Too cool for words!

October has been an amazing month in terms of milestones, accomplishments, and changes. Here is what is happening with Baby Ash:

1) First of all, her bottom left tooth is about cut through. I can feel it!
2) She is talking! That would be baby talk of course. She says, "ma-ma, da-da, and bah-bah." She started saying "da-da and ba-ba" last Friday. It is so cute. She started saying "ma-ma" a while back but she still only says it when she wants to eat or is crying. She says "da-da and ba-ba" constantly. She also tries to say "hi."
3) She gets around all over the place - the soldier crawl and scooting. She does it so much that her knees are red. She sometimes lunges and it cracks me up.
4) She is trying to wave - she takes her arm and flaps it against the side of her body really hard and fast.
5) She growls/roars. Hubby calls it a "demonic roar." When she does this, it sends me into uncontrollable laughter. I think she learned if from KK's baby.
6) She now eats mixed vegetables and likes them. She also loves oatmeal cereal. During the hours of 7 a.m. - 4 p.m., she drinks four 7-ounce bottles, eats rice cereal twice, and gobbles an entire jar of veggies.
7) She drinks water out of a sippy cup - we love watching her! She really likes to bite on the mouthpiece.
8) She grabs and wants everything out of reach.
9) She gives the biggest hugs. We love getting those from her.
10) She smiles and laughs all of the time. Big Sister loves to make her laugh. Big Sister is the best!!!

Baby Ash is such a great baby!! I took her to the doctor on Monday for her 2nd flu shot. She weighs 18.2 pounds. She will go again for her 9 month check-up in December.

As for KB...what can I say? She is great! KB loves kindergarten. She is learning to read and loves doing "homework." Along with going to kindergarten, we have paid for her to take karate, ballet/tap, piano, and jazz/hip-hop. All of these activities are offered at her school. All we have to do is provide the appropriate attire and pay the tuition. All of these classes take place after school for one hour each day (nothing on Thursdays). She is so adorable. I can't believe that my KB is in kindergarten. I love hearing her stories about her daily activities and learning her new songs.

Well, that is it for now.

7 months old

Baby Ash is 7 months old today -- I can't believe it! She has added so much joy to our family. She is so much fun and has the cutest little personality. At her 6 month checkup, she weighed 17 pounds and measured 27.5 inches. In weight, she is in the 75th percentile and in height, 95th percentile. She is not crawling yet, but is great at "army crawling." She can sit up - but not for very long (she gets lazy). She does not have any teeth but she sure acts like she might be getting some soon. She drinks a bottle or nurses 5-6 times a day. Along with yummy breastmilk, she eats rice cereal for breakfast and lunch. Then, she eats her veggies for dinner. In order to get her to open her mouth, I say "aaaaagggghhhhh" and then I say "mmmmmmmmm" after I spoon the food into her mouth. Well, she now says them, too! It is hilarious. Other than that, she really does not say anything else - except "mama" but that is only when she is crying and wants me to hold her or feed her. I can't wait for her to see me and say "mama." She still gives the sweetest kisses. She grabs my face (or hair) and pulls me to her lips and then she plants a wet, slobbery kiss on my lips. She just started kissing big sister, too! We just love that little girl so much.

Carrots

We tried carrots last night and she loves them! Her little face was orange that she even looked like a carrot. In our house, carrots are a big hit!! I eat mine with ranch dressing or make them honey glazed. KB will eat them as a snack or as a side item with meals.

Update: Things have been pretty rough in our house the last few days. I took both girls to the doctor on Monday and it was not pretty. Baby Ash has an ear infection in both ears - first time to take antibiotics. KB has a sinus infection and was given antiobiotics, too. I was pretty bummed about Baby Ash taking meds so early in her young life. KB was 14 months old before she ever had to take antibiotics - for an ear infection. They have been a little grumpy the past few days. For the past 3-4 days, Baby Ash has been waking up at about 3 a.m. She cries and I go in and feed/hold her for about 10 minutes and then she goes back to sleep. Then, I can't go back to sleep. So, I am averaging about 5-6 hours of sleep each night. I usuallly have 8! So, I am feeling very tired. I also decided this week that I was going to give up the 3 a.m. pump session, however I am still waking up with the baby. Now, I only pump at 6 a.m., 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. I manage to pump 8-10 oz. at each session. While at the sitter, Baby Ash drinks four or five 6 oz. bottles. In the evening, she feeds off me. Luckily, I am a human cow and I make more than she needs. I have managed to accumulate about 120 bags (5 oz. each) of breastmilk in my deep freezer. If I run short, I could always dig into my surplus. I will be just fine, what do you think?