Talia - 32 Weeks

Talia is a lot of fun to play with now that she sits on her own. Here are some new games we enjoy playing:

• Yoga Ball Reach: Daddy places one of her small balls out in front of her and she'll reach and grab the ball. She immediately expects some praise (uh-oh) and looks up at Daddy, then Mommy with the biggest grin on her face. Daddy places another ball even further away, she stretches and grabs the ball. Repeat, repeat, repeat until the ball is just out of reach. She'll still stretch as far as she can, touch it so lightly and look up for our reaction. Too cute.
• (Throw) and Catch: Tally sits in front of Daddy with her legs out to the sides, waiting to catch the ball from Mommy. Mommy rolls the ball and Tally reaches out and catches it - (again, looking at each of us for reaction). Daddy helps Tally "throw" the ball back to Mommy, but usually has to use a lot of force to pull it from her hands..... she doesn't quite understand the throwing part yet:)
• Ball Chase: Tally really scoots around on the wood floor - she goes around 360 degrees on her tummy and is very good at propeling herself backwards. Mommy or Daddy roll a ball toward Tally and she manipulates her position to grab it. This will be much more fun when she can move forward and it isn't necessary to continually pull her back toward the game:)

Tally has ruined a number of onesies and tights recently. There is a ~75% chance that when you pull her out of her Johnny Jumper, she has pooped herself. Unfortunately, she usually continues to jump, making a sticky situation much worse. She is getting quite used to the strip down on the kitchen table - nearly always prompting her evening bath.

Alysia

Talia - 31 Weeks

Now that Tally can sit without support, her interest in toys has skyrocketed! Her favorite things to do with toys are: Zero in on whatever you're holding and grab it once you've put it down; Hold a small toy in her right hand and beat it on her other toys; Taste every side of a toy; Smack toys over and over again with an open hand. Needless to say, we have a noisy home now.

Alysia

Like Father, Like Daughter

Just recently, Talia has begun to show that she is, without a doubt, my child. I know this because (1) so far, she apparently likes all food, and (2) she has a propensity to make a mess while eating. Her newest favorite meal, pureed carrots, are particularly effective in getting everywhere and being very visible. See for yourself how excited Talia gets about meal time (note the grasping of the spoon) and how 1/2 of her food doesn't quite make it to her stomach.

Talia took her show on the road again this week to another monthly group playdate. This time, the gathering took place at our friends Doug and Paula's place - they're fellow Dow folks and Penn Staters who graduated at about the same time as us. Their daughter, Isabella (Isa for sure), is 19 months old and is therefore extremely curious. Isa thought that it would be fun to make friends with Talia, then closely examine most of her upper body. We're not sure, but we suspect that Isa thought that Talia was some kind of animated doll. I'm not sure if it was funnier to watch Isa going crazy or Talia just calmly laying there while Isa laid on top of her.

After that funny exchange, Talia regrouped and hung out with some other friends at the house. It won't be long until she looks forward to going to the playdate every month...

Until next time....

- Mike

Talia Laughing!

Talia - 7 Months

Unofficial Stats: 15 lbs 6 oz; 25.5 inches

TALIA FUN FACTS

Favorite Pasttimes: Johnny Jumping, "Working" at her desk; SMILING

Favorite Toys: Johnny Jumper, Exersaucer, Funny Town, Piano

Favorite Noises to Make: Blowing her Nose; Whispering, Blowing Rasberries

New-found "likes": Sitting! Bath Toys, Carrots!

New at 7 Months:

Solid foods: Rice cereal, Oatmeal, Whole-grain cereal, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots

Formula: Now about 1/2 formula, 1/2 breast milk

Solid poop (undecided on whether we're happy about this)!

Sitting without assistance, but topples

Laughing: Not just giggles anymore.....

Stranger Danger: Talia is funny now around folks she doesn't recognize

Talia's Sleeping Habits: Mommy & Daddy's sleep-training efforts have paid off. It wasn't fun to let her cry for nights on end, but Talia now falls asleep peacefully about 5/7 days a week. Talia sleeps through the night (uninterrupted) about 4/7 days a week. We've determined that Talia LOVES to be snuggled and so she sleeps with the lower half of her body buried beneath 3-4 blankets and a fuzzy warm blankie near her face for snuggling.

