Proof!

Incase you didn't believe my statement that Kaylee is standing...here is proof!

One handed!

Thanks Michele for this cute outfit!! :)

A great way to end 2009!

Kaylee turned 6 months old a few days after Christmas. What a great time of year to have a 6 month old! She is so interactive and aware of things and was full of smiles for everyone.

Here is what she has been up to lately:

• She weighs in at 15 lbs and is 26 inches long. She has tripled her birth weight and grown 9 inches in 6 months!
• She knows her name and smiles when you say it.
• She is sitting up unsupported for a few seconds at a time, we're working on more daily.
• She stands while holding onto our fingers or an object for at least a minute. She has to be wearing the socks with the grippy stuff on the bottoms or else she does the splits. :)
• She talks a lot at home, but appears to be shy around other people.
• She is mastering the thumb sucking and loves to hold onto something while she sucks. Her new favorite thing to hold onto is a floppy bunny with big, long floppy ears from Michelle.

We started rice cereal on Christmas day. I am so glad we waited until 6 months to start solid foods. She was a pro at eating as soon as we put the first bite in her mouth!

Yummy!

I wipe my own face too!

I want to try it myself!


She must have decided that she is a big girl now...I handed her an empty sippy cup one day just to play with and she knew exactly what to do with it. So no more bottles!

She also held on tight and rocked herself on her rocking moose! I only intended to put her on it for a picture but she seemed to have a blast!

This is fun!!!


We were able to Skype with my dad, Michele, Mandy, Seth, Crum, and the "other" Haaks on Christmas!


Aunt Charlene and Uncle Tim came for Christmas this year. What a treat!


Happy New Year to you all!

Merry Christmas!

Another first-time mom lesson learned...

I wish we had enough money to do one of those "watch me grow" professional photographer packages, starting with those adorably posed newborn shots (like these....so cute), but such is the life of a one income family. So for 6 months AND Christmas (fortunately they coincided) we went to one of those "mall type" photo studios. Unfortunately our young photographer must have been really hungry because she rushed us so she could head out to lunch. I had come prepared for several outfits on Kaylee but was only allowed 2 (even though on the phone they said I could bring as many as I wanted). I also had ideas of poses I wanted: Family Christmas, family regular, Kaylee standing (she's really good at it!!), and Kaylee with her favorite blanket. I had to force the 2 family portraits even though I had scheduled a "family session", not an "baby session", but I didn't get the other two poses of Kaylee. This was my first time doing something like this and on the phone they said it would take 2 hours. So I let the photographer do her poses first and by the time I asked for my pose ideas, she said we were out of time (maybe 20-30 minutes total). I was sad. We looked through the photos she took, and understood why people pay good money for a real professional photographer. We picked 2 poses and left feeling scammed. I know, I know...I should have spoken up while we were there, but I thought maybe that was just the way it was. I complained to a few friends who said I need to call the shop and complain because their own experiences had been wonderful. We'll see if I do that, I haven't decided. I HAVE decided that I will be saving money for the next 6 months to go to a professional for her 1 year pictures. Infact, whenever we make it out to CA we'll be going to see my long-time friend, Raquel, who owns Lifestages Photography!! Anyway, enough of my venting. Here is one of the poses of Kaylee (it doesn't scan well).


I'll post the Christmas photo after our cards are mailed. :) But for now here are a couple I took at home.

Bumbo fun

These rings are the best toy and currently Kaylee's favorite. I highly recommend getting these for any infant. We have them hanging from her car seat, bouncy seat, exersaucer, and she holds them in the bumbo. She likes to pull them, throw them, shake them, and most of all, eat them. She's got a tongue that rivals Gene Simmons! haha

5 months!

This month has been so much fun...minus the lack of sleep. We were sleeping anywhere between 8-10 hours each night but the last few weeks have been no more than 4 hours at a time. I read that some babies do this at this age and I was hoping that Kaylee wouldn't be one of "those babies", but oh well. She is such a fun and happy baby that even at 4am she is smiling and is as cute as can be, so I don't mind the no-sleep phase.

This month she's been busy. She rolls front to back pretty consistently, and occasionally back to front.


