Some other 7 month milestones

-Learning more cause-and-effect

-fascinated by the garage door opening

-really noticing the environment around her--gets very distracted when eating

-recognizes who mommy and daddy are: if you ask her where daddy is, she will turn to look at him

-can kind of wave

-takes steps while holding mommy or daddy's hands

-scoots around in circle

-really loves her baby Einstein videos, smiles and laughs at her favorite parts

-REALLY grabbing for things, especially mommy's face

-biting everything, including us. Does not seem phased by us firmly telling her no when she bites us...we're going to be in trouble when she's older!

-Also, she really hasn't used her paci (pacifier) much in at least a month, but she'd occasionally use it and would use it more for teething and chewing on it. Well, after our vacation, I had cleaned her wubinub paci's and had both of them on the drying rack for 2-3 days. I realized she hadn't wanted or needed them for a few days, so figured we'd stop giving it to her completely now so we don't have to ween her when older.

-one cute thing she does: now that she has 3 teeth, she's been sticking her tongue out on the opposite side of her 3rd tooth through the gap. It's sooo cute!

First Real Vacation

So last week we took Ashley on her first "real" vacation. Granted, we've traveled different places with her and she's been to the beach already, but this was the first time we stayed in a condo or "vacation resort" kinda deal. Daddy, Ashley, Maddie the dog, and I went on a Shohen family vacation with grandpop, grandmom, Uncle Andrew, Aunt Lauren, and a couple of their friends. We went to mommy and daddy's favorite beach--Destin, Florida. We even stayed in the same condo that we stayed in the last time we went, with lots of fun and special memories.

We had a nice time--we spent a lot of time on the beach and at the pool. Poor Ashely got sick for the first time right before leaving, and still had her cold and runny nose for most of the trip. She was a good sport though, and still seemed to enjoy herself despite it.

Some other fun highlights of the trip were renting a boat for the day, and going snorkeling, swimming, and to this cool spot where the water is only a couple feet high and they have a water trampoline, water slides, and food vendors all right there in the water. It was cool.

We also had most dinners together as a family which was fun--we enjoyed a lot of seafood...yum! We also had a couple of movie nights together, went miniature golfing, played cards, went to the outlets, etc. Daddy and I even got to go enjoy a date night on our last night there while grandmom and grandpop had fun with Ashley and took her swimming in the pool.

We also got a chance to visit with Ashley's Great Uncle Don and Aunt Jackie. It was nice to see them again and they were excited to meet Ashley.

Ashley did great with the car ride--in fact I think this was the best trip yet, both ways even! All in all, the trip was great. I was thinking of how lucky Ashley is--she has two parents who love each other very much, who love her very much, and she's only seven months old and she's already had a lot of great experiences and opportunities. I'm so glad for that!!!

2011

So I just had to post a blog about all the crazy weather-related things that have happened in 2011, so Ashley can hear the stories when she is older. First, we live in South Carolina where it snows once or twice a year, sometimes it sticks, sometimes it doesn't. We usually only get a couple inches at most (which I love). Well, just a few days after Ashely was born, we had the "big snowstorm of the decade"--approx 7-8 inches, which is a ton for down here. Everything shut down. It worked out really nice for us because Matt was able to stay home with us longer after Ashley was born.

Since then, we've also had a couple of incidents where it hailed golf-ball sized hail in the middle of summer. It would start off as a very hot day. Then the storm would come in out of nowhere. It was pretty crazy.

Now we've got Hurricane Irene coming through. Not sure if we'll get hit or not.

Well, just a few minutes ago I was sitting on the couch while Ashley was napping, when I feel the couch vibrating. And then I realize everything is vibrating. It wasn't major--nothing fell off the walls or anything, but everything definitely shook. Apparently there was an earthquake that just went along the whole East Coast. Crazy stuff, and Ashley slept right through it!

