Her First Tooth!

It's happened. I have been anticipating it for months now, and it's finally happened: Her first tooth is SHOWING! This past week I would rub my finger over Rachel's gums and thought I would feel something, but when I'd try it again later her gum would be smooth.

Then yesterday when I picked her up from Day Car I was sitting her in her car seat and she smiled. And I saw it. It about broke my heart. I was so happy and felt so terrible that it looked so painful all at the same time. But we've passed another milestone! (and all my attempts to get a close up picture of the tooth poking through have proven futile).

Last night I had a hair appointment so I left her with my Aunt Gail and Grandma Esche. I think they were excited to get me out the door so they could have her without distraction. And for more added fun, they stole my camera and got some of the cutest pictures of her!

There's a few more, but I've added them to the "Rachel 4" album. (You can get to this album through the links on the right-hand side of the blog).

This morning we wore another outfit to give a shout out to Grandma Terry:

(Ha! That is such a Jason face!!!)

8 Months

It happened again this month. Someone asked me how old my daughter was and I had to think about it...then realized she'd be 8 months...the next day! For me, it's not that time is moving quickly, it's that I'm losing track of the time that has passed. Does that make sense?

I was diappointed with my lack of pictures for the last post, so I've tried to capture our little darling doing what she does best....just being Rachel.

When Geri and David came to pick her up last week, Geri was sweet and got Rachel a few new clothing items. It's been so hot that I can only put her in little tank-top onsies that I got at a garage sale. And (this is horrible) I'm kind of getting tired of seeing them over and over again. She's just hitting that stage where she's growing out of her 6 - 9 month stuff and into 9 month stuff. Not quite, but I'm starting to weed out a few items here and there. Geri LOVES to shop at the consignment store for her (and I love hearing about the bargains!) This is one of the outfits she got. It's hard to see from the picture, but it's a really thin cotton dress with a matching...oh, what are those called? The little bottoms that look like underwear but they really are a coverlet for her diaper? I can't think of it right now....so we'll call it the diaper coverlet pantaloon. Anyway, this outfit is so cute! But it's hard to get pictures of her outfits right now. She doesn't want to sit still and when she stands, she's always hanging on to something. So I snapped the above picture, but you can't see her outfit! So I tried again:

....and again....

.....sigh. Close enough!

Once she got home from day care, Jason and I wanted to go on a walk. Check out this big girl in her awesome stroller without the carseat!!!

Oh yeah. This girl can totally sit up like a big kid. While this is really exciting news.....it's bittersweet.  It's sad because she's getting so big so fast.  It's great because she's growing just like she should and that's a blessing! But this also means we need to be keeping our eye out for her next car seat. My goal is to have the next one picked out by Thanksgiving (and hopefully found and purchased too!)

Next up.....a perfect, and I do mean perfect, find by Geri:

I have been searching for a tiny table and chairs all summer long. My thought was to get one of those plastic Little Tykes table and chairs....but I've found thus far ONE of these sets in all my garage sailing and consignment shopping and it wasn't in good condition at all. So when she came across this little gem and described it to me, it was perfect. Granted, it was kind of pricey in my opinion, but hey....when you live in the world of garage sales, even the Goodwill gives you sticker shock. And since I hadn't found anything else even close to what I wanted, I told her to pick it up. So bless their hearts when they brought Rachel they packed the car so full and left their poor dog at home so they could bring this little table and chair set. And it was worth it all because this little set is in great condition and absolutely perfect for her play area!!!

Next up in Rachel's latest shenanigans.....

Do you see what that little stinker has in her hand? Let me give you another look:

That should give you a better idea. Yes, that kid is in her exersaucer....with toys ALL around her to grab on, shake, spin, make noise, and even chew. The kid should be overwhelmed with colors, sights and sounds....and all she wants to do is pull on our plant. THIS is why we haven't gone (completely) overboard in getting her toys. She doesn't want to play with them! We give her a big basket of toys to play with...she plays with the toy basket. I let her pull her toys out of the diaper bag...she wants the pad of paper to chew on. And this one takes the cake:

We go to a restaurant this evening. She has toys. She's had her carrots. Yes, she's eating the table. THE TABLE. For a tablecloth it was covered in nice brown paper. She ate the paper. HAPPILY. Like it was a treat or something! It's too dang cute to be annoyed about!

She does have a tooth coming in, I'm fairly certain. Once in a while I'll rub my finger along her gums and I'll feel something, other times I won't. But she does have nights where her gums really hurt...most of the time it doesn't. And you can see the back of her gums something coming in. So I know we're right there. That tooth is trying to work its way through!

