It's a BIG Tub Mama!

So lately Kyra has suddenly decided that not only does she not LIKE baths, but she's acting down right afraid of them! All I have to do is take her into the little bathroom where her baby tub is in a diaper or less and she just bursts out screaming. She'll still do showers, but sometimes I just want to shower alone. In order to help try to get her over her fear of water or whatever it is that's making her nervous I decided to try taking her in the big bathtub today and that seemed to help a lot. She was pretty nervous at first, but there was no screaming and once she adjusted she even let me show her how she could float a little with me holding the important bits out of the water and how she could splash. She even liked when the water spiraled down the drain and tickeled her toes! No drain fears for this kiddo. I'd like to get her in the parent-child swim class over at Mt. Hood but she's not eligible until she's 8 months old. It will be interesting to see how she does in the big hotel pool when my family is here in September!

PIG!!!

Today, Kyra went on her second trip to the zoo with me, a friend of ours and her 5 kids, the youngest of whom is a girl just a little younger than Kyra. It was a very nice day for the zoo! Not too hot and mostly overcast but not raining! Kyra did pretty good on the MAX both ways and she even rode in her stroller for about a total of 3 hours today!!! I was shocked, since this is only about the 6th time she's been in the stroller. I was also shocked that I managed to wrestle said stroller in and out of the trunk without help from Phil! :) The last thing we did before getting back on the MAX was to stop in the gift shop to see if Kyra reacted the same way to the stuffed "Visuvyian Warty Pigs". I looked all over and didn't see them so I just figured they'd sold them all since they were on sale before, but then as I was heading up towards the cash registers with her on my shoulder she let out a BIG yell and I turned around to see what she was yelling at. There they were, about 8 or so stuffed pigs WAY up on one of the top shelves. She just got so excited, I couldn't resist and Kyra now has a stuffed pig. She was very cranky when I took it away so we could pay for it and she clung onto it all the way home on the train and talked to it in her carseat on the way home from the Park & Ride.

Pears!

Well, it was time to get Kyra going with some FRUIT now. We have tested prunes but those were a total no (too sweet I think) so we are doing pears for a first fruit instead. She didn't like them at first, but then decided that maybe they were alright. She's definitely not afraid of expressing her opinion, and the little cranky baby faces when she tastes something new are just precious. I'm bound and determined though that even if every food takes all 13 of those recommended attempts for her to adjust, she is NOT going to be a picky eater and she's going to enjoy her fruits and veggies!

Izzy's with Izzy!

Tonight one of our online friends from out of state was in town and we decided to get together for dinner. She has a daughter, Izzy, who is only a couple weeks younger than Kyra! We went to Izzy's restaurant appropriately enough, and Kyra of course was fascinated by another baby, but then, she always is. We tried her in the highchair for the first time in a restaurant and she did it for a little while but then decided that just wasn't cool. :) She also got pretty cranky at one point because she was tired but after a nap at the table she felt better! She did want to take Izzy home with ther though... although I bet that would have changed as soon as she realized that meant sharing her attention!

Oaks Park!

Today was Phil's company picnic at Oaks Park! I'd never been there before and, of course, neither had Kyra! For those of you who don't know, Oaks Park is a small amusement park in Portland. It's a neat little place! It reminded me of the amusement park in Green Bay I used to go to as a kid sometimes. She couldn't ride most of the rides obviously, but all the ones that we could safely take her on that were "this tall or with an adult" we did. :) She fell asleep on the ferris wheel (so much for a fear of heights being natural and in born), rode the carousel twice and liked it, liked looking around on the train and thought the "Lewis and Clark" adventure ride (it used to be their haunted house so it's in the dark with light up scenes but is pretty tame) was really neat to see. Her favorite though was a ride with fake hot air balloons that were mounted to a center post and went up in the air and then spun around individually as the whole ride turned in a circle. She rode that in her meitai carrier and every time the balloon spun around (and it spun pretty fast with two adults and a baby on one side of the basket) she just squealed laughing! Phil even won one of the raffle prizes! It was also the first time ever that I've been able to take Kyra out of her carrier asleep and put her in the carseat without really waking her up! She was all tuckerd out. :)

Won't You Be My Teddy Bear?

