First trimester complete, two more to go!

                 I am in the second trimester officially and the coming of our little one is public knowledge.  It is so fun to finally have everyone know, though it was fun to carry a secret for a while. J  Now that the first trimester is over I have noticed a bit of a decrease in nausea and, though I didn't think it was possible, my hunger has increased.  I can’t seem to satiate the hunger very easily either, even eating pretty much all day long!  That’s probably why I still haven’t gained a pound, lol!

                The other big symptom that is gradually waning, but I am looking for a greater decrease, is the fatigue.  Thankfully, I have noticed a little decrease.  Instead of hitting a wall at 5:30/6 for the day, I have been making it closer to 6:30/7.  Once that time hits, I reach a point of complete and total exhaustion where I pretty much have to use all I have left just to finish the day.  I am hoping to get the burst of energy that I remember from the second trimester last time around.
                I had my appt yesterday with the doctor and everything went well.  Heartbeat was strong at 155 which I think is right around what Alethea was, but I still have to double check that.  Baby is grow well and so far we are blessed with no concerns.  I talked with the doc about my hip issues starting so early this time and he just said unfortunately that comes with the territory.  Looks like I will just have to keep stretching and dealing with the random striking pain that inhibits walking for 6 more months (I only dealt for 3 last time, lol).

                So far Althea still doesn't really realize anything is different.  She occasionally will point to my belly and say “babee”, but I don’t know that she really makes any connection yet.  I guess we shall see as things progress. J  One thing is for sure, having her around make pregnancy even more exhausting, lol, but I wouldn't trade any part of this for the world!

Fun First Trimester Comparison 

November and 21 month update

            November was a month of thankfulness.  I really enjoyed coming up with something I am thankful for each day.  It is always a great practice to think of the positives in life, but there is something wonderful about writing them down.  To name a few, I am thankful for the chance to stay at home with Alethea, for the finances to fix our car when it breaks, for a wonderful husband and daughter, encouraging and supporting family and friends, and the one thing I couldn't publicly be thankful for in November is the little baby growing inside of me.  Looking forward to meeting this little one next summer!

My Smiley Girl!

            This year November was a bit different for us than it has ever been in the past.  We chose to stay here in SC for the month instead of flying to visit family in NY for Thanksgiving because of the cost.  Granted we missed family, but that ended up being a blessing in disguise for many reasons.  We saved a ton of money, I didn’t have to travel while so early in pregnancy (though we didn’t know I was pregnant when we made the decision), we got to spend time with friends on Thanksgiving, and we got to relax for the entire four day work break Ben had with a little bit of decorating for Christmas and announcing our big news to family thrown into the mix. J All in all is was a fabulous Thanksgiving and reminded us of all the things we truly have to be thankful for this year.

            Ben has been busy as always this month.  He is beginning to wind down his second to last semester of graduate school (yay!), but with that comes an increase in work load.  He has still managed to be an amazing husband and father, and has been an incredible blessing to me picking up extra slack around the house since my productive waking hours have decreased so much.  He’s pretty much the best if you ask me!  He is still really enjoying his leadership responsibilities at work and it’s so fun to hear how excited he gets about trying to make sure he is doing the best to lead his department that he possibly can.

She loves having her Daddy home to read to her

Snuggles with Daddy and Apollo

Trip to California Dreamin' on the water for Veterans Day

            I have been doing a lot of cooking this month.  I am making it a point to try out a bunch of new recipes and not skip a beat on cooking, even with being tired, because I know that I will have to take a cooking hiatus (at least for trying new things) for a while to adjust.  It has really brought a lot of joy and fulfillment for me to see how much Ben is enjoying all the new things we have made as well.  Unfortunately, with heightened smell and pregnancy aversions, it has been a bit harder to incorporate the ingredients we get from our CSA.  I have been giving away/throwing away many things simply because I can’t stand the smell and then we have been cooking them with a lot of butter to make them eatable for me. J  Sadly, I am thankful the CSA ends in a week, though I do plan to try again when I am not pregnant.

Homemade Pizza Pockets

Italian Chicken Pasta Bake

Pizza burgers, buttered cabbage, and homemade sweet potato fries

Homemade Chicken Gnocchi soup

Funfetti cupcakes from scratch

My best little helper!

