Halloween

Mom's friend Kelly said it looks like I'm going to be late crawler. I'm not a big fan of sitting up and while I'm getting better about spending time on my tummy, all I really want to do is stand up. I've even gotten good enough that when I'm in a good mood, I can balance a few seconds standing all by myself.

Mom is a bigger fan of Halloween than daddy is. She did her best to find me a Halloween costume that was just right. She found the cutest monkey outfit for me at The Children's Place early in October but then was a little worried that I might look like a boy. After looking online, she found a peacock outfit that she liked as well and just had to order. She promised dad she'd take one of them back after I tried them both on but I looked so cute in both outfits that mom couldn't decide. Luckily, we had multiple Halloween parties that we were invited to so mom decided that I'd wear the peacock outfit during the day and the warmer monkey outfit to our party at night. Dad wasn't very happy with mom but she had purchased both outfits on sale and I was just so cute, dad couldn't complain. In the afternoon, mom's friends got all the kids together at Cindy's house. She had all kinds of good food for us and it was great to see the costumes of all the other kids. In the evening we headed to daddy's friends house for another Halloween party but this time, I was the only kid there. We didn't make it too long. By 9:00 I was worn out so daddy took me home and mom went to join her friends at their 10th annual Halloween bash.

October 11th - Weeks 26 & 27

Mom has been really busy at work these past few weeks so we're grouping a few weeks of updates together. In addition to moms crazy work schedule, I've decided to start waking up again at night. Mom and dad talked this over with Dr. Norwood at my my 6 month doctor’s appointment and she said it was pretty typically but that doesn't mean they like it. I guess it made mom and dad appreciate what a good sleeper I had been but it was still a long few weeks. I weighed in at 14lbs and 6 oz at my 6 month appointment and was 25 ½ inches long. I continue to be at the 25% for my weight and head size. They said I jumped up to the 50% for my height but dad was holding me when I was being measured and I don’t think he had my head at the top of the growth chart. Regardless, I’ll take the extra height for now. Dr. Norwood also gave me the ok to start eating real food, rather than just the rice cereal I had been eating. Mom’s
office closed early on the 15th because they were moving buildings so she used her afternoon off to get some baby food for me at the grocery store. Our nanny, Monica was still at our condo watching me when mom returned with all my new food to try. Monica is quite the healthy eater and questions a lot of the preservatives that she finds in food. She’s a big fan of eating organic and she wasn’t happy to see all the canned baby food that mom had bought. She promised if mom would buy the organic vegetables, that she would make all the food for Talia and I. She even offered to make large batches of food so there would always be some in the freezer for mom to use. Luckily, uncle Matt had purchased a food processor for mom and dad for Christmas last year so on that Friday, Monica peeled, boiled and blended some sweet potatoes for me. The sweet potatoes were a lot thicker than the rice cereal that I had been eating. It took a few spoonfuls for me to figure out what exactly was going on in my mouth but after a few spoonfuls, I realized how much better the sweet potatoes were compared to the rice cereal I’d been eating for the past 2 weeks.
Dad also purchased a new Wii fit game for the family. It allows you to make a mini Mii so I now have my very own Mii player along with mom and dad. I can't play a lot of the games but it allows mom and dad to track my weight. As you can see, by my 27th week, I was over 15lbs!

It doesn't appear like we're going to have much of a fall. October has been really cold and seems to rain all the time. Luckily, great grandma Haeffele sent me the warmest terricloth bath outfit to keep me warm after my bath.






Despite the cold weather and rain, we had the opportunity to get together with Mindy and Riley to visit the Bucktown fall festival. They had a big bouncy room, pony rides, pumpkins and an apple pie contest. I was a little too small for most of the activites this year but I know where to go next year!
I also had the opportunity to hang out with my friend Maddie. Dad was out with his friends at the Blackhawks game and Maddie's mom had a bachelorette party so mom and her friend Paul decided they would get us girls together for a Saturday night play date. Maddie is a few months older than I am and she sure is active. I was a little nervous when she first arrived as she was crawling all over our condo but soon enough, the two of us were playing together though we both kept trying to go after the same toys.

October 4th - Week 25 - Cereal, clicking

Dr. Norwood had told me I could start trying new food anytime between 4-6 months. Mom and dad waited until after 24 weeks to give me my first taste of 'real food.' Grandma and grandpa Hadank had come up on Saturday to visit so they were there to see me eat cereal for the first time. I did a pretty good job eating with the spoon and both grandma and grandpa helped to feed me. Overall, I ended up eating more than mom and dad thought I would (though I was wearing half of it).

