Merry Christmas

Dear Santa (Alexandra's Christmas Wish List)

Dear Santa,

I am new at this, but know that I am supposed to write you and tell you what a good little girl I have been in my first 9 months of life. Here is what I would like for Christmas this year.

1. Mommy's cell phone. Actually any cell phone will do. I like to chew on them. And the lights are pretty cool. It is fun to take a selfie with mommy, which I even know how to do by pressing the screen!

2. Mommy's glasses. She says she needs her pair to see, but I really think they are interesting, so perhaps you can bring me a pair of my own. Of course, I will probably just chew on them.

3. Paper. Any kind works for me. It makes cool noises when I grab it in my hands and it is fun to eat!

4. The TV remote. All those buttons are fascinating! I like to push them, and of course chew on the edges.

5. Bottles of water. They make such fun noises and taste so good (the bottles, not the water)!

6. Books! I love the cloth ones that mommy reads to me, but the other kind taste better!

7. Mommy's camera. It looks so interesting and I want to figure out how to use it. I love it when she shows me pictures of myself that she took.

I also loved stuffed animals, rattles and toys that make noises!

Merry Christmas!

Love, Alexandra

Inside Outside Day - 40 Weeks 1 Day

Alexandra was born on March 16th at 40 weeks and 1 day by the pregnancy calendar. Today she is 40 weeks and 1 day old so it is "Inside Outside Day." To celebrate, I took a picture holding her in almost the same spot as my official last bump photo.

Week Forty

I can't believe tomorrow is "Inside-Outside" Day. Since Alexandra was born at 40 weeks 1 day gestation and tomorrow she has been alive 40 weeks 1 day, I will have a special picture to commemorate the event.

On Sunday, Alexandra and I went to Elizabeth's 4th Birthday Party in Orange County. While there, we took pictures with her friend Jake. He is 4 months old and is bigger than she is. At one point we had them sitting next to each other on the couch and Alexandra reached over and took his hand and held it for awhile. And so it begins...

There is not much to write about this week since mommy and daddy have both been sick. Alexandra had her first sleepover at Grandma Janet's because we were just too sick to look after her. Thankfully my mom lives just a couple of minutes away.

Tonight I finally got around to putting the lights on the Christmas tree that I got last Saturday! Here is Alexandra checking out the pretty lights!

Nine Months

Hello Loyal Readers,

December 16th was my 9 months or 3/4 birthday! I can't believe how fast time is going and how much I have accomplished in just one month. I now weigh 18 pounds 9 ounces. I have really grown!! Mommy thinks I am about 28 inches long, but we will know for sure on January 3rd when I have my next doctor's appointment.

The coolest thing I can do now that I could not last month is pull myself up and stand. Yes, I still have to hold on to furniture or mommy, but I am getting close. I really want to stand on my own and hope to do so by the New Year.

I met Santa Claus!!! Mommy and Grandma Janet took me to meet him last week. He seemed very nice, but I was not sure I wanted to sit on his lap. I was good long enough for a few photos, but then I started to cry. At least I got this one good photo and I even got a certificate saying that I have officially been put on the nice list! Now I have to make my list for what I want for Christmas.

Mommy got tired of me chewing on the TV remote so she bought me my own remote. It is so much fun and I love to bang at it. It makes all kinds of noises and teaches me about what remote controls can do.

I tried meat for the first time this month. I love everything. So far I have had chicken and apples, turkey and rice, chicken and veggies, beef and veggies, turkey and sweet potato. All are yummy. Now that I am 9 months old, mommy says I get to try even more foods.

I earned my 5th state this month and am going to be applying for a passport soon. I want to be a world traveler just like the rest of my family!

My favorite things right now are my remote control, a white Santa bear, a Santa rattle, my books and my jumperoo! I really don't have anything that I don't like, but when mommy gives me a stuffed toy, especially my Santa bear and Santa rattle, I give it a big hug and make this noise mommy describes as a "happy whimper."

We had a big party at our house and lots of people came. I got passed around. I like playing "pass the baby," but this was a little crazy. I even got to see my baby friends. Soon we will be able to run around and play like the older kids.