Before Kyra was born, her Grandma B. bought her a soft, fuzzy brown teddy bear with a soundbox in it that makes a whooshing heartbeat sound that is supposed to sound like the womb and help a new baby sleep. Well, Kyra wasn't all that big on it when she was a baby, but she sure loves it now! If her teddy isn't in her bed when I put her down she doesn't have anything to hold on to and snuggle up with so she wakes up right away! If he is there though, she just wraps one arm around him and snuggles up tight. I like him too because he looks a lot like a tiny version of the teddy bear Phil brought me on his first trip to WI that I named "Bearly" so until Kyra comes up with a name for him herself or Phil thinks of something really spectacular, I'm calling him "Bearly There"

PEAS Please!!!

Tonight we started expanding Kyra's menu from just rice cereal to veggies. She had some PEAS and really liked them! She didn't even pull any funny faces on the first few bites. She did however get peas all over her face. :) We've just started working on a couple of baby signs with her and so far, even though she's not ready to try doing the signs yet, she's sure interested in watching them! Milk, More, Done and Thank You are the ones on the list so far. Hopefully in a month or so she'll be ready to start trying them out!

Go-"Carting"

Today Kyra rode all around Wal-Mart in the shopping cart with her new cart cover on for over an hour. We were shopping for stuff to make baby food besides just thereg ular groceries so it was fun! She was really good too! She especially liked the part where Phil went on break and found us and got her out of the cart to carry her around and show her off. :) Silly Dad!

Mmmmm, gloopy rice cereal!

Well, still a very messy proposition, but Kyra is still liking the cereal! I can't wait to be able to give her some fruits and veggies for varieties! Especially since I think all this rice cereal is going to get to her tummy sooner or later. So far, she's just having one meal a day. We'll bump it up to two next week I think and then three the week after maybe.

Rice, Rice Baby!!!

Since we had SUCH a busy day yesterday and Kyra was sort of cranky and tired from the shots we didn't try getting her to eat any solids. This evening, she got some rice cereal for the first time! She got VERY excited but did a pretty good job! We gave her about 2 1/2 tablespoons and I'd bet that more than half of it actually made it into the baby and stayed there! She did end up with cereal in her nose, hair and ears though. :) The video is of her very first bite! We have more videos that I might put up on youtube though...

Busy Day!!!

We had a BUSY day today! I took Kyra to her doctor's appointment first. It was a good appointment! The doctor said she had the all clear to start solids and that her head measurement has caught up with the rest of her growth. She weighed in at 14lbs 3 oz and measured 25 1/2 inches. Her weight is still just under the 50th percentile for breastfed girls so she's a pretty average kiddo in that group, but on the smaller side for babies her age in general although she's still well on the charts. :) Everything else looked good too and we even got an assistant we like AND she brought shorter needles because Kyra has such little legs. How sweet is that? I just wish they'd been using those shorter needles before! Then we came back for Kyra to take a nap and to pick up Phil. We went to the insurance office to pick up the slip for the car insurance and then the bank. Kyra's WIC appointment was after that (it was a short one) and then we went to the D.M.V. to get the trip permit for the Oldsmobile (I don't know if I mentioned this here but Phil's very sweet Grandma is giving us her older car! It's a '96 Olds with only 37,000 miles on it and lots more backseat room for Kyra and 2 dogs than the Subaru has.) Then we went to Phil's mom's house for a short visit to drop off dog harnesses and pick up the car. Our LAST stop of the day was a quick walk over to Wal-Mart to grab some stuff. WHEW!!! Kyra was tired after all that (as you can see) and so were we!

Big Dog Baby!!!

