Sitting up and other stuff

Little Bit has reached a new milestone this week.  She has figured out she can sit up all by herself.  Now she zooms across the room(s), finds something of interest, and sits herself up to play. 

Also, since the big day she pulled herself up into a standing position in her crib, Little Bit wants to stand up using whatever she can.  In fact, yesterday she crawled over to our end table, grabbed hold of the edge, and practically did a pull up lifting herself up to her feet.  She constantly amazes us everyday. :)

Everyday Little A.'s temperament and personality emerges more and more.  She is definitely becoming a little Daddy's Girl.  I have always thought this would happen because, lets face it, she has the best daddy a girl could ever need or want.  I realize that Mama has her place in a little girl's life, but there is something about a Daddy that is special.  I am truly blessed to be married to the most incredible man and have him as the father of my child(ren).  We are both very blessed girls! 

Christmas was a blast!  She received wonderful gifts from loved ones.  Her favorite items this year included the bows because they were the easiest to pull off the packages and chew!  Next, the thin paper used to stuff into bags because she was able to rip it to shreds and munch on the little pieces.  Then of course the wrapping paper, similar to the bag paper, she ripped it up and shoved it into her mouth.  She loves all her gifts and plays with them extensively!  :-)

Our camera has finally died so we were unable to take pictures on Christmas Day, but this will soon be remedied.  We love you all and hope each of you had a joyous Christmas with your loved ones.  Bless you all!

~Mama Bear

Christmas Eve brings new things!

Our sweet little baby stood up all by herself today!  I sat her in her crib while I picked out her clothes.  Suddenly Daddy Bear told me to look and sure enough Aniston was standing up holding onto the side rail of her crib.  She was soooo pleased with herself.  We did get her standing on our video camera thanks to Daddy.  Happily she held on for at least 3 minutes.  Later today she pulled herself up onto a toy table to play with the gadgets on its top.  She had a BLAST! 

~Mama Bear

This Evening

Our little girl thinks she is a big girl.  She supports herself on something (like her box/side of the tub), gets her legs underneath her bottom, toes in position, then straightens her legs!!!  I'll name it "the half stand."  She constantly amazes us!

~Mama Bear

Sorry it has been a while

As with all things Christmas, time flies by before I can count to 10.  Needless to say we have had some major milestones.  I'll try to hit the highlights.

Well, about the second week in December Aniston figured out it was faster to push off with her legs while she pulling with her arms.  She kind of slithers, but is super fast.  One night Daddy Bear was playing with her trying to get her to crawl to him...And She DID!  It was the furthest she has ever crawled, plus it was to her daddy.  His heart was so happy!   A few weeks later she realized I was in the kitchen (she was in the dining room where I could see her) so she decided to come in there with me.  Then that became the longest crawl session to date.  Ever since then she speeds all over the place.  Of course her curiousity has no bounds now she can get to where she wants to go.  Operation Babyproofing is slowly in the works!  No bag, chair leg, rug, box, or Christmas present is off limits!   Now it is nothing for her to follow us around so we have to constantly be aware of our surroundings making sure we do not step on her!

We started solids around Thanksgiving as I probably mentioned in my previous post.  She eats very well and doesn't seem to mind much.  She does have a couple of favorites: Pumpkin Apple and Raisin Granola.  Daddy and I thought it would be funny to give her a lemon.  Let me tell you, that kid LOVED it!!!  She didn't even make a face.  Lame!  hhaaa!  On the other end, we practically have to wear gag masks, gloves, and have a barf bag next to us when we changey her dirty, stinky diapers.  Wowzers they could kill a man!  Daddy and I argue as to who's turn it is to change it! 

The first week in December Nik and Aniston took a Daddy/Daughter road trip to visit one of Daddy's old Army buddies.  Mommy had to stay home and study for finals.  The trip was success!  Aniston is such a good traveler.  His buddy had a couple of dogs, which Aniston LOVED, and a little girl who loved Aniston.  Daddy Bear said she told him exactly how to take care of Aniston.  Too funny! 

