High-centered

It's been a busy few weeks.  We've been focusing on finishing the Nursery and are sooooo close to being done.  We just have some paint to touch up and then we can hang pictures.

Putting up the chair rail

A is moving more every day.  She still has no interest in rolling over.  When I lay her on a blanket on the floor she just lays there and chews on her hands, staring at the ceiling.  She still enjoys playing on her play gym and loves to talk to her toys.  Sometimes we do tummy time on a pillow.  When we do she puts her knees up underneath her and pushes forward, rubbing her head on the mat, until she is high-centered on the pillow, lol!

High-centered

Pushing her face across the carpet

When we do tummy time on a blanket with no pillow she still pushes her face across the floor.  She doesn't get high-centered though and can get pretty far like that.  She will occasionally lift her head and look around but she's usually content to push herself.

A falls asleep in the funniest places and positions.  She insists on going to sleep while she sits up.  She also won't hold the pacifier in her mouth on her own, but she wants to suck on it, so we have to hold her up and hold her pacifier in her mouth until she spits it out.

This time she fell asleep leaning forward with me holding her arm; that's how she was comfortable.

Asleep with the bunny around her face.  She likes to tuck it around her face, I'll pull it away and then go do something around the house only to find it tucked up around her face again when I come to check on her.

Asleep in her Bumbo.

A is getting really good at figuring out her hands.  She is very slow and methodical about everything and you can really see her thinking about what she's doing and figuring everything out.  She loves rattles right now and has been getting better at shaking them without hitting herself in the face. :)

Playing with some rattles.

Little A also loves to play in the mirror.  She smiles, giggles, and flirts with herself.  Sometimes we play with toys in the mirror as well, she especially loves the rattle.  One day I was letting her sit up by herself until she would topple over and then I'd catch her.  (About 3 seconds of sitting alone.)  When she'd topple over I would say "Whoa!"  After doing it five or six times she looked at me in the mirror and said "Whoa!" in her little baby voice!  She was very proud of herself too.

Playing in the Mirror

One of the dresses we got for her at Babies R Us

We celebrated Allan's Birthday!  He took care of Little A all day so I could make him a yummy meal.  We had crock-pot bacon wrapped chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and his favorite layered salad.  It turned out really good!

Allan isn't a big cake fan, but he LOVES brownies - particularly his mom's homemade brownies.  So, I made those as well and splurged on his favorite ice cream - Pralines and Cream w/ Caramel.

I got him some things he's been wanting to help with the yard and nursery.  A wheelbarrow, push broom, and miter saw.  He used the miter saw to do the chair rail in the nursery and it turned out great!

I also wrote him the traditional birthday letter in his "Man book"

While Allan was opening his gifts A decided it was a good idea to try a taste of my hair again.  It got stuck in her mouth, lol!

Looks like she's got a little baby mustache :)

Fun outfit from a good friend here.  I think it looks like a scratch and sniff sticker.

A has started chewing on her thumb.  She never sucks on it.  She just sticks it on her back gums and chews.  I think she must be feeling some teeth back there - nothing in the front, only in the back.

A loves to sit up...all the time.  So, we have started putting her in her Bumbo and setting her in front of her play gym.  This way she can reach her toys.  She loves to grab the toys and chew on them.

We decided that A should join us at the table.  We put her in her Bumbo and surrounded her with food (don't worry, we were having left overs so nothing was hot).  She must have thought it smelled good because she started reaching for the food and making her hungry noises with big eyes and a bright red face. She wasn't hungry; she had already eaten.

We decided to take pity on her and let her try a carrot.  She licked it like a lollypop.  She was pretty disgusted at first and made some hilariously contorted faces, but she was interested enough to try again, and eventually seemed to like it .

One of the women in our ward, who Allan also works with, volunteered to watch little A so we can go to the Temple every other week!  She has six children and 19 grandchildren, so she has a lot of experience.  A has really enjoyed spending time with her.  We feel so blessed to be able to attend the Temple together again and are so grateful that A is in such good hands.

We decided to take some family pictures one Sunday.  A was wearing another of her new dresses.  My allergies were really bad that day, and my eyes were really swollen and itchy which is why I am wearing glasses. I actually had to go and get some prescription eye drops because they got so bad.  Whatever I'm allergic to came out in full force this year.

Love this picture of A and her daddy!

I said "Let me get just one more picture" and Little A pulled her dress over her head. I guess she was done, lol!

A has been going through an, "I only want mom" stage.  Its mostly when she's tired. She loves her dad when he gets home from work, but after a few hours she starts winding down for the night and cries unless she's sitting with me.  It makes me feel really good that she loves me so much, but I feel awful for Allan.  He doesn't take it personally though and feels bad that he can't give me more of a break.  Thankfully if I'm not there she's fine and just plays with whomever is watching her.  That has been a huge blessing when we go on dates and to the temple.

This night we tried to have Dad give A her last feeding for the night.  As you can see by her sad, red eyes it didn't go over so well.  We eventually gave in and I fed her.

Cute outfit from K6 and cousin P (I think; it could be from one of AG's friends, I'm starting to forget who gave us what...)

We've been doing a lot of socializing lately as well.  It's been a lot of fun for little A.  She loves new faces and new people.  We went to a friends home for dinner.  Our friend laid a soft blanket on the floor for A to play on.  During dinner A decided that she needed to poop, and it shot out the back without me realizing it.  Thankfully I didn't get any on me, and we had an extra outfit for little A.  My friends blanket wasn't so lucky though.  I laid A down on it so I could get her diapering stuff ready, and when I lifted her onto her changing pad I discovered a nice little present on the blanket. :-/

Love this dress from AG's friend.  Thanks for making our little girl look so good!

Allan and I have a talk every Sunday evening in which we tell each other things that we each did well, or not so well, that week.  We call it a relationship inventory ;)  We enjoy doing it because it helps us communicate our love for one another, and also gives us a place and time to talk about things that may have been frustrating or that we need to work on in some way.  

Last Sunday Allan started talking with little A.  He asked her how he did that week (which is how we always start off our inventory).  She responded with a big smile and a happy squeal!  Apparently she was pleased with his performance as her daddy.  Allan then went on to tell her how he thought he could do better as a father - which included more one-on-one time.  As he talked she continued to happily coo and smile at him.  I snapped a picture of their little inventory.  It was a very sweet moment and a precious memory.  Allan is a great Dad.