Evie - 6 Months

Little Evie is a whole 6-months old.  She keeps growing, but don't worry!  She's still our little Evie doll!  We went to her 6-month wellness check today and she's growing well.  Here are her stats:

Weight:  17 lbs, 1.5 oz. = 67.83 Percentile
Length:  27.5 inches = 95.76 Percentile
Head Circumference = 10.73 Percentile

Everything is bigger than it was last time and that's what the doctor really looks for.  While the percentiles help to have something to compare to, the doctor says they aren't always spot-on accurate (especially because we had a different medical assistant do the measuring this time and she may not measure exactly like our usual medical assistant).  However, when I called to tell Beau the numbers and I told him about her length he said, "Can you say WNBA?"  Ha, ha!  We do have a tall little girly.

What is she doing now?

• She figured out the "ba" sound and loves to practice it constantly.  "Ba, Ba, Ba," is constant in her vocabulary right now.  Man, it's awesome to watch her learn and pick up on stuff.
• She's REALLY turned up the volume on her talking and it almost sounds like singing sometimes.  Dad thinks it sounds like an elk call.
• She's getting much better (and accurate) when it comes to holding her own bottle.  She'll hold it sometimes, but still leans on us to hold it most of the time.
• She sometimes falls asleep often with one leg in the air.  Serious.  I've got to get a picture of this! 
• She started eating rice cereal (Oct. 16).  She's getting more in the routine of it and is eating it fairly well (most days).  She'll get to start trying her veggies and fruits soon.
• She LOVES to watch our Codee Dog and she just started to recognize Codee's name.  We'll ask, "Where's Codee?" and she'll look right at the dog.  Smart, eh?
• She likes to play Peek-a-Boo.
• "Baby Blue" has just made it into her favorite song list.  Beau started singing it to her and she loves it so I like to say it's Beau's & Evie's special song.  I love this because baby blue really IS the color of her eyes!  Sweet!
• She just barely started rolling over both ways.  She's been able to roll from her back to her tummy and now she can roll from her tummy to her back.
• She can bear weight on her legs when held upright.  She loves standing up like a big girl!
• She just started to object if we try to take a toy away.  She knows what she wants!
• She'll work to get a toy that's out of reach and she'll look for dropped objects/toys.

She is soooo much fun!  We love this little doll face more than words can say!

6-Month Smiles

Here's our Evie Doll on this very day!  She's a full six months old today.  I'll bring you a full 6-month review soon.  For now, you can let her smile melt your heart.  It sure melts mine!

And, here's little Evie yesterday while she was sitting on daddy's lap. She got to wear dad's hat and she thought she was pretty cool. I guess she is!

Happy Halloween

Here's our little love bug on Halloween Day.  During the day she wore Orange & Black with festive socks.  And, at night she magically changed into Sofie the Giraffe.  Isn't she the cutest?

Evie also got to show off her costume to her grandmas and grandpas!  Don't worry; they thought she was the cutest giraffe they've ever seen.

 We spent some time with cousins.

The Michelin Man, Cleopatra, Genie, and a Vampire

And, last but not least, we just enjoyed being together as a little family.  Halloween was a blast with our little Evie Doll and there is NO DOUBT that she was the cutest baby giraffe we ever saw!  

Rice Cereal - Yum, Yum, Yum!

With the way our Evie doll has been growing, it seemed pretty apparent that she needed a little bit more to sustain such milestones.  Thus, we pulled out the rice cereal to see how it would go.

Her first taste of the stuff was a little over a week ago (Oct. 16th), and she did surprisingly well!  She hardly spit any out and she ate more than I thought she would.  I love the pictures because she was so matter-of-fact about the new ordeal.  I think if she could talk she would say something like, "What's the big deal, guys?  It's just rice cereal.  It's not super awesome, but it's not super gross."

That being said, the days following were a different story.  She was saying something more like, "Serious?  We have to do this every day?  Just give me my bottle, mom!"  So, that's what I did.  I didn't want to force her, but I didn't want to give up and so I continued to give it a good faith effort every day so she could learn to adapt and acclimate to the routine.

Thankfully, that's what she did.  It's only been a week, but the last few days have been a major success.  She eats her cereal like a champ and then we finish off the rest of her breakfast with a bottle.  She is sure to let me know when she's had enough cereal, but I continue to be pleased with how well she's eating it . . . without resulting to extra efforts like mixing it with fruit and such.  What a good girl!  Even better, this is helping to keep her much more satisfied during the day and I think she feels a lot better because of it.  Yay!

Annual Halloween Party

Every year we have a Halloween party with Beau's family.  This year the fabulous hosts were Chance and Jamie.  It's always filled with lots of fun, good food and creative costumes.  This year was of no exception, however I think Beau and I enjoyed it a tad bit more now that we have our Evie doll.