Latest on Ashley

Well, we've had some good and bad experiences lately. About a week ago, we were visiting (Aunt) Kristyn again. We went to help her buy her very first brand new car. She had done a ton of researching, but wanted help with crunching numbers and interests rates so she wouldn't get hassled by the dealers. It was fun going with her, she was like a kid at Christmas--sooooo excited and nervous all at once. We also were looking around the area(s) as a possible place to move to at some point.

Anyway, while we were there we had a scary experience. Ashley was sleeping in the same room as us in her pack and play. Well, we were all sound asleep. Sometime after midnight she woke up hysterically crying. I know Ashley's different cries, and this was different from the typical ones--something was wrong. She sounded scared and was inconsolable. Nothing we said or did calmed her down. Finally I nursed her and she settled down and went back to sleep. She seemed perfectly fine the next day.

I spoke to the pediatrician and she said that she may have had a nightmare, and it could have been a result of traveling, being off her regular schedule and going to bed later than normal. So I figured that was the end of it. However, we had another one two nights ago. This time she was back in her own room and on her regular schedule. We tried talking to her, getting her to focus, singing to her, rocking/walking with her...nothing helped. Poor girl. It scary and upsetting seeing her so upset. I hope they don't become a reccuring thing. Apparently there's not much you can do to prevent them or to help them.

On a good note, Ashley got another tooth. I noticed it broke through today. Another bottom. If you were facing her, it's on the right side of two middles. (This could also play into the crying in middle of night, although she's been fine during the day). Can't believe my baby has 3 teeth now!

She also has her first cold, or again possibly more teething stuff--she had a low grade fever, runny nose and congested. It's cute how she has fun with the new discoveries of what her body does. She was even entertained by her runny nose, she kept trying to sniff in and out, and kept trying to lick her runny boogies. Lol.

She is just so fun. She has such joy and fun with life. She loves discovering new things. She loves to grab EVERYTHING, including my face and hair! She wants to put everything in her mouth.

She also is learning more about cause and effect--she can push things down, or push buttons to make things pop up. She gets what she's doing.

She is talking more...when babbling, she still says mama, baba, and I've heard dada a few times. The biggest thing is that she recognizes/knows who mommy and daddy are. I said where's daddy?, and she turned and looked at daddy. And another time when I was out, Matt said that Ashley's face lit up when he said it was mommy.

Will update more soon!

August 4, 2011--7 months old, wow!

Latest

Matt took Ashley to the doctor on July 22nd for her 6 month visit (although she was closer to 6 1/2 months by the time she went). I had a continuing Ed course that I had to attend, so I had to miss her appointment. I felt awful not being there, mainly because she was getting her shots and I know how upset she usually gets after them. But, I guess this is part of giving her "wings" in life. Luckily Matt said this was the best visit yet, and that she only cried for a second or two afterwards.

Anyway, Ashley is now 16 lbs, 13 oz, which puts her at a nice "happy medium"--55% for her weight, and she is 27 inches, which puts her at the 80% for her height. The doctor said she is doing great and right on track with feeding schedule and all her developmental milestones.

Ashley is now sitting up much better--still not 100% there, but can sit up pretty good for a decent amount of time.

-she is loving most foods. She likes to "help" mommy by grabbing onto the spoon sometimes. She used to sound like a guinea pig (meaning she'd whine between each bite to make sure I'd feed her...lol), and now she started this bear growl in between. Haha.