For Christmas Nik and I are trying to establish our own traditions.  What an awesome experience it has been already.  We went to a tree farm to pick out our tree.  At the farm they have a mule drawn hayride to the trees.  Once you pick out your tree someone cuts it down.  Then the hayride takes everyone and the trees back to the log cabin where they shake the trees and further prune them.  When you go in and pay you get free hot cocoa or cider.  Our little girl absolutely loved loved loved it.  There was so much activity so she could be nosey rosy, and we were outside, her favorite place to be!  Our tree is trimmed, our stockings are hung, and presents have been wrapped.  The spirit of Christmas has been renewed with our little addition.  The wonder and magic of the season have affected both Mama and Daddy.  Our prayer this Christmas for you is that each of you have a very blessed holiday.  We pray for peace, safe travels, happy memories, and precious time with family. 

Below are some recent photos of our family!

Love you all!
~Mama Bear

Brighter than the morning sun...

Although the morning sun shines bright through her bedroom window there is nothing in the world that can warm my heart more than the beautiful smile illuminating from the face of my beautiful Aniston! Even though her smile warms me every time she does it there is just something about seeing that face first thing in the morning that sets the tone for the rest of my day!  Since she started sleeping through the night, our Aniston normally wakes up between 530-7!  It's a big window but it works out great for me because every second I get with her in the morning before I leave for work is a Blessing!  Our Aniston wakes up so quiet and happy there has been at least two times that I have left for work and THOUGHT about not checking on her and both times she was awake in her crib, lying on her back with her hands under the back of her head just looking around, almost as if she is studying every shape, every color and pondering what she was going to do for that day.  And every time she sees me her face lights up and her smile is soooo big and so bright the happiness she ignites radiates through my soul! It is for this one event, I can now call myself a "morning person!"



Being Peek-A-Booed!




...Fell for it again!



Love my Bouncy Seat!



Me and Daddy just finished bath time!




Does my head make this bow look big?

 Our little Boo is now 6 1/2 months old or 26 weeks in baby terms.  And it's just amazing how much she has grown!  There are three main categories in child development, physical, social / emotional and intellectual.  As Mommy Bear blogged about some of her physical developments yesterday, I just wanted to add to it by talking about her play time activities.  What comes to mind first is "sit down, stand up, and shake your little booty"!  It's pretty self explanatory how the game is played with me holding her of course!  This is a playtime ritual Aniston and I have been doing since she could hold her own head up and we still practice it today!  Another early play time rhyme started with a toy from her play mat.  It is a small stuffed animal that looks like a octopus with fish attached to it.  It goes like this; here comes Mr. octopus with his fishy little friends, they sure like to play with there little Aniston!  We have detached this toy from the play mat and has racked up some hefty frequent flyer / driving miles in her diaper bag!  Let's not forget about O.V.!  This is her little green bear stuffed animal that was appropriately named O.V., short for Oso Verde!  On Nov. 23, 2011 I finally went to Toys R Us to purchase her first toy from ME!  It's a move and crawl ball from Vtech!  She seemed to be a little facinated with it but nothing can compare to the two cats, Petey the parrot, any remote control, my cell phone or wrist watch! If she plays by herself, she still enjoys her exersaucer and really enjoys her hanging bouncy seat!  She is an absolute crazy girl when she is in her bouncy seat!  And let me tell you this girl loves, loves, loves to do the stanky legg (move her legs)!  They hardly ever stop moving!  Especially during her most exciting past time ever.....bath time!  Aniston and I are taking bath's together and it is such a wonderful time for both of us.  She absolutely enjoys splashing in the water and I enjoy this time because I know it won't be long before we won't be able to do it anymore!  Last but not least, we still enjoy the classic game of Peek-A-Boo!  I have gotten some amazing giggles from peek-a-boo and have even captured a couple of photos of her being peek-a-booed!

