Big Heapa Sleepa

Last night Tori and Ollie went to the Festival of Lights with their Aunt Annie. Tori had a fit, everything was tried and nothing worked, so back in her car seat she went. She fell asleep and stayed that way the rest of the night.


They returned at 8 pm and she barely woke when she was put into bed. She slept until 5 am this morning. We aren't sure what her problem was, but apparently, the lights tired her out. This morning she was her happy little self again. I hope it goes this well on our coming trip.

2 Front Teeth

All she wants for Christmas is her 2 front teeth! It seems like she has one poking through, so maybe she'll have 1 out by the new year. Should be a very slobbery unwrapping of gifts for her! In the mean time, she has been practicing her unwrapping skills by grabbing everything in site and pulling hard on it!


She desperately wants to be mobile. Every time we lay her down, she tries to sit up. Every time she sits on us, she tries to stand. She can only stand with our help, but she can sit for a few seconds by herself with the proper balance. She's ready to move. Big brother can do it, so why can't she?

Back and Forth

She can roll both ways, front to back, back to front. She just doesn't do it very often. For awhile I thought she might skip rolling front to back and just go right to sitting, but apparently that won't be the case. She tries to sit all the time now and wants to be sitting or standing rather than laying on the ground. Not too much longer and we will have our second mobile baby. Up with the gates!

Laundry Girl

The little laundry girl is teething. At night she gets upset because her teeth hurt. She has also taken to chewing on her teething rings, but we have to hold them in her mouth for her. The tylenol goes down easier than it has in the past. She swallows it instead of spitting it back at us. The only problem is that it knocks her out. She is still sleeping well in spite of it. She is starting to go to bed at 7 for a cat nap (for the night with tylenol), then she gets up until about 9:30 and sleeps through the night. If she goes to bed at 7, she gets up anywhere from 1 to 4.

Last night she made some noise when I laid her down for the night, but put herself to sleep. She was up at 3:30 and I put her down around 5. She moved around and made noise in her sleep, but was out until 6:30 when we got her up. She was happy to see us. It is nice to wake to a smiling baby in the crib.

Hole Less Heart

Tori's 6 month check-up went well yesterday. She is 17 lbs and 23 inches. This makes her in the 75% in height and weight. She received just 1 jab in the leg this time and she is progressing normally.


This morning she went to the cardiologist for her 6 month check-up with him. He didn't hear the holes in her heart with his stethoscope. He decided to do an echocardiogram to verify it. It verified that the two pin sized holes in her heart had closed up. She doesn't have to see the cardiologist again!

Chomp!

The tongue shown above has been replaced by a small, white, nubby protrusion in her lower gum. It is hard to tell if she is actually teething or not because she constantly sticks out her tongue. When her tongue isn't out, it is guarding the view to her lower gum. But my extensive medical training and slobbery finger tell me that it looks like a tooth is on the way in. Combined with the fact that she is chomping a lot and bit me last night, we have a pretty good case for a tooth. We'll find out more today as she goes in for her 6 month check-up and shots! Tomorrow is her cardiology check-up to check on her holes in her heart. Then she'll have 1 more shot to get and be done for the year.

Active Girl

Active girl only got up once last night. She also went back to her bed within 30 minutes, which is better. She did get a 90 minute nap on our way home yesterday in the snow. She was still sleeping at 6:30, so we got her up for her bath and dinner. She ate quite a bit, played for awhile and went to bed for the night at 9:30.

She's becoming a better sleeper. If only she can get over the awakening at night, she might sleep from 7 to 7 as she goes to sleep most nights at 7 and gets up a couple times a night. This morning she was wide awake, so we'll see how tonight goes.

She also loved watching the snow fall yesterday outside the sitters sliding glass door. She's just to small to play in it. Maybe next year.

The Past 6 Months

As far as Tori's development goes, the past 6 months have crawled for me, for Tresa, they have zoomed by. She is nearing the age of becoming her own person. In other words, we will soon have another person to tell us No and what to do. They are both smaller than us, so we can still take them for a long time to come.

She still does not sleep well, unless she is on her stomach, most of the time. Last night that wasn't true. She grabs at everything and puts it in her mouth. She'll let you know when she's hungry by either screaming loudly or continually eating you! Makes for a very soggy shoulder. She is already ticklish under her arms and laughs totally different from her brother. She can also out scream him at will.

