I’m trying to introduce Alethea to a new food every 4-7 days or so. This morning it was carrots. Here’s the run down:
Baby Food Thickness Rating: STAGE 1
Taste, Texture & Color: GOOD
Alethea’s Enjoyment Level: MODERATE
The Gas Causing Factor: TBD
Messiness Meter: Well, you be the judge –
Yesterday was Alethea’s six month birthday. Happy birthday Baby!
Today we went to the doctor for her six month well baby check up. Her doctor said she looks wonderful and was impressed with both how happy and how strong Alethea is. Of course, they checked her height/weight/head size and Alethea’s current stats are as follows: Height – 26 inches, Weight – 18 lbs 11oz, Head Circumference – 44 cm. That means Alethea is in the 60th percentile for height and 90th for weight and head.
My poor girl got stuck four times today, since in addition to her regular vaccines, she got her first dose of the flu vaccine (the seasonal one, not H1N1, because Alethea’s doctor’s office doesn’t have that one yet). Alethea took the first shot with only a surprised expression, the second one she let out a couple of yelps, the third one she started crying and by the fourth, she absolutely let loose. Then when it was over I picked her up and she stopped crying right away. The nurse looked at her, smiled and said, “What a tough little girl!” What did Alethea do? She looked right at the nurse, said “Humpf!” and then showed the nurse the back of her head. I have no idea if she did it on purpose or not, but it was soooo funny!
This month’s big first for Alethea was her first airplane ride to Philly. We didn’t have any other major “firsts” this month but have continued to build on her other skills. Alethea is a real pro at sitting up now. She rarely falls over unless she wants to get down on her stomach. She is trying really hard to crawl and can do a four-point-stand on her hands and toes for several seconds. Occasionally she’ll go from the stand and fall onto her hands and knees, but she doesn’t seem to know what to do once she gets there and then ends up either on her stomach or back in the four-point-stand.
She doesn’t seem to be teething yet, but that hasn’t stopped her from enjoying her solid foods. We’ve finally managed to find some things that don’t make her gassy, so her diet now includes pears, sweet potatoes and squash. Her pediatrician suggested moving to three meals a day now and including some more chunky things, so I think we’ll try that.
Sleeping is slowly improving, although we experienced a not entirely unexpected set back as a result of our trip to Philly. At night, as long as it has been less than 3 hours since her last meal, if Alethea wakes up, she usually can put herself back to sleep without any intervention from Peter or me. The problem is that if it has been more than 3 hours, things get more dicey and if it has been more than 4 hours, you can forget any thoughts of Alethea putting herself back to sleep. I think this clearly indicates that she isn’t eating enough during the day to get her through the night, but I’m really at a loss as to how to get more food into her, other than I think we’ll keep pushing the solids. Still, this is an improvement over last month when she rarely put herself back to sleep at any point, so I will continue to hold out hope that my first good night’s sleep in about nine months is coming soon.
Alethea’s social and verbal skills are expanding. She is always trying out new sounds and her babble is sounding more and more like speech each day. This month she started holding out her arms to me and Peter when she wants to be picked up. She will also reach out and try to grab other children if they come close enough.
I have to say that while it was fun to have a tiny little brand new baby, I am feeling more and more “normal” with each passing month and am looking forward to the coming weeks with much anticipation, even though they will bring me a crawler who will be into everything.
As most of you probably know, I spent two years living in Philly after I graduated from college. This past weekend Peter, Alethea and I took a family vacation to Philadelphia. It was sort of a 3 year wedding anniversary gift for us, although, I have to admit, the trip was more for me than for Peter. I know I married a great guy when he’s willing to spend his family vacation of the year visiting my old friends. The trip wasn’t a total loss for Peter though, as we were able to procure genuine south Philly cheese steaks:
We also got to take Alethea to Love Park, which is where Peter proposed to me 4 years ago:
Friends were visited, including many of the seniors from the senior community center where I worked as well as my two former roommates, Katie Jo and Ann.
Alethea was a trooper and everyone enjoyed meeting her. She even did pretty well on the airplane with only a few squawks here and there to indicate her boredom.
Over all, I’d say the trip was a success. It was so nice to catch up with old friends and enjoy city living once more.
Yesterday Alethea was playing in my closet while I was getting dressed. She likes to talk to (and try to grab) that cute little baby sitting in the mirror. After she got tired of that, she tipped over to the side (she hasn’t yet found a more graceful way to get down from sitting) and flipped over onto her stomach. It was at that point she noticed one of her toys laying on the floor, just a foot or so out of reach. And for a minute or two, it really looked like she was going to crawl over and get it.
