advice?

So...I'm thinking about trying to make my own baby food for the kidlet. Anyone out there have any advice?

Just Keep Swimming....

I took Reese swimming for the first time today. Our friend has an indoor pool in her building, so a few of our friends got together for a swim play date. Reese loves taking baths, so I thought she'd like the pool. Initially, she was a little unsure. I think the water felt a little cold. But once she got used to it, she had fun. She was kicking her legs and liked to be on her stomach. She only lasted about 20 minutes, but we had fun. Thanks Morgan!

Also, I'm grateful for all the friends we've made since we moved to Chicago. I was nervous about moving here, having a baby, and not knowing anyone. Luckily, we've met some great people and it's been so nice having friends to get together with during the week. It definitely adds to my day to have some adult conversation!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We had our first glimpse of Chicago's St. Patrick's Day celebration last weekend. St. Pat's is a pretty big deal here. There are a couple of big parades, various cultural celebrations, and of course the dyeing of the Chicago River. My mom was in town, so we headed out to go check out the river.

The river was very cool to see. It's amazing how green they get it! I knew it was a big day for partying...but it was pure craziness. Everyone was decked out in green. (I'm festive! Check out my coat!) At 2 pm we saw TONS of people completely drunk, barely able to walk down the street. Pretty much every garbage can was overflowing with beer cartons, cans, bottles, etc. Every bar we walked past was packed!

While my mom was here, Reese figured out the army crawl. The girl is fast! And determined. If she sees something she wants, she goes after it and nothing will stop her. She can get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. She can't quite figure out the arm thing though, but I'm sure she'll figure it out soon enough. And I'm scared. I told Brady we're getting some sort of cage/fence apparatus.

The last pictures are of Reese last Sunday. She is wearing my blessing dress.

Six Months

We took Reese in for her 6 month check-up today. Here's the latest stats on our little lady:

13 lbs 2 oz (5-10th percentile)

26 1/2 inches (75th percentile)

This is definitely such a fun age. She is so much fun to interact with and is generally all smiles. Naps are still short and unpredictable, but we're working on it. To make up for the lack of sleep, we've started putting her to bed between 7 and 7:30 pm. For the struggle she puts up to stay awake during the day, nights are a breeze. Sleeping at night is definitely her thing...she lays right down and we generally don't hear her until 6-7 AM.

She has really started scooting around the last couple weeks. She has the feet part figured out, it's just the arms that she hasn't quite got the hang of yet. It's pretty funny to watch her push herself forward with her head on the ground. She has also figured how to push her self up onto her toes and hands into plank position. We're going to be doing yoga together before soon! The sitting is coming along as well. She'll go 10-20 seconds of sitting on her own before she gets distracted by something and leans forward to grab it.

We started solids a few weeks ago and she is digging it (mostly). Once we had the cereal thing down, we advanced to veggies. Sweet potatoes and carrots were a success. The first time we attempted peas, she literally gagged. Sad, but funny. We tried again the next night and she was much better. You can tell she doesn't love them, but she'll eat them.

I can't believe that half a year has already gone by! I feel like she is still so little, but looking at pictures and seeing newborns makes me realize that she is quite (relatively speaking) grown up! It's amazing all the learning and growing that goes on in the first several months. Even though we have our rough days, I feel very blessed to be able to spend my days with Reese.