Lately

I currently have over 1,000 pictures and videos on my iPhone. I really need to back them up on our computer! Too bad our computer is in boxes right now and not hooked up. For the time being I'll post pictures to my blog and hope for the best.

During the brief lull of warm weather I took Mina outside to swing in the backyard.  She wasn't too sure about it at first but I think she enjoys it now.  Hopefully she will figure out that swinging is really fun.

There was an Easter Bonnet contest at Farmington Station a couple of Saturdays ago so I made a bonnet for Mina.  James carried Mina around while we looked at the "festivities."  She even kept her sunglasses on for a while!

We went to Spanish Fork for my cousin Nate's homecoming.  This is a picture of my Grandpa Arbuckle giving Mina a horsey ride after church.

Mina also got a lot of love from my cousins, especially Meg.

Mina is figuring things out, she is almost able to pull herself up in her crib.  Our baby is growing up too fast!

7 Months Old!

Mina reached her 7 month milestone on Monday.  It is frightening how fast the time has flown by!
We don't have stats for this month because her next well child check up isn't until she is 9 months old.

The stats we DO know:

Diaper: Size 2

Clothes: She doesn't have a whole lot of 3-6 month clothes so most are 6 month.  They fit great through the arm but they are kind of baggy in the body! She's growing, slowly but surely. I finally packed away most of her 3 month clothes, I think there might be a few pieces lingering in her drawers.

Sleep: She usually gets up once to eat after going to bed at 8 PM.  Lately her middle of the night feeding has been around 3 AM.  She falls back to sleep pretty fast after that and gets up for the day around 8 AM. Naps haven't been as predictable.  She usually takes one in the morning, one after lunch and then another in the afternoon. 

Eating: I wish I could say she eats solids twice a day and she loves them but I can't.  We're still working on the concept of solids.  We keep trying and she keeps fighting.  It's amazing how tight she closes her lips when I spoon comes near!

Noises: She babbles so much! James claims she says "dada" and I have to agree.  It does sound like she says dada.  But, today it sounded like she said "mamma" which was amazing. I'm excited to see how she progresses towards words.

Teeth: She still drools like an old faucet but no teeth that we can see or feel.

Skills: She is getting better about pushing up on her arms when she is on her stomach. Maybe she won't skip crawling (we were a little concerned.) Mina seems to handle tipping over better than she used to, there are less tears now.  She is growing up so fast!

 And now, a plethora of pictures of Mina in her Easter dress.  Enjoy!

Life with Mina (LOTS of pictures!)

Sometimes it is hard to believe that Mina is almost seven months old. She is such a challenging joy and I have learned so much as I take care of her. Our days are usually filled with reading books, eating, sleeping, jumping (LOTS of jumping!) and other kinds of play.  This week we rode the Frontrunner twice, I painted our toe nails and I made Mina's Easter dress. It was a really nice week!

Mina is making progress to standing up in her crib.  Luckily she is a ways away because she can't pull herself into a sitting position. Yet.

Giving it a try!

We got out and enjoyed the sunshine on a short walk.

I painted our toenails and then promptly covered them with sock because it's cold.

Mina has started to wear 6 month onesies, they fit so well in the sleeve.  Not so much in the body.

Mina on the train, she loved looking at all the people!

I was making our bed and I set Mina on the ground, surrounded by pillows.  Then this happened:

She slid under the pillows until all I could see was her little eye!  She was fine.  I promise.

Some sketchy ideas for Mina's Easter dress and cardigan. Mina took a long nap this week and I was able to get a really good start on her dress.

Stitching the bodice

An Instagram-ified picture of her almost finished dress.  We had a fitting earlier, I had some issues with the sleeves and the shoulders and the skirt.  It looked a little like a Seventies Pioneer baby!  NOT the look I was going for!

We established that skirt was too long and needed a grow tuck or two.  I love her little dress!

I love taking pictures of us in the bathroom mirror, Mina LOVES looking at herself!  This is also a good documentation that I really do put some effort into my appearance sometimes.

We were wishing for warm weather, Mina has some really cute outfits! The ruffled shorts are ridiculously cute!

And one last picture, Mina stuck both of her legs through the slats.  She thought it was really funny. 

Six Months Old!

Mina turned six months old on Monday! We can hardly believe she is half way to her first birthday.  The time has flown by!

 We have been aware of Mina's petite size but it was confirmed at her check up on Tuesday. 

14 pounds 9 ounces and 24 1/4 inches tall!  That puts her in the 7th percentile for weight and the 21st for height.  Her pediatrician isn't concerned about her growth because it has been pretty steady.

 6 month stats:
Height: 24 1/4 inches
Weight: 14 pounds 9 ounces
Head circumference: 17 inches
Diaper: Size 2 and holding steady!
Clothes: 3 Month but her onesies are getting a little short in the arms.  Most of the 3-6 Month sized clothes drown her!
Sleep: She goes through phases where she sleeps from 8 PM until 5 AM for a feeding and then back until 8 AM.  I like these phases.  She has been waking up more often the past few days, I'm not as thrilled by that.
Noises: She has a variety of cries and she has been babbling more often.  She also screams!
Teeth: Nothing to report!
Skills: Mina has pretty much mastered sitting up on her own. Granted, she can't pull herself into a sitting position yet but she's working on it. She still hates "tummy time" so we think crawling might be a ways away. She loves to "walk" while holding our hands though!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Banshee Baby

Mina found her voice a while ago. This week she discovered she had volume control. I wish this was a video, you'll have to make do with a picture instead.

Five months old

How did this happen???
I swear she was just born and now she is five months old!

Mina's stats for five months

• Height: 24" (I think, she was squirming when I tried to measure her by myself)
• Weight: 13lbs 3 oz
• Head: 16 3/4"
• Diaper: size 2
• Clothes: 3 month, but the pants tend to ride up and expose her legs
• She has been waking up twice a night to eat but recently she switched it up to one early morning feeding around 4 AM.
• Mina loves to make noise; screaming, giggling, cooing, sighing...crying.
• No teeth yet, just lots of drool.
• She still takes 4-5 naps a day of varying length.
• She is learning how to sit up, she can do it for a few seconds but then tries to grab a toy and topples over.  

She LOVES to stand and loves to jump in her jumper.

Mina held this position for about a second

and then this happened:

I took her outside yesterday and took a picture in the snow.  I don't think she was overly thrilled with the idea:

Mina has figured out that if she arches her back enough times she can slide out of her chair.  Luckily she hasn't fallen out and we usually strap her in.

Her most successful attempt at sitting up:

Mina also had her first bout of illness this past month.  She had a cold over Christmas and then had a fever over New Years.  I took her in and her doctor diagnosed her with an acute sinus infection.  We are on day 9 of her antibiotics and she seems to be a lot better.  We used a saline spray and the NoseFrida as well as running a humidifer in her room.  It has been a little exhausting but we're glad she is feeling better!

Solids

We attempted to give Mina some solid food.  She has been showing interest when we eat, sitting up while supported, that sort of thing.  We bought some baby oatmeal, mixed it up and here are the results...

So far so good...

Looking a little worried:

And out comes the oatmeal:

All over the place:

More on her face than in the little bowl:

Afterwards we put her back in her high chair and let her watch us eat dinner.  She kept putting her foot on the tray, even though she was buckled in.  She is so funny!