Woops! 9 months already?!

Okay, soooooo....it's not that I haven't THOUGHT about posting, it's just that life gets in the way. :) (By the way- I'm pretty sure the above photo is the first time we've taken a picture with Bella since she was in the hospital)!

So, anyway...just a quick post today...mostly a picture post! Lots of things have been happening the past 2 months!

Just as Bella turned 7 months, we introduced solid food! Oatmeal cereal to start. She had NO IDEA that she was supposed to OPEN her mouth! Just a blank stare! HA! She much preferred to hold the spoon herself! First food with actual flavor- homemade organic sweet potatoes! I think she likes.... Mmmmmm!
At 7.5 months, we started seeing teeth! (Click on the picture to enlarge....you can see them just barely coming through)! A week or so later...
Daddy is a little silly sometimes...she's just gonna have to get used to it...
Around 8 months (6 months adjusted age!), she started getting better at sitting up! She still falls over from time to time, though! It must be hard to hold up that big head! (By the way, her second follow-up with the neurosurgeon went great! She's perfection....with a big head)! :)

The bow was on clearance...sometimes she looks so much like Patrick, I feel she needs a little help looking like a girl! ;)
She still loves to lay on her back....still hates tummy time! And no real signs of crawling yet! When I put her on her tummy, she ends up like this every time...can't get enough of those toes!
She loves to pet Salsa. :) Salsa is so good with her. Isn't this sweet?!
Ava continues to be wonderful with her...and Bella can't get enough!!
Bella's always been such a serious baby, but we've finally started to get some of those gigantic smiles I've been waiting for!!Although, she's still very stingy with her laughs! We've only ever heard her laugh a handful of times! We've made lots of progress just in the past week, though!! I'll try to get it on video!

Loves to swing on the swing next door!


They love Aunt Sarah time....and, of course, Bella always goes through several outfit changes when she's here!
Last weekend, we had my brother's family over and had a wonderful day letting all the neighborhood kids play together. Our next door neighbors have a great playset. It needed new mulch, so all the guys pitched in while the kids played ALL DAY! Got lots of great pics!

Daddy and his mini-me...
She puts everything in her mouth! E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.

She makes this face all the time. Hilarious. It's similar to Ava's Chinese face, but for Bella, this is a "that-was-funny-but-I'm-still-a-little-irritated" face. Hee hee.
Gotta put some pics of Ava in here too! LoOoOoOoOve those little freckles. :)

The girl never stops talking...I have about 15 pictures in a row and each one is just a different expression mid-sentence.
Oh look! A pause for a smile!With Uncle Ian and Aunt Booj!
Not sure what to think about all that scratchy stuff....

LOVE Bella's sweet face and smile in this one!!
They have a great horse swing that all the kids love!
My niece, Emery, loved it too!
A little bit of work, a little bit of play. :) Patrick was oh-so-nice to give LOTS of wheel barrow rides! This is Ava with her most favorite neighbor, Josh, hitchin' a ride with the mulch! And Keegan, too!
A bunch of the kids...

And what better way to finish the day than with a pizza picnic!
It's been a fun few months. Bella is doing great, and so is Ava. Patrick finished up his LAST WEEK OF CLASS next week. He's got finals and will then be studying for his boards and begin his rotations this summer! Two years down, two to go!!! Well....then residency....but lets not burst any bubbles. :)

I hope y'all have a wonderful Easter weekend, and I'll try to not wait so long until the next post!

7 months and getting SO FUN!!!

Sooo....Bella is 7 months old now! CA-RAZY!

Seriously.

That's crazy.

Moving on.

So, it's been a really busy, really GREAT month for Bella!! :) (It feels so good to say that. I feel like almost every post about Bella thus far has been riddled with worry. But, not this time. :) Bella is doing great)!!! She's 15 pounds now!!! At her 6 month check, she was just over 14lbs! She's in about the 25% for weight! She's totally catching up!! I looked back to see what Ava weighed at 7 months, and she was just over 16lbs. I have a feeling Bella will be catching up to and completely surpassing Ava pretty quick!