            It think Alethea finally took a break in her physical growth this month (minus the fact her hair has become quite the poof, lol) and decided to work on her language skills a little bit.  Her stats at 21 months were 35.5inches tall (same as last month) and 26.2lbs (.2lbs more than last month, but still less than her 19 month stats).  She also gained a few canines this month.  All of them broke through this month and now she is up to 16 teeth total.  She was a trooper with them all and, other than chewing on her hands and maybe some appetite/BM changes (though that may have been due to the residual effects of roseola), we never really knew she was teething.  She still hasn't been eating great, but there has been much improvement in the latter part of the month and she at least gained a tiny bit of weight back.  A new fave we discovered this month is pancakes with real maple syrup.  She loves those pretty much any day of the week.

Looking so big at the lunch table

Love this look as she poses in her new Minnie shirt Grandma got her

            This month has definitely been the language revolution for our sweet little girl.  She is finally mimicking pretty much everything we say (in her own way) and she has developed quite the vocabulary.  Unfortunately I haven’t done a great job of writing down her words, but I have racked my brain to remember as many as I can.  She started saying A LOT this month!  She has says the names for three of her buddys: “molluh” for Molly, “Uh-lah” for Eli, “Reese”, and “uh-key/uh-tey” for Elise.  So fun to see her excited about seeing them!  She also loves to melt her Papaws heart by calling him and saying “paw-paw”.  It has the sweetest inflection and it is really the only grandparent name she says consistently (A LOT).  Other words: “chee-ya” cheerio or yogurt (not sure why, lol), “cheese”, “kah-ee” car, “seat”, “lah” light, “eat”, lots of L sounds for banana (not sure why on this one either), “ah-la-oo” I love you, “hummm” home, “pay” pray, “ah-mayne” amen, “hice” ice/ice cream, “yes!”, “poo-poo”, “peas” please, “kay” okay, “ah-mow” Elmo (never seen Elmo shows but we have lots of dollar store books with Elmo in it), “tee” teeth/tv/tree, “yuckeeee” yucky, “ha/bah da/ma” hi/bye dad/mom, “hallow” hello (loves to say this on her pretend phone, “dow-duh” sock, “nak” snack, “rowwwl” roll, “tchoo” two, “muh-muh” muffin, “ca-cake” pancake/cupcake, “bollow” bottle (as in her play bottles), etc.  I know I am forgetting some, but this was all I could remember.  It is so nice to have her speaking to communicate and now the challenge is just translation, lol.

Best Buds!

In the midst of saying Papaw

Some dinner babble and then the dogs barked...

I love how she says "hallow!"

            She still loves to read a bunch, and that has become a regular part of naptime and bedtime routines.  We have even moved onto some pretty wordy books at bedtime (like Dr. Seuss, Curious George, Paddington Bear, and more) and she will sit through them.  I have avoided TV with her for as long as possible, but she has developed quite the liking for cartoons of late and we let her have a treat while prepping lunch and sometimes while prepping dinner.  We usually just turn on whatever is on PBS at the time and, as long as it is cartoony (lots of Sid the Science Kid and Wild Kratz), she doesn't care.  I still try to limit it most days, but she really enjoys it so it makes for a nice transition activity some days. J

            This month she went on the potty for the first time ever.  it started when for the first time in at least 6 months while running around naked after bath, she peed on the carpet.  I screamed and scared her into stopping and Ben decided to pick her up and run her to the bathroom to pee and she did. Yay!  Sense then she has peed several times on the potty asking every time, except the one time she just went in during her naked after-bath time and climbed on the potty (no potty seat) and went all by herself, lol.  I was toying with jumping into potty training this month, but I want to make sure she is truly ready and the method we are going to use for potty training recommends waiting until 22 months if they aren’t waking up dry in the morning.  So that puts us in December starting, but we are going to wait until after our NY trip in January so we aren’t taking a newly potty trained kiddo on a plane. J  She still gets to go whenever she is interested and we will continue that fun/positive relationship with pottying, but no starting until after the New Year with the official training.