I love that I have gotten to see more of both of my grandmas. Mommy tells me that in just one week, I will get to see more of my family on Christmas Eve. Even cousin Brian is coming all the way from Boston just to see me (okay maybe its to see his own parents, but I am so cute that I am the bonus)! I did see my Grantie Lorel the other day when mommy and I were in Orange County for a birthday party. We stopped by where Lorel was getting her nails done just to say Hi!

Daddy took a trip to Phoenix this week and spent time with my Grandpa Stacy and Nana Kathy, as well as many other members of my family. I missed him while he was gone! Mommy lets me "talk" on the phone with him and I just can't figure out how he gets inside the phone! Some day I will understand, but for now I just stare and wonder where he is?

I am sorry my blog is late this month. Mommy has been sick and I had to wait for her to get well to help me finish this up. See you in 2014 for my 10th month!

Love,
Alexandra

Week Thirty Nine

Oops - late on another week as I am finally writing the blog on December 21st!

Sleep continued to be a challenge at the beginning of the week. On Sunday, Alexandra woke up at 1:30, again at 6 and finally got up for the day at 9:!5. Then she went to bed that night at about 8:45, after fighting going to bed for 30 minutes! She woke up at 11:00 pm, had a bottle and went back to sleep. She got better during the week so we are very happy about that!

This week we took Alexandra to meet Santa Claus and she was interested in first, but soon got red in the face and was ready to cry. We did manage to get one smiling photo of her before that. We ended up taking some cute pictures of her around the "North Pole" setting that they had where we saw Santa.

There is not much else to write about this week so I will leave you with some cute pictures!

Week Thirty Eight

Once again I am behind on blogging. I can't believe that its already week 40 and I still have not posted what I began to write two weeks ago! Alexandra continues to grow and her personality is so fun!

Alexandra has been trying to stand using everything in sight to pull her up. A lot of time is spent keeping her away from things that can hurt her. She loves using the couch to stand and even lets go with one hand. The look of pure accomplishment on her face is so fun to see. We all think she is trying to walk before the New Year.

Sleep has been a challenge as Alexandra decided to wake up at 4:15 on Friday the 6th. By the time she was ready to go back to sleep at 5:15, it was time for me to get up. Then on Saturday it was even worse! She woke up at 1:30!! Thankfully she went back to sleep after a bottle and slept until 6:15. It is not just that she makes noises when she wakes up, but that she stands up in her crib. So of course we have to get up and go and get her. A bottle seems to be all she needs to get back to sleep. Lets hope this little phase ends soon and we get our good sleeper back!

Saturday night we had our annual Chili & Cheer Holiday Party! We had a great turn out despite the rain that morning and everyone loved seeing Alexandra in her Santa dress. She had a chance to "play" with her friends Julian (born in April) and Jake (born in August). It will be fun next year when they really can "play" together! Here is a picture of her and Julian. Alexandra met some people for the first time: Mary, Melissa, Miranda, Bill, Steve, Sonya, and Jon. I think she had met everyone else prior to this.

This was another "Two Grandma Weekend" and Alexandra loved all the attention. Her Grandma Janet had been in Asia for a week so she was happy to see her on Friday when she got home. Grandma Sara came Saturday morning and spent all day with her while mommy and daddy got ready for the party. Alexandra loves having both her grandmas closer now and I am excited that we will all be together for Christmas! I love these pictures of my mom and Sara with Alexandra. They all look so happy!

Some more pictures from our holiday party:

Weeks Thirty Six and Thirty Seven

I am a whole week behind and then some behind!  I guess that is what happens when we are busy having fun! So I will do my best to recap the last two weeks. So much has happened and Alexandra is already another 1/2 month closer to one!

Highlights of Week Thirty Six:

• Alexandra stood for the first time in her crib! She was so proud of herself. Now she is pulling herself up all the time and even starting to cruise on the furniture!
• She had meat for the first time (pureed). Alexandra likes both turkey and chicken. She loves the chicken with apples! 