Words cannot express the love I have for you Aniston!  I cherish every moment we have together!  I'm so excited to witness your new achievement's but at the same time am sad to see you grow so fast!  You are so amazing and your mom and I favorite phrase now is "hey babe, look what she is doing now"!  A day doesn't go by where this isn't said!  Your Gramma Ju Ju absolutely worships the ground you walk on and you are the only thing that can make your PawPaw Phrip stop shaking from his Parkinson's Disease!  There isn't a pill in the world that can stop him from shaking more than you do when we put you in his arms!  Sadly, he can hardly move anymore but when you fuss just a little he tries to come out of his hospital bed like he has a pair of runners legs underneath him to come rescue you!  Aniston, you are our world and we thank God everyday for you and your health!  To be cont....

Daddy Bear 
  


Shirt says, Daddy is under my Spell!
Enough said!



It has been a while, or so it seems...

Oh my goodness this week has been busy!  So where do I begin?  Little Bit is continuing her crawling expeditions.  She speeds along army crawl, but the past few days she gets up on her knees and rocks.  You can see the determination in her eyes.  She spies one of the cats, quickly rolls over, squeaks and squeals with delight while she stretches out her hands to pet/grab them.  The only reason this girl is going to crawl for real is to chase cats all day.  Watch out!

We started solids this past week.  What an adventure.  So far Baby Girl loves everything I put in her mouth.  Now, the problem came from everything wasn't coming out.  That has been a difficult dilemma.  Poor thing would push, push, push, alas nothing.  We tried everything known to man to help her.  Pear juice, prunes, prune juice, suppositories, oatmeal...finally she had liftoff.  Thank goodness.  As it happens, she has either developed a cold or about to pop a tooth out.  Her nose runs constantly, stuffy, eyes watering, but happy as a little lark.  This kid is one tough cookie.  She is almost always happy, playful, smiley, and good natured. 

We want to keep track of music and artists we play around her.  Her favorite to fall asleep to is Adele 21.  While we drive home, she and I chill as we listen to Adele's beautiful voice serenade us...Let's see if I can remember a few more without her daddy's help.  The Fray, One Republic, Need2Breathe, and most definitely the artists on Adele Pandora Radio Station.  I will add more when I remember them!  he he!

I have more to add, however, it is time to sleep.  So goodnight all, sweet dreams.
~Mama Bear

add on to yesterday's post

I completely forgot to mention how Beautiful Baby takes her pacifier out of my hands to put it in her mouth by herself.  It just makes me laugh.  She continues to make progress towards crawling.  The army crawls are turning into future upright crawls.  My heart soars watching her discover new abilities, new places in the home, new stuff.  Just love it...

~Mama Bear

My Sweet Angel

Our precious lovely girl is growing up too fast for our liking.  She army crawls across the floor in a matter of seconds.  You can't turn your back for a moment.  If you do, I find her off the blanket, over by the sink, trying to eat the rug!  Haahaa!  She is such a joy. 

On Nov 15th she waved goodbye to me as I was leaving for school.  I just about cried! 

Baby Girl values her independence even at this early age.  She grabs her bottle out of Grandma's hands to feed herself.  She rolls, pulls, scoots, and half crawls until she gets to where she wants to go.  She snatches her spoon out of our hands trying to feed herself rice cereal or oatmeal.  Of course, it gets EVERYWHERE!  hehee!

Our 6 mth appointment is Monday.  After the okay, we shall embark on food!  Oh she will eat this up (literally).  I'll try to take video of the chaos and post it soon.

We love you all!
~Mama Bear

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone!
Just quick update-we are now sleeping through the night!!!  yayaa!  :) 1st night: 30min, 2nd night: 5min, 3rd and 4th night: all the way through!!! 
Lots of love
~Mama Bear

First Night

People!  That was the most terrible thing I have had to hear in a long time.  So, just to catch up, we are starting the nights where we do not go in to her room when she wakes.  Trust us, we WILL go get her if she is hurt, sick, or any other issue that is not regular fussiness.  She only wailed for about 30 minutes, but it was the longest 30 minutes ever!  After that, she self-soothed herself back to sleep and slept until 7 am.  :)  Hopefully tonight will be better.  Surprisingly, the Bird did not wake up and join forces with her.  Whew!

Also, MAJOR milestone this week...Sweetness will stay in a sitting position when we set her up!!!  She can hold herself upright for a fair amount of time!  Mama and Daddy can't hardly believe the progress a week or two will have on a baby.  Time is certainly flying by too quickly. 