She laughs big belly laughs when we sing crazy songs, make funny faces, or bounce her on our knees. Although Kaylee doesn't seem to mind my inability to carry a tune, I'll spare you from my singing. For Thanksgiving her favorite song by mommy went like this: (sung to the tune of I'm a Barbie Girl)
I'm a Kaylee girl
In a Kaylee world
Dressed in camo
My gun says blam-o
When a turkey runs
Innn front of meee
I will shoot him,
Then I'll eat him


At 4 months she weighed 13 lbs and was 24". At 5 months she is 14 lbs and 25"!! The growth may explain the sleep patterns too. Another fun thing she has learned is to reach for me when someone else is holding her! She does well with all people, but when she's done being held, she looks around for me, makes eye contact and puts her arms out! Warms my heart every time!
So far we've successfully navigated our way through the start of flu season by avoiding those who are really sick. We missed out on Thanksgiving with the "Apex Woertmans" due to illness, but had a nice evening at The Hamiltons (our neighbors). Then on Saturday my Aunt Charlene and Uncle Tim came for a weekend visit after they spent Thanksgiving in Tennessee. I really believe that Kaylee remembered Aunt Charlene from 4 1/2 months ago because Kaylee seemed so relaxed with her. (Aunt C stayed with us for 2 weeks when Kaylee was born).



Breastfeeding is still going very well. We'll start solid foods at 6 months. If you're interested, a great book to read is Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense . It was recommended to me by my mom's good friend Kathy who is a registered dietician.

A beautiful fall day

Today was a beautiful day so we took pictures outside! Last month John planted a tree for Kaylee to grow up with. It is a Dynamite Red Crape Myrtle that should reach 15-20 feet tall. Right now it is only 3 feet tall and has no leaves, but come spring it will blossom with bright red flowers!



Then we came inside to take pictures of Kaylee's fun shoes! Pam E. sent these to her and even though they're still a little big, she seemed to enjoy them! Infact the whole outfit in this picture is courtesy of Pam! :) THANK YOU!!!

I love my shoes so much I just want to stare at them!

More Fall fun...

A Kaylee-bug!!



I love my bouncy chair now that mommy cut off the weird things that dangled from it and replaced them with my beloved rings!

Happy Fall!

This week we had 2 of our nieces stay with us while Freddy and Candy went on vacation! Today we went to Gross Farms for photo ops and some good fall fun like a corn maze, hot cider, and a hay ride. Note to self: Don't wait until the day before Halloween to go to the pumpkin patch. Another note to self: All those things I thought were free growing up, I'm now learning parents actually pay for that stuff! So with 4 of us not "kid price" the only fun to be had was walking around the very picked through pumpkins, then taking pictures at the entrance. Good thing we have a baby who didn't know any better and 2 very understanding nieces!




Then it was off to Kmart to buy nice looking pumpkins for some more photo ops at home.

"Talking"

bouncy chair + rings = ♥

Fall weather = Sweaters!

My mommy LOVES sweaters! This is my first sweater!

M.C. Escher-esque

Growing up I really liked artwork by M.C. Escher so when I saw this outfit, I had to get it just because it reminded me of that style.


Rockin' my new outfit on my rockin' moose! Thanks Auntie Jessica and GrandMar!!

My Little Pumpkin

Thank you Michelle for this warm, cuddly, and snuggly outfit!!!!

3 1/2 months

All pretty girls need pretty pants and a pretty pink bow!


I can't decide if I like the rings or my thumb better!


I'm a big girl! Doing push ups!

Bumbo...what a funny word

For MY birthday, Kaylee got a Bumbo seat! Funny how shopping for myself has gone out the window! This last week Kaylee has been doing sit ups when she is laying on her playmat or in my lap. She prefers to sit and is pretty good at holding her head up. So last night we bought a Bumbo at the kid's consignment shop in Apex. It also works really well when we Skype with Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Kate!

John treated me to a Chili's dinner for my birthday tonight! I had a coupon for a free dessert so we got the Paradise Pie...highly recommended! :) Kaylee was awake all dinner but was content to sit in her car seat and watch us eat.

A love-hate relationship

Who knew I'd ever be so excited about being successful at sucking snot from my child's nose. Kaylee is conflicted about it's use though. She hates to see it coming at her, does not like it being stuck in her nose, but then smiles when the booger is no longer in her nose. I'm sure it's a plight that most mothers experience...feeling guilty for forcing an object up your baby's nose, frustration with those super stuck boogers, and wishing you had smaller fingers to remove said boogers. But all in all, we're fortunate to not have to use the aspirator all that often.

"hahahahahahaha"

A day in the life....

I am starting to understand that Grandpa is on the computer screen! We love Skype!

The bathtub we registered for and got as a gift causes me much anxiety during bath time because of it's poor design. So tonight I improvised with a "big person towel" and our kitchen sink!! So much easier and I actually enjoyed giving her a bath!!

I fell asleep waiting for mommy to figure out a new bathing method! I NEVER fall asleep on the boppy!!