Project Rosalie - 49 Weeks

I give up.... NO truly, I do. I tried cry it out. I tried the No-Cry Sleep Solution. I tried baby steps, I tried every method I even kind of approve of. She'll never sleep on her own!!! My new plan is in the next few months as she finishes weaning of BF, I'm going to buy her a toddler bed, so that I can lay down with her till she goes to sleep then, get up and know she won't fall out of bed. It's going to happen at some point. Whether she and I want it to or not. And all I can say is... I'll miss her so much! Look at that cute striped booty!

Project Rosalie - 48 Weeks

Playing in the candy bowl!

This week Rosalie finally started really getting into the cabinets, so I cleaned onee out and filled with Rosalie safe things, so now when she starts getting mischievous I say "Rosalie, where's Rosalie's cabinet?" and she knows just what I'm talking about and where to go. I haven't had to do too much baby-proofing really, just a few cabinets. She's needy for sure, but she really is an easy baby!
She claps and dances ALL the time, she LOVES music, she high fives, knows when to clap for "If You're Happy and You Know It", "buzzes" our fingers, gives kisses and hugs and is just the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Project Rosalie - 47 Weeks

Here's Rosalie helping Dadad get the bath ready at the condo.

This weekend we went to Orlando with my family for Thanksgiving! It was really fun, and the Thanksgiving Feast was delicious! While we were there, we saw the ICE! exhibit at the gorgeous Gaylord-Palms hotel and we went back for Rosalie's second trip to SeaWorld, since we had Season Passes. We didn't get too many good pictures at SeaWorld, since it rained pretty much the whole time, but Rosalie got to see her oyster opened and got a pearl, and we saw the Sea Lion and Otter Christmas show, which was so cute and funny!
Rosalie still loved seeing all of the aquariums, but I think this time, she enjoyed people watching most of all!
At the ICE! exhibit however, she was MISERABLE! She has always hated the cold, like her mom, and cried the whole time we were in there. (It's NINE degrees in there!) Which really bummed me out, because I ended up speeding through, when I really would have liked to take my time, it's so cool! No pun intended....

Project Rosalie - 46 Weeks

Rosalie's getting so brave! She's mastered cruising, and can get pretty much anywhere, and into pretty much anything! One of my favorite new things that she does is open up the compartment on one of her toys and finding whatever I've hidden in there! I try to have new things in it a lot, snacks, toys, crayons... it doesn't matter what it is, when she opens up the top and sees her treasure, her eyes just light up and she smiles so big. I hardly have enough time to blink these days before she's doing something new, or has a new tooth! I cannot believe she'll be one soon! I don't know if I'm going to be able to handle it!

Project Rosalie - 45 Weeks

Just as soon as we got back from Palatka, Rosalie discovered just how exciting it is to put things in containers and take them out! For days I knew if I put these blocks down in front of her she would be occupied for at LEAST 10 minutes (which is pretty much the longest anything never occupies her these days!) It's so funny to see her execute her job with such determination. she searches all over for anything she can put into the box, crawling across the room to get something and carrying it all the way back to the box, then looking around for the next thing.
She's moved on now to pulling crackers and teething cookies out of the box and putting them back in, and emptying the toy box, just to refill it. She has so very much to do every day!

Project Rosalie - 44 Weeks

She sure does wear herself out a lot lately! This week we traveled to Palatka for Dag's annual Tilton Family dinner! It was really a lot of fun this time! I'm so, so glad that Rosalie did great with everyone this time. She realized just how much fun her Nana is and loved playing with her, she was friendly to her cousins and even let other people hold her! This is a big step for such a shy, momma's girl of a baby!

AND she was AMAZING on the three-hour car-rides there and back! On the way there, she was awake and hour, (no-fussing mind you!) and just all of a sudden closed her eyes and went to sleep! She slept about an hour and when she woke up we stopped at an Arbys's in Starke (strangely, the nicest fast-food place I've ever been to!) and she played in the booth by the window, watching the cars zoom past, eating her free applesauce (shout out to da Arby's guy), then back in the car for another 40 minutes of non-fussing before we made it to Nana's house. On the way back she lasted an hour and a half awake and happy, then fell asleep for the duration of the ride! Sweet!