A Trip to Reno (Part of Both Weeks):

• Alexandra, Grandma Janet and I went to Reno to visit my Uncle Bob and Aunt Sarah. What a great time we had. Alexandra not only earned her 5th state (10% already at just 8 months), but she also met two Labrador retrievers and played (well more like tried to crawl in) the snow! While in Reno, we weighed her and she is 17.4 pounds! 

Highlights of Week Thirty Seven:

• Mommy was off all week which meant lots of quality girl time! Daddy had Thursday and Friday off so Alexandra got more time with him as well. 
• This week she celebrated her first Thanksgiving by sleeping through dinner! Yep, a two hour long nap right before dinner meant she missed it all. She did get pureed turkey, sweet potato and grains. We gave her a taste of cranberry and a taste of pumpkin. She did not seem interested in either.
• Alexandra went shopping with mommy and daddy on Black Friday. Don't worry, we did not even start out until 9 AM! She was a trooper and thankfully we did not really have any lines to wait in or big crowds since everyone else seemed to shop on Thanksgiving (which we refused to do).

Eight Months & Week Thirty Five

Dear Loyal Readers,

Eight months just sounds so much older than seven months! It has been a very exciting month for this little girl. I celebrated my first Halloween, went to the pumpkin patch and learned more new things. I smile all the time, but just did not want to for my official 8 month photos. Finally, mommy was able to catch these:

Halloween was an interesting event. I went as Minnie Mouse and only "trick or treated" at one house (our neighbors Rick & Tina). They gave me an unwrapped sucker to play with. It was fun to chew on the paper. Then all these strange people kept ringing our doorbell and mommy would give them candy. She gave me the empty candy bag and I had so much fun with it. It made some really cool noises.

We visited the pumpkin patch this month and it was such fun. At first I did not know why I was sitting among all of these strange shaped objects, but then I decided it was okay and gave mommy and Grandma Janet lots of smiles so they could take my picture. They even gave me a short ride in a wagon. What fun!

Pictures of Halloween and the pumpkin patch were on previous blog posts, so please go check them out if you missed them!

I still love my toys, but mommy and daddy have so many fun things that I want to play with. My favorites are restaurant menus (which taste so good), TV remote controls, phones and water bottles. Mommy did just get me my very own remote control that plays music and will help me learn the purpose of a remote control. It is so much fun, but I still like the real thing. Tonight we are going to Chili's for dinner to celebrate my 2/3rds birthday! I am sure there will be a fun menu to chew on!

Look at me sitting up in my crib in this picture at the right. Mommy just caught me doing it for the first time a few minutes ago. She has never seen me do it before! I am also working hard on trying to stand up by myself and am getting much better at crawling! What a big girl I am!

I am learning Spanish. Miss Marivel has taught me so many words in Spanish and even mommy speaks Spanish to me sometimes. I am excited to become bilingual! My favorite word is "leche," which means milk! But I am learning all sorts of other words. I gave Marivel a hug the other day because she takes such good care of me while mommy and daddy are at work!

I am now wearing 6-9 month clothes. Some of them are huge on me so I have to wear pants over the onesies to make them comfortable. It is fun to transition to new clothes. I can still wear the 3-6 months, but mommy says its time to outgrow them since I have been wearing that size since July!

A funny story from tonight. Mommy was trying to change my diaper in preparation for bed and she decided to do it on the floor since I had been wiggly earlier. Well, I thought it was far more fun to roll around than to get a diaper. Mommy had to get daddy to hold me down in order to get the diaper on. All three of us were laughing!

Mommy entered my photo in the Gerber Photo Contest. Please vote for me! You can vote for me every day at https://www.facebook.com/Gerber?sk=app_586462271392312&app_data=234200 Thanks! Speaking of photos, we took some professional pictures at the end of October and mommy forgot to post them, so here are a couple of my favorites!