            One of my favorite things of late is seeing her empathetic and caring side come out.  She is always very aware of how everyone is doing around her and if she things someone or something is hurt she immediately asks “kay?”.  And then if she is in the position to, she offers kisses as a way of making things better.  So sweet!  I also love seeing her excitement over the Christmas tree.  When we turn it on at night she says “awwww…..lah….tee” (awe, light, tree) and has a blast playing in the room with the tree for a little bit and dancing to our Christmas pup and nativity music.  (quite the musical combo, lol)

Checkin' out the Christmas tree

My little fluff ball :-)

A little pre-bath goofy-ness, lol!

Snuggles for Basil

            I feel like I am leaving something out, but those are really all the big things I can remember.  The month has been filled with lots of outside time and relaxing for Alethea and I, and then enjoying whatever family time we can get with Ben.  God has been good to us yet again and we are looking forward to seeing what the next month has in store with Advent and the celebration of our Savior’s birth!

One last video of my dancing queen...she loves music and loves to dance!

Coming June 2013

Alethea says "Woohoo!"

12 weeks with Baby Hill 2.0 

             We found out we were expecting on October 21st, 2012 when I was 6 weeks 4 days along.  We waited for a while to test since my cycle had been so irregular.  I didn't remember it that day in all the excitement but, one fact I realized later on is that, it was the same day in 2010 that our miscarried baby was due.  So it was a bit of a special day to find out baby number 2 is on its way! 

             Because of the miscarriage in the past and just wanting to make sure everything was healthy, we waited until almost the end of the first trimester to make it public knowledge and starting at 10 weeks we started to tell family and friends gradually using the t-shirt Alethea is wearing in the picture above.  So much fun!  

             I am now 12 weeks and 4 days a long, very excited, but exhausted, and ready for the 2nd trimester energy to kick in, lol.  I have been much more naseous this time around, I think the tiredness is up a knotch because I can't sleep nearly as much as I was able to when pregnant with Alethea, and I am showing much quicker this time too.  Overall though, I can't complain because it has been a super easy pregnancy so far.  I just go to bed when Alethea goes to bed many nights, lol.

              We had our 1st ultrasound/dr appt. a day shy of 10 weeks and it was fun because we were able to bring Alethea with us and we saw the same doctor that delivered Alethea via c-section.  It was a wait that was entirely too long, but Alethea did great and it was so worth it to have the reassurance that everything was developing healthy.  According the ultrasound baby is due June 15th, but the doctor is just keeping with the last known period date which gave us June 13th.  Most likely neither date will be correct, but for sure baby 2.0 will be here before June 27th because they won't let me go past then (maybe even sooner).  I was reassured that we will be able to have a VBAC (yay!), however I will most likely have to have an epidural (blegh!).  I still have more research to do on that, but either way, the hope of not having another c-section is reassuring enough for me for now! 

               I was also reassured that I can continue to do my running as long as I don't push myself too hard.  So I have been using a heart rate monitor to keep my heart rate under 150 (which means super slow running at times, especially when pushing a running stroller).  But I have been able to maintain running 4 times a week  for anywhere from 1.5 to 3 miles a day depending on how much time we have.

              God has been good and we are super excited.  It only took us 9 months of trying this time which was half of the time it took to get pregnant with Alethea.  Even though it was hard to see it at the time, we know God has perfect timing and it is His perfect plan to have this June baby and not a baby any sooner like we had tried for.  The baby will be born by the end of June, Ben will have his last day of work July 1st and then before this baby is a month old we will hopefully be moving up closer with family wherever Ben is able to find a job. Next summer is going to be a crazy, but we are absolutely looking forward to all of it!

October/20 months Update

Another busy month has gone by and been filled with lots of fun.  We had a blast as a family taking Alethea to West Farm Corn Maze.  It was a nice fall activity that we were able to enjoy together.  She actually really loved going through the maze, loved the petting area (not so much to touch, but to look), enjoyed the huge sand pile, relaxed on the hayride, and enjoyed navigating the hay maze they made for little ones her size.  It was nice to have so many fall themed activities that she could actually participate in this year.

Posing with Daddy

And Mommy

Cheesin' it

Walking with Daddy

Climbing on the animal gate (it was empty)

We also had fun at our friends Harvest party.  Alethea loved being around all the people and especially loved their two dogs (that were bigger than her) and running around with them in the back yard.  She was in and out all night long and having a blast.  We even had a chance to carve a pumpkin tag team style between Ben and I and it actually turned out quite well.

