Eight Months Young!

Our sweet girl is eight months old today!  She loves to stand as you can see in these photos.  She pulls up on everything, including me.  She can even take steps if you hold her hands.  As for crawling, she is getting so close! She gets on all fours and can move forward a little bit to reach for things, but doesn't go much further.  She often pushes back into plank and then sits back on her butt.  Then, turns and goes a new direction.  She can certainly get around where ever she wants to go, it's jut not a direct route. 


She has been fighting off a bug over the weekend, but she is a strong girl and seems to be back in full force today.  She is back to giggling and playing.  She really gets in the zone when she gets playing and can be easily startled when she realizes there are other people in the room.  She likes to open and close things and knock down block towers.  She still loves jumping in her exersaucer and being outside.

 

Anora Updates - Fall 2014

Well life moves quick when you've got a little one.  I can think of a bunch of changes that have occurred in the last few months and I have had little time to document it all. 

Anora is a few days shy of 8 months old and she is so smart and silly. She knows how to fake cry already to tug at your heart strings.  She likes attention and will do her best to make sure you know she is there.  She laughs often and gets lots of smiles where ever we go. She is such a sweet girl.

Anora loved spending time with Gammy!

Looking at the birdies!

My mom was here for 2 weeks at the beginning of October and helped me take care of Anora on the interim between nannies.  My sis came out for 5 days too!  We had a bit of a girls weekend :) My mom helped me put together a playroom for Anora in our "dining room".  It turned out sooo cute. I still have a few last minute touches to add, but we got a LOT done.  She also cooked us delicious meals every night and made enough so we could store some in the freezer for another day.  Love those freezer meals!!



When Amy was here we had a couple market days and went to Pikes and the Fremont market.  We also went to the MOHAI museum which I had been wanting to check out for months now and it did not disappoint.  Lots of neat exhibits and a great view of Lake Union.  We also spent time at Alki and ate lots of yummy treats.

















They both left within a day of each other and it was back to reality.  On the upside we started our nanny share!  Anora gets to spend each day with Eleanor.  They are so cute playing together.  Anora gets a little possessive sometimes of her toys, but Eleanor takes it in stride.  Yeni (pronounced Jenny) is doing great with two girls and has even gotten Anora to eat solid food without gagging, choking, or pursing her lips.  It was a miracle!  I think it had something to do with the spoon we were using too, oddly enough.  Crazy how particular these kids can be, right?!  But, at least she's eating!!

This leads to sleep.  For the past couple months Anora has NOT slept through the night.  It has been dreadfully exhausting for mama.  She was waking up multiple times a night needing cuddles and sometimes to eat.  She was eating twice a night for a while.  Now we are down to eating once a night.  I'm already feeling victorious.  I think eating solids will help .... just in time for her to start teething :)  She keeps us on our toes, but we love every minute of it.

Besides all the ins and outs of eating and sleeping, she is truly a joy to be around and such a sweet baby.  You can tell she has a sensitive side and needs connection.  She is very smart and figures things out quickly.  She is starting to figure out crawling. She can crawl backward, and spin in circles.  She can also pull up to standing and transfer her hands from one object to the next while keeping her balance.  I'm impressed!  Any day she will be cruising around the house.  She is a bold baby.








Last week we planted a tree on our boulevard in honor of Anora.  It's a Japanese maple and right now it's just her size.  I am looking forward to watching it grow along side her.  She loves trees so it's a perfect addition to our yard.

Six Month Check up!

Anora is a half a year old and going strong!  She can sit up on her own for long periods of time, but still topples over when leaning for a toy.  She can sort of get up on all fours and scoots back if on her tummy.  She pulls up to standing and loves being on her feet.  Her favorite toy is the exersaucer since she can stand and play.  Good thing mom procured two of those!  She loves to drop toys and have me pick them up, drop toys, have me pick them up, repeat.  It's awesome...for her.  She still loves water and got to experience the swimming pool for the first time a week ago and giggled with glee the entire time! She is tasting different foods and swallowing very little.  So far she has tried avocado, banana, watermelon, potatoes, pineapple, prune, and tomato.  As of this week she is opening her mouth when we put a spoon to her mouth and tries to feed herself with the spoon. She giggles and babbles frequently, but my favorite thing is when she whispers things to herself as she is playing.  It's very cute!  Sure love this baby :)

