Six Month Review!

Ada's six-month anniversary was actually last week, but since her checkup wasn't until today, I held off on reporting since I didn't have any stats.

Now I do.

Weight: 18.4 pounds. We were convinced it was more like 30... 18 seems much more reasonable sounding.


Height: 25.75 in. Her pants are all becoming capris.


Head circumference: 43.2 cm. Um, yay? I never know what this stuff means.

To sum up: She's awesome.

It is hard for me to believe it has been half a year already. From not fitting into her smallest onesies in the beginning to sitting next to me right now as I type this (playing with blocks and trying to figure out how to hit the switch on the bouncer for music), I'm amazed at how she has grown.

Her skill sets are adding up nicely -- she has great core strength, excellent hand/eye coordination, she likes to feed herself, she is rolling around to destinations she can't crawl to (yet!), and can sit for a really long time and entertain herself with toys. She's also a scoundrel. Her little walker has enabled her to zoom around the house getting into trouble. Today she found she could get across the carpet and twang the doorstop, much to her delight. There are videos of her strutting around the house on www.youtube.com/AZGautreaux but it doesn't do it justice. You'll just have to come visit us and see!

She also is developing her palate: bananas, sweet potato, avocado, peas, carrots, regular potatoes, vanilla ice cream, saltines, graham crackers, pizza crust, and apples. She did not care for pears.

What she doesn't know is that tonight we start the "crying it out" phase of Project Ada Sleeping. She's not going to like it. Our pediatrician assures us it will make for a happier baby. I don't know. The baby in these pictures looks mighty happy to me ... and she woke up four times last night with demands.

A few more Christmas weekend moments

Lily (the little one) got a new sweater for Christmas. Not to be outdone, Lucy pulled out the argyle. They both also received new collars -- light blue leather with rhinestone flowers -- but they are not pictured here.

Because nothing says happy days like Jeffrey holding the cutest Ada in the world. My mom made the hat and it is now a new favorite!

Ada gives a taste test to "Paulie" the polar bear, a gift from Katie and Elliott. That's an ADA-approved bear!

On the day after Christmas, we went on a short drive out of town to see some beauty. We found some!

Ada's First Christmas!

Ada's first Christmas pile is not small for a 6-month-old! As every package was unwrapped, each gift was given a little mouth time in appreciation. Thank you to everyone who sent her a little something! This kid sure is lucky to have such excellent gift givers in her life!

We videoed the event, and I'm going to put it up on the YouTube channel as soon as it is done processing.

Merry Christmas!

Lunch with Ada

Look! Hair!

That's avocado in there. She loves it!

Side view of hairs.

Snow and other updates!

It is cold in Prescott. On Friday of last week, it started to snow. Then it stopped. Then it started again. It was getting mighty wintery out. Saturday, it kept snowing. The term "driving snow" could be used to describe what was going on during the annual Prescott Christmas parade -- those poor marching band kids must have been freezing.

Last year at this time, Jeffrey and I were in Phoenix and our hilarious idea for a Christmas card was us getting a tan in our backyard under the grapefruits. This is us this year. We're too cold to contemplate Christmas cards. Maybe next year.

There is still snow on the ground a week later -- and icy patches in the shade. Ada's first Christmas might be a white one.

This weekend we're going to get our tree and do some Christmas decorating. I'm also planning to find a Santa and foist the baby at him for some pictures. If he gets away with his beard intact, we'll consider it a success (she's a little grabby!)

In more Ada news, she's getting pretty sturdy. She isn't a large baby, but she's getting to be quite the chunk. She's been enjoying trying out new foods -- they aren't really sustaining her nutritionally, they are just experiential at this point -- and her favorites are carrots, peas and sweet potatoes. She likes to drive the spoon into her mouth, though she is still working on gauging depth.

She's also still not sleeping through the night. She goes down easily but we get to hang out with her frequently throughout the night. Jeffrey is now having to pitch in a bit so I don't get all "Fight Club" from sleep deprivation.

Other actually fun things she's doing include using her walker with near proficiency to chase the dogs and I suspect we'll have some crawling in the next few weeks. She needs just a little more arm strength and I think she'll be off. She can get a knee under, but it topples her onto her face. She doesn't seem to enjoy that.

She'll be 6-months-old on December 22, which I find astounding. For me, this has been the quickest feeling six months of my life.