Ready to Run

Alma's doctor has been having us work with her on standing stretches so we have to help her stand up. This helps stretch her heel cords and is really good for her feet. It is very exciting because her feet are almost completely flat meaning she could almost stand on them if she were able to. One step closer to healthy beautiful baby feet!

A Sunday Snuggle

Crazy Uncle Nate

For those of you who don't know my brother Nate moved in with us in December. We like to joke that Nate is a big baby hog because he just loves to snuggle Alma. Every night he plays with her and makes her laugh and then they cuddle in the rocking chair. She loves his beard - she grabs it with both hands and then pulls him towards her face and rubs it on her cheeks. We love having Nate here and love that Alma has an extra person around to love her.

The other day Alma was sitting on my lap when she suddenly decided that she must see what my jeans tasted like. She sat right up and mowed down, leaving a huge wet blob on my knee. I have to say, it has never occured to me that denim would taste good, but she seems to like it. Maybe it's the texture.

Jenny Jump Up

Alma got a Jenny Jump Up for Christmas from her GG and GPa, and she loves it! She is so skinny that we have to pad her in with blankets so she doesn't bobble around, but once she's in she laughs and plays. This is a great video!

Happy Feet

This week I took Alma to see her Doctor at Shriners Hospital in Spokane. We were hoping that he would approve her to start wearing her braces only at night and during naps. For those of you who don't know, this was supposed to have happened in December - but she had to go back into casts instead. Well, the good news was he didn't put her back in casts, but the bad news was he said she needs full time braces for another two months. This was very dissapointing, as Alma hasn't learned to sit up yet and we were hoping that more time out of her braces would help her learn. We are also doing therapy again, twice a day. But, the doctor did say she could have a few hours out of her braces each day instead of only one. I have been taking advantage of this time to put Alma in her Jenny Jump Up, do some exercises with her to help stretch her feet, and of course, to let her play! She loves to roll around with no braces on, she flips her little feet all over the place. I have also taken this opportunity to put these adorable slippers on Alma. They were a gift from my friend MaryLou, and since I think they are the cutest baby slippers I have ever seen, Alma has been wearing them constantly during her shoeless moments.

What beautiful little feet!

8 Months Old

I know that Alma is 8 months old, but I just can't seem to wrap my head around it. 8 months! I was attempting to take a picture of Alma to commemorate the day, but found it was almost impossible to get her to sit still for one. That pretty much sums Alma up right now - she is constantly on the go! Her personality is starting to emerge and she seems to be taking after me in that she loves to talk and always wants to do something. She loves to play and switches between her activities all the time. She is taking after Dan in that she's generally pretty chill. She only cries when she is hungry, and even then she doesn't usually cry much. She doesn't sleep through the night yet, but when she wakes up she just eats and goes back to sleep. Sometimes she doesn't even open her eyes. Alma is in day care part time now and she loves it. Last week they did pudding painting and we have her first "masterpiece" hanging up in the living room. The day care ladies say that sometimes she plays with the other babies, but when she wants to be left alone she either growls at them or throws her toys at them. She might be little, but she sure is fiesty! Alma is starting to love her solid foods! She will plow through an entire jar of applesauce in one sitting.

When she's tired, she is tired, and she conks right out. Too bad she never naps for more than 25 minutes. I have learned to be VERY productive in less than a half an hour.

She loves her new walker she got for Christmas.

Alma's two favorite activities are sitting in her swing, and going on long walks. It's too cold lately for the Moby, so she has to sit in her stroller, but she loves it anyway. She stares at everything around her and never makes a peep.

We are very much looking forward to the next few months to see how she changes!