Also in Palatka she decided that this food stuff I've been trying to shove down her throat for the last 4 months is not such a bad thing. She's been eating and eating and eating... I find it less convenient than breastfeeding, but I guess it's for the best ;-)

Project Rosalie - 43 Weeks

What a very cute bat! LieLu was a bat for Halloween, this is her at Trunk or Treat at Church being adorable. She got her little bucket of candy and saw all of her little buddies in their costumes! It was really fun doing her first Halloween!
She is really moving these days! She's cruising and crawling everywhere! She's so excited when she accomplishes something new or comes upon something she's never seen before. I love to see her little face light up. I'm taking a lot fewer pictures lately, and I rarely have time to upload them because she keeps me so busy! I have so much fun with her all week, but then I find I have no pictures of her antics, and I'm sad I didn't stop to document them. But I can only do so much!

OH, she is such a snuggle bug! She is just the cutest!

Project Rosalie - 42 Weeks

Rosalie is growing LEAPS and BOUNDS! It is so fun to watch her start to understand what I'm saying and try and communicate back to me. She is pulling up on everything, and cruising and trying to climb. She's crawling fast now, too. She's working on tooth number 5, but hasn't been as fussy with this one (so far). She loves pointing to things, and saying "dis"? She loves eating goldfish and pickles. She HATES putting on clothes, and when I take a shower (she has to stay outside the shower all by herself which makes her really mad). And she's finally starting to say Momom! She's been obviously saying Dadad for a while, but she's just started looking at me and saying Momom when she wants me! Of course, then she gets what.ever. she wants!
Look at those dark wavy curls!

FIrst scoochy-crawl

I know it's late, but....

Project Rosalie - 41 Weeks

It's that time of year! We went to the Pumpkin Patch this weekend! We all went shopping and bought coordinating (NOT matching, I'm not that kind of girl) outfits and went to take some family photos at the pumpkin patch! David and I looked stunning (as always) and Rosalie was gorgeous..... but would NOT crack a smile! She had fallen asleep in the car, and even though she got a good little nap in, she decided she was going to be whiny and serious. No. Pumpkin. Fun. The photo above shows the extent of her mirth.
When we got home, Cris and Kendall Hargrett came over and watched the Nole game. Rosalie was the silliest, SMILIEST, laughingest baby you ever did see! Hours of entertainment (for me at least, I didn't have anything to watch because, as I mentioned, the game was on). Where was this girl at the Pumpkin Patch?
Rosalie is really pulling up a LOT these days and is starting to cruise a little bit. I fear the sweet crawling stage will be short lived for her. She gets SO proud of herself when she pulls up, even when it's the fifteenth time in a row, and mama is not playing up her accomplishment with googly eyes and shouts of acclamation anymore. SHE knows it's a big deal and smiles soooooo big and laughs at her own awesomeness!

Project Rosalie - 40 Weeks

This is what all of my pictures look like lately, now that little Miss Rosalie is moving so fast! She is pulling up more often now and playing more independently. She has her two bottom teeth and now one top tooth and the other is just about to pop through! She hasn't been too fussy with it except around bedtime and at night she's having a harder time putting herself back to sleep, so I've been singing a lot of Twinkle, Twinkle (her new favorite sleepy-time song!). Usually I don't even make it through once before she's back asleep. Have I mentioned how much I love her lately?

Project Rosalie - 39 Weeks

Sweet Rosalie! She's started crawling this week! Well, okay, not CRAWLING really, but army crawling/one leg up, one leg down crawling/bum scooching! Let's just say she gets around pretty fast! And she is really getting into things! I'm loving it!
She had her 9 month (eek!) appointment Thursday and the stats are as follows:
Head circumference: 75th percentile
Weight: 20 lbs 2 oz 75th percentile
Height: 27 inches 50th percentile
... we all knew she was on the fluffy side ;-)
One day this week, David went in to get Rosalie from her nap and she was sitting up in her bed! We had seen her sit up on her own before, but never after a nap. I thought it was cool, because she woke up and couldn't see mom or dad, so she tried to get a better perspective, and when she STILL couldn't see us, then she cried so we would come and get her! She's usually not that patient!
I'm sure that there were other amazing goings on, but I can't remember!!!