This is our family photo from the night.  Beau and I rarely dress up for the occasion, but now that we have little Evie I am pretty sure she'll be dressed up every year.  (Don't let Beau's Statue of Liberty hat throw you off.  He stole that from an innocent little child at the party. Ha, ha!)  As if you can't tell, Evie is Sophie the Giraffe.  She loves her Sophie toy, so we thought it would be fitting if she dressed up like her.  Isn't she soooooooo cute!?

The rest of the family did a great job (as usual) with their costumes.  They are as follows:

Mom = Snowflake, Dad/Norm = Old Man Winter,
Amber = Snowman, & Don = Frankenstein

Norm/Old Man Winter won Best Costume.  Don/Frankenstein took 2nd place!

 Baby HaLee & Jody each dressed up like a Fairy.

Bronco was a pimp.  Ha, ha! 

 Chance = Hula Dancer (Nice Bum!) and Jamie = Gorilla

Damon & Yung dressed up like Bacon & Eggs.

(Yung is Amber's best friend and they have pretty much become part of our family.) 

Here is Beau with Damon & Yung's kiddos.  Jack = Robin Hood & Elle = Statue of Liberty.

All night long Beau kept telling us that he dressed up like Elle.  :)

Gina & Chip even dressed up!

Chip = Joker & Gina = Superman

The food was awesome, as usual!  I only got a picture of the treat table, 

but we had our traditional chili and cornbread too.

Because Beau and I rarely dress up, they thought it would be funny to give

out a "party pooper" prize.  Beau won that and was the "big turkey" of the 

night, but I was definitely a close 2nd.

And lastly, I'll leave you with a collage of pictures of Evie from the night.  She arrived at the party asleep, and when she finally woke up she was all smiles.  Even the back of her costume is pretty darn cute with that tail!  Oh my!  And, she was given a prize for such an awesome costume and she's "eating" it right up.  Happy Halloween!

Evie - 5 Months

The months wiz by when you have a little one.  Evie is so stinkin' fun right now.  She's really emerging with more personality and she's definitely learning how to better tell us what she wants.  One thing remains constant . . . she's the cutest baby around!

What' Evie doing now? 

• She's started to really have a preference to having her mom holding her . . . or at least being within her vision.  Other people will try to hold her and she'll cry to be back in my arms.  
• She rolled over for the first time (Sept. 16).  She had been trying for about a week, getting so close and finally popped over on her own.  Now it's really easy for her and she loves to roll over constantly.  This has given her extra tummy time and now her arms/neck are getting much stronger.
• She loves looking at herself in the mirror.  I love how she smiles at the "other" baby she sees and she even reaches out to touch her.  So cute!
• She loves to play, play, play when she is awake.  She loves to have toys, but she loves the attention from me and Beau the most.  We love to pull the giggles out of her.
• Speaking of giggles, she is starting to become a bit more ticklish in her tummy and neck.  
• She loves to look upside down.  We'll cradle her in our arms and she'll arch her back so she can look over our arms and upside down. 
• When she gets frustrated, she'll now let us know by either squealing or waving her arms like crazy.  
• While she is 5 months old, she is about to advance to the next size of clothes.  She was able to fit into 0-3 Month clothes until she was bout 4 months old.  Within the last month, she's grown like crazy and she's about to jump to 6-9 Month clothes.  Sadly, we were given the most clothes in the 3-6 Month size and she may not even get around to wearing some of those clothes.  (But, do not worry!  We have DARLING clothes in all sizes.  Ha, ha!)
• She loves to watch her hands move.  She'll put them both above her face and slowly move them . . . all the time studying them so seriously.  It's fun to watch how she tries to figure things out.  She's such a little smarty pants!
• She's getting a little more particular with how she goes down for her naps.  She still needs them, but she usually needs me to rock and sing her to sleep.  She used to just fall asleep when she got tired, and she still does this sometimes.  But, more times than not, she prefers to have me sing to her.  (Oh, how I wish I had a better singing voice!)  "Hush Little Baby" is, by far, her favorite nap time song.  
• She loves to watch us talk on the phone!  (Again, she's trying to learn/study so intently.) I can sit and talk on my cell phone and she'll just sit quietly and watch me.  The other day I was on the phone with my mom and then my sister for about 30 minutes total and she sat and watched/listened to me the entire time.  She hardly even moved.  I would turn to her and smile every so often and she would smile right back at me (of course!).  
• Music/singing works like magic if she's a bit fussy.  As soon as we turn on the singing, she is all ears!  We have sung many a songs in the car when she isn't so happy to be riding in her car seat.  Her eyes light up when she starts to hear, "Jump Jimmy Crow," "I Love Evie, She Loves Me," "Here We are Together In Our Family," "Give Said the Little Stream," and "Head, Shoulders, Knees,& Toes."  Beau and I need to learn more children/baby songs!

And . . . here's a little video from Evie (taken around her 5-month mark) to make you smile.  

Bumbo Time

Evie is now sitting like a big girl in her Bumbo!  We've tried putting her in it before now, but she would just flop over the front.  Now she can hold herself up and she LOVES feeling more like a big girl.  Is she not the cutest thing you've ever seen sit in a Bumbo!?