6 month check up stats

This morning we went in for Abby's 6 month wellness appointment and everything went well!  She's 16 lbs. 12 oz. and 26.25" tall - all in the 75% range.  :)  So she grew approximately 2" and gained 2+ lbs. since her 4 month check up.  She also got another set of shots (3, to be exact) and she did a lot better this time!  She didn't cry as long which meant the recovery time was fast.  It's a good thing she has chubbers thighs which make is easier for taking shots. 

Quick question for you moms out there:  Abby always gets really sleepy after the shots - is that normal?  I hear it is but I just wanted to double check.  I'm paranoid-mama so I'm sitting here watching her sleep.  :) 

Happy Anniversary Matt & Ruby!!

Abby is 6 months old!

...and 2 days.  :)  What a week we've had!  The weather has finally decided to cool down and we've been taking advantage of it.  But first we had to 'winterize' Abby which means she got to wear long sleeves and pants (thanks KS/Rowan)! 

She has prefected the crawl stance but no substantial crawling yet.  :)  Patience is a virtue.

The tickle monster made another appearance.  Every mother loves the sound of their child's laughter - it's just the best!  No one warned me they would get exponentially louder....my goodness!  She says "mamama" and "bababa" and learned to make "G" sounds recently.  :)  In Chinese, mom is Ma Ma and dad is Ba Ba so Abby learned to say our names!!  Woohoo!!  :P

Now that Abby can move around faster, I got a huge king sized quilt for her to crawl all over and she loves the freedom!! 

And now that there are slightly less mosquitoes with the cooler weather, we've been taking Abby outside more often for some fresh air and strolls around the neighborhood.  She just soaks everything in and really enjoys it!

I just like this picture.  She's all bundled up and ready to eat.  :)  Life is so easy when you're a baby.

Grandma and Grandpa got Abby some 6 month birthday gifts and she really loved it!  :)  She even got an Abby sized birthday balloon!  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

On Sunday we had a special treat.  Lao Nian, Abby and I had afternoon tea at St. Regis!  I hadn't been there since my wedding day and I had my bridal portraits taken in the Tea Room so it was a special treat to take Abby back to where it all began.  :)  We got all dolled up and took lots of pictures.  Abby was on her best behavior and couldn't have been cuter.

Almost got it!

When I got home from work, Abby was on all fours rocking back and forth!  She's almost got the crawling thing down now!  :*)    I know I'm biased but she is so darn cute looking when she's on all fours and looking up at Mommy with that gummy grin.  :)  My little girl is going to be mobile soon. 

Abbers updates and UT vs OU weekend

Abby will be 6 months old this Friday!  Her back is so much stronger and she's sitting up better and better and she looks to be closer to crawling by the day.  She's perfected the army crawl and gets around pretty quick now.  She is such a loving baby.  One of my many favorite things is when she leans her head on you.  She's our little cuddler and I love it.  We get spoiled with all her little hugs.  :)

Abby still loves her Baby Einstein Discover & Play.  She gets so excited and tries to put everything into her mouth.  It's so much fun to watch.  :)

 

Here she is trying to crawl!!  :) 

We had a few friends over to watch UT barely beat OU.  But hey, a win is a win even if it's ugly.  Here are a few pics:

Abby & Uncle Matt

Abby got to meet John and Ginger!

Abby also got to meet Uncle Dinesh (or Dinesh masa).  Happy Dewali!

A Yi, Jo Jo, Abby and Me

Game watching pics

The Chens

And lastly some friendly touch football turned grown adults rolling around in the front yard.  :)

I think I speak for all of Houston when I say we are so happy for the recent, much needed cold front.  Abby got to wear her cute Winnie the Pooh jacket again.  I love the little ears. 

Rice cereal, Mommy & me, Baker chair

It's really nice how Abby has taken to eating from a spoon so well.  She has her mouth wide open just waiting for the rice cereal.  :)  At first she only ate about 1/4 oz. but last night she ate about 2/3 oz.  We're so proud of her!

Abby and I don't have many pictures together so I like to post the few we have.  :)  She's such a happy baby!

Some of you may remember we had family portraits taken when Abby was just 9 days old by my dear friend Karen (Karen Beyer Photography).  Abby got her picture taken on her green Baker chair back then and now that she can sit, we got the ol' chair back out and you can see how much she has grown!! 

