First things first:
Food. She is getting better with the cereal. We took a short hiatus from the starchy stuff as we had a couple days with a mad, red-faced, constipated baby. All is well after doing some googling of course....I gave her a few ounces of water and some belly massage and she was back to dirtying diapers in no time. Poor sweet girl, I felt so sorry for her. I can't imagine how we will feel when she is sick (knocking on wood). She is only spitting out half of her cereal each bite which is quite an improvement. ;) I will take her to see her boyfriend (the pediatrician) on Tuesday and hopefully get the green light to start some fruits!
Toy discovery. She has finally taken a real interest in her toys. And the giraffe that has been hanging peacefully above on her car seat handle is now wishing she hadn't figured out how to eat him. She zones in on the giraffe, grabs it, and munches on it. Her squishy blocks that make a scrunchy paper sound have become a favorite. She is able to grab them and hold on with both hands. I still have to make the sound for her but she is content with me doing all the work. Lol.
Everything goes in our mouth. I say "our" but I guess I just mean her. Her mouth. I think that is a universal phrase that comes along with parenthood. You start saying "we" and "our" when referring to your child. Unless you put it in these terms....."we" are not getting enough sleep to get through "our" day. That applies to both of us. She has been doing great at Miss Mindy's during the day. She is still entertained constantly by the other kids. Most of the time when I arrive I can either find her on Mindy's lap or in her jumper being chatted at by Kyra. And speaking of her BFF Kyra...she colors a picture for Hallie almost daily. This week's best drawing: a picture of Kyra singing to a Christmas tree. Hallie hung it on her bulletin board for sure. She seems to be having less and less meltdowns on the morning car ride to pick up the older kids from school. She only screams for five minutes instead of ten. ;)
Reading. She loves to look at books. Story to follow down below. Here she is reading with her daddy by the Christmas tree...this just melts my heart...
Riley reading her one of her Christmas presents...no more peeking!
Eureka!!
The dream team. Emmi, Lucy and Hallie are the best of friends. Emmi and Hallie already had quite a bond, but suddenly our less than smart dog, Lucy, has joined in on the fun and discovered a new creature in our house. It only took her a short four months to figure out we had a new person in the house.
"So this is the baby you speak so highly of..." - Lucy
Hallie has taken an interest in Emmi and her soft fur this past week. Last night I held her as she reached out to pet her canine friend.
Baby body guard...Emmi may have to lay the smack down if that Octopus gets any closer...
She has found her voice. If she keeps it up at this rate she will be the town gossip for sure. The girl is constantly jabbering and making noises with her lips. Blowing bubbles has become a favorite. She just cracks me up with the new sounds that she makes everyday. One that gets me everytime is this big long sigh that she makes. Oh and of course her little baby giggle. She even tests out those vocal cords at night. Last night for example: around 2:30 in the a.m. she was just carrying on about something to me and would flash big ol' smiles in between jabbering. It almost, and I mean almost, made me want to stay up and play with her. But alas, we went back to bed to rest those hyperactive vocal chords. She gets more entertaining by the hour!
Hallie was a good little grandbaby for Nanny on Thursday and Friday. The two shopping divas! Hallie helped Nanny with some Christmas shopping on Friday. Nanny's greatest shopping discovery of the week: Baby Gap clothes at Wall's in Woodward! She brought Hallie a big bag full of cute stuff all for 66% off. Now that is a bargain let me tell ya! We went to dinner with Nanny and Papa last night and Papa had a great time catching up with his grandbaby. She had a lot of information to tell him in a short time so she didn't waste a second and got to chatting....and the chatting never ended. Hallie met eyes with another one of her species across the room at dinner and had to go say "HI" to the 15 month old girl. They didn't talk long as Hallie was self conscious about being bald and having not worn a hair bow to dinner. ;) Hallie got her first boo boo on Thursday. Those darn nail clippers...when I came home Hallie had a bandaid wrapped around her tiny little finger. Nanny said she bled like a stuck hog. Serves me right for not finishing my mommy duties on Tuesday. The mission was to file her nails...but instead I cleaned up three piles of dog vomit on the carpet and a big pile of poop left by a rebellious preteen dog who was dying to go for a walk when I get home. Let me just say, walks don't happen anymore. And they probably won't until the weather warms up in the spring. Although I haven't been able to walk, the weight loss hasn't been too shabby. So far in our Biggest Loser competition at work, I have lost five lbs. It's coming off soooooo slow, but lbs are lbs and I will take a loss any day.
"Oh no, there's that camera again"
Last weekend I was on a campaign to raise the level of Christmas spirit in the Fanning house. As they say in the movie Elf, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear." Nobody sings good enough in this house so instead we dressed up our Santa Baby....
"Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Christmas!"
It was that time of year again...time to make Christmas cards. Riley loves the fact that for the next 18 years he doesn't have to be on the Christmas card picture. In the words of Lee Corso, "not so fast my friend." Hallie was the star of our card this year. But she didn't seem to understand what she was supposed to do. I had this grand idea in my head of how the picture would look, and needless to say it turned out nothing like I had planned. She spent most of the time hanging her head in shame....
Last weekend Hallie went shopping with Grammy, Gman and I to get in the Christmas spirit. She was mesmerized by the winter wonderland that was North Pole City. So many fun things to look at and she just sat back on Gman's lap to take it all in. Gman covered her little eyes while Grammy and I put presents in the basket at Toys R Us. While my mom and I were picking out gifts for Hallie, Gman was reading to her in the book section. And to our surprise Hallie was actually very tuned in and following along on the pages as he read to her. Top ten cutest things I've seen her do. She would scan from left to right and then look up at him as if to say "ok, turn the page now." My dad definitely did not want to share Hallie as we went from store to store...I offered to hold her but he was not having it. He was a pretty good baby entertainer. She didn't even make a peep the entire afternoon as she loved people watching with Gman.
Not enjoying her Santa outfit at this point
Life is a little crazy right at the moment and sometimes seems unmanageable, but we somehow make it through each day to tackle the next. My mother once told me that "mothers don't have time to be sick." Well, she was 100% correct. I was fighting a cold/upper respiratory junk since last Wednesday. I stayed home from work on Monday for several reasons. I felt like poo, Hallie had been up all night, and I needed a day to rest, gather my thoughts and get to feeling better. It did the trick. I didn't necessarily feel better, but I did feel like a human again. Sleep patterns are like the stock market around here lately. She is all over the map. One night will be nine straight hours, then the next her and I are up at 1:45 and then again at 4:30. My favorite night was the night when she decided to revert back to being two weeks old...she woke up four times that night. Oh the memories. Lol. Last night wasn't anything to be desired either. Hence the bags and dark circles under our eyes this morning. But right now that matters not...because my sweet baby is sitting on my lap and smiling up at me as I type one-handed...and I wouldn't have it any other way.
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