Videos of Alisa - Early September

Alisa talking as she wakes up from a nap on 9-13-07 (I'm filming in such a way so Alisa won't see me because once she sees the camera, she usually stops talking):



I told Craig I wanted him to take a picture of Alisa in the baby carrier before we went on a walk (9-16-07). He started video recording first and I wasn't sure what he had planned, so I slowly walked outside with Alisa thinking he was going to stop it any second.



I am filming Alisa and I while trying to watch where I step as I go down the hill in our yard (and hoping my aim is good). Alisa loves riding in the carrier...she makes happy noises, waves her arms and kicks her legs a lot.



I kiss Alisa all over before putting her pajamas on (9-16-07). She's extra giggly before bed:



Now Craig kisses Alisa to make her laugh (9-16-07):



Alisa plays with Piglet toy while sitting in her bouncy seat (9-17-07):

Cutie Pie

It's amazing how everything my baby does is cute! Every movement, from the wave of her hand to the wiggling of her toes, is cute and fun to watch. I love how much she uses her legs too when playing with toys. She puts her hands and feet on the toys...even the toys hanging from the arch of the playgym overhead!





Every sound she makes is cute or hilarious. I check on her often during naps and after she's gone to bed because I just love looking at her.



Her personality is starting to show now. She's a bit shy at times, especially when she just wakes up. She has started to really watch me when I eat and drink while holding her and she tries to grab my food or glass. Her mouth has been producing more drool than ever and she has taken to doing what I call "spit talking." She spits as she makes noises and moves her tongue and lips. If you watch closely it really looks like she's trying to form words as the spit bubbles at her lips and drips out. It's different than her other types of talking in the way it sounds...also, it's quieter and her mouth doesn't open as much. It's very cute, but messy!

Alisa and Minga are already good buddies. Minga is gentle with Alisa as Alisa reaches out to grab her when she's near. It's cute to hear Alisa make noises to try to get Minga's attention when she's across the room. When Minga goes near Alisa she is always on the lookout for spit-up to lick up. Alisa thinks Minga is sooooo funny. When Minga bounces and rolls around while playing with her toys, Alisa watches and laughs. She also laughs when Minga licks her feet. Craig sometimes puts Minga's toy bone in her collar and we watch as she jumps around while batting at it with her paw and shaking her head trying to get it out. It takes her awhile to succeed so we laugh a lot while watching her. Alisa really likes that game.



Minga is hoping to catch some spit-up soon:



I usually take the girls outside for a walk before Alisa's afternoon nap. Minga gets really excited when she sees me put on the baby carrier because she knows it's time to play outside. Alisa gets excited when I put her in the carrier because she loves riding in it. She makes happy noises and kicks her legs repeatedly during our walk. It's so great! She also likes watching Minga fetch sticks & frisbees and splash in the creek. And she laughs the most when I spray Minga with the hose to clean her off before going back inside. Minga absolutely loves the hose so she jumps around like crazy trying to catch the spray in her mouth.

Walking in our yard on 9-08-07:



Unfortunately, I have to bring a spit rag with me everywhere Alisa goes...you can see Minga waiting for us in the background (9-16-07):









One good thing about the fact that Alisa didn't gain a lot of weight until this past month is that she was able to wear her clothes longer. At 5 1/2 months, she just now outgrew some of the 3-month-old sized clothes. She just started wearing size 3 diapers this week. It's funny how big those diapers seem to me right now. Whenever she goes up a size in diapers it takes a little while for me to see them as the new norm and not as large. She is just over 16 lbs (over the 50 percentile for weight) and has almost caught up to her buddy Benjamin in weight.



At Benjamin's house on 9-13-07:



Sadly we have to say goodbye to the following cute outfits (to show a few) that Alisa just outgrew....



Her new jingle ball toy:



Crying because ready for a nap:









Reaching for the plush bee on the play blanket:



Here comes that spit-up!:

Happy Baby

Alisa has been super happy this past week. She hasn't been eating as much as before (she hasn't been finishing all her 8 oz bottles), but she's been full of smiles and laughs in between feedings. We were shopping at Sam's last week and she was laughing and making happy noises the entire time. It was so great! She also giggles a lot before bedtime.

Here is what we bought at Sam's:







It has a metal frame inside all that padding so kids can sit on it (supports up to 140 lbs!). It's for ages 3 and up but she can enjoy it now with our supervision. She already loves petting it. They also had a lion, a tiger and an elephant but the giraffe was the best in my opinion for many reasons (it's my favorite animal, it won't show dirt as much as the others, it has the cool ossicones/horns on top and great nostrils). I couldn't believe that it only cost $24.99!

