Reaching for the Stars

First of all, let me state that my little girl is getting so big! I went and had her weighed today at Baby Beloved and she's 13 lbs 10 oz. She gained almost 2 lbs in a month. You go girl!!! She sure loves mommy's milk! Now if only I can get her to take a bottle so that I can go to the T.S.O. concert on January 2nd... Any suggestions? I've tried 2 different types of bottles, Dr. Browns and one I special ordered online that's shaped like a woman's chest. I don't mind that Autumn won't take a bottle, except when I want to go out on occasions such as this one coming up. Especially since the concert is during a time when she power nurses the most. She refuses to take a pacifier too (which I don't mind) but it definitely doesn't help the situation very much.

Autumn is absolutely obsessed with her hands now. She's constantly bringing them up to her face and sucking on them, a lot. I'm constantly wipping her face off from all the slobber she wipes all over. She's really starting to reach out for toys and grabs them with her hands. I gave her a hard rattle once and she grabbed it right away and very quickly brought it to her face. LOL. Definitely gave her quite the scare. She definitely does not fancy that toy any more :-)

So the last post I state that I wasn't going to go over loading on toys for Christmas.... HAHA. I don't know what I was thinking at that time. Everytime I go out I get her a new toy or book. It's so much fun shopping for her even though she won't even remember it, let alone be able to open the gifts herself. But I'm still so very excited!

We had our first Christmas get-together with the VanSpronsen family (Jordan's mom's family) on Sunday. Autumn did pretty good. She won't take a nap in an unfamiliar place, so she took a short nap on me. She did let a few people hold her without getting upset, but she had to make sure she could see me at all times. She got a cute little stuffed squirrel from her Great-Grandma VanSpronsen that I hope Jade doesn't confuse for her own toy. That's another thing I've been dealing with. Jade's so used to having her own squeeky toys to play with, but now Autumn's toys are starting to squeek and make noise and Jade doesn't know what to do. It's hilarious! She'll sniff it and gentlely try to bite it and look at me to make sure it's okay with me first. Such a polite dog.

Autumn had her 3 month pictures taken this past Saturday by Kyle Bultman. She did such an amazing job and looked so pretty in front of the Christmas tree. Kyle had the pictures back to me that night and I was able to order Christmas cards. Yes, I know I'm a little late. But better late than never. Even got Jade to pose so nice next to Autumn. Had to bribe her with a toy I got her for Christmas, but I quickly put it away after we were done with the pictures.

I currently can't add any pictures today because my mom's laptop went down the drain and I can't add any pictures on my dad's laptop for now. I'll post double next time!!!

Shhh...

I find it hard these days to actually sit down and update my blog. I apologize for my followers who like to keep up on little Autumn's life. My little girl demands so much of my time right now. Not that I'm complaining or anything! :-) I really do enjoy spending every waking moment with her. She's just growing up so fast and I especially don't want to miss a thing. I am starting to give her some alone play time. That usually lasts about 15 minutes, two or three times a day. She really enjoys the new play mat Jordan and I got for her. I wasn't planning on getting one because Jordan's mom is getting her an exersaucer for Christmas, but I've noticed that she's getting bored with her toys on her bouncy seat (already). So time for something new and exciting!

Autumn's been checking out her hands a lot lately. Really studying them!! I love it when she's sitting on my lap and starts feeling me with her hands. It's so cute! I love her little hands and feet :-) Especially since she doesn't have my ugly toes. Haha. I saw her grab for a toy once, but it hasn't happened since. She does swipe at the toys a lot and likes to watch them move. She also loves to sit in her swing now and generally will fall asleep in it (which I don't mind).

I've slowly began to accept that Autumn is a cat napper. It is difficult if I want to get stuff done because she just loves to have face-to-face time with me. So now I find that I just have to tackle 1 chore at a time each day. I try not to carry her around with me because I go up and down the stairs a lot and that makes me nervous (since I'm extremely clumsy). Autumn probably would take a longer nap if she slept on me, but I don't want her to get used to the idea of sleeping on somebody. That just has bad news written all over it. Although, I don't mind a few cuddle sessions every once in a while. I just love how Autumn will just melt right into me when I lay her on my chest. Sigh! I know this won't last forever once she starts moving around. So I cherish every moment I have with her being this little!

I'm actually very surprised that I'm not going over board on Christmas gifts for Autumn this year. I think it's because my mom and grandma have been having WAY too much fun for buying her gifts. So I'm gonna just let them go crazy right now! Cheaper for me ;-) I'm definitely looking forward to Christmas morning though! It'll be a lot of fun this year, even though Autumn won't remember it!

Last, but not least, I don't remember if I mentioned this or not. Autumn's been starting to talk and coo a lot these days. Especially in the morning. She's really quiet, it's so cute. Her soft little voice. She also turns her head a lot, away from the person, when she smiles. So I have a feeling she might be shy. We will see. Please enjoy some pictures taken the other day (now that the camera batteries are charged again).

Autumn love her new little play mat with the froggie that sings!

It's kind of blurry, but she's been bringing her hands up to her face a lot these days!

Autumn talking to herself :-)

My Baby Can Talk!

How many of you are frustrated that you can't understand what your baby or toddler wants because they can't talk very well? I can't relate (yet), but I've seen it in other kids. American Sign Language is a great way to teach your young one simple words in order to better understand what they want or need. Jen is giving away this great series, My Baby Can Talk, on her blog Leah's Little Life. All you have to do is become a follower to her blog (click on her blog name here on this page). Leave a comment on why you would LOVE this series, along with your email address so she can contact you. Enter daily for more chances to win!!! Winner will be selected at random on Monday, December 7th at 12pm. GOOD LUCK!!!!

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