2.27.2012

Rhys @ 7 months

7 months? somehow the time is just flying by so quickly!

I'm quite surprised that Rhys isn't crawling all over the place.  She has been up, rocking on all fours for quite some time now.  She's definitely getting close; she'll shift her weight to one hand and reach out with the other.  She is SUPER close to rolling from back to tummy.  She could totally do it, but just doesn't quite shift her weight.  She gets her legs all the way over, and turns her head, but hasn't fully rolled.  I'm honestly not in a hurry for her to move, because she seems like such a go-getter, that I think we'll be missing our stationery baby!


She sits up really well.  I can leave her for a few minutes playing with her toys, which is nice.  At the same time, Rhys has gotten kind of cranky if I leave the room.  It seems like she wants me within view and preferably close proximity at all times.

Still dealing with stranger fears.  Some days are better than others, but a lot of time passing her off to someone else makes her cry.


We are finally getting more consistent sleep.  We had a 10 day period or so where she slept ALL night.  Down between 6:30 and 7pm for 12 hours.  And then, we had some more 4am wake up calls.  She seemed hungry again.  So, we've added a 2nd solid feeding, and after a few days, we seem to be back on track - knock on wood! 

 Rhys loves cereal, and we are gradually able to add more foods.  So far we've tried banana, apple, avocado, peas and butternut squash, with squash being her favorite!  She's also had some rice crackers.  I tried banana flavored puffs one night, but she wasn't a fan.  Her general reaction is to:
  1. make a sour face
  2. spit it back out at you (using the "raspberry method", of course so you are showered with it)
  3. if she does NOT like it, she sticks her thumb in her mouth
  4. if she DOES like it, she opens up wide and waits to shovel it in!

Rhys also loves her bath these days.  We're still using the infant tub in the kitchen sink. I usually fill it up decently full, but I did that last week and basically ended up with a shower myself!  She kicked and splashed away.  I pulled the drain up to let some water out, but she was splashing faster than it could drain.  So, ever since then she gets less water.  As soon as she is more stable, we can add her to the big tub with Natalie, but I think we are still a little ways out for that.

She is generally a happy baby.  Sometimes Rhys just laughs and laughs for no apparent reason!  It's really cute that she cracks herself up.
Natalie has a lot of fun with Rhys now too.  She can get Rhys to laugh pretty easily, but Natalie kind of keeps her distance because Rhys loves to grab Natalie's hair.


(I think she looks a lot like David in this picture - do you see it?)

We switched over to the convertible car seat this past month.  Much easier than toting around the giant car seat, but at the same time, it takes more work to get everyone in the car and ready to go.  Luckily Natalie stays close by and obeys when we are getting into/out of the car.  Such a tricky few minutes!

7 month stats:
Height: 25 inches
Weight: about 18.4lbs (75%)
Diapers: Size 3
Clothes: 9 mo

2.19.2012

Sunday the 19th

First off - Happy 30th Birthday to Auntie Patty!! (pretty sure it's not a secret that you turned the big 3-0 this year, since you had a party :) The girls took some pictures for you this morning! Natalie actually volunteered to sit still and let us take pictures, a bit of a miracle.

Rhys was laying on the floor, and Natalie laid down on top of her. They both thought it was pretty fun.

We were undecided what to do for the day. We wanted to get out and do something, but it was pretty windy and cool. We decided on the indoor bounce house about 30 min south. I texted Kevin & Shannah to see if they wanted to meet us there. Instead, they invited us over! The kids bounced for a bit...

Rhys hung out with Uncle Kevin (and Auntie too, but I never got their picture). (this is her first day with a clippie in her hair!  Finally long enough to attach a barrette.  Not that she needs one, but it's just cute)

Then the kids played trains...

And hugged...


And they played outside some more...


Natalie was actually asking to take a nap. She and Liam laid down for a while, but it was just too tempting to play. Natalie settled for a nap in the car on the way home. Very fun day and nice to be out of the house for a while!

Rhys Jumping



Kevin & Shannah let us borrow their Jumper and Rhys has been having a blast. She spent most of Wednesday bouncing around!

2.14.2012

My Valentines 2012

My 3 cutie pies!


We attempted to take a good picture of the two girls, but didn't have a whole lot of luck.  We bribed Natalie with Fruit Snacks, but getting Natalie & Rhys to both look at the camera was tough!  Here's a few good ones.






