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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

A Very Gigi Christmas

I hope y'all had the merriest of Christmases, because I know we sure did! So Santa totally overdid it for a 6 month old. G must have been REALLY good this year haha because we had to split up the opening of her presents into 4 different sessions. I'm trying to figure out the best way to do the whole Santa thing, because growing up we always opened presents on Christmas Eve (Romanian tradition), and here in America it's all about Christmas Day. I remember when I was younger complaining to my mom about why we didn't open gifts in the morning like all the other kids, and she said, OK you wanna wait until morning, no problem! And then I realized I could open presents that much sooner if we did it the night before, so that won out ;-) I think it makes sense to do the morning thing with little ones because they're way more refreshed and ready to tear into everything. G was inexplicably tired all of Christmas eve, even with a bunch of naps, so when 6 p.m. rolled around, she wasn't too into the idea of opening anything...


I suppose this is the best way to try to figure out what's inside?
She's getting the "Who, me?!" face down pat!
I wish this one wasn't blurry...

DH got me and G mommy/daughter Tiffany bracelets. I was so surprised, it completely made me melt. Hers can be adjusted as she grows (it's a petite version of mine) so it will fit her a long time.



Only a video game can get him this excited!
Santa drinks Diet Coke in this house...
Um and this is what's left of just G's gifts under the tree after the adults opened all of theirs. I realize that this is how most trees look with gifts for everyone under them. We do it up real big around here.
And on Christmas Day with grandpa, opening up the Elmo Live he got her (such a fun toy!)...
Time out to play with an old favorite...
Stocking time!
Probably her favorite thing of all, a banana infant toothbrush teether thing... Had I only known that an $8 item would be received more favorably than her $70 Laugh and Learn Home...
And finally finishing up later in the day!

So there ya have it, our very first Christmas together as a family. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful hubby and amazing daughter to spend all my Christmases with. Now I can't believe we're approaching 2011. We have so much to look forward to this coming year!

Oh and we had G's 6 month check up today and she is 19 lbs 10 oz and 27 1/4 inches long (or tall I should say since she likes to "stand" all the time now). Before each visit I like to wager with hubby as to what we think her weight is. He seriously said, "Do you think she's 30??" Now I know she's big, but that would have been one hell of a growth spurt!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

My daughter is 6 months old.

Oh. My. God. I'm quite sure it's getting annoying to read about how I am in utter disbelief that another month has gone by in my child's life. But she's growing up so damn fast! I see newborns and it feels like she's sooo far away from that, yet how can it be? I can still remember how her kicks felt when she was inside me, and now she's a little person?!

I always marvel how she's becoming more and more... human. Babies are interesting creatures. I never thought I would be the kind of mother that thought the simplest little things showed genius, but now I'm that crazy lady that thinks, "aha, she grabbed the remote control and pushed a button, my child is the epitome of brilliance!" To watch a little being go from so totally helpless to showing more and more independence every day IS remarkable. When she's presented with her bottle, she snatches it and feeds herself. When people talk to her, she genuinely seems engaged and smiles socially and hams it up. She reaches for me. She sits all on her own and can entertain herself. I can cuddle her and we can take naps together now. (And she does grab the remote control and push buttons. And whines when I take it away. Seriously! I may need to find a fakey for her to play with.) I have moments where I miss her teenyness as a newborn, but I am so loving this "age" where she is just so playful. She really is such a happy baby (much unlike her first couple months where she was so unpredictable!).

We have finally started veggies. We did rice cereal for the first 3 weeks or so, then moved on to oatmeal (which she liked way better). Our pedi wanted us to hold off on introducing any other solids until 6 months, so we stuck with his advice (OK I lied, we started 3 days before 6 months :-P). Saturday evening we broke out the shiny new Beaba Babycook that had been sitting in its box since my baby shower (OK I lied again, it was likely in its box way before my shower). We steamed up some sweet potato, then pureed, and G had her first taste.

Initial reaction? WTH is this?! Didn't really love it, and she actually gagged at one point, so we decided she'd had enough after a couple little tastes. I've read that it can take a bunch of "tries" for a baby to take to a particular food, so we served her some more sweet potato in the morning, and she loved it the second time! We went with carrots next, and she really liked those as well. The world of solids is so much fun - though I do feel like a hypocrite serving my daughter all these organic vegetables, as if I eat that way. I really need to change my eating habits, because I can't foresee justifying me scarfing down pizza to a 3 year old when I put broccoli in front of her. I'm loving making my own baby food - I had skeptics that thought I wouldn't do it, but I find it both fun and rewarding. Plus we're going to save so much money in the long run (not to mention how good it is for her to have fresh organic veggies and fruits!).

Sleep at night has gotten so much better. She wakes up once, scarfs her bottle down in 5 minutes and is right back out. No biggie. She still takes a few naps during the day - two that are about two hours long and one or two extras for around an hour or so. Lots of napping! I love coming home from work and getting into bed with her for a nice long nap together. I feel really lucky that she goes down to sleep so easily - no need for Ferberizing here (watch, I totally just jinxed myself). I was sort of convinced petrified that we'd have to hold her to sleep until she went off to college.

We seriously are so head over heels for this girl. She has been the biggest blessing and is such a joy for our family. I'm so excited for all the memories we will be making this holiday season and for the years to come. Santa sure went a little crazy this year, but G has been such a good girl that mama he couldn't help himself. ;-)

I'm really excited about our plans for New Year - we're going to be going up to our friends' cabin in the mountains for a long weekend. It will be G's first time in the snow! I know I'm going to have to bundle her up from head to toe... I can't wait to see how she's going to react. I'm a little afraid of how she's going to do with sleeping out for a few nights. She's never had to sleep longer than a nap in her pack and play, but hopefully it will work. A moment of horror just struck me as I realized just how much crap we're going to have to pack for 3 nights away from home!

Her next dr. appointment is on the 27th so we'll have the latest weigh-in then. I'm sure my lil chunkster is growing just fine! I can't think of any more updates at the top of my head, so I'll present you with some goodies a barrage of pictures from the half year(!!) photo shoot.
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

Merry Christmas everyone! I'm sure we'll be updating right after with another boatload of pictures!