Hot stuff

What a transition in just a few weeks! In less than a month Rose has figured out how to crawl and now she is convinced she can walk. She is not really interesting in spending much time crawling around. She would much rather be upright racking up the miles using her walker or pulling herself up to standing on anything that might hold her weight. She loves playing basketball with her Little Tykes gym, basket after basket.

She is a girl on the move, and certainly a sweet one. We go on the 17th for her 9 month wellness checkup and will get an update on all of her stats. 

Playing around in my high chair 

Another picture Mom, really?

I love this thing!

Taking a break

Sparty on!

8 Months Already!

Hello and Happy New Year! After a difficult week, we are happy to report some of the many exciting things that Miss Rose is up to. On the 15th, she turned 8 months old. It seems like yesterday that she was born. She has starting crawling from room to room and she is a non-stop babbler. She also has 4 teeth now! Her top 2 came in over the last week and she was remarkably good. She continues to enjoy trying new foods and has mastered getting those puffs into her mouth. She enjoys holding her own sippy cup and thinks she can feed herself by holding her own spoon. What a big girl! She has transitioned into her 12 month clothes. We go for her 9 month wellness checkup next month to see how she measures up. She is certainly thriving, and growing fast! We can't get enough of those adorable cheeks.

Cheese!

On the move

Favorite toys-She still loves her jumper, walker, play kitchen, Little People farm, anything Elmo, Cookie Monster, or babies. She loves reading and must turn the page herself :) She loves lights and music and mirrors. We are working on her athletic skills as Uncle Chad got her a great new sports station. She also enjoys playing with her plastic cups and enjoys her bath time books! Everything continues to go in her mouth and I catch her smelling things a lot too. There is so much to discover and she doesn't want to miss a thing!

Practicing w/ my bat

Going for the slam dunk

Favorite foods-Anything with pears is still at the top of the list. We've added meat blends at dinner time and she has done well with chicken and turkey. She is loving yogurt and we are even able to sneak in some broccoli, peas, and spinach in different mixes. What a good girl!

Playing w/ my kitchen

Just walking around

Rose is a such a sweet and good natured baby. She will pretty much give a smile to anyone who shows interest. What a little ray of sunshine for us all to enjoy!

We will miss you Great Grandpa

Heaven became a better place early on Sunday with the arrival of Rose's Great Grandpa W. A remarkable and loving man, he was so proud of his family and adored his 4 great grandchildren. Although Rose may not remember meeting him, she will certainly learn about what a wonderful person he was as we share many of our memories with her.

Merry Christmas!

Hello and Merry Christmas. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday. It was such a special year for us, Rose's first Christmas! She has loved the lights, sparkle and huge 10 ft tree parked in our living room for the last few weeks. She loves reaching out to grab the branches and touch the ornaments. Her favorites are the round ones. She finds Mom's Baby's First Christmas ornament from 1980 every time! There has been so much to look at and she has enjoyed taking everything in.

Opening presents

We were happy to host the traditional Russian Christmas Eve lunch and enjoyed meeting up for Ryan's family party later that day. Santa Claus found Rose, since of course she was on the nice list this year. We had a wonderful Christmas day and hosted Grandma and Grandpa H and Uncle Jay for a yummy lasagna dinner. The 26th was a day with Grandma and Grandpa T and then over to Great Grandma and Grandpa W for a visit with cousins and aunts and uncles. What fun!

How am I going to decide what to wear?!

Playing with my new toys

Happy family

It appears Rose may be in another round of teething. She bites everything (including us sometimes, and hard). Those 2 bottom teeth are pretty sharp! She is working on crawling, but is not quite ready yet. She does have the freestyle kick figured out while on her tummy. May we have a future swimming champ on our hands? She loves dancing to all kinds of music and enjoys standing and holding up on us or furniture.

Working those gums

I have been enjoying the last week and a half at home with her. We have had some busy days visiting, but it is so nice to have her at home to myself since we are so busy when we're in regular work routine. Going back on the 3rd will be tough, but I know she will enjoy her time back with Grandma's and Grandpa's.

Playing around with Dad

Silly girl!

Happy New Year!!!! 2011 has been an amazing year for us and we are so thankful for all of the wonderful memories made. May you be blessed with health and happiness in 2012 :) We can't wait to see what's ahead for us.

Holiday Time

What an exciting month Rose has had. She had her first weekend sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa T and was on her best behavior (thank goodness that she'll be welcomed back!).  She has also been spending more time with Grandma H and is enjoying having 3 different houses with lots of fun toys, all for her!!

I love sitting up all by myself!

She is also getting used to eating lots of solids. I am attempting to make her baby food at home and have had success using the Baby Bullet. If I can do this, surely anyone can. Her favorite foods include pears, apples, banana, avocado, zucchini and squash. She is not a big fan of sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, or peas. It took a week or so to get used to eating and now she loves it!

This spoon tastes pretty good

We had her 6 month checkup and she weighed in at 18lb 5oz and 27.25in long. She is a healthy girl, on the higher end of the percentage charts. The doctor said her extra "girth" is a good thing :) Those cheeks and chubby thighs couldn't be cuter. We think there is just more to love. She is in her 9 month clothes and in a couple of weeks, I expect us to be pushing into 12 months! She grows so quickly.

I better be on Santa's "nice" list this year!

She is babbling non stop and we think we hear "hi", "mama", "dada", and "yeah". She also loves to crawl in a circle and try and pull up on your legs. She is standing with little support and pulls hard on everything (necklaces, earrings, hair etc.). She loves music, lights and is fascinated watching Layla our dog. She loves her jumper and exersaucer and enjoys rolling across the entire floor now.

Dad and his little girl

Mama's Buddy

We're looking forward to Christmas to slow down a bit and enjoy our family time. Wishing Great Grandpa W strength and healing too. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Baptism, Halloween, Solids, First Cold & Two Teeth!

I can't believe it's already November and Rose will be 6 months old in just a few days. The last couple weeks have flown by. A lot has been happening keeping us pretty busy. We introduced Rose to solid food last weekend. We started with homemade puree of carrots and then sweet potatoes. This week we will try squash. It was one of the funniest things ever. She made some faces never seen before and didn't know what to think of that stuff we were trying to get in that little mouth. Hopefully she'll get the hang of it and start to enjoy it a little more.

What is this stuff?!

After drooling and putting everything in her mouth for the last several months, her two bottom teeth cut through! Rose officially has a couple of chompers. She was a trooper and didn't get a fever but was a little fussier than normal. We're on the lookout for more which will be coming soon.

Little fashion diva 

We also celebrated Rose's baptism with the family last Sunday. She was a very good girl, but was getting so tired at church since she missed her morning nap. Surprisingly, after fussing a bit throughout the long service, she was on her best behavior when it was show time with the minister. We really enjoyed having the family at our place afterwards. It was a good day.

At church

Sleepyhead was exhausted

Right after solids and then the baptism, Halloween was upon us. Rose was a sweet little strawberry this year. We didn't do any trick or treating but enjoyed her costume for some photo opps.

Happy Halloween

Trick or Treat

Why am I dressed like a strawberry

How can I eat this pumpkin?

I love my toys!

She started to get a little cough this past week and lost a bit of her appetite and was kind of fussy so we took her in to get checked. Rose has her first cold, but hopefully is on the mend. Mom and Dad have had a few short nights since that cough will wake her up. Poor thing :(

Daddy's Girl (in her guitar PJ's)

Check out my cool new ball

 Her official weigh in at 5.5 months was 17lb 6 oz and 26.5in long. She is getting so big and strong. She even started sitting up on her own this week. What an amazing transformation from our little newborn just a few months ago.