Start 'em young

I'll be glad when she learns to walk so the middle of the room will be cleaned too.

Now if I can just teach her to dust and clean bathrooms...

I could get used to this "sleep" thing

Ok so WOW! Jamie is now sleeping through the night pretty consistently. The earliest she will wake up is 3:00, which is better than 10:00, 12:00 AND 3:00. But usually she waits until 5:00. Then goes back to sleep until 7:00. I've changed up the night time routine some. starting at 8:00, I nurse her, rock her, and lay her in her crib awake (same stuff) but now, when she sits up in her crib, I leave the room and let her cry for 30 seconds, then go back in, lay her down and stay with her until she sits up again. She is learning to stay laying down so mommy stays with her. So getting-to-sleep time has gone from 2 hours to 45 minutes to 25 minutes. So YAY for improvement! .

.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, Jamie in a Jog Suit!

Sleep is a Good Thing

So just a quick report on what our latest endeavour has been. I have been "that mom" that rocks her baby to sleep EVERY time and never lets the baby cry in her crib. I'm still mostly that mom, but this weekend I started training Jamie to fall asleep on her own in her crib. We have made huge steps in just a few nights. You see, J was also still nursing at midnight, too, and we had to break that also. So the first night (Thursday) she wakes up at midnight and Daryl goes in there (our thoughts being if the milk wasn't near by she would go back to sleep). After about 15 minutes of HYSTERICAL crying, I go in there so Daryl can sleep since he has to go to work. So I put her in her crib since she freaked out being in my lap and not eating. I find a light up toy that distracts her long enough to calm her down, and we spend the next 2 hours staring at each other. Finally, she gives up and goes to sleep. SUCCESS! The next night she slept until 3:00, the next night she slept until 2:30 but I made her hold out on eating until 3:00. Last night she slept until 5:41, I fed her, and she stayed asleep until 8:00. I'll take that! Now it takes about 40 minutes for her to fall asleep (better than 2 hours). I stay in the room with her (I work on my laptop) so she doesn't freak out, and then she eventually starts whimpering and that's when I go over and rub her back and then she falls asleep. So for those wondering, a few months back I tried the Cry It Out thing for a week and it made her super clingy and she never would go to sleep with me out of the room, so I'm happy we figured something out that makes us both happy (and sleepy!). Whew!

Life's a Beach!

We had our first vacation as a family this past weekend. Jamie did GREAT! We drove to Hilton Head on Thursday evening and Jamie only fussed maybe 20 minutes because we were running late on her dinner. The rest of the time she giggled, jabbered and slept. Coming home, she slept the entire time we were driving! She woke up when we stopped to eat and then - ZZZZzzz. And can I just say I LOVE the van. We were able to take EVERYTHING and when J would fall asleep, I could easily hop up to the front and sit with Daryl. Here are some pictures of our weekend trip. Jamie LOVED the beach. She loved playing in the sand and splashing in the ocean. She would practically DRAG Daryl behind her as she wanted to walk further into the water. She laughed when the waves would splash her. She also was digging on the way salt water tasted (I think she gets that from her daddy). She kept trying to eat the sand, and I have a feeling she got some, but we did pretty well at keeping her hands out of her eyes and mouth for the most part. The sand says "Jamie" if you can't tell... Daddy being artistic.

Happy Birthday Davis!

Our Best Friends' little boy, Davis, turned 3 this past week. Time flies SOOO fast! He was the first baby I ever held and now he is a big boy! He had a party at one of those jumpy places and it was a blast. The only pictures we have of Davis is of him zooming from one jumpy thing to another.

Jamie was so excited to see her best friend, Marleigh - Davis's little sister. She is only 3 months younger than Jamie.

Jamie and I in front of the Fire Truck slide.

Daddy and Jamie at the start of the Fire Truck slide.

Tim coming back from saving Davis from the obstacle course.

Jamie showing off those gams to Davis as he FINALLY makes it out!

Tim & Daryl took the girls down the Fire Truck slide...

