The Magic House

Yesterday we visited The Magic House (the St Louis Children's Museum), a destination I've wanted to see since I was about 10 years old! It was worth the wait!

Annabelle had a WONDERFUL time exploring all sorts of new things.
Here she is "driving a bus" through the windshield.


One of her favorite things to do is play in the bathtub, so it's no surprise that she enjoyed the water table. She just didn't understand why I wouldn't let her put all of the water toys in her mouth like she does at home. Of course it's always fun to try to "catch" the water :)


Much to our shock, Annabelle can climb stairs! She crawled up to them and went right on up as if it was something she's done a million times before. Not so much with the tiny slide which she attempted to crawl down headfirst (and screamed because she was mad I wouldn't let her).


We even got to touch the famous electrostatic ball. I think she looks concerned because everyone waiting in lining was saying her name and clapping (trying to get her to look that way instead of at the giant shiny ball).

Annabelle's Playpen

Annabelle has no tolerance for hanging out to play in her playpen, so I've created a much larger version in our living room. However, she's starting to figure out how to move things so that she can get through. Don't know what I'll do next...guess we'll just have to completely Annabelle proof (tougher than baby-proofing) the entire house!

8 Months Old Today

That's right...Annabelle is eight months old today! She's changing and learning so many new things so quickly! Here are a few current highlights:

Pulling Up
She's been pulling up to a stand for about a month now, but she's getting better and better at it all the time. She'll even let go with one hand sometimes! Here she is with one of her favorites, her activity table.



Sitting
Although Annabelle's been able to sit on her own for quite some time, she has never seemed to interested in doing it on her own. If we put her in a sitting position she could stay like that as long as she liked, but often she just wanted to crawl around some more. Starting yesterday, she has begun to sit to play with a toy after crawling to it. Here she is playing with her xylophone. Which reminds me of one of her favorite past times...banging on things!



Tooth
Annabelle is finally getting her first tooth. She's been having some tough nights recently and, sure enough, yesterday when I felt for a tooth I was shocked to discover there was actually one coming in! No pictures yet as it's impossible to get her to let you look, but it's definitely there. In case you're curious...bottom left :)

Eating

As you know, we had quite a struggle recently with Annabelle getting enough to eat. At one point she fell off the growth charts and the doctor started to get concerned. However, now that she's completely over her double ear infection and colds, she's eating like a champ! In addition to eating much more formula, she is also eating about 1 jar of baby food per day. We usually give her fruit at lunch and veggies at dinner. So far we have tried bananas, sweet potatoes, squash, peaches, and applesauce with success. This morning, she had her first success with a "textured" food. She has always refused rice cereal, but seemed to like the oatmeal with bananas this morning. She also likes puffs and is perfecting her pincer grasp. Only downfall? Green beans! We tried those at my parents and they came right back up (along her last formula feeding). No green beans for a while.

Her favorite so far is bananas. She sticks her tongue waaaay out, trying to open as wide as she can.


She's getting better at drinking out of her sippy cup. This one might be a little heavy, so I may find another one soon. But, she definitely gets some sips out of it.

Pulling Up

Annabelle first started pulling up to a stand on things in mid-December. Now, she's a pro! At first, she could only do so on very short things, such as her upside-down toy bin.


Then, right at 7 months (December 27th) she started pulling up on the couch at my parents house. We have a picture, but it's inaccessible for now.
She is now pulling up on EVERYTHING...the couch, our legs, her activity table, her carseat, etc. She can also cruise a bit, but prefers to get down and crawl because it's faster. We can tell she can't wait until she can start climbing. She pushes up onto her tiptoes and lifts one leg and then the other just wishing she could somehow figure out how to get UP onto the couch (or leg, or table, or carseat).

First Christmas Presents

One of the Christmas traditions we decided to start with Annabelle is to give her pjs and a book on Christmas Eve. Turns out, the 6-9 month pjs I bought several months ago probably won't fit until she's about 12 months old...hm...maybe I'll need to exchange them for something non-fleece... Wonder if I still have the receipt...
Ok, now on to the pictures.

First thing is first...get this bow off...


Now she's concentrating really hard on that little corner we've started. Didn't even notice when Daddy "decorated" her head.


Oh wow! You got me tissue paper!!!


That's nice...now it's time to explore that bow some more...

No posts for so long because...

Annabelle got very sick just before Christmas. In fact, we were worried we wouldn't be able to travel to KY to visit with family. It would have been really upsetting to us because it was the first time Annabelle met her YeYe and Ama :)
But, she was well enough on the 23rd to get the green light from the pediatrician. We had a wonderful time in KY and Annabelle was spoiled by all four of her grandparents. However, when we returned, Annabelle was sick again. Apparently, the ear infection had not completely cleared up from the first illness. So, she is just about finished with the second round of antibiotics...hopefully this will do the trick (fingers crossed).