Getting Ready For Cold Weather

We bought this jacket last month - it looks like it will be too big for this year! Guess I'll be returning it.

Since the jacket was too big - we got this cute fleece bunting for her to wear when it gets cold. We cannot find a winter jacket in her size. She's just trying it on for size in the photo below - that's why the tags are still on. Now that we know its the right size, we took the tags off but she looks so cute in this photo I had to post it.

Cheerios and Smiles

Today we got some cute Ally pictures, despite her doctor's appointment. Yes, it was just a weight check. She cried when the nurse did her head circumference. When the doctor came in the room, she started to cry. And scream. And kick. It got to the point of absolute melodrama. All the doctor has to do is look at Ally and Ally goes crazy crying and screaming.

But all is well. Ally is up to 17 pounds 11 ounces! I guess 8 Cheerios go farther than you'd think.

Some photos from today:

must...get...cheerios	I have you right where I want you.
Ye mighty mighty cheerio!	It's up...and it's good!
Mine...all mine.

Howdy

Yesterday, Ally waved hello for the first time!

Good Morning!

So, that's what Ally looked like this morning when we went in to get her.

Then she played with her ball.

She also showed off her bottom two teeth wit h a big yawn. (Yes, they are tiny and hard to see! Click on the photo to get a bigger version.)

Yes, we're still here...

...and Ally is doing well. So, since that first fateful day when she ate 8 Cheerios, they have quickly emerged as the #1 favorite food. A meal is not complete with a healthy searving of Cheerios. In fact, I have a theory that she could eat them 100% of her awake time. She eats them one at a time, and can chew them up and swallow them at the rate of about 2 per minute. She doesn't have that pincer grasp yet, so it's a silly game of figuring out how to grasp the Cheerio just right to get it into her mouth. We end up gently placing most Cheerios she eats into her wide open mouth. No photo of that yet!

She is also eating bits of pasta, chicken and string cheese (occasionally), graham cracher sticks (a favorite), some yogurt when the mood strikes (which isn't often), and the occasional binge of mandarin oranges (THANKS Michelle for the post about that Sabrina favorite!) Oh, and she loves Gerber puffs and wagon wheels.

All other attempts at fruit have been rejected. She isn't into mushy. We keep on trying, but most other stuff gets rejected. We're just happy she is eating again!

On the other baby front: MOVEMENT. We don't have crawling, but a lot of on-the-belly shuffling. She can pivot so fast it's unbelieveable. She can slide herself backwards okay, too. She has started to get closer to the crawling position. She is most often into the baby pushup, which I'm told is a common step before learning the crawling position. She does get on her knees and rock sometimes, and we're trying to brace her feet behind her when she's on the floor to help her get into that position, too. Here are the action shots, as well as a cute overall picture.

Ally's Pushup

Ally in her crawling position

Ally in Overalls

I ate eight cheerios!

I guess I haven't put this up on the blog so much, but Ally is the Girl Who Would Not Eat. She takes her bottles fine, so it's okay, but she pretty much refuses food. Except for graham crackers and the occasional few bits of applesauce. We think it's mostly about wanting to self-feed but not quite being able to yet. I mean, she is a peanut, and she doesn't need to eat much, but she has been down to almost nothing.

But today, we had some triumph. She INTENTIONALLY ate some cheerios.

After the first one was pushed into her mouth while her head was shaking no, she decided that these things were good. She actually opened up and chewed about 8 cheerios before we hit her limit. That brings her lifetime total cheerio consumption to 9. (The first one wasn't really on purpose.)

Yes, I know she will grow up and will be able to put 8 cheerios on one spoon with milk and eat them simeultaneously in the future. We know that she will eat in the long term. It's just that food is stressful in the short term when your kid eats next to nothing.

Ally loves her Mommy!





















Ally can play with the food, except it goes everywhere but in her mouth.




















Yes, it's tiny, and I don't know if anyone can see it in the photo, but her first tooth is just visible.

If you're happy and you know it...

...clap your hands! That's right, folks, we have our first hand clapping. It is so darn cute. She gets so very excited when she claps it is awesome.



I haven't been so faithful with the posts lately. I'm working on it. Here's what's up with us. We had an awesome Labor Day weekend in Vermont with some friends of ours. Little Ally caught a cold, and then promptly spread it to us. She has actually seemed more able to fight it off than we are. Ally is working on the crackers, and has eaten up to 3, yes, 3 corners of a graham cracker in one sitting. Then she vigorously shakes her head no at any more food. If only the rest of us could be satisfied after a piece of graham cracker and a sippie cup of water...

Carl, how do you have such perfect hair in the morning?	This hat is all Julie's fault. I cannot be held accountable for the problems to come for Ally in the future.
Allison, Wyatt, Becky and Ally in Vermont	Mommy and Ally outside in Vermont