Sitting Up

Yesterday, Kylie sat up for over five mintures by herself. We've been practicing for a week but she's been very tottery.

While I was practicing with her, I was pulling her legs out in to a wide V thinking it would be easier for her. But she's actually more comfortable with her legs straight in front of her with her knees just slightly bent.

Now, she seems to have found her own balance. We're so proud!

Of course, we were snapping pictures like crazy. But I really wish I had taken her huge bib off!

Lots of pictures

After five days of teething pain, Kylie woke up Saturday feeling much better. She's still chewing and drooling like mad but the sparkle is back in her eyes. Thank Heavens!

She tried applesauce over the past few days and simply loves it! This is her after eating her applesauce. With a smile like that, I want to feed it to her every day.


We played and played on Saturday and took lots of pictures. Her teeth haven't cut through so I'm taking lots of pictures of her last gummy smiles.



I keep meaning to set up our tripod and put the timer on the camera in order to take some photos of the three of us. But since that hasn't happened, here's some individual mommy shots.






Today was one of those days where I feel like I can't get my house picked up, much less cleaned. I must have made a thousand trips up and down our stairs but as I sit here and look around, the house still looks crazily disordered. I think I'm in a black hole of cleaning efforts. Do you ever have one of those days? Where you work and work but it seems like all that effort is getting sucked away and not having any effect?

I've had knitting days like that. Where I knit and knit for over an hour but when I measure, my knitting is exactly the same. Oh, as if I didn't need another distraction, I've joined Ravelry which is like knitting mecca. It's still in beta so I'm lucky to be able to join it. I hope that this will help me start knitting more--my yarn is really not happy with me.

But one thing I can do is take LOTS of pictures of our baby.


I call this one an homage to Pavarotti.


Of course, I can't post pictures without at least one hand-in-mouth shot.




Hope you had a great weekend!
-Wendy

This picture says it all

Yes, we are still experiencing some teething pain. The poor little darling. I think the hardest part is that sucking on her bottle and nursing causes her pain. So she's not eating as much but then she can't rest and sleep as she should because she's hungry.

Before, Kylie would drink her bottle all in one go. But now she takes a few sips, cries, we comfort her and play with her a bit and then offer the bottle again. This is a constant cycle.

But God love her! She's trying so hard to be a happy baby. She smiles and coos at us, giggles at our funny faces, laughs when we zerbert her. I'm getting lots of sweet, snuggle time with her. Sometimes she doesn't want to do anything but hold on to one of her mommies to feel better.


On a different note, Kylie is working hard on sitting upright. She can hold the position for a few seconds before leaning and falling over. It's simply amazing to watch a baby learning a new skill.

And speaking of new skills, both Karen and I are having a big time working on digital scrapbook pages.

A few people have asked how we got started and what we use for digital scrapbooking. We got started just a few weeks ago by purchasing an introductory digital sampler kit from Lisa Bearnson's August kit of the month

It was a fabulous introduction where you get all the supplies you need along with several Flash movie tutorials. It was the right combination of "show me everything I need to know" along with "don't treat me like a complete computer idiot". It was very well done!

I'm also impressed with Jessica Sprague's(it's her instruction on the video) website and blog. And she offers fabulous tutorials as well.

Karen and I use Adobe Photoshop to put it all together. One of our favorite digital scrapbooking stores is Jen Wilson Designs. We get our 12 x 12 inch finished pages printed at our nearby Costco.

So once Kylie is asleep for the night, we sit in our office in front of our computer, playing with pictures and such. We compare pages and share ideas and ooh and ahh over each other's work. We find it more creative and engaging than watching tv together, although that's relaxing too.

I know I've been blogging a lot about it lately but for now, it's fun and I like sharing it with you. Hopefully you aren't sick of it.

Here's Kylie's belated four month pages.

On the road home...

I've been on the road since Monday and am headed home. I'm currently sitting at my departure gate at the Newark airport (fun, fun, fun). But, with an internet connection available, the wait is bearable. I've been participating in a conference where I did a short presentation (all that weird computer stuff I do...) and it went well. I always have to laugh though whenever I attend one of these things at how different people use their presentation tool. For most people, that tool is PowerPoint. You've probably seen it and/or used it somewhere. Somebody throws up slide after slide after slide and drones on about something. Well, I found a Dilbert cartoon that epitomizes the effect some presentations seem to have on folks. What do you think? Is it accurate?



Wendy and Kylie have been enjoying a few days of what we think is teething pain. Kylie has been really fussy while I've been away and just acts like her little mouth is hurting and sore. Bless Wendy's patience, love and fortitude! She's held her and bounced her, gave her cool teething rings, a bit of Tylenol here and there and done everything she can to keep our little one as comfortable as possible. I often feel guilty when I go away knowing that I'm leaving her there alone with the sole responsiblity of caring for Kylie. It's just a *lot* of work for one person. I honestly can't imagine how single parents do it! Really....think about it. One little human being is about all Wendy and I together can handle and it's just amazing to me that there are lots and lots of folks out there who do it alone. It's such a joy but there's also alot of work and diligence required. So...hats off to everyone out there being moms and dads...and to those of you doing it on your own "Woo hoo to you!". If I could erect a giant billboard in honor of all you do, I would.

