Look Mom, No Hands!

Well, Ayla is finally sitting up consistently without help...and without toppling over. The first few pictures here were taken on the 26th of January. She'd been doing it off and on for a few days, but this was the first day she'd done it with me for minutes at a time. She'd first teeter for a few moments and then would fall over. I was a bit surprised that she wouldn't cry when she topple over, but she'd just get this "whoa" look on her face, and I'd sit her up again. Each time she'd go longer and longer without falling over. In just a day or two, she was a semi-pro athlete. They learn so fast... and she amazes me daily at the things she'll start to do. The other night was the first night she sat up in the bath tub, and she did quite well. We are going to have to get her some more bath toys because right now other than the 4 items I bought her, the spoon and bowl are her favorite tub-toys.

After the success we had with rice cereal, we moved on to oatmeal, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas, bananas, and peaches. Her least favorites have been the bananas and peaches, and I think her favorite thing so far are the sweet potatoes. I'm pretty happy about that becaues it's one of my favorite foods, too. She dribbles a lot while doing it, but she's learning to drink from a sippy-cup. I got her a handle that fits onto her bottles, and she's starting to figure out that she can hold both handles and drink. She still love "her original" source of food the best though, which is quite okay with me. I enjoy that time with her, and it tickles me how excited she gets when she knows it's coming. ;+}

Ayla's Aunt Sarah is visiting her family in Texas, and she made Ayla promise not to do anything too cute while she was gone. :+] So, Aunt Sarah, you better hurry back because she can't hold out much longer.

I've added quite a few pictures here because I not only am using this as a "scrapbook" for Ayla, but I also know that her Oma can't get enough! ;+]

Here she is sitting on the floor playing with a few of the toys she has. The phone sitting in front of her is one of her favorites. It lights up and plays music, and it (like everything else) goes straight to her mouth.

This is a look she's been giving when she gets frustrated. She also does this "blowing" thing with her mouth. It's pretty funny to see that even at this early age she sure can show us her emotions. :+]

We LOVE this hat on her, and it's a big hit any where we go! :+] It's cute when she turns her head sharply the balls on each side of the hat shake. This will definitely be one of those items I keep forever.

This is her new smile! It looks kind of like a "half-hearted" sort of smile, and she holds it much longer than she does her other "bigger" smile.

First time sitting up in the bath tub. She's studying the water pretty hard here.

I wanted to show how much hair she is getting. It's mainly on the sides and back of her head, and we think it's coming in blonde. Sometimes it looks like it's got a bit of a red tint to it, so we wonder whether she and her cousin Jaycee ray might have the same color hair.

I just love her smile. What parent doesn't love to see their baby smile!!!

I have a hard time catching her doing things on camera because she become more interested in the camera than she does in what she was doing before I grabbed it! Here she's trying to reach for it, which is something she does a lot!

We took this the other night before we went to go eat. You can see the bag of "dinner" I've got for her. :+]
I think this night the menu called for green beans and rice cereal.

Here she is in her "sock monkey" pajamas this morning. I can now sit her by the door as I'm getting stuff ready. It won't be long before she'll be able to move around and get away from me.
These pajamas are cute enough to wear out, and of course I'm going to have a bow on her that matches. :+] BTW: No one mistook her for a boy in this outfit.

Bath time tonight. She's got a bit of a cold, so I went and got her some vapor bubble bath. I'm not convinced that it helps with her congestion, but the bubbles actually last throughout the entire bath. I'm not sure that she really notices them, but she gets them all over her face and in her mouth.

This was towards the end of her bath. She only took one nap today, so she was pretty tired. Brett was watching her in the bath while I ironed his clothes for his trip tomorrow. Even when she's tired she still loves being in the bath tub. :+}