I took Alisa to her first playgroup yesterday. It was started by several of us from the breastfeeding support group that I attended every week for 4+ months. We plan to get together once a month at someone's house or at a park or some such place. It was so cute to see our babies interacting. Most of them were born the same week as Alisa.

6 of the 9 babies at the playgroup (Top row, left to right - Brady, Alisa, Benjamin and bottom row, left to right - Alejandro, Abigail, Tristan):



Brady (we met at his house):



Alisa and Benjamin:



Benjamin:



Alejandro:



Abigail (the oldest by about a month) and Tristan:



Logan:



Nicolette holding red-head Claire (the youngest by 2 months):



McKenzie is Alisa's age but has lots of fun hair (her mom is a friend of one of the moms from the group so I just met her for the 1st time at the playgroup):



Alisa and Brady interacted quite a bit:



Starting to cry because Brady is invading her space:





Trying to get Brady to move back a little:



Tangling legs:

Recycling

In the past we always knew it was good to recyle but we were too lazy to actually do it. Well, we recycle now because Tallahassee makes it easy to recycle. They provide us with a recycling garbage can in addition to the regular garbage can (both are large, plastic and have big handles and wheels). The recycling can is divided into 2 sections with a flip-up lid on each side. Paper products go on one side and plastic/aluminum/glass products go on the other side. This division makes it easy for the trash collectors because the products are automatically separated as they are dumped into the divided recycling truck.

Our trash and recycling cans are now emptied every Friday (they used to empty the regular can twice a week--one day at your house and the other day at the curb--and the recycling just every other week, I think). Instead of running outside to the recycling can every time we have something for it, we throw the trash into one of the 3 cans that are in our kitchen. Then, once a week we empty the cans into the corresponding large cans outside and then take the cans to the curb. Since we started this, we realized that we fill all 3 inside cans to the top every week (we used to empty just the undivided trash like 3 times a week). That means we have twice as much recyclable waste as regular waste so it's a good thing we are recycling now.

House Troubles

We have electrical problems in our house. Of course we had our house inspected before we bought it, but problems have been popping up over the past year. They are the kinds of things you don't find out about until you have lived here awhile. Lightbulbs have been burning out so fast around here. We have 2 lightbulbs above the sink in the kitchen and 3 above the other counter that go out about every month or two now. I don't remember them going out this much during the first 6 months we lived here. Also, the lightbulb in the new office ceiling fan has gone out twice and it was just installed in May.

We had some electricians here awhile ago for some issue and they estimated that it would cost $1,000 or more to fix all the wiring problems in the house. We can't afford to do that now so we will just keep buying lightbulbs. I heard that the previous owner and his son did the electrical wiring when they had this place rebuilt in 2003. They were obviously amateurs (he's a lawyer, not an electrician) because they made all kinds of mistakes (some of which we have had corrected).

Craig ordered DirectTV Satellite service because they were having a special on NFL Ticket (where you can watch all the football games this season...not just those that are aired in your area). It was going to be cheaper than the cable we have now. They didn't come out to install it until today (10 days after he ordered it) and then they said it wouldn't work in our house because of the trees in our front yard. What a disappointment! We have clear spots in our yard away from the house but they said the signal was coming from the front side of our house so those clear spots wouldn't help. Our cable company recently (and without warning) dropped the NFL Network channel from our package so we have to pay extra if we want it now (that is what prompted Craig to look for a better deal). Ugh.

Mini Meatloaf RECIPE

I tried this new recipe a couple of weeks ago and it was yummy and had options.

Marvelous Mini Meatloaves

1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 pkg (6 oz) Stove Top Stuffing Mix
1 c. water
seasoning (from list below)
add-in (from list below)
cheese (from list below)

Italian:
seasoning - 1 tsp Italian seasoning
add-in - 3/4 c. spaghetti sauce
cheese - 3/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Fiesta:
seasoning - 2 tsp chili powder
add-in - 3/4 c. salsa
cheese - 3/4 c. shredded Mexican style cheese

Mediterranean:
seasoning - 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
add-in - 3/4 c. chopped roasted red peppers
cheese - 3/4 c. crumbled feta cheese

BBQ:
seasoning - 1 tsp garlic powder
add-in - 3/4 c. barbeque sauce
cheese - 3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix meat, stuffing, water and seasoning of your choice until well blended. Press evenly into 12 medium muffin cups sprayed with cooking spray.

Make an indentation in the center of each with the back of a spoon and put add-in of your choice evenly into indendations.

Bake 30 minutes or until meatloaves are cooked through (160 degrees). Top evenly with cheese of your choice and continue baking 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings, 2 meatloaves each.

Tex-Mex Chicken RECIPE

I tried this new recipe today and it was tasty.

