Baby Cereal

Annabelle has finally experienced her first food besides milk (and the small crumbs of chocolate cake fed to her by my co-worker). We had talked about starting cereal after her 4 month appointment when the doctor gave us the go ahead to try it. We, as in Brian and I, were not quite ready. I think we are trying to hang on to our "little baby" as long as we can. I never knew how true the saying "they grow up so fast" really was until Annabelle came along. Anyway we decided to wait until after the hustle and bustle of the holidays to start feeding her some solid foods. The first night was last night and it went ok. She wasn't sure what to think and was having a hard time figuring out not to suck on the spoon. I didn't mix up much and she ate most of it (the left overs fell on the floor, accidentally, and Charlie ate it and LOVED IT! Tonight after daycare we tried the cereal again. I mixed it a little thicker tonight and sat her in her bouncy chair and she did a great job. She ate everything and Charlie was by her side most of the time trying to lick it off her face, which don't worry we didn't let him do it. Hopefully she continues to do well.

On another exciting note: her second tooth is starting to pop through :)

Merry Christmas

Spoiled?

Christmas 2010 was a great celebration. We are very blessed to be spending this holiday season as a family of 3!

We were in Carrington this year over the Christmas holiday. It was a lot of fun and was nice to spend time with relatives and eat some great food. Annabelle didn't seem to think to much about her first Christmas. She slept through Christmas Eve Church and watched as we opened presents. She would try to rip the wrapping paper once in awhile and when she would get some it went right into her mouth. She received many toys, books and clothes this year. Thanks to everyone for the gifts. We are very blessed to have family and friends who care so much about our baby girl.

Brian and I really enjoyed ourselves and we look forward to establishing some family traditions in the years to come.

New Toys

We took out a new toy for Annabelle this weekend. For one of our showers Annabelle got a "Discovery Table." She loves it; she can stand up and look around and isn't stuck on the ground. I can't believe that she is old enough to be standing up in a toy although she isn't tall enough yet and her feet do not quite reach the bottom so she is kind of in limbo. She loves looking and grabbing at all the toys; her eyes are huge while she takes it all in.

7 Minutes

Brian informed me last night that it only takes 7 minutes for me to get Annabelle back to sleep when she wakes up at night. She normally sleeps through the night, however the last week she had been getting up one or two times a night. I don't know if it is her teeth (now that we know about it), just getting over her cold or if we need to start some rice cereal to fill her up.

Anyway, last night she woke up around 11:00 and Brian spent 45 minutes rocking her back to sleep. She then woke up about 12:15 and I got up with her. We rocked and she went back to bed and so did I. I walked into the room and Brian turned his light on. I asked him what the deal was. "Do you know how long you were in there?" Brian asked. I did not the clock is unplugged. "7 minutes, that is all it takes you to get her back to sleep. Not Fair!" He is so funny, he has been timing me when I go into her room at night. I told him she knows that I need my beauty sleep so she goes right back to bed.

So many changes

Annabelle is growing so fast it is hard to keep up. Two weeks ago I posted about her 4 month check up and how little she was. At that time I decided to weigh her in 2 weeks just to make sure she was gaining weight. I brought her to the hospital on Tuesday and she now weighs 11 pounds 6 ounces; she gained 5 ounces in 2 weeks. I am not sure how much she should gain weekly but she is growing and that is what matters. People have been asking us if we are going to start feeding her rice cereal yet and I think we are going to get through the holidays first and then we will think about it.

Today brought a huge change! I went to feed Annabelle at noon like I do everyday. When I picked her up her care giver asked, "did you know Annabelle has a tooth?" WHAT!! We had no idea. Sure enough on the bottom left side there is a little tooth coming through, you can feel it and see it. Can't believe our little baby is growing this fast. We are excited that she handled her first tooth so well...maybe they will all be like this.

She has also been rolling over for almost a month. She loves to be sitting or standing and looking around; it won't be long before she is sitting by herself. Man how time flies!

Santa Clause

Annabelle went to see Santa Clause for the first time today. She told Santa all the things that she wanted this year clothes (6-9 months and bigger) and some toys. I think she may just enjoy looking at the wrapping paper this year but I am sure she will get a few things :)

Brian and I have everything we could ever ask for this year with the arrival of a healthy happy baby girl. It is going to be a great holiday season!!

4 month check up

We went to the doctor this week for Annabelle's 4 month check up. She is a healthy little girl and we found out just how little she is; she only weighed 11 pounds 1oz, so tiny. She is 25 inches long (50 some percentile) and her head size is measuring good. Her weight is only in the 5th percentile and the doctor said there is no need to worry but she can't get any smaller. I feed her for as long as she wants and she doesn't seem cranky or hungry all the time so she just may be a little girl or maybe I produce skim milk instead of fatty milk...who knows. We will just keep an eye on it to make sure she stays on track, otherwise we don't mind that she stays little.

She also had a few more shots, she handled them well. She was a little cranky that night and the next day but she is her same happy self now. Brian and I can't believe how happy she is - we are so lucky!!