Our Pumpkin

The last weekend of the month we made a trip up to Columbia with Ben while he had his grad class Saturday afternoon.  Alethea napped on the way there and then we had fun shopping and playing at the mall while Daddy had his class.  Afterwards we had the pleasure of meeting my cousin Gaggie and her husband Jerald for dinner.  The food and conversation were fabulous.  If you have never had a pimento cheese burger that needs to be added to your to-do list because they are delish.  Unfortunately Alethea came down with a fever (that would last for several days and turn into a rash of Roseola) and so she didn’t really get to visit much because she was asleep in my lap almost the entire meal.  She ended up puny, but overall we had fun with family.

Playing at the mall

Passed out at dinner

            I decided that I really enjoy all the fall themed activities.  We really didn’t get involved in Halloween this year because we didn’t want to spend money on costumes and especially on candy that we really don’t want any of us to be eating anyway.  Alethea and I did, however, enjoy getting her dressed in her pumpkin sweat suit from Mamaw and going over to spend some time with her buddy, Elise down the street.  They were both the cutest little pumpkins!

Enjoying coloring on Halloween

And Halloween stickers!

All smiles

In her pumpkin sweatsuit from Mamaw and Papaw

            This month has been insanely busy for Ben.  I am really quite honestly surprised we saw him at all with how much he had going on between work and grad school.  Alethea and I have been cherishing every moment we are able to spend with him.  He has had project after project for school that requires longer hours in the evening after work and work has been a bit hectic making him stay later than he would like of late.  Alethea and I have been making the best of it though.  I have still been cooking up a storm and really enjoying trying new recipes and incorporating the goodies we get in our CSA bag each week.  Thankfully, many nights Ben has been able to join us for dinner, even if just for a brief time, so he has been able to enjoy the goodies too.  I have also been continuing to run and I honestly believe that combined with healthy eating has been a lot of what has kept my sanity of late when spending so much time with a 20 month old. 

Like father like daughter

Loving some Daddy time

She loves to read with Daddy

Lasagna Skillet

Homemade Mini Pizzas

Jalapeno Popper Chicken

Homemade Pumpkin Puree and Homemade Arugula Pesto

            Now for the fun stuff about Alethea.  She turned 20 months this month.  I can’t believe how old she is getting so quickly.  She is going to be 2 before we know it!  This month was a bit lopsided on growth because she went up in height as usual, but down in weight…not so sure what to think of that yet.  She is now 35.5 inches tall (almost 3 feet!) and only weighs 26lbs (9.6 oz less than last month!).  I keep waiting for the month that the height slows down, but I guess this month wasn’t it, lol.

My big girl loves her babies

            The biggest change this month has been an explosion in language in the last 2 weeks of the month.  She has started repeating most everything we say and using language in her every day communication so much more. I am so thankful for this variety as opposed to her favorite sound she used to make for everything.  She is by no means speaking in full sentences, but she is saying a lot more since words, occasionally pairs.  Two new words for her have been “ree” for read and “booh” for book which are no surprise considering just how much she is obsessed with reading.  She says “maoo” for mouse, “moo” for moon, and “pee-pee” for just what it sounds like though she only wants to say it about Mommy and daddy and not actually use the potty herself.  She also says “wee-wee” for shooweee like I say when she has a stinky diaper and she says “bah-puh” for diaper and will actually lay down on the ground saying it if she wants it changed (regardless of if it actually needs it, lol).   She also says “chee” for cheese, “na-nah” for night night.  She has also finally started to say “beh-bee” for baby which has been super fun for her to finally grasp since she loves babies so much and she even recognizes that she is a baby.  One of her new favorites in “ti-tuh” for stickers which she absolutely loves of late, she says “ga-ga” for Mommy and Daddy’s glasses, “wa-wa” for water, and “boo-Boo” for anything that she thinks hurts (including moles and pimples, lol).  She also says “jah-ka” for jacket and loves to find hers and Mommy’s jackets when it is time to put them on to go outside.  I am sure that I could go on and on about her new language development because I am just that excited about it and I know I am forgetting some of her new words, but I am so glad she is finally taking an interest in expanding her vocabulary for sure!

