Happy Wife, Happy Life

Mommy was so lucky that she got invited for a girls getaway weekend with some of her friends but that meant leaving you for a day.  It's hard to be ok with that since I don't see you all day while I'm at work but the motto Happy Wife Happy Life is so true.  Daddy held down the fort while Mommy headed to Kohler Spa in Wisconsin with her girl friends. 

You and Brisco 

Daddy's Little Princess - no surprise he picked this outfit for you

Brit, Lindsey, Mommy, Priscilla, Jessie and Amanda

Amanda and Mommy enjoying happy hour before our treatments

Auntie Britini, Priscilla and Mommy for lunch

Lindsey, Jessie and Amanda at lunch

Auntie Britini, Amanda, Priscilla and Jessie group selfie

Amanda, Lindsey, Mommy and Auntie Brit having dinner via room service

Mommy got home on Sunday afternoon from her night away with the girls just in time to bring home your high chair from Nana and Papas house and get it set up.  It was clearly the right time bc the minute we put you in it you were so excited to be sitting up seeing everything.  We rolled you around the whole condo so you could get used to sitting in it and enjoy yourself. You are just the happiest girl and it's so fun to watch you enjoy your new experiences. 

so excited to be in your new high chair

admiring your goodies from Auntie Britini

spontaneous photos on Mommy and Daddy's bed! Just the cutest. 

This week we continued our schedule with Daddy gone Mon-Thurs so Avery and I decided to change up our bathtime routine and have a swim party.  Mommy put on her swimsuit and and hopped in the tub with peanut to play.  We splished and splashed for almost a half hour we were just having so much fun!!! The only thing that mommy didn't think of was how difficult it would be to get out of the tub by herself.  With no Daddy, Mommy had to figure out how to get out and dry of without peanut getting cold and then get ready for bed.  Don't worry resourceful mommy figured it out and quite quickly - you were in such a good mood you didn't even notice :)

Mommy and peanut playing in the tub

When Daddy's Away Peanut Likes to Play

It's so hard that Daddy is on a traveling project right now. We miss him so much Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday!!!! But we do have our fun while he's gone.  Lately we've been having some great playtime right before our baths.  Avery's favorite thing to do is naked time (i know so embarrassing) rolling around on her rug, giggling, kicking and singing.  

You can get your toes to your mouth

It's also so fun that you are sitting up now all on your own.  We can put you down and you're totally content with a few toys.  You're still working on your balance from time to time and we make sure you have padding around you when you do tip over but the good news is you haven't scared yourself to much when you fall and you just keep giggling and smiling. 

happy girl

As tough as it is to have Daddy gone four days a week the perks aren't to bad either.  Every morning we have such a wonderful routine.  After you wake up we come back to mommy and daddy's room and you nurse for breakfast.  Then we have snuggle time before mommy has to get ready for work.  It's like you know just how much love mommy needs before she has to peal herself away to get in the shower. Now that we have a little seat for you in our bathroom you have been keeping me company every morning while I get ready for the day. 

morning snuggles with mommy

playtime

so stylish and fancy

Thursday nights can't come quick enough.  Daddy has been lucky on this project that he's been getting home just in time for our nighttime routine.  He walks in the door and goes straight to getting you ready for bed which includes your nightly bath, sometimes a book and a bottle before you're out for the night.

reading your penguin book with daddy

Hoosier Baby!!

Look at our little future Hoosier! It was game day on Saturday Jan 31st and we thought we'd better get a wear in of her IU dress before she is too big for it.  Dave and I can't wait till peanut is older to take her down to Bloomington and have a family weekend. 

HOO - HOO - HOOSIERS!

It was a big weekend for us because we decided that this was going to be Avery's introduction to solid food! We started with cereal as babywise suggests and choose oatmeal cereal.  I've read that rice can be a little harder to pass if you know what i mean and we don't need that problem :)  I of course was worried about it all week and silly me, peanut absolutely loved it and was eating like a pro - by mid week we were able to thicken it up and she totally loves eating like a big girl. 

Eating like such a big girl on January 31st!

can't get enough of it

Daddy more more

  

First time for solids - family selfie

It was also Super Bowl weekend so we kept the sports theme going at casa Walter.  Even though Daddy's team wasn't in the game we thought how fun to have our own little Cheerleader all day!

Go Vikings

Ra Ra I love purple

Being a silly girl wishing it was sunny and not snowy

watching the game with Daddy and Brisco

Mommy and Daddy's yummy Super Bowl dinner - Steak and Cheese sammys

Bubbie and Grandpa Visit

Your Bubbie and Grandpa decided to visit for a weekend.  Since it was Martin Luther King weekend they drove down to Chicago on Friday night and stayed through Monday.  They hadn't seen you since Thanksgiving and were just dying to see how much you'd grown since then, which is a lot.  So many changes in two and a half months.

Since they arrived late Friday night we didn't see them till Saturday morning.  We headed over to our favorite breakfast spot Frances diner and enjoyed a yummy brunch together.  After that we came back to the house and they spent some quality time with you.