Since mommy usually does her weekly update on Saturday, she asked me to include some stories from this week. Last weekend we went to Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach and spent time with Grandma Sara. We had a great time seeing grandma's new apartment. With no furniture I was free to crawl almost anywhere I wanted. We also went out to eat several times. I love to people watch. I usually stare at the waitress or waiter for a long time. A walk on the pier and boardwalk was fun. When we were walking into the sun, mommy put the shade down and it was hard for me to see so I used my feet to kick it up just enough to see out, but still be out of the sun. The crib that I had to sleep in had bars and was smaller than my crib. It was "baby jail." On Monday, I went over to Grandma Janet's and got to sit in the new high chair she got for me. I decided it would be fun to put my feet on the table since it was there.

Here are some pictures from this week:

Well, that is all for now. I will see you on December 16th and will be able to update you on my 1st Thanksgiving. I am so excited. Mommy says I can try meats now that I am 8 months old and that means turkey!!!

Love,
Alexandra

Week Thirty Four

I am so behind this week! Blame it on the three day weekend that we spent at the beach with Grandma Sara! Week 34 was a good week for Alexandra and it is hard to believe that Saturday she will be writing her 8 month blog. That is just crazy!

Now back to week 34. This will be a short post since it is already Thursday and I have forgotten some of the things that happened last week! Our Alexandra is now sleeping in fleece pjs every night as it is getting colder. Apparently though she figured out how to escape one day last week, because in the morning I found her with her legs completely out of the pjs! They were button up and I know I had buttoned them before I put her to bed! She sleeps on her tummy all the time now and I have gotten more comfortable with it, even though it is not my preference for her.

Alexandra seems to be teething again. She had really bright red cheeks one day. You can see them in this photo. I have not noticed any upper teeth, but they must be coming. She loves to chew on anything and everything. One of her favorites is menus. We go out to restaurants and she grabs it. The other day she had her own menu in front of her, but tried to grab mine too! Dave and I talked about making her a menu so that we can take it with us and she won't get the germs and dirt from restaurant menus! Here are a couple of photos:

On Saturday, we went to Redondo Beach for the long weekend. More about that will be in Saturday's 8 month blog, but I will say that Alexandra had a great time hanging out with Grandma Sara and crawling around in our hotel room. She did not care for the crib provided by the hotel and it took her until 9:15 to finally settle down and go to sleep! Here are a couple of pictures from Saturday:

That is about all to report for week 34. We submitted Alexandra's photo to the Gerber Photo Contest. Please vote for her every day until December 1st at: https://www.facebook.com/Gerber?sk=app_586462271392312&app_data=234200 Thanks!

Week Thirty Three

You know you have an infant when it takes you 30 minutes to read and grade one essay since you have to keep moving the little one from crawling into harms way! That is how my evening has been and why I am behind on my blog this week. But here it is...

Lens caps and water bottles, remote controls and telephones, restaurant menus and computer keyboards.....these are a few of her favorite things! Yes, Alexandra has become quite interested in electronics and other everyday gadgets. She still plays with her toys, but the items listed above get her attention quickly if they are visible.
Alexandra had fun crawling around on Grandma Janet's new carpet, before all the furniture was placed. She got a good workout going after mommy's water bottle!

Alexandra has decided she is okay with green beans after all. Marivel fed them to her this week and there was no crying. She definitely has her favorite foods. After eating peaches this morning, she licked her lips to make sure she got all the surrounding peaches into her mouth as well. It was quite cute to see!


This was quite a week for Alexandra as she celebrated her 1st Halloween. She wore a Minnie Mouse outfit and was as cute as can be. She was not interested in candy, but in the bag containing the candy because it made some fun noises. The only place she visited as a trick or treater was our neighbor's house (Rick & Tina) so she could show off her costume. She seemed quite intrigued by all the people who came to the house.

On Friday, we went to Irvine so she could have dinner with her Grantie Lorel, Great Uncle David and Grandma Sara. Both grandmas were there so it was another "Two Grandma Weekend." This morning we all had breakfast together before Grandma Sara got on the road back to Arizona. Alexandra will be seeing a lot more of both grandmas now that Grandma Janet lives 5 minutes away and Grandma Sara is moving to California (Redondo Beach)!