The rate she's going and with the rate he is going, she may be potty trained before him (we really hope not)!

The Last

Tori is the lucky one so far. She hasn't gotten the same stomach bug the rest of us have. We hope she doesn't since I ended up with a light version.

It is obvious from her body language that she is ready to be mobile. She reaches, grabs, scoots, rolls and plays with everything she can get her hands on. She also can't wait to sit up. She can sit up right for a few seconds by herself, but ends up falling forward. It won't be long and we'll have to take down her swing and put away the toys for the smaller Tori and move up to the walkers and rolling exersaucers.

Still no progress with sleeping through the night, she still wakes up when she is hungry. She is also difficult to put down once she is asleep. She usually wakes up when she hits the mattress. Makes for frustrating nights when she goes down. Christmas is coming so all progress will be negated on our trip and we can start anew when we return home.

Ready, Set, Crawl!

She's gotten ready, she's getting set, but no crawling yet. She still hasn't rolled over from front to back fully. She does try to get her legs underneath her butt when she is on her tummy now. She looks like an inch worm, inching along. She'll also do a baby push-up, but not both at the same time.

Like her brother, she loves to stand and play. Sitting will not be her forte. She loves to stand and play with toys. She has also discovered her feet. She doesn't play with them much when they are in her jammies, but once they are out, she loves to grab them. It won't be too much longer and she'll be making a break for the door!

She Who Will Not Sleep Unless Held

After 4 consecutive nights of sleeping through the night, we thought we had tamed the sleeping shrew, but it wasn't to be. Every night after that has gotten progressively worse.

It started with waking once a night, then multiple times. It progressed to waking up when we put her down, no matter how asleep. Last night it escalated to holding her all night while she slept.

She also wouldn't eat baby food yesterday. We are guessing at 2 things, either she is teething or has an ear infection. We are going to see how she does today at the sitters, but will take her in tonight to get checked out. She has an appointment in 2 weeks for her check up, but we can't wait that long if she is sick. Guess we'll find out tonight.

2-Nighter

The little girl in her jammies slept 2 nights in a row without waking!



She still awoke at 6:30 on Sunday, but this morning we had to wake her up to go to the sitters. She, like her brother, is opposed to light early in the morning. Once she was fully awake she was as happy as a clam.

Our bodies, however, are in shock from being allowed to sleep so long. Now we just have to get the caffeine withdrawal in check and we'll be almost back to normal.

Dress Up

The little girl known as 'the one who will sit for pictures' had her picture taken last night with Santa. Her brother, being the Grinch he is, refused pictures with Santa due to his fear of Santa. He rode the train instead.


Tori was in fine form as the Santa photographers got more smiles out of her than the people who took her last photos. She was dressed as Santa's reindeer for the occasion. Instead of her nose being bright, there was just a bit of additional slobber. A couple of smiles and pictures later we were on our way with 2 bags of M & M's for the train rider and more pictures of Rudolph the slobbery reindeer.

Player

The Squirmy Worm has grown into a very active bug. She scoots, rolls, grabs and chews everything.



The past couple of nights, she started to discover her feet. The bad thing is that she wants to play with them in the middle of the night or before she falls asleep. 2 nights ago, at 3 am I hear a thump, thump, thump coming from the monitor. I thought a cat was trapped in her room. I went in and she was raising both her legs and slamming them down on her mattress in her sleep.

Last night while she was laying in bed, she was on her side with her legs extended grabbing her feet. Apparently, they are the new discovery. It won't be long before she is really mobile. We will be in real trouble then.

Embarrassing

We all have embarrassing photos of us and this is just another that Tori will probably hate in her future.



How could you not think this is cute? The bewildered look must be because of the head band that she is wearing. Then there is the matching dog. I'm sure she'll hate the picture in a few short years.

Say Cheese

The little Miss had her first photo session on Saturday. One of her outfits that she wore is shown below.


The experience was fairly awful. We ended up not getting any of the pictures of her in that dress. We got a couple of profile pictures, but that was it. She tired and ready for a nap, so not many smiles were to be had. The people taking the pictures didn't know how to deal with kids and the photos that were taken weren't good.

It was hard to hear anything with all the people, so we weren't sure what we were supposed to do while looking at the shots. There was also the hard sell of extra's like black and white or special poses.