Another discovery she's made is her tounge. She'll be playing or eating and suddenly feel the need to stick her tounge out and lick her chin. And I don't mean a quick stick her tounge out, I mean it's out flapping like she's excited about something.

And the drool!!! It has begun. She'll normally have her shirt soaked before we've left the house in the morning for day care. However, I'll take the drool over the spit up ANY day!

Home Again Home Again.....

Rachel spent most of this past week with her Grandma and Granddad Terry in Newburgh, IN. Normally during these visits they're really busy and get out a lot. But with the heat wave we've been having lately it was just too darn hot to do much of anything!

Grandma Terry told me that she did venture out on Thursday morning to go to the local library for the baby reading hour they had. She says Rachel had a great time hearing a story, seeing the other kids, and even getting to dance!

They drove back to our house in Fishers on Thursday evening and arrived shortly after 10PM. It was great to have her home!

And this weekend so far it's still been too darn hot to go anywhere or do anything. I don't think Rachel minds so much though.

In the past week we've all noticed she's stopped making her "Ape Face" as much and has discovered that she likes her voice. Personally, I think she's trying to talk. She'll look at someone and go, "Ah!" and get excited when you repeat back whatever noise she's just made. We're hearing a lot more "Ba" and "Ma" noises (please let her say "Mama" first?!).

Also....she still is refusing to crawl, but gets really annoyed when she has to sit for very long. She'll roll to get places but what she really wants to do it stand. She can't yet bring herself into a sitting or standing position on her own, but you can tell she's trying! She'll grab on to anything near her and try her darndest to climb up. So we've hit that stage where she knows she can be mobile, she just hasn't figured out how to yet.

Mobility and Communication....honestly, it's amazing to watch her.

Another fascination we began to notice back in May but I kept forgetting to blog about is accessories. Any time someone holds her and is wearing glasses, earrings or a necklace must be careful. Anything shiny grabs her attention and she just MUST touch it and try to grab it. I've seen her take glasses off of someone's face and every necklace she gets her hands on instantly gets pulled into her mouth if she can.

That's pretty much all of the updates for now. I'll leave you with this new picture....

Thank you Aunt Debbie for the cute top and skirt! It's still a little big right now, but it won't be for long. Too cute!!!

Funny Girl

My daughter is adorable and hilarious at the same time.

Tonight as I had her in my arms walking around the house doing this or that I noticed that she hangs on more with her arms and legs. She's become aware that she can topple over or fall and she doesn't like it. So she hangs on tighter.....and I love it. It's not quite a hug yet, but I can pretend it is!

Last night she began a new habit....we noticed that when she gets tired and we put her in her bed she must roll around. She doesn't really talk or coo....she just rolls around. After about 10 minutes she suddenly just falls asleep. And I noticed this evening that instead of seeing her head when I looked at our baby monitor, I saw her feet. I had to take a picture of where she "landed" once she was done rolling all over the place:

Can you see that girl? We lay her down with her head to the left side, not the right of the bed! No covers, no pillow, and she's snuggled against the bumper in the back of the bed. Here's a closer up picture:

She's thrown her pillow in the middle of the bed and decided to use her blanket as her pillow. *sigh* The point is, her pjs keep her warm and she's obviously comfortable.

Within the last couple of weeks she's started making that "Ape Face" I talked about earlier. It wasn't easy....but.....

I love this funny girl.

Visits and Accomplishments

A few weeks ago all 3 of us had the pleasure of visiting with some of Jason's family. They live in Richmond, IN and we hadn't seen them in about 6 months. Connie, Jason's Aunt, has been very gracious about sending Rachel the most adorable presents. I know she's one of my avid readers on this blog, so it was time to visit in person!

I will forever be ashamed that I forgot my camera!!! However, the trip went well. Rachel does great in the car, but she's hit that stage where she must be entertained at all times and wants to touch EVERYTHING. Connie's home is full of beautiful antiques, therefore I was nervous constantly that Rachel would find something breakable...and break it. Thankfully, she did fine! We had a lovely visit with Connie, her brother Barry and her husband Paul. And as is her custom, Connie lavished Rachel with gifts. Here's some of the outfits she bought:

This one Connie gave us a long time ago and Rachel was just recently able to fit into it. Sorry she looks a little cross eyed...this little booger doesn't hold still for very long anymore.

It's hard to see it, but this ensemble is the cutest sweater vest and denim skirt. She's so stylish!