Her new favorite way to carry baby, lol

            She continues to absolutely adore reading.  We hear “ree” and “booh” hundreds of times a day and she is always bringing books over and plopping in our laps to have us read to her.  She even sits down on the couch or in her reading corner to enjoy some quiet reading by herself.  I almost wonder if her love for books is linked to the new language development in some way.  Some of her faves are “Good Night Moon”, “My Personal Penguin” by Sandra Boynton, “Baby Einstein’s First Words” (and any other picture/word book that we point out all the things in), and “But Not The Hippopotamus” by Sandra Boynton.  We love most all the Sandra Boynton books we have, but as longs as it’s a book (or even a magazine sometimes) she is pleased.  When we read “Good Night Moon”, she points out the mouse and says “maoo” on every page and she finds the moon and says “moo” too.

My little computer genius

            Her bedtime routine was completely turned upside down this month in order to wean from nursing.  We were both ready for nursing to be over, especially in the last week since she was nursing for about a minute on each side.  Thankfully that made for an easy transition, even if it was a total bedtime change.  She nursed for the last time on 10/20/12 so we made it 20 months nursing…not to shabby.  One necessity at bedtime is that she has to give Mommy, Daddy, and both Basil and Apollo kisses before she can go to bed.  We have also begun putting more of a focus on praying with her before bed and she will willingly fold her hands and pray with us most days before bed.  Her last hour before bed starting at 7pm now consists of a bath, naked time running around (often chasing the dogs), getting pjs on, reading several books, prayers, Mommy singing to her, and then night-night time.  She has really taken well to it and not skipped a beat with her sleep at all.  Her current sleep schedule is usually in bed by 8pm (asleep by 815/830pm), she gets up between 7:30 and 8am (though I am writing this at 8:15am and she is still sleeping today), and then she naps from about 1:15/1:30pm until 3/3:30pm.  Thankfully we have been blessed with a good sleeper over all.

            Her eating habits, as could probably be assumed by her lack of weight gain, have really been lousy this month.  She is really random, not necessarily picky, but just doesn’t seem interested at times no matter what is offered.  Thankfully, though, she is finally asking to eat by either pointing to her mouth or saying “eeee” so I know she isn’t starving.  She never used to do this so this is a huge step for her, though I feel like she is ending up snacking a lot more and eating less well at meals.  I know part of it is probably attributed to the fact that she is working on 4 canines (one poked in on the 29^th) and she also ended up with Roseola which caused a fever the last 4 days of the month.  But I guess she will eat when she is hungry and this phase will pass in due time.

Blackberry jam and homemade bread...yum!

            She also has really taken a liking to being my little helper.  She loves to put things away in the kitchen, throw trash out, put laundry in the washer/dryer, clean up toys, and more.  I am hoping this only gets better and more useful. J   It is so fun to see how drawn she is to being involved in whatever I am doing, though it can be a bit frustrating when I am trying to be efficient and actually get things done, lol.

            It seems like she is learning more and more each day.  She doesn’t say numbers correct (expect the number 2). but makes sounds with the same intonation as me every time we count to three when she gets out of the bath.  Her knowledge of animals is also amazing!  She can identify so many animals as well as the sounds of those we know the sounds for.  To name a few newer ones, she knows: deer, mouse, camel, butterfly, ladybug, dolphin, shark, turtle, sea horse, crab, and frog (she says “bee-bit” for ribbit).  She is also able, and loves to point to her body parts and then the same ones on Mommy and Daddy, and sometimes the puppies which gets interesting, lol.  One fun things is that she has also started to recognize what is hers, Mommy’s and Daddy’s and she says “ma-ma” for all of Mommy’s things, “da-da” for all of Daddy’s things and has now started to try to say her own name, however, I don’t’ know that I can even spell the version she says of her own name.  Let’s just say it has a lot of “L” sounds, lol!   And one last tidbit is that she loves to crank of the stereo and listen to music, which isn’t always our favorite thing because she isn’t supposed to touch the stereo and can crank it up at inopportune times as a result.

