Sitting up

Gloria has gotten very skilled at sitting up by herself. She stills needs a pillow or a person behind her because she tends to over-correct when she goes from leaning forward to sitting back. It hasn't been too long since she's been sitting like this - maybe a week, give or take a few days. If she's in a slightly reclined position she tries to get into a sitting position and sometimes succeeds (if she's not leaning back too far).

"Sitting up and playing toys is fun."

"It's a good thing Mommy put this pillow around me!"

Gloria has also gotten very good at holding books with both hands. She likes to help us turn the pages when we read to her, or just hold on to both sides of the book. Lately she's been lying on her back and looking at books. Gloria's going to be a super reader just like her mommy. Thank goodness - since I'm a children's book addict!

"Nine sheep say 'Baaa'. Ten bunnies go hippity-hop."

"Red, green, blue, and yellow!"

"Mama"

Gloria has been working on her "mmmmm" sounds lately. She's been saying a lot of "Mmmmmmm-mamamamama-mmmmm-mamamama!" On Monday morning while she was playing in her crib, she was jabbering away. All of a sudden it was quiet and I heard "mama" and then silence again. Gloria said her first word!

When we came back from our trip this past weekend, Rob and I decided that it was time to move Gloria out of her bassinet and attempt to get her to sleep without having to swaddle her. Sunday evening she fought the swaddle quite a bit so we let her sleep for part of the night without it. She did pretty well.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
2 days old

Saturday, June 28, 2008
5 1/2 months old

On Monday night we moved the bassinet out of our bedroom and put the pack 'n play in it's place. After Gloria nursed and fell asleep, Rob put her down without swaddling her first. She slept okay, still waking up around 12, 4, and 6. Tuesday night went a bit better and she rolled onto her tummy after waking up and put herself back to sleep. Rob was worried because it's supposed to be "back to sleep" so I told him he could flip her back over if he wanted to. He did but she rolled onto her tummy later during the night. We really thought we'd have some long nights by not swaddling her, but apparently she was ready. The nights haven't been any worse than they were before and now Gloria knows she can roll onto her tummy and sleep and move around. Just prepping her for moving her into her crib in her own room!

"I'm a big girl now!"

First time in a hotel

"My first time in a hotel!"

We spent the night at a hotel that had a swimming pool. After the party, we checked in and put our bathing suits on. Gloria was very unsure at first as I carried her down the steps into the water. She fussed, screamed a little, and cried. I think she was cold (the water was not bath water) and confused as to why she couldn't touch anything like she does in the bathtub or her little pool. It was amazing though that as soon as she got in the water she started moving her legs and feet like she was kicking. How did she know to do that? By the time we got out, about 30 minutes later, Gloria was having a blast! She liked sitting in her floatie and jumping up and down in the water.

"This is pretty fun!"

"Me and my daddy"

"Mommy and me"

After we got out of the water, Gloria was able to use something special that we had bought her at Toys R Us. Check her out!

"I love my new Elmo towel!"

"Elmo keeps me snuggly and warm."

That night Gloria slept just as well as she does at home. On the other hand, I slept terrible. Blah. The next morning, Grandma fed Gloria her cereal and we all went to Bob Evans for breakfast before getting back on the road headed for home.

"Grandma kept making me laugh!"

"My cereal was good, but I think I might need some Bob-B-Q."

We stopped in Cadillac to get gas and for Gloria to nurse. While Rob was getting the gas, Gloria and I played under a shade tree. It was her first time sitting on the grass and she kept running her hands over the grass and grabbing it. Unfortunately we still had an hour left to go until we were home. Gloria decided that she didn't want to sit in her seat anymore - she was going to drive us home!

"Where's the exit?"

"Thanks for reading all about my trip!"

So much... (part 3)

"Finished my cereal. Now I'm just playin'."

This past weekend, we went up near Gaylord for one of Rob's cousin's graduation party. Gloria did okay in the car - not great, but not as bad as it could've been. She slept for the first hour until we stopped in Big Rapids to eat lunch and get gas. She was glad to get out of the car and stretch (and eat). We brought her new booster seat into the restaurant and Gloria had so much fun sitting at the table with us.


She wasn't trying to grab our food or silverware. She just sat there with a continuous smile on her face, playing with her toys.

"Restaurants are fun!"

For the second hour of our drive Gloria was pretty fussy. I sat in the back with her and tried to entertain her as well as I could. Finally she fell asleep until we reached the party. At first she was a bit unsure about all of the people, but after she ate she was ready to play with Grandma, Great-Grandma, Aunt Amy, Aunt Angela, and Julian.

So much... (part 2)

Last Friday, Gloria, Rob, and I went to the Olive Garden to eat. Gloria spent a bit of the time in her stroller, but the majority was spent in our arms trying to grab anything and everything off of the table. Afterwards, we went to Toys R Us to buy a swim floatie for our weekend trip up north and a booster seat for Gloria to sit in at restaurants. (Aunt Karen had given us one at the shower but it was ridiculously hard to snap the tray on (probably a manufacturing defect) so we just swapped it for a different chair.)

Gloria's been practicing sitting up while leaning against us or a pillow and has gotten pretty good at it. She'll even reach forward to grab toys and play and then sit right back up. However, she can't quite do it on her own for very long before leaning over and falling. We figured since she was doing so well with sitting and the fact that she likes to be right at the table with us, a booster seat was just what we needed. As soon as we got home, Gloria tried out her new seat and loved it!

"Look at me in my new chair!"

"I'm a big girl!"

Since Gloria was a few months old, we've been showing her an Elmo balloon that I had given Rob for his birthday. She likes to play with it and looks for it whenever she goes into Rob's office. I found some hard books at a garage sale with the Sesame Street characters as babies - including Elmo - and those are now books that we read before bed every night. Gloria especially loves the one called "Bubbles, Bubbles." When she sees Elmo, whether it's on the balloon, a book, or somewhere else, she gets a big smile on her face and gets excited. Last week I was at a garage sale and they had a big stuffed Elmo that talks when you press it's tummy. I debated it for a minute but after I held it up so Gloria could see and she smiled her huge smile I knew it was worth the three dollars. It's just about as tall as she is - maybe an inch taller. Rob makes him dance and walk around and makes Gloria laugh.

"I'd like you to meet my best friend, Elmo!"

Gloria has been doing great with her cereal. I've given it to her in the morning a few times and she eats it as well then as she has been doing at night. I don't think I'm going to be giving it to her every morning as her nursing throughout the day has gotten a bit worse. She's been very fussy and nursing for only a few minutes. We don't want Gloria to think that she doesn't need to nurse well and still gets cereal. Her main nutrition is still from the milk. However, Rob and I are starting to think she might be teething. She's been running a slight fever and has just been out of sorts for a few days. Hopefully it doesn't last too long and she's back to her happy-all-the-time self.

"I love all of my aunties! Thank you Auntie April for this cool bib -

it works great, catching all of my cereal drips."

Stay tuned. Still more to come...