But, as I said, there's so much joy that it's more than worth it, right? So, let me leave you with a look at our sweet bundle of joy!



- Karen

Five Months Old Today

Kylie is five months old today! Hurray!

I really loved this fourth month. It was, by far, the easiest and most joyful month we've had as a family. I'm a bit sad to see it go. Happy Birthday Sweet Pea! Your mommies love you more than they can say.


I won't bore you with her milestones since I've written about them extensively here on the blog. But if you want, you can click here to read a larger version of her milestone scrapbook page.

Somehow, I managed to complete her five month scrapbook page before her four month. These should be seen side-by-side but here you go.

Beach ball and bananas

We played with beach balls at Gymboree on Friday and Kylie just loved it. On Saturday, she was all about playing with her ball. She practiced sitting on it and bouncing on it while we sang her "Pop Goes the Weasel."

She really likes rolling on it

and practice crawling with it.

And when she's tired she'll sit and lean on it (while licking it).

Who knew a baby-sized beach ball could be so much fun?

After playing with her ball, I decided I needed a few more pictures because the light coming in to her room was really lovely. For a while, Kylie played along

but she soon decided that enough was enough. One way to finish a photo session is to pull down Mommy's drape and laugh at her (she's just so pleased with herself here!).


On Sunday, she had bananas for the first time and liked them.


But Sunday afternoon she started getting very fussy. She wasn't interested in playing which is unusual. She just wanted to be held and soothed. At first I was afraid that she was reacting poorly to the bananas but then, on a whim, I decided to see what she would do with a teething ring.

Now previously, Kylie wasn't interested at all in teething rings. She wouldn't even play with them. But today when I offered it she immediately did this:

She was happily surpised at good it felt on her gums and merrily chomped down on the ring for quite some time.

But the poor darling was pretty uncomfortable by the end of the night. I hope she feels better soon!

Relieved to see gray skies

It's overcast today in Oregon and I'm loving it. Don't get me wrong, the sunny days are lovely but I feel more relaxed and at ease on gray days. It's soothing to me somehow.

Today is a day for casual observations.

It's Kylie's first days of peas- her fourth food.

Kylie seems to be going through another hair loss period.

She's such a finger-sucker that I'm considering giving away most of her pacifiers.

She's going to sleep earlier-most nights around 7pm.

Today Kylie made her first trip inside a Starbucks and I met a new friend.

I've got rough patches on my knees from playing with my daughter (and she's not even crawling yet).

We've started a 529 education/college fund.

I finally finished a three-color baby blanket that I started before Kylie's birth. Finishing it was a bit anti-climatic and so far, I've not taken any pictures of it.

Oh! Kylie's doing two, new, totally sweet and adorable things.

She's looking up at me when I'm reading to her. I'll read and as I turn the page, she'll look up at me and smile.

She's likes to stroke my face with her hand. She did this for the first time last night. I put her in her crib to sleep but she had a hard time settling down. So I picked her back up and we rocked. She leaned back from my embrace so that she could see me, smiled, and stroked my face from hairline to chin several times. It was like she was saying, "You're here Mommy. Thank you for soothing me". Precious.


I completed my first two digital scrapbook pages.

This design is completely stolen (scraplifted) from Jessica Sprague's layout featured in the September "Creating Keepsakes" magazine.


And this one was inspired by Sherry Steveson's layout featured in August/September "Memory Makers" magazine.

Wordless Wednesday

Playing with others

There were four other babies at Gymboree yesterday. And each of them had a serious meltdown at one point or another. Kylie loves looking at the other babies. When one of the babies started to cry, Kylie would glance at us. Karen or I would say, "The baby is fine Kylie" and she would shrug as if to say "Okay" and go about her play business.

Many times, when one baby starts crying, all the babies will start as well. Kylie doesn't do this. I like that about her.


This is what she's like at the end of Gymboree.

A few new things

When Kylie is laying on her belly, she's starting to pop her bottom up, straighten her legs and get on her toes. It's amusing because we saw a baby do this move this past Friday at Gymboree. Kylie must have been taking notes because now she's doing it too.

(Can you see the baby on this psychedelic Care Bear blanket? She sort of blends in!)

She also had her first trip to the mall yesterday. She was very relaxed in her stroller while her moms walked around.

And she had sweet potatoes for the first time. She loved them and seemed to digest them easier than the homemade avocado.

Between 4:30 - 5:30

Here's a photo glimpse of our dinner hour.
First, we start with Kylie's dinner. Tonight, avocado is on the menu. Leaning forward means "I'm still hungry".


Leaning back means "I think I'm done".


Kylie finishes with a bottle of milk, a sip of water, a wipe of her chin and her table is cleared. Her cloth book that crinkles is an after-dinner hit. Who says books aren't for eating?


While Kylie loves this book, it can soon frustrate the pants off of her. "I'm done with this book now!" Mommy and Momma (who are preparing their own dinner) whisk the book away.


Next, Kylie is presented with several other toys. Hmmm, which one will she choose?


Teething beads!


The moms join Kylie at the table to eat their own dinner. This makes Kylie very happy.


But soon, she starts to wind down. She reaches for her comforting woobie to snuggle.


And the moms finish their meal and then carry the baby upstairs to her swing for her last nap of the day.

Just another hour of another day with a four-month old.