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...

"I MUST move!"

Annabelle loves to be on the move. While, on her tummy, she's been using her arms to turn herself towards toys (slowly, slowly...). But, now, she just began something new...




She is soooo close...yet so far away.
Time to babyproof!

New Trick

What's so great about this?


This!


Annabelle and I went to a playgroup on Friday and I found out that she can hold herself up on things if they are the right height. Who knew? Now she can get a better view of the fish tank that's behind the couch (for now...that will have to go when she's able to reach it!)
And, yes, I realize she's sporting the slouchy pants look. Apparently she's not quite ready for the 3-6 month size pants :)

Look Who's Talking

Annabelle has been quite the little chatterbox recently. She talks to us and to her toys (more often) what seems like constantly. Here is an example of her "talking"



This will go on for up to half an hour. I think she just likes to hear her voice. She has also started to make some new noises such as squeals (of anger or delight) and long, drawn out moans (usually when she's just about to fall asleep).

She continues to turn over a lot, but it seems to be changing constantly. Now, she turns on to her stomach almost every time I put her on her back (including trying to while on the changing table!), but she's not as interested in turning from her stomach on to her back. I think she's still trying to figure out how to put this new-found skill to good use. She hasn't quite got down the task of rolling to get to something she wants. She usually ends up on top of it and that just makes her mad! :)

3 Months Old

Annabelle is three months and 5 days old!
She is about 23 inches long and 11 lbs 3 1/2 oz. Petite, but powerful.

Her biggest accomplishment...turning over!
She turned from her back to her side on Aug 12th; her back to her side to her stomach on the
17th; and her stomach to her back on the 19th. She turns onto her side quite often, but rolls from stomach to back only a few times a week. I'm guessing she hasn't quite figured out what the advantage of doing so is yet, so she's not inclined to do it as often.

She can grasp toys (or anything put in front of her, like hair) by bringing her hands together.
She's pretty good at holding on to toys, but it helps if they have a tag or a small circumference. However, she gets VERY frustrated when she can't turn a toy just right so that it fits into her mouth.

Speaking of, she wants to put everything in her mouth. Not just toys...her hands, her bumbo seat, our hands and arms...


Pretty sure she would have put this plant in her mouth if I had let her get close enough...


Also in the picture above, you can see one of her favorite things: the Baby Bjorn. She doesn't like riding in the stroller as much any more because she can't see everything. But, put her in the Baby Bjorn and we can take her anywhere. When we take it off there's always a huge wet circle from her chewing on the top.

Here's a three month picture with the Lorax...