Spokane was fun!

Abbey and Avery having fun at the beginning of our trip to Spokane. Avery even started crawling when we celebrated Jim's 59th birthday!!

It really was great to have everyone see Abbey in such a fun and lovable stage in her life. She is just so happy all of the time, and other than a minor meltdown the first evening we were in town due to the long travel day and time change, she was a joy and loved seeing her family!

Just a few more days!

I am excited to be flying to Spokane at the end of the week, can't wait to see everybody! In the meantime, Abbey has helped me get ahead with the laundry... :)

Such a big six-monther!

Abbey has really been growing like a weed and mastering her milestones. She has taken to solids quite well, and actually squeals in delight when I feed her peaches. She started sitting unassisted in mid January and also "grew" her first tooth in the beginning of February. The best, though, is that she plays with me and is quick to laugh at funny faces, peekaboo and repetitive or rhyming words. She was 19 lbs, 7 oz and 28.5 inches at her checkup on the 4th.

Her favorite toy right now is her jumper, and Peter and I have dubbed it the Best Purchase of 2009 (I bought it in early January, when I realized she was always happy when she was standing while I held her hands...then I thought, "Gee, if only she could hold herself standing...").

Cereal Success!!

Abbey had her first true bowl of rice cereal this week...and continues to have 3 bowls per day! Once she figured it out there was no stopping her, and she finished 2 full bowls the evening she figured out the whole open-insert food-swallow thing! It has definitely helped with her sleeping through as she slept through 6 nights in a row, and only temporarily woke up last night for 10 minutes for a diaper change and quick 4 ounce bottle. She opens wide and likes to be fed quickly. She also likes to help by pulling the spoon away from me and shoving it into her mouth, with most of the cereal not quite hitting home. She will be starting peas on Tuesday!

Miscellaneous Update

Hello everyone!

Abbey has had a great New Year so far! One exception is her cold that she is still fighting, although only sneezes and sniffles at this point.

She has been growing so much and tummy time, rolling over, sitting up, and eating rice cereal are all improving incrementally. She is able to tolerate tummy time for longer periods, and I think she would roll over more often if she didn't seem to realize that she will indeed end up on her tummy. In fact, the first time she rolled over from her back to her tummy lasted only long enough for her to grab the toy I put out of reach and then roll immediately back to starting position! She enjoys sitting in her Bumbo device for long periods of time, and likes watching Peter or me cooking on the island in the kitchen, but she isn't interested in holding herself in a sitting position on her own and immediately falls forward onto her legs into a very flexible position. As for the rice cereal: I know she is getting cereal in, although not much, because she has later spit it up a couple of times when we had moved on to playing. It seems like the better she is at swallowing it, the better she also gets at making a mess on her face.

More updates soon!
Love,
Dev

Happy New Year!

Just some pictures taken the first week of the New Year (sadly, as Tracy and Vince came over to our house on New Years Eve, I had no battery power left when we went to take some pictures, and by the time it had charged we had moved on to watching movies and getting ready for the countdown). Oh well, Abbey was asleep by then anyways and gave Momma Dev her first gift of the New Year- sleeping through til 7:30 a.m. New Year's Day!

Abbey's First Christmas

As always, it was great traveling to Spokane to see our family and friends, but this time it was extra special with it being Abbey's first Christmas. As everyone in WA state knows, the snow was making travel extra difficult, and after a two-day layover in Phoenix (bonus perk- we were able to see Peter's Grandparents and spend a day with them in Mesa) we landed safely in "Spocold" (thanks Liz!). It was great spending the time with everyone and enjoying our first White Christmas since our last visit home for the holidays in 2005.