January 25, 2010
Virginia has started solids
Last week, we started Virginia on solids, with a taste of applesauce. We moved onto carrots, which she loved, then a bit of banana for lunch, and the next night, sweet potato. We are going to try to skip the jarred stuff entirely and just feed her pureed versions of what we eat. Well, except for the cooked carrots, which you all know I don't eat! That will be specially made just for her, since she seems to like them the best!
*we're using the swing as a highchair until she starts finger foods.
January 20, 2010
Pooped
The very first time I put Virginia in the swing in an effort to soothe her and she completely passes out! We found out a few days later why the crankers.... a new tooth!
January 16, 2010
Virginia and the book
Virginia got a book that is essentially fabric pages filled with crinkly stuff from our friend Dana and she really likes it. Lately, she's been doing this thing with it (and some of her other toys), where she lifts it up and brings it back down really quickly, essentially slamming it into herself. It's quite amusing.
virginia and the book, 01/16/10 from wendy morissette on Vimeo.
January 14, 2010
Growling Virginia
Virginia just started making a growling noise that is really strange. She doesn't do it because she's mad, she's just playing around with making different sounds. She's also started making a funny smushy face along with huffy sounds. I caught both on tape while she was playing in her excersaucer (aka neglectotron).
growling virginia, 1/14/10 from wendy morissette on Vimeo.
January 10, 2010
giggling sisters, 1/10/10
here's a lil' video of the girls crackin' each other up:
giggling sisters 1/10/10 from wendy morissette on Vimeo.
I'm woefully behind on updates.. i have pics from thanksgiving and christmas to share, plus hazel's 10th birthday (when did she get to be 10?!?). Hopefully, i'll get them up before miss v's 6 month update, which will NOT be a month late, i promise!
December 01, 2009
Fourth Month Update
Right now, Miss Virginia is growing and learning things at a very rapid rate. She recently had her 4 month check up and measured an amazing 27" long .. that's 7 inches since birth and it puts her above the 100th percentile for her age. She weighs almost 17 lbs (above 90th percentile). All of that growth has been fueled by breastmilk (some have suggested Wendy spikes it with Miracle Grow). Auntie Dawn tried to tempt her with punkin pie and whipped cream during the Thanksgiving Holiday, but she's gonna stick with the high octane fuel for now.
When she was younger, a few months ago, her best friends were lights. She'd stare up at the ceiling, cooing and smiling, flirting away at the light fixture. Since then Virginia's discovered that people are also fun to flirt with, she's learned to smile and laugh and get excited to match the mood of those she's with.
Over the last few weeks, she's learned that her hands can do more than just flail around randomly. At first she needed to use both hands in order to get one of them into her mouth. She's now a pro at one-handed, unassisted finger sucking. Not content to rest on her laurels, she quickly progressed in the Grabbing Things category, discovering that she can get her hands to bring other things to her mouth for analysis. This has opened up a whole new world for her and we're introducing toys little by little.
Speaking of flailing, Virginia used to practice her swimming strokes -- with one hand -- while nursing. when on her left side, would breast stroke with her right arm, when on the other side she was doing freestyle. That progressed to doing freestyle with both arms and now she just pets Wendy or holds onto her shirt.
She's also very close to being able to sit up on her own, so we're giving her time in the boppy. That allows her to work on it without completely falling over everytime. Her core body strength is impressive and she's able to pull herself from an incline into a full sitting position or from a seated forward fold. Her legs are also very strong, with a little balancing help, she can stand for a long time and really enjoys showing what a big girl she is.
down.... and UP! from wendy morissette on Vimeo.
We're having so much fun watching her discover more and more of the world around her. For a while, her very best friends were her feet, watching her 'discover' her feet and play with them. She smiles and giggles and looks around to see if we've noticed how clever she is. At about the same time she figured out she could use her hands to grab things.
Along with objects that can be grabbed, she's paying more and more attention to what we're doing, especially when we're eating and drinking. The look of intense curiousity on her face as she tracks each bite and drink is hilarious and endearing. The soda cans are always mesmerizing, however, whether we're drinking or not. Sometimes she'll just be staring, transfixed, at a shiny, shiny Diet Coke as if waiting for it to move on its own, or start talking to her.
We don't know how much time we have until Virginia can roll/crawl across the floor , but she's beginning to figure out some of the basics. She rolls from side to side with her feet in her hands (classic happy baby pose) and does a reverse inch worm - arching her back and moving slowly away from her original position. We've watched her do a combination of those motions and go in a complete circle, with her head as the center point.
November 20, 2009
Harlow, May 1991 - November 2009
This morning the time had come for our grand ol' dame, our one-eyed wonder. She had been getting more and more senile over the last year and her hips were all kinds of wobbly and her kidneys were starting to go. It was a very difficult decision, as she was still very alert and seemingly happy. She spent most of her days curling up with Libby (with lots of 'spa time') and purring whenever anyone in the house got near her. Her wobbliness was at times funny, at times distressing, and sometimes not present at all... her leaps from couch to ottoman continually amazed us.
She will be dearly missed... she's the last of an era. I got her and Jordan within a two-week period when they were around 8 weeks old, way back in 1991. With her passing, I no longer have a cat who's "mine." Libby isn't really attached to any single one of us and Walter is definitely Hazel's cat.
We'll be burying the old girl in our designated pet cemetery in our backyard, right next to her best-buddy-in-life, Jordan.
Here are a few shots from her last day.
October 23, 2009
Pioneer Elementary Fall Festival
We went to the Fall Festival at zel's school last night and had a great time. Virginia was able to wear her "costume" that the Kennedy's sent (with perfect timing!). The pic is a scan of a polaroid, so not great quality, but we're glad they were there, as we didn't get a picture before leaving the house. It was going to be just zel and virigina, but miss v got cranky, so camey had to join the pic.