Slow Cooker Tex-Mex Chicken

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch-wide strips
2 Tbsp (1/2 of 1 1/4 oz pkg) Taco Seasoning Mix
2 Tbsp flour
1 green pepper, cut into 1-inch-wide strips
1 red pepper, cut into 1-inch-wide strips
1 c. frozen corn
1 1/2 c. salsa
1 c. Kraft Mexican Style Shredded Four Cheese
green onions, sliced (optional)
cilantro, chopped (optional)
hot cooked rice

Toss chicken with seasoning mix and flour in slow cooker. Stir in all remaining ingredients except the cheese; cover with lid. Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours (or on HIGH for 3-4 hours). Stir just before serving. Top with cheese, green onions and cilantro and serve over rice.

Makes 4 servings, 1 1/2 cups each.

Alisa is 5 Months Old Today

It's frustrating having a baby who spits up all the time! Sometimes she spits up such massive amounts that the burp cloth must be thrown straight into the hamper...because if we wiped it off, it would still leave a large crusty spot when the remainder dried. Alisa loves being on her tummy but that only makes her spit up even more because of the pressure put upon it. It is when she is playing on her tummy (even 2+ hours after eating) that she spits up massive amounts on the burp cloth we laid under her. I went and bought more burp clothes again this week (large ones for over-the-shoulder burping and to lay under her head when she's lounging in the Boppy or playing with the toys on her gym and small ones for wiping her spit-up from her mouth and whatever else it gets on). She was officially diagnosed with reflux a couple of months ago so she has been taking medication twice a day that minimizes her heartburn because it neutralizes her stomach acids. She doesn't cry much anymore when spitting up, so that's a relief because she used to really scream and cry before she was on the medication.

We need to have Alisa work on sitting up more because she is lacking in that area. We bought her a Bumbo chair which is supposed to help her strengthen her back muscles and make it easier to learn to sit. Even with that though she still would rather fold forward and suck her toes.







Check out that string of drool hanging from her foot:



She does sit up straight occasionally in the chair if we put the tray on it:



Without any assistance, she just hunches over or folds all the way forward like this:



Alisa has been gaining weight rapidly over the past month. She gained 1 pound in 5 days (insane!) and has gained half a pound for the past two weeks. She is now just over 15 lbs. The pediatrician says this is fine because she is just over the 50th percentile for weight. She must just be playing catch-up from the weeks she didn't gain any weight during the first few months and was under the 50th percentile.

Her cradle cap has been gone for weeks now. The red marks on her forehead and back of her neck are still there. In her recent attempts to crawl she manages to scoot forwards (and sometimes backwards) a bit so she often makes it off of the blanket we put her on. She has been paying close attention to us when we eat and has also been examining the bottle nipples (she'll touch it with her fingers then put it in her mouth and drink a little, then pull it out and touch it again, etc). We have been feeding her about 1 Tbsp rice cereal about every other day and she has been getting better at eating it. Sometimes it sits on her tongue for awhile if she smiles or just lets her mouth hang open. She hasn't had as many leaky poopie diapers since she's been weaned because her stools are thicker. Many months ago she had at least 3 doozies in one week that got all over her clothes and whoever was holding her at the time. She did make a mess on her outfit today because her stool was runny and came out of the top on the diaper on her back, but it doesn't happen very often anymore.

She still sleeps 12-13 hours every night and takes 3 naps (40 minutes to 2 1/2 hours long) every day. She usually goes to bed between 8 and 9 PM and wakes up between 8 and 9 AM. When she's tired, she begins to talk very loudly. She protests more if she's not lying down because she can't get as comfortable if she isn't lying on her side or stomach. Another way to tell if she's ready for a nap or bedtime (if she's not talking loudly) is to lay her down. If she rolls to her side and sucks her thumb, she's ready to sleep. Also, you can tell by looking at her eyes.

I've been walking with Alisa in the baby carrier almost every afternoon lately. I do this before her nap so by the end of the walk she is very sleepy or asleep.











Savannah and Benjamin came over today:



Alisa and Benjamin had a few special moments where they stared at each other and later briefly (and unexpectedly) held hands. Oh, and Alisa sucked on his toes! She saw them on the floor by her so she reached out, grabbed his foot and brought it to her mouth. She really loves toes because she went after Savannah's too! They also repeated a moment they had when Alisa went to Benjamin's house last week. They were sitting or lying face to face. Benjamin made some frustrated noises and then Alisa started crying. Then Benjamin started crying which made Alisa cry louder and so then Benjamin cried louder and it just escalated from there. We had to pick them up and calm them down while trying not to laugh. I wonder if it will happen again next week when they play.