Sweet Baby Elizabeth

More pictures and updates.

So, Elizabeth is zipping at amazingly fast crawling speeding. She can get from one end of the house to the other in no time... Which is to say that the dog's bowl is in constant jeopardy of being tipped over. She also loves to play with the dog empty food bowl... it's metal and apparently makes a pleasing noise when it bangs and clangs on the floor. She also has said she second confirmed and repeated word. She now has ma/mom/ and hello that right hello. We had just gotten back from a trip to NC to visit relatives for Labor Day and she standing(with help of course) on the kitchen table playing with her light up duck when she turned to our good friend Amy and said "hello". Clear as a bell... Frank looked at me like I said it and I told him it wasn't me. So, the words are coming of course still no dad or da but since she calls Frank ma ma I told him at least she recognizes how much you care about her and mean to her.

Elizabeth also has a secret passion(although this maybe all baby's secret passion) she can not resist the call of a tower of stacked anything (blocks, towels, oneies) they must fall. Last night she was on the far end of the family room and I was staking up her blocks, she turned around and saw the stack and like a flash she had crawled across the floor and was knocking over the tower. She had a big smile and her face and a look that said Mom, do it again... (which we did for like ten minutes me stacking, I'd get about three blocks high and then bomb Elizabeth knocking them over again.)

What else, while in NC she got to swing alone in her first baby on the real playground and she went swimming for about an hour, splashing and kicking until her little heart was content. She also has started to get braver; she will pull herself up on anything really (including the leg of your pants) and is starting to let go (which of course leads to landing on the tush but she doesn't mind and does it again. She can also walk along a piece of furniture or the fire place mantel. She also has learned how to climb over/through things. She has learned how to climb over pillows on the floor and over/through her activity thingie.

What else do I know.... Everyday she amazes me and she is doing and learning her things all the time. She has four teeth now and she will bite hard if you try to put your finger in her mouth. She goes for her nine month check-up at the end of September... Hard to believe and yet exciting to see...

I am sooo ready to swim...

More Pictures and some updates.

Okay, where to begin. In the last two weeks she and progressed into so much at once. Stage two food. A taste of bread. Standing (okay it was only for like 5-10 sec) by herself(by I have witnesses to the event) and trying really hard to crawl. Okay, she has "crawled" forward but only because in her bouncing on all fours her knees slid up and that moved her forward. So, I am thinking that we have to finish any last minute childproofing that we need to finish; and honestly she can already get to where she wants to go on her own by rolling anyway. Last night Frank sat her down on her playmat in the middle of his office and he watched her roll her way to the door of the room so that when I came out of the bathroom she was looking and me and laughing. Generally, she is still have happy baby... And for the most part is finally sleeping through the night. So, after seven months we have some form of mobility, real food(okay baby food but that still counts), and sometimes sleeping through the night. Not bad...

Elizabeth sporting the "cool look."

I thought that I would include a couple of pictures from Frank and I when we visited "The Rock" in June.

Don't I look tough... okay maybe not...

Elizabeth is growing like a weed/time flies

Whose the monkey here?

Where to begin...

First of all, Elizabeth is doing great according to the doctor. Her last check-up (June 21st her 6 month check-up) she was 17.4 pound and her height and head were within the 50% percentile. So that is good news. She has been eating stage 1 foods for about 2 months now and soon we will be trying stage 2 food which include meats and mac n' cheese. She loves everything that she has tried so far except peas. But, I figure that we can try peas again when she can eat fresh peas because I couldn't even eat a spoonful of the stage 1 peas(yuck!)

What else.... Elizabeth got to spend a fun filled week with her Grandparents in the middle of June while we went to San Francisco for a wedding and vacation. When we got back she showed us the tricks that she was working on with grands. She no longer minds tummy time and about a week after we got back she learned that if she wants out of tummy time all she has to do is roll from her front unto her back. So, she can now roll either direction, front to back or back to front. Thus, making her very dangerous because now she can roll all around a room if you put her on the floor and there is something that she wants she will use a combination of rolling and pushing off on anything she can reach to get to what interests her. Which means its time to double check for baby proofing... She can also sit up by herself for a good long time unless she sees something that she wants off to the side then she falls over right away. What else, oh if you give her some balance she can stand in place and bounce for minutes (which she loves to do). She will stand anywhere you give her the chance the floor, the table or the top of the bed; it doesn't matter. We also think that she has accidentally said a couple of different words we have heard ma-ma(but when she is hungry she also says mmmmmammammmam ) but then the other day out of the blue it sounded like she said elmo. I'm sure that she didn't mean Elmo but two sounds happened to come back to back with each other.(so I don't know if it counts) What else she is trying to creep on the floor she just needs to figure out how to get her arms under her body while raising up on her knees. She is also trying to sit up on her own... She hasn't done it yet but she is doing some very convincing sit-ups in the process.