"We MADE it, Marleigh!!! Whew!" The princesses telling secrets. Tim giving D a boost so he can blow out the candles.

Davis opening all of his gifts with Amanda there to assist and do crowd control.

Because I SAID SO!!!

• I WILL be rocked to sleep!
• I WILL touch the TV & Cable box!
• I WILL Pull the leafs of your plants!
• I WILL be fed the instant I get hungry!
• I WILL NOT tolerate having my diaper changed!

Why???? Because I SAID SO!!! What???....I can't talk yet!?!?! ... crap.

Going Over The Edge On A Crazy Train

We bought Jamie a walking/riding toy train today. She LOVES it! She is still too little for the riding part, but the walker part she is all about.

Foto Friday

This Picture kills two birds with one stone.... It shows her new, 6th tooth on top AND (for Holly) it's Jamie not happy. :-)

Just a picture of Jamie in a top I really like Jamie pretending she is a teenager. She crawls on her hands and knees now instead of the army crawl. And she can pull to standing on pretty much anything that won't slide. She now knows how to get off the couch by laying on her belly and going down feet first (of course, I still hover like the mother-hen I am). She won't let me get a good video of her - she is so fast that by the time I get the camera, she is already in the floor and when I try to stage a "reenactment" she decides she wants to be on the couch. sheesh... women.

And though I have no pictures (because I'm a goob and forgot my camera) we went to see my cousin and her new baby. She is 2 months old so in a few more months, Jamie will have a new play date pal!

And in Mommy News...

I am now the proud owner of a Nimbus Grey, Honda Odyssey. Yes, I have joined the ranks of the Soccer Moms.... sweet.

9 Month Check-up

9 Months Old

24 lbs 5 oz

29 in

Miss Jamie had a great check-up and only one shot (which she didn't even cry about, which was a first). She is moving right along. She has met all the developmental milestones and the dr. said she can go ahead and eat table food - which she said she could have been eating for awhile -but hey, I'm new at this and I guess we left the users manual at the hospital. So Jamie had real sweet peas tonight and she really enjoyed them. Daryl taught her how to use a spoon this morning so she fed herself her applesauce at dinner tonight (well, I put the food on the spoon then handed her the spoon, but she does the rest from there).

We took some picture with Miss J after her doc appointment because:
A) we haven't taken pictures with her and us in a long time, and
B) any excuse to go outside while it is nice is a good one.

So Happy to Be 9 Months Old

I can't believe my baby is 9 months old!!!! She seems to be excited, too!

In case your wondering, yes.... she could do this for hours.

Other Developments:

• Jamie can now drink from a sippy cup! Yay!
• She is getting 2 more teeth on top and 1 more on the bottom
• She can cruise furniture like a champ
• She is pulling up to standing more
• She LOVES to stand and play and sometimes will get angry if you make her sit.
• She has mastered getting into a sitting position but refuses to crawl on her knees... she likes to army crawl.
• She can feed herself her rick cakes, she just doesn't know what to do with that last piece that is in her palm. She hasn't figured out she has to open her hand to eat that part. Oh well.
• She is getting better at walking when we hold her hands and can stand on her own for a few seconds when we let go.
• She now cries when I take her out of the bath tub. She loves playing in there.
• She dances whenever she hears music.
• If you say "Kissy, Kissy" she will plant a big sloppy kiss on you.
• If you sing "la, la, la" she will often try to sing along with you.... in her own notes, of course.

She is just growing up so fast now. She is the highlight of our lives and we love her to pieces!!!

Picture Time!

Here are just some new pics of Miss J from this week:

"I'm serving time, man... I'm hoping to get out on good behavior"

Standing on the couch in her overalls... they were below her knees the last time she wore them. Her legs are getting LONG!

What every business girl needs... a laptop and phone... and a strong man in a tux standing behind her... okay, okay, so he's a penguin... don't judge.

Jamie's Christening

Miss Jamie was Christened this Sunday! Here is a little snippet of the video.

