Sunday, July 28, 2013

Heidi - Six Months

 Our Heidi-bug turned six months old this week (Auntie Brittney was here to celebrate!).  She is growing by leaps and bounds.  Her appointment was pushed out a week so no stats to report yet.
 Eating: Heidi loves quite a few solid foods so far; she'll taste at least a few bites of anything we give her.  Foods so far include peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes, bananas, apples, butternut squash, apricots & oatmeal.  She also loves trying to drink out of a cup (just water so far).  All of her baby food so far has been homemade except the apples; we tried some mango baby food from the store and it was not a favorite.  Apparently it doesn't compare to the homemade stuff.  Next up will be green beans & peaches.  Heidi still nurses & takes bottles well although we did seem to run into some supply issues mid-way through this month so she is now offered a bottle at bed time and she takes 2 - 4 ounces of formula.  If she acts really hungry at daycare they'll also offer her an additional 2 ounces of formula, some days she wants it and other days she doesn't.
 Sleeping:  Heidi's sleeping has improved amazingly in some ways.  It is hard to believe just how easy it is for us (Mark & I as well as her daycare caregivers) to put her down to sleep for naps and bedtime.  She did have some challenges when Miss Ronda babysat her but she eventually fell asleep.  She naps 3-4 times a day for 45 minutes to 2.5 hours each nap.  At night we decided it was time to make her go for longer stretches.  She eats at 7 pm, then gets a 'dream feed' at 10 pm and then we make her wait until 6 am to eat again and get up.  So far it hasn't been too difficult....we just end up getting up to give her a pacifier a lot after 4 am.  We're still swaddling her (hence she can't find her pacifier on her own) but that should be ending soon.
 Moving:  Heidi is determined to MOVE!!  She rolls over easily and can spin around to get toys or to watch people.  She also has just started doing an army crawl to move forward.  She can do a full plank lifting herself up on her toes for short periods of time.  Heidi is a jumper - she likes to play in her Jumperoo and in her doorway jumper.  And she likes to make some noises while she's at it!  This girl loves to blow raspberries and squeal with joy.
 Social:  Heidi loves her sister and her friends at daycare.  She is still the youngest one in her class so she spends lots of time spinning around on the floor watching everyone, trying to keep track of them.  Despite being fairly social she is definitely a 'Mommy's Girl' - if she sees Mommy, especially if she is tired or hungry, she will make a crazy little whining sound (a cross between a cry and a laugh) until I at least acknowledge her.  She will also become overwhelmed when tired if there are a lot of strange people around.  Despite all of this she did allow us to leave her with Miss Ronda one night so we could take Allison to her first movie-theatre movie (Monsters University). 
 And I need to post a picture of her 'Grammy Quilt' - My Mom made this fabulous quilt for her.  Hexagons just like I asked and then Mom foundation pieced that border herself.  fabulous!  I love the colors and Heidi does, too!
And my best guess is by the time Heidi is seven months old she'll be ALL OVER THE PLACE but we shall see.  We are so thankful for our sweet little Heidi-Bug

Family Ride

 We noticed a nice bike path ending at the park where we fed ducks recently.  So we decided to head back and check out the bike path.  We rode all the way to the end a few miles away....and stopped to play at a fabulous park (it really was an awesome park!).  Allison rode with me, but it is a really gentle ride so we're thinking next time she needs to practice on her own bike.  Heidi enjoyed her ride quite a bit, especially with some great reading eating material.

Finished in 2013 No. 4

 I finished this quilt months ago but haven't managed to post about it.  This was the quilt I made for Little Miss Emma and she's been using it for some time.  I made a coordinating one for Heidi, too, that has been waiting for the binding to be finished.  I used the Japanese novelty fabric to figure out the colors to use.  I found the main fabric at a quilt shop up in Seattle and I've been hoarding it for sometime, waiting for just the right excuse to use it.  Natalie was thrilled to have some pink to add to Emma's room.  I've used a similar pattern once before and I like how this one looks with polyester batting....nice and fluffy.  Now I just need to finish up Heidi's!

Feeding Ducks

 We took Heidi to feed the ducks for the very first time.  She was fascinated by the whole experience.
 These ducks aren't afraid of anything!  And they have to be some of the best fed ducks ever.
Although ducks are fascinating Heidi would still rather watch me & play with her toes.  Love this little girl!

