Bath Time

Vanessa loves to take baths! She's really cute. She squeals with excitement when we tell her it's time and she sees us setting up for it. She loves to kick and splash water all over the place, so of course it gets messy, but it's worth it. We use two wash cloths -- one for washing and one for her to play with and suck on while we wash her. (We'd never get her washed if we didn't use the second cloth.) At the end of the routine she gets two cups of water poured over her. (We used to do this to help rinse her off, but now they're for fun.) She gets extra excited when we pull out the cups. As we pour the water, she intentionally tries to grab it. Just recently she started to realize that she can't hold the water between her thumb and index finger, so now, instead, she's beginning to grab for the cup so she can either try and drink from it or chew on it. (We try and limit the amount of water she ingests. :) Nobody likes the idea of their baby drinking the dirt they just washed off, right?!) She also loves her squirtable sea creature toys. She doesn't have the strength to squirt them, but she'll chew on them! And now that she's found her feet, she loves to study the actual process of splashing. These are old pictures (and by "old" I mean they were taken several weeks or a month ago) . . . I'm sure you can understand how hard it is to take pictures while keeping your baby safe and with water splashing all over the place. :)

It's cold outside!

Boy it's cold! Days like these make it hard to leave the house. So if you can, stay home and cuddle up under a warm blanket!

5 Months

I'm sure most of you realize that Vanessa is 5 months now. Frankly, I can't believe it. I know I'm repeating myself, but she's changing way too fast! She weighs exactly 15 pounds now. I'm not sure how long she is since it's a little more difficult to take that measurement without the handy tool from her doctor's office, and I never think to try at the appropriate time. In previous months I've tried using a canvas measuring tape while her daddy holds her, and I've also tried putting her down on the back of contact paper to use its inch-square grid. Both ways tend to work. Anyway, she's a very healthy and happy baby. She sits up well with support and is working really hard on trying to sit up without -- she can do it for short moments. At times she puts her arms up when you go to pick her up. She knows her name. She has tons of favorite songs and books. As you can see from the picture, she’s very opinionated. :) We keep thinking she's working on a tooth but nothing's popped up. Her hair is beginning to grow back in. The texture is fine and it appears to be red, but I'm sure we'll get a better idea in the next few months . . . We still can't determine if her hair will be curly, since it took a while for her mommy's curls to show when she was a baby. She loves her daddy and mommy's extreme goofiness. She has a new sound that I swear she got from her daddy -- she squawks. (You just have to hear to understand. Maybe I can post video sometime . . .) She's such a blessing and we can't be more thankful for her.

What did people do before digital cameras?!

I was determined to get a photo of Vanessa in the Christmas dress her maternal grandmother and uncle gave her. It's an absolutely adorable dress and she looks beautiful in it! We took lots of photos trying to get one or two that were just right. I was never a hundred percent satisfied . . . but after much time, and Vanessa losing patience with me, I learned to become satisfied with some of them. Plus, we ended up with some really cute, unprompted pictures of her. But seriously, what did people do before digital cameras? One would buy film and pay for the development of the whole roll only to find out that most of the pictures were less than flattering. No wonder I tried ripping up pictures from my awkward days! Hopefully we can spare Vanessa from that, although I'm sure she's bound to grow up hating some of the ones we think are her cutest. Thank God for technology!

Too Funny!

Vote Vanessa Betz . . .

. . . for President!