Today, Kyra stayed in the nursery for the whole service for the FOURTH Sunday in a row!!! I'm so proud of her. We also had our last regular season softball game today. We didn't win, but it was sure a lot of fun! Kyra especially thought it was exciting because one of the guys there who wasn't a regular but was filling in for someone else had his dog with him. His dog was an extremely mello, HUGE male bull mastiff named Jackson. There was also a 12 week old pit puppy there who was very cute and who Kyra almost totally ignored. :) She LOVED the big dog though. After the older kids were done harassing him for a while and he was laying under the shade behind us with his babysitter I put Kyra down so she was standing on the ground next to my chair about two feet in front of Jackson's face and she stuck out her hand and he leaned forward and licked it. His tongue was about three times as wide as her hand, but she thought it was about the funniest thing ever and BURST into giggles!

6 Months ALREADY?!?!?

I just can't believe that Kyra is already 6 months old! Our little baby is growing up so fast! Today we went over and had lunch with Phil which Kyra always thinks is fun but especially enjoyed this time because I let her chew on my red straw. :) Poor kid really wants to eat! We'll find out at the doctor Monday if she's got the all clear to start solids. Then we went to Target and she got to pick out two toys off the baby clearance section and she picked some noisy keys that jingle, rev and beep and a yellow duck in a rainhat with a rattle in its head that has teether hands and feet. She also rode in the cart for the first time! She sat in the front part with me holding her hands to help her sit up straight and she thought was LOTS of fun until she got SO tired that I needed to hold her. Then she fell asleep on my shoulder. Such a sweet baby, even if she is growing up too fast!

Are All Those Candles For ME!?!?!?

Today Kyra and I went over to Costco to pick up the cake, sushi, salad and strawberries for our birthday celebration! We went out to Phil's mom's to share with them too. Kyra thought all those candles were pretty cool, but boy were they ever hard to light, especially when Phil ran out of fuel in the lighter!

Swing-Ups

Kyra is really enjoying her swing again all of a sudden now that we're putting the tray on it instead of just using the belt (she can get out of that three point belt WAY too easy and I'm afraid she's going to fall out of the swing even with us in the same room if we're not RIGHT there). She now lunges forward to grab the green loops that hold the slidey toys and pulls herself up to sitting! It's apparently LOTS of fun to do, especially when one of us is sitting right on the couch by her. :)

Your Birthday Burger Has Arrived!

We went to Children's Place this evening because they're having their 50% of the lowest markdown sale and their stuff fits Kyra so well. We got her a few things and the best part was the CP "stretchies" jammies for #1.99! How cool is that? We found her a swimsuit for next year too. It was hard to find one that wasn't either a bikini or a very skimpy halter top! Phil and Kyra took me to dinner at Red Robin afterwards to have my free birthday burger tonight. Kyra was so good while we were there! She did think that she should have some of my lemonade and a bite of my burger though and was very disappointed when she didn't get any!

Yay for Fast Shipping!

Today was my birthday but Phil got asked to work at 4 tomorrow a.m. so we're not gonna be able to do anything tonight besides trying to get this baby girl to bed before ten. We are doing cake for me and Kyra (she'll be 6 months on Saturday) later this week though. The new harness for Kyra's Marathon got here today. Yay for quick shipping! I got the first (and most important) patch stitched on to her seat cover too so when it came I just had to thread it in . Since I did that just slightly wrong in several different ways the first few times, I think I could rethread that harness in my sleep now! After it was all set she tried it out in on the couch since I couldn't exactly go out and install it when we were home alone. :) What do you think, does she like it?

Hippie Baby!

Amy did 6 month portraits for Kyra today. Kyra was NOT feeling the portrait stuff very much for the first 3 "outfits" but Amy still managed to get GREAT pictures of her because she's just that good. Then at the end we stripped her down and she all of a sudden was in a DRASTICALLY better mood! She rolled around on the fuzzy drop and grinned and giggled! Amy did notice that our daughter never closes her mouth unless there's something in it. :) After the photo shoot we had dinner over there and afterwards John and Tristan were playing soccer in the yard and Phil had Kyra in the grass playing while Amy and I were in the house. Phil came in and said that John had come over and set the soccer ball down right in front of Kyra, which she found interesting until Tristan came over and knelt directly across the ball from her and then she just wanted to watch him! John pointed out that Phil is gonna have his hands full, the girl is only six months old and she likes being naked and older men!