Another quick question, why try to sit up a 5 month old in a chair? Why try to take a picture of a child sitting, who can't sit? I don't know either, but she tried it 3 different ways and none worked. Next time we won't be going to Portrait Innovations, we'll be going to a regular place that knows what they are doing.

Piper Meet Tori

Roll Over

Tori has started trying to roll from front to back. Her arm keeps getting in the way of the roll. She doesn't know what to do with it. She is mobile in every aspect of her life now. She plays in her exersaucer, swing, bed and floor. The only time she stops moving is when she watches the fish.



This weekend she will be getting her picture taken for the first time. Her brother may or may not be in the picture with her. We are hoping they'll both smile for 1 picture. I'm sure they'll try to gouge us for the rest of the pictures as well.

3 AM

These too culprits got and kept their Mama up at 3 am. Tori was awake and in the living room with her mom. Ollie was rustled out of our bed by the light in the living room 10 minutes later. These two are NOT good sleepers. Tori eventually fell asleep on the way to the sitters. I'm hoping she gets her sleeping straightened out and if she's going to have a bad night, she may as well do it during my shift for a change. Her Mama has been getting every one of them recently. We hope it changes for the better soon.

Mobile Monkey

Our little girl is moving as much as possible. She loves wriggling, rolling and scooting. She can't flip over from her front to back yet, but she has mastered back to front. She has also mastered it in her bed, which she hasn't done up to this point. I found her on her tummy at 4:45 am this morning with her head in the corner and at an angle to the bed. I left her flat on her back in the middle of the night, so she was active in her sleep. The only thing I worry about her sleeping on her tummy is SIDS. I'm hoping she doesn't flip again for awhile, but I doubt I'll get my wish. Other than that she is an extremely happy child who likes to make monster noises all the time.

Hershey's Kiss

Pictures of the 1 child we could get dressed up and still force would take a picture for Halloween.





That was her adventure for Halloween. Next year, she may try the real thing!

Squirm Baby

Tori's newest object of her affection is the ceramic kitty that Tresa got from her aunt. Last night, I laid Tori down near the kitty and she kept scooting, rolling and trying to get close to the kitty. It didn't take too long and she was near head butting the kitty. She kept doing 360's on her back and inch closer to it. We'd stand her up and she'd laugh or make a noise of approval like "Heh, I'm going to get you kitty".



She was very happy and ready to go. She went to bed at 10:30 and when she woke at 2 am for food, she was turned sideways and had no where else to go. Her Michael Jordan imitation also lasted all night. She loves sticking her tongue out at you, just don't take it personally.

Party All Night Long

The Push-Up Queen was up most of the night last night with her Mama. She went to bed at 6 pm, got up around 8 for a bottle and was up about 2 am for the day. She took 1 nap during that time. It led to one tired Mama. Somehow, I always get the good nights, her Mama seems to get the bad.

Other than that, she enjoys her being on her stomach more now than she did. She loves sticking her tongue out and will probably be a thumb sucker. She is already better at sucking her thumb than Ollie. She is reaching and grabbing things, which makes it really hard to give her a bottle at times. She also seems to no longer want her pacifier. I don't think we will have any kids that will need to be broken from a pacifier. She eats much better than she has in the past. Pears seem to be a current favorite.

One other thing, this morning after eating 3 oz. of milk, she spit a lot of it back up on me. I guess all that patty-cake movement caused the upheaval. I'm glad I was still at home so I could change.

Long Night

Not real sure if it was because she had a hard day, slept less and had went to be earlier or if she was just tired out from all of Monday's activities, but Tori slept until 4 :30 am! Her parents were shocked that she hadn't woken up. After a quick bottle, she fell back asleep on my shoulder and slept for another hour.



I'm sure it won't reoccur tonight, but it is nice that it happens every once in awhile.

Pumpkin and Kiss

For Halloween Tori was dressed for the day as a pumpkin.



She seemed to enjoy the glowing in the dark part. At her mom's work, she had her picture taken as a Hershey's Kiss. She got to wear tights and a white long-sleeved onesie underneath her costume. She was very good for the entire thing. Her mom had to hold her upright to have her picture taken and we got a small smile out of her.

