Week Twenty Four

Week 24 - how is it possible two whole weeks have gone by since Alexandra turned 5 months old? It is amazing how fast time flies with a new little one.

Miss Alexandra is officially rolling both ways! She has been rolling back to tummy for over a month now, but finally this week started rolling tummy to back. She still does not do it every time and sometimes complains until the nearest adult rolls her over again. She can really get around by rolling on her side and scooting. She started off a few minutes ago on her play mat and is now completely on the carpet!

She has many toys that she now plays with including her Baby Einstein musical turtle which she loves! Other favorites include the Oball, her stuffed monkey (Keko), her Sophie the Giraffe and rattles. She loves lying on her play mat and kicking the bars to get all the hanging items to move. Her new favorite is that musical turtle and she quickly figured out how to make it play music. Here are some pictures of her and the turtle.

Alexandra enjoyed the visit from her grandpa. He was here from Thursday of last week to Tuesday of this week. She loved when he would have her practice standing. He would also tell her funny stories that made her laugh. Here is a picture of them by the fountain. Alexandra was far more interested in her grandpa than she was the water.

Alexandra is a hungry girl today so she must be ready for a growth spurt. Since she needs a bottle, I am going to turn this blog over to my mom to write for awhile.

This is Grandma Janet, guest blogging about Alexandra.  She has been growing so fast and learning so many new things.  She will soon be 6 months old and time has flown by.  Her big smiles are infectious and it's obvious that she's a happy baby!  When someone she knows calls on the phone, she looks at the phone wondering where that person might be hiding.  She loves to stand with support when she and I play the "Up we go" game.  Her little legs are very strong and it won't be long until she is standing without our help.

She loves sitting in her Bumbo or the Boppy which offer her support.  She plays with her various toys and has a wonderful time! She is getting really good at sitting up and I know it will be soon that she can do it on her own.

Yesterday when I was feeding her (actually all I did was put the pears on the spoon and she took it from there), she would not let go of the spoon when I wanted to get more for her.  We had a little tug-of-war for the spoon.  She has a really strong grip and simply grinned at me with the same devilish grin her mother used to give me when she was a baby.  It was as if to say, "I win, Grandma.  Ha ha!"

She is playing games with me as I write this.  She was in her crib for a nap and decided to roll over onto her tummy.  In doing so, she got both legs caught through the railing and was trying to scoot to roll back.  But, with no traction, she finally whimpered.  Grandma to the rescue.  I turned her back over and by the time I walked into the next room to finish this, she was on her tummy once again.  When I walked back in, I got the same cute devilish grin.  She thinks it is funny and is developing a really nice sense of humor.

Thanks for taking over Grandma. Mommy will now resume the blog writing. After I fed her, she fell asleep on my shoulder but as soon as she was put in the crib she woke up. She does that a lot. She took a nice one hour nap this morning, but more often than not, I am lucky to get her to sleep for 20 minutes. Of course, when Marivel is watching her during the week is when she takes the long 2-3 hour naps. This morning she decided to wake up at 6:30. With Marivel this week she slept until almost 8 one day. I am hoping tomorrow she will let mommy and daddy sleep a little longer. I should not complain since I know many women whose babies are not sleeping through the night even at one year.

Last Sunday, Alexandra and I went to JC Penneys to have our photos taken. Here is the link if you want to view them: http://tinyurl.com/kd5txkh. We ordered some and I cannot wait for them to arrive!

Last night college football started and my alma mater (University of Arizona) played Dave's alma mater (Northern Arizona University). Since we were a house divided, Alexandra was not allowed to wear either school during the game, but we took pictures of her representing both teams prior to the game.

Tonight we went out to dinner and put Alexandra in a dress. She looked so adorable! While we were at dinner, Alexandra was very interested in my water glass so we asked the waiter for an empty glass and a straw. We then gave it to Alexandra and she immediately knew to put the straw in her mouth. She did notice there was nothing in the glass, so Grandma poured a little water in the bottom. We don't really know if she was actually able to get anything through the straw, but she certainly is an overachiever trying to do this at 5.5 months! Here she is standing on her changing table with a little help from Grandma Janet who is staying with us for a few weeks until her new home is ready and with the glass and straw.

This turned out to be a long blog post so I will end and leave you with some other fun pictures from this week: