Giggle

The first giggle on here is my favorite. It's too bad I missed filming the cutest, longest giggle ever just before I pulled out the camera (doesn't it often go like this?). She's such a DOLL! I love my little girl and I'm glad she'll giggle for both her mom and dad! She's a big, big flirt! She has sort of a cute, shy flirt (especially in her smiles). Hope you enjoy. :)

First Time for Everything

Yes! The day has arrived to experiment with cereal. The doctor said at this point it's not for her nutrition but just to get her used to eating new things and using a spoon. She seems to be somewhat receptive, though she's still not sure about this new stuff. I'm glad she doesn't scream and reject it; she actually will let me try to spoon feed her for quite a while until she gets tired of it. Someday she'll start to like it.

Four months old

I'm so in love with these two pictures. Happy 4 months, cutie girl! She's a whopping 15 lbs. 11 oz. which puts her in the 90% for height and weight. I really like this outfit, but unfortunately the bottoms have some elastic around the legs that are too tight for comfort for her fatty legs. hehe, we like our fatty girl. So this outfit doesn't stay on very long, but at least I get pictures! I also like her friendly giraffe (if that's what it is) and should give him a name or I'll wait 'til she names him. She'll be taking pictures with this guy every year of her life, so they should become good friends I hope.

Thumb sucking: Avery has become a thumb sucking pro and her dad is not a fan (her mom neither). We're always doing thumb patrol and soon enough we may dip it in lemon juice to see how she likes it then, eh? We try to give her a teething ring as an alternative, but it's not nearly as good in her mouth. We think she may be teething, but only on and off and it's not all that bad I don't think.

Reading: I gave up going to story time at the library for now. She's a little too young to appreciate me wiggling her around to the songs and I'll put it off as long as possible because it feel like my IQ takes a nose dive in that atmosphere. Meanwhile I enjoy reading to her at home on the summer reading program.

Eczema: It's a constant battle (flaring up every other day), but the doc says to keep up the hydrocortisone 2x daily and moisturize constantly. Good thing she's a trooper and it's all she really knows. I just have to keep it under control; hopefully someday she'll grow out of it.

Cereal: I'm going to start her on rice cereal now that she's old enough and see how she likes it. I'm kind of excited and I'll let ya know how it goes.

Sleeping: What sleeping? just kidding. She naps okay during the day. It's kind of random and only for 45 minutes at a time (if that), but whatever. I'm trying to put her down often whenever she looks tired. She sleeps much more in the morning/afternoon than in the evening. She will go for 8 hours in the evening with only 2 15-minute cat naps. Silly Avery. Her bed time is at 10:30/11:00 though we will be trying harder to make that earlier if at all possible. She still gets up every 2-4 hours throughout the night. Doc says to get her accustomed to falling asleep on her own and that should help.

Demeanor: Wow, such a technical word. Despite some of her troubles, Avery really is a good girl. She's not too fussy; just a little wiggly at times (for a 4-monther). She can be happy with little entertainment and likes to look around. She travels well. She smiles often and is quite a flirt. Dad can even get her to giggle.

Ode to the Papa

Avery and her dad...

Brand new baby, brand new papa

Reading to the little babe

"Dad, I don't think this jacket is big enough for the both of us..."

Our little biking, hiking baby

Showing this little girl how to chop a potato

This is what happens when dad changes Avery's diaper. :)

Life as of Late

Here are some things I'm excited about taking care of when I get an extra moment or two (which can get tricky when you've got dishes, laundry, child care, daily routines, and house cleaning; but I'm optimistic):

- Scan in the rest of my college notes and organize them. (All digitalized and no more notebooks of old notes hanging around, yay!)

- Scan in old photos I brought from home of my younger days. (again, digitalization)

- Start digital scrapbooking (whether with a program or on illustrator). I realize that this takes out the whole tactile element and beauty of real scrapbooking, but it's a heck-a-lot cheaper, less time consuming, and still fun.

- Update and collect all of our people's addresses/info on our computer's address book.

- Find album covers online of all the iTunes music we have.

- Fill in the blanks for all our iTunes music (like

missing artist names/albums/etc).

*I'm starting to sound like a real organization freak, but I LOVE, love, love to organize! It's refreshing!*

- Catch up on my journal--yikes!

- Start my scripture studies using the New Testament Institute manual.

- Sew a "hooter hider" for myself (I've already finished a cute sun hat for Avery!).

- Take care of my new Aloe Vera plant (which I actually accidentally ran over with my car- pot and all- when I left it out there by the car to get som

e sun... good thing they're hearty plants! I'm not much of a green thumb either.)

- Start packing up the house for our move next month.

I'm also trying to take better care of myself by eating more often and DRINKING! I'm a real slacker when it comes to staying hydrated. I grew up hating the taste of our water so I pretty much only drank milk. Therefore I'm perpetually dried up! (I do have good bones, though, hehe.) It's a wonder I have such good milk for Avery- which in turn makes me even more dehydrated. I've come up with a water chart to keep me on top of things. I started this during pregnancy, and obviously I need to start it up again. It really works, though, so I'm glad.

Home Runner!

YEaH! Look at the form in that sweet picture (it's not the home run picture, but it's still cool). Yesterday night, Brian hit a home run during his last softball game of the intramural season of this semester. It was cool, cool, cool! Avery and I were so proud of him! I'm glad he enjoys playing the game and we love to watch him! I love to learn about the game from him and try to follow it even though it can be pretty quick sometimes.

My baby SLEEPS!

Last night, Avery only woke up ONCE! She slept for a whopping 5.5 hours then another 2.5 hours immediately following her 4 am meal. She went to bed at 11:00 pm last night (she's slowing going to bed earlier and I'm so happy). I've gotten some good tips about daytime naps from the book, Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth. He's a little redundant in the stuff he talks about, but I've gained a few good things from his book so far. The biggest thing: for babies under 4 months, it's best not to let them stay up more than 2 hours at a time or they'll become overtired. Before, I would just let her sleep when she fell asleep, but now I actually put her down if she's at all willing (it's easiest after she eats) and I'm doing much better at not letting her stay awake more than 2 hours. She naps much better (much more) and sleeps better at night!!! Once she is on baby food, (or at 4 months) the book says I can concentrate more on a morning and afternoon nap and not worry about the 2 hour thing. We'll see how that goes in the near future!

Lightening Bolt

I saw a lightening bolt today, and heard the thunder. wow, I love it. I sure miss it, too. Back in Tennessee these thunderstorms happen all of the time and they're just so fascinating and awesome! I think the tree in our back yard has been struck at least 50 times (and it shows). The crackling and the booming thunder is fantastic and the way the lightening can light up the whole sky on a dark night is surreal. I love the sound of the rain, too. Here in the west, I've hardly got to enjoy these natural phenomenons and it's a shame, but I sure enjoy them when they do come (even to the smallest degree). I've got the window wide open to hear it and the birds chirping like crazy. It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon. My baby is sitting here in her bumbo watching me type and I feel the cool breeze. I love, love, love thunderstorms. They make me want to sit and ponder and listen, and watch....