Talia's "Schedule": Typically in bed between 8-9PM - usually has to be awoken around 6:45AM on weekdays, but will sleep until about 8AM on weekends. Talia spends the day playing with three other babies at In the Beginning from about 7:15AM - 5:15PM, usually taking two 1-2 hour naps during the day. The evening is full of playtime!

Froggy chair shots (1 month, 4 months, 7 months below):

Alysia

Talia - 30 Weeks

Can it really be 30 weeks since Talia entered our lives? I suppose so, given the fact that she is now sitting on her own, eating vegetables, and "blowing" her nose. Oh, and she was teasing her boyfriend at daycare the other day, continually taking his socks off. Is this suppose to start at 30 weeks as well?

Talia has become so much more active in the past few weeks. She LOVES playing with toys and will grab anything and everything out of curiosity. She typically puts something down as soon as something else grabs her attention - and everything continues to go straight to her mouth. She continues to LOVE tubby time with Daddy. Daddy holds her so she can swim for her toys and she will spend at least 10 minutes bobbing for her turtle, letting it go, bobbing for her boat, letting it go.

Talia got a surprise visit from Uncle Ben last weekend!

Talia "blowing" her nose - a face only a Mommy and Daddy can love.

Well, perhaps a few others will love it as well!

Alysia

Some New Sounds

She may be trying to clear her nose (she has another head cold), or she just likes to mimic a raging bull. Whichever it is, it's incredibly cute. See for yourself!

And.... if you listen carefully, she responds with kissing noises a few times in the video too - another new trick of the week!

Alysia

Talia - 29 Weeks

Talia was back to the ole' grind during her 29th week, going to "work" every day at In the Beginning. Every day, she gets closer and closer to sitting up without using her hands for support. She's getting braver all the time and will wave her arms around and eventually tumble. Mommy or Daddy will sit nearby to catch her on the fall, but sometimes she takes a spill that can't be prevented. A little snuggling and distraction is quite successful in calming the fears.

We got about 4-5 inches of snow on Thursday and decided to take a few pictures with Tally to teach her what Michigan's really like for ~4 month of the year. She didn't really complain, even when she got a little of the white stuff on her face.

She made her return visit to the pediatrician on Friday and her ears are all clear. Yay! We also found out she had gained a little over a pound in just 2 weeks. Why not, so did the majority of Americans between the holidays, right?

Alysia

Oh Yes it's 80's Night

One of our good friends in Midland turned 40 this week, and what better way to celebrate than to take a step back to one of the craziest fashion eras of our generation? Our whole family took part in the fun!

It was lots of fun browsing through the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores to find outfits. Funny thing is, I had actually purchased legwarmers for Tally a month ago - not for this party - at BabyGap. They're coming back:)

Talia decided since she was dressed for a workout, she might as well show off her new-found yoga skills. Everyone noticed how amazingly flexible she is........

Pre-warm up stretching.....

A little further......

And she's there!

Alysia

Happy New Year!

Talia welcomed 2010 with a visit from Grandma and Pappy and a Penn State victory! What more can a little girl ask for?

Alysia

Talia - 28 Weeks

Talia is 28 Weeks old and already into her second decade!

This week, Talia seems to have embraced sleep for what it truly is - awesome. She lays down easily for her naps throughout the day, wakes up talking to herself, and has slept through the night without much (and sometimes no) fuss for 10-12 hours. Yay for Tally (and Mommy & Daddy)!

She's now eating oatmeal twice a day and is starting to deal with it - she hasn't reached "enjoyment" yet and would much rather drink milk, but will have 5-10 spoonfuls before turning her head and pursing her lips together:) Unfortunately, either the cereal or the supplemented formula she's had in the last week have disrupted her digestive system quite a bit. Let's just say I'd go back to the ~10 dirty diapers a day in a heartbeat to avoid the 1 explosion we've witnessed per day this week........ We've thrown away two onesies as there's really no salvaging them.

Here are some pictures of our cutie.........

Our little hippie-girl reaching for Mommy.

Alysia