Her hat didn't stay on well, but it worked for the hour she was in the costume. Everyone thought she was the sweetest thing (pun intended). Once home, she spent the rest of the night answering the door with her parents as a few kids exclaimed how cute she was without her costume. Maybe next year she'll be able to go trick or treating.

Activity Girl

Tori did a lot of things this weekend. She learned she has a tongue and figured out how to use it. She will stick it out at you all the time. She'll do it while eating, drinking and playing. The tongue is it!

Grabbing toys and reaching for things also has come in handy. Though it didn't help much in our trip to the orchard this weekend. Tori go the shaft with that trip. Her parents forgot the stroller, so she had to be held the entire time. We also didn't bring a hat and it was very windy. It messed with her sleep, but it tired her out enough that she slept well during the night.



Not much sliding went on for Tori, but she awoke bright and happy this morning. Tonight is Halloween, so I'm sure she will be a bit tired from all the excitement. Our little hershey's kiss could be melted by bedtime.

Little Thrasher

We've been giving Tori a bath in the bath tub. She is getting too big for the baby tub and we have time to give her one while the other is making dinner. She loves being in the tub. She splashes and thrashes the water around her. She doesn't make a sound when she gets a bit of water on her face. She smiles and kicks and flails more.



She doesn't try to roll over much. She happily plays until the water gets a little cold. The only thing she doesn't like about the process is getting her clothes back on. She'd much rather be without them.

Night Out

Tori got to spend the night with just her Mom and Dad. Her brother went to play at someone else's house. Tori had her parents to herself. We took her to dinner at Chili's, she fell asleep in the car on the way to the restaurant. We got a bit of piece and quiet and a bit of time to ourselves.

She woke up as we were finishing and was surprised at her surroundings. She was extremely interested in her surroundings and hardly made a wimper. After we finished dinner we headed home so Tori could play and get ready for bed.



She was able to play without her brothers interference. He tends to take her toys and play with them himself. His payback is coming someday soon. She will be crawling before he knows it. She is already grabbing for things, soon, she will be grabbing for his toys.

Little Girl Who Won't Sleep

Tori with Aunt Diane
The happy baby didn't sleep so well last night, but she still woke up happy. She was up every hour from 1:30 to 4:30. Grunting and groaning and not sleeping. Needless to say, the cry herself to sleep routine didn't do its job last night. We may just be stuck with getting up every night for a long time to come.

Night 2

A couple of things changed last nights sleep for Tori. The 2 hour nap she had from 6 - 8 and being fed earlier than usual. After she cried herself to sleep, she woke up around one and was actually hungry. She was up again from 4 - 6 am because she got a long nap the night before. She won't be getting more than an hour nap tonight.


Cringing at the thought of going to bed
Her sleeping has improved in general. She sleeps more soundly and isn't in the car seat anymore. We make sure she can't roll over in her sleep and if she does, she'll let us know by screaming. She doesn't like her tummy much. It'll take a bit of training for all of us. The day we all sleep all night in our own beds will be a shock to our system. I'm sure it'll come someday soon.

Little Screamer

After her usual waking at 12:30, Tori got a lesson in sleeping through the night. She wasn't hungry, just tired. So she got to scream it out. She screamed for over an hour. Then she was silent for the rest of the night. She occasionally made a peep, but soothed herself back to sleep. Tonight her screamfest will start earlier and we'll see if she can make it all night long. If we are lucky her parents will get to sleep through the night before she turns 25.

Thinking about Screaming herself to sleep again!

Doctor Appt. #2

Tori had her second check-up yesterday and everything is fine. She is 14 lbs, 14 oz. Over 2 feet and growing. She is in the 75% of height, weight and head size. Still a big girl. Her cold is subsiding, so they didn't have anything to say about that. We had to wait forever to get our appointment. We were there at 3:30 and didn't leave until after 5. Not a good sign. That is 2 times in a row that has happened, I'm hoping it doesn't happen again.

Tori got more shots and wailed through them all. I'm sure it didn't help that the nurse stabbed her with the needles. She was rough with her. Her band aids were quite bloody for a shot when I took them off for Tori's bath. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant experience.

The good thing is that she is healthy and happy. She's also feeling better and eating more. Sometimes up to 5 oz. in a feeding. She's also started her way to solids. Rice last week, fruits and veggies next. Pretty soon she'll have the same eating habits as her brother. That'll have to change.