So, we finally followed up with Bella's neurosurgeon (who she was admitted under after the scare back in December). But first, I failed to mention that at Bella's 6 month "well check"- she jumped up >60% points from month 4 to month 6 in head circumference. This combined with my question about her prominent forehead.... ...prompted her pediatrician to consider having her scanned again (another CT scan) to check for fluid or some other cause for the bossing of the frontal bone (forehead bone). (I'm really looking forward to a boring-everything-looks-great check up for Bella....one day). Anyway, when I contacted Dr. Neurosurgeon, he said he wanted to wait on the scan and see her in person first. Long story short- he examined her, and although he noticed her prominent forehead as well, he did not recommend another CT scan....he just diagnosed her with.....a big head. :) And apparently it's familial (genetic). Which means....yep! I've got a big 'ol head, too! (And of course, Patrick's big head goes without saying). He even measured my head at her appointment, and it turns out, I too, am above the 90% in head size for an adult female. HA! :) So, technically, she's a bit macrocephalic (big head!). But, no worries. She will eventually "grow into" her head, at which point she will just be a normal kid with a big head....just like her mama. Gotta have enough room for that obviously advanced brain of hers. ;) So, I know I said it's been a great month, and this definitely was a little stressful, but in the end, Dr. Neurosurgeon said that not only did everything look normal, but that she looked PERFECT. :) Words I like to hear. :)


She looks perfect to me, too!
So, Bella (and Ava, for that matter) have both had their first course of antibiotics. Ava made it to age 3.5 and Bella to 6 months. :( Bella had a mild ear infection and an upper respiratory tract infection (URI). Ava just had the URI. Both of them had yucky coughs that just wouldn't go away. Ok, so I know I said this month has been great. So, I guess it was a bit of a rough start...but it's gotten so fabulous. :) They are both fully recovered and healthy now!

So, she has been HATING tummy time...she couldn't do it! We would move her hands under her and she'd just flop them back by her side and do a floppy fish thing instead of trying to push up on her arms. But, NOW we're finally getting there. A few days ago, I walked into her room and there she was....pushed up on those little arms...smiling. I was ecstatic. It's the little things, ya know?!
This tummy time business is a lot of work...
Okay- sooooo she's also just begun to SIT UP!!! She still needs quite a bit of support....unless you place her in the most perfectly balanced position...in which case she only stays for a few seconds until she starts to fall over. But, she's getting pretty decent at sitting with the Boppy pillow behind her!! To keep Bella looking up while she sat and to give her some positive reinforcement(!), I was doing my jumping bean floor dance. Ava was eating lunch and didn't really know what to think about all that. She just looked at me as if I had 7 heads. Mid dance, I told her that I used to act like that for her, too. :) I forget how exciting the little things are. They're so awesome. Here she is! Yay Bella boo!!
Serious little thang. :)

And if you just want a bit more....here's a little video.

:)


Eventually....the fall...hahaha....

In other news- she has discovered her toes and wants to play with them every minute. Very cute. I mean...this child is seriously her father's child!!! They are so beautiful to me. My two little red heads. (And when did Ava get so grown up)?!?!?!

And, lastly, Bella started on solid foods a few days ago!! I'll do another post on that ...cause this one's getting too long...and I'm tired. :) I hope y'all are all doing great!! We are! :)

I think they like each other...

They are going to be best friends.

Soooo...do they look alike?!? I usually think no, but I'm thinkin' they kinda might. What do you think?!?

Guess who the photographer of this one was??? Yep- Ava. She LOVES taking pictures with Mommy's fancy camera!

Ava was trying to be all serious....but I won her over...and look at that gorgeous smile.
As crazy as life sometimes feels, I am one lucky lady. I have two amazing girls who I love more than this world. And they love me too. Which is totally awesome.