Giggles

Giggles are just our favorite. When we get a hearty belly laugh we can't help but laugh right along. Blowing on Sarah's tummy has always been a sure way to get a giggle. More recently, we have found that kissing her neck and holding her upside down by her hips are also sure bets. Sarah's innocent trust is a valuable thing. These giggles are certainly moments we will treasure. Enjoy!

St. Valentine

Dave and I had a great time celebrating Valentine's Day this year. We decided to play it up since this was our first Valentine's evening to spend together. (Year one, Dave drove all night to spend the weekend in Memphis. Year two, we exchanged meaningful homemade gifts before Dave went to work.) Dave secured a babysitter and gave me some time parameters, then we were off to discover his secret evening.

1. We spent the first hour at the local Barnes and Nobles. This was one of our favorite ways to spend an evening together in Louisville (when dates had to cost $0) and is a conglomeration of so many things that we enjoy. Dave had been researching Cape/nautical color schemes so we enjoyed looking through some design books for more ideas.

2. The next step in the evening was dinner at a Ristorante on main street in Hyannis. I don't remember the name, but we decided it wasn't as important as the "e" on the end of ristorante (always said with a thick Italian accent). The food, atmosphere, and conversation were perfect. At the end of the meal they gave me a rose and Dave the bill. :)

3. Our final stop was within walking distance. It was a neat coffee shop with music that Dave found called The Black Spot. Sadly, though there was a website they were quite closed (the forever kind of closed). We happily went back to the Starbucks at Barnes and Nobles and enjoyed a little more conversation before picking up our little one.

Dave did wonderful research and discovered fun new places. It was a great evening out and we created some wonderful Cape memories!

New Phone Numbers

One more step in our transition to Cape Cod life is complete: both of us have 508 phone numbers now. The church has supplied me (Dave) with a new phone, and we switched Emily a few months ago. If any of you still have my 502 number or Emily's 601 number, email us for the new ones. Though most of you should have Emily's by now and I'm slowly making calls around to everyone so that they have my new number.

Talk to you soon!

Happy 7 months!

It seems like this month we have really settled into a nice routine. Experience tells me that this probably means we have something exciting on the horizon to shake things up. We look forward to it all!

Weight: 19.5 lbs ...ish
Height: we keep raising the jumper, so she must have done some good growing recently
Head: ?
Diaper: Size 3
Clothes: The 9 month clothes fit very well. Sarah can still wear 6 month, but they may not last too much longer. We look forward to wearing a spring wardrobe soon!
Likes: touching things (everything), car seat being snapped into the car, repetition, babbling, belly kisses, tethers, the wind, leaning left

Dislikes: playing alone after playing with Mom or Dad, sun in her eyes (who can blame her!), avocado, having her nose wiped

Schedule: Essentially this is the same as last month.

7:30 Nurse and rice cereal

9:00 Nap

11:30 Nurse and sweet potatoes/squash/green beans

1:00 Nap

3:30 Nurse and oatmeal cereal

4:45-5:30 Nap

7:00 Nurse and in bed by 8:00

Sleep: Sarah is such a good sleeper. As new parents, we found early on that there are seemingly millions of theories on parenting. Sleep training was one of the ideas we decided was important to investigate. As a tired, nursing mom, I knew this was going to be a key to success, as well as survival. While we endured some crying early on, Sarah does so well when we put her down. If she does wake up (usually because we make a loud noise- oops!), she is really good about getting herself back to sleep. We are so thankful!

Solids: Sarah is now a big fan of her sweet potatoes, squash, and cereal. She especially likes the afternoon cereal that has the peach flavored fluoride drops! This month we tired (and failed) with avocado, but have had relative success with pureed green beans. Sarah has been a good sport, as they are much lumpier than the orange vegetables. I often mix the green beans with squash or sweet potatoes so that the good taste might mask the new texture. Anyone inspired? A new side dish, perhaps?! :)

Crawling: Hasn't happened yet. Really, we aren't sure how to help her learn without any good rugs. We usually put her on a blanket on the floor, but it slides. Sarah does maneuver very well on her tummy, though she doesn't spend much time up on her knees. This may be our next milestone! (Or it could be months away!!)

Teething: Hopefully the teeth will come even sooner than the crawling. Sarah continues to show all the classic signs. She has a runny nose, rubs her gums with her tongue, and has a unique, pained cry. We check for teeth every morning!

Strangers: Sarah has recently been spending more time studying strangers before she smiles at them. A church member came by this weekend and Sarah actually cried when she saw her. Yikes! This is new and hopefully fairly short lived. She doesn't (yet) have trouble with the nursery or other people holding her. It is pretty interesting to see her begin to evaluate the world around her!

Sickness: We fought our first yucky nose last week. Everyone said it was just teething, but for a few days I'm pretty sure it was something more. Her nose was full! It didn't disrupt her playing and didn't give her a temperature, but she had a hard choice to make when it was time to nurse or take a pacy (you can't breath out of your mouth and suck!). She also threw up for the first time while trying avocado. Thankfully, it didn't phase her one bit.

Event: Sarah is going to her first birthday party this Saturday. Penny, one of her friends from nursery, is turning one!

Some friends from church brought this bear out after dinner. Sarah really enjoyed his soft fur.

We're just sitting up, playing with our doll!

When we moved into the house a kind church member gave us a baby sled. This was just before Sarah went for her first ride. She liked it...mostly. We may have enjoyed it more than she did :)

Sometimes the tag on the boppy is the best toy a girl can get her hands on.

This video may technically be from last month, but we wanted to share a peek of Sarah enjoying one of her favorite activities. Since this time it has become a staple in our day. (We have also moved it up several notches!)

Winter

There is just so much to catch you up on that I don't know where to begin. As I sip a hot cup of tea, I think I will start with the cold weather we have had of late. Welcome to winter in Massachusetts!

This the is lettuce we are trying to grow. We eat a lot of salad around here. After seeing that both of our southern families grow lettuce during the winter, we thought we would give it our best shot. I hope to keep you updated on any progress! We planted spinach and two types of lettuce.

We went skiing while the Howells were in town. Sarah liked the high perspective she got from Uncle T when we bundled up the explore the town. The frosty beard was also quite fascinating.

It is hard to work have fun all the way to Vermont! Sarah did really well on the drive to and from skiing. (We won't mention one impressive diaper blow out...a girl has to have her secrets!)

Our backyard. We woke up to this winter wonderland on January 27. The Cape is the perfect mix of true winter, but not too much snow. We are fortunate to not have the heavy snow troubles that many inland city are facing. It is interesting how long this snow has stayed around. When it is constantly around freezing things just don't melt! We even got a lot of rain last week, but the snow became slush and froze solid. Rumor has it that we may get into the upper 40s next week and have a little good melting.

Avocado Adventure

Sarah is doing a great job eating solids and I am having a great time making her food. A couple of weeks ago we added avocado as her first "green" food after a few successful weeks of "orange" food. Below is her impression.

Clearly, Sarah is not a fan. I just mashed the avocado with a fork for this first feeding and the texture was really different than her normal purees. I did puree what was left over, froze it, and tried it again yesterday. She took 4 or 5 good, albeit shuttering, bites, then threw up. It didn't phase her one bit, but that was the end of forcing avocado for me. I'm so thankful she wasn't sick, but I don't like to see my little one's stomach upset!

**What was lost now is found! This video has been on the shelf for a few weeks because my computer cord was lost in the shuffle of the move. After looking in every box, drawer, nook, and cranny, Dave found it back at the condo. Whew! Look forward to new pictures/videos that have been stuck on the phone.