The great raspberry experiment

On Sunday we had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Nunley's house for dinner. We had lasagna and Avery had raspberries. It was so funny to see Grandma and Grandpa watch A try them for the first time. She was unsure about them at first, but she got used to the tartness and actually enjoyed them.

As usual she needed a bath afterward and I was not about to put her in the car like that, so we gave her a bath in the sink. She thought she was the cat's meow being able to sit up by herself. It was a hilarious. See for yourself:

She's mobile!

Sort of.

Avery has been pushing herself backwards for a couple of weeks. It's pretty easy because we have hardwood floors that are very conducive to easy sliding.

That last few days she has started inching forward and today I caught it on video! 

29 Weeks!

MONTH: 7

WEEK: 29

WEIGHT: 16lbs 

LENGTH: 27in

HEAD: 17in

MILESTONES: She is getting increasingly more steady sitting unassisted. She has also started pulling herself across her mat because she can easily. It's pretty cute.

OBLIGATORY ADORABLE PICTURE: Taken today at 29 weeks 2 days because the last couple of days she has been an über grump.

EATING: Avery's newest food was a tiny bit of yuca on Monday. I was surprised she liked it because she wasn't such a fan of sweet potatoes -- of which family yuca is a member. 

SLEEPING: Avery has not been sleeping well in her Pack N Play so she has been sleeping more in our bed. I feel like we all sleep better because I can just open my eyes and see that she is okay rather than having to get up and turn over to see her -- especially since she has taken to rolling over onto her stomach in her sleep when she is in her Pack N Play.

VISITS/OUTINGS: On Saturday we celebrated Avery's new cousin, Harvey, with a baby shower for Justin's cousin, Aimee. 

FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: I'm not sure Avery is a fan, but I love watching her learn how to make her way over to the toys she wants. I think she gets frustrated, but I think it's pretty cute when she actually succeeds.

MOMMY FEELS: Sad that I am missing the entire day when she is practicing her new skills. And since she has been having rough days where she won't nap for anyone but me she only falls asleep as soon as I get home. Then I miss out even more.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO: Finding a new home that has more room so we are not always tripping over Avery's things and each other.

Besties

Avery has a friend, Lailah, who is 5 days younger than her. Lailah's mommy, Christina, is a stay at home mommy so whenever I have a day off during the week we like to get the girls together and play.

Monday, being President's Day, was no exception.

Luckily for me Christina is an amazing photographer and she snapped the cutest pictures of the girls.

Nom nom nom

Since we've started solids we have tried quite a few new foods. She hasn't been "eating" too much; mostly she just puts it in her mouth which is fine because all we are trying to do is expose her to new tastes and textures.

So far she has really enjoyed herself. As can be seen in these hilarious photos. Enjoy! (I know she has been!)

Waiting for breakfast with Uncle Jake & Uncle Thommy

Her new favorite: blackberries!

Yogurt melts

Banana in the Bumbo seat

Trying to catch the slippery banana

Using a spoon

Sweet potatoes

28 weeks!

MONTH: 7

WEEK: 28

WEIGHT: 16+ lbs

LENGTH: 27 in

HEAD: 17 in

MILESTONES: Every day she gets better an better at sitting up unsupported. Now she will sit up for a minute or two, but if she gets really excited she will fling herself backward onto her back, so we have to make sure she has something soft to fall back on.

OBLIGATORY ADORABLE PICTURE: Taken today at 28 weeks. She is becoming such a ham!

EATING: She has been "eating" solids for almost a month now. When I say "eating" I really mean just putting it in her mouth and making funny faces because she has not seemed very interested in actually swallowing anything... until tonight. We (cautiously) tried blackberries and she actually seemed interested in more than squishing them between her fingers.

SLEEPING: A has had a few days in a row of waking extra early and mama can feel it. :::yawn:::

VISITS/OUTINGS: We went on a very long walk on Sunday from our house, up over the south overcrossing to Target then down Soscol to Third St., back down to Franklin and then home again. It was about 4 miles and took us about 2 hours (including the stop at Target. 

FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: Avery loves to laugh. And I love to hear her laugh. I think it's both of our favorite activities.

MOMMY FEELS: Blessed. Every day is better than the last when I get to wake up next to my baby girl.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO: We are looking forward to seeing her learn to scoot/crawl. She can't seem to get her legs and arms to work together, so she just pulls her body with her hands. It's quite hilarious.

Zoo!

