Rolling Over!

By Friday night, the 26th... we're ALL sick. So we're just laying around and watching new movies. Maia is lying on her back on the ottoman (which she loves to do) and reaching for her toes (which she also loves to do). With her arms toward her toes, she leans to the side, and - quick as a wink! - she's over on her tummy doing push ups! We flip her over onto her back again... and she performs the same feat a few times. I put her on the floor to see if she will repeat this, and she's over it. She just grins at me. So today, we tried it again. It took her a while to get herself going when on a harder, flatter surface... But once she got it, I could hardly get the video up and rolling before she'd roll over.

Maia's First Christmas

Maia came down with a horrible cold during the night, and I was up with her every few hours to suction her out just so she could breathe. We ended up finishing up the wee hours asleep together, tummy to tummy with me sitting up on the love seat with my feet on the ottoman to keep her upright so her nasal passages didn't swell so much. We got up at about 7:30 to open presents. Her adorable Christmas Sweater... which she didn't end up wearing for long. And yes, she's licking the paper here, while showing off her plumber's crack. That's my girl! So here's the great story for this Christmas. Ray was opening this gift: (tell me that's not a perfect onesie for our daughter to have? Notice the KISS font?) Anyway. He had passed Maia back to me, from where she had been sitting on his chest. He looked down at his shirt (then gray) and it was covered by a trail of yellow poo. Oh boy, diaper blow-out! Not only had she gotten daddy's shirt, she got my pants and the back of her sweater too. So we took a break from all the gift opening to change all three of us, and burn through a LOT of wipes! So after we changed, we finally got around to getting this pic. And Ray is on the phone with everyone at Aunt Tara's house. Maia received this beautiful blanket, hand crocheted for her by Aunt Tara After all that unwrapping and pooping and all that other stuf... Maia was plumb tuckered out!

Christmas Eve

I've got LOTS of pics, and a fair amount of updating to do... I'm going to chunk these into days. We are so blessed! Look at all these presents! I think we will change how we do this next year. But in the mean time... she found the wrapping paper fascinating! We spent the afternoon and evening at my parents' house. Andrew made a FANTASTIC prime rib roast and we enjoyed our dinner very much! Maia sat in a high chair for the first time, but she was much too little for it, so we had to boost her up and surround her with towels. She did okay in it for about 20 minutes until she had enough. Maia opened some of her presents on Aunt Kathleen's lap. The paper was tasty! And she was all smiles and giggles while playing with Emily and Lydia

So Stinkin' Cute!

So I set her in her bouncy-buzzy seat. She hasn't spent much time in it in a while, having moved on to some other toys. But she decided she wasn't interested in laying back and playing with the toys. I turned my back, and she was leaning forward and tipping herself out of it!

Cuddling up for a long winter's nap

It's been snowing, snowing and snowing some more. On Friday I backed out of our driveway, and looked at the road conditions and SERIOUSLY contemplated just pulling back into the driveway and calling in. Still not convinced that I shouldn't have. Should have stayed in and done this: Instead, I picked up Maia at 12:45 and we had half a snow day together (which was LOVELY). She's making good progress in her napping... she can now be put down for naps when sleepy but not sleeping and she will settle down for a nap on her own with just her momma bear womb sounds and her monkey. She has done this consistently throughout the weekend. She will also wake up quietly, make a little noise, and wait patiently until I come to get her. If I don't come for a while, she's okay with that too. She's usually reaching for that momma bear. Saturday was better - time for plows and sunshine. So we headed out to the mall to wrap up the Christmas shopping (which we almost did... but ran out of time because of the slowness of the processes). Lydia got lots of grins and giggles out of her. And Maia sat on Santa's lap (and did great). Her big cousin Lydia (who is 6) declined to speak to Santa or have her picture taken. Today - it's another snow day. Another day to stay inside and cuddle!

It's late... So here are some photos and videos!

LAUGHING! Finally!

4 Months Old!

So we met a new doc (Dr. Mike) at the pediatric practice and really liked him.  He was, in fact, my first choice, but unfortunately his practice is full. They wouldn't let me choose him as Maia's PCP.  He also loved Maia... but alas.  It was not meant to be!

 

Anyway... so she's growing well.  That delayed growth spurt seems to have done the trick, so here's where we are now:

Weight: 13 lbs, 12 oz... 55th percentile

Height: 24 3/4"... 70th percentile

Head Circumfrence: 16 3/8... 85th percentile (she's got that big Ashley noggin!)

 

It is my opinion that Maia is doing well with her current feeding regimen, and I am not feeling the need to introduce solids to her quite yet, and was hoping to wait until between 5 and 6 months.  Dr. Mike concurred and cited AAP guidelines to support my intentions, but does want us to start solids before she actually turns 6 months old.  I'm very comfortable with that.

 

Also, he nicely gave me a little statistic to help me feel (1%) better about having Maia in daycare:

Although kids in daycare tend to have 12 illness a year (as opposed to the 6 a year for kids who stay at home), they also tend to have a lower incidence of allergies and asthma, since their immune systems are so busy.

 

Anyway.  That's the update for now.  We do have pics and videos to upload... but we've been rather busy (and when not busy - EXHAUSTED!).  We'll hopefully get them up soon. 

 

 

Christmas Dilemma

Just read this online (actually, it's the idea of the same woman posted below...) How to manage Christmas gifts: Something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. I love that!

Sooo cute!!

This very talented mother of seven (!) makes these beautiful things for babies and more. I just had to share! This is a new business venture for her, so I'm trying to spread the word. This is her daughter modeling... How fun are girls!