Seven Months

 The 6 month mark felt surreal, and I know every month closer to that one year mark will feel even more surreal. The months continue to fly by and our sweet Lulu is already 7 months. I would love time to stand still right now - I love having a toddler and a baby and feel so incredibly blessed.  So many people (especially those with older kids) have told me to enjoy this time because it goes by so fast, and I really am trying to savor and enjoy each day, even though it's not always easy!  One of my favorite authors, Shauna Niequist, described her time with her two little boys, a toddler and an infant, so perfectly in her book Bread and Wine and it really resonated with me (except with two girls, of course): "I feel like our boys are the perfect ages right now - a big boy and a baby boy.  I don't need Mac to get big; I already have a lovely, stinky, adventurous, chatty big boy.  That position's been filled, and what I need is for Mac to stay my baby - my tiny, snuggly, smiling baby."  I couldn't agree more with her feelings.

Love these sweet girls!

Lucy just cut her first TWO teeth this week!  I am learning not to compare Lucy to Ella because everything about them seems to be different and they're definitely on their own timetables.  I was so surprised when Cody discovered two little tooth buds the other morning because Ella didn't get her first tooth until 13 months.  Our doctor told us not to expect teeth anytime soon because Ella was such a late teether.  The last few weeks she's been esepcially slobbery and drooling like crazy so it all makes sense now.  She had a bit of a runny nose right before she cut her teeth and wanted to nurse more than usual, but other than that, hasn't seemed to be affected by it.   She gives the best slobbery kisses! Ella loves it when Lucy kisses her but isn't a fan of the aftermath of drool all over her.  I can't get enough of those baby hugs and kisses!

Hard to see, but the white marks on her bottom gum are her little teeth...

 

 Can you spot the drool dripping off her chin?

To my surprise, Lucy has been pretty resistant to eating solids.  Clearly the girl hasn't missed a breastmilk meal, so I'm not worried about it, it just surprised me that she hasn't been into it.  She started out being more interested in solids, but now just gives me really tight, pursed lips when I attempt to spoon anything into her mouth.  When I do manage to slip in some purees, she is a little drama queen and gags on even the smallest amount of food. Anything that makes it in, she immediately spits out.

One of the many awesome faces she makes in disgust at solid foods...

 No thanks, mom...

She continues to be a pretty good sleeper, but goes in waves of having tough nights for a week or so and then will sleep great the next few weeks.  Right now, she's sleeping 11-12 hours at night - hope that continues!  Generally, she goes to sleep between 7-7:30pm, will wake up to eat one more time 45 minutes later (it's almost exactly to the minute most nights - that darn "45 minute intruder"!).   If she does wake up in the middle of the night (which she hasn't for the last few weeks), she usually just wants her binky back in and will kick and "talk" in her crib until she's ready to go back to sleep.  She's close to being able to put her binky in on her own, but can't quite do it yet.  Her dad is a sucker for snuggling with her in the middle of the night and she melts into his arms and falls asleep when he picks her up.  She's usually up in the morning around 7-7:30am.  She often will take a nap "on the go" in the mornings when we're out doing errands, dropping off Ella for preschool, etc.  But if we are home, she takes a morning nap from about 9:30-10:30am and then will nap again from 1-3pm, when Ella does her nap or quiet time.  If we're out in the evenings, she often takes a short cat nap in the car or carseat, but some days she goes without that third nap.  She's recently become a tummy sleeper and will roll herself over onto her tummy in the crib and stay that way.

Good morning!

She is sitting like a champ now and will reach for toys out in front of her and then sit back up on her own.  She's obsessed with tags, especially the one on the side of the boppy pillow I often put behind her.  She will reach for it to the point where she'll topple over looking for it and then get angry that she's no longer sitting up. She's finally started rolling over consistently both ways.  For the last few months she would roll over every once in awhile from her back to her tummy, but just recently she's started going from her tummy to her back also.  She is all over the place now and will roll to get toys that are out of reach.

She's just recently started showing signs of "stranger anxiety".  Ella never really went through it, so it's a new thing for us to go through!  When somebody new is holding her, she constantly has her eyes glued on mom or dad and will start whining/crying until she's back in our arms.

Some favorite pictures from the last month...

Gerber baby? :) 

 She is obsessed with playing with and eating her toes, especially while we're trying to change her diaper...

 Nom nom nom...

 So special having Grammy and Grampy over for the weekend!

 Having fun playing with Jett and Beni...

 Until Lucy decided she needed to eat Beni...

 Sorry Beni!

Halloween 2013

Happy Halloween from Minnie Mouse and Daisy Duck!  Halloween was so much fun this year because this was the first year Ella was really into all the festivities.  She's known she wanted to be Minnie Mouse for quite a few months and didn't ever waiver from her decision.  We picked up her Minnie ears at Disneyland and my talented mom made her darling dress.  Ella loves that it twirls and wants to wear it everyday now.  Of course Minnie Mouse's best friend is Daisy Duck, so that was an obvious choice for Lucy's costume.  I love having little girls to coordinate their outfits and am enjoying it while they're not super opinionated about it yet :). 

We took advantage of a dry, sunny day and took some pictures of them in their costumes...

Ella was thrilled to wear her costume to school on Halloween.  Her class got to do a parade and go trick or treating around the church - she was so excited to come home with a treat bag of goodies.  

With her friend Alanya at preschool...

 Her cute little class...

On Halloween evening, we stopped by a few friend's houses that live close by and went trick-or-treating with them.  First stop was at the Furphy's so Ella could go trick-or-treating with the big girls.  Audrey and Brooklyn were so sweet to take her door to door.

Ready to go with her matching bag...

Ella with Sam, Matthew, and Blake at the Lees - I had two of these boys in my first grade class!  Love that we still see them so often...

The morning after Halloween, Ella put her Minnie Mouse dress on as soon as she woke up, and has every day since.  I'm that mean mom that played the "Jimmy Kimmel - I Told My Kid I Ate All Their Halloween Candy"  joke on Ella the morning after Halloween :).  I didn't submit the video, but her reaction is pretty priceless.  She's since asked to watch the video over and over and laughs every time.  Can't wait to show it to her when she's a lot older...

A few days before Halloween, Cody asked Ella what she wanted carved on her pumpkin this year.  Of course she wanted Minnie Mouse!  Being the amazing dad that he is, he figured out how to make a darling Minnie Mouse pumpkin for her...