The L.A. Dime

….turned 6 months this past Saturday!! And here’s what you’ve been up to:

• Are able to sit for a few minutes by yourself before getting wobbly and falling over on your side; you do however really seem to enjoy this new freedom of seeing your world from a new perspective and picking up toys placed in front of you
• Still love to be on your belly and have figured out how to stick your butt up in the air and push your legs back & forth so you can move your whole body around in a circle or towards something that you’d like to play with
• Are getting great at grabbing objects – whether they’re meant for you or not
• Have found your feet and are sticking them into your mouth any chance you get
• Continue to be more verbal – your raise and lower your voice and we can even get you to laugh out loud by moving your arms and legs up & down
• Take baths in the baby bath tub and love it when I squeeze water from the washcloth on your chest
• Take a big (2+ hours) nap in the morning and then another shorter one in the afternoon; you go to bed around 7:30pm and wake up for one bottle around 3am; you share a room with your sister and don’t seem to be bothered as she tells herself stories before she falls asleep; you love to fall asleep with your “rice-filled socks” on either side of your head so you can snuggle up against them
• Are slowly getting used to eating rice cereal and jar food – the first few weeks weren’t so easy…every time I’d stick a spoon in your mouth, you’d shake your head, get goose bumps all over your arms and spit the food right back out; we weren’t sure if it was the new texture or taste that you had to get used to but not until I gave you pears, did you finally decide to keep it in your mouth; since then, we’ve also learned that you prefer the spoon go in your mouth sideways so you can suck the food off rather than me putting it on your tongue; you love all the “orange” foods like squash, carrots and sweet potatoes but could pass on the “greens” like peas and green beans

Dr. JJ is very happy about your development too. Your weight today is 19.4lbs and you are 29.5 inches long

So here we are almost 2 full weeks into 2011 and I’m just now getting around to writing about our holiday break. Let’s just say that it was fun-filled excitement for 10 days straight!! We were lucky enough to be invited to a Christmas Eve brunch at our friends’ Laurie and Gary’s house and then a Christmas Day dinner with the Thomas’.
Trying to incorporate & establish both German and American traditions, we opened a few presents on Christmas Eve. Nana & Opa sent a beautiful, wooden doll-house (complete with room furnishings, a solar-panel roof and plants) which we set up in Sophie’s room while she was having dinner. We then asked her to come upstairs and uncover the present that had been left for her. We had Nana & Opa on Skype so they could see her anticipation of walking into the room and her wide-eyed amazement when she pulled the blanket off and found the exact gift that she’d been telling us about wanting for the last month. She immediately dropped to her knees and started checking out each room, talking to the little dolls and continued to be deeply involved in play for a good hour. The only way to get her to stop playing was to tell her that since Santa would be on his way soon to deliver his gifts, it was time to put out the cookies we’d baked.
While we expected her to wake up early on Christmas morning, she actually slept in a little but then quickly realized what day it was and was ready to run downstairs. As soon as she made it down the steps and around the corner to see the fireplace, she started pointing at the empty plate and milk glass because she’d lost her words with surprise that Santa really did come down the chimney, not only ate the snacks we’d set out for him but also left some Santa-presents too!! From there on out it was a mad dash to open all the presents – lots of smiles, happy giggles and asking us to break open packaging let us know that she was surely enjoying this exciting event.
The day after Christmas, we headed to the airport to pick up Uncle Chad, Aunt Mandee and cousins Sawyer & Bishop who were going to stay with us for a while to visit & play. Together, we explored Disneyland, Legoland, several hands-on museums, the Aquarium and spent lots of time playing, being silly and just catching up in person. We had a great time and hope to continue these sorts of family vacations again in the future.