7 Months of Amelia

Month 6 has been so exciting for Amelia, Mommy and Daddy and now we’re onto month 7!! Amelia has become quite the momma’s girl! Once Mamma walks in the room, Amelia can careless about how much fun she and Daddy are having. All her attention is focused on getting Thea’s attention. It’s super cute to see Amelia get excited to see Thea. She wraps her little chubby arms around Thea and a place sloppy kisses on Thea’s cheek. Yes I admit it, I’m super jealous, but I know my day will come! It kinda already has in the form of sounds. Each morning Amelia love to talk and whisper DA DA DA DAD. She probably doesn’t understand what she’s saying, but the simple fact that she saying it melts my heart.

Amelia isn’t doing a whole lot of crawling yet, she really dislikes being on her belly any longer than she needs to be. She will just roll over onto her back and try to sit up. We let her struggle a few times then help her up. She has learned pretty quickly that flinging herself backwards when she’s frustrated hurts her head. Thea and I think Amelia is going to skip crawling all together and start running pretty soon. She loves to stand against the ottoman or against daddy and bounce up and down. Amelia stood with out help for almost 10 seconds the other day. She was smiling as if standing was the best thing since eating grapes through a feeding net.

Thea and I have been pretty lucky in the teething department. Amelia started pushing out her third tooth a few days ago, which is the upper front left tooth. Thea and I think she’s gonna have the DeCoste gap. Anyone who’s seen my grill knows what I’m talking about. Fortunately for Amelia, her gap will be fixed with modern brace technology. J However, Thea’s excited to take the first picture of Amelia and daddy smiling together after both of Amelia’s top teeth come in.

Amelia also has a new best friend, her Auntie Monica. Having Monica in Portland has been amazing!! Not only is she great company for Amelia, Thea and I, but she’s also a blessing. Monica has been able to care for Amelia while her regular sitter is on vacation. Watching those two play is super cute. Amelia really enjoys the Jane Fonda work stretches Auntie Monica helps her with. Auntie Monica continues to tell us Amelia needs a kitty or puppy and we continue to say hellz no! But when I see how excited Amelia gets around the neighborhood cat “Kit Kat” or hear stories of how excited she gets around a puppy…..who knows what will happen in the years to come. This month would have been super stressful and crazy without Monica. WE LOVE her so much!

UPDATE:
Amelia's 4th tooth is on it's way down. Soon she'll have 4 front teeth...

Until next month…..

6 Month Update...Yeah 6 months!!!

Holy cow has time just flown by! Can you believe our little girl is 6 months old? While looking over past postings and pictures it was hard for me to "keep it together". For 15 minutes I sat here at my desk replaying the memories of when Thea and I first meet Amelia after 27 hours of labor, our first night at home alone as a family, how much Amelia loved her first bath and how much Amelia hated her second car ride. Seeing how much Amelia has changed and grown in just a short amount of time is insane!

In the past 30 days, our little girl has grown up so much. Amelia has pushed out two baby teeth. We've been pretty lucky so far with Amelia's teething. She's not too fussy and the cold teethers seem to really help. Two Sundays ago, Thea and Amelia went out for a day on the town. Little did Amelia (or daddy) knew that she would be getting her ears pierced. I must admit she looks so much cuter now. A few nights ago Amelia started playing "peek a boo" and melted my heart. She wasn't using her hands to cover her face, but she would slowly move her head into Thea's chest then turn real fast at me and scream. At first I didn't get what she was doing, but Thea knew right away. I left the gym early because I couldn't stop smiling and wanted to play with her more. At her 6 month appointment, we found that Amelia weighs 19 lbs and is 27.5 inches long. Unfortunately during the same visit Amelia was given a few more shots which she didn't take too well. Poor little girl cried so hard she pooped twice, one outburst even got on Thea. :-)

Pa-Pa (Amelia's baby sitter) is gone for the next 3 months or roughly the entire summer. We're sure Amelia will miss her "big brothers" Isaac, Ethan and Andrew. Amelia is nothing but smiles and laughs around them. The boys sure do love spending time with Amelia as well. Each morning when I drop her off, at least one, two or all three of the boys stand at the top of the stairs waiting for me to leave so they can start playing with Amelia. Once they start running down the stairs, Amelia screams or yells and laughs at them. I'm sure we'll be talking to Bong Pat to schedule a few play dates while Pa-Pa is away.

