Six months and Sitting up!

Adelaide has been showing interest in sitting, sitting with support for awhile. Over Easter weekend, she was up to sitting for about six seconds before she fell over. At the same time, she didn't get a lot of chances to practice, because she was held the entire time! She went from arms to arms to arms.

Then, after work on Monday, April 13, she started sitting - really sitting - for several minutes! I knew she must have been practicing at daycare. Sure enough, they spent a long time on Monday practicing sitting with her, and now she can do it!

She is now sticking her tongue out at people (in a nice and funny way), and it's really cute. I'm trying to capture a picture. Please note: In real life she's really smiley! She makes cute faces all the time, but she is really curious about the camera, and so we have difficulties getting the really smiley faces.

I can't believe she's six months old tomorrow! She's about 17 pounds (we'll go to the doctor soon). She's growing out of her 3-6 month sleepers. She now loves peek-a-boo and "So big!" What a big girl!

Roly Poly Adelaide

Adelaide now is rolling over back to front and front to back. Around March 27, she was sleeping on her side, and in the morning rolled onto her belly and cried. She had forgotten how to roll back! Over the weekend and during our spring break she started rolling from back to front a lot! She remembered how to roll back (usually) and is now a roly poly Adelaide. This was really fun, because Addie and I went to Iowa March 30 - April 1 to see her grandparents just back from Florida. Her grandpa hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving! She now REALLY wants to crawl and get into stuff. You can just see her plotting. She's close to sitting up, and she started with her baby cereal. (Early according to some books, and late according to others - we split the difference). She loves sitting up (with help)!

I finally printed off photos (the first time to have hard copies ever). Over 200 pictures! Most of them had been uploaded to Picasa Web Albums, but not all. While her grandparents held her, I caught up and ordered photos! I'm putting them in albums little by little.

She loves walking outside. That's good, because so do we. She fell asleep bundled up in her stroller Thursday, even though it was only 40 degrees out. She's wearing the snowsuit her grandma Susan made. I think this summer, stroller naps may be the only way I get her to nap.

Five months!

Adelaide was five months old yesterday. She celebrated by going over to her grandma's condo for a visit. (Actually, we celebrated by having a grown-up date.) Unfortunately, she cried a lot. She may have been tired (notice a pattern in the posts about resisting naps?) or it may have been that she isn't used to the condo. She hadn't been there since Christmas, and she just kept looking around as if to say, "This isn't my home!" She's planning on visiting grandma's place more (instead of just the other way around).

Saturday, Addie and her friend Sydney had a playdate(along with my friend Kristin and I). We went for a long walk to and around Lake Como. That was three miles (with a quick snack break for all at the coffee shop on the lake). It was the first time Addie has made that trip on the OUTSIDE. I told her how she had made that same trip almost every day her whole life on the INSIDE. It was so warm and nice!!!! Addie also enjoys walks at her daycare. They put 6-8? babies on a special wagon equipped with baby seats. That is pretty precious. Daycare is going better - I mean, I'm getting more used to it anyway. We're tempted to buy the cool swing they have there, it is magic for her sleeping, but she'll grow out of it so soon.

She learned a new screeching sound - it's hard to explain. We think it means, "Look at me! Pay attention to moi!" because she screeches when she's happy and really mad. It is still kind of cute for now, but it could get old. She doens't roll over stomach to back very often - she rolls over back to side, and is really working on rolling back to stomach. She loves standing in her exer-saucer.

Four month rolling over!

Our little Adelaide started rolling over on Sunday! (Stomach to back). We are so excited! She is becoming such the little character: laughing at daddy, sucking (and gnawing) on her hands, and repeatedly slamming her legs down in the crib. We aren't sure why she slams her legs down in the crib, but by doing so, she can inch her way around and lay perpendicular to the way we left her. She will FINALLY spend longer amounts of time in her various baby carriers, so I can get a few things done. She especially likes facing outward so she can look at the world.

We are also exhausted, as Addie started waking frequently (every hour or so) ever since she started daycare. We are trying to get her back to four-hour periods of sleep. Of course daycare is very germy, so she just got over a bout with RSV, a potentially serious respiratory infection. Luckily, she got through her sickness without any problems. We were worried, though! Also, RSV in an adult is just a cold, so Matt and I only had to battle a run-of-the-mill cold. Today, we have her four month check-up (including, I'm sure, some vaccinations). Wish us luck!

Enjoy the following video of her rolling over (and me trying to encourage her). Notice she finally rolls over for her "people" all of you far away!

Daycare Day One

I dropped little Adelaide off at daycare this morning. She was kicking and smiling. She played with a toy, looked at the other babies, and looked at me as if to say, "It's ok mom! I'll be fine!" But it doesn't feel fine for the mom. It is so strange to be a mother, so far I just feel guilty any moment I'm not with her. Several co-workers and Facebook friends had words of encouragement that really got me through the day. One even checked on her when she dropped her own sons off at daycare (we go to the same one). I received a gift today from one co-worker - the cute lion hat that she made, thanks, Andrea! Look at how tired she is - daycare tired Addie out. She hasn't slept so much in ages! :)

3 months old!

I'm went back to work Monday, January 12. I had gotten an extension of a week for January 5-12 (she was born a week late). I took that extra week "practice leaving" (running errands and pumping) so that it wasn't such a shock to me (or to her, or to her Grandmas) on my first day back at school. "Practice leaving" did help my first week back. I miss her so much when I'm at work! At the same time, it is nice to see my students and colleagues. February 2nd will be the next major transition as she starts actual daycare, and not the one-on-one with Grandmas she has during January. She DID finally start taking bottles - voraciously so! She has finally napped some, without me nursing. It did involve a lot of rocking - but at least she slept!

Adelaide is growing out of the 0-3 month footed sleepers since she's so tall, but can still wear some 0-3 month clothes. She is starting to fill out more. She's really finding her hands, and starting to comfort suck on her hands. We're hoping this continues, as it may help her sleep. She likes to talk to stuffed animals - she likes a monkey that hangs on a monkey-themed baby gym. She loves it when her grandmas sing to her! It is so much more fun now that she can play, smile, and react!

Week 10

(December 30, 2008) Christmas and New Year's with a baby is fun, but very quiet and subdued. We went to the Christmas Eve children's service with Grandma Susan at our church. She was very good, and even fell asleep during the candlelight Silent Night! It helps that it is a very liberal church, and that you can nurse during the service. (And thank goodness for those nice, modest nursing tops!) She got tons of presents, but she didn't know it. Christmas day our friends Tara and Ross came over and Susan cooked a feast! New Year's Eve the four of us (Matt, Grandma Susan, Addie and I)ate Thai take out, put Addie to bed, and watched the ball drop on TV.

Addie naps now, maybe just because she's older - but only when I'm home to nurse her first. Hopefully she'll learn to nap when I'm at work!

Adelaide was 11 pounds 6 ounces at her doctor's visit on 12/26/08. She was also 24 1/2 inches, but we're pretty sure that they measured some of her hair as well. (The nurse didn't check very carefully).