Snow Day

The snow hit Bandon last Wednesday evening. I wouldn't exactly call it a surprise, considering that "snow on the coast" was all the weather man had been talking about for the entire week prior. Within hours, snowmen had been raised all over town. Elm Court was no exception; our neighbors, the Carbieners, (Incidentally, these are the folks that gave us the nickname "The Boydstyles") crafted their own snow mascot. Aaand naturally, once all the hard work was done, the Boydstyles snuck over and snapped some photos with the magnificent creature.

We thought that all the snow might be gone by morning, but we were delightfully mistaken! This was our backyard Thursday morning:

Snow Angel

Who knew Macy's snowsuit would get so much use? Thanks Jim!

Updates

Macy has added "da-da-da" and "na-na-na" to her repertoire, and her favorite time to practice her new words seems to be between 2 and 5 in the morning. 

She can't scoot or "creep" to save her life, and it's not for lack of trying, bless her heart. She rolls like a champ, though. When Morgan is leaving the room and she's lying on the floor, she'll roll across the rug and into the hallway in an attempt to catch up to him. 

This clip shows how Macy acts when she would much rather be playing than eating, which seems to happen quite often these days. I've been trying to keep a straight face, but it's hard not to laugh at her when she spits her food out.

The Jumperoo continues to be one of her favorite pastimes.

Sitting Up

In addition to rolling all over the place, Macy is sitting up very well now. She's not perfect at it yet-- we can't leave her sitting up unattended (without bumper pads) and she can't sit herself up. On Valentine's Day morning, she was just looking so cute that I set up a little photo shoot so she could show off her new milestone.

"Look! No hands!"

Then, a few nights ago, we discovered that with the help of a few pillows and/or stuffed animals, we can give her some independence without having to worry about her tipping over or face-planting. I apologize, as this first video is a bit long, but I just didn't feel like editing it down. Keep your eyes peeled for a special cameo by "da-da"!

And this next one shows one of her epic falls. Of course, the problem with Mr. Bunny breaking her fall is that she gets used to it being behind her, so she's not scared to just fall backwards whenever the mood strikes her, whether Mr. Bunny is there or not!

Fun new tricks

From about the time she started getting sprouting teeth, Macy has learned some new sounds. This first video is her "motor boat", though if you ask Grandpa Jim, he'll tell you she's talking to the cat--it's her "purrr". It does sound an awful lot like Bear's purr, believe it or not...

This next one is just a cute clip of her and Morgan being goofy. The kid's got spunk, that's for sure!

These clips are all video I have shot on my iPhone. I have a lot more video that we've recorded on our beautiful new Canon Vixia camcorder that Jim and Jill got us for Christmas, but the software that comes with it isn't compatible with my MacBook, so those videos aren't available to share...yet! (We just need to download the Mac-compatible software.)

For the past week or so, she has started making 1-syllable "words", mainly "ba-ba-ba-ba" and, my personal favorite, "ma-ma-ma-ma." I'm sure I'll catch a video of this soon. She almost starts talking in this one, but it's hard to talk when you have a sippy cup in your mouth. She's gotten pretty good at drinking from a cup, both from a regular cup (with my assistance, of course) and a sippy cup.

Ok, this last one is just a cute little clip I found of her sucking on a teething toy. This was pre-teeth. Cute outfit, eh?

Teef

The day after her half-birthday, I felt Macy's first tooth breaking through. It was much smaller and sharper than I had imagined--almost like a tack!  The teething process has been relatively mild for her... we have had a few nights of pretty bad fussing over the last few weeks, which I attributed to teething discomfort. Teething toys and Tylenol help to take the edge off during those long nights... And they seem to help Macy, too. (...ha ha..?)  Anyway, the day after that first tooth sprouted, I felt another little tack in her mouth!  So now she has two cute little toofers.

This video is pretty cute because you can hear her little teeth clanking against the cup each time she takes a drink.

Breakfast mish-mash

Stats and Specs

So, let's start with the facts. At Macy's 6-month check-up last week, she weighed 16 lbs, 13 oz (50th percentile) and was 27 1/8 inches long (anywhere from 90th percentile to "off the charts", depending on which scale you use). You don't really notice that she's tall until you hear the stats, and then the typical response is a head tilt combined with a "Oh yeah, I guess she does look tall.." Anyway, her head circumference is in the 75th percentile, in case you're wondering, and has been since she was born. She really does have the most beautiful little perfectly-shaped head. So even if you don't believe me, it's nice to know that I have the statistics backing me up. You can't argue with baby-science.  The rest of her appointment went well: She smiled at the doctor and took her shots (three in the thighs) like a champ. That's a "Pass" in my book!

Macy is about 6 1/2 months old now. Her activities include rolling over (she can cover a surprising distance along the carpet just by flip-flopping from her back to front and vice-versa, combined with a little hip-swivel), bouncing (in either her Johnny Jump-up or her Jumperoo), and eating. She has been eating solids for about three weeks. The first couple of weeks were pretty challenging, because she really did not like this new concept of "solid food." She didn't seem to like the taste of anything very much, though she tolerated sweet potatoes and rice cereal the best. But now she is doing much better! She's eating three "meals" per day, and actually consumes most of what I put in her mouth (versus having it end up on the bib or on her hands after she spits it out). So far she has tried (in this order, all cut with breast milk) rice cereal, banana, applesauce, sweet potato, white potato, mango, carrot, and butternut squash. Her favorite so far is carrot. Lately I've been hearing of a lot of babies favoring avocado, but she won't be enjoying such an indulgent fruit until they go on sale!

This was her first feeding--rice cereal & breast milk

This face captures her apathy for solids during the first couple weeks

And this is how she feels about her new foods now! (This is actually an older picture, but you get the idea)

Home Alone

I'm starting a blog. The way I figure, "I was updating my blog" is a much better excuse for not getting the dishes or laundry done during Macy's nap time than "I was watching Ellen." Yes, this should work just fine.

I suppose I should start with some notable moments and milestones that are happening with Macy. The first one that comes to mind is that she got to be home alone for the first time yesterday! That's right, I went to take out the trash while she was napping in her crib and accidentally locked myself out of the house. As soon as I shut the door, I realized what I had done, and was frozen in shock for about two seconds. Then I cursed. Then my brain started working again. "Did I really just do that? Do I really not have any way back into the house right now?" Of course, I could have broken a window to get in in a flash, and if I thought Macy was in any distress, obviously I would have. But she was in her crib, napping, so I really didn't think any that was necessary. I ran over to the neighbor's house, explained what happened, and asked to use her phone to call Morgan. The conversation went a something like this:

Me: "Hi. I'm calling from the neighbor's. I locked myself out of the house and Macy is inside."
Morgan: "What? Are you being serious right now?"
Me: "Are you seriously asking if I'm being serious right now?"

It took him about 20 minutes to get home, but it felt like 2 hours. When we finally got inside and up to Macy's room, she was lying there peacefully without a care in the world. When all was said and done, it was a good learning experience: We should always have a backup plan for getting into the house. We now leave a spare key on our back porch under the doormat...

I'm kidding... It's under the flower pot.