Here is a cute picture of Alexandra hanging out at Grandma Janet's:

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from Alexandra!!

Week Thirty Two

Another week gone and its almost November! I have a book called The Wonder Weeks that talks about certain weeks when babies make mental leaps. There is always a checklist to mark off with behaviors that your child exhibits. The last one was at 26 weeks and at the time there were very few of the characteristics that Alexandra had met. Now at 32 weeks, many of them are things she does. The next mental leap is just a few weeks away at 37 weeks!

Alexandra has been playing in her Jumperoo and loves it. She can spend at least 30 minutes amusing herself. Tonight she even started jumping while I was holding her on my lap.

As mentioned in the previous blog, Alexandra had a "Two Grandma Weekend." On Sunday, we all went to breakfast and then had pictures taken at JC Penney's. We ordered a CD of photos, so once that arrives, I will add some photos to the blog.

Being sick and having such an adorable daughter sucks! I was not allowed to cuddle, kiss or even touch her until today. Talk about mommy torture! Thankfully, my mom, Dave and Marivel all took good care of her.  I am still a less than 100% so I wear a mask when I am holding her.

Halloween is this week and I am excited to take some pictures of Alexandra in her costume. I like Halloween and look forward to it every year as the start of the holiday season. It is fun to decorate and it will be even more fun once Alexandra is old enough to go trick or treating.

Alexandra loves to practice standing. I have noticed that she is trying to get her feet under her when sitting on the floor so that she can stand up. Tonight I put her arms on the foot stool of one of our chairs and she was reaching for something on it. I let go for a few seconds and she was able to hold on. She has such strong legs that once she realizes she can do it, she will be cruising around on our furniture. For now, she will continue to practice standing when one of us is around to help.

Another tooth is just below the surface and has caused Alexandra to be fussy off and on. And she must be growing again because she is eating like crazy. Today she had 5 ounces of food, 7 ounces of juice and 30 ounces of milk! We tried apple/cherry mix today and Alexandra liked it a lot. In addition, she had mango this week which is definitely one of her favorites. She smacks her lips with that one and peaches. Dave gave her a taste of mashed potato at dinner and she stuck her tongue out at him with the look that said, "how could you daddy." Clearly she did not care for them!!!

Alexandra loves her stuffed animals. I will often play with her that the monkey or kitty is giving her kisses. After about three times of touching her face with the stuffed animals face, she grabs it and snuggles it. It is so adorable to watch. And she makes this really cute little sound of pure contentment.

There is not much else to report for this week, especially since I have been keeping my distance. I look forward to a lot of kisses and cuddles this week to make up for it!

Week Thirty One

I meant to update on Saturday for week thirty one, but it had only been a couple of days since Alexandra's 7 month update. Here is a short blog about a few days last week.

On Thursday , Alexandra took her first official crawl. She went after a toy on her play mat and surprised both Dave and I with her speed. She continues to mostly army crawl, but every now and then, she really gets somewhere and fast. Soon she will be a lean, mean, crawling machine! She is even putting her legs under her and trying to figure out how to stand up. Look out world!

On Friday, Grandma Janet and I took Alexandra to the local pumpkin patch. She loved it (even though she looks bored in the first picture) and we got some amazing photos. These are my favorites:

Grandma Sara came to town for one night and so Alexandra got another "Two Grandma Weekend!" More about that in the Week 32 update coming on Saturday!

Alexandra has decided that sleeping on her tummy is fun. This is how I found her Saturday morning - with legs tucked under her and bottom in the air. I doubt that it is very comfortable, but she seems to really like it! Silly girl!

Well that is all that needs updating since Wednesday. See you Saturday!

Seven Months

Hello Loyal Readers! I can't believe it is time again for my monthly update. What a month it has been!

I guess the biggest change is that I can now sit up and play with my toys for several minutes at a time. It gives me a whole perspective on life that I did not have when I could only lie there looking up at the ceiling! I even started sitting in a high chair at restaurants and in the basket at the store. It is so much fun and allows me to people watch. When I meet someone for the first time, I stare at them intently. It is especially fun to meet other babies while we are out and about! This photo was taken at brunch last weekend to celebrate Grandma Janet's birthday.

