June 11 – June 17 ~ Feet are toys too?!?

I know it is hard to believe, but I think you are getting cuter and cuter each week. This week you discovered your feet. You were on your blanket, playing on the ground when it happened. You lifted your little feet into the air and reached up towards them. When you finally grabbed them you seemed very pleased with yourself. You held them and looked at them for a few moments and then you rolled over and smiled.

On Thursday, we went to another play date. It was with the same group of women and babies that we met up with last month. There were some new faces too. We had such a good time, eating, comparing stories, and laughing. It wasn’t until we met with everyone that I realized what a little girl you were. When we went out, I always got comments on how you looked like a little porcelain doll, but I never paid too much attention... No matter, I still had the sweetest, most beautiful baby there. (Left to right: Stella 1/17/07, Autumn 2/10/07, Elizabeth 1/31/07, Logan 1/4/07, Mikayla 1/23/07, Ethan 1/2/07)

Sunday was Father’s Day. We had a fun, relaxing day. We went to church, then came home and relaxed for a little while. Grampa Bob and Gramma Kathy came into town and we visited with them for a little while. Then, we went to Grandpa Chris and Grandma Ramona’s house for dinner. We had a lot of fun.

June 4 – June 10 ~ Four Months Already?

This was an eventful week. On Monday you went to your four month well baby check up. I can’t believe how quickly time has gone by. It seems only yesterday your dad and I were anxiously awaiting your arrival. Dr. Gentile looked you over and said you looked like happy and healthy. You weighed 12 pounds, 9 ounces. You were in the 25 percentile for weight and the 75 percentile for height…long, lean, and perfect. You also had your four month shots. It was a little traumatic…more so for me than you. It was hard for me to see you upset. You did feel better the moment I picked you up.

The pediatrician said that you could start solids now that you were four months old. This was very exciting! We started with 2 teaspoons of rice cereal. Your dad and I sat you in your bouncy chair and started feeding you. At first you weren’t too sure about letting me put the spoon in your mouth, but you quickly got the hang of it. You even smiled a few times. I thought it was going to be harder, but you seemed to love it.

On Friday, we picked your dad up from work and went to your Uncle Greg and Aunt Kelsey’s house. We were carpooling to Page. We had a fun weekend. On Saturday, you met your Great Uncle Jim. Great Aunt Sandy was there too. Uncle Jim had wanted to meet you since the day you were born. He even joked that he didn’t think he was going to meet you until you were graduated from college. Needless to say he thought you were just the sweetest little girl. You weren’t too sure about him at first, but after a few minutes you relaxed and let him hold you. We visited him at the family store a little later and you tried on a pink cowgirl hat. You were such a cutie!

Later that day we went to your dad’s home church for the open house. You see, his church finally had a b uilding to meet in and this was its dedication weekend. Sunday morning we went to church and then went back to Grampa Bob and Gramma Kathy’s home. We took a few pictures and then we were on our way home. We stopped in Flagstaff for dinner.

May 29 – June 3 ~ One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Hawaiian Fish…?

Monday, May 29, was Memorial Day. Our friends, Brian and Cyndi, invited us to their house for swimming and a barbeque. It was such a good day for swimming and eating with friends. Your Grandpa Williams bought you a little swimsuit while he was on vacation in Hawaii. It was blue and had a grass skirt and lei sewn onto it. You were quite the sight. When we first got into the pool, you didn’t seem to be so sure about it. However, you didn’t cry or fuss. I am sure it felt good to cool off…I know it felt good to me. You even went underwater! You really didn’t like it the first time, but after you had done it a few times you were fine. You never even coughed! That means you were holding your breath…what a natural!



The weather had been getting very hot and so on Sunday, your dad and I made a spontaneous decision to go to the mountains. We just wanted to get out of the heat. We decided to go to Mount Lemmon just outside Tucson. It was perfect…it wasn’t too far to drive to and we could have lunch with our friend Kira. We had so much fun! The scenery was beautiful and the temperature was just perfect…a cool 68 degrees. We walked around for a little bit. Later that evening, we met our friends, Jim and Sarah, for dinner and games. It was a perfect day.

May 21 – May 28 ~ From Back to Belly

There was a lot of coming and going this week. Your dad went out of town on Wednesday evening to go fishing with his grandparents, Nana and Popie. You were still too little to take on a boat, so we stayed behind. I never liked being home alone, so while your dad was away, we stayed at Grandma Ramona’s house. Late Thursday night, your Rivas relatives came into town. It was a lot fun with all of us there. We saw Great Grandma Mary on Friday. It was her 85th birthday. She was happy to see all of us.



On Saturday we visited our friend Rachel from our church group. She just had her baby girl, Josie. She was so cute! Josie was just four days old. I couldn’t believe how small she was...and I couldn’t believe you were ever that small. At birth, Josie weighed 1 ounce more than you and was 1 inch shorter. It was so sweet seeing you both next to each other. The age difference between the two of you is about the same as that between you and Ramona.

Later on Saturday, we picked Great Grandma and Grandpa Williams up from the airport. They were so excited to see you…and me too. We went back to our home and rested for a little bit. Then Juan, Linda, and Ramona came over. It was fun to watch how you and Ramona interacted. Now that you were rolling over you wanted to see what was going on, to be part of the action. Wait a minute, did I say rolling over? Of course! I have to mention that you seemed quite determined to roll from your back to your belly. You had been very close, but hadn’t done it just yet. Then, on the floor in front of everyone you finally did it! We were so excited! You seemed so proud.



After we visited for awhile, everyone went to dinner at Joe’s Farm Grill. It was so good. We ate outside on the picnic tables under the citrus trees. It was such a nice evening…one of the last of the season.