Project Rosalie - 38 Weeks

It seems like Rosalie is doing something new every single day right now! And I'm so busy keeping up with her and living my beautiful life that I'm falling behind on my posting! And i hate it, because with so much going on with her I know I'm missing recording new milestones, and cute little things that she does. I need to keep a notepad near me to write down the adorableness and new accomplishments! In this picture she has figured out how to unsnap the tray insert from her little high chair/booster seat. Her food went everywhere! All over her and the floor, but she was SO proud of herself and infatuated with her new toy that of course I wasn't upset! That week she also learned how to give kisses and turn pages all by herself. She'll just pick up a book open it and start turning the pages! Sometimes something on a certain page makes her laugh. I never know what, but something! She's getting more and more agile and loves to climb all over me and her toy basket and jumperoo and whatever else is around! I'm having a hard time mentally adjusting to her new almost-toddler-hood! In my head and in my heart, she's still that little tiny baby that loved to sleep on my chest... Where does the time go? Even so, I am loving her new adventures and am excited to experience the world with her!

Project Rosalie - 37 Weeks

The CHIN! She has been smooshing her chin on things lately. I think it's a teething thing? She's had a couple of rough nights with teething and I always know when her mouth hurts, because she leaves bite marks all over me! I try to teach her it's not nice, but her face seems to say: "Yeah? Well my TEETH aren't nice!!!" She's still pretty solidly in her separation anxiety phase but there appears a light at the end of the tunnel, she's playing on her own now more like she used to, pulling up and rolling from here to there. She still would prefer it if no one but me and sometimes Dad, would speak to her! That's mostly okay with me, too ;-)

Project Rosalie - 36 Weeks

Rosalie's first big girl bath! She loves it! She just plays and plays and scoots from one side to the other, grabbing the faucet, splashing in the water and sqeeeeeezing the washcloth as hard as she can! Her little personality is becoming very apparent these days. She definitely got my attitude and lack of patience! She gets really frustrated and tenses up every muscle in her little body and makes fists and beats things. It's cute!!!!..... For now ;-) But on the upswing I'm' getting to see her sense of humor. She thinks wrapping paper tubes and anything that "walks" like a penguin is hilarious! I love my chubby little 8-month old! AND her 12 month clothes!!!

Project Rosalie - 35 Weeks

Oh Rosalie, why is this year going so fast? I can't believe how old she is! She is still completely uninterested in conventional crawling, but she is getting around a little bit with scoots and rolls. I am constantly seeing her move forward onto all fours and thinking "SHE'S GOING TO DO IT!!! SHE'S GOING TO CRAWL!!!" But then she either sits back on her bottom or flattens out. I promise I'm not wanting her to grow up too fast, the only reason that I want her to crawl is to relieve her frustration! She is starting to pull up on things and she just loves to climb over "obstacles" (especially me) and has finally come back to loving books, which she took a break from for a while. I'm also trying really hard to get her to eat more food. She's finally come out of whatever phase was keeping her up so much at night, so now I think that if she gets more solids before bed that she may even go all night without waking up! So now I just need to figure out what the girl will eat that is easy to prepare for her... She still refuses to eat baby food or anything pureed other than canteloupe, so she eats a lot of cheese, beans, grapes, puffs, pasta... and bits of whatever I'm eating!

Project Rosalie - 34 Weeks!

Rosalie's lovely mosquito bitten head!

Rosalie had a great week! She got new toys from mom and dad and granna, she LOVES new toys! We got to see Uncle Jake, Aunt Starleigh, Jane and Sawyer who were up to a visit, which was so much fun!

