6 months!

I can't believe that Ramona is almost 6 months! It seems like just yesterday that I was big and pregnant and complaining all the time. It is much more fun to have the baby out of the womb.......the last 6 months have breezed by.

She is rolling over regularly now, however she only knows how to roll over from her back to her front.......so she starts crying when she is on her stomach, and I have to roll her onto her back. She is in good spirits the rest of the time. She always wakes up smiling, she looks like she really enjoys life. She loves looking around at the world when we go on walks, and her new favorite place seems to be the dog park. She finds dogs hilarious! When Max was chasing other dogs around the park, you could hear a squeal coming from Ramona. Its good to know that she seems like she'll be a dog lover.

I went to Yuen Lui the other day and got some pictures taken. I'm really excited to go pick up the pictures. I'll try to scan one of them, so that I can post it on here. They turned out great, I'm really glad I did it. The naked baby pictures are my favorite. In the process of taking the naked baby pictures, Ramona definitely peed on the table she was laying on. The photographer didn't seem to mind, she said it happened all the time.

We are all looking forward to our Hawaii trip......we leave in a week. We are going with our parents, so it will be a nice family trip. We will hopefully fit in some hiking, sitting on the beach, and just hanging out as a family. Hopefully Ramona will get over her absolute hatred for water during our trip. I can't believe I don't have a water baby. I think she'll eventually like it......we'll see, I'll update her. Either way I am definitely taking pictures of her in her new bathing suit, which is beyond cute.

valen-tinies

We got a valentine from our friend Chris Matz' little boy Dominic. The picture above is Ramona swooning over his valentine card. They are obviously valentines this year. Love was in the air. Dominic is going to visit in April, so they can meet for the first time. Speaking of babies, Andrea and Jason had their baby last Monday, Liam.......and I got to see him the day after he was born! I felt very lucky. He is darling, and Justin and I are going to try to arrange a visit this week.

Ramona is rolling over often now, which is great. She still only rolls over from her back to her front, and not vice versa. She gets really mad about getting stuck on her stomach, so I think she will figure it out eventually. She even did a big roll for the family at my great Uncle Dick's birthday party on Saturday. It was quite the production. She reveled in the clapping and cheering that she received.

Ramona taught herself a neat trick the other day. When I wave my finger in front of her lips, she sticks out her tongue, so I am playing with her tongue. So, she can now stick her tongue out on demand. She thought that was so fun that she started playing with her own tongue.....it is quite the game. I'll have to post a picture of her doing the "tongue game".

We are going to Hawaii soon! I am so excited.....we'll see how our first plane travel goes. I'm hoping it is smooth, because I can imagine how much I will be sweating if she screams throughout the trip! Those pictures will be posted when we get back (the fun beach pictures, not the screaming in the plane pictures!)

Max is hilarious!

Well, after many months of inactivity, Ramona is finally shucking and jiving. She hearts playing with her feet (as seen above), and loves to roll around on the floor. She also seems to think that Max is funnier than pre-crazy Dave Chappelle. When he walks by her, she just laughs and laughs.....and he usually looks at her like, who is this kid? He seems a bit startled by the noises.

She is finally starting to like solid foods. We tried sweet potatoes from a jar yesterday, and she thought they were not disgusting. She made a face like they weren't very good, but as soon as you went to put the jar away, she started pointing and grabbing for the jar. So, I don't know if that means she likes solids, or she just likes looking at the jar. Either way, she put down a few bites.....which was much better than our past attempts.

I am currently starting up a moms group with Sabrina, so we are busy doing that. We are also going to start going to the Ballard Library for a read-aloud time for the young ones. It is during her naptime, so we'll see if it works (maybe it will just be a time for me to listen to stories peacefully while Ramona sleeps in my arms). Busy, busy, busy.

We drove up to Bellingham yesterday for a visit with Mary Lee and Mary Pearl. Unfortunately, Mary Pearl fell and broke her hip the other day, and has just had surgery. Everything went ok, and she seemed to be in good spirits. She really loved seeing Ramona, even though R.P. was a little grump-a-dump for the trip.

Currently, I am awaiting news on the birth of baby boy Milstead. Andrea went into labor this morning (early this morning), and we're all anxious to hear about the new baby. I'm hoping to visit tomorrow morning with Jenny. Too bad Justin is out of town at a work trip

solids

Now that Ramona is five months, she is doing a lot of new things. We joked a lot in the first four months that she was most comfortable relaxing, and observing others. However, now she has started to get a move on. She has rolled over twice (from back to front), she likes to sit up while being propped (though I think she will be sitting up on her own soon), and she has eaten solids. Beyond those things, she just moves a lot. She waves her arms around, she kicks her toys, and she holds and shakes her toys. She still loves observing.....but sometimes she gets into the action now.

Eating solids has not been her favorite thing so far. As you can tell from her face above.....she it not too pleased about what we are putting in her mouth. We'll just keep trying......can't hurt. Its pretty exciting to see her sitting up in her high chair....she is so BIG!!

Also, we are starting to have lots of play dates, where the babies actually play with each other! Ramona and Maddie love to play together........Maddie thinks Ramona is hilarious, and Ramona is stumped by Maddie. There is a lot of grabbing......and it looks like we're going to have to introduce the term "gentle touching" to the two of them.

We are having such a good time. Ramona is really showing off her personality....she smiles all the time, and she is becoming very playful. She loves to jump around in her jumparoo, stand up and look out the window, and play with her toys (and occasionally hit herself in the head...oops!)

Looking forward to playing with Ramona in the sun.....we're going to Hawaii in March!