidie's head. LOL. Maybe we should dress her as the virgin Mary for Halloween... or would that be blasphemous?


Same expression! I gave her something after all!


I LOVE this picture! While I was nursing, but figured I'd keep it G rated for the squeemish of heart.


Aidie make her little "Oooo/mmm" noises that she has started recently. SO cute!


Smiley Picture!


We absolutely love playing with our feet. She just discovered them about a week ago and has been fascinated ever since!


I came downstairs after getting ready Sunday morning to find this. I couldn't resist getting a picture. Sweetest thing I've ever seen in my life!


While playing on her play mat, she's been scooting herself. Her we see she has scooted herself down so that she is now being poked in the eye by her toys. She has also done 360degree turns.

Week 15

Wow! I can't believe how big she is getting!!!! I really can't believe it! She has grown so fast and is doing so much more so suddenly that it is a little difficult to take in. She is grabbing for toys and playing and pulling toys to her mouth to chew (because she is officially TEETHING!). So much in just a short couple of weeks. Amazing. Every time I look at her I am more amazed. I know I'm not usually so intensely sentimental, but... I feel like she is just growing up so unbelievably fast. I still have a hard time believing that she is really mine. It still seems a little surreal at times that I have a child: she was inside of me and now she is out and I'm watching her grow. I even watched at she was born and it's still crazy to me! Will it ever seem really real? Maybe when she starts calling me "mommy" and Dan "daddy". It's probably just another bout of big life changes feeling no different than every day life, just the paces have changed a bit... I don't know. All I can say is every minute is totally worth it and I'm loving it!I don't know what it is, but John always has my babies on his head...


As for Aidie this past week. She got another vaccination on Monday. Good news is, yet again, she had no adverse reactions other than being sleepier than usual. Bad news: it's carrying on longer than I expected. I really don't like it affecting her this long. She has been sleeping about 16hrs. a day over the past week, which is EXTREMELY unusual for her. She usually sleeps about 12- 13hrs a day. It might not seem like a big difference, but it really is. Especially when it completely changes around her napping patterns. I think it's the vaccination combined with a growth spurt. I swear this child is growing like a weed! She is bigger and bigger every day!
Other than the sleepiness, she has been perfectly fine and very happy. Ever since we started her on that laxative, she has been a sweet, happy little girl! I know it's only a temporary fix, but hopefully her digestive tract will right itself once she starts on solid foods.
She is also in full swing of teething. She is chewing on everything she can get her hands on. Every morning we find her rolling around in her crib, smiling and chewing on her blanket. It's absolutely hillarious!
And thanks to a wonderful article sent to me by one of my parenting sites, I am now much more adept at deciphering her different cries. The site details each different type of cry and what they mean. I'm sure it differs for some children, but it is dead on for her. It has helped SO much. Much less guess work!
On another note: We have decided to forgo daycare for the moment and keep her home a bit longer. Daniel is just going to take shorter days at work. Fortunately I'm getting TONS of grant money in this semester. So we have the opportunity to do that. I feel very fortunate. I am looking forward to getting her into daycare, maybe after she has finished up with her first round of vaccinations, which won't be for another couple of months. We are doing a very different schedule from the suggested one. So it's taking much longer for her to get her vaccinations.
This past week we took our first trip to the zoo and had a marvelous time. Aidie just loved it (until it started to get really hot that is). She was particularly fascinated by fish. It was so cute to watch the amazement and interest on her little face. I wasn't sure that she would really be into it, but she WAS! It was so much fun. I'm so glad we bought a pass. I can't wait to go back!!!
We kept trying to get a picture with the lion in the shot, but it never seemed to work properly


Our first stop at the sea lion exhibit



Feeding the baby giraffe. So cute, but Aidie wasn't really interested.



She LOVED the dolphin exhibit though... maybe it's a water fascination. Maybe she feels a kinship sort of empathy having previously spent 9months floating.



Upkeep for a tank of this size- thousands of dollars. The wonder of a child- priceless.

Fair Photos

Since I didn't have them uploaded before, here are some fair pictures (as well as some just funny ones) for your enjoyment!Finally a picture my mom and Aidie. My mother hates having her picture taken, but Aidie just loves her so much! I must capture the love! I must!Daniel sporting Aidie's little lady bug sun hat. Very fashionable I'd say!


We may have taken four hundred of these photos, but we did catch a few with Aidie smiling.


I just love the hysterical faces Aidie makes when she spends time with my dad


This reminds me of something you would have seen as an ending snap photo in an early '90s movie


Aidie was SUPER interested in chickens, much to my mother's delight.


Ooh! A bunny! It's soft...


Snoozing during our walk by the horses... how sad. That's always my favorite part!