Rice Cereal is Yummy!

Happy Halloween!!! We decided instead of candy, we would give Alli a different treat - her first attempt at solid foods. Ok, "solid" might be a stretch as the rice cereal was pretty more like liquid, but we did feed it to her with a spoon, so hey! At 5-1/2 months, we figured it was time...

Alli took to it really well. She even started to open her mouth and crane her head to get to the spoon. And as usual, we were very proud of her achievement. She was also very clear when she was done with the cereal - she spit the food out with a grimace.

Alli's First Happy Hour

It's funny how things are either very slow or just happen all at once. This is going to be one of those "all at once" weeks, so I'll be posting frequently!

Last night we met some friends from my job at a happy hour at Four Peaks Brewery. Everyone was excited because they had Pumpkin Porter (yummy!) And of course, Alli just couldn't resist taking part like the rest of us.

This is Alli with Dan Bossler and some Pumpkin Porter. I think we're gonna have a beer drinker!

Sittin' Pretty

Last night I was reading "What to Expect First Year" to put a plan together of how to introduce solids. I haven't read the book in a few months. So I got to "5 months" and the beginning section said (not a direct quote) "some babies can sit up on their own with their hands on the floor for balance". I realized that I had always been trying to catch Alli if she leaned too far forward because I was afraid she may hurt her back. (Guess that's only for us "old" folks!) So tonight when I picked her up at Krista's, we put her on the floor and I put her hands in front of her and let her go. Not bad! She did a pretty good job sitting. I was pretty impressed, so decided she was just going to *have* to show daddy this new trick.

Well, much to my surprise, when daddy and I put her down, sitting with a toy between her legs, she went to grab the toy and just stayed sitting. After 30 seconds or so, she wound up tilting to the side and falling over. We did this quite a few times - even got the video recorder out to show such a momentous feat!

So all excited about the video, we wound up leaving her on her back on the blanket while downloading to the PS3 so we could watch it. She was still pretty playful, so she started rolling from side to side. (Yes, she does this - rolls to her side, but not all the way over.) Apparently this night she decided she wanted to play with the blanket some more or something, so she eventually rolled all the way over on her stomach. After much grunting and struggling, she finally got her arm out from under herself and was able to push up with her arms to get her head nice and high, and then continue playing with the blanket. WOW! I was soooo proud of her! Quite a night we've had!

An Infant's Love

The thing a new mom just can't wait for is the expression of love back from the infant. The past week or so I've seen the expressions back from Alli, and it's not just in her wonderful smile.

Last weekend I spent a lot of time with Alli, and it showed when I went to pick her up at Krista's on Monday. I walked in, said my hello's to everyone, and then went to lift her up for a hug. All of the sudden there were screeches of joy as she started grabbing hold of my shirt and pulling it closer to her mouth. This went on for a few minutes and I just thought "this is what every mother loves!". I was so proud, and happy. It was a very exciting feeling knowing that she was expressing her love back to me.

I'm also seeing it in her naps on Fridays. I work from home on Fridays, and while that sounds like a great idea, it's my most stressful day of the week. Alli *loves* to spend time with me, especially on Fridays since she hasn't been with me much for 4 days. But I'm supposed to work. So I feel like I do a half-arsed job at both mothering AND working. That's very stressful for a perfectionist!! Lately she's gone so far as to skip afternoon naps to be with me. I'll let her cry, but we have a time limit. 10 minutes of straight crying and I'm going to get her. I've found that if I go in earlier, she stops and smiles at me. She *totally* just wants to be with me. But she will continue to cry for as long as I let her, or until I get her. And she doesn't fall asleep on me, she stays awake so she can spend all this time with me. It's cute, yet somewhat frustrating (especially when work emails come flying in!)

Yesterday she didn't nap at all in the afternoon, but fell asleep finally during her 6pm feeding. I let her sleep - she needed it. But after a while I decided I needed to put her down to help prepare dinner. She woke up and was crying. So, I thought maybe she should finish her meal. Well, not quite. Fell asleep again. This time I decided just to put her in her cradle - no sleep sack, just as is. I figured that would mean an early morning for me, but what can you do. The little one surprised us - she slept from 7pm til 6:30am!!! My goodness, what she does to be with Mom during the day. :)

But There Are No Teeth!