She has traveled to such wild and crazy places as Quad Cities(the Illinois side at least), Fort Wayne, IN and Columbus, Ohio. But we haven't gotten her over either the Ohio or the Mississippi Rivers. But she will take care of the Ohio when we travel to NC later on this summer so she can meet her Grandma Bertha, Aunt Rhonda, Uncle Tim and Jake, Jessica and Summer.

Memorial Day weekend she got to go home and meet her Aunt Theresa and cousin Rachel and she got to go her first zoo trip... She also got a build a monkey and to see her fish friends again. She loves the fish tank at her grandparents house. She also got to go on her first merry go round ride. She loved it...

She also got to attend her first graduation ceremony (no not for her) Her cousin Kris graduated from High School earlier this month and she got to see and experience the whole graduation celebration. (and yes, she was awake for the whole thing)

What else is going on? Since today is the 4th of July she has a special onesies with Uncle Sam on it that says "I want you to change my diaper!" I thought that it really capsures the spirt of the 4th. Hopefully, we will able to get here into swim lessons soon. Since she loves kicking on her little duck tub.

Dr. Updates and is hair style hereditary

I did not know that hair styles are hereditary but apparently they are.
Like father like daughter.

Okay, Elizabeth went for her 4 month check-up/shots today. She was according to their scales and stuff she is reading 24 inches long(25% percential but I honestly think that they didn't catch her in fully stretched out and 14 pd and 13 oz.(75%) and her head is 16 1/4 cm.(50%) So, she is on track as far as that goes.

Elizabeth at one month.

We actually saw our friends one month old on Friday and just couldn't believe how much growing and changing Elizabeth has done in 3 little months. Elizabeth can sit on your knee and keep her own head up for like forever now. Her face has filled out and she's grown a whole foot since she was born. I'll try to dig a one month picture and let you compare. She smiles now all of the time; especially, if you stick your tongue out at her. She reaches out and grabs things now; hair, toys, the dog’s fur and anything else within her grasp. She studies everything around her. She no longer falls asleep in group settings anymore. I think it because she’s afraid that she'll miss something. She outgrown her cradle rocker and was given the green light to try solid foods. I'll let you know how that goes...believe me I am scared about the messes this will entail. She can sleep through the night and can dance (her form of dancing at least {think Elaine from Seinfeld}) when music starts. She loves to be sung to and is trying to talk to you (granted its still grunts) but to her they are important grunts.

Elizabeth a week ago.

Attack of the Killer Bunnies

RUN ELIZABETH! A GIANT, MUTATED RABBIT IS TRYING TO EAT YOU! HE THINKS YOU'RE A PEEP! RUN!!!!!

Hippity, Hoppity, Easter has come and gone.

Great-Grandma Dorothy(left) Great-Grandpa Charles (below) with Miss Elizabeth.

We all piled in the car for the trip back to Galesburg for the Easter weekend. I probably over packed but I didn't want to be in the middle of nowhere in Indiana and in need of something. It was a nice trip home. We got to spend some quality time with my parents and my sisters. My grandparents and Uncles and Aunts got a chance to meet and hold Miss Elizabeth. We got her baptized, and that was an interesting experience. She didn't cry when they were pouring the water on her head, but a minute and a half later she spat up all over her pretty dress. I told Frank that was the last of the evil leaving her. After the baptism, we had a lovely lunch and Elizabeth was spoiled with lots of attention, well wishes and gifts. The trip back, on the other hand, was not fun as all. On the way to Galesburg, it was dark and Elizabeth slept most of the time. On the trip back to Dayton she was wide awake and angry about having to be trapped in a car seat. We had to stop several times to try and keep her happy and Frank sat in the back seat with her from the Indiana/Illinois border to home. But, all in all, it was a great trip home and super great to see everyone again. I have attached a bunch of pictures . . . enjoy.

Father Joe blessing her with the oil on her chest.

The actual pouring of the new baptismal water on her head.

Final blessing after the spit up.

Elizabeth's New Tricks

I just thought that I would add some new pictures and pass along some developmental process.

Good morning everybody...