How sweet is this top? It's got a Paris-like background and says in French "I love you with all my heart Rachel". Connie actually had this made. It's too cute! (The jeans are from her Great-Grandma Gina).

I need to put her in dresses more often. Right now whenever I do I think she looks funny since I'm so used to seeing her in pants! But I love this flowered dress. The ladies at Day Care thought it was adorable.

There's a few more items that I need to get her picture in, but these are the ones she's worn so far.

Connie, Paul and Barry - thank you all again so very very much!!!

In other news, there's a lot to report.

First and foremost, the most exciting news: SHE'S GETTING HAIR!!! Our daughter is absolutely adorable! But she's bald. And I"m ready for her to have hair. It's still so light that it doesn't show up in pictures, but instead of 20 stray hairs that stick up, she's starting to get them all over. And they're getting long! About the only time you can see them, however, is when her hair is wet and I mess it up. Regardless, I can see that her hair is finally starting to come up faster than her head is growing and I am elated.

Next up...this kid does NOT like to sit still often anymore. She's on the move....or rather, she really wants to be. We've hit that stage where she's actually rolling onto her tummy from her back (which was a shock to everyone since she normally hates it so much!) and while this does get her from point A to point B (whether that was her goal or not)....she's realized she can get around by rolling and thus far has shown no signs of wanting to crawl. I have a feeling this kid will go from rolling to walking and skip crawling altogether. Some kids do, and that's just fine. She'll develop in whatever way she wants to!

Just within the last couple of days she's starting to make an "ape" face. And of course, I can't capture it on camera and I never have it handy when she does it and she stops making the face too quickly when I do. But she sticks her lips out, almost like she's asking for a kiss, and blows so she sounds like a deflating balloon (sorry, that's the best way I can think of to describe it). It's adorable.

She's also standing on her own....to a point. She can hang on to something and stand for a bit without me helping, but it doesn't last long. And I learned the hard way this evening when I was leaving a message for someone and didn't catch her fast enough before she went face first into a toy and bruised her eye. Yup. I'm one of THOSE moms. At least I wasn't walking her in a stroller....in the street....with the dog....smoking a cigarette.....while on the phone. Still, I feel terrible. (This happened right after I went face first into the floor after triping on her baby fence for the front room....but let's not go there).

I do have more pictures though. Recently Jason and I purchased the blow up pool that I'd planned to use for Rachel, but it's too big (so Jason and I use it :o) ). I have pictures of her playing in it....and these about melted my heart:

Is that little pool sweet or what?! It's perfect for her. I can sit her in there, and when she reaches too far and goes diving on her face, she'll land in the water, but not enough to be a problem. There's just enough water for her to move her feet and splash a bit. It was about 90 degrees outside and she was out there for at least an hour playing in that thing. When her feet started to prune, we just dumped the water out and let her sit in there. She's got shade and water. Perfect! We had a ball playing in the water (and mom and dad loved the sprinkler since the water was actually cooler).

Some other fun pictures I've taken recently:

I finally managed to get this one off of my phone. This was Rachel's first time in a grocery cart. We had SO much fun! She's a hoot to shop with!

I don't remember what she was doing, but this one was darn cute.

And this is the most recent one. Our daughter has started sleeping....a LOT. I put her down for the night around 7 or 8 and some mornings I have to wake her up at 7. That's about 12 hours of sleeping....and we LOVE it! Normally she falls asleep with her arms out to her sides, so she's shaped like a cross. The other morning I went in there and she'd fallen asleep just like her GramE: one arm over her head. I had to snap a picture before I woke her up!

She is enjoying eating from a spoon and is doing so well with it. Currently she likes everything we've tried with her except for the "textured" baby food. I don't know what it is, but every time I've tried the textured baby food she throws up. Day Care can't get her to eat it either. And the canned baby meats are gross. Apparently very few kids like them (ok, so now we know) so Day Care has asked that I stop bringing them in. She loves all fruits and vegetables and this morning at breakfast I tore off a bit of my bagel and gave it to her to munch on. I don't think she was able to gum much off of it, but I think she liked the taste. So from now on I have one of those little gadgets that has a handle with a mesh bag on it that you can put food in so babies can taste the food, but not actually ingest it and choke. Not sure what we'll try next, but I'm excited to try and see what she likes!

Next weekend her Terry Grandparents will be coming up for the weekend and taking her to Evansville with them. Jason and I are heading to Sandusky, Ohio for a trip we've been talking about for a long, long time!

Finally, I'll leave you with some photos I had specially made for Connie: