Green Beans

Remember when Amelia first had green beans and she gagged?  She absolutely hated them.

Now she loves them!  Out of the mixed veggie bag she will pick those first to eat.

So I bought a bag of just green beans.  She wouldn't eat them and the only reason I can fathom is because the were french cut.  Hum... sounds like someone else we know and love.  Lucas will only eat french cut canned green beans.

Of course if there is a carb option available (pancakes, bread, toast, tortilla) she'll choose that first.  She gets that from her mama.

Christmas at Grandpa's

We went to grandpa John's over the weekend to celebrate Christmas.  It was Amelia's first time opening presents.  She loved it! 

She crawled right up on the box banging on it as if saying get it out!  I need to play! 
Daddy got a 1972 Gran Torino hubcab clock.  We have a '74 Gran Torino and it was our getaway car for our wedding so this was a pretty neat gift.  He also really needs a clock in the garage, so now there are no more excuses for coming in late!

 Athena is getting to be a big kid!  She helped Kait make pumpkin breaded pudding which was delicious.  She also made a treat for her aunts and uncles all by herself!  It was the pretzels with rolos melted in them. Yum!

3 and 1

Amelia has finally chosen a favorite finger combination. 

She loves to be challenged!

Bubbles

Last week Amelia learned how to drink through a straw and blow bubbles through a straw.  It's a great time I tell you!

She also figured out how to shake her head no.  I'm not sure she knows what it means but has used it to make very funny situations, such as shaking her head no when the baby sign language dvd was talking about sleeping and going to bed. 

She can also stand up next to almost anything. 

Daddy also put the latches on the doors just in time because the next day I found her doing this.

I may be a fool but I've been helping her learn how to climb up the stairs.  She's gotten very good and we're just about ready to learn how to climb down.  We do have gates and I'm in a good habit of locking them when need be but I'd feel better knowing that she understands how to work those stairs and hopefully avoid injuries.  It's my right as a mother to have that dream.  :-)

Santa

ECFE had a Christmas party and we just had to go see Santa!  Amelia was really not sure about Santa.  She didn't cry but she looked concerned. 

There were also lots of different craft things to make but Amelia was still too young for most everything. 

Mom and I helped Millie and Kirsten while Zach kept Amelia entertained.  She did get a book from the pocket lady and then we had cookies and milk.  (Amelia had cereal puffs, I'm still not ready for her to have that much sugar!) 

Shhhh...

Amelia has been going to play with Aunt Kait a couple of hours each Thursday morning while I go to work. 

They play hard!

She didn't wake up when the camera flashed or when she dropped the bottle. 

Look out World!

She figured out how to sit up!

Comments

Hey readers!  I'm still fairly new to this blogging thing and I'm not sure I have the comments part set up correctly.  I've been told it doesn't allow people to comment and I'm just seeing now, several months later, that I have a couple of comments that I didn't know about.  Would you do me a favor and try to comment so I can see if I've got it working yet?

Retreat!

It's a retreat weekend!  Tomorrow I get to spend the whole day sewing and I'm very excited.  When thinking of the projects to work on I felt really guilty that I hadn't finished several of my Christmas presents (more than half...)  I knew I should bring those projects to work on but honestly I didn't really want to.  I don't get sewing days like this very often anymore and I have a whole room full of projects waiting to be worked on.  So in order to not feel really really guilty about not bringing Christmas presents I worked hard this week to finish most of them.  I only have two sewing projects and a couple of computer projects left!  Amelia also has something in the works but we need Daddy's help with that one.  Yay! 

I can't share pictures of what I've been working on yet because I'm finding out more and more of the family is actually reading this thing so in order to be safe I'll share after Christmas.

I can share the snowflake we made at school this week.  Amelia is getting to be a pro at stamping her hand.

In addition to crawling and rolling everywhere she's also working very hard at standing. 