We hung out in the backyard for a bit this weekend.  Natalie discovered that the Tangerines are yummy and that she can peel them herself.  So, she practiced.


And Rhys just sat and looked cute!

2.09.2012

Bedtime routine

Know how guidelines recommend a person do 10,000 steps a day? Pretty sure I get mine in from 8pm-10pm. Walking back & forth to Natalie's room to get her to sleep!

This started around Christmas and has not let up. We put her in bed and she continues to get up. We've tried staying in the room, standing outside her door, not talking with her, giving her milk, changing her diaper, and most other things suggested in books & online. She just doesn't seem tired.

Pretty bad because when I tell her goodnight her response is "don't get up".

Tonight she kept Rhys up. They were both in there giggling. I walked into the room and Natalie was climbing up the side of the crib.

It's just a phase, right? At least that's what I keep telling myself.

2.06.2012

Natalie's newest sayings

Natalie has been coming up with some funny stuff lately.  I always think "oh man, I need to remember that" and then it slips away before I can share.  So, I'm writing them down here, before I forget.

Last Thursday night David was at his hockey game, Natalie put on our backpack that we use as a diaper bag sometimes. She managed to get it on all by herself and then she turned to me and said "Bye mama, gotta go!  I go to Hockey!"  She kept saying "gotta go, bye!"

In the morning on the way to daycare we drive through the village and she asks "Santa Claus?" and I tell her, "Remember, Santa went back to the North Pole", and she asks "With Ginger?" (our Elf). Me: "yep, Santa came and brought you presents and then took Ginger back to the North Pole", Natalie: "oh, ok" (in her sad voice).  It's February. And she is still asking about Santa. The guy who she was terrified to even look at.

David points out the tractors to her on the way to daycare and told her once that they were working hard, so now she reminds him in the morning "Tractor work hard!"

If she is getting something she wants she says "Goodie, goodie!"  Guessing she picked this one up at daycare, because it's not something I typically say?

We asked her if she wanted to go see Grandma & Grandpa the other night, and she said "no, I be shy".  That's her newest trick.  I took her to daycare the other morning and I always talk it up on the way there and I asked if she was excited to see Kristi and she said "no, I be shy".  She did this a few weeks ago when we went to see Grammy & Papa too..she wouldn't go inside because she was being "shy" (even though she was talking and laughing and excited 2 minutes beforehand in the car). 

She's definitely learning her emotions.  Shy, sad, and happy are the ones that come to mind.  When someone in a book is sad she says "ohhh...:("  and in the car she asks "Mama, happy?!" Funny how she picks up on emotion.

She loves to point out "Mine!" when Rhys takes her toys...but we're working on learning to share.

No idea where she learned what Chocolate is, but we were watching TV one day and she saw a commercial with candy and she shouted out "Chocolate! mmm!"  Last night I made brownies and she saw them and started getting excited - "Chocolate!"

And, just for fun, a couple of pictures.

Grandma & Grandpa came by for a visit the other night.  Grandpa was reading her The Little Engine That Could and she was being so good paying attention.  Actually, she was about to fall asleep and could hardly keep her eyes open.  She ended up leaving half-way through the story and going to bed.  Not a normal occurrence around here, for sure.




And this is an outfit she came up with all by herself.  When I got home from work one night, she continually put all of her necklaces on and off. Silly girl!

More Rhys at 6mo

Rhys had her 6 month appointment today. 

Official Stats:
Height: 24.5 inches (20%)
Weight: 17lbs 8 oz (80%)

Natalie shared her cold with all of us last week, so Rhys is still fighting that.  Dr. gave her a clean bill of health though.  Glad we were able to roll that into the Well Check and not make multiple trips to the Dr. this week!  She got 2 shots before we left, cried a second until I picked her up and hasn't seemed to notice them since.  He said to watch for teeth in the next few months and asked if she had started rolling over yet.  And boy are we rolling!  Still from front to back and then laying there flailing around, but mostly she is up rocking these days.  Here's a photo series showing her moves and happy self.







This past week, Rhys has slept thru the whole night twice.  Let's hope we are onto something!  Last night, Natalie and Rhys were on the same page and neither woke up.  Pretty sure that is a first.

All dressed up to watch the big game this Sunday!  (I have a similar picture of Natalie in this outfit, but it's on my old computer.  One of these days I'll get them all migrated over together.)  I just love this cutie pie.

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