7 1/2 months

Don't you just love that little almost smile?  Paige certainly holds on to her smiles still, but I feel like in the past few days she's started smiling more and more.  

Baby Kaitlyn came to visit

Monica and baby Kaitlyn came to visit this past weekend and both girls loved her!  Charlotte was tickled pink that she interacted so much, and I think Paige was fascinated to see someone her size.  She really just observed her, and gave her a smile every once in a while.  I wouldn't mind if some of Kaitlyn's motivation to crawl rubbed off on Paige...I'm wondering how I'm going to force her to crawl after having to force her to stand and sit.  I guess I'll just have to calm down and move at her own pace!

Walkin' in mama's heels

 

 

 

You know what they say - if you fall down, you've got to get back up on the horse and try again!

Paige is sitting!

Behold, my baby can sit by herself! 

I love that the beginning of the end of the baby stage has started - this is when it really starts to get fun.  Charlotte is soooo close to having a playmate!  I just had to throw the picture of Noah's animals all lined up like little soldiers, waiting to board the ark.  I think I look forward to the days when Paige messes up Charlotte's line of toys and I hear the dreaded "Mooo-ooom!"...

Now, although Paige can sit up by herself, that doesn't mean that she wants to.  I have pretty much had to force her to stand up and sit.  She's more than happy to just lay around and hang out.  So laid back, just like her daddy!  Anyways, this means when she reaches for toys, she often gets stuck in the most uncomfortable-looking positions.  But she has no interest in getting out of those positions.  So I usually find her laying on her side or back, looking around, talking, and playing with a toy while all the blood rushes to her head.

Look at those sweet rolly thighs!

Time to feed Paige

We have had zero luuck getting Paige to take a bottle.  I guess Charlotte decided to give it a try.

It doesn't show up so well in the picture, but Paige had milk all over her face.  Judging by her smiles, she didn't mind too much!

Books and tv

Don't you just love that "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" ends with a kiss?  This was the girls going to bed; the next morning, they woke up and watched Sesame Street together.  Can you say "zoned out"?

So high pitched!

If only words could describe the pitches the girls were hitting this morning.  They sounded like two excited teenaged girls, flapping their hands and screeching with delight. I guess I got a preview of my life a decade from now...

Charlotte and Paige were so happy to see each other and play with each other this morning.  Paige is 7 months old and has really been vocalizing a lot lately.  Charlotte is 2 and loves doling out hugs and kisses, especially to Paige.  So they were sitting across from each other in this indoor playhouse thing we have, just smiling and laughing at each other, basically egging each other on.  Then the hugs started.  Charlotte would exclaim in a VERY high-pitched voice, "I luff you, Paige, I luff you!" and give her a hug and a kiss.  Then Paige would squeal back at Charlotte, just as high-pitched, but a bit louder.  And it would make C laugh, and she would give her another hug and say something else sweet, and back and forth for about 5 minutes.

I hope they have this loving of a relationship as they grow up.  What a blessing that would be, for all involved!

On a side note, Paige is babbling so much.  A lot of it sounds like "ma-ma-ma." Charlotte said "dada" first, and Paige does say "da-da-da," but the "mama's" are winning out right now.  Who knows, maybe I'll be Paige's first word!

Playing at the park

After taking some picture of Paige's first swinging session, we relaxed in the grass and tried for some more photos.  She's so serious, but so beautiful!

 

And this whole time that Paige was swinging and sitting, Charlotte and her daddy are running around, whooping and hollering. They ran in circles, one of the best things to do at the park according to Charlotte, then she walked on the bicycle rack "by myself!"  I would also like to point out the lovely red necklace Koby is wearing, a gift from Charlotte.  What a good daddy!

 

Then Charlotte decided I had spent enough time with Paige, so Koby and I switched girls. She wanted me to ride the seesaw with her.  This is her "you go high, mommy, you go high" face.  (Yes, she usually repeats everything she says with a 'mommy' or a 'daddy' inserted in between repeated phrases.)

These next pictures will get repetitive, but I don't care, because each one is so full of joy my heart smiles.  I love the seesaw for getting me these smiles!

 



Swingin' just ain't that cool

Looks like she's posing, doesn't it?

Paige is now officially a swinging baby.  She's steady enough sitting with support that I feel comfortable letting her swing on her own, which is great, because hauling her 15 pounds around at the part stinks! So I'm excited about her swinging. Paige, I think, could not care less.

You can tell from her expression that she's not unhappy - she does enjoy swinging. She just doesn't think it's amazing or anything.  She pretty much wore this deadpan, stoic look on her face the whole time she was swinging (and has every time since). She watches Charlotte, watches the ground, sometimes even the sky.  Just taking everything in.

 

After I realized I was not going to get any great "I really enjoy this" pictures from her on my own, I had Koby do everything he could to get her to smile.  We had to both work on her to get them, but there are three cute SMILING pictures to show for it:

And then straight back to seriousness.  Ah, Paige, my little phlegmatic.

P.S.  I want to add this last pic in for anyone who knows Mimi.  It's not a very haigh-quality pic, as in it's grainy and out of focus and bad lighting, but that's ok, it gets the point across.  How much does Paige look like Mimi here?? 

Story time

One last photo to end my catch-up posts for January - Charlotte reading a book about farms to Paige first thing in the morning while I'm cooking breakfast.  How awesome is that? It sure makes this momma's heart happy and proud!