Beebop-a-Lula

Rosie is now eight months old. She and her sister have been sleeping in the same room for about a month now with mixed results. For the most part they’re co-existing peacefully. And although Rose has been getting up 2-3 times in the middle of the night (teething) her sister typically sleeps right through it. Naps are dicey from time to time, but I let them duke it out and most of the time they end up falling to sleep eventually.

cute and bratty

All of those sleep-interrupted nights has resulted in 2 more teeth: another bottom tooth and one of her top teeth just cut through! Poor baby…

I can say that Miss Rose makes the most adorable noises that a baby can make. Seriously, we should record her and sell CDs to sound effects companies. Such sweet noises. And then the next minute she whines or cries and it’s the most irritating noise you’ve ever heard. It can turn you into a homicidal maniac and before you know it you’re reaching for your hockey mask and clever.

crazy hair

Recently she has started to give big, juicy open mouth kisses and holds her arms up now when she wants to be picked up. Two of my favorite developments! She’s also begun to notice the cat and she tracks him like a sniper in the desert. She squeals with delight, with a big fat smile on her face. I would hedge my bet that she will be more gleefully torturous towards Spooky than her sister was.

Speaking of torturing, she’s doing really well getting up on her hands and knees and I fear that she will begin crawling any day now. And I can already see that she will get into everything she’s not supposed to!

Last week was Miss Lulu’s 2nd birthday. It’s amazing to see her grow and develop. She truly is becoming a sweet little girl. We had a family party for her the day before her birthday and she had a lot of fun. The kiddie pools were out for her and her cousins, my mom put out a great spread of food (and plenty of Yo Gabba Gabba decorations) and my dad was rockin’ the grill. She had so much fun that she fell asleep right before we were going to have cake, which brought the party to a screeching halt for about 45 minutes. She got so many great presents and she loved them all!

smooch.

The day of her actual birthday was relaxed and low-key. We spent a lot of time outside and that night rather than getting another cake we gave her a big bowl of ice cream and a cookie. It all started off harmless enough, but ended up with a trip directly to the tub!

so far, so good...

erm...

ta-da!

and now...cookie.

yum.

She also had her two-year check-up at the doctor’s yesterday.
weight: 26 lbs
height: 36.75

trying to "feed" Elmo

She falls into the 97th percentile for height and 30th percentile for weight. Since her last visit, she great 1 3/4 inches and gained only a pound. The doctor wasn’t concerned about her weight since she’s always been thin. Food is still a big issue with Lulu but hopefully she’ll grow out of it someday soon. Until then, we’ll continue to stack her meals with as many calories as we can!

weight: 20.5 lbs
height: 29.25 inches

Rosie gained almost 2 lbs and and inch & a quarter since her last check-up. The doctor sort of chuckled at her progress. She’s a big girl! Growing wonderfully, no concerns.

When we started solid foods she sort of struggled a little but now she eats really well. She sleeps so much better at night, too. It’s almost time to put her in the same room with Lulu, they both are almost on the same schedule. And we’ll get our room back!

She isn’t sitting up quite yet but she’s certainly rolling over. In fact she’s using rolling as a means to get from one place to another. It’s quite funny to watch.

The Brooding Toddler phase has begun. There’s lots of frustration and pouting happening because she can’t communicate as well as she’d like to even though we’ve been encouraging her to talk rather than whine. We know she can pretty much say any word she wants to, like when she says her sister is “loud” or the other night when she ran around squealing “ASS!” at the top of her lungs and giggling like a maniac.

french fries are her favorite food group

She’s being very independent these days, doesn’t want a lot of help from us. Like the other day when I was upstairs with her and Rose and she went down the stairs all by herself. When I recovered from my instant heart-attack I realized that she made it down with no problems. I was grateful that we taught her the “sit & slide” method of getting down.

lost in Gabba Gabba Land

She loves to color with her crayons, assigning me different things to draw for her: clouds, “flowies”, “meow”, moon and sun. And recently she discovered the joys of sidewalk chalk. We busted out some PlayDoh the other day, but she  doesn’t quite get it yet. The containers are more interesting than the dough itself.

umm...I got nuthin.

