August 30th

was a big day for Nina....

she crawled for real. a short distance, but a real crawl

she said "mama"

she ate pieces of banana - its so cute to see her "chew" with her gums

she pulled herself up of the coffee table to get some magazines

Read My Bib!

Can't wait to party at your wedding Uncle Luke!




Nina *no joking* poses for pictures - what a ham!

I love my Daddy

And I look like him too!

Growing up!

Nina had fun swinging at the park today. The higher she went, the bigger the smile! The only non-pureed solid food she has eaten are these little cereal puffs. Last Wednesday she absolutely could not pick them up - as she had not yet developed the pincer grasp, but she had it all figured out by Sunday. Huge milestone. I am like *so proud* JK JK!
Nina has been "so close" to crawling for almost a month. She has perfected sitting and prefers to sit almost all the time. When she goes down for a nap she sits up and peeks out of her crib - its hard not to laugh at the little bugger! And she is sitting up in the morning when I go to pick her up - it looks like she's in jail :) We found her standing over the weekend so we had to lower the crib. I also had to move her changing station to the floor because she was rolling and squirming all over her changing table. I was like "Nina, you are strong but not as strong as mommy". But then she won.
The girl is a character- I don't know where she gets it from but she makes some pretty funny noises. She intently buzzes her lips/blows spit bubbles. Her newest sound is scrunching up her nose and breathing like a bull.
She definitely entertains us - she dances (rocks back and forth) to singing or music. She LOVES her music box from Auntie Belle and the wind chimes on our porch from Auntie Jenny - she thinks thats music too. She gives me five and smiles for the camera. She is such a good baby but she is growing up too fast!

Congratulations Auntie Annie and Uncle Josh!

My little sister, the beautiful bride



We all had a fun time at Josh & Annie's wedding in Milwaukee

My Mother's Hands

As I was feeding Nina her bottle, she was playing with my fingers. As I observed her, I thought about my mom's hands and how well I know them. I know every vessel running over the top, each fingernail, the tan skin. I thought "no wonder I know them so well - I have studied them since I was a baby!" Those hands have made lots of cookies, braided lots of hair, and held many little hands. We love you Mom and Grandma!

7-8 months

Wow, the months are flying by and I have been so bad about blogging! Nina is almost 8 months old and she seriously is changing- getting older and bigger - everyday! Sometime right before her 6 month appointment she started solids. She was already supplementing with soy formula and taking the bottle fine so I decided to start the weaning process. I was so sick of pumping at work at getting plugged ducts, very painful. I shortened the 3 pumpings, then went down to pumping just once a day. I think I was totally done within 2 weeks. I was just nursing Nina once at night and once in the morning. That quickly went away and she was well on her way with the solids! Sometime between 6-7 months she tried the sippy cup - she drinks water (plays with the cup) with her lunch and dinner. She quickly got on the following schedule (sorry, this is more for my records)

5-6am: wake up/bottle
9am: bottle
9:30-11:30: nap
12:00: solid food
1:30: bottle
2:00-4:00 nap
5:00: bottle
6:00pm: solid food
7:30pm: bottle
8:00pm: bed!

We aim for at least 5oz per bottle and she lets us know when she needs a burp break. She went from ME waking her up every 3 hours to nurse to waking up 2-3 times a night, then usually once at 2-3am. I continued to get up for these middle of the night feedings because I knew with breastmilk she was hungry. Once I stopped nursing it was time for the "FERBERIZOR!". I think we started it on a Sunday - it was pretty brutal. We did not pick her up when she woke up crying. We would let her cry 10 minutes then go in and pat her back. Which made her cry harder. Luckily this only lasted until Thursday night and she has pretty much slept through the night ever since. Occasionally she will cry when we put her down for bed or a nap but overall we are ALL getting more sleep! And let me tell you - it is so rewarding to find a happy smiley baby - even if it is early in the morning. I can't get her the bottle fast enough - she starts sucking on my face! On the weekends I put her back in the crib after I feed her and we all sleep in until 9-10am - what a treat!
Nina cut her first tooth at 7.5 months old. It really makes her look different! She gives us this big gummy grin that makes us crack up! She also starting sitting up on her own around this time, still is subject to timber over, but likes to sit and play with her toys/empty her toy basket. She really wants to crawl but isn't going anywhere until she learns to get her legs under her. Right now she lays on her tummy and frantically kicks her legs in the air - which is fine by me because once she is crawling we are off to the races!
Speaking of legs - Nina is a jumper! Whew! I get tired just watching her! She loves jumping, being tickled, the wind chimes on the porch, going for walks, being outside, new surroundings and new people, valentine, and chewing on books. She gets a lot of comments on her hair (fluffy light brown/blonde), big eyes, and expressive eyebrows. She has gotten so talkative in the last week - gone are the days of a quiet house. But I love it - she is such a good baby and wonderful blessing.