A few quick updates

H-bear has been changing in quite a few little ways lately...

She is very close to sitting up on her own. We sit her up in her Boppy pillow, and she can now hold up her upper body very well, and just bounces off the sides a little. She also leans forward from this position to look at her feet. She hasn't tried to grab them yet, but she definitely likes to look at them.

I think she really enjoys this, too, but recently she seems to like sitting in her pillow more than sitting in my lap or D-husband's. Whenever we hold her for too long, even with toys or something to entertain her, she whines and squirms until we put her in the pillow or on her tummy. She is so anxious to be mobile!

She is well on her way to crawling. When she's on her tummy she does a sort of "caterpillar crawl" by pulling her legs up under her and scooting her upper body forward. She can't do this while holding her head up though, so she doesn't go too fast. This photo is a little blurry, but you get the idea.

I'm pretty sure it's too early for her to be teething, but she has gotten more interested in putting anything and everything in her mouth. Number one favorite at the moment: mommy and daddy's fingers. Must taste better than her own, though she still loves her thumb. She likes to gnaw on her toys, too, but gets a little frustrated when they don't fit into her mouth.

She is becoming more vocal and making new noises, too. She babbles quite a bit now, especially during diaper changes. Just this morning, actually, she started trying out a new sound. She presses her lips together and says "mmm"...she's still doing it now, in fact! She's really close to laughing, too, which is very cute.

She also just had her first little cold (we think). Sometime last week she started coughing a little- a very dry, raspy cough. It wasn't very often, just a few times a day. We took her temperature evey few hours, and the highest it got was 99.5. She didn't have a runny nose or anything else to be worried about, but after the coughing lasted a few days we decided to call the doctor's office. We spoke with a nurse, who told us that a humidifier in her room should help, and to call back if she got worse, got a runny nose or fever, or refused to eat. We went out and bought a humidifier, but as luck would have it, she stopped coughing that day, so we haven't bothered to use it.

She is doing very well in her crib, sleeping 10 to 12 hours every night....which is wonderful! Still taking a few naps during the day, of course. She is always is such a great mood when she's well-rested. Mornings are the best time of day...she smiles so much!

Here's a few new pictures:

She obviously doesn't need us anymore. :(

Turn up your volume for this video...the audio is essential :)

Trip to LC, the cousins finally meet, and baptism!!

Our trip to Lake Charles this past weekend was great! What a whirlwind trip.

We arrived Friday night, and H-bear had a really rough time going to sleep. We figured it was a combination of getting up early that morning (to drop D-husband off at work), the two flights, and all the new people waiting at the house. She was pretty wound up, and not happy about it. :(

On Saturday, we had to wait patiently for H-bear and J's awake times to coincide...H-bear woke up just as J was taking her morning nap, and just as she woke up, H-bear decided it was time for hers! Finally they were awake at the same time. J is almost nine months old now, while H-bear is only about three, so the interaction was pretty one-sided. Still very cute to watch though.

We got Darrell's for lunch, and afterward at the house we spent the rest of the afternoon with visitors and family who stopped by. H-bear got a little overwhelmed at times by all the attention and new faces, but mostly she seemed to enjoy it. After Mr. Gatti's pizza for dinner, D-husband and I, and some friends, went to Lauberge casino. Had a great time, but stayed out a little too late.

Sunday afternoon we headed to church for the baptism! We still can't believe how well H-bear did...the whole time the deacon was speaking, she just stared at him, and when he poured the water over the top of her head, she just stuck her thumb in her mouth and looked at something on the ceiling. Lots of friends and family in attendance...so lots of picture-taking afterward!

After that, we all went to D-husband's uncle's house for barbeque. It was nice to see everyone and get a chance to catch up, and let H-bear get passed around a little. It's tough for me not to have her all the time, but she does really well with it, and I'm sure it's good for her.

That evening D-husband and I went to a movie, and then got to eat the top of our wedding cake, which his parents had been saving for us in the freezer! The icing was exactly the same, but the cake was a little dense. Not bad though!

We're back at home now, and once again settling back into our routine. Wichita is getting hot! Three days this week are forecasted over 100 degrees...yuck. More news later!

Trip to PHX, new sleeping arrangements, and 3 months!

Our trip to Phoenix was great! H-bear did SO well on the plane…slept through take-off and landing, and only fussed a little (when we changed her diaper). It was overcast and rainy when we arrived…perfect AZ weather!

We paid visits to all our favorite restaurants and places: In N Out Burger, Filibertos, Native New Yorker, etc. We rode the lightrail (it opened just a few days after we left last year!), visited my high school band director, went to a game night, and saw Star Trek. H-bear got through all of this very easily. I was initially worried about how she would handle all the new faces, but she seemed to enjoy all the attention so much that by the time we left, I was afraid she’d be bored going back to our old routine in Wichita!

I had also wondered how H-bear and my old dog, Duke, would react to each other. Duke gave her a little sniff the day we arrived, and didn’t pay anymore attention to her after that. H-bear never really noticed him at all. :)

Out of the five nights we spent in Phoenix, we only had to put H-bear to sleep for two of them. We definitely took advantage of the free baby-sitting to spend some evenings with our old friends. Thankfully she didn’t give my mom any trouble, and slept through all five nights without a hitch.

I guess it's kind of old news now...she's been sleeping through the night for almost a month! She figured out how to suck her thumb, and because of that, literally "overnight" she was able to sleep eight hours! Now when she wakes up in the middle of the night she can soothe herself back to sleep without me. For the record, that first night was Friday, May 8th. :)

It was great to see everyone, and seeing all of you again made us feel (more than we did before) that Wichita isn’t the place we want to live permanently. We need to be closer to friends and family, or at least a more familiar place. We’re happy in Wichita for the time being (make that: happy that D-husband has a job!), but we feel a little isolated.

So, now we’re back home. H-bear and I have fallen back into our daily routine, with one exception: she’s sleeping in her own room! So far we have had her in a bassinet next to our bed, but since she has been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now (not to mention she’s out-growing that bassinet), we figured she’s ready to make the big move. So far she’s handling it beautifully. She only had a problem one night…she stuck her foot out through the rails and couldn’t turn it to pull it back through. I felt awful! I was sure she would refuse to sleep in the crib ever again, but she seems to have forgotten the incident.

H-bear will be three months old this week! Since we don't have another doctor's appointment for a while, I took her in to be weighed: 13 lbs, 3 oz!

Here are the latest new photos:

Four generations!

Duke - I miss you!

This is the enormous box the crib came in.

Almost done...

Test drive (we did put an actual sheet on it later, I promise)

I think she likes it!

Tummy time with her new favorite toy.

Nap time