Bad Daddy

The last post where I mentioned Tori only got up once and I got a lot of rest. Well, um, that turns out to not be entirely true. She was awake from 11:30 to 12:30 and I slept right through her screaming. She apparently fell back asleep until she got up at 2:30 and I heard her.

That earns me this weeks Bad Daddy Award. So Tori, if this event scars you in the future, I apologize now!

Feeling Better

Tori got back to her waking up just once during the night last night. It made for much more alert parents this morning. She seems to be feeling better overall. I hope her cold has cleared up. We'll find out for sure what is going on Monday. She has her 4 month check-up along with more shots. By our scale, she is 15-16 lbs. Should be right on track with staying in the 90 th percent. She seems to be getting back to her normal self.

Grandpa and Tori

Labor Day Weekend

Laughter

Tori has begun laughing on a regular basis. Though what she is laughing at, we don't know. Sometimes it'll be us laughing that causes her to laugh. Others, it will be us making a noise or saying something silly. Then there is her brother, whom she finds nothing funny about him. There laughs are similar.

She is also trying to grab things, especially her bottle when she is wide awake. It is a struggle sometimes to keep it in her mouth. She is strong and forceful. She's even sent the bottle flying on a few occasions.

She seems to be feeling somewhat better, but she is mostly tired. She was up at 3 am again today. I made the mistake of trying to feed her when she probably just needed her binky to fall back asleep. Her coughing woke her and she was restless. We watched Sportcenter while she was swinging. That didn't tire her out. She was in a good mood though, which is pretty nice when you daughter smiles at you.

To Sleep Perchance

There hasn't been much of a chance to sleep the past 2 nights. Little Miss Sleepy Head here, hasn't been doing much consecutive sleeping.



Her cold has been getting her up a couple of times a night. Sometimes for several hours in a row. She isn't always hungry so it is a guessing game as to what will return her and us to slumber. Maybe it is time we take her out of the car seat and see how she fairs.

Mouthful

Tori loves to put her hands in her mouth. With her recent cold, she has moved up to her arm in her mouth.



Once she discovers her feet, they'll be the next appendage that goes into her mouth.

Bop Your Brother

Ollie was in an extremely chatty mood last night. He had plenty of sleep and was ready to go. He was so ready to go that he was driving his mom crazy. Tori and I were in the living room listening to non-stop chatter. She was playing with rattles and an Eeyore doll. They came into the living room and I informed Tori that her Mom was going to bop her brother, while I shook a rattle.

Laughter ensued from Tori's congested chest. We repeated this scenario with varying degrees of success for quite awhile. Apparently 'Mama is going to bop your brother' is funny stuff to a 3 month old. The hilarity of the phrase had worn off by morning. Apparently, it is only funny for a limited time.



Tori has been feeling better. She's been sleeping better, but is still congested. The vaporizer works well apparently. She seems to be back to her old demeanor, hasn't regained her appetite yet and still has the symptoms. She should be done with it in a little while.

The Sickness

Little Miss Tori has her first cold and it is pretty nasty. She sounds like she is going to cough up a hairball. She has a bit of croupy cough and seems to be very congested.


The good thing is that she didn't get a fever like her brother did. No trip to the hospital this time. She seems to be taking it fairly well. She's tired and crabby as most people are when they are sick. We hope she doesn't give it back to her brother who has recently gotten over it. If we are lucky, this will be the last illness for both of them for awhile.

Real Interested

At least Lucy is interested in Tori

Paul Fall

I'm sure everyone remembers Humpty Dumpty and the Great Paul Fall (click the picture for a reminder).



Imagine our surprise when it looked like it was going to happen again over Labor Day. This time Paul got a hold of Tori.




Luckily he had no blanket and his knees didn't buckle from underneath him. Paul got the brunt of it when he was reminded of what happened last time. So far he is 1 for 2 in terms of staying upright while holding our children. Tori faired much better than her brother, but I think it was due to Paul leaning against the counter.

One in a Row

She slept all night, much to our surprise. She was still sleeping soundly when we had to get her up for the day. She was bright eyed and happy and ready to go for the day.



If we get lucky, tonight will be number 2. Maybe she'll be a better sleeper than her brother after all.

Being The Little Sister

Being the little sister is going to be rough for awhile for Tori. Ollie has the size and mobility advantage. He also has an ownership issue in that everything belongs to him.