With a look of intense focus, she moved her arms and legs in what was clearly a crawling attempt. In the process she very briefly got up on her hands and knees a few times and at one point she even managed to do a four point stand on her hands and toes for a fraction of a second.
Previous to this time, Alethea has managed to move forward occasionally on her own, but I was never sure before if it was really on purpose, or if it was just the result of her limbs happening to wiggle in the right way at the right time. This time though…. well… I guess we’d better get that baby gate up.
My kitchen is a mess. Normally that would really bother me, but at the moment I feel rather triumphant, because amidst the measuring cups and spoons, mixing bowls and various ingredients sit six rather beautiful homemade waffle cones.
It all started yesterday when I went to Target and there on the clearance rack was a waffle cone maker. Not only did it look like a fun and fabulous item (I mean the people on the box are grinning from ear to ear holding their ice cream cones) but it was only twelve dollars and fifty cents! I knew that in purchasing such an item I risked Peter rolling his eyes at me when he came home and saw it sitting on the counter, but I couldn’t resist! Sure enough the waffle cone maker was met with some initial hesitation, but all that was forgot this afternoon when the smell of fresh-baked waffle cones began wafting through the house, so much so that Peter made a voluntary grocery store run to pick up some ice cream for himself and some sorbet for me.
As I sit and soak in the glory of the moment, I am tempted to conclude that this may be my best Target clearance purchase ever. How ’bout you? What’s yours?
Today was Alethea’s first snow. Okay, so there was a little dusting the other day, but not enough to really count, so let’s put it this way –
Today was Alethea’s first accumulated snowfall viewing.
I think she’s a fan. She kept putting her head up to the glass on the door to see if she could get through to the outside, or at least, that’s what it looked like she was doing. It’s so much fun when you can see your baby learning new things about the world. Take this picture for instance:
I’m pretty sure this look either means:
A) What’s that funny white stuff falling from the sky?
OR
B) Why is it snowing on Columbus Day when supposedly the world is getting warmer year by year and according to “Climate Change” experts, if people don’t mend their ways we are headed for a disaster of epic proportions? Please explain it to me, Mom.
Personally, I’m torn in the interpretation of Alethea’s expressions, so I’ll leave it to you to decide.
Okay, so I know my last police reports post wasn’t that long ago, but I just couldn’t resist sharing these recent happenings:
First of all, there were several DUIs, which unfortunately is completely normal, but I noticed that one of the offenders had a BAC of .30! How is it even possible that man could manage to climb into a car, let alone attempt to drive it. Yikes!
The winner of the oddest item taken from a car goes to the report stating “a pair of fake diamond hoop earrings and a black stun gun were reported stolen from a vehicle.” I am left wondering if those items belonged to the same person or not. It intrigues me either way!
But the report that tops them all is:
“A robbery was reported at 2:13am on September 16th. Two men, displaying knives approached a man delivering pizza. The two men demanded and took…”
His money right?…… No…..
“The two men demanded and took the pizzas before leaving.”
Rest assured though you pizza loving public:
“Police later located and arrested the robbery suspects.”
Those must have been some hungry men.
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On an unrelated note:
GO TWINS! Beat those Yankees!
Tonight Peter and I went to see what may very well be our last ever Twins game at the Metrodome. As those of you in the Twin Cities probably know, the Twins will be playing in the brand new Target Field come next summer. We got to see a fantastic game and spend a whole 5 hours baby free! (Thanks to Grandma Debbie and Grandpa Chris for watching Alethea.)
While we’re excited about outdoor baseball coming to Minnesota next summer, it is a little sad to see the dome go since Peter and I have had lots of fun dating memories there. At a time like this, I feel it’s only fitting to say, “Goodbye Metrodome with your horrible acoustics and bad seating layout. Thanks for the memories.”
In Alethea’s baby book there is a section to record the dates of her “firsts” such as first time smiling, first time crawling, first solid foods, etc. One of the sections is simply labeled “Other Firsts”. Well, today she had an “other first” but I’m not sure that I should record it in the book. Today was the first day she cried when I took something away from her she wasn’t supposed to have. I was dangling a metal slinky in front of her and showing her all the different ways it could move. She reached out and grabbed it (she’s getting a lot quicker at that these days) and when she tried to put it in her mouth, I said “Honey, I don’t think that is a very safe thing for eating, maybe we shouldn’t play with it after all” and I set it on the coffee table. Suddenly, the lower lip jutted out and her eyes got really big and then sure enough, she turned on the water works. It kind of took me by surprise, but I guess it was a first that was bound to happen sometime.
Well, I suppose I should include a picture since I haven’t posted one in about a week. Here’s a picture from August of another first:
