cutest little girl

Wow, we have the best baby. :) She really is a ton of fun and I love watching her little brain work as she plays with me or her toys. I can't believe she will be 9 months old in a little under 2 weeks. I'm not exactly sure where the time has gone.

We got to meet Victoria Tolbert for the first time yesterday! I had been a little under the weather when she was born on March 22 so I didn't get a chance to see her until now. Cadence and I went over there and saw her. She is just so little! I know Cadence was that small once but it is amazingly hard to remember. Katie held Cadence for awhile and I got to hold Victoria. She is beautiful and it was great to finally meet our friend!

Last week, Kate, Gwen, Cheryl and Olivia came over for a playdate. Cadence decided that she would show off her lungs like she always seems to do in public or around other people and at one point, she was so loud that she scared Gwen (who was 10 weeks old). Olivia enjoyed playing with all the toys and Cadence did too. It was great for the 3 of us to catch up too. Kate brought lunch and we had fun. Cadence even tried a little hummus but didn't seem to like it or hate it. Olivia loved the grapes.

We have officially gotten 3 new teeth on top and the 4th is just about to break through. Cadence has been a MEGA trooper through this teething cycle. I think I only gave her tylenol once weeks ago when she had a little trouble going down to sleep. She once in awhile wakes up crying during the night and I can only attibute it to the teeth but otherwise, she's been fine. Still chews on EVERYTHING and her new favorite thing is chewing on her comb. That seems to be the go to toy these days when she is bored with everything else.

Pigpen has figured out that, when in the right mood, Cadence is ticklish on her back. She is too funny when he does that to her--squeals with happiness. She does have the best laugh and it almost happens the most when she's a little tired and you tickle her. Too funny. I need to capture that one on video.

She is an excellent sitter and has even started bouncing on her butt a little by leaning forward on her feet (if she is sitting sort of indian style). If a toy is just out of her reach, esp on the couch, she will lean forward over her feet and end up on her tummy getting it. She sometimes brings her knees forward and under her but she hasn't shown a huge inclination towards wanting to crawl. She seems less pissed on her tummy which is a good sign. She can scoot around a little on her tummy as she reaches for things and she can do 360's on her tummy. And on her butt sometimes, she can scoot around but nothing like Valyn was doing at xmas!

Her favorite toy when we're out at restaurants are straws. She will chew on those things for hours it seems like. She and uncle Jeff could hang out!

Yesterday morning and this morning we turned on the tv b/c she was sleeping a little later in the morning and saw that she was sleeping on her tummy! We had of course gone in a couple of mornings and found her on her tummy but I don't think she had been sleeping that way, just rolling over in the AM. But we definitely have seen her foll from back to front finally (she's getting to be a champ at it!) and she was definitely sleeping when we saw her on her tummy the last 2 mornings. New development! She has gone, in the last 2-3 days, down to 2 naps (which cracks me up b/c I just asked Judy at bells on Tues about the fact that she was taking 3 naps at 8 1/2 months old and was that ok?) She only lasts about 2 hours after she gets up in the AM (so she naps around 9 or 9:30am) for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Then around 1pm, she starts getting fussy again. That nap is usually 2 to 2 1/2 hours but yesterday she only took a 1 1/2 hour one. She gets up around 3ish and somehow manages to make it until 8:30pm without another nap (I've tried to put her down twice and she just chats). I think with the two naps, it means she is sleeping longer at night which is fine with us! We'll see what happens this weekend.

Solids are going well. She seems to like my homemade stuff again, esp if I mix the squash and green beans and add a little water. She loves the carrots and pears. We are having solids 3 times a day, around mealtimes since that's the whole point. She has yogurt and fruit or cereal and fruit or just fruit when she wakes up, followed by a bottle not too long after. Then she has a bottle after her nap in the late morning and fruit or veggies around lunch time. A bottle after her afternoon nap and "dinner" (either veggies or one of the meat meals) about 5:30pm followed by a bottle then her nighttime bottle before bed. She was going to bed around 9pm but its seeming like 8:30pm is a better bedtime with just 2 naps.

I just finished my first month back on the nuvaring and took it out this past weekend. I got my period last night for the first time since Jan I think. I didn't miss it. :) What's also crazy is that I can still squeeze milk out of my left boob (haven't tried the right) and its been about 2 months since I stopped pumping!

Things are still really busy for the business and I think we're running into trouble with the county about operating a business in a residential area. We'll see what happens.