-she is doing better with her sippy cup

-Matt let her gnaw on his banana the other day and she loved it

-Loves playing with a variety of toys--she is figuring out how to pop open/push down toys

-She continues to love her jumparoo

-Has fun playing peek-a-boo now

-She loves to reach out and grab at EVERYTHING, including mommy's face. She thinks it's hysterical when she sticks her fingers in my mouth and I pretend to bite down/chew on her fingers through my lips

-She thinks everything is a chew toy, including mommy and daddy. I'm trying to teach her not to bite us, but we're learning ;)

On a side note, a couple cool things. When I was at this continuing Ed course, they were having us practice this anchoring technique where you think of these positive visuals that just elevate your mood and make you feel happy. You can combine memories. I used a couple of Matt and I, and combined some Ashley ones: when I brought Ashley home and was just overwhelmed with love and happiness, special times of rocking her to sleep and being enamored by her, the time Matt and I were dancing with her to a sweet song, bath times, along with fun memories at her changing table. You would think changing a diaper would be on the bottom of the list, but Ashley and I have so much fun--we laugh, play, sing, she puts her feet in her mouth, kicks...Her smiles and giggles just melt my heart.

Another cute side note--About a month ago we started with a new babysitter named Katelyn Ammons for the day that I work. My friend Laura Heatley was watching her for a few months, but she was considering going back to work more. Also, I think it was challenging juggling 3 little ones, and having to feed Ashley while trying to get her boys ready for bed. It was also hard for me having to pack up 5 bags (between baby stuff and work stuff) and getting to her house on time...so this babysitter Katelyn comes to the house, which is soooo nice. I don't have to rush around anymore, Katelyn plays with her while I finish getting ready so she doesn't have to sit around, and it's nice for Ashley's routine so she can sleep in her own crib for naps and stuff. Katelyn is also great with her--she takes her for walks, plays toys and reads to her. Anyway, last Wednesday she had gone down for a later nap, and slept late. Matt and I had both gotten home earlier than normal and Ashley was still sleeping. By the time she woke up from her nap, Matt and I were both racing each other up the stairs to go greet her. I just thought it was cute how excited we both were to see our baby girl after being away from her for the day. She is one loved little girl!

Above are a couple pictures of Ashley and her babysitter, Katelyn.

4th of July fun and latest happenings

Wanted to update on the latest. For the 4th of July (which also happened to be the day Ashley turned 6 months old), we visited Aunt Kristyn in Virginia for the weekend. Grandma had flown in to visit with Kristyn, so we drove and met them and spent the weekend together. On July 2nd, it was Matt and my 5 year wedding anniversary. Grandma gave us $ for a gift which we used to go out to a nice dinner while they babysat Ashley for us. Aunt Kristyn happens to live 2 blocks from the beach, so it was awesome. We spent time there. Although Ashley had seen the beach when we went to the boardwalk in Ocean City NJ last month, this was her official 1st trip to the beach, and going in the ocean. We had a great time. I was so happy to see that Ashley is a beach bum like her mom and dad. Matt and I could spend the whole week relaxing at the beach, and we had said that we hoped our child(ren) would enjoy it as well. Ashley had fun lounging in her tube, she even had her feet up at one point...lol. She also had lots of fun in the water. She was kicking and splashing. It's the most excited she's been so far in the water (aside from her bathtub, haha). She also had fun sitting at the shore, and digging her feet and hands in the sand, and trying to catch the waves as they came in. Lots of fun memories! When we weren't at the beach, we were playing with Ashley (she was the star of the show), hanging out catching up, and playing some fun games. Daddy and I also took Ashley to meet the Reinhart family, which is a friends family that lives in VA. It was a fun trip. Unfortunately we had to drive back on the 4th of July, and Ashley slept through the fireworks that we saw in passing...however the night before we saw some going off near Kristyn's apartment, so she got to see those at least. Grandma drove back with us and stayed for the past week. She had lots of fun quality time with Ashley, she can't get enough of her!

Other fun updates:

-Ashley is learning how to sit up. In fact, on her 6th month birthday she sat up for a good period of time on her own before tipping over.

-She has been discovering more foods--lots of veggies, starting to introduce fruits, and cereal. She is enjoying most of them and become more skilled at eating them.

-She is noticing Maddie the dog a lot more now. She smiles and reaches out to her. Maddie also comes up and gives kisses. It's cute--they'll be friends.

-A few weeks ago she added "ba" or "ba ba" to her vocabulary.