First of all, this picture makes me smile because this is a picture of Miss Elizabeth sleeping all night(okay midnight to 5:30 am but close enough for me) in her crib by herself in her own room.

I also, think that she will be moving out of the pacifer phase soon because I tried offering her the last three nights when she has been sleeping in her bed and she doesn't want it. She just doesn't open her mouth to suck on it. So, I didn't force the issue and just let her go to sleep.
Asleep and loving it....

Secondly, last night she sat up(okay, leaning on her hands but still upright) and stayed up for at least a minute or two. It's very difficult to take a picture of that because I didn't want to get so far away that I couldn't catch her when she fell over. The next picture is dad helping her sit up.

Look mom I am sitting by myself...

Thirdly and finally, for today, she has started keeping her hands open more and actually grasping things. I put the rattle in her hand but she managed to switch it from her right hand to the left one. I don't know if she has made the connection that when she shakes her arm it makes the rattle make noise but she did seem to enjoy it.

I also, am including just a couple of pictures of her chillin' out on her back... She was smiling both right before and right after the pictures were taken apparently she doesn't like to smile for the camera yet.

Relaxing and thinking about tasting my fingers.

I want to roll over but my arm is in the way.

Fingers are soo tasty.

So, it's been a busy week but I have fresh pictures

Good morning Mommy, what's for breakfast?

American Idol wanna be!!! Practicing her microphone holding at an early age.

Monday and Tuesday the weather in Ohio was beautiful, so Elizabeth and I went out for a couple of walks in her Super Action Combat Stroller. She loved it. She was awake a good long time, looking around seeing what there was to see before she hit the wall and fell asleep. It was a good walk. Wednesday night, while her mom and dad were trying to rehang a clock in her room (stupid daylight savings time), Miss Elizabeth was in her crib working on turning to roll over. She would pull her legs up and roll onto her side, and then she was bouncing in that position. As she was doing this, she accidentally rolled onto her stomach and then the screaming started. She did not like that at all. She may not have been happy, but her dad and I were. We tried telling her it was a milestone and she just didn't care all. She hasn't done it since then, but it was still super cool to Frank and I. Last night, while she was enjoying the sites and sounds of college basketball (which she loves to watch -- she smiled when Dook lost ), she was sitting in her boppy trying to do sit ups. It's like she wants to be able to sit up on her own, but she just can't get it down yet. She is also sleeping about 5 hours straight at night, so that isn't too bad. Now, if I could just sleep for those same 5 hours straight, she and I would be peachy. All in all we are all doing good. Looking forward to Easter weekend and getting to take her to Illinois to meet everybody there. However, I am a little concerned about how she is going to take a 6 hour car ride... but I'm sure she'll be fine.

More pictures.

I can crawl I know I can just me a minute.

What's that over there? Seriously, what is that?

Working on the whole lifting of the head thing.

Look at how high I can lift myself. Seriously, anything to get me off my stomach.

Elizabeth updates....

We have officially retired the 0-3 onesies. She has just gotten too tall for them. Elizabeth has also moved up to stage two diapers. She is growing like a weed and already trying to do too much as once. I don't have any idea where she would get the multi tasking gene from. Last night she came super close to rolling over. Of course she was trying to crawl at the same time. She has the arm and leg movement down it's just a matter of getting her muscles strong enough to lift her body of the ground to go forward. I have attached a couple of pictures looking just thrilled to be on her stomach but showing how well she lifts her head up. Her head control is amazing (at least I think so but I'm not biased or anything). She is working on trying to figure out the whole sitting up thing. She can sit up in her boppy sort of. Okay, its more of lean in the boppy but it is still growth and development.

In other news, winter may finally be giving up the ghost in Ohio. The weather people are predicting 60 degrees for tomorrow and I can't wait. I have been dying to take Elizabeth out in her Super Action Combat Stroller (of doom) and if it's 60 we can enjoy being outside with her instead of the mad dash into the store with the blanket covering her the whole time. She will be able to look around and see the site and enjoy being out. I guess that is it for now.

Okay, I know I know

You can dance if you want to...

What are you talkin' to me? I don't see any other babies around here. You must be talking to me.

I'm happy. Super happy.

So, it's been like forever since we posted anything but we have been busy. Between me getting back into the work grind, the dog, the cat and keeping Elizabeth happy and well feed have been a challenge. Frank of course is a great help but even with his help finding time to sit down and blog. But I will try to be better. I have attached pictures taken last weekend. She was 12 pd 9 oz at her last doctor's visit and 22 3/4 of an inch tall.