6 Months

Yo, waaatssup??? "Word" from Kyleigh... (second from top photo)

Wow, can you believe it??? Kyleigh has passed a milestone. She is now 6 months old (well, once again, plus a few weeks). It's so amazing how much she continues to change, yet in many ways remain the same. She's still the laid back, easy going, happy baby that she always was. However, she is so much brighter now. She pays so much attention to what we're doing, watching every movement we make and trying to mock us. She's recently taken to trying to get a drink of daddy's beer. It's too funny! Daycare says she wonderful, and so did her pediatrician at the 6 month appointment (actually, I think her exact words were "perfect").

Kyleigh is now eating 2-3 meals a day, and most recently has been eating food that mom has made. She loves most things, but the verdict is still out on avocados and fresh banana (odd). A new favorite is pears with blueberries. As you can see from the photo above, she has become quite independent the past 2 weeks and likes to feed herself her evening bottle. We just lay her down on the sofa propped up by a pillow and she feeds herself. Now, mind you, she gets it in her hair, eyes, nose and neck...but she seems to love the independence. Another milestone was that we've FINALLY stopped swaddling her. YEAH!!! One more thing worth mentioning is that she's almost sitting independently, she just needs a little something behind her to break the occasional roll back.

A few exciting events this month were Lucy's Christening on the 30th (photo of Kyleigh in her beret). Nicole was kind enough to host the first "Baby's and Bagels" event at her house. See all the babies on the couch (with Chrissy's protective "Thing" hand in the foreground). And yes, all the moms knew each other while we were pregnant, it was quite a site when we all went out to dinner! On the sofa you've got Sophie, Will, Lucy, Will, Kyleigh and Ben. They're all a few weeks apart, with the first Will being the oldest (his mommy was having him during my shower) and the youngest being Sophie. I think I've said this before, but Kyleigh and Ben are only 12 hours apart. Their's already speculation that they will be boyfriend/girlfriend. They are both so laid back.

Easter 2008

What a nice Easter we had. Kyleigh made out like a bandit, with so many cute new things. She got a few adorable outfits, socks, sunglasses, a new bathing suit, new rattles and teethers, stuffed bunnies galore, hats, bibs... Thank you to everyone that was so generous (you know who you are). I've posted a few pictures to highlight the day. Note: the one of Kyleigh in her Easter dress is, in my opinion, the cutest picture ever! We've entered it into a contest to be on the cover of babytalk magazine with an appearance on Good Morning America. We'll be sure to tell you when to watch! :0)

Irish Princess

Ahhh, St Patrick's Day. A favorite amongst all of us irish lads & lassies. We began the day's celebration with blueberry pancakes at our house. Kyleigh got to spend some quality time with Auntie Di and Aunt Debbie. After filling up on hearty food and mimosas, we bundled up for the parade. The parade was lots of fun for everyone. Kyleigh spent most of the time snug in her stroller, but she got out for just a little bit to hang out with her friends Gwenie and Lucy, and her newest friend, Nate.

5 Months and Counting...

Kyleigh is now 5 months old (well, and some extra days). We just can't believe how much she's growing. She now weighs 15 pounds, though mom swears its more each time she picks her up in her car seat. She still has the brightest blue eyes and her hair is really coming in, though it doesn't appear that it's going to be red. That's still up for debate since in certain light, we swear we see red undertone. We've all gotten into a routine now and each day is pleasant and predictable. We start each day around 6:30am with Kyleigh cooing in her crib. It's her way of letting us know that she's up. It starts quite and builds to a crescendo of babbles and squeals. If we ignore her too long, she does the old "fake cry". Usually, we can unwrap her (yes, sadly we're still swaddling our 5 month old) and give her a few toys. Most days, she'll happily play by herself for a half hour, giving mom and dad some time to wake up. Once she's has enough of playing alone, we will get her and bring her into bed with us. She's such a happy baby in the morning. One of our favorite parts of the day is that first foray into her room, when we peek over the rails of the crib, she slowly recognizes we're there, and then there it is...that huge "I'm so happy you're here" smile. The rest of the morning goes like this...mom and dad get ready for work, we dress Kyleigh for the day (in one of her adorable outfits, compliments of mom mom or Nana), fix bottles and food for the day and off we go to daycare. Speaking of food, Kyleigh has quite a repertoire of food now. She's eating oatmeal and rice, apples, pears, bananas, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots and yogurt. Mom is soooo excited that there is little evidence to date that she's going to be a picky eater like her father. She seems to love all food and eats with gusto. On to daycare. Her caregivers, Ann (who everyone calls Ma) and Miss Kathy always comment on what a happy baby Kyleigh is. Each month they send out a newsletter to the parents and in February's issue, they introduced Kyleigh as a new member. Here is what they had to say: "We would like to welcome our newest baby Kyleigh to the infant room. Kyleigh is our youngest baby and she is doing great. She loves to have everyone talk to her throughout the day, she smiles so big. She is a very social baby. Kyleigh enjoys sitting in the bumbo chair looking around at all her friends. She has adjusted well to her new teachers and friends." I happy to report that there has never been a day when Rob or I have shown up at daycare and Kyleigh has been doing anything but smiling! Evenings are predictable as well. We get home from daycare around 5:30-5:45pm and Kyleigh is hungry and tired. She eats, gets into her pj's, listens to a few stores [Good Night Moon and Goodnight Thumper - mom's personal favorite], has a bottle and drifts off to peaceful sleep in dad's arm. Yes ladies, dad puts her to bed. I know you're all jealous. For the most part, Kyleigh is a great sleeper and wakes once or twice for her paci and then once to be fed. It's hard to complain because we get plenty of alone time in the evening and a quiet dinner, but we wish we had more time with her before she goes to sleep. Daylight savings time has helped some, but 6;45pm is the latest she'll stay up. We've seen Nana and Auntie Paula lately as well as Mom mom and Pop pop. We're so lucky to have such great built in babysitters. Nana let's mom and dad go out each time she comes to town, and recently Kyleigh had her first night away from home by spending the night at Heather's parents. It ended up being quite the adventure with the power going out from a nasty storm. Well, I've been making up for lost time and think I've "typed" your ear off quite enough. Check back in a few weeks, as we're sure to have an update for St Patrick's Day (Auntie Di's FAVORITE holiday) and Easter (wait till you see her dress!). Love to all, Heather, Rob and Kyleigh (and Orion, Matchka, and Samantha)