Here are her 6 mo stats:

Weight - 14 lbs 12.5oz / 21.84%
Height - 64.8 cms / 29.03%
HC - 41.5cm / 26.21%

4th of July fun

As usual, we went to our friends, Hartley & Mark's penthouse in capitol hill to watch the fireworks display over lake union.  It was a small gathering this year and we BBQ'd, talked, and even did a little dancing.  Anora stayed awake the whole night (eek). She was the only baby in attendance and was doted upon.  She was wide eyed and alert taking it all in.  By dusk, lake union was full of boats and the show was about to begin.  We went out to the roof top, and watched the fireworks.  Anora LOVED them and watched nearly the whole show.  It was a long show this year, so after about 20 mins she kind of dosed off, only to wake once we all went back inside.  She was well behaved all evening, but by the time we got into the car, she was cranky and overtired.  We finally got her in her crib by midnight and she was out!  She is getting to the age where she fights sleep so hard.  It's so difficult because she works herself up so much and is simply exhausted but won't sleep.  "Too much to see and do mommy!"

Anora watched with her ear muffs on!

 The next day we went to our other mama & papa friends house and had a baby bbq party.  Anora wore her tutu and was very well behaved. 

The rest of the weekend was scorching hot, so we took a lot of walks and even went down to enjoy the water on Alki.  Menchie's froyo topped off the day :)  It was hard to go back to work on Monday, but we really enjoyed our nice long weekend.

Four Month stats

Anora went in yesterday for her 4 month check up.  She is hitting all the milestones she should and growing just fine!  The next few months are going to be exciting!  We are going to start giving her sips of water from our cup...she's very interested in water glasses!  (Maybe we'll be able to by pass the whole bottle situation and just give her milk in a cup.  This would save me some heartache!)  We can take her swimming now, which will be fun, especially on these hot days we've been having. (It was 90 degrees yesterday!)  She has been doing some rolling over, but I anticipate a lot more of this to come!  Unfortunately it will mean, goodbye swaddle :(  She is smiley and giggly and so much fun.

Here are her growth stats:
Height: 24.75 inches - 59%
Weight: 13 lbs 1.5oz - 23.5%
Head circumference: 15.94" - 43.32%

She's not feeling great now since she got her shots yesterday, but we are hoping she bounces back quicker than the 2 month shots. Here are a few photos from the past week.

Baptism

This post is long over due!! We were fortunate enough to have the whole Meier family in Seattle in May for Anora's baptism, and the Kim's too! We had so much fun and excitement with all the cousins in one place. Our house had never seen so much action. 

 

Having everyone in town to celebrate Anora gave me so much joy.  She is SO worth the excitement, the travel, and the joining together!  She is such a light in this world already. We are truly blessed that God gave her to us and entrusted us to love her, guide her, and teach her along the way. 

The baptism was beautiful.  She was the only babe baptized that night so it felt extra special.  The whole congregation was there to witness it.  There was a special focus on the symbol of the dress and blessing it.  Gammy Meier made her beautiful gown! She received a candle and was anointed with oil.  The homily was done by a woman instead of our priest (he was sick and losing his voice) and she spoke about the holy trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  She also spoke about visions.  It was a special homily not only because it was for Anora's baptism, but because it was the first time I had ever seen a woman give the sermon.

God placed His Holy Spirit within her and gave her a new heart and a new spirit to remain righteous, obeying His Holy ways.  This is the most beautiful thing that happens during the Sacrament of Baptism.

Grandpa Meier & Aunt Heidi are Anora's godparents and showered her with love and attention.  She has entered this world with a strong foundation of those who love her and support her.  She is a great reminder of the beauty of God as she is so fresh from his arms.

Thanks, dear family, for visiting and making Anora's day extra special!

17 weeks and counting...

Anora smiles a lot these days, but only giggles if she finds you truly funny. She is trying SO hard to figure out how to blow raspberries and it's hilarious to watch. She attempts to blow air out of mouth with her lips pursed tight. While she still loves mirrors and crinkle paper, nothing bears the great outdoors. She could sit and watch the trees wave for hours. She also loves listening to, and watching the waves. She is going to be a nature gal indeed. She greets me each morning with smiles and toes touches. I am so in love!!

Here we are at Lincoln park right after a jog in out new BOB!

I am 17 weeks old today, hooray!!!