We've given Tori some of his toys to look at and play with. If Ollie wants them, he'll come over and take them. It is time for the 'sharing' issues to begin. So far Ollie doesn't share well when he wants something. Tori doesn't complain, she just bats at things or tries to eat them. She mostly ends up eating her hands.

We'll place her on his toys just to see how she'll react, he'll take over his toy if he can.



He'll learn eventually to share, she'll eventually to pop him one if he doesn't. We'll learn how to be referee's in the brawl that will ensue.

Smiles A Lot

Tori is a very happy, smiley baby. If she isn't fussy or scared she is usually smiling right back at you!



She is regularly confused for a boy and we rarely put bows in her hair, like in the picture. She doesn't mind, she just keeps smiling. Then she pounds them into a pulp with her chubby hands. Not quite lady like, but she probably will be more of a tom-boy than a lady. At 3 months, it is hard to tell these things just yet.

Advanced

Our little girl can roll both ways, hold her head up well and is getting to be a decent sleeper. She can go up to 7 or 8 hours if we are lucky. Usually it is 6, but that is better than it has been. She is very interested in the napkins and salt and pepper holder. She'll grab the napkins and shove them in her mouth. She likes toppling the holder too.

Toys have become more interesting to her. She loves the bouncy seat and swing, when she's in the mood. She also likes the toys with lights and sounds. When she's bored, she roll over, but can't quite figure out what to do next. She's not much of a tummy person yet.

We are going to try her on cereal soon. She's downing 4 ounce every 2 hours at night, so we are increasing her milk amount and going to see how she likes cereal. I'm sure the cats will appreciate her efforts to fling food.

She also loves shoving her towels and blankets in her mouth. I guess it is something good to suck on. The showers continue as she likes them better than a bath. When she's old enough, we can stick her and Ollie in the tub together, if he'll share. She's not growing up too fast, yet.

Show Me Trip

Chubby cheeks were seen by all this weekend. We made our way to Tyler's baptism in cape girardeau, mo. Tori slept most of the way there and back. She was really good making her first trip and didn't behave too differently until we got home. She freaked out her uncle frankie because she was fussing and he didn't know what to do with her. She did all the normal baby things for the weekend.

We went to the park on Saturday and Tori went down several slides with her dad. Not real sure if she was thrilled with it or not. She slept through the entire baptism, which surprised me with the loud organ. She slept most of the way home, which was a bad omen for this morning.

She slept fitfully from 9 to 3:30. We watched sports center and she practiced her rolling until about 4:45 when she fell asleep on her stomach with a binky in her mouth. She took a cat nap and she was up until 7 am when she fell asleep on the way to the sitters. Her brother was asleep as well, so I carried them both into the sitters. She was still asleep through Ollie's first crying fit. He woke her during the second. I hope they both get back on their schedules tonight. It'll be a better night for all if they do.

The Streak Ends

We had 3 nights of uninterrupted sleep from Miss Tori. That came to an end when the Tori alarm went off at 3 am this morning. She was scrunched in her seat and wet. A quick change, bottle and her mobile playing sent her back to la-la land. She did her usual sleep grunting, but was out like a light until it was time to get up for the day.

She's beginning to move way too much too soon. We lay her down and 2 seconds later, she's already rolled over. She's even learned to get her arms out from underneath herself. She still needs to stay in her car seat to sleep for awhile, she is too active and can't lift her head up or turn it very well while on her tummy. She prefers not to turn her head on some occasions and just sucks on the blanket she's laying on. By Christmas she'll be ready to move and groove with the best of them.

Time Out

The rolling and sitting must slow down! She doesn't like to lay down any more, she either wants to sit, stand or roll. This morning, she was laying on the counter top and decided to roll toward the edge. Needless to say, she isn't going to be left alone on top of things any longer.

When you are playing with her, she either wants to stand or sit on you. Forget being held. The only time she wants that is when she is being fed. There is also no relaxing in her car seat or swing. Her head is as far forward as she can hold it, for as long as she can hold it. While she's at it, she'll stuff fists and burp clothes in her mouth. If you are lucky, you get her pacifier to stay in, but you won't be that lucky. She'll be sitting by herself by Christmas. This spring, we are doomed.