And I finally figured out how to post stuff!!!  yaya!  Enjoy.  Lots of Love

~Mama Bear

holding her own bottle...my little Precious is too big!

Just a quick note of development...My little turkey held her own bottle in her mouth all by herself.  Grandma Ju Ju let her have it while she was feeding Granddaddy and she fed herself.  Daddy Bear said Monday night she grabbed the bottle from him, pulled it out of her mouth, put it back in when she was ready.  Five months just doesn't seem long enough for such achievements!!! 

Let me also mention Little One LOVES LOVES LOVES bath time.  She splashes, kicks, and  splashes, kicks some more.  It is sooo funny to watch.  We get the biggest "kick" out of her BIG kicks!  The girl is going to be a swimmer/water baby just like her daddy.

This week we breaking down.  The time has come to let her cry herself to sleep.  Little Bit is still refusing to sleep through the night, so Mama and Daddy are buckling down.  Mama needs sleep...zzzzz....Wish us luck people...The tough gets going when the going gets tough.  The process will commence Thursday until it is over...  :-/

Still trying to post the videos.  Have not had much time lately, so will attempt this weekend.

We love you all
~Mama Bear

sweet sounds

Hello Family and Friends!

I couldn't wait til Sunday for the next update.  Sweet Baby Girl makes the cutest sounds on earth!!!  She has figured out how to make raspberries. This morning I woke up to Baby talking to herself and blowing raspberries.  I cracked up.  It is the cutest, funniest sound ever!!!  When I walked into the room she was rolled over on her belly just blabbering away. 

Also, she is now mimicking our movements.  Daddy will be a little further away from us waving at her.  She stares, then her little arm begins to raise slightly.  Each time it happens Daddy just is giddy with excitement.

We set up the jumper from our good neighbors in the doorway.  Daddy dances with her!  Music plays and her little feet jump, bump, and dance!

These are the sweetest moments of our life.  We did video the dancing.  I am going to try to figure out how to upload it soon.

~Mama Bear

Little Miss Busy-body

Good Morning All!

Baby Girl is all over the place now that she has figured out how to move and groove on her own!  She rolls and rolls and rolls.  In the blink of an eye she has rolled off her mat after something of interest.  Her toys can longer escape her grasp!  She also loves to kick her feet so her heels bang against the floor.  I think it is a combination of the sound and the feel of her feet as she pounds those feet. 

She now will lift her hands up indicating she wants to be picked up out of her exersaucer.  Grandma J. has been practicing this with her!  It is too cute.  My sweet baby will hold her arms out to Mama and Daddy showing us she wants us to hold her...

Also, Baby girl tries to raise her self up into a sitting position.  She has not quite mastered the skill, but sure is practicing!

Finally, the Angel gives hugs.  She wraps her little arms around our necks and smashes her face into ours.

These are the most precious moments.  We are excited to share this with you.  Until next week with a new adventure!

~Mama Bear

Rolling Over and Sitting up!

Baby Girl decided she had had enough of this lying on the back mess!  Sept 28 2011 Daddy and Mama were laying on the blanket with her when she rolled over!  She has done this before, but we believe it was on accident and she didn't realize she could do it consistently.  Now, you turn away for a second and she is on her tummy!  Yay!!! 

Also, Little Bit is able to remain in a sitting position for 30 seconds or longer!  She enjoys the new viewpoint tremendously.  As it happens, we do have several photos of this phenomenon.  Heehee! 

Every milestone reminds us how quickly she develops...soon we will be sending her off to college.  Until then, we will savor every moment. :)

~ Mama Bear

Getting Started

Amazingly the ease of motherhood took me by surprise.  I cannot believe my Baby Girl is 4 mths old.  As the saying goes "Time flies!" Even more so when you have a baby.  So true, so true.  Mommy decided to start a blog of all her changes as well as show her growth with pictures.  Facebook as proven to be too distracting.  I hope to maintain this blog weekly with updates, pictures, and new milestones.  We love you all and hope you enjoy!

~Mama Bear