Saturday, July 27, 2013

A New Favorite


Mark discovered a new 'park' that we've been to a few times now.  It is actually a series of ponds where process water from local industries is cooled down before being released back into the river.  You can tell it is a bit warm and stagnant from the amount of algae growing on it.  There are paths all around and water falls to help the water cool down.  We've had fun exploring just a little bit of it and look forward to checking it out more. 

We even found some baby ducklings last time we were there!  Tiny, fuzzy & super cute!
We took Auntie Brittney to the new park on her last night here.  The light was fabulous so I tried to get a picture of her & the girls.  But the girls didn't cooperate.....so.....
 
I was able to try out some new Photoshop skills...this photo is actually a combination of the two above.  Fancy, no?  I'm not going to deny it, I'm pretty proud of this!
This Auntie had her hands full while she was here.  We were all sad to see her go and can't wait for our next visit!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Envy

 Heidi has been getting better and better at eating her baby food.  Which is a good thing, because she doesn't really want to be eating baby food.  She wants whatever the rest of the family is eating.  She will watch so intently whenever someone is eating around her; just hoping for a little taste.  It won't be long little girl!

Auntie Brittney Love

Heidi finally got to meet her Auntie Brittney this weekend!  She is loving every minute of having her here.  Brittney made it in just before Heidi turned 6 months old.  A pretty fabulous time, to be sure.

To the Beach Part II



 On our way home from our beach retreat we decided to stop in at one of our favorite beaches, Agate Beach since it is protected from the wind.  Agate Beach did not disappoint.  Both girls enjoyed playing.  the weather was perfect!  We didn't have long to stay but Allison played hard the entire time.


 Of course we had to take a family picture!
The girls & their Auntie Brittney!  The beach is always better with Auntie Brittney along!

To the Beach Part I

 Auntie Brittney came to visit!  We decided to take her to the beach with us; we rented a little condo for one night just like we did last year for Allison's birthday.  It was a bit windy for our visit but we tried to make the most of it.  Brittney tried to build a sand castle.  Allison insisted on knocking it down.
 Heidi tried to enjoy the beach but it was a bit windy for her tastes.
 We took an early morning walk to try to find some tide pools.  The good news is both girls slept in that morning; the bad news is that means we missed low tide & the tide pools.  We had a fun morning walk with Auntie Brittney anyhow.  And Allison looks forward to finding 'An Enemy' next time (a.k.a. anemone).


This girl adores her Auntie Brittney!  And we love having Auntie Brittney along, too, she does a great job entertaining the girls while we go through all the work involved in a one day trip to the beach (seriously, since when did it require so. much. stuff. to go to the beach?).

Sisters

 These two sure love each other.  And that makes us all so happy!  And I sure love dressing them in coordinating outfits :).

Baby Chub-ola

 Heidi looks a lot like Allison as a baby except for the fact that Heidi actually has baby chub (Allison was always super skinny - even as a baby).  We love how squishable and sweet our little Heidi-bug is.  I've been trying hard to get a picture of the rolls on her wrists and the dimples on her elbows.  This is the best I have so far.  I'll keep trying and I definitely need to document her little feet here sometime soon, too!


A Trip to the Firestation

 Allison's Uncle Jon is a firefighter and happens to be currently stationed at a very convenient downtown station.  A few weeks ago we decided to see if he was around after we took a trip to the Farmer's Market.  Sure enough, he was on duty and had some time available.  He gave Allison a tour and then loaded her up in an engine and took her for a drive around the block.  She was very excited to get to ride in the front seat.  She wore a headset so they could talk to each other.
She had a huge grin on her face the whole time.
 Coming back to the station.  I had to stay and wait; they didn't have a car seat that Heidi could ride in so we just watched.
This girl loves her Uncle Jon!

July 2013 Garden Update

 We're not doing much with our garden right now other than watering & harvesting.  In late June we did plant zucchini & cucumber in a new bed Mark built.  Our original bed is busy producing all sorts of tasty food.  The lettuce all bolted but we're still getting kale along with some carrots (including a funny double rooted one (above), onions, sugar snap peas & Sun Gold tomatoes.

Our potato plants were out of control for awhile and I was really disappointed as it didn't seem that they ever flowered as I expected.  I was sure they hadn't ever produced any potatoes when the plants started to die back.  I finally decided to dig them up and see.  Turns out there were lots of potatoes growing in one 16"x16" square.  Yum!