Two moments I wanted to remember were:

1. Rosalie is working on cutting her second tooth and has just discovered how comforting a chilled teething ring can be. She has really cool teethers so sometimes she's so busy investigating them that I need to remind her that they go in her mouth! So one night we were in the glider chair before bed and I took her hand with the teether in it and moved it up to her mouth. That was apparently pretty funny! SO funny in fact that she needed to SHOW me just how funny it was! So she shoved the teether into MY mouth and laughed and laughed! Now every time I give her one she thinks that we have to take turns! Of course I don't really chew on it ;-)
2. Another moment in the glider... Rosalie gets really silly before she goes to bed... we were reading books as part of our bedtime routine and her Peter Rabbit book has a wheel that turns and Peter pops his head up in different places through the garden as you turn the wheel. She found this too hilarious and her laughter turned to cries as SOON as I'd turn the page so we just turned and laughed and turned and laughed until her laughs got shorter and quieter and she turned around and snuggled in and fell right to sleep. So sweet and cute!

...See? She IS cross-eyed!!! I TOLD you!!!

Project Rosalie - 33 Weeks

Sweet little girl. Not much new stuff this week, just the usual sweetness. She's sleeping a little better and her second tooth is just starting to pop in. But she is getting a little more separation anxiety, not wanting to play on her own as much as she used to. I think part of that is just the teething though. She so desperately wants to crawl, but she just hasn't figured it out yet!

Project Rosalie - 32 Weeks

Rosalie is turning into a big girl right in front of my eyes! This week we really got rolling on finger foods and she LOVES it! Usually she just shares whatever I'm eating (this is going to be very healthy for me I think *eyeroll*) , but she is also eating puffs and freeze dried fruit thingys. She can't get them to her mouth on her own, but she attacks my hand when I pick them up! It's actually really funny because she picks up as many as she can in her right hand and just holds them. Sometimes she gets frustrated and starts crying, but other times she just holds onto them and I find a little pile of snacks next to her empty hand when she falls asleep. One day she'll get the hang of it!

Pool time at Cally's uncle's beach house! Rosalie LOVES the pool!

I think she looks like she's doing a magic trick in this shot with her flutterball

Project Rosalie - 31 Weeks

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my little chicken snugglet???? It amazes me every day how much I adore being her mom. Being A mom. She's getting really close to crawling, she'll lean way over but can't usually get all her limbs in the right position to commence mobility, usually one or two limbs are askew! I get so excited for her because I can SEE her thinking about how to accomplish her little yet HUGE goal, but I know that she is going to be a whole HEAP of trouble when she gets the hang of it!

P.S. One of my favorite times of day is when I bring her out of the bedroom first thing in the morning. I always watch her little face light up as she sees her play area and toys... her world. It's like she's seeing old friends. Love it

Project Rosalie - 30 Weeks

She is getting SOOOO BIG! Ahh! It's fun and sad at the same time! Her little tooth is getting bigger every day and keeping her (us) up a lot at night, but this too shall pass as "they" say. Don't tell her Dr.... but we are really not eating solid foods very often. She is just not interested and I think that we can all agree she's not missing out on any nutrition! Even her 6-9 month clothes don't all fit over her... ahem... voluptuous... thighs... Anyhow, she gets what she needs from breastmilk and it saves her the tummyache that she gets with the solids. We'll get there, but it'll just be a slower process for us. She seems to do best with just little bits of whatever I'm eating than even homemade baby food, so just like she skipped that whole "bottle" nonsense, maybe she'll just skip that whole pureed/mashed "baby" food business. Picky girl. Don't know where she gets it!

Project Rosalie - 29 Weeks

It's Ocean Gallery beach week! Yay! As you can see, and as I mentioned, Rosalie LOVED the sand! We also saw a huge Sea Turtle laying eggs on the beach when we were down one evening! It was really exciting! Rosalie got along great with the kids, especially the girls, Peyton, Elle and Kylie! I'm really glad we got to spend so much time with the family members we don't get a chance to see very often!

The BEEEEEEEAAACCHH

Hangin' with Nana and Aunt Elyse

Yummy Sand

I'll post more when I get the professional ones David's cousin took. I can't wait to see them, she did such a great job!