Her Godmother Hilary came to visit on Sunday and we went to a new friend's birthday party so of course she had to wear a party dress.

I decided to work on the interior of our house again.  A project I had started before being pregnant which quickly halted once that happened.  I'd like to paint the living room and had several simple furniture items I wanted Lucas to make.  We went to price out everything and then chose a few projects to start with.  He's been pretty busy fixing cars and snow blowers so I realized that these projects most likely wouldn't happen before Christmas and I was fine with that.  Apparently my father doesn't have enough to do this week.  After 4 days just about everything is done and being painted now.  :-)  So to thank my dad Amelia and I had him over for coffee and homemade doughnuts this morning.  I used this recipe. Yum! 

I'm off to start packing!

Baby, it's cold outside!

We got our first snowfall for the year.  Amelia did not know what to think!  She just kept staring and you could see her processing it all in her mind.  I haven't set her in a pile yet but will soon. 

Of course she now has to wear heavy coats and she hates them.  She cries and arches her back.  I tried to explain to her how it is cold now and will get even worse so she better get used to it but she doesn't agree. 

She does not want to smile while wearing the coat but sometimes it's too hard to resist!

Puzzles

Amelia's favorite activity with Grandpa. 

Visiting Friends

We went to visit my friend Julie in North Dakota the first weekend of November. 

It was Amelia's first trip outside of the state and she did very well on the car ride (about 7 hrs with stopping.)  We listened to cds from the library and now know The Wiggles songs a little too well.  Amelia loved listening to the music and it could usually calm her down if she got antsy.  She also liked it when Lucas and I sang along.  I did have to sit in the back with her for part of the trip and she didn't sleep as much as I hoped she would but overall she wasn't too cranky. 

It was a nice relaxing weekend!  We went to check out the farm, went to the park for a little bit, played cards, read, and ate lots of yummy food.  Julie wouldn't let me help in the kitchen and I have to admit it was awesome to have a break from the kitchen for a weekend.  Amelia's favorite part was their dog Trixie and by the end of the trip Trixie was becoming protective of Amelia. 

Finger Foods

We've moved on to finger foods! 

She loves the cereal puffs and yogurt melts.  Mommy tries to sneak in corn, peas, and carrot chunks but she'll eat the cereal first.  She also tried sourdough crepes and loved those.  (Who wouldn't when they're cooked in butter!) 

Her list of foods tried is growing and growing.  Applesauce, banana, peaches, pears, watermelon, cantaloupe, sweet potato, potato, green bean, peas, carrots, squash, yogurt, corn, and crackers.   The only two things she hasn't liked are avocado and ground turkey. 

Mama!

Amelia says Mama!  Wahoo! 

Daddy's sad since she doesn't say dada much anymore.

Crawling

Amelia was different at school this past Wednesday.  For the first time I could actually see a little bit of jealously in her eyes as she watched the other babies crawling around and standing up by themselves.  I sat her on the floor instead of standing by the table where everyone else was and she pouted!  After moving her to stand by the table she was happy again. 

We got to make these cute handprint turkeys. 

All week we had been singing the songs at home so she was very excited when we sang the same ones at school.  She followed along with the actions and "sang" along.  It was very cute and a first. Her favorites so far are the name chant, baby bumblebee, and the goodbye song (she always finishes by signing milk.) 

Later that night I put her in the crib sitting up so she could play with her music box and I could get her bath ready.  It's something we do all the time and usually when I come back into the room she has fallen over and is laying down.  This time she was standing up!

Here she is in action. 

Let me tell you she was very proud of herself. 

The next day she decided that she will crawl.  She practiced rolling quite a bit.  By Friday she was moving backwards which was very frustrating for her and still is.  Saturday she was moving forward and is still relying on her arms to pull her but is getting better at using her legs all the time.  I bet it will only be a couple of more days before she is really moving fast. 

And this video was yesterday when she wasn't as confident in her skills.  She'll go anywhere to get the phone.