Asking us what the green stuff is
Not sure if she should touch it
Our neighbor was trimming, so we had issues getting her attention from this point forward.
I just think she looks cute here
She was squawking at Daddy
She just looks so precious holding his hand
Her and the tongue
Not sure what to think of the neighbor
These were at the wedding reception.
Here she is with Great Grandma Woods.
Heartburn sucks. It's just started bothering me the past two days. Wouldn't be because of the gianormous pot of chili I practically ate by myself for the past two days?
Cravings - I can't really call them cravings. They're more like, foods I enjoy that everyone else thinks is weird. Here are a few things I enjoy.
Another weird *side effect* seems to be a lack in my obsession with chocolate. I crave chocolate when I'm not pregnant. I wanted everything slathered in chocolate when I was pregnant with Bella. Now, "eh" doesn't really matter to me. In fact, when Adam fixes me a bowl of ice cream, I'm actually requesting less than I ever have. So strange. Sugar is my one true weakness and I could care less for it.
Aversions - The thought of these don't make me sick really, I just don't care for it right now.
Hormones - When I was pregnant with Bella I was all over the place. It didn't take much for me to start bawling. Once I'd start, I couldn't stop. I've cried a few times this go round. But I always feel better afterwards. With Bella it could go on for days. Emotionally, I'm pretty stable. I have my moments still, but hey, I deal with an 8 month old 24/7.
Thyroid - For those unaware I have a thyroid condition. It has been underactive for the past four years or so and I was place on medication prior to Adam & I getting married. I normally have my TSH levels (thyroid stimulating hormones) tested every six months. Due to pregnancy TSH has to be tested every 6 weeks. If the TSH levels are not kept normal it can cause birth defects in an unborn child. This is what kind of gave us a clue we might be having a boy. With Bella they had to up my medication every six weeks. With this little guy, it has remained the same since my second month of pregnancy. I pretty much took that as a sign that there wasn't a little girl in my tummy.
That's all for tonight. As I remember more I'll add it.
And it is rather apparent he is going to be a lot like his big sister. He's already munching on the fingers. Yay!
We were able to spread the news to our family. Our one and only nephew on my side of the family was so thrilled. Adam told him in person and Gaige's response was "WOOHOO" with a fist in the air. Gaige then ran outside to tell Papa, who was mowing. Dad got off the mower and started walking towards Adam and said "alright, it's about time someone else was able to make it happen." Then they landed a big hi-five. MEN! I mean, I do feel for my dad. Living in a house with 5 women, have one grandson and three granddaughters, plus another granddaughter due to arrive in October. And when we had animals in the house, if it wasn't female it was neutered. So, the boys deserve some more testosterone I guess. Either way they'll have Gaige, Demi, Brooklyn, Arabella, Abigail, and Baby Boy????
Yes, we have two names we are tossing around and one is winning over the other. I'm not sure when we plan to announce our name choices though. We may just make everyone wait until he arrives!
On the 22nd, Bella had her first official "Big People" meal. We had cooked Oregano Chicken, with chicken flavored rice for dinner. I didn't want to spoon feed her baby food that night, so I cut up some chicken, cooled down some rice, and popped open a jar of baby carrots. She chowed down. At first she wasn't sure what to think of the chicken because she'd only been given tiny bits before. I decided, she has 7 teeth, she can handle bigger pieces. She did just that. She absolutely loved the rice. So I fear, we have another carb lover in the family.
As I've been saying, we've taught her several baby signs, three of which she signs back. Above she was asking for more please. Technically you are supposed to touch your finger tips together. She has her own way of telling us, but it gets the point across. She gently touches her fingertips, then clasps her hands together making a little squeeze motion. We know what she wants, and she gets what she wants. I'm sure the sign will correct itself as she gets older. And that was a lucky shot. There's a reason why you haven't seen pics of her signs before.
Above is her snorty, huff n puff face she likes to make. She always wants to do it when she has a mouth full of food too.
And of course, eating all that big people food will wear a girl out! Poor thing couldn't quit yawning during dinner. Granted she ate a half hour later than normal.
And another baby signing gem. She knows how to tell us she went potty. She was turned to her Daddy, letting him know she needed changed. It's funny how Daddy is the diaper changer once he comes home. It's nice, I get a break, but it's like Mommy is not useful unless Daddy is no where to be found. What can I say, she is a Daddy's Girl.
So my darling...where to begin?
