6 months old!

Cara is 6 months old! Wow - the time has gone by so fast! Above is her starting to get the hang of her Jolly Jumper (dancing to her favourite Dolly Parton!). We picked this up at a baby stuff yard sale when the McGinns were here (thanks again Jill for spotting it!) and she's starting to enjoy it - not alot of jumping going on yet though but soon!

Cara is really enjoying eating her solids now - she tried some avacado this week :P and she chewed on a cracker - it is messy but fun! She has started to put her knees under her when she is on her belly and rocking - getting ready to take off! And she is flipping over when she is asleep in her crib then gets stuck, wakes up and cries to get flipped over and snuggled back to sleep (cute once or twice but it gets old at 3am!!!!)

The best part of this week is that Adam started his month-long parental leave! He is off now until May 25! Yay!In deep concentration trying to figure out what to do next!

Family portrait at 6 months in!

Week 25 - Cara Meets the McGinns!

Cara had a fantastic week visiting with her Aunt Jill, Uncle Mark and cousins Charlotte and Riley. She loved all the attention she got with so many people to play with! Charlotte and Riley were really good at entertaining her and making her smile and laugh - especially Riley's crazy antics! Cara had a very nice day at the zoo with her cousins and we all had a great day in the mountains - we went to Lake Louise and Banff on Saturday. It snowed one day but was sunny every other day. The whole visit was really great - the week went by way too fast though!

Cara gave up being swaddled a week ago (just before the McGinns arrived) and after a few rough nights of frequently waking up she settled down and is almost sleeping through the night now (Yay!!). She seems much happier in her "baby bag" blanket now and spins around in her crib all night!

Cara loved her Aunt Jill!

The cousins in a rare moment of calm!!

The McGinns and the Byrnes (and Goti in the middle)

Cara all bundled up for her cool day in the mountains!

The McGinns and Cara at the frozen Lake Louise

Cara at Easter

Week 24 - Happy baby and new bathroom!

Our happy baby is back - the crankiness of last week is gone! Yay! We think last week's crankies may have been some teething symptoms...we can see some white buds on her bottom gums so the teeth must be moving in.

We had a gorgeous week of nice weather and we've successfully have Cara napping in her crib now! (before she was napping in her swing in the living room) I think that her napping upstairs is giving her better rest and me a better break - no more tiptoeing around her downstairs! She's also sleeping longer stretches at night (3-4 hours!!) - maybe napping in her crib has helped the night sleeping too...who knows!?!

Cara and I went to another Mom and Baby group this week and we got some walks in - I hope this nice weather is here for the McGinn's visit! Cara got some new sunglasses to keep her eyes protected and looking totally cool! She seems to like wearing them and doesn't grab at them at all - with it so sunny here I think she actually appreciates them :)

And the bathroom is all finished! See Before and After pics below - it made a huge difference! So nice and bright now - although having a little baby around sure makes these projects go on longer! But we are happy with the results. By the fall we'll replace the floor and the room will be all done.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Cara enjoys her pablum!

Cara and Nana hanging out!

Our two cool cats :)

All ready for a nice walk on a beautiful day!

Cranky Cara and home improvements...

As you can see by the photographic evidence above, this has been a cranky week for Cara. We think she might be teething...or something...in any case, it is exhausting! She has moments of her usual happiness and hopefully they are on their way back soon! One thing that does cheer her up is the music of Dolly Parton!! For some reason she loves it as long as it is up tempo and twangy!!

She had her first taste of rice cereal this week - and she really liked it! She only had about a teaspoon or so but got the hang of opening her mouth and didn't spit too much out. She's not having it everyday yet but we'll slowly add it in to her day. She seemed to say "finally! I've been watching you guys eat for months!"

She's holding her rattle really well now and shaking it around - then she bonks herself in the face with it trying to bite it :) And she is pretty taken with the cats. She loves petting them and they are patient with her - Goti more than Smokey...Goti is just happy to have anyone pet him!

We've been busy this week painting our bathroom! We had enough of the beige and decided now was the time to paint (before all of our visitors come). So, we've been painting this weekend (hence the late post). Once it is finished we'll take a pic to show everyone :)

5 month bonus movie!!

Cara having fun laughing with Daddy - once she sees the camera she knows to pose :) You can tell she's had her picture taken alot!!

5 months old

Cara had a pretty good week this week. We started out with another dump of snow (Cara has yet to live a month without snow...) but we managed to get out of the house a bit :) We went and met with all of the moms and babies from out baby class (Cara is the biggest and cutest) and we went to the doctor for her 5 month check up. She weighs in at 16lb 5oz now!

She's getting good at sitting up with just a bit of help and she is reaching and grabbing at everything!

As long as she is distracted by a toy she will stay balanced.

She is REALLY good at drooling and doing her baby push-ups!!!!

Cara and her "Cara"boo (the caribou's name is Cara, too)

21 weeks old - Irish eyes are smiling

Cara enjoyed her first St Patrick's Day (she wore her green diapers to celebrate!). We had a good week this week, went to the movies again with another Mom and Baby from our Baby group. The weather was much nicer so we got out for some fresh air! Cara instantly falls asleep in her stroller...maybe we should try that at 3am!

Cara is looking forward to all of the house guests that are coming our way! We found out that Jill, Mark, Char and Riley are coming in April. We already knew Grampy was coming at the beginning of May but found out this week that Nanny and Papa booked their trip to be here later in May!! We are all excited for all of the visits - Cara is most excited to meet everyone! She has promised to sleep every night all night while we have guests! (yeah right, I wish!!! bring your ear plugs!!!)

Go, Sens, Go!