Time to go for now, we can't wait to share what happens this next month!

4 month Update (a few weeks late)…

It’s amazing that only four months ago Amelia was a “tiny” 8.5 lbs. Today I think she’s around 17 or even 17.5 lbs and growing. It blows my mind how quickly Amelia is becoming her own little person. Watching her learn how her feet taste or attempting to role over is hours of fun. Now that she’s older, it’s so much fun and easier to make her laugh (see video below). Grand Pa Sean has begun singing lessons and Amelia loves them. She really enjoys screaming jibba jabba to Grand Pa during their lessons. Thea and I have been real lucky with how sweet our little Amelia is. Each morning she greets us with smiles and a few farts. Her smiles are 100% genuine and not at all fart induced, they’re all for mommy and me. We’ve been surprised at how well Amelia sleeps in her crib. It’s probably due to the fact her daddy is not rolling around all night looking for Thea or a pillow to hold on to. J Now that Amelia has discovered how tasty her thumb is, she no longer wants a pacifier. What’s going to be even better is when she can hold her bottle up by herself. She can grab and hold her bottle, but the concept of tilting it for more milk isn’t quite there yet. I’m sure in a few weeks we’ll get there. Next week we’re going to start baby sign language DVD’s. Not sure how this will turn out, but I’m excited to try.

Yesterday was such a beautiful sunny day here in Portland that Thea and I decided it was a perfect time for Amelia’s first kickball game. I think Amelia really enjoys being in the sun and being the center of attention (not sure where she gets that from). She loved hanging around the team and just generally checking out the world. It took a lot out of our little girl. She slept through most of dinner and all the way home. Must be hard being so cute in this world of ours.

Our little one is now 3 months old...

It's amazing how three months blows by, Amelia is almost double her birth weight. She attended her first wedding a few weeks ago and stole the show. For the first few hours Amelia was passed around from family member to family member like a jeweled egg. I'm sure she had no idea what was going on, but she smiled through most of it. Once Amelia let us know she had enough of the party, Thea and her spent the rest of the night hiding in a quite room escaping the ear deafening band. We were surprised how well Amelia handled the wedding. She's becoming such a social butterfly. Wonder where she gets that from. :-)

Amelia met her new best friend this month and she goes by the name Wella. My mom aka Wella came up to help out with daycare once Thea returned to work. The past three weeks have been great. Neither Thea or I can get Amelia to giggle the way Wella does. Wella will be heading back to AZ next Saturday and she will surely be missed.

For her daddy's 30th birthday party she was allowed to wear the coolest onesie ever made (thanks Kapow). For those that don't know, the onesie was embroidered with a Luchador mask, a championship belt and the words "Lil Lucha". Seeing Amelia finally fit into the onsie melted my heart.
Daddy is hoping to get her out to a dodgeball game wearing her Lil Lucha onesie.

Amelia has discovered how delicious her hands are. She's pretty much turned her back on pacifiers in favor of her index finger. Amelia has expanded her vocabulary within the month. I can't spell the sounds she makes, but they are super cute. Amelia has rolled over a few times in bed, but has yet to do so on her "lay and play". I'm sure that day will come all too soon.


Enjoy some of Amelia's recent pictures...

We've Got A 95 Percentile Little Girl!

Yesterday Thea and I took Amelia to her two month doctors appointment. The beginning of the visit was great, we learned our little girl is now 12 lbs 10 oz and 24 inches long. Apparently Amelia is in the 95th percentile, not quite sure if that's good or not, but where I come from, that's an A. The last 10 minutes of the visit were heart breaking. That damn devil woman nurse stuck three needles in Amelia's leg. Because of that, Thea and I now know what Amelia's "pain" cry sounds like. Let me tell you, we never want to hear that cry again. Fortunately Amelia was given her shots around lunch time, so a tasty bottle "relieved" her pain. Unfortunately, the pain / discomfort stuck around most of the night.

