February 2nd

That is a big day in our house! Yesterday we celebrated Daddy's birthday, Groundhog's Day, and Paige turning 7 months!

What a difference in weather from last year! Yesterday it was nearly 50 degrees and this was last year!


The birthday boy and his babies!


Luke's card for Daddy!


Wearing part of Daddy's present!


Time for some cake and singing - Luke's favorite part! (And it's half of an ice cream cake because my Mom brought it for Wally's birthday when they came to visit on Sunday so I figured we might as well finish it off rather than making or buying something else!)


(Check out Paige eyeing up the cake! Not yet little girl!)



Daddy playing with Paige's purse. He even went on a hunt to find the lipstick that was missing from the purse!


Oh and we bought Luke a Groundhog's Day book and have been reading it for the last 2 weeks or so. Did you know that in Raleigh, North Carolina there is a groundhog named Sir Walter Wally? How fitting!

And my two adorable kids!




We are off to the Illinois Valley for the weekend - have a good one!

7 Months

Somehow you are closer to a year than you are to the day you were born.

We are on the upswing to your 1st birthday - crazy!

This month has brought lots of new milestones and changes. You are getting to be such a big girl!

(I tried to save a bad camera setting here. I don't even know the camera settings, but it definitely wasn't on the right one for this adorable picture so I did my best to salvage it!)


I decided it was time to put the swing away. We were relying on it for naps too much, and I knew it would be easier to break this habit now than when you no longer fit in the swing. So you are now napping in your crib and doing very well! Your naps vary from 45 minutes to an hour and a half. Most of the time we can just lay you down, turn on your waterfall music and you put yourself to sleep. Sometimes I will rock you to sleep (this is more for me than you though!).



We also switched you over to the convertible car seat. You were getting too heavy in the carrier and are such a big girl sitting up on your own now so we didn't really need it anymore. You seem to be quite comfy in your new seat. I will have to get a picture of you in there wearing your adorable pink bear snowsuit.

A big change this month is that I am no longer pumping at work. We are still nursing in the morning and at night, but we decided to do formula during the day, although we are still working through my freezer stash of breastmilk yet. So at daycare you usually get 3 bottles - 2 of those are half formula/half breastmilk and the third is all formula. When you are at home with me on Fridays and the weekend, you usually just get 2 bottles during the day. Our schedule is a little different than the daycare, but it all seems to be working great. You have done great on formula so far. I honestly think you will drink anything from a bottle - you love to eat girl!



You are also getting 3 'meals' a day now. I send breakfast and lunch to daycare with you and you eat dinner with us at home. We have tried a lot of different Stage 2 foods now, as well as puffs and mum mums. As I said before, you love to eat and so far we haven't found anything you don't like. You are working on that pincer grasp with the puffs. Most of the time the puff ends up in the palm of your hand and your whole fist goes in your mouth, but every once in awhile you get one in! You seem to be enjoying more the little sippy of water you get with each meal

You have the biggest, brightest, most beautiful eyes (see picture above!) and your cheeks are the most kissable ones I've ever seen (see picture below!).



You are constantly rolling over to your belly now. And have finally started rolling back as well. This means that you can officially roll across the room. It doesn't happen often and there definitely has to be something worth rolling towards, but you can do it. You did this for the first time last week. Periodically, you will still throw a fit on your tummy and wait for someone to roll you over, but you can do it yourself!



We have also seen you spin in a circle on your belly. There is no forward (or backward) motion yet, but you can spin around really well. Army crawling is most likely next! We have warned your brother that he has to be extra good about picking up his toys since you are just about on the move!

You are sleeping through the night again! After an almost 3-month hiatus from sleeping through the night, it's back! I might get up once if I hear you making noise (seems to always be between 3 and 4) and give you your paci, but most days, I just let you be and you fall back asleep on your own. During the week you are usually asleep by 7/7:15. By 6:45 you are literally rubbing your eyes to death. As much as I would like you to stay up a little bit longer so we can play, I feel like I am torturing you. So we usually go to your room where I nurse you and rock you and hold you for a long time. I am making sure I take full advantage of having a sleeping baby in my arms because I know it doesn't last! You usually wake up around 6:30. We get you changed and then you play for a little bit while I finish getting ready for work. We nurse and off we go for the day. The morning rush is actually pretty relaxed for the most part these days.

You still smile a lot and we can really get you giggling now too! I am talking really great belly laughs! The person that makes you smile the most is your brother. You sure do love him! You follow his every move. He has been a terrific big brother lately and seems to have a lot of stories to tell you. And you are still a mama's girl :) You also make all kinds of fun sounds now too. I swear you say "Hi!". Ok, maybe you don't but it sure sounds like it!

What you don't like these days are men - ha! We got a little glimpse of this at your 6-month appointment when you sort of freaked out when Doctor came into the room. When Papa was here on Sunday you made the saddest pouty face ever when you saw him. You got over it and played with Papa, but I think we may have this issue with all men or at least men with facial hair (like Papa and Doctor). You also don't like people in hats - even Daddy. You made that same sad, pouty face when Daddy went to pick you up while he was wearing a hat. Once he took it off, you were fine. So we showed you over and over again that it was Daddy with the hat on and with it off. Punky (daycare teacher) was wearing a hat the other day too and you reacted the same way. Your brother never had this stranger anxiety so this is new for us. I have a feeling the dressed-up characters won't make you as happy as they do/did your brother!



That pretty much sums up the past month. You are growing so fast, but you are still our squishy, cuddly baby girl.

Happy 7 Months Paigey girl! We love you!