October 22, 2009
big tall (giggly) girl
camey was lifting up virginia and plopping her down, over and over, to lots of giggles on virginia's part. I managed to catch a round of it, and at the 19-20 second mark, virginia makes a weird little sound that you can hardly hear on the video, but got camey really laughing.
big tall girl from wendy morissette on Vimeo.
October 19, 2009
nummy knuckles
Virginia has really gotten into her hands lately, even though it sometimes takes both working in tandem to get just one in her mouth, and has moved on to sucking the life out them! Funny story from soccer on saturday, where I had her bundled up in a fuzzy bunting thing with fold over hand covers: she had her hands up in front of her face and looked startled and confused because her hands weren't there! I pulled back the "mittens" and she immediately relaxed, and then stuck her hands in her mouth. :-D
nummy knuckles from wendy morissette on Vimeo.
October 13, 2009
Virginia rockin her leg warmers - 11 wks old
I got some leg warmers for Virginia to extend her summer wardrobe into the fall and I love how they look! Her chubby thighs are fabulous. I caught several different facial expressions in this sitting.
October 10, 2009
Virginia the bro-ette
Here's Virginia with her first Harley outfit from her Grannie Annie and Pepere. Check Zelly's page for more pics with the two of them from this sitting.
October 06, 2009
Bubba
here's virginia doing her very best Bubba impression:
October 05, 2009
Virginia hanging out with Harlow
this is a fairly common site: virginia chillaxin on the couch with harlow. libby will join in, curling up on virginia's feet, when there's a blanket over miss v.
October 04, 2009
A conversation with Virginia
Virginia is starting to interact with us a lot more and getting quite vocal! Here's Wendy talking with Virginia about her day.
conversation with virginia 10/4/09 from wendy morissette on Vimeo.
October 01, 2009
Virginia finds her hands
Last week, Virginia started really working at getting her fist in her mouth. Sometimes, it takes both hands working together to get just one in her mouth, but she makes it happen.
Virginia finds her hands from wendy morissette on Vimeo.
As you can see, she's still a bit erratic with her movement and occasionally bonks herself in the eye or the cheek or the forehead... which amuses us, though I hope she doesn't give herself a black eye! She does scratch herself in the process sometimes, so I have to be vigilant with keeping her nails trimmed!
September 28, 2009
Virginia's 2-month update
Virginia had her 2-month checkup today and doc says all is well! She's 12 lbs, 8.75 oz and 23 1/2 inches long; which puts her in the 90th percentile for weight and height. It's quite a difference from when Hazel was a baby and had her very own chart, since she was too small to even BE on the regular chart. In fact, by the time Hazel weighed 12 1/2 lbs, she was walking!!!
Some milestones include rolling over from stomach to back (always using left knee & arm for pushing), focusing on our faces, tracking our movements, smiling back at us, pre-laughing (sort of a huffing noise), squealing, kicking on purpose (kick toy!!), staying awake for more than an hour and sleeping (sometimes) for more than four hours. We are settling into sort of a schedule, but it's still very loosey goosey. She's a very easy baby so far, and we're having a lot fun with her.
September 26, 2009
Virginia kicks it out
Here's Virginia playing with a kick toy we got as a hand-me-down when Hazel was a baby. Hard to believe Virginia is already two month's old!
Virginia kicks it out from wendy morissette on Vimeo.
September 23, 2009
basement window replacement - Sept 2009
We have finally completed the basement window replacement!
Check out the full gallery showing the entire process in our photo albums. And below is a video showing the concrete being lifted out of the north window.
Yes, we still need to paint the exterior (and interior) trim, but that's not critical right now. Next step is painting and flooring in Hazel's new room (the north window, shown above).
concrete removal from wendy morissette on Vimeo.
September 02, 2009
Virginia rolls over and then gives me a smile
Virginia rolled over today! I can't believe it.. at just 5.5 weeks old. After rolling over the first time, I grabbed the camera and hoped that she'd do it again, and she did. After that, I got her to smile at me on camera. And, earlier today, she tracked me first the time when I was about three feet away; it was very cool.
August 26, 2009
Virginia is one month old
Virginia has gained an impressive 3 lbs and is now 11 lbs! She's incredibly strong, holding her head up and pushing/standing with her legs. As you can tell by the weight gain, nursing is going very well. We're not on a schedule, but there is definitely a rhythm to our days (and nights). The good thing about her growth is that her tummy is also growing, meaning she can eat more at one time and sleep longer! I'm looking forward to more than 3 hrs at a time on a consistent basis.
In other news, the basement window project is finally scheduled for next week, just as zel is heading back to school. At this rate, she'll have her new room ready to move into around christmas! Hopefully, that's a joke and it's ready long before that. After Hazel's moved downstairs, we'll be able to set up Virginia's nursery and move all her stuff out of the living room.
Okay, enough chatter, now for the pictures!
"yay, i'm one month old!"
Camey notes: Looks like she's carrying on, telling a story.. just like her mama :-)
"ummm... what's going on here"
must.nibble.ear
standing up!
"i like looking at the sky"
August 02, 2009
Virginia at 7 Days
Virginia turned the ripe old age of 7 days today and she's already doing some impressive push-ups and exploring the neighborhood of her activity blanket.
"I am 7 days old... my name is Virginia.. and who are you?"
"hmmm.. need to examine more closely"
"Why won't you talk to me! I promise not to eat you. "
"Oh, hello, Mommy.. more pictures?"
"Hey.. I'm getting the hang of these push-ups"