A few days ago, I had my first "WOW, she's really is my daughter" moment. Don't get me wrong, Amelia's birth was the greatest "WOW" of my life. However, this "WOW" is a bit different and much cheesier. This time it was, "WOW! Amelia has daddy's double jointed thumbs!" For those who don't know, both my thumb can pretty much bend back on itself. Now I'm not sure why, but my heart melted when I noticed Amelia has "my thumbs". It's crazy how something as tiny as double jointed thumbs can make my day. I'm sure the next few years will be filled with other "WOW" moments, but this was the first.

Amelia is becoming more alert and loves to converse with mommy and daddy. Her sounds aren't very big or long, but she's definitely making noises back. Her smile is super cute and she loves to use it. The more I see her smile, the more it kills me see her frown. Wella's (my mom) heart is going to crumble when she sees Amelia's smile in person.

Thea is very excited about Feb 14. Not because it's Valentines Day, but because we're heading up to Seattle for a wedding. Thea and Wella can't wait get out there and hunt down the perfect dress for Amelia. Grandma and Grandpa are just as excited to see Amelia sport her fancy bling. Which means Amelia might be getting her ears pierced soon. You can see pictures of her bling below.

The past two months of learning how to become a parent has been great! Though tough at times, I wouldn't have it any other way. I can't wait to see how our little girl will change in the next 8 weeks.

When I get home, more photo's will be added. Enjoy these 10 until then...

Until next time,
Rich

Hey Kido's

It's time for an Amelia update.
About a week or so ago Amelia decided she loved her mommy and daddy so much she gave us the gift of rest. Amelia has been sleeping about 5 to 6 hours each night. After daddy leaves to work, my two ladies take a two hour nap. Which is really nice for Thea. Leaving them each morning kills me. It crazy and super cute how much Amelia shares her moms "sleeping style".

Amelia is becoming a little socialite. Each time we go out for dinner or lunch she gets better and better. Last night we had dinner with Uncle Ryan and Aunt Robin at The Road House, Amelia was a super sweet little angle. Amelia spent some quality time with Aunt Robin checking out lights and stff without getting fussy. Watching her get comfortable away from home is great. Can wait to get her out to a dodgeball game. :-)

Amelia is discoving her little voice. She really enjoys hearing about daddy's day and she'll give me a few goo goos and gaa gaa just to let me know about hers. Her smile is her favorite form of communication right now. Amelia has begun using her smile for more than letting us know she passing gas. It's great seeing her smile as we play with her.

There would be more pictures but they got accidentaly erased...oh well we'll just have to take more.

3 Week and 2 Day Update

The past 3 weeks and 2 days have been fun, sweet, happy and crazy tiring. One after another each day seem to disappear fast than the one before. Other than the few doctor appointments, a trip to my office and another to WinCo Amelia hasn't much of your small town. With the weather this past week, Thea hasn't left the house much either. We got almost a foot of snow, what's that about??

It's amazing how big Amelia's getting. Ya ya ya, it's only been 3 weeks but she can't even fit into the outfit we brought her home in. At this rate I estimate Amelia will be taller than mommy in just over 4 weeks. :-) A really neat part of her "growing up" are the new facial expressions she makes. Today I was able to get a few pictures of her smiling. Even though I was talking and making funny noises at her, I know they had nothing to do with her smiles. Amelia love to smile while she dirtying her diaper. Amelia got her looks from mommy and well she got a few good things from daddy too. :-)

A few days back Amelia was sleeping while Thea and I were admiring her. Thea said to me "You know she's just like us. We've got ourselves a little us". I thought that was the cutest thing I've heard in a long time and thus a new nickname was born. Since then Amelia has been know as "Us", it seems to fit just perfect. I still call her Mamacita, Princes and a few others but Us has a nice ring to it.

Watch out world because on Christmas day Amelia is going to be looking fly in the holiday dress daddy bought her.

Enjoy your weekend and more to come soon!