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.