I'm not kidding -

I have a shoe problem.  I was in search of shoes for Bryce at Whole Earth Provisions Co. but I came upon yet another pair for Abby!  I'm always on the hunt for sales and I got these for 50% off ($17 vs $34)!  Abby should grow into them in the next 3 months and they will be great starter shoes.  All the See Kai Run shoes are made with super soft sheepskin leather uppers, rubber soles and easy velcro closures.  I am sold on this brand from now on.  Wish they made grown up shoes too......

New Revelation (for me)

Daddy's are there to make their kids laugh and be funny and goofy.  There is just something about Bryce but he can ALWAYS make Abby laugh and smile and most importantly, giggle and squeal like a little girl should.  :)  It seems like 9 out of 10 times it works with Bryce and the other 1 time, it works with me.  I can only get her to smile real big but no consistent big laughters for me.  :(  This was only my sneaking suspicion until a random lady at the grocery noticed Bryce making Abby laugh and she told me to get used to it.  She is a mother of 3 and she said "Daddy's are there to make them laugh, take them to the movie, play games and Mommy's make them do homework, eat their vegetables and go to bed on time."  Case in point (I love these father-daughter pictures...):

And if I remember correctly, Bryce wasn't even saying anything particularly funny...but Abby sure thought it was funny!  :)

On another side note, last night we attempted to feed Abby some rice cereal again and this time it was a success!!  Yipee!  She ate about 4-5 half spoonfuls and then lost interest but it worked while it lasted!  We can't WAIT to start making her fresh food at home.  My friend recommended Cooking for Baby by Lisa Barnes.  I like cook books with pictures and it not only has recipes but also explains when to start feeding, how to store, nutritional info, the whole works. 

I can't believe Abby is 5 months and 2 weeks old today.  When people tell you the time flies, they aren't kidding.   

More milestones and firsts

We did a couple of things this weekend that were new for Abby. Where to begin. This weekend we got to spend Saturday at Lao Nian and Lao Yie's to celebrate Abby's first Moon Festival. :) Too bad she's too little to eat moon cakes. That's the best part! Abby got to see Ruby A Yi again too which is always fun. Jo Jo was at ACL enjoying great music, I'm sure. One of these days I'm going to have to go to that.

Then we had a surprise visit from Uncle David who was in town touring with OneRepublic and I picked him up in downtown on my way home. It was Abby's first time in downtown. We had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's - homemade pizza made from scratch. So good. Abby got to see both grandparents in one day!

Abby has outgrown her bouncey which was a great place to put her if you needed to do something real quick around the house. But now she can roll out of it so we retired the bouncey and started to put her on the playmat. Well now she can roll over and army crawl so you can't really step away anymore. Enter Graco's Baby Einstein Discover & Play. Abby's been great at standing since she was 1.5 - 2 months old so we thought why not get her a play thing she can stand in? Well, she LOVES it!

Abby's also getting good at assuming the crawl stance without actually crawling. We think it will only be a matter of weeks before we have a crawler on our hands! :)

We also tried rice cereal for the first time last night.  There are no pictures since we took a video but it's not worth posting.  It was completely unsuccessful so all you see is a crying baby opening her mouth wide open for the spoon and then pushing the cereal out with her tongue.  She'll figure it out soon enough.  :) 

We also preemptively lowered the mattress in the crib because Abby is going to start pulling herself up with her arms and super strong marshmallow quads soon.  I don't like that she's growing so fast but I love it when she reaches new milestones.  I am starting to understand why mom's love holding newborns.  There is just something so sweet and innocent when they are small and cuddly.  I miss it already. 

My love for shoes...

has now expanded into my love for buying Abby shoes. :) I can't help it! Most people know I have a shoe fetish. I'll admit it.

"My name is Rosa Baker and I am a shoe-aholic."

That said, I just bought Abby her first pair of shoes! She obviously won't wear them for a while but they will be there waiting for her. One of my favorite shoe brands is Keen and I was pleasantly surprised to find some cute little pink Keen sandals for girls on sale at REI. I got them for $14 (Reg. price $39.95)!! Don't you just love a good sale?  Target prices for name brands.  :)

The many mommy-reviews said these are a great alternative to sneakers in the hot weather and kids have less scraped up knees in these vs. flip flops.  These can get wet too and just throw in the wash to clean!