That night, mom had her 10 year college reunion so dad was at home with me on babysitter duty. Just to make mom jealous, I decided to show dad a new trick while she was out. I was finally able to get my feet into my mouth. I had been getting so close, grabbing my socks and pulling my feet towards my mouth but I could never quite get them there. On Saturday night, when dad was getting me ready for bed, I was finally able to get my feet to in my mouth. Mom’s friend Kelly said that’s a 7 month skill so I’m a few weeks ahead on that milestone.

Mom also thought she was funny when she started making clicking noises with her tongue. It certainly made me smile but what mom didn’t expect was that I would start imitating her. Once I figured out how to make the noise, there was no stopping me. At first, mom and dad thought it was funny but after 2 straight days of hearing my noise, they realized they have to be careful with what they do in front of me. You can tell I’m pretty proud of my new trick though; I make my clicking noise, smile and proudly look around waiting for everyone’s reaction


Grandma Etcheson also sent me the cutest Halloween outfit and T-shirt this week. I am so blessed to have such great family.

Sept. 20th - Week 23&24 - Grandma's visit, football , Halloween gifts

On Sunday, the Pounder's family came over to watch the Bears game with us. Weslee is 20 months old and sure was active. He ran all around our condo and gave mom and dad a little taste of what's to come in the next year. Weslee and I were both sporting our Bears gear but the funniest part of the afternoon was watching me go after daddy's beer mug. He keeps them in the freezer so they're good and cold and the side of the glass felt really good on gums. Once I started chewing on it, daddy couldn't take it away. It was a fun Sunday, and probably one of the last times we'll see the Pounder's family for awhile since they're moving out to the suburbs in a few weeks.


Mom was really busy at work this week which makes for some stressful evenings. She keeps telling me it’s a good thing we’re doing the nanny share with Talia or she would have quit her job already. Luckily, Aunt Beth stopped by this week and brought me a bunch of cute clothes. It was such a fun surprise (for mom and me), and I practiced my sitting skills while playing with all the different textures of the clothes. I'm also getting pretty good at moving around. Not only am I rolling all over the place but I'm trying to figure out how to crawl. I'll reach my arms out but can't quite figure out how to move my legs. I still have a long way to go but I sure am funny to watch.

Grandma Etcheson came up to visit me this weekend to watch me while mom and dad went to their friend’s wedding. It was only the second time someone other than mom or dad had put me to bed, but I did great. Grandma took such good care of me and mom and dad were so thankful that she volunteered to spend the night on Saturday. Mom and dad had the opportunity to stay out with all their friends and pretended they were back in their pre-kid days. They stayed out way too late and probably had a few too many drinks so it was a REAL good thing that grandma Etcheson was there when I woke up at 7:30am on Sunday morning. Grandma fed me breakfast and played with me all morning so both mom and dad had the opportunity to sleep until 10am. Neither of them can remember the last time that had happened! Grandma Etcheson also brought me so many nice gifts from all the family back in Bloomington. Grandma-Great Haeffele sent me my very own little pumpkin and mom’s friend Pat O’Brien, sent me a pumpkin that was almost as big as I was! I loved the pumpkins but mom and dad had to take them away from me because all I wanted to do to was eat the stem. Aunt Jill also sent me my very first Halloween book and my favorite character in the book is the ghost. Whenever mom and dad get to that page, they make the ghost go Boooooo and I break into the biggest smile and laugh. I just love it! I also received a gift from the Stamper family this week. They sent me my very first Barney book and I loved the colorful pictures. Mom was amazed at how I was able to turn all the pages on my own and I made the best facial expressions looking through the pictures.
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I did end up wrinkling a number of the pages but that's ok because I really enjoyed myself.

Sept 13th - Week 22 - sitting up, exer-saucer

Boy did I have fun imitating mommy this week. On Monday night we played games sticking our tongues out at each other for almost 10 minutes but that wasn’t my biggest accomplishment.

Mom can officially call me a big girl this week! On Tuesday morning, as mom was packing up for work, my nanny Monica got to me to sit up for the first time all by myself. Mom and dad had been working with me all weekend to try and get me to sit up but I always seemed to need some support. Talia’s mom had just dropped her off at our house on Monday morning and Talia was sitting in the bumbo chair. Monica had me on the floor and I kept trying to get Talia’s attention. Over the past few weeks, Talia and I have started to notice each other. Each morning, Monica holds both us on her lap and encourages us to interact with each other. Over the past few weeks, we’ve started reaching out to one another and I’ve even been known to suck on Talia’s fingers like they’re my own. Since Talia was in the bumbo chair, Monica had me sitting on the floor looking at her. At first I was leaned really far forward trying to get her attention but once she noticed me., I was strong enough to use those ab muscles to pull myself up and spent a few minutes sitting completely on my own. Mom didn’t make it into work until almost 9:30 on Tuesday but she was so happy that she was still at home to see my new trick.

