A few little firsts...

Alyssa can now feed herself! While we eat we always sit Alyssa in her highchair so she can get used to sitting/behaving at the table. Lately we have been putting cheerios or gerber graduate puffs on her tray for her to play with/snack on. While eating breakfast Saturday morning she successfully got the first puff into her mouth all by herself. She has been trying for a little bit now but since they pretty much melt in your mouth, they melt to her drooly hands and stick. Since then she has been putting them in one right after another. Its getting easier since shes starting to be able to pinch them more instead of grasp them in her palm to pick them up. Dave was happy that she did a first while he was home and could see her. But now we really need to be careful about all the other tiny things she can grasp and put into her mouth. Its really going to make us hurry up and finish this house so there aren't loose screws and things she can find. Especially since she will be on the move really soon, she already spins and scoots.
She can also now clap her hands, its the cutest thing! This morning when we were eating breakfast I was trying to get her to and she kind of did. When Dave came home for lunch I told him she almost did so we tried to get her to do it and she did! She was imitating us and clapping her little hands. Even though these are little firsts, feeding herself and clapping her hands, Dave and I get SO excited when she does them!
Alyssa's favorite "toy" right now is a tag. A tag on a stuffed animal, the tag on her playmat, the tag that was attached to her carseat when it was checked for our flight, etc. She doesn't care what kind of tag, she just loves them. I take off the paper tags that come on toys and all since when they are mixed with Alyssa drool, they fall apart. So its the little cloth tags that she plays with. One of my friends told me about a stuffed animal type toy that just had tags hanging off it everywhere. I found a site www.taggies.com and I knew Alyssa would love everything on it. The stuff is pretty expensive though so I went to the fabric store and made her a blanket and stuffed toy with tags (pieces of ribbon) all over it. She really likes them.
I am going to try and post a video of bathtime. We lay her on her back (she is completely supervised and we place her head at the back of the tub so theres barely any water even under her head) and she just kicks away!

Little Chub

We went to the doctors about a week and a half ago and she was 26 inches long (55th percentile) and 16 lbs 8 ounces (75th percentile). So Shes still on the same track as far as percentiles go, the chubby one :). I Love her being a little chubby though, that way I don't have to worry about if shes getting enough to eat. I remember when she was first born I would stress over if she was eating enough. Now we all know Alyssa isn't starving. I've actually dressed her in a few 12 month shirts if i can't find another to match an outfit. I always figure they will be too big but they really aren't.
The second tooth is through and you can actually see both of them when she smiles now. Its such a cute little smile. I wish she'd just keep those 2 for a while, one because its so cute and two I don't want to go through teething again soon.
Last week Alyssa and I took a plane ride to MD to help my mom out. She was great on the plane ride and just slept on me most of the time. She loved having so many people in such a tight space because there were plenty of people for her to smile at. Everyone asks me when we are out if she ever stops smiling. She really doesn't when we are out and about. Shes very easy to take places and is a very social baby.
Her hair is getting so long, especially on top. She had her first real pony tail on St. Patrick's Day with a rubber band and all. Soon it will be long enough for pig tails!

Where did my little baby go?

Alyssa turned 6 months old yesterday! She seems like such a little lady now and not an infant anymore. I was looking at old pictures yesterday and I can't believe how tiny she used to be. She has her 6 month check up tomorrow so I will get her stats which I always love. Although there will be more shots. Good thing she is so good with them or else I would be a mess since I always have to go alone since Dave can never get off work for them. She has actually thinned out a little bit in the past few weeks. I feel like she goes in waves. She plumps up and then thins out as she grows, although her thinning out is still chubby :).
Tooth #2 is on its way. We had another rough night two nights ago. With the first tooth we had a rough night and then like 2-3 days later the tooth poked through. So I guess the second one should be through in just a few days. You can see the tooth when she smiles now but its still hard to see with the camera. I think the pool of drool that surrounds it gives a glare on the camera or something.
Eating is going better. She ate the squash I made last week, but very reluctantly. So I gave in and started her on fruits. She eats about an inch long piece of banana smashed up. Although I trick her and slip in either squash or peas. She will actually swallow whole bites of peas which is a huge improvement. Today she ate about a tablespoon each of peas and bananas. After we get fruits and veggies down, crackers are apparently next. I'll ask the doctor tomorrow about what kind of crackers and all. How is she already old enough to have teeth and eat crackers?!

Teeth!

The past few nights and days Alyssa has not been sleeping well at all. Last night she was up screaming on and off from like 1:30-4:30. She has also been really hard to get to nap. This was really disappointing since she had been doing SO well lately. She was sleeping from like 845-715 (although her wake up time is getting earlier and earlier unfortunately) and napping for 1 1/2 hrs in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. I was afraid it was the peas I had been trying to force her to eat and maybe they were hurting her belly. I also had tomato sauce for the first time since she was 6 weeks old and I figured she still just might not be able to handle it. And then yesterday I think I found the root of our problems....her first tooth!!! I noticed a little white line on her gums yesterday and I got so excited. I don't know why I am so excited for her first tooth, but I really am. I couldn't feel anything yet though until last night right before bed. I could feel just a little something sharp. So I think her bottom left tooth will be showing here in the next day or so. I can also see a faint white line on her bottom right side so I am assuming that tooth is only a few days behind the left.
I am kind of sad I won't be seeing that little baby gummy smile anymore but I also love the baby smile with just the bottom two teeth.
My camera battery is charging right now so I will post more pictures to the month 5 album and maybe a video of her eating. I mashed some sweet potato when Dave and I had them the other night and she didn't like that either. The video of it is really funny. She is just happy as can be smiling looking around and then she sees the spoon coming and clamps her mouth shut! Shes getting a little sassy personality on her. She definately knows what she wants now. So far we have tried avacado, peas, and sweet potatoes. She locks her little mouth shut for all of them. And the more I try to force her the worse it get so we just keep on trying new things. I made some summer squash puree today so I am going to try that when she wakes up. If that doesn't work, we are moving on to fruits since they are sweeter. I wanted to do veggies first but she just won't eat them so maybe I'll get her eating fruits first and then mix some veggies in there. She needs to start eating so she can use those brand new teeth she'll be sporting here soon!