May 14 – May 20 ~ Laughing is the Best Medicine

You had your first cold this week. You had been sniffling for a few days, but by Monday evening you were fully congested. It was sad hearing you breathing a little raspy. Other than sneezing occasionally you didn’t seem to mind all that much; however, you did not like it when you dad and I used the aspirator. It made us feel better though because your breathing sounded so much better after we cleared your nose.

On Tuesday around lunch time we went shopping. After awhile, I wanted a snack and so I went to Paradise Bakery. It was there that I met four other moms and their babies…all of which were born in January of this year. It was so much fun spending time with other moms. All the babies were well behaved and oh so cute. I must say, you were by far the sweetest and cutest baby…not that I am biased or anything.

I never knew how sweet the sound of laughter was until I heard you laugh for the first time. Your dad was playing with you while you were lying on your back. He was blowing raspberries on your hands and feet, making funny noises, and tickling you. You were smiling and making all sorts of cute sounds when all of a sudden you laughed. It was so sweet and afterwards you smiled like you knew you had just done something special. We tried to get you to do it again for the camera, you didn’t cooperate, but we did get some more big smiles.

And just for fun...

May 7 – May 13 ~ Official Roll Over

On Monday evening you officially rolled over. Why do I say officially? Well that is because your dad and I had found you rolled over in your crib many times, only we hadn’t seen it yet. We were still unsure if you were doing it all by yourself, or if you needed to push off the side of the crib. Well, all doubts were lifted away when you, while playing with your blocks on the ground, rolled over all by yourself. I was so excited! I clapped my hands and praised you and made a big fuss…and do you know what I did next? I put you back on your belly and ran for the video camera. I wanted to catch this amazing event on video. So after you rolled over a few more times (for the camera,) I called your dad. After I told him the news he joked, “Did she roll, or did you push her over?” I was shocked that he would say that and I quickly laughed back, “I am not Juan! Besides, I got it on tape!” Then we both laughed and your dad mentioned he couldn’t wait to see it for himself. (I feel that I must say that I was referring you your cousin Ramona’s dad. You see, the jury is still out on whether or not he “helped” Ramona roll over for the first time. You can ask your aunt Linda for specific details.)


This week we took a comparative picture. Of course we knew that you had grown, but we wanted to see just how much. So…I remembered that when we had first brought you home, we swaddled you and propped you up in my nursing pillow. We have since started using that pillow for tummy time. Once we put the pictures side by side, it was hard to remember you ever being so small. What a difference from two days old to three and a half months old.



Grampa Bob, Gramma Kathy, and Aunt Sarah came to town this weekend. On Friday everyone had dinner, Uncle Greg and Aunt Kelsey were there too. We were celebrating Greg’s birthday.

Sunday, Mother’s Day, was a quiet day. We went out to breakfast. We took some pictures and then all our guests went home. The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home.

April 30 – May 6 ~ Three New C’s

I had always wanted to try cloth diapers. While your dad and I were expecting your arrival, we had quite a few discussions on whether or not to use cloth diapers. I did some research but was a little overwhelmed with the amount of information I found. We decided to use disposables. Well, after visiting your cousin Ramona (who was in cloth diapers) I realized how simple it was so I ordered cloth diapers and we made the switch. I must say that I am happy we did. I learned several ways to fold your diaper and the fold that worked best for you was called the jelly-roll fold. I still needed to perfect it, but it worked wonderfully!

Your dad and I discovered that you had cradle cap. Cradle cap looks like yellow, flakey skin on your scalp. Many babies get it and it usually doesn’t bother babies, but if it becomes a more severe case, it may itch. One morning we noticed a few dry flakes in your hair and you were pulling your hair and seemed to be trying to itch your head. Once we examined it further we realized that you had a fairly bad case; it covered the entire top of your head. We felt bad that we had not caught this sooner. We bought a cradle cap cream, gave you a few extra shampoos this week and it cleared right up. At least you didn’t hate your baths anymore, and besides you looked really cute in your in hooded towel…

Your night time sleep pattern had become quite erratic. It seemed as if you were awake more than you were asleep. When you were awake, you were tired and not happy. Your dad and I just knew that if you went to sleep you would be a much happier baby. I called your pediatrician and asked what I should do. He told me to try the Cry it Out method. He said we should let you cry for a little while to see what you would do. He said we just might be picking you up too quickly. Your dad and I agreed to give this method a chance…but we were nervous about it.

We had to decide on a bed time and a routine to follow each evening. So we put you in your sleeper and I nursed you just before bed. You were definitely drowsy, but your eyes were still open when I put you down. (You see, I couldn’t put you to bed asleep anymore.) I left the room and you didn't fuss at all! That was at 9:00 pm.

You woke up at midnight. I looked at the clock and let you fuss; you started to cry very hard after two minutes and just as I was getting up, you stopped. After eight minutes of crying you were asleep! We repeated this at 2:30. When you woke up at 4:30 I changed your diaper and fed you. I figured 7 1/2 hours was a long time. After your feeding, I put you to bed drowsy and just like the beginning of the night you didn’t fuss! You slept until 7:15.

That evening you slept from 9:oopm until 7:15am with only about a half of an hour of awake time. Your dad and I were excited to have had some sleep again. When you woke up you gave us big smiles. We think you were just as happy after a good night sleep.

Also this week, it was such fun watching you play with your hands. You are using them more and more each day. Now, instead of just batting at toys, you seem to really play with them. I loved watching you play with your horse. At one point it was falling and you caught it.



You also began to talk a lot more this week. It was fun watching you coo and gurgle to your toys. So sweet.

On Sunday, Uncle Greg and Aunt Kelsey watched you for the day while your dad and I went to a wedding. You had so much fun with them. You smiled and played. It was nice to have a date with your dad. I must say though, halfway through the day, your dad and I ready to be with you again.