Baby sleep

Baby girl has been having a hard time staying asleep lately. Right now, I'm sitting downstairs waiting for her to finish crying. She stops & starts again. It's really hard for me to be in there and hear her crying. It makes me really sad. I hope we don't have to do this cry-it-out method for too many more nights.

In lighter news, last sunday, we bought her a jumperoo to play in. The woman I bought it from insisted that she wouldn't be able to have any fun in it yet. She said that her 3.5 month old had to have a pillow under his feet so he could touch the floor. She could touch the floor, and starting bouncing within a few minutes. But, apparently she's pretty tall for her age. She in the 95th percentile again at this month's checkup. I don't know where the height is coming from, maybe her grandpa.
I was hoping that the bouncer would encourage her to grab at the toys. At first, she just stood there & stared at them, but after only 3 days, she's spinning the toys & grabbing at them. I didn't think it would happen this fast! She's been trying to grab at things, so I kept trying to hold toys for her. Now she's starting to hold them for herself. That's pretty exciting. Brad said she even spinned herself around to play with a new toy on the other side. Yay!

Also, Brad plays a new game with her, he makes a raspberry sound with his mouth. She repeats it, just makes a lot of drool in the process. She also likes to chew on her hands a lot, that also makes for a lot of drool. So, she spends most of her time these days with a bib around her neck.

Well, she's been quiet for a while now, so I'm going to try to go to bed. Wish me luck!

TREE DAY!!!

We had the best day of the year on "Black Friday." Most people spend the day doing their Xmas shopping, but in my family, we decorate my parents' house for Xmas. We play music, watch movies, eat lots of sweets, and of course, Thanksgiving leftovers while decorating the house. My job is to set up the tree. It sounds like a simple task, but my mom has been collecting Hallmark ornaments since about 1986. And she buys more than a few each year. They each come wrapped in plastic or bubble wrap, inside a plastic tray, inside a box. Imagine hundreds of ornaments on the tree! When we're done, there aren't many empty branches! My brother & sister spent Thanksgiving night at my house so we could get up early & go shopping. We stayed up too late, and I really didn't have much to shop for, so we went later on in the morning. All we got once we went to the store was supplies for a gingerbread house & some egg nog - a MUST for tree day!

I've never made a gingerbread house before, so I figured it would be fun to do it with the family. Apparently, I really suck at baking. After we had mixed it up, I looked at my sister & asked her if it looked a little light to be gingerbread. She said maybe it gets darker when you bake it. I wasn't so sure. Before I left to go home, I noticed the unopened bottle of molasses I had brought. DANGIT! That's what it was missing! The pieces had already been put in the freezer to keep for the next time - we didn't have time to finish it all on tree day. Maybe when it thaws out, we can add it? I don't know. We may have to start again.



Ella is becoming quite a little character these days. The other morning, I woke up to see her smiling at me. When I smiled back, she let out a really loud giggle. I had spent the night at my parents' house, so they heard her too. She just kept talking and giggling whenever I would talk to her. What a cutie! I got out the video camera, but as always, she pretty much stopped when it was turned on. :(

Brad plays a few games with her. The first one, he holds her hands & helps her stand up. She holds herself upright, just needs to be steadied. Then, he lets her drop down on her butt. In a few seconds, she's ready to stand again. It's really cute.

The second one, he holds her hands again while she's standing & shakes her slowly back & forth. She holds her arms really tight & giggles when we do this one too! When we finish, she tries to do it herself, but it's really shaky! So adorable!