Painting with the letter "O" for October

            As always, I could go on and on about how much Alethea continues to amaze us and share all the fun little cute things she does, but I will stop for now.  October has been a fabulous month despite the business and occasionally stressful times.  I don’t always like how I respond to Alethea in that stress, but I like to think I am getting better over time.  Though we loved October, I am looking forward to a more relaxing month of November with Ben on teaching break and a short break from school over Thanksgiving. (Though with the house being up on the market next month….we will see how relaxing that ends up, lol.)

September and 19 month update

I feel like September absolutely flew by.  Maybe since it was so filled with fun, we didn’t realize all the time was passing.  Alethea reached the milestone of 19 months too.  I measured her at home and she is just shy of 35inches tall and 26lbs 9.6oz.  Each month when I think she might be slowing down with her growth, she seems to grow even more.  She is so tall and already growing out of many of her 24 months and 2T clothes (especially if they are height dependant).  I don’t even know what size clothes to tell family to get her for Christmas!

Getting so big she already has her own car, lol (yay for trash day finds!)

This month, as I wrote about before, we went to Disney World with Alethea and she loved it.  It was a wonderful family trip.  And my parents stuck around for a few days after the trip which was very nice, but not long enough.  One adorable thing from that time though was when Alethea sat mesmerized by Bonanza with her Papaw, lol.  We think it must have been the horses!  Then the next weekend we went to the Columbia Zoo to help celebrate Alethea’s BFFs birthday.  They had so much fun seeing all the animals and we really enjoyed the time we spent with her family too. J  We also took another fun trip to Columbia with Ben when he had to attend a grad school class.  Alethea and I went to the park while he had class and then we enjoyed some Red Robin afterward (the one in Columbia is the closest).  Then the last weekend of the month we had our church picnic which was so much fun.  Alethea didn’t take a nap the whole time and ran around like a champ, but as soon as we got in the car, she was out. So I guess with all those busy weekends it’s no wonder the month flew by.

Watching Bonanza with Papaw, lol!

At the zoo with her BFF, Molly

She loved getting her Chick fil A hat when we went while Daddy was in class

Then we went for a walk in the park and baby came too

so proud of herself

Trying to give Mommy a heart attack!

Silly girl as we climbed the stairs

This month for Ben and I has been a bit of the same old thing.  Ben got a bit of a break from teaching and school the beginning of the month, but since then he has been going full speed ahead.  Unfortunately that means that sometimes it feels like we never get to see him, except on the weekends.  But we are blessed with the opportunity for him to get his MBA and this is just a season of life that will pass, THANKFULLY!  As for me, I have been spending a ton of time just me and Alethea running around town and trying to stay busy so we both don’t go stir crazy at home. I have been running 4 or 5 times a month and that has really helped me to maintain my sanity I feel like.  I am so thankful that she no longer nurses in the morning because that has really freed me to exercise so much more than ever since she came along.  I have also been enjoying our new CSA (community shared agriculture) bag that comes with all kinds of neat new veggies and I have been cooking up new goodies. J

Yummy CSA goodies

Chocolate PB baked oatmeal, YUM!

Alethea is changing so much every day!  I love seeing her excitement for learning and getting into new things, even if sometimes her curiosity or frustration drives me a bit batty at times.   She has learned so many animal sounds, though she is very selective when she chooses to repeat them.  She always quacks at the duck statue in our neighbor’s yard, barks when our dogs or other dogs outside bark, and growls every time she sees a lion or a bear.  This made for great times at the Animal Kingdom and the zoo, lol.  Animals are definitely an early love of hers and it is so sweet to see her excitement over them and each new sound she picks up.

She has also finally began to mimic words that I say, not all the time, but at least she does it at all.  She has learned the words moon, tree, shoe, and a few others this way.  She has also finally learned MOMMY, well “ma-ma” and so now she points to Mommy and says “ma-ma” to Daddy and says “da-da” and then she points to herself and for now I say Alethea, but hopefully soon she will pick up on that one too. J  She also picked up “mi-mi” for Mickey or Minnie from our Disney trip.

Feeding "mi-mi"

I am also amazed by a skill we discovered this month where she is able to find matches (I think that is what you would call it).  She has a Disney princess “I-Spy” type book and if we point to the character in the key, she will point to the matching character on the page.  She does this for almost all the items in the book, as long as she is in the mood to, lol.  This is one of her favorite books for sure, but she simply loves books.  She is still an active kiddo but she has seemed to take more of an interest in sitting and reading.  It’s honestly her activity of choice and would sit and read in my lap for hours probably if I would let her.  She just keeps bringing book after book to me (or Daddy) and wants to read it.  We have even found her sitting in her book corner in her room flipping through the pages of books herself.  So, sweet!