I have several new toys that I love including a Jumperoo. There are so many gadgets to twist and I also like jumping up and down. I love stuffed toys. I have my monkey Keko that you already know about, but also have a purple kitty and a soft doll. It is so much fun to put them in my mouth. Another favorite that I am constantly trying to get a hold of is the TV remote. Mommy says it is not a toy for me, but it looks like it would be fun to chew. I also like trying to get Grandma Janet's cell phone.

My mouth is changing and there is this funny thing in my mouth. It is just peeking out from my gums, and mommy tells me it is a tooth. I have another one just waiting to break through and it has caused me to be fussy and cry. I am not sure what teeth are for just yet, but I am eager to find out!

I am getting more and more mobile every day. Mommy calls what I do "army crawling" because I move forward on my tummy rather than up on my knees. It may take me awhile, but I now have the ability to move towards an object that I desire. Watch out world, soon I will be crawling all over and getting into all kinds of trouble!

I have tried so many wonderful foods this last month including sweet potatoes, corn, apricots, mixed veggies and squash. I like almost everything, just don't even think about giving me green beans or I will cry!

In the mornings, Marivel's son, Dylan, is at the house and he often reads to me. I have lots of books and love when I get to "read" them. Here we are as Dylan reads me a Halloween story. One of my favorite books is "Squishy Turtle & Friends." It is a cloth book and so I can put it in my mouth. It also has something inside the book that makes this nice sound of crinkled paper. What fun it is to grab it and squish it in my hands!

I am getting very good at laughing. Mommy kisses my tummy when she is changing my diaper and it makes me laugh! She also sometimes kisses my cheeks over and over again just to get me to laugh. It is quite fun!

I was very uncooperative with mommy today when she tried to take my 7 month photos. I did not want to sit still. I wanted to crawl and kept trying to get off the chair. Some of them turned out cute even though I refused to pose as requested. I have to much to explore to just sit back while someone takes my photo!

I am growing a lot. I can now wear some 6-9 month clothes. It is fun moving up to a new size because there are so many new outfits for me to try on. Now that I am teething, I manage to get drool all over my clothes (unless someone makes me wear a bib)! I have enjoyed the cooler weather at nights because it means I get to sleep in cozy pajamas! They are so comfy! I also moved up a size in diapers and they fit so much better. They were getting a little tight. I am glad mommy finally figured that out!

I love to hear my voice. I can babble a lot and mommy tries to figure out which consonants I am using. She says "B" must be my favorite consonant because I use it a lot. I can scream! Mommy tells me it hurts her ears sometimes when I shout loudly, but it is so much fun to hear the different pitches I can make.

Well that is all for this month. I will see you on November 16th. Until then, keep reading mommy's weekly
updates!

Love,
Alexandra

Week Thirty

Its hard to believe that it has been 30 weeks since I first met Alexandra. Time goes so fast now and on Wednesday she will be 7 months old. She will have a lot to report for her monthly blog.

She is currently sitting in my lap and watching intently as I type. Perhaps she wants to make sure I don't forget something or give away all of her secrets! She is babbling away and perhaps telling me what to write. If only I spoke baby. In her babbling I distinctly hear "bababa", but notice a "w" every now and then.

She has started wearing some 6-9 month clothes finally. For sleepers and pants, that size fits perfectly, but the onesies are entirely too long! Oddly enough, there are still some 0-3 month clothes that fit her. Just like all women's clothing, there is no consistency in sizes. Since we have finally had some cooler days, we have been able to use some of her pants and long sleeved tops. This week it even started getting cold at night, so we are using sleepers. One of the outfits that she finally got to wear was this blue, white and yellow one from her Great Aunt Ann.

