The Ashlan show: Zoo and more pics

Since Ashlan’s become mobile, we lowered the mattress a few days ago, and just in time. She had started putting her hands on the railing so it was just a matter of time before she used that to pull up. We still have one more step to lower it to but we didn’t feel it was necessary at this time. She pulls up on us when we’re on the ground, and anything else she can, so it was time. She is also getting pretty good at regular crawling. She is trying to go after Caesar so much that her little knees are raw again. I try to put babylegs on her to help with the redness but because it’s so hot here, I only want to put them on her when she needs them and I’m never sure when she’s going to crawl. I guess I have to keep them on her all the time unless I know she will be in her high chair, exersaucer, crib, etc. Today she was so fast at crawling that she bumped what I thought was her head into the sliding glass door! Turns out it was just her binky bumping into it since she did it another time or two a few hours later. She’ll learn!

So the zoo on Saturday was good but hot! We went with some friends of ours who have a son about the same age as Ashlan. We got there when it opened at 9 am and since we were able to see a lot of the zoo, we decided to leave around 12:45, when it had gotten too hot. Ashlan did fall asleep for a bit, but we happened to take a few pictures of her looking at the animals. We also ended up getting season passes that are good for a year and they actually give us 50% off at other zoos in Tampa, Pittsburgh, and Erie (and more!), so we figured we could go when we visit family in PA and then take a weekend trip to Tampa to use it with the nights that we get free from our Hilton points. Plus, it’s free every time we want to go to our zoo so it was worth it for us to get season tickets. After we got home from the zoo on Saturday, we went to a friend’s pool to hang out and try Ashlan again on the raft. This time she LOVED it! She was such a fish that she ended up staying in her raft for 1 ½ hours! She was all smiles and was kicking and splashing all around.

And other BIG news, Ashlan has finally moved onto something other than Puffs that she can pick up! She’s been eating things like bananas and watermelon for awhile but I usually have to put them in her mouth because they’re too slippery for her to pick up. I’ve even tried crushing up the Puffs and rolling the bananas in them but she still has a hard time picking them up. So, the other night we had grilled chicken and broccoli for dinner. She has had chicken before, but pureed. We put a few little bites on her plate to see if she would eat them and she ate them within no time! The next day for lunch we had leftovers and we gave her more grilled chicken and broccoli also, and she ate them all by picking them up herself! She has been very good for awhile now on Puffs, I was just having trouble finding things that she could pick up by herself that she wouldn’t choke on. We were so proud of her! She also uses the sippy like a pro now. She has been holding it herself for a few months at this point and never lets the water or milk dribble out of her mouth anymore, unless she’s just playing because she has had enough. That’s what happened when we gave it to her at the zoo, lol! Her dress was soaked but at least it kept her cooler and she had something to drink because it was so hot.

I weighed her the other day and she was 19 lbs exactly, so that is up from 18.4 lbs which was just under a month ago. She loves to eat! We also have been trying to teach her to wave goodbye to Daddy in the car when he leaves for work in the am. She can sometimes wave to herself in the mirror so we’re hoping she’ll do this soon because Daddy would really like it! We keep practicing!

We’ve also noticed that she’s been ticklish lately. She was never ticklish as a baby and we wondered if she was going to stay that way. I’ve been trying every once and awhile and a few weeks ago is when she started to laugh. It’s not a deep laugh but a little chuckle.

Speaking of laughing, she gives full blown belly laughs to Caesar. I will be skyping with my parents and all Caesar has to do is walk by and she lets out a deep belly laugh for him. She loves him, and I think he’s starting to come around to her too. He’s starting to interact with her more and comes to be with us sometimes when we’re playing on the ground. He has, on rare occasion, brought his toy to her which is his way to say, “let’s play”. She grabbed his rope the other day and was waving it around and laughing and he was jumping up trying to get it from her. So there’s definitely a little more interaction than before. He’s just still jumpy when she crawls towards him, and I don’t blame him. I wonder if he realizes now that she’s a treat ticket for him. He will stand underneath her high chair and wait for her to drop something and sometimes she does. I always give him what she leaves behind in her chair, a few Puffs here, a piece of chicken or banana there, so maybe he’s putting it together.

Nighttime sleep is pretty awesome now for the most part. She goes down awake in her crib around 5:55 and is asleep by 6pm or earlier without any fussing. She sometimes wakes up around 4:30 but goes back down after a feeding until 6:30 or so. Sometimes she just sleeps straight until 6am. Definitely can’t complain there. Dan and I are getting our evenings back and I finally feel like I can really cook and bake again without having Ashlan waking up right when we’re about to eat. It’s been really nice! I just hope we don’t gain weight since we were having lunch meat sandwiches for dinner a lot! Naps are starting to improve but slowly. The last three days her naps have all been 30 min or longer so at least it’s better than 20. She actually hasn’t looked as tired to me and she even had an hour nap the last two days. Hopefully this continues!

Wow, this turned into a novel! Anyway, we have a few playdates set up this week so we’re going to be busy! It’s always fun though seeing Ashlan interact with other babies/children and nice for the both of us to get out of the house. Caesar doesn’t like it though! :)

First time on her rocking horse! We were lowering the mattress in this picture,

which is why there is not a mattress in the bed, haha!