First time self feeding

Our first attempt at self feeding is complete! It wasn't as messy as it could have been (and will be), and she was able to get some in her mouth! Success!

8 months old

At 8 months old, Dahlia is really busy! She is a squirmy worm who loves to play. She doesn't crawl yet, but she is soooo close. She also loves to eat! She eats more baby food than we ever thought a kid could eat. We had to convince her daycare teachers that she truly does eat as much as we were bringing to daycare for her. :-) She has also become quite noisy, talking (babbling) all the time. She is so fun!

A Sunday morning of play

Dahlia was quite busy playing, but she was kind enough to pause and give me a smile. :-)

Izzy's Birthday Party

Our friend Izzy turned one. Happy Birthday, Izzy!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dahlia's first Thanksgiving was a quiet one at home. Mom and Dad have both been sick all week with an epic stomach bug. We are going to have dinner with friends on the 30th. Dahlia didn't seem to mind!

7 months old

At 7 months old, Dahlia is pretty decent at sitting on her own, LOVES to clap her hands, can roll easily from front to back and back to front, smiles and laughs and coos all the time, is really starting to enjoy solid foods, loves bath time, and is still a happy, easy baby. No signs of trying to crawl yet, but she'll probably figure it out soon.

Laughing!

Here is a video of Dahlia laughing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTU24pTK8rc&feature=g-crec-u

Unfortunately, the only way I can get her to reliably laugh is to put my face next to hers and tickle her, so my apologies about my big head in the way.

High chair

Dahlia enjoyed being in a high chair for the first time when we went out to eat. She kept leaning forward and trying to eat the table.

Happy Halloween!

Dahlia was an elephant and a cupcake. We went to a couple of Halloween events. She didn't mind the costumes, and she seemed to like all of the activity and interesting things to look at that Halloween brought. She especially liked her friend Charlotte, the fish, and her teacher, Ms. Monica, at daycare.

Bouncing

Here's a video of Dahlia bouncing in her bouncy activity center that she loves. Sorry for the quality; it got fuzzy after the upload: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qblC2NYHTLk&feature=g-crec-u

Mom had a great day

After a really successful day at her new job, Daddy treated the girls to dinner out. We were excited.

Attitude

This little baby can convey so much with one look. This one says "Why did the car stop moving? I was sleeping, thank you very much." Makes her Momma proud. :-)

Sitting up on her own

Dahlia can now sit up on her own if her hands touch the floor like this to keep her balance. Give her a week, and I think she'll have it.

Dahlia's friend, Charlotte

Our good friends Rochelle and Tony have toddler named Charlotte. Charlotte absolutely LOVES Dahlia, and she loves to say her name. She squeals in excitement when she sees her. It's the cutest thing. Rochelle and Tony took care of Dahlia while we moved into the new house. Here are some pictures of the girls. 

6 month Dr's visit

Dahlia had her 6-month doctor's appointment today: 17 lbs 11 oz, 26.5 inches long (both 75th percentile). Dr. B says she is growing beautifully and is right on track developmentally. Dahlia loved the paper on the exam table: she tried to eat it and loved listening to the sound of it crinkling. She cried when she got her shots, but she didn't cry long. She did great! 

6 months old!!

At six months old, Dahlia loves her feet, her thumb, and pretty much anything she can get in her mouth. She smiles all of the time, and she laughs every so often (only when she deems something is really funny). She is getting close to being able to sit on her own, and she is getting better and stronger at tummy time (she still only tolerates being on her tummy). She is a happy, easy going baby who is simply a joy.

A visit to daycare

Jessie had some time between appointments and went up to daycare to play for a bit. When she got there, Dahlia was konked out. :-)

Tummy Time

Dahlia is starting to enjoy tummy time as she gains more control and strength. She can now lift up her upper body and reach for toys.

Bouncing!

Enjoying her fun new jumper seat.

Love of toys

Dahlia really likes toys now. If you hand her things, she will take them and immediately put them in her mouth. She especially loves rattles, things with rings, and small soft things. Her car seat friend, Ralph, gets chewed on quite a bit:

5 months old

Dahlia didn't feel like cooperating while we took pictures today, so these were the best ones we got of our little 5 month old.

Adventures with Daddy

For Daddy's birthday, we went to an air show in Virginia Beach, VA at the NAS Oceana. Daddy talked Dahlia and Mommy's ears off, telling us all about planes. Hopefully Dahlia likes planes at least a little bit, cause Daddy LOVES planes. :-) 

Not sure what the caption to this should be. They were making funny faces at each other. 

Sleeping

Her whole hand is in her mouth while she sleeps on Jessie's chest.

Teeth! Rolling Over! Dahlia is developing....

Our Labor Day weekend consisted of a few firsts: Dahlia's lower front two teeth came through and are slowly coming all the way up. Not fun for all involved, but we seemed to make it through. She also rolled over for the first time! She rolled from her tummy to her back. She is also getting very close to laughing. We can see her thinking about it.

In other news, Dahlia doesn't really like carrots, but she does like sweet potatoes. So now we know that she likes squash and sweet potatoes. Our guess is those are a little bland, while carrots and pears are a little more flavorful and might be a little much yet. She is learning how to eat from the spoon and gets a little better every day.

This coming week we are going to start using some sign language with her. We are going to start using these: Mom, Dad, Milk, Eat, More, Finished, and Dog. We'll probably introduce others at around 9 months or so, but these ones will probably be the most useful in communicating with her. We'll see how it goes!

Adventures in eating with a spoon

We have started introducing Dahlia to solid foods. We started this week with rice cereal (which she didn't particularly like), pears (which she thought were tart/sour), and then found a winner with squash. Here are some photos of the mess that happened.

Putting things in my mouth

Dahlia now likes to grab things and put them in her mouth. Her new favorite is her lovey that Gigi made for her.

Trying to get her toys

She is trying to figure out how to use her arms and hands to grab that toy.

4 month Dr's Appointment

We went to Dahlia's 4 month doctor's appointment today. She was a whopping 15 lbs 5 oz, 25 inches long. Her doctor was shocked when we told her how much she eats, but then when she thought about how much Dahlia has grown, it made sense. Dahlia is a healthy, developing little girl.

4 months old

Dahlia turned 4 months old this week!

Uh oh, more thumb sucking...

Trying out a new toy

Thanks, Rochelle, for letting us borrow this fun bouncer!

Soooo close to rolling over

Sleeping hard

It's rough being a baby.

Watching the Olympics

She's amazed at the things these athletes can do. ;-)

New Favorite Activity

Dahlia now loves to suck on her hands. She prefers her hands to a pacifier. I hope we don't have a thumb sucker on our hands.

Playing hard

Someone played herself right to sleep. She's zonked out on her play mat.

Napping

This is how we found Dahlia after her afternoon nap. :-) 

(After this, she started sleeping in a sleep sack. She has become quite the little squirmer during sleep!)

Enjoying a Sunday nap with Mom.