Grandma Sara visited last weekend and got some quality time with Alexandra. As I mentioned in last week's blog, it was a "Two Grandma Weekend." What fun and what a lucky girl! We went to breakfast at Coco's and out to dinner at Lonestar. We also went shopping. Alexandra was able to show off her new moves. She is getting really good at scooting. Grandma Sara helped her exercise her legs in preparation for standing some day soon. She loves to play what we call the "Up the Baby" game and made sure Grandma Sara did it with her!

This week we transitioned from her seat in the bathtub to a little ducky bathtub that goes inside the big tub. She loved it because she could sit up on her own. She really enjoyed tonight's bath and was splashing her hands and getting water every where! This girl is a water baby for sure! We figure that we will use it for a few weeks until she can sit in the tub without sliding around. I probably need to purchase a tub mat. Here is a picture of her new bathtub.

This week Marivel got a Jumperoo from a friend and Alexandra LOVES it. She has all kinds of toys that she can play with and the best part is jumping up and down. We had to put a large flat pillow underneath as her feet don't hit the ground. She will need to grow a few more inches before that can happen. Nevertheless, Alexandra is intrigued and can now entertain herself for hours. Okay, maybe not hours, but certainly for quite a few minutes!

Alexandra tried several new foods this week. She liked bananas, apricots and mixed vegetables, but HATED green beans. When Grandma Janet gave her a few bites, it was obvious that even though she ate them, she was not enamored of them. This week when Marivel tried to give her green beans again, Alexandra started crying at the first taste of them! When we went out to dinner last Sunday, we gave Alexandra a taste of baked sweet potato which she liked and baked potato (plain) that she did not like. During the week we also gave her some mashed up avocado, which she did not seem to care for at all. It is fun to see her reactions to the different foods. We have several new purees for her to try this week including: apples & cherries, mango, sweet potato & corn and pears & pineapple. Now that we are giving her stage 2 foods, there are some interesting combos!

Marivel speaks to her in Spanish and uses the word "leche" for milk all the time. When we were out at dinner, I asked Alexandra if she wanted milk and even showed her the sign for milk. She looked at me but did not really react. A lot of the time she will get a big smile with either. When I said, "Quieres leche?, " meaning "Do you want milk?" her head turned very suddenly towards me and it was clear she understood exactly what that word means!

The other bit of news is the unmistakable white of a tooth that has appeared just below her gums! It is not poking through yet, but it is definitely ready and should do so any day now. Well, that is all I can think of for this week. Be sure to visit back during the week for Alexandra's 7 month notes! Here are a few more parting shots! Enjoy!

Week Twenty Nine

Another week is gone! Alexandra had a doctor's appointment on Friday. She is 15 pounds 11.5 ounces and 26 inches long. She got three shots and handled them well.

Alexandra has been eating like crazy this week. The doctor told us to up the amount of solid food we are giving her so now she will have 2 ounces twice a day. We plan to give her fruit in the morning and vegetables in the evening. She did try a new food this week, squash, and seemed to like it. Alexandra insists on feeding herself. We get the spoon ready, then she grabs it and turns the spoon over to lick off the food.

In true "Mama-ratzi" form, I took a ton of pictures this week. I even experimented with some outdoor photos of Alexandra and then did some editing with Picasa. It was fun to experiment, although my subject was a little bit challenging on the cooperation side. She was more interested in putting things in her mouth or staring at the trees than posing for this photographer.

Alexandra has started laughing a lot more. She laughs when I kiss her on her tummy while changing a diaper. She laughs (or screams depending on her mood) when we wash her face after she eats. Every day I see more and more of her personality emerging and it is so fun!

Alexandra is becoming more and more mobile. She can scoot several inches at a time and soon will be fully crawling. She uses her arms to help move her forward.

The doctor said he felt teeth under her gums and I think a tooth will appear soon. She wakes me up several times a night with little cries that many people tell me may be an indication of teething, plus she drools, and drools, and drools.

Grandma Sara is in town and so Alexandra is having a "Two Grandma Weekend" and loving it! Extra attention and extra cuddles - what more could a girl want?

That is about it for this week, so here are some more photos from this week! Enjoy and check in next Saturday for week 30. Really? Did I just type that? Wow!!!