When we stayed at Ranger’s house Saturday and Sunday, we took Jessica’s rocking chair with us. She enjoys straps and buckles on things and likes to gnaw on them. The rocking chair’s straps are no exception. I kinda stood her up next to the chair and she leaned over to get to the straps and off she went pushing the chair. Too cute.
Tag Archives: Jessica
8 Months Old
My baby girl is now two-thirds of the way through her first year. We’re having so much fun being her parents.
James and Jessica, 5/31/10
What Jessica is Up To
My sister let us borrow some foam squares to put on the floor. It is working way better than the blanket we were using. However, Jessica knows how to take it apart and likes to chew on it. I’m not sure that it is a good long term plan. Maybe we’ll eventually decide on a rug we both like.
Tearing Up the Floor, 6/9/10
She loves to play. Our living floor is taken over by baby toys, but that is okay. We recently set out her Talking Garden Activity Table she got for Christmas. It is technically aged for children 12 months up, but you don’t have to use the legs. Jessica loves to push the buttons. She turns it from English to Spanish, on and off. She attempts to crawl over it. It has gotten her up on her knees quite a bit.
Pressing Buttons, 6/8/10
Up on her Knees, 6/14/10
She army crawls all over the place and is getting very fast. She hasn’t starting crawling on hands and knees yet, but it’s just as matter of time, since she has started getting up on her knees a lot more.
Jessica now gets baths in our bath tub. Once she started sitting up really well without slipping too much, we decided she was ready. Now she has lots more room to splash around.
In the Bath, 6/10/10
Jennifer and Jessica, 6/10/10
She does really well in the car, although she doesn’t spend much time in the car. She definitely knows how to keep herself occupied. I wish I was that flexible.
On the Way to Visit Aunt Sarah, 6/4/10
Eating
Jessica now has one tooth and a second one is coming in to the left of the first. We’ve given her puffs and she will hold the puff up to her mouth and gnaw on it with her little tooth. This video shows her puff eating in action. Plus, you can see her first tooth really well.
Homemade foods she’s tried: sweet potatoes, butternut squash, bananas, acorn squash, green beans, sweet peas, peaches, applesauce, eggplant with olive oil. Bananas are her favorite food. She’ll eat them up like there’s no tomorrow. Lima beans or lentils will be the next new food we try.
Getting a Pea Facial, 6/2/10
Purchased baby food she’s tried: rice cereal, oatmeal, Yoplait Greek yogurt, Happy Baby Organic Green Puffs (has whole grains and spinach in it) and Stonyfield YoBaby flavored yogurt. She really digs the yogurts and puffs. I want to try the sweet potato puffs Julia makes or the broccoli bites Sarah makes, but I’m not quite ready for Jessica to have a food with egg in it yet. Soon, though.
Weekend in Keller & Jessica’s First Haircut
Last weekend, James took Friday off from work and we traveled up I-35 to Keller to visit my sister and her family. The main purpose of the trip was so Sarah and I could go to the Great American Scrapbook convention in Arlington, but we did a bunch of fun stuff outside of the convention too.
Friday afternoon, the kiddos had fun playing together.
Jessica and Trevor
Babies don’t quite understand the concept of sharing. Fortunately, there were two of those orange things.
Jessica and Trevor
Cameron Getting a Ride from his Daddy
I even got a rare picture of Jessica and me, courtesy of Sarah. Of course, Jessica isn’t quite looking at the camera. That’s tough to do sometimes.
Jennifer and Jessica
Trevor Smiling
Jessica enjoyed Trevor’s piano walker toy.
Jessica Playing
After dinner, we took a walk and stopped at the swings. There was only one baby swing, so Trevor and Jessica had to share. See the cute pictures of the two them Sarah posted on her blog.
Saturday morning, Sarah and I took the kiddos to Homestead Farms. There were three baby goats, a rabbit and some chickens. The farm wasn’t quite what we were expecting, but they had a great produce stand. We got some unusual squash you don’t see at the supermarket and some peaches. Sarah made Trevor and Jessica some peach baby food and Jessica loved it. I thought it tasted pretty good too.
After lunch, Sarah and I left for the scrapbooking convention. We had a ton of fun doing a workshop, wandering the vendor fair and then cropping the night away. It was nice getting to spend some sister time together. I plan to post what I worked on during the crop night soon.
Jennifer at the Crop
Jennifer and Sarah
Sarah Showing Off Her Productivity
While we were at the scrapbooking convention, James and Brian took the kiddos to Brian’s parents’ house to go swimming. It was Jessica’s first time. James said she did okay. The next time, I bet she will enjoy it even more and I will get some pictures.
Sunday morning, Jessica got her first hair cut. Sarah did the cutting and I kept Jessica from moving, well moving too much. James took the photos (I was very impressed with the quantity of photos he took).
Jessica Before Her Haircut
Jessica's First Haircut
Taking a Break during her Haircut
Jessica's First Haircut
Afterward the kiddos played together. Apparently Jessica’s hair cut gave Cameron ideas as he wanted to cut his mama’s hair with his toy pliers.
Cameron, Sarah and Trevor
Trevor and Jessica Playing
We went to lunch at Rosa’s and then headed home. It was such a fun weekend. I’m glad we live close enough to have this kind of weekend.
