Safe Keeping

One of the many things I love about being a mommy is watching Ainsley grow up and develop lovable characteristics and quirks. One of these involves this inconspicuous little compartment on her activity table. But what could it possibly hold that is so valuable? Ainsley will show you...


Ta-daa! Her all-time favorite piece of silver that has yet to come in contact with any food.

"I'll take that, thank you!"

"See Mommy, look what I've got!"

This scenario plays out literally every single time she's at her activity table. She keeps her silver spoon in this little compartment for safe keeping and it is always the first thing she retrieves when she's playing. And she's so proud of herself each time!

"Life is good!!"

Family Saturday

It wasn't really a family Saturday. Fun events had George and I in different places... but we were all showered, dressed, and happy at the same time and it was gorgeous outside so we posed for a quick family picture. These moments are far too few so we've got to make them last!

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day! Hug a tree today and say thanks... or in Ainsley fashion, munch on a leaf! :)

Ninth Month Snapshot

Weight: 16 lbs, 9 oz (25th percentile)

Height: 27.5 inches (50th percentile)

Head Circumference: 17 inches

We had Ainsley's nine month well check visit yesterday and her pediatrician says she's doing great and she is tracking right along at the same percentiles - which is apparently good. Other medical updates are that the dr still hears a slight heart mummer, evidence of the PFO (small hole in her heart) that they detected when she was in the hospital with pneumonia. The pediatrician isn't at all concerned with the mummer because it is so faint but George and I are still debating about getting a repeat echo-cardiogram in the next few months just to confirm that everything looks good. We have also been able to successfully decrease Ainsley's acid reflux medicine by half over the past few months. We're hoping that within the next few months she will be off of it completely! Now on to the fun stuff.... :)


Ainsley is crawling! She's not doing the cross-crawl (alternating hands and knee movement - what you typically think of when it comes to crawling) but for now at least she is moving by doing an alternate version with one knee on the ground pushing herself with her other foot. She's been getting around for a while but yesterday George and I officially saw her go from one end of the room to the other using this crawling method. Where was she headed? Well, to pull up on the her activity table and the coffee table of course. She is so, so proud of herself! And although we know it is going to make life more complicated - we're so proud of her too! Making her get-away...



Other milestones are that she can pull up to standing by herself and slowly cruise along the edges of things. She is very chatty at times making mama, dada, and baba noises of course not in reference to anything. But she can also be such a quite observer, taking in everything around her. She has two teeth in the middle on the bottom and the pediatrician yesterday said that the ones on the top felt like they might be popping in soon. She seems to be pretty social and loves to talk to and play with the other kids in her music class and at play group and will still pretty much let any unfamiliar person hold her.


Loves: As I mentioned before Ainsley loves to move and pull up and stand. Honestly that is when she is the happiest. She also loves books - she flips through them on her own and points to all the pictures when we read to her. She loves, loves her weekly music class, I think mainly because of all the other babies and the fun instruments. Although singing the songs to her outside of class usually gets a smile out of her too. She also loves, loves, loves strawberries and will abandon any other food whether in hand or mouth for these red little gems! And she loves being outside. She gets so captivated by the birds chirping, the cars and truck noises, and the wind on her face and in the trees above. It is so neat to watch her become so fascinated with all these things we take for granted.


Dislikes: Unless we won't let her do something (like bang the remote on the table or eat our cell phones) there really aren't too many things that Ainsley doesn't like these days. Even the not fun stuff like having her diaper changed, wiping her face with a wash cloth, or putting on her clothes are pretty successful as long as each action has a sound effect. Like most of us she's fussy when she's tired or hungry, but other than that thankfully she's a happy lil camper.


One of my favorite Ainsley moments is when she wants to hold my hand while she's nursing. If I'm trying to multitask or am just spacing out for a moment, she almost always stops eating or reaches out and grabs my hand and either holds it or moves it to rest on her belly. It is sweet to have her want that closeness and its a nice reminder to be in the moment. I know before long she's going to be a big 1 year old and I'm going to have to start weaning her and these moments will be gone forever... sigh... but I'll worry about that another day. :)


PS - seems like her naps are back on track. I guess all it took was a blog entry... I'm going to remember that for the next time!

