Another first

Rachel rolled over for the first time today.

She is able to roll herslf to her left side. She is almost there on the right side, but can't quite get back over from her tummy to her back yet.

The first time she rolled over she was so proud - she had such a big smile on her face and she held herself up so high on her arms.

She couldn't wait to do it again! And again...and again.

Almost there!

She did it!

Rachel's 6-month check-up

Today was Rachel's 6-month check-up at the pediatrician.

She now weighs 15 pounds, measures 26 1/4 inches long and her head is 16 1/4 inches around. She still is in the 25% for weight and the 50% for height.

The doctor checked to see how she was sitting and grasping with one and two hands. She asked us about her rolling over (not yet) and if we had started her on solid foods yet. We hadn't since we were waiting for this appointment to discuss that. So we are going to start her on baby food - green vegetables first, then orange vegetables and then fruits. We can also try to take her off Prevacid since the food will be heavier than her formula and may sit better in her stomach.

We can also start giving her a multi-vitamin. For a baby her age she takes a liquid vitamin. There are higher requirements for Vitamin D now so the doctor felt that giving her a vitamin would help since as she eats more food, she will drink less formula.

She received 6 vaccinations and the flu shot. We have to go back on February 17th for the second half of her flu shot. She did so well again with her shots. She had 4 shots and one by mouth vaccination which she couldn't get enough of!

All in all she is doing well and growing strong. We won't see the doctor again until her 9-month check-up in April - and there are NO SHOTS at that appointment! Yeah!

How has it been...

six months to the very day, the very moment since Rachel was born?

She is now 15 pounds, 1 ounce, and already has quite the personality. She knows what she wants, and what she doesn't want. She smiles and laughs all the time. She grabs her feet and chews her fingers and tongue...I think those teeth are on the way!

She has started throwing her toys. She seems to almost pet Kona when he comes near her and laughs when he puts his face in hers. She sits up so well in her BeBePod seat and can really push herself up during Tummy Time. She also tries to sit up when you lay her down to change her or put her in her crib. Her legs are non-stop too - she is always kicking and moving and pumping her legs up and down. She also grabs everything...she is always exploring with her hands, and puts everything in her mouth! She is doing very well in day care - they really love her there and they have been so happy with her progress. They can't believe how much she has grown either. And they say she is really enjoying her rice cereal - she just eats it up!

We are really proud of Rachel - she is growing up so quickly. She is our beautiful girl that we love so much! We look forward to exploring and learning and growing more and more with her every day.

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Love always, Mommy and Daddy

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year all!

So it's 2009 now. 2008 went by so fast - it was amazing year for us mostly because of the birth of Rachel Charlotte. It was a whirlwind of doctor's appointments, work and preparing for maternity leave, baby showers, giving birth one month early and then the joy of bringing Rachel home and watching her grow. We also saw Rachel start day care, Daniella go back to work after 11 weeks of maternity leave and many visits from family for the baby shower, Rachel's birth, her baptism and Christmas. Thank you to all who came to visit or who participated in all the above-mentioned activities - some of you actually visited more than once, so thank you. It meant a lot to us to have you here and sharing in our joy!

Yesterday was also David's birthday - yes, a New Year's Eve baby.

Here is a picture of the cake I baked him - surely I am not the pastry chef in the family:
We usually go out to a Japanese restaurant for hibachi, but this year with Rachel that would have been hard to do. I am not sure the long wait to sit down, the lengthy dinner and the fier at the table would have been a good combination for her.

So instead we ordered Chinese food - still on the Asian theme, but it was delivered to us rather than us going to them. We ordered a number of things we usually wouldn't because it was a special day - David's birthday and New Year's Eve. We ordered shrimp tempura, egg rolls, spring rolls, soup, beef on a stick, General Tso's and vegetable fried rice. It was quite a smorgasbord.

Then we watched some of the pre-festivities on TV, ate birthday cake and fell asleep before midnight. Thankfully David woke me up so we could at least share a New Year's kiss. I called my dad and sister like I do every year, and then texted with Cindy in FL before falling back asleep.

So it's 2009 - Best wishes to everyone for a wonderful, happy, healthy and prosperous year.