Now that I’m over 20 weeks, I’m finally big enough to use the Exer-saucer that grandma and grandpa Hadank got for me. Dad set it up last weekend and the tips of my toes are just barely long enough to touch the bouncy platform. The minute mom and dad put me in the exer-saucer, I started turning the toy flower. It makes a really loud clicking noise and really scared me. It took me a few days to get use to it but now I love it and I look like such a big girl entertaining myself.

Mom got a little ahead of herself with my progress this week. When she came home from work on Thursday all I wanted to do was practice standing. I was doing so well that I was even standing all by myself just holding onto the ottoman. I had the biggest smile showing off my new trick, that mom just had to grab the camera. No sooner did she take her arms away, did I completly lose my balance and tumble right onto the floor. Funny enough, mom was in the midst of trying to take my picture when I fell. She debated on whether she should even document this fall because she felt so bad about it but since mommy learned her lesson, and will never forget it, she figured she'd document it for me too. Plus, how often do you capture such an occasion while it's happening (and you can still see how happy I was even while I was going down)!. Daddy did convince mom that I'd be fine when he got home from work and this would be the first of many falls but mommy still felt terrible and woke up 3 different times that night to check on me to ensure I was ok.

On Friday night, Mindy, Scott and Riley came over for dinner. Now that mom is back at work, I don’t get to see Riley as often as I use to. We had originally talked about all of us heading to the Berkhoff Oktoberfest party together but decided it was starting to get a little too cool in the evenings and it would be too much work to get both of the strollers downtown. Instead, mom and dad decided to meet at the Oktoberfest party over lunch on Friday while they were already downtown for work. It is probably the closest mom and dad will get to Oktoberfest for quite some time but dad did pick up a mini-keg of the Oktoberfest beer to share with Mindy and Scott since we didn’t all get to go to the festival together. You can tell that I have German roots because as soon as I saw the German keg, I wanted to get my hands on it. Dad had to hold me back but mom and dad better watch out…I’m going to be a handful once I make it into my teen years!

Watch me Grow

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August 30th - Weeks 20 & 21 - Bears game, first flight, Jenna

Mom has quickly realized that it isn't as easy to find time to get her updates in on a weekly basis now that she is back at work so we're going to include 2 weeks with this update. I continue to become more in turn with my surroundings and my sensations and have even become ticklish. When mom and dad tickle my stomach or wash I around my neck, I break into laughter.

On Thursday, I experienced 2 new 'firsts' - mom and dad took me on my first ride on the El on the way to my very first Bears game. It was a pre-season game and the starters only played for a short time but it was still a good time. I sported the new Bears hat mom had bought for me and helped entertain everyone in the seats around me when the game got a little slow. I was so cute, I even had the 40 year old men that were sitting behind us talking like cookie monster to get me to smile and laugh.

On Friday, it was finally time for our long awaited trip to Memphis to meet my cousin Jenna. Mom was a little nervous about taking me on my first plan ride but I did pretty well. Dr. Norwood had said to make sure I was eating during take-off and landing to keep my ears from hurting. There were a few minutes on the way up and coming back down where I was fussy but otherwise I just rode on mom and dad's lap. I even got a compliment from the people sitting around us about how good of a baby I was.
I had so much fun at my cousin Jenna's house. She let me use her toys and even sleep in her crib. I looked like I belonged in her room as my pajamas and swaddle blanket matched her bedding perfectly. Grandma and Grandpa took such good care of us while we were there and I was able to see Jenna experience her very first bath and see uncle Chad feed Jenna her very first bottle. Everyone tried taking pictures of the two of us but we never seemed to be looking in the same direction. Since we were in Memphis, I also got to go visit my great aunt Jane, uncle Tom and second cousin Becky.

It was nice for mom and dad to have a short work week after labor day but Monica said our schedules were pretty off after the long weekend. Luckily the weather was really nice this week and we got to go on a lot of walks during the day. Talia's mom is able to work from home so she was able to catch a few before and after shots of us in our stroller with Monica. Over the weekend, Grandpa Etcheson, Kathy and Uncle Matt came up to the city. They brought me my very first Halloween bib. Mom went with them to the BMW Championship golf tournament on Saturday and I went with dad and some of his friends to the Cubs game. On Sunday, mom and dad had tickets to the U2 concert so I had a babysitter for the second time. I was pretty fussy during the day and mom was worried about leaving me with a new sitter but after my 3 hour late afternoon nap, I was back to my normal, well behaved self. My babysitter, Lacy, said I was just perfect for her and only cried a few minutes when she first put me to bed. Mom and dad got to see a great show and it was so nice that they finally got a little time to go out with just themselves (even though they did miss me while they were gone)