Nap Killer

Ainsley is pulling up on everything she can get a hold of and now that she has also learned to sit up when she's laying down we have gone almost 3 consecutive days with only one nap in the morning! This makes for a long fussy afternoon... but who could blame her? Why would you sleep when you can stand and jump and throw things out of your crib? Ugh! I would be completely annoyed except for her cute, little, I'm-so-proud-of-myself face when I go in to "wake" her up from her non-nap. Still, I hope this is a quick phase. :)

My Little Meat Eater

Yep, that's right. Ainsley has had her first meat and she loves it. We gave her a taste of turkey over the weekend (beef is on the menu for tomorrow) and much to George's delight she was an instant fan. As a vegetarian, I struggled with giving her meat for a while... I wanted to be ok with it because meat provides the most concentrated form of certain nutrients which is what her little belly and growing body needs... but for some reason it was harder than I thought it would be. I mean, I grew up eating meat and will still have a bite of it on occasion, but giving it to our little girl was still tough. Dramatic, I know. But George caught me dodging it and I agreed... and now that she's had it, it doesn't seem like as big of a deal. As a family, I still plan on preparing mostly vegetarian meals... but at least for now some of George's and Ainsley's will contain meat... at least until she's a teenager and I convert her. :)

Bluebonnets

As a true sign of spring, bluebonnets are popping up all over Austin. Bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas, are gorgeous wildflowers many of which grow along the highways throughout the state. Lady Bird Johnson, the first lady to President Lyndon B. Johnson, persuaded the state government to seed bluebonnets and other wildflowers along Texas highways and as a result we see these beautiful flowers everywhere in the spring.

Consequently, another result is annual torture of children in an effort to get pictures of them in these fields of flowers. It is sort of a Texas right-of-passage. And sadly, Ainsley, George, and I failed miserably in the attempt of getting a good one. Ainsley was way more interested in eating these beautiful flowers than looking at the camera, George was naturally focused on trying to keep them out of her mouth, and I was a sneezing, grumpy mess. George promised we'd try again.... but with all the "fun" we had the first time, we'll see if that happens. :) Anyway, here are some of our best attempts.





Another fun fact, contrary to popular belief it is in fact not illegal to pick bluebonnets in the state of Texas. Although it is illegal to park alongside a highway or trespass on private property to pick them or take pictures of them. So be careful all you parents out there scooping for the perfect shot. And Ainsley, pick away!

Boxes of Fun

Ainsley's love of boxes has started already! This box hadn't been sitting in our living room long before Ainsley was ready to explore it. She looked too cute and little and I just couldn't help but snap a few pics of her sweet little face poking over the edge.



I mean what could be better than big 'ol box, right? Well maybe the mini chair that was inside of it....




Nope.... the box wins.

Family of Crocs

Welcome to our family of Crocs little Lou... it's official, you belong. :)

"What? These are for my mouth, right?"

Easter

Here's our much belated post (again... so behind on life) on Easter. After church in the morning, George's brother Ray and his wife Fema joined us for a casual Easter afternoon lunch at our house. I love it whenever they come over for a many reasons, one of which being Ray's obsession with pictures. He always takes a million pictures that do such a good job of capturing everyday life - I love it! So here is a bunch of shots from the day....






Family pic... it has been a while since we've gotten one of these. And yes, Sophie the giraffe might as well be part of the family too!


I can't get enough of that sweet baby tush or those yummy little toes!



Bath time at the end of a fun, busy day....



Thanks for sharing and capturing the day with us Ray and Fema!!

Sweet Katherine

On Friday, Ellie and I were lucky enough to get a quick visit from our sweet friend Katherine who was in Dallas on business. (above: Ellie, Katherine, me, Ainsley) She drove down for a humid afternoon of lunch on the lake and a playdate with our littles. Ainsley, who is always so busy lately, snuggled on Katherine's lap completely content for a good 20ish minutes. Katherine is a true baby-whisper... I was astonished!