Finger Food, a Tooth, and Army Crawling
Smiling Jessica Watches Mommy Take Down Diapers, 5/18/10
Jessica Playing, 5/19/10
Last week, I mentioned that feeding Jessica solid food was rife with frustration. I also mentioned that she surprised me when I gave her some of my banana and ate it up. Ever since then, it’s been like something just clicked and she eats the solid food I give her like a champ. I’m excited about feeding her now. In fact, I bought some eggplant and lima beans at the grocery store tonight. She hasn’t mastered the art of putting the finger food in her mouth yet (I have to put it in her mouth), but it sure is fun to squish.
Trying Finger Food, 5/21/10
On a related note, Jessica now has a tooth. This is an exciting, yet also frustrating event. Since she was 2 months old, Jessica has slept through the night without any problems. The last 6 out of 7 nights, she has not. My poor baby is hurting. That tooth just won’t let her sleep. Fortunately, 5 of the 6 nights she woke up after I put her down for bed, it was before I went to bed. However, when she has woken up, it has taken 1 to 2 hours to get her back to sleep. The worst was Wednesday night, when she woke up at 3 AM and didn’t go back to bed until 6 AM. I just hope it gets easier.
Jessica has progressed from scooting, to army crawling. It’s really cute. She crawls over to the xbox and pulls games out of the cabinet. It’s like she wants to play tetris.
7 Months Old… a little late in posting
Jessica turned seven months old on Sunday. I’ve started thinking about her 1st birthday party. I like the idea of a cowgirl theme, but James doesn’t. He doesn’t think there needs to be a theme and so doesn’t understand my desire to coordinate the party. As of now, the only thing set is the date, Sunday early afternoon, October 17th.
These photos of Jessica in her jungle tree might become a monthly occurrence. What do you think? Don’t worry, James was sitting in front to make sure she didn’t fall out of the tree. She’s smiling at Daddy in the second photo.
Happy in her Tree, 5/15/10
Smiling in her Tree, 5/15/10
What Jessica is Up To
She has started teething, which is making her fussy. Sunday was especially bad as she didn’t really want to nap, so teething fussiness combined with exhaustion didn’t really make for a happy Jessica. I can’t see any teeth, but she has increased her desire to chew on stuff. She sometimes chews on her index finger in a weird manner that makes me think her upper gums are bothering her.
She now sits up quite well on her own and no longer really falls backward. Occasionally, she’ll fall sideways, but unless something gets between her and the floor, it doesn’t seem to phase her.
Sitting Up, 4/30/10
Sitting Up, 5/11/10
She definitely is a scooter. Jessica will scoot all over the living room floor. She even scooted over to a potted plant and pulled out the American flag I had staked in it and put it in her mouth (fortunately, the non-dirt covered end). I am going to need to move my plants I think (I moved the flag to a different pot for now). Occasionally, she’ll plant her toes kinda like a push-up pose and pull herself forward, so it is no longer just a backward scoot. I think she will be crawling soon.
She likes to babble to James and I, but is quieter when around other people. She enjoys dancing with her mama to the BG line dance (a song on one her children’s CDs), especially the part when you bend down low to touch your toes. She starts giggling when I bend down low with her.
She enjoys stopping at the playground during our morning walks. I think she likes the springy frog the best.
Who's that Cool Cat?, 5/10/10
Swinging in her Shades, 5/4/10
Swinging with her Daddy, 5/15/10
On the Frog. 5/15/10
Jessica enjoys bath time, especially splashing around. Washing her hair is one of the hardest things to do. I love that she has longish hair, but eating and bathing make me think having a bald baby would be easier. I think I will get Sarah to help me trim the front when we go to visit in June.
In the Bath, 5/13/10
Sleeping
Jessica is still an excellent sleeper, sleeping 12-13 hours each night. Her morning nap is typically around 45 minutes long, but sometimes as long as 2 hours. Her afternoon nap is typically around 2 hours long, but occasionally shorter, usually when she naps for longer in the morning. Fortunately, the teething hasn’t interfered with her night-time sleeping, but her naps have sometimes been much shorter.
Food
We started solid food about 5 or 6 weeks ago now. It has been one of the most frustrating experiences of being a mother. I’m glad we didn’t start sooner. We’ve tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, bananas, oatmeal, butternut squash, green beans and today for the first time avocados. Bananas seem to be the food she likes the most. Most days, she will only take 1 or 2 spoonfuls before deciding she doesn’t want anything more to do with it. Occasionally, she has eaten much more. She nurses four times a day: when she gets up in the morning, at lunch after her morning nap, after her afternoon nap and right before bed. The solid food had been just before her afternoon nap and around 6 PM (about halfway between waking up from her afternoon nap and bedtime). Recently, I moved up the first solid feeding of the day. Now, she eats solid food prior to nursing at lunch. This has made solid food a much more liked event. She’ll eat most of the 1 ounce serving and then still nurses for quite a bit. Thanks Mom for the suggestion. Apparently, the milk I produce is filling enough that she isn’t really hungry. Today, she surprised me. After only really wanting 4 spoonfuls of avocado, I nursed her. As I nursed, I ate my lunch. After she finished, she was sitting on my lap playing while I finished the banana that was part of my lunch. She seemed really interested in it, so I gave her a small piece and she just ate it up. I ended up giving her like 4 or 5 small pieces. Prior to today, she hasn’t shown any interest in actually eating finger food.
Done with Dinner, 5/12/10
I enjoy watching her learn and discover new things and I’m excited about what the future brings for her.