Food

Did we mention that Vanessa started other baby foods? She started with rice cereal at the end of December and moved on to better stuff a couple weeks ago. She seems happy with green beans, pears, and oatmeal cereal. We're beginning peas tomorrow. I know many of you are probably wondering why I'm giving her all the yucky stuff. Well, I'm hoping she might like all the things I never liked but know are good for me. :) Yes, it gets messy. She likes to guide the spoon into her mouth and sometimes feel the food as she chews. We still let her explore with an extra spoon and wash cloth as we feed her. I have to hide the container of food in my lap, otherwise she's grabbing at it the entire time. As a reward, she gets to play with it when she finishes. :)

Give me a cup!!!!

Vanessa likes to play big girl, sometimes, and drink out of a trainer cup. Unfortunately we haven't been consistent with it, but she doesn't seem to mind and takes right to it when she gets the chance. She has to tilt her head back really far to get all the milk, so sometimes we just recline her in her highchair.

Just Fishing

Vanessa's Tag

100% LITTLE GIRL
MADE IN HILLIARD, OHIO
HAND WASH IN WARM WATER
DO NOT BLEACH
LAY FLAT TO DRY
DO NOT IRON

got milk?

6 Months!!!!!!

Okay, we're halfway to Vanessa's 1st birthday! And to think almost two years ago I never thought the day would come when I could be a mother. Vanessa’s amazing and I treasure absolutely every second I have with her. What a blessing!!!! Where do I begin?! She’s doing so much now! Just today I sat in awe as she played on the floor. Of course I sit in awe often, but she seems to have acquired more skills since yesterday. :) She’s an angel. I’ve started watching another baby while staying home with Vanessa. Vanessa has made the transition perfectly. I know you get tired of hearing how great she is – because almost all parents boast – but she really is great! ;-) Okay, so what are some new things she’s doing . . . Well, Vanessa is just so much more engaging. She’s sitting up independently for longer moments. She stays so busy exploring and “talking” that she doesn’t want to stop and eat – she’ll grunt to show that she’s hungry but protests when I interrupt to feed her. She’s very eager to sit in her highchair to be fed, but once we start the process, she’s too busy chewing on the spoon and grabbing at the washcloth. She’s so ready to begin other foods but we’re waiting till her appointment to do so – we’re still contributing to a strong immune system. ;-) (That may be just an excuse.) She's been turning for a while but now seems to do it more frequently to get to the things she wants. Of course you know how she’s on the verge of crawling by reading recent posts. She’s been putting her feet in her mouth for a few weeks now. She still sleeps through the night. When something has changed, like taking the bumper out of the crib, her sleep tends to get slightly disrupted for a night or two, but only in the sense that she wakes a little earlier to check things out. We’re still working on regulating naptime but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort – she’ll figure it out eventually. She loves to play games. Sometimes she pretends to be asleep and when I walk up she pushes up quickly and grins so big. She loves to be asked how her nap was and whether or not she had sweet dreams. She loves several songs and lights up when you begin to sing them. She’s been trying to pull her diaper off – Oh Lord! Although she’s still rather cautious around people other than us, she can be so outgoing once she warms up.

Drinking Her Bottle

At dinner one night last week, Vanessa already had cereal but was still hungry as we were eating our dinner. So we decided to give a bottle to her to see what she would do. She couldn't quite figure out how to tilt her head back far enough to get the milk forward, so instead, she improvised by putting the bottle on her Bumbo playtray so she could lean down to drink from it. These pictures don't show how successful she was, but they give you the idea.

She's on the move!

Vanessa spent the last couple weeks figuring out how to move around on her own. (Looking at the first and second pictures, she started out playing on the frog playmat that you see in the background.) She now rolls in both directions. She also creeps and does, what I like to call, her inch-worm move. This involves her getting up on her knees and arms and moving slightly forward before she collapses back down on her belly. She'll sometimes accidently roll over when trying to move a knee forward. She gets herself in some interesting positions.