In her reading corner

She got Mamaw to come read to her too. :-)

I think the reduced seeing of Daddy has had a bit of an impact on her behavior, though she just seems to be a bit whineier lately in general.  That has become her new favorite way of communicating.  I am glad she has mostly changed from her previous annoying noise, but this one isn’t much better, lol!  But I think I chalk it up to missing her Daddy many times, especially when he is home, but has to study, or watch class in the office.  I know it breaks his heart just as much as it breaks hers and he does his best to spend the time with her that he can, thankfully.  Another contributor to the whining I think is due to teething.  She had a rash on her neck so for most of the month she didn’t have her teething necklace on and I think she is working on her canine teeth coming in.  Although, once I put the necklace back on she still is pretty good with the whine, lol.

One funny thing she has developed this month is a fake laugh.  Many times it just seems to come out of nowhere, but other times it is in response to those around her laughing.  For example, we were getting ready for a group photo at our church picnic and right before the photo she randomly just let out a big fake laugh.  What a ham!  She has also taken a liking to her own version of singing, especially in the car.  I think we are going to have a musical kid our hands with the dancing and now singing, but at least she comes by it honest with her Mommy’s love of all things music. J

She absolutely loves to be outside. We have gone to the park many times and to a few playgrounds near our neighborhood and she always has a blast.  She also absolutely loves to go for walks, so we have been doing a lot of those.  Sometimes she takes her stroller to push with her baby in it, which she stops to take care of periodically as we walk around the block.  But most of the time she just simply needs to have something to carry with her, even if it is just her cup and she is good to walk for quite some time.  Fun traditions on the walk also include being lifted up to slap the stop signs, knocking on all the street sign posts, riding the fire hydrants, and going “boom-boom-boom” as she stops on all the drains and man holes. This has grown to be a fun time for Alethea and I during the day and a special treat when Daddy gets to go at night or on the weekends.

not the most flattering of me, but you can see how much she loves her car!

This month we also had some fun times with sensory play and water.  We made it out in the pool when Daddy had time off earlier in the month.  Then we had fun with colored ice blocks another day...and I learned that I need to use a bit less food coloring, lol.  And last we broke up the beans and she is a huge fan of that.  After the first time at the kitchen table, we realized that it makes much less of a mess in the floor.  Lots of good times!

getting Daddy with the hose 

colored ice blocks everywhere!

Look Ma!

very focused :-)

One final note about her eating.  She is still nursing at bedtime, but I think we are going to start weaning that toward the end of next month.  I am a tad bittersweet with it, but yet I feel it is time and I know she will be just fine.  Though she still seems to be growing like a weed, her growing has slowed down and as a result, so has her appetite.  Plus we have been adding in a smoothie every morning to make sure she gets the milk she needs since she won’t just drink the darn stuff, lol!  So I think that is affecting her bfast and lunch appetite some. She still doesn’t really care for vegetables and anytime they are on her plate she tries to hand them to me and says “uhn-uh”, but I usually just try to get her to keep them on her plate with the hope of her eating them (which she almost never does).  At the end of the month, she decided she no longer liked the purees either so we may be done with veggie purees too which is fine, I just hope she actually eats veggies on her own soon, lol.  She still loves most any kind of fruit though with many being out of season our variety isn’t that great.  She also loves pizza (only fresh), cheese (most of the time), homemade chicken nuggets, ravioli, rotini, cheese eggs, grilled cheese, cottage cheese (only from mommy’s plate), baked oatmeal muffins, homemade granola, and probably a few other things.  But honestly her variety of food seems pretty lame to me, but we just keep trying to expand it by putting little bits of new foods on her plate each meal in hopes of her trying it. J

This has truly been another blessed month and we are so thankful for our sweet little family of three.  The Lord has really blessed us and I have been reminded so much more lately about His perfect timing and even though we had to wait what felt like so long to have Alethea, she has been worth every minute of that time!  God is good and he knows best (even though I don’t always think so at the time)!