Last weekend the Sacramento museums and zoo were giving away free admission, so we went. It gave a new meaning to the saying, "it was a zoo!" There were probably about 20,000-30,000 people there.

Avery is not old enough to understand what the animals were but she sure seemed interested in how big they were. Here are a couple of photos of us at the giraffe exhibit.

27 weeks!

MONTH: 7

WEEK: 27

WEIGHT: 16lbs 11.5oz

LENGTH: 27 inches

HEAD: 17 1/2 inches

MILESTONES: Avery is now half a year old. I cannot believe how fast the time went by. Also, I would officially consider her a supported sitter. She is trying to so hard to do it herself, but she is just not quite there yet.

OBLIGATORY ADORABLE PICTURE: This was taken on Friday at 27 weeks 2 days.

EATING: We have tried sweet potatoes last night. She was not a fan of straight sweet potatoes, but if I mashed them up and cut them with half oatmeal it seemed to mellow out the flavor and she enjoyed it. (Pictures to follow!) I, however, do not care for sweet potato poops!

SLEEPING: Avery is still sticking to her earlier bedtime of 7-7:15pm. One night last week she even went to bed at 6:30 which made mama very sad because that meant I only got 45 minutes with her after getting off work. :-(

VISITS/OUTINGS: Last week we went to the zoo! It was packed and Avery didn't really understand, but she seemed to like to see all the big animals.

FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: Playing with he feet and putting anything and everything in her mouth are still -- by far -- her favorite activities.

MOMMY FEELS: better about working. I have realized that by my working full time still we will be able to do more fun stuff as a family.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO: The long weekend in May when we go to Solvang, CA and the cruise we are taking in September!

A Month in Photos - January 2011

6 Months!

Today we had A's 6 month checkup.  J and I both had guesses of how big we thought she would be. He thought 19lbs 7oz and I thought 18lbs 3oz. We both thought she would be 30 inches long. 

We were both off. Way off. Here's her stats:

Weight: 16lbs 11.5oz
Length: 27in
Head circumference: 17in

THIS MONTH YOUR BABY MAY:

• improve her fine motor skills and begin to feel and turn around small objects in her hands She is practicing moving objects from one hand to the other. 
• say vowel-consonant combinations We haven't heard anything like this yet, but that is probably because all her sounds are at such high octaves that it's hard to make out what she is "saying"!
• express unhappiness when a toy is taken away Oh definitely. She also shows her displeasure when you walk out of her line of sight. 
• discover herself and "talk" to herself in a mirror She loves to babble at herself. I'm not sure she quite understands that the baby she is seeing is her reflection and not another baby.
• separation anxiety: understand that she’s a separate being and thus develop anxiety when she’s apart from you Basically she wants you to sit next to her while she plays, but don't you dare play with one of her toys or walk away from her side to do something.
• learn to soothe herself by sucking a thumb or using a pacifier She loves her paci, but sometimes she opts to snuggle her lovey as a soothing mechanism instead.
• explore her environment by putting everything into her mouth (since a baby's mouth has more nerve endings and is thus more sensitive than any other part of her body, she uses it to learn more about the world around her) Every.Single.Thing goes in her mouth. Her feet, her toys, her seat buckle, her hand, my hand, the carseat handle... you get the picture.

26 weeks!

MONTH: 7

WEEK: 26

WEIGHT: ~18 lbs

LENGTH: ~28 inches

HEAD: round and adorable!

MILESTONES: Nothing major, but she is getting every closer to sitting up by herself!

OBLIGATORY ADORABLE PICTURE: 26 weeks today. This was the closest I could get to a smile before she fell asleep tonight.

EATING: We introduced whole, multi-grain cereal last week. She loves it just as much as oatmeal. Also, I've started offering Gerber Puffs. She hasn't managed to eat any, but it is helping her practice her pincer grasp.

SLEEPING: She has been sleeping the beginning of the night in her Pack N Play and the rest in our bed. I love waking up with her holding my finger.

VISITS/OUTINGS: Last weekend we spent a lot of time at the fabric store picking out fabric to make gifts for A's new cousins. 

FAVORITE ACTIVITIES: A loves to practice her new sounds. It's very loud.

MOMMY FEELS: Sad about not being able to go to part time anymore, but I am trying my best to find all the time I can with Avery. It doesn't help that she has decided to move her bedtime up an hour and a half!

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO: Going to the zoo with Aly and baby CC on Saturday!