Swimming lessons are going great. Her father says she’s becoming quite the mermaid (he claims she’s the next Dara Torres!) and loves being in the water. I am looking forward to taking her to the beach this year.

We’re preparing for some big changes as well. Lulu is finally going to get a roommate. We’re going to put both girls in the same room in the next month or so. That should be interesting. Both sleep pretty well, but lately they’ve both been waking up in the middle of the night and chatting, singing, etc. I guess they’ll be able to keep each other company!

And since she turns two next month (!!!) we’re beginning to think about making the move from the crib to a toddler bed, but we’ll let her get used to her new roommate first. I’d like to start potty training by the fall, but we’ll see how she’s doing at that point. I’m not going to rush her into that too soon.

Wow, my baby is turning into a little girl!!!

Rosie turned six months old the other day. I had to pinch myself a little bit when I realized that. Time goes by so fast. Not only is she a watermelon of a baby, she is awfully adorable!

6 months

Sure, life has been chaotic since her arrival but I always say it’s controlled chaos (umm…sorta) but the past six months have also been filled with nothing but joy watching her (and her sister) grow.

I love going to get her in the morning and seeing her face light up with a big smile, kicking those little legs like crazy, making the cutest baby noises that a baby ever made.

Jumpy!

She’s been sleeping a lot better at night (HALLELUJAH!), although she is still somewhat of a light sleeper. Even though she still sleeps in our room her sister squawking in the next room can wake her up. Most mornings she wakes up squealing and cooing (rather than immediately screaming for a bottle).

a quiet moment

Milestones: eating solids without a fight, rolling over from back to tummy, almost rolling from tummy to back, loving her jumparoo, starting to bully Lulu (definite jealousy starting), sleeping well. Still the loudest person in the house. Began to notice the cat. He’s in trouble very soon.

This is what happens you don’t pay explicit attention to a quiet (almost) 2 year old. Needless to say, she had to take a bath at Grammy’s house before we went home…

I started Rosie on cereal last week. I thought she’d be psyched to be eating “real” food, but if being psyched means clamping her mouth shut and flailing her arms around to knock the spoon out of my hand, then she LOVES it!

She’s definitely my kid…

Little Miss Rose turned 5 months old! She’s changing so much.

One of my fav recent pics. Taken with the Hipstamatic iPhone app

Her personality is really starting to shape up and shine. She’s a smiley, squealy and giggly little thing and she’s super-fiesty! A weekend with her maternal grandparents earned her the nicked name “Little Spitfire.” It suits her and it’s a much nicer than the nicknames we have for her: Meatloaf and Little Roast Beef. Seriously, she’s a 5 month-old the size of a 9-month baby…but she’s sooooo snuggly!

smirky.

Her first teeth popped through on Easter weekend. They’ve sprouted out pretty quickly and are so cute, except when she bites my finger. She also rolled over for the first time this past weekend. Of course, she did it while we were away and she was with her grandparents…but she’s a total expert now.

beauty shot

When she’s on her tummy those little legs kick like crazy. She’ll be crawling much earlier than her sister did. We can see it starting already as she pulls her knees up and she even got her little butt up in the air by pulling up both knees. We’re in trouble once she’s moving.

And talk about temperamental! She can be giggly one minute and then it’s like someone flipped a switch and she’s yelling and screaming. When she gets mad her little ham fists flail around and she either punches me in the face or yanks a fistful of my hair and it hurts! She’s lucky that she’s adorable.

sweetness

I noticed lately that there’s a lot of mum mum mum mum’s and bruh bruh bruh bruh’s coming out in her sweet little voice. She’s so fun. Even Lulu has been trying to play with her more. She frequently gets right in Rosie’s face and says “Hiiiiii!” and likes to lie down right beside her, giggling as Rose grabs at her (in which I have to intervene so that Rose doesn’t claw Lulu’s eyes out). I can already see a glimpse of my future when Rose gets jealous if I give Lulu more attention...such a drama queen!

How lucky am I? I mean, look at these two...I count my lucky stars every single day.

Every day I try to spend a few moments and appreciate the heavy, snuggly bundle that she is. I can’t help but to bury my face in those pudgy cheeks of hers! I know that she’s going to grow so fast. Before I know it she’ll be talking, dancing and running after Spooky just like Lulu does today.