Lazy Days

On Thursday as Danielle was recovering from her cold, we all just played at home.  Dani is working on sitting up, she is getting a lot better at it, but will still tip over from time to time.

My little gymnast.  This is her favorite move.

While Danielle was working on sitting up, Lily was teaching school.

Moving On Out

On Sunday/Monday night Danielle was literally up every 5 minutes from 12:30 to 4:30 (when I finally gave up and just put her in bed next to me).  Every time I went to put her in her co-sleeper bassinet she would wake right back up, usually after about 5 minutes.  It was weird and frustrating and I was tired.   As much as I hated to do it, because I want to keep her a teeny tiny baby forever, I knew that it was likely time to move her into her crib.  We kept Lily in our bedroom until she was 8+ months old and once we finally moved her, everyone slept better.  I had said all along that I wouldn't keep Danielle in my room that long, that I'd have her in her room around 6 months.  But now that the time is here, I am not ready.  But if it helps her sleep, it is worth it for everyone.    So on Monday Lily, Dani and I spent some time cleaning out her room since it was NOT ready and looked straight out of an episode of "Hoarders" and once Chip got home he got her crib parts out of the guest room and assembled her crib.  Yes, she is nearly 6 months old and her room is nowhere near done.  It was a hard day for me -- moving my baby into her nursery and filling a whole bag of clothes she had already outgrown. :)

Her first night was a HUGE success.  She went to bed at her normal time of 7:45ish and didn't wake up until 7:00am!!!  I was amazed and kinda sad.  I was hoping it wouldn't make a difference so I could bring her back in with me.  Unfortunately,  she also woke up with a fever and some bad congestion.  I had no idea she was getting another cold.  So it wasn't really a fair try at her room.  Poor thing was sick.  She also is getting over an eye infection.  She had drainage in her eye for months that the doctor thought was a clogged tear duct, but it had gotten worse and the white of her eye was turning pink.  So, after a few days on antibiotic eye drops, that is all cleared up.  Poor baby girl, had a rough week.  Since she was so congested and insisted on sleeping on her stomach, I was afraid that she would smother herself.  She already couldn't breathe well with all the snot and I didn't like her sleeping unattended on her tummy.  So, the next two nights I brought her back in my room.

She is feeling much better.  The fever lasted less then a day. She still has some congestion.  But, the last two nights I have put her back in her room.  I put her down on her back, but she immediately rolls over and sleeps on her stomach most of the time. She seems much more comfortable that she was in her co-sleeper.  She is not sleeping all the way through the night and still wakes up 2-3 times, but it is still much better than every hour or less like she was doing.  So hopefully we are on the right track and moving in the right direction.   Her room is still not done.  As soon as it is, I'll post pictures!

My baby girl in her crib!

Just Because . . .

Just because she is SO friggin cute, here are some pictures of Danielle playing from this week. . .

 In her jacket after we took Lily to school one cool morning.

Superbowl Sunday

Superbowl Sunday just happened to be the same day as Matthew and Carys' 5th birthday, so we all went over to their house to celebrate and watch the big game!

 

Makayla, Lily, Emily, Madelynn, Ben, Matthew & Carys

Danielle was a real trooper and lasted nearly the whole game, but she missed the final minute as she feel asleep on Rhiannon's shoulder.  I was afraid she was getting stranger anxiety, but not with Rhiannon (knock on wood).

Random

Here are some random photos I had on my phone.  I like to take a quick picture sometimes during Danielle's  nap since she is just so cute.

 She likes to look at herself when I have the camera reversed on the phone.  Above she is smiling at herself.

 Taking pictures to send to Daddy while he is at work.

 Danielle giving me a kiss . . . and grabbing hold of my face while she does it!  SO sweet and kinda painful if her nails are long.

Sweet Potato Smiles

Danielle was having way too much fun at dinner the other night!  She often rocks back and forth as if she is in a swing.  She does this a LOT and I can't tell if it is a calming mechanism, if she is tired, happy or just likes to rock.  I think she just likes to rock.  She was rocking when I was trying to feed her which made it very interesting.  It was like a carnival game trying to get the spoon in the rocking mouth.  When I did make my target she had fun blowing raspberries.  You would think maybe she wasn't all that hungry, but when I slowed down feeding her she let me know that she wanted her food!! 

She is just too cute for words.

On her way to eat the highchair tray . . .  I had to stop that before she made a huge mess.

Growing Up

It is so bittersweet that Danielle is almost too big for Lily to hold her in her lap.  Time is going by TOO fast.  Lily is noticing this and been really melancholy about getting older lately.  She is so sweet, she doesn't want Danielle to grow up and she doesn't want to grow up.  She wants to stay like this forever and live with us forever.  I am afraid she gets some of this from me, so I try to smile and tell her all the good things about growing up and all that she still has to look forward to.  How great it will be when Danielle can actually play with her.  How much fun Lily will have at kindergarten all the new wonderful friends she still has to make, etc. . . .  But I secretly agree with Lily and I don't want them to grow up anymore either.

(side note, Lily wants to grow out her bangs.  So they are clipped back most of the time.  That is why they look so long and awful in this picture)

Sweet Potatoes

On Tuesday, one week after startling the cereal, I introduced sweet potatoes.  Danielle mastered eating the cereal so I figured I may as well be giving her something with some nutritional value as well.  I had the camera out and was all ready for some sort of reaction to this new food.  But nothing,  she happily ate them up as if it was no big deal.  She loved them and gets SO excited for meal times.

Her first bite!

Delicious!

I want more!!!

Dinner Time

Big sister wanted to feed Danielle her oatmeal this week.  So I let her.  Lily does a great job and loves being a part of taking care of Danielle.  Now I just need her to start getting up with her all night long and everything would be perfect!  Well, until daylight came and I had a very tired cranky 5 year old  . . .  maybe I need to rethink that plan.

Open up for the plane . . .

Lazy Sunday

Last Sunday we had a stay at home, pajama 'do whatever Lily wants to do' lazy day at home.  Chip and I went out the night before with friends so I was tired after staying out late and being up with Danielle all night.  I always have housework and stuff I could be doing and need to do, but instead I let Lily plan the day.  We played some boardgames, had a picnic in the living room with food from Sonic, made cookie brownies, worked on her drawing and penmanship (she needs a little help with her stick people and needed to learn her  last name -- both of which she mastered) and we played with Danielle and were silly all day.  I think it was a great day for all and just what we needed.

"Cheers" with our grilled cheeses.

Trying to get Danielle to sit up independently  . . .

 . . . not quite there yet.