Happy Halloween

Annabelle is having an event-filled Halloween weekend!

On Friday, we went to the Union Halloween Bash where she won first place in the 0-11 month division of the costume contest. Here's the little froggy with her stuffed fly...


Today, we carved pumpkins. She was more interested in the newspaper.


And, I don't think she liked the feel of the pumpkin.


I leave you some pics of our little punkin. One with daddy...


And, one with mommy...

5 Months Old Today

Today is Annabelle's 5 month "birthday". She seems to be changing every single day.

A little over a week ago, she was diagnosed with a milk protein allergy/intolerance (not lactose intolerance). So, she is now on some EXPENSIVE formula, but it seems to be making things a little better. She's now drinking about 5 ounces 6 times per day...no solids yet...we have to give her little tummy a rest for a while and time to heal. Thanks to Dad for his research in developing this formula. Little did he know his granddaughter would be using it many years later! :)
Her favorite games is peek-a-boo.

She loves music. Some of her favorites are "Bibidi Bobidi Boo" and a knee-bouncing song we learned at story time.
She still puts everything she can get her hands on into her mouth and drools like a maniac. So far, no sign of teeth.


A few weeks ago, I posted a picture of her first attempts at sitting. Now, she gets some sitting time every day and she's getting better and better. She does the best when she has something in front of her to play with.


Yesterday, I posted a video of her trying to crawl. At the end of the video, you can see how she gets her butt waaaay up in the air, but her face on the ground. She's been doing this a LOT. Later last night, she actually got up onto all fours...except all four in her case was her hands and toes. She promptly did a belly flop. She's still hard at work on her attempts to crawl and is definitely able to move around a bit.

Just as I am writing this, she got up on her knees and hands, but she got off balance and fell on her side...yikes!

She loves her daddy. Every day when he comes home, she gets a huge grin on her face! He likes to play silly tricks with her. This is what I found when I asked him to pick out a bow to match her outfit yesterday.


Time to practice some more!

Trying to Crawl

Annabelle so badly wants to crawl. She's getting closer, but hasn't figured out that she needs to pick her face up off the floor. Here's a good try...just missed the beginning...
Oh...and, yes, I know a cell phone is not a good baby toy...but it is a good motivator :)

At the Park with Cousin Noah

We had some AWESOME visitors this past week.
Kris brother, Steve, and his wife, Sharon, trekked 18 hours each way with their 14 month old son, Noah to visit with us! We are so, so, so lucky!
Everyone had a great time and it was wonderful for Noah and Annabelle to get a chance to meet one another. One day, we took them to the park. Noah just wanted to run around as much as possible...into the parking lot...into the field... And, Annabelle still doesn't seem to get why the playground is so much fun. Doesn't mean we won't keep trying!

Annabelle testing out the swing. She really just wanted to get it in her mouth...oh dear...


We went down the slide together. Notice that I'm sitting at the top and my feet reach the bottom! Actually a great play area for little ones....just not quite this little.

I love this picture. Told Kris so and he happily pointed out the HUGE drip of drool on Annabelle's lower lip. Oh well...


And, one of cousin Noah being tossed in the air. He had a great time, but I think Sharon and I were about ready to collapse from fright!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch today and Annabelle had a great time with the pumpkins.
First, we went into the actual patch. At this farm, you can't pick them from the patch, but you can get a cute pumpkin picture!


Then, she was overwhelmed by the huge pumpkins...bigger than her!


She made a decision as to which one we should bring home. Maybe the stem looked interesting?


Ok...I'm ready to go!

Poor Sleep Means New Tricks

Annabelle has been having a lot of trouble sleeping at night recently. She's been up every hour or two for at least half the night... Some say this happens when babies start to do something new. Could be...here's what she did today! Her record so far is 10 seconds...

The Funny Things Kids...I Mean, Husbands...Do

The other day, Kris was sitting the back seat of the car to keep Annabelle entertained while I drove on on way home from St Louis. About 20 minutes from home, he tells me she has pulled her socks off and is chewing on them. Not unusual...anything that touches her hands goes into her mouth. When we got home, I carried in some bags while Kris carried in the car seat (with Annabelle in it). Once inside, I set down the bags and went to take Annabelle out of her seat. This is what I saw...Kris said, "What? I was just making it easier for her..." :)

4 Months Old

Annabelle turned four months on September 27th!
She is growing and changing soooo fast!
She is now 24 1/4 inches and 11 lbs 12 1/2 ounces. On the small side, but that's to be expected!

Here's the best we could do for her four month picture with the Lorax...


Why did we have so much trouble? Because all she wanted to do was this...


What are her new talents now that she is four months old?

She is much better at holding her toys and she spends a good amount of her day gumming whatever we put in her reach.

She still likes to be swaddled when she sleeps because she flings her arms and legs about willy nilly. So, for now, we'll keep her all wrapped up.

She currently has her first cold. A stuffy nose and a little cough. It's tough to see her uncomfortable, but she's not too upset about it so we're doing okay.

She can sometimes hold her bottle, but not very well.


About a week ago, she started being able to keep her balance more and more while in a sitting position. Now she can sit like this for a few minutes!


I'll add more pictures as I get them loaded...