Playtime with Bubbie

Snuggles with Grandpa

playing with your polar bear

Instead of going out for dinner we decided to order take out and have Del Seoul for dinner and then ofcourse we can't have Bubbie in town and not have cupcakes for dessert so Daddy went to get his favorite - Sweet Mandy B's. 

We also started to bring out some new items that we've been storing till you were a little older.  We started using your ABC mat, which has great traction on it and you showed us that you are almost ready to start crawling.

Reaching on your ABC Mat

We also brought out your jumpy seat and you love it.  As soon as you figured out that you can bounce you were totally entertained.  

Bouncing away

After your Bubbie and Grandpa left Daddy and Mommy got ready for mommy's business trip so we spent the whole day together getting in as much snuggle time as possible. 

giggles with Daddy

so sad to have to leave you

It is so difficult for mommy to have to travel and be gone from you especially when it's four whole days.  The good news is that Rachel and Daddy send lots of pictures while I'm gone and we usually facetime a couple times a day so that you can see my face and hear my voice.  I can't imagine not having the ability to see you every day - thank goodness for technology.  A couple photos from the week. 

Mommy couldn't get home fast enough and you were so happy to see me.  We enjoyed some quality time together.  You love looking at yourself on mommy's phone and took your very first selfie all on your own.  

Avery selfie

Five Months

Avery Nell is five months old!!! What a big girl.  While I'm so excited to watch her grow it's also sad at how quickly it's all going by.  

Five Months Old

Monthly Brisco and Avery pic

At five months Aver's routine has changed quite a bit.  The start of the adjustment really began over Chritsmas and continued while we were in Florida which caused a lot of anxiety for Mommy trying to figure out why you just wouldn't nap - but thanks to Nana and her wisdom we got through it and realized that you just need more awake time.  You're a big girl and are ahead of the game with development, mommy needs to start reading a few months ahead with all her books so she's not so stunned with your routine changes :)

So much has changed in a short 30 days.  Avery can sit up on her own for short periods of time... we make sure there's lots of padding around in case she leans a little to far to the side.  She's laughing all the time which melts our hearts because it is just the sweetest sound, and has found her voice reaching new octaves.  She has started to sleep on her tummy regularly and in fact usually has a better nights sleep when she does.  She is still sleeping through the night 11-12 hours (WE ARE SO LUCKY). 

Peanut's two bottom teeth have started to come in!! Mommy noticed them on January 13th, one day before you turned five months. With those teeth came a nasty diaper rash.  Thanks to mommy's mommy text chain, the girls assured me that it would go away quickly and that teething can cause rashes.  With a  lot of desitin and a few hours of diaper free time (and some accidental pee's) that diaper rash was gone in two days.  Much to our persistence of ointment. Colleen suggested triple paste which we couldn't get at Walgreens so mommy made sure to order it from Diapers.com so it will be here for the next time.  

Naked Baby Time

Another big change that we've made is that we've started to supplement breastmilk with formula.  As my supply starts to wind down, we want to make sure that you continue to have as much breastmilk as possible and for as long as possible.  I still pump 7 times a day (crazy I know, I'm sure i'll remind you when you're much older) but barely get enough for your daily intake.  The formula really takes the pressure off and you had no reaction when we introduced it on January 9th.  

Your typical Day at Five Months Old
7-7:30am wake up (we try to stick as close to 7am as possible but some days we sleep in ourselves)
- mommy nurses you for your first meal of the day (and then pumps to keep that supply up)
- waketime now includes snuggles in bed with Mommy, Daddy and Brisco - you play with your soft book and lean on the boppy still, you also sing to us and giggle a lot
- after snuggles and light playtime we get up change your diaper and wind down for your first nap of the day. Your usually awake for about two hours before you go down
9am - down for a nap
9:45-10am - That's right you only nap for 45 minutes usually
- time to eat again (you're still on a three hour schedule which will begin to change between 5-6 months)
- we usually let you hang out in your crib and entertain yourself for a little while 
- you eat about 6oz from a bottle which we now mix in 2oz of formula 
10:15-12pm we get dressed, play on our mat - have tummy time, sit up, play with a variety of our toys
12pm - down for your next nap we should really call them catnaps
1pm - Awake and ready to eat again, another 6oz
1:15-3pm - lots of playtime, maybe a walk with Brisco if it's warm enough (we'll be starting to learn baby sign language in a about a month)
3pm-4/4:30pm - Nap time, sometimes you take a little bit longer of a snooze, as you get older we are going to try and stretch your awake time so that your naps get a little bit longer.
4:30pm - another 6oz 
- wake time till bedtime.  At this time mommy gets home from work around 5:30pm, give lots of snuggles. 
- then we facetime with Daddy if he's traveling or Nana and Papa
6:15pm we begin our nighttime routine, starting with swing time to mellow you out
6:45pm we get our bath ready, enjoy tub time, lotion up, get in our pj's and by 7pm we are ready to eat our bedtime feeding which is usually 9-11oz ( A LOT) but it keeps you happy through the whole night.
7:30pm - you're sound asleep in your crib.