The Tongue.....

It's all about the TONGUE!

Project Rosalie - 28 Weeks

At 28 Weeks it was time for Rosalie's first Annual Crescent Beach vacation with her Herrington family! It was a blast! Rosalie was of course a perfect angel. We stopped at Jake and Starleigh's and visited with Jane and Sawyer on the way down. Rosalie did great in the car, she's become a real pro at traveling! When we got to the condos we got to see our Utah family members who've never met Rosalie, and now Rosalie has met all of her super cute cousins!

Rosalie LOVED playing in the soft fluffy sand at the beach and was a big fan of the nice warm pool, but wasn't thrilled with the cold Atlantic ocean, but I can't blame her for that! I was glad she had so much fun with it!

Project Rosalie - 27 Weeks

I believe that she's doing the sprinkler in this photo!

We had a fun week! I wanted Rosalie to continue getting used to the water, since we'll be spending this next week at the beach, so one day we spent in the kiddie pool in our backyard and she did great! Splashing and playing, sitting by herself and trying to nose-dive into the water... a big step up from the last couple of water-fun attempts. Then later in the week, we went to play with Cally, Logan and Wesley (...and Jaclyn, Gabrielle, Sarah, Olivia and Brody) and played on their fun, big blow-up slide! Rosalie and I didn't go all the way down ;-) but she loved being helped down from halfway up!

Rosalie is becoming QUITE the diva, by the way, with full on tantrums when you take away something she wants to hold on to. I still think it's cute!.... For now.

Great Great Uncle Calvin, etc...

Project Rosalie - 26 Weeks

Chit Chatting with a few of her animally friends!
She's so pretty!!!

Rosalie was as sweet as ever this week! We went this past weekend up to AL/GA so that some of Rosalie's relatives could meet her. She slept the whole way there. Amazing. It's about a three hour drive, so for a girl who rarely naps longer than an hour, that's just plain luck! We went shopping with Aunt Brenda and Grana, spent some time with Great Great Uncle Calvin and Great Great Aunt Blue, had breakfast at Aunt Brenda's with Uncle Mike, and Cousins Garrett, Cassie, Logan and Aiden, then cooked out with Uncle Don and Aunt Suzy. It was a really fun trip and I'm so glad she got to meet the other half of the family! We didn't have the best of luck on the way back home. We left early evening hoping she'd sleep on the way home, but she was awake and happy for the first hour, then totally melted down, but I can't really blame her! When she was finally settling down she had a big blow out in her car seat, so we had to stop and clean her up at a gas station, clean out the carseat and then just put her back in! She has gotten so much better in the carseat, but that was just too much to ask!
In better, and more important, news: Rosalie reached out for Mommy with both arms for the first time! Talk about making my heart melt!
Also, Mommy went out to lunch with a friend sans bebe for the first time too!

6 Months Old!

Rosalie is SIX months old today! I can't believe that!

Here she is with one of her new favorite toys!

She looks mad, but she's just REALLY focused

On our way out to her 6 Month Appointment... Mommy's nervous, but Rosalie thinks it's just another Monday...

Granna met us there, she always comes for my shots, because I (mommy) am a big ole baby!

After the exam.. Dr. V isn't such a bad guy!...

16 lbs and 13 oz... 65th percentile in weight
26 inches long... 60th percentile in height...
don't know WHERE that came from!

I think she knows what's coming... what else would this face be for?

Before the shots... Daddy holding my hands

...and after the shots.... The nurse said her cry sounds like you just ripped out her heart. It is truly sad! You know it's pathetic when a pediatric nurse thinks that her cry is EXTRA sad! I don't think I'll ever want to let her cry it out!

She was really a trooper! After we left the office she calmed down, and slept while mommy ate lunch with Granna and Poppy (Daddy had to go back to work) and then hasn't been fussy since! Hopefully she stays comfy and happy!

Happy 6 months my little love muffin! I'm so glad we have you! I can't believe it's been so long already and that you are so big! You make my eternity!
Love, Mama

P.S. I'm already planning her birthday!