Apprentice Scorekeeper

Kyra spent the WHOLE service in the nursery at church today for the third Sunday in a row! Yay baby! Then we had the early softball game and since they were short a girl, they made the coach's wife play so Kyra, I and the coaches son and daughter kept score. That was interesting, especially since none of us had any more experience than the baby! Kyra decided that since it was so hot, she'd cool Mama off by dumping her cup of ice water (less than an inch, but still cold!) over on me twice as she was trying to grab it from my cup holder! Silly baby...

Baby Blog

Not much to say today... but when we weren't just puttering around working on stuff in the house, Kyra helped me on the computer. She really likes typing on my keyboard, so I decided to let her type her own blog post today.

b uiiiiiiiiiiiiiibn b nb bbbbbbbbbbb v b cv 2 nbbbbbbbbbbmkkkkklkmmkgv fxdfcgfbgjnhjhbvfgzdrfttrry76te6rt5HHNJGFHHGFDSFSDzaacfgnj vh

Uppercase Living Party

This evening we went to an Uppercase Living party at Amy's house. Kyra took a late nap in the car and wasn't quite done with it when we got to Amy's! Tristan had ALSO just woken up from a nap and was ALSO cranky, although, he got over it faster than Kyra. When we were leaving home, Phil had said to Kyra that she should behave for Mama, and if she had to be bad for someone, be bad for Auntie Amy! Boy was she ever! As soon as we got in the house, I handed her over to Amy and she took one look at her and started bawling. This was sort of the theme for the evening. She FINALLY let Amy hold her without fussing about it about five minutes before we left while I was packing up her diaper back. :)

Asleep On Her Feet! (Or at least her toes...)

Kyra was in the jumperoo today while I was working in the kitchen and about 2 minutes after I walked out of the room she got a little fussy so I was talking to her while I worked. She stopped fussing and got REALLY quiet so I assumed she was playing with her doll. Lo and behold, when I walked into the livingroom a couple minutes later to check on her, she was sound asleep in the jumperoo. Poor little thing wore herself out! I had to get some pictures before I woke her up and took her to bed. :)

Baby Kiss!!!

Kyra's getting pretty good at "giving" kisses. :) They're pretty drooley, slimey kisses, but kisses all the same! Also, she tried out her seat some more today while I worked on taking the embroidered lettering off. The harnesses aren't in it so she's just sitting in the seat here (and yes, I was close enough to grab her) but she's in it! She sure likes her fuzzy seat. She rubs her hand up and down the side a lot. And doesn't she look good in it?

It's HERE!

Kyra's Britax Marathon carseat came today! HOORAY!!! It's gorgeous and she likes it! Nice and plushy cover and she likes sitting in it too. However, we can't start using it in the car yet because there was a small flaw on one of the harness straps and although it more than likely would be fine, I just don't feel safe using it until the harness is replaced. (Britax is great and they're sending out a new harness with no trouble at all.) Oh well, it gives us time to take of the "K-State" lettering and sew the Alice in Wonderland patches on over the logo and on the side wings. :) Also to read the manual!

Costco...

Today, we sort of took the morning off and then we went to Costco! Radar needed food and Kyra and I needed to order our birthday cake! It took us a long time to pick one (especially since there was a pokey man in the way who didn't know what to order because his wife had told him to order a marble cake with raspberry filling and Costco has neither marble cake nor raspberry filling). We picked a rainbow one... I think. :) I can't remember which one we decided on now, but I'll post pictures after we get it!

Raspberries!

We went out to Grandma & Grandpas today and while we were there we walked out to see their garden! Kyra got to find out about the OTHER kind of raspberries, the non-spitty kind. She got to smell a few of the ripe ones and she was really WISHING she was old enough to taste one. Next year!

Kissing Game

No, we're not teaching Kyra to play spin the bottle. :) We ARE working on teaching her to give kisses though! Her newest "trick" is to (when she feels like it) respond to Phil or I making a kissyface by leaning forward and giving us a "kiss" so we make the kissy noise for her! She's such a cutie. :)