Not Tootsie Roll, Tori Roll

2 major advancements in her early life. First, sleeping through the night twice (much to her parents delight). Second, rolling from front to back 1 month earlier than average. Here is the footage. Just click on the link and it'll launch the video. I only caught the last portion of the roll on video and from an odd angle, but it still was her first. It has been repeated several times since. She still seems to be working on getting her hand out from underneath her, but she'll get there. I guess that is an advantage of being so big, you get to do things earlier.

She also seems like she is going to be a very active child like her brother. Except, she seems to be a bit more active now than we remember Ollie being. Which probably means trouble for us when her mobility picks up. I'm just waiting to referee the first fight over a toy. I need to get my striped shirt cleaned.

From the Farm

Here are a couple of pictures that I didn't have a witty title or post to put them with. They are from the petting farm we went to a couple of weeks ago.





You can see the real interest in her eyes at what is happening to her. At least her brother enjoyed it!

New Toys

Tori got a new mobile for her crib this past weekend. Her brother had destroyed his hand-me-down mobile, so we bought her a new one. It has lights, sound and rotates fish around in a circle. She seems to like it most in the middle of the night when she is trying to go back to sleep from her bottle.



She seems to be going to sleep better with it on while feeding. I don't know why that is, but as long as it gets us more sleep, I'm all for it. She is still a very happy, healthy girl and that is all that we can ask for...for now.

Growing Girl

Tori is trying new things all the time. A few weeks ago, she tried the slide with her parents.






She seemed to love every minute of it. She has recently started enjoying the swing and the aforementioned bouncy seat. Sitting and standing are her next priority apparently. She constantly holds her head and neck up in her car seat. She stands with ease and enjoys it for a little while. Sitting starts once her fat little legs wear out. No matter what position she is in, she is a happy baby. She smiles and talks all the time, unless she is unhappy, which isn't often. She'll hold her head up for longer periods now and enjoys looking at our faces. That'll change when she gets older, but it'll be fun while it lasts.

5 AM

Big sleeper! This little one slept until 5 am!



Can you believe it? She probably went to bed at 9 pm and slept through until 5. I'm sure it is a 1 time deal, but it is better than it has been. Tresa and I had to check with each other in the morning to see if we had gotten up with her. The only person that had gotten up in the middle of the night was Ollie and that was to come in our room with us. If we can get him into his bed for a full night (which does happen) and Tori will sleep through the night, we can get back to some normalcy and less caffeine.

All About the Hair

As young as she is, she isn't into vanity yet. Just check out the 'do.


Side 'Do


Top Down 'Do

Someday she will be into make-up and dresses. One day a boy will come for a date, then he will meet an evil glare from her father and an older brother who will pummel him.

Big Girl

Tori has grown to a size where she can start to enjoy more things. She can see farther and likes new things. We have found that she likes the bouncy seat and swing.



She already has gotten more use out of the swing than Ollie ever did. Of course, the swing made his gastric worse, so he wasn't in it until he was almost too big to swing. The bouncy seat plays annoying music, vibrates and lights up, much to her delight. She will sit through several cycles of it playing for her before she gets tired.

She will also go after the napkin holder on our island when she gets the chance. In the mornings, we lay her down within eye sight of the holder. Before it is time to leave, she has turned to her side and scooted her butt closer to it. I'm hoping this means she will be a cleaner child, but there really isn't such a thing as a clean child is there?

Being Brought Up Right

We think we are doing a decent job of bringing up our children, but there is more than enough evidence to prove us wrong. For instance, the following picture could be used as damaging evidence of our ability to parent.


Little Oreo Lover

I'm sure there would be some court that would find against us if we told a judge the Tori liked the sound of the bag and really wasn't eating Oreo's. Do YOU see any chocolate on her? I didn't think so.

Sleeping Bird

Our little squirmy worm slept from 8 pm to 4:30 am! YEA! When I went into the room to feed her this morning, she looked similar to this:


She was ready for her food and ready for the day. At least until her first nap at 6:30 am. I think she and her brother switched places last night in the sleeping department. She slept well, he didn't, so we didn't. She also slept without the Zantac and without wiggling her way out of her seat. We are guessing she doesn't have any gastric at all, she's just a pain to burp at times. Hopefully the sleeping will continue tonight, but as it goes with babies, it is never the same 2 nights in a row.