Crawl, Sit, Stand, Walk.... In No Particular Order

So Jamie has gone from crawling, to cruising down the couch - she can even go from one piece of furniture to another if it isn't too far away, to standing up in her crib, to now being able to get into a sitting position on her own, all in one week.

Seems to be an odd order to learn to do things, but hey, it worked for her. She is a busy baby! Now she is trying to grab the spoon when I feed her and pushes away your hands if you try to hold her back from getting to something she wants. She is REALLY enjoying her toys now because she can move around them.

Standing Has Never Been so Scary

So I am trying to "teach" Jamie to go to sleep on her own. I have rocked her to sleep every night since she began sleeping in her cradle... what can I say, I love rocking my baby. But I know that she needs to learn to fall asleep on her own. So I have been working on it this week, let her cry for 2 minutes and then coming back, soothing her, then leaving again for 2 minutes until she finally goes to sleep. It has only been getting worse each night... the crying is over the top. So tonight I figured I would try the 2 minutes, 3 minutes, etc. approach. Well, we were at the 4 minute mark and I noticed that at about 3 minutes, her cry became clearer. I go in at 4 minutes, and she is standing in her crib!!! She has NEVER pulled herself up to standing before, so we have yet to put the crib down from the highest setting. So needless to say, her crib is now down a notch so the top of the rail is at her chin and not her navel!!! Sheesh.... because I needed to be scared like that, right? So due to that, Jamie was rocked to sleep tonight (it was 9:00 by the time Daryl was done with the bed) so I didn't think a cry fest until 10:00 would be good for any of us. So tomorrow I start again... with a crib that she CAN'T fall out of!!!

and since I can't leave you without a picture, here you go: Jamie with her new toy house. She LOVES it!!! THis is the collest toy. It makes a ton of sounds and Jamie just thinks it is the most awesome thing. I highly suggest it. I can see it becoming the entrance to many a blanket/chair forts.

Adventures in Baby Proofing

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! So we began baby proofing this weekend. Our living room now looks like an executive prison: sparse luxuries and bars on all the exits. The only thing that remains at this point are pretties up high, and toys down low. All wires are tied up and outlets covered. We can't even leave our laptop bags out. Look at that mischievous grin below! She bee lines for anything off limits. In this picture, the laptop bag is now kept outside the kiddie gate, the rug is gone and the outlet is covered.

And in other news, we painted our master bath this weekend! So Jamie was playing in our bedroom while we painted. I had the foresight to close the bedroom door so she couldn't crawl out. But when Daryl asked me to hold the ladder so he could reach the top, I swear I had my back turned for 20 seconds... when I turned to check on her (which I had been doing the whole time anyways) well, I turned and she had her hand in the paint bucket and had already slapped the floor once. So needless to say, Jamie's hand received a thorough cleaning and the paint can was moved to the OTHER side of the bathroom where she would have to crawl past us first to get to it. I'm just thankful she isn't one to put things in her mouth! (and excuse the floor... there was dirt all over the ladder and our painting supplies!)

Army Crawl - whooa!

Jamie can finally move FORWARD!!! I laid the phone down and she army crawled right to it!

The Room Continues...

Jamie started cruising around the couch today. She's upset that she has to hold onto something to walk.

We finally figured out what we wanted for a center piece in our dining room. We have new blinds in our bedroom! And I made this arrangement for our dresser today. It's coming together! Next we will have a print made, from a panoramic picture Daryl made on our Alaskan honeymoon of the Hubbard Glacier, to go over our bed. . . The next project will probably be the master bath and then Jamie's playroom. So far, that is the only bedroom that needs to be painted; the other 3 we painted before we moved in... and then our room was last week.... but we will have to repaint one of them when we move Jamie to her big girl room... the nursery is the smallest bedroom so we will move her to the biggest bedroom when she is older. House work is never done!

New Pics of Miss Jamie

Jamie in her Christening Dress - It's coming up soon! Jamie today outside in her chair. She LOVES to rock in it! I just thought this was a pretty profile shot of her. Look at those cheeks! I could eat them up! And she is finally getting some hair... sorta. It got hot outside, so here she is inside posing.