Month 7

Our little swimmer!

Smiley girl!

Ponytail!

These sunglasses are yummy!

Sticking her tongue out!

Pursing her lips!

Dear Reese,

Well, it's August, so mommy is headed back to work tomorrow. We did lots of fun stuff this summer, but I can't believe how quickly it flew by. It's so nice to spend the days with you and feel like I'm not missing anything. As I am mentally preparing myself to return to work tomorrow, I feel so torn. Torn between a career I love and I daughter I want to be with. I used to go to school and get lost in all my projects and ideas. I still get that feeling sometimes, but a piece of me is always missing. I hate that feeling. There's just so much love in my heart for you that it physically hurts sometimes. This was one feeling I never anticipated before you were born. But enough about me...let's hear what you've been up to this month!

Love this picture of us!

You have been busy! We are just getting to the stage where we have to watch you constantly when you're playing on the floor. You aren't quite crawling yet, but you can get around. You pull yourself up like a wheelbarrow and flop down on your arms to move forward. You also roll and roll and roll and roll. And you think you're invincible. Someone pretty much has to sit on the floor with you at all times to brace your falls and rolls as you wobble around. I'm surprised you don't have any bumps and bruises yet. Another reason we have to keep our eyes on you is that you're into EVERYTHING! You stick your hands in our food while we're eating dinner and you clear aisles at stores with your arms. When we were at the store the other day I thought your daddy had picked out a leopard bra for me, when really it was you who put it in the cart! You especially love anything that is NOT a toy...cords, water bottles, shoelaces, air vents, curtains, and tearing up paper. You were amazed when you figured out the light switches the other day. Your eyes were as big as saucers! You have also become so, so squirmy! You don't want to sit still and you especially don't want to lay down. This has made diaper changes and dressing you a challenge. You started sleeping on your stomach this month. We lay you down on your back and you flip over to your stomach within minutes. You usually sleep with your head completely face down. Daddy hates that! Surprisingly, you don't move a whole lot in your sleep. Even though we have a video monitor, there are still times we sneak into your room to check on you when you haven't moved in a while. Usually we end up regretting that decision because you start moving around as soon as the door opens. No matter how old you are, I don't think we'll ever stop worrying about you. Here you are playing with paper.

Silly girl!

Playing in your room

I'm not sure about this crawling thing!

Wow! Air vents & curtains!

This thing is cool!

Reading about babies

Playing with colored ice cubes- brrr....

Reese is doing her modeling pose

Playing dress-up!

Spoons make the best toys...

and plastic containers!

Working on my top tooth!

Watching mommy run on the treadmill...too hot for the stroller this month...

Best toy ever!!!

This picture is so blurry, but her expression is hilarious!

You are still pretty dramatic. You can go from smiles and giggles to screaming and crying in a matter of seconds. You keep us on our toes! You are the "girl who cried wolf" with your crying. Sometimes your cries turn into laughs and we never quite know when to react. However, you've developed a way to show us that you really mean it. Whenever you aren't getting the reaction from us that you'd like, you "take it up a notch" and crank up your cry to an all out scream. Here's a little video showcasing your amazing talent.

As you get older, your personality has started to come out more and more. One thing that has been very clear to us for quite a while is your love of music. Your face just lights up whenever you hear music. We have a stuffed animal that sings the ABC's and when that thing starts singing, you start grinning from ear to ear and squeeze that stuffed animal so hard! We don't let you watch a ton of tv, but you have one show that we record and watch sometimes...The Fresh Beat Band. It is pretty much the goofiest show ever, but you love the singing. When we turn that show on, you turn to the tv and start flapping your hands and bouncing up and down. You also like a song that we saw on the commercial called "Ho Daddy" by the Backyardigans. Here's a little video of you watching that song. This is the stillest you've ever been! 

You play Peek-a-boo now too! You love pulling the blanket off of your face and seeing mommy or daddy smiling on the other side. You've also developed one of daddy's amazing dance moves. Daddy does this silly dance move where he moves his hand and wrist to the music in a wave like motion. He does it a lot in the car when a good song comes on. Well, you started flipping your wrist like that and waving your hand. Daddy is so proud! Speaking of daddy being proud. You can now say "dada." In fact, you love saying it so much that you say dada when you wake up, before you go to sleep, while you're eating, and while you're playing. Mommy is patiently waiting to hear "mama," but for now mommy is taking advantage of it by making daddy get up when we hear "dada" coming from the monitor in the middle of the night.

You are still obsessed with dogs and cats and they are still terrified of you. You remind me of Elmyra from Looney Tunes. 

This month has been eventful! The 2012 Summer Olympics have been going on for the past week. We've had fun watching them with you (and we've even let you stay up past your bedtime to watch). Of course, mommy had to get an outfit to commemorate the "holiday." Daddy didn't think it was very appropriate that your shirt had the UK flag on it, instead of the American flag, but it did look pretty cute on you! 

Reese loves the Olympics!

We also braved the heat and visited Tanganyika Wildlife Park. It's a smaller, more hands-on zoo. You had a blast and so did we. 

Reese fell asleep before we got to the giraffe. We had fun though!

Self portrait with the birds

Feeding the lemurs

Reese wasn't scared, but I was!

Lemurs!

Kangaroos!

Feeding the turtles with daddy

What are these things?

These remind me of Lucy!

Loving it!

And she's out!

You met lots of newborn babies this month! You met Maxx Hursh (born July 2nd),  Hattie Horsch (born July 13th), Carson Ronk (born July 11th), and Julianne May (born July 4th). You are going to have lots of playmates! You looked so huge next to those tiny newborn babies! It's hard for us to believe that you were ever that tiny. Time sure does fly! And you got to hang out with your friend Tatum Doebele, too. Tatum is 6 months older than you, so it's fun to see where you'll be in 6 months! Here's a video of Tatum pushing you in the stroller. Poor Tatum, you're a big girl!

Reese meeting Baby Maxx

You've been eating 3 meals a day all month long. You've tried a few new foods and a lot of your old favorites. I think we've pretty much tried everything at this point! This month you tried beef, quinoa & strawberries, zucchini & potatoes, baby shepard's pie, macaroni & cheese, and prunes. The only things you absolutely HATE so far are meats (which look and taste like cat food) and peas. We've given up on the meats for now, but we're going to keep trying the peas. It's funny because I used to love eating peas when I was little. I remember having frozen "pea" parties with my best friend, Alysha. We would put them in tea cups and "drink" them. Maybe someday! You've also tried shredded cheese, rice krispies, mashed avocado, jello, ice cream and mashed bananas. You love them all, but can't feed them to yourself yet. 

Not sure how to get this cheese and banana into my mouth.

What a mess!

I told you I hate peas!

What happened?!?!

Trying out my cup for the first time.

Worked great as a teether!

Ice cream face!

I think I like this stuff!

Prunes are delicious!

Here are a few other pictures from this month. 

Love these two!

Hanging out with the big girls from mommy's school, Kate & Madi.

Mommy made me a fabric tutu...not sure what to think.

I'm an elephant!

I can't see!

Daddy is the nail cutter in the family. Reese is less than excited.

If you look closely on the far top left you can see a new tooth emerging. It finally broke through the skin.

I love playing with my bath toys!

Oh mommy! Quit taking pictures!

Mommy and daddy celebrated 2 years of marriage this month. The last 7 months of our marriage have been a lot of work, but SO AMAZING! We just love making memories with our little family. You have brightened our lives more than we ever thought possible! 

Love,

Mom :-)