Over the last week or so, we've noticed that Alli likes chewing on things, including her fingers. Teething? No, couldn't be. Can't see any signs of teeth. Well, I'm starting to wonder a little more about that. This weekend I watched my daughter change. One day, normal Alli. The next day, couldn't go down for naps although she tried all her normal techniques for putting herself to sleep, fell asleep while nursing (mostly because she didn't nap), drool galore, and snot all over the place. Yuck!!! I still don't see any white little spots on her gums, but boy if this doesn't seem like teething. In general, she's still happy. But with the lack of sleep she's a bit more needy at times during the day. She doesn't chew *all* the time, but she definitely has her times where everything goes into the mouth. And today besides a lot of runny nose, we got lots of poopy diapers. It seemed like every time I went to change her there was some more poop. So, stay tuned. I doubt we're going to see any pearly whites, but something is growing inside those gums!

Alli's 5 Month Photos

Yesterday Alli turned 5 months old. I can't believe it. She's changing all the time - new sounds, new expressions, new fun things. Here are a couple of pictures to enjoy.

Splish Splash I was Takin' a Bath

I've been asked numerous times if Alli likes taking a bath. My only response is "well, she doesn't hate it". When we bathe her, she doesn't seem "happy", but she isn't upset either. I've tried to kick her legs to let her see the water splashing, and same with her hands. Still no real reaction, so we just go about bathing her and getting her out of there.

This weekend we finally saw some interest. Legs kicking the water. More like a "hey, what is this stuff anyone" sort of kick as opposed to the "wahoo, this is really cool as I make a total mess!" So, it's a start. She has also taken interest in hold on to the pitcher as I pour water over her. Either she's very helpful or very inquisitive. I'm guessing inquisitive right now, but I thank her anyway. :)

On a different note, Alli has started making a new sound. Mmmmmmmm. I like it cause I'm waiting for the "mmmmaaammmaaa". :) I think I heard it once, but it could be just wishful thinking. :)

Alli's peach fuzz is getting longer. It just started growing this past week. I hope it continues - it would be so cute for her to have some hair. We'll see. For all I know it will grow and fall out and she will be a bald baby for a couple of years!

I think I posted before that Alli likes trees blowing in the wind. Well yesterday we were at a friends house and it was a windy day. They had huge sycamore trees in their backyard and Alli just stared and laughed at them. I swear we could have been there for hours, but I was cold and she was heavy. We went outside a few times though to watch the trees. Now I am trying to figure out where in the yard we can put a sycamore!

Let The Good Times Roll

Everyone always told me to enjoy each phase of your kids because they go by so fast. Alli is closing in on 5 months and I'm seeing the changes. With each phase are the fun things and the things you miss. I love the fact that Alli smiles and "talks" so much. We get to sing together and have "discussions". She is really liking sitting at the dinner table with the family as we found out this weekend. But I lost the little baby that falls asleep on your chest. I haven't tried to do this for a while, but today I did because I was tired and thought it would just be nice to fall asleep with her. Nope. Head was up and looking around. Wanted to explore, more like tummy time than nap time. In some ways, what a bummer. But as I listen to her talking to her daddy right now, I understand the new joys that each phase will bring.

Stroller Strides

Krista takes Tyler and Alli to a Stroller Strides class a few times a week. She's worked out a great schedule around naps and feeding to make the class fit in. The kids get to sit side-by-side in a double jogging stroller. At first, like anything, it was a little hectic. Tyler would "help" by making sure Alli always had her pacifier in her mouth. Alli didn't really want the pacifier, but apparently that is where Tyler believed it belonged. The problem was, Tyler wouldn't always make it into her mouth. So she got it in her eye, forehead, cheek, etc. Tyler finally got used to the fact that Alli didn't always want the pacifier and the two would stride side by side without a problem.

Well now Tyler is finding more ways to be helpful, and this is truly helpful! See the picture below!