Today was my 18 week, 5 days appointment. You can tell I'm enthused can't you? The baby was doing great, heartbeat between 150 and 160. I got the "you need a flu shot" lecture, to which I replied, no I don't and no I'm not. You can leave it at that. Then we discussed my issues with my primary doctor and that I need to get my TSH levels checked as I'm nearly 2 weeks behind on that. Oops. So before leaving I stopped at the lab station and they stole my blood. This was perfect because now I don't have to pack up Bella and sit in a waiting room full of sickos just to be put in the lab waiting room with more sickos and then figure out what to do with her while they're drawing my blood. Their facility isn't exactly kid friendly when it comes to labs. Then we discussed my 20 week ultrasound. Unfortunately the doctor took so long that the place was closed by the time I went to check out. So I'll have to wait until tomorrow for them to call and tell me when my appointment is. Cross you're fingers it will be less than two weeks! We shall know a gender and perhaps that will prompt us to figure out what we're going to name this baby, besides Pickles. Other than that, it's just a four week wait for another fun loving appointment.
Then I tried to get some more pictures of her standing on her own and as usual she just wanted to eat the camera once she caught me trying to take pictures.
For some reason she was in an extremely happy and playful mood today and was quite the ham for the camera. It made for a great afternoon.
When I took the picture below I was hoping to capture her letting go, but again, no such luck.
Adam managed to capture some rare pictures of Bella and me playing together. Mommy isn't always camera ready (as you can see) and so I try not to get my picture taken too much. This needs to change. One day she'll ask where the pictures of me and her are and I won't have any.
Tonight for dinner the poor baby was so worn out she could barely keep her eyes open. She had her first taste of Chicken Sticks. They stink to high heaven, look and feel disgusting but she ate them up. Not one of them ended up in her highchair or on the floor. Her other first was Mango. She nearly ate the whole container before I caught Adam and told her she had had enough. So then she finished up with another teething biscuit, took a bath, and hit the sack. I'd say it's been a quite night, but she's already fussed twice. Once an hour does not make for a fun night. Let's hope she doesn't do it anymore tonight.
Daddy then got down beside the bed and she attempted to give him kisses but ended up head butting him with the bill of the hat. They also played peek-a-boo. If there's one thing certain in this world, it's that a certain little girl loves her Daddy.
In her new found age she has developed tremendously. She's getting more and more brave with each passing day. Today she decided it was a good time to pull up to Mommy with a toy and then let go, balance, and chew on her toy at the same time. We are definitely getting closer to walking.
No, your eyes aren't deceiving you, she really does have pretty blue eyes. I use an online photo editing software and was playing around tonight with a feature I hadn't used and I think it turned out kind of cool.
Below you will see one of our biggest pet peeves with her...chewing on the leather furniture. It's a big no-no and of course when you tell her so and pop her mouth (lightly, of course) she screams as if she's broken a bone. Daddy was so not happy to see this picture.
Here she is doing her dance. I did take a video, but they take forever to load on here. Basically she hits the buttons on the table and when the music plays she bounces up and down. It's cute and she smiles at you because you're smiling at her.
This past week she has started her bear crawl. She hates to crawl on her knees and would prefer to walk. Of course Mommy has no desire to bend over and hold her hands while we slowly walk across the floor. I'm more than happy to let her figure it out on her own. She even stood in the middle of the floor today and used a toy to try and stand up. Of course the toy wasn't tall enough to assist but at least she's attempting it. I'd say baby steps, but she seems to do everything in leaps and bounds.
So far I have been relatively unsuccessful in getting a picture of her standing on her own. This was the closest I've come today, even after taking hundreds of pictures. It's like she sees the camera and decides she wants to sit. Or she's too close to me, because she's using the couch as her pull up device. Soon enough...
Our last milestone of the day involved her first ever teething biscuit. Thursday we went shopping and I picked up some yogurt melts, and cheese puffs (aka baby crack among my December Mamas), chicken & turkey sticks and of course whole wheat teething biscuits.
She wasn't sure what to think at first, but she sure knew what to do with it. After a few tastes, she was hooked. She gnawed until there was nearly nothing left. Of course it ended up in her ears, her hair, on top of the highchair, under the highchair tray, and sprinkled around her chair on the floor. Thank goodness we purchased a floor mat while we were out and about. She nearly gagged herself at the end because she tried shoving the remaining piece in and couldn't figure out why it didn't melt like the rest of her finger foods.
