Alana 7 months

Alana is now 7 months old!  The past month has passed by so quickly.  I remember thinking of the day she would be half a year old, and now that day has come and gone!

There's been many new developments in the past month.  She rolls over now - still only onto her stomach but can't roll back.  She loves to sing to herself.  She can sit up on her own without support.  She pulls herself to a stand with help.  She has been eating baby food for the last couple of weeks.  It was a strange transition.  We have been trying to feed her, and she kept spitting everything out.  Then one day, she just devoured her meal and she has been eating ever since.  So far, she seems to like everything.  Peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, and apples.  She can pretty much finish the whole jar of food - which is about 2 ounces. Oh, and she also likes to hold her own bottle now.

First Sharks game

Alana went to her first Sharks game on September 24th, 2010.  We weren't sure how it was going to go.  We knew it would be loud, so we decided to buy baby ear muffs to protect her ears.  We purchased the Peltor Jr. ear muffs, and they fit her perfectly!  I tested them out, and they work really good. 

At the game, Alana was just as happy as can be.  The noise inside the Pavilion was insane!  There were loud whistles and screams.  With the ear muffs on, Alana was not phased.  The Sharks even scored 4 times that night, and every time we held our breathes while the loud whistle blew.  She didn't seem bothered by it at all.  At one point, she actually fell asleep and slept through the goal and everything!  It was a very fun night.  Jeff tried to get her a hockey stick, but she was sleeping so he couldn't bring her to the glass at the end of the night.

Alana Rolls Over!

Today, Alana rolled over for the very first time!  I left her in her crib in the morning before I went to work.  Jeff said he found her like this -  

Apparently, she rolled over all by herself!  Of course, Jeff had to test it out and she continued to roll over every time he put her on her back.  So she can only roll over from back to front, but not front to back yet.  Here's a video :)

Alana starts Daycare

Alana's first day of daycare was last Monday.  All the worries were for nothing.  She is perfectly happy there!  She seems to really enjoy the other babies and the caretakers are very good.  They do a lot of play time and socialization with the other babies.  They have this great picture of her finger painting and she looks like she is having so much fun!  My only thing is I think they feed her too often.  Another plus to daycare, she seems to be "cured" of her stranger anxiety... for now anyways.  I almost feel like she forgot all about me - but I know she hasn't.  I guess maybe I'm just jealous because I feel like her daycare teacher gets to see her more than I do now.

Tomorrow they are celebrating Grandparents Day.  Both sets of grandparents plan to be there.

Here is Alana getting ready to go to school.

Alana on tummy time

Alana's first time painting

 

Alana on a buggy ride

Las Vegas Nationals Tournament 2010

Last week, Alana flew for the very first time!  We were not sure what to expect at the airport.  The first challenging part was getting through the security gate.  I remembered that we have to have Alana in our arms to go through the metal detector, but did not know that we were supposed to pass the stroller and the carseat through the x-ray machine.  Yes, we were "one of those" people who were taking forever and we did hold up the line with our ignorance.  But at least now we know to have the least amount of stuff in the stroller.

We checked in and got a great seat at the front of the plane.  The lady that sat in our row was very nice and understanding.  She said not to worry if Alana cried.  As the plane started to take off, Jeff got the bottle of formula ready.  It was about time for Alana to eat, so we fed her on the way up.  She did not seem at all bothered by the pressure.  In fact, she was perfectly happy!  She smiled a lot and loved looking at the clouds out the window.  She was especially interested in the screw on the arm of the seat.  Eventually, she fell asleep in my arms.  Since she was asleep on the descent, we did not have to worry about the pressure on her ears.  It was a very smooth flight!

Vegas was really really hot.  I believe it ranged from 100-110 degrees while we were there.  Despite the heat, we decided to go shopping at the Vegas Premium Outlets.  It was my first time to the outlets, and I have to say I was quite impressed by the variety of stores. 

For the rest of the trip, we spent most of our team going back and forth between Circus Circus and the Riviera hotel to watch Jeff's team play.  The team did quite well, winning $1000 and getting 129th place.  That's pretty good :)  The team had a great time too.  I was even able to play in a couple of mini tournaments, placing 3rd place in one of them :)  Overall, a very fun Vegas trip.

Unfortunately, I did catch a bug while I was there.  My throat was killing me and I came down with a bad flu.  I was so nervous about flying back, alone with Alana, sick.  To top it off, I was supposed to start work on Thursday, and I was really sick.  I hated to do it, but I had to call in sick on my first day back to work.

Oh, almost forgot to mention!  Alana had been working on it for a while, but during the trip she was finally able to put the pacifier in her mouth all by herself!  =)

 

Oh, and since a lot of people were pinching her cheeks, we got her this 

Stranger Danger!

Alana officially hates strangers.  She was so good with people for a while.  Now, she protests when anyone holds her but me or Jeff.  She's learned to scream, and she now uses that to express herself whenever there's something she doesn't like.  It's quite easy to tell when she is angry about something.

We have started to feed her rice cereal.  She's been acting more hungry lately, even after she drinks all the milk that I have.  So, we decided it was time.  At first, she was very curious about the feeling of it.  Then, she started to push the food out with her tongue.  I think she is still getting used to the feeling of swallowing food.

Carlos & Somady's Wedding

This past weekend was Carlos & Somady's wedding.  The wedding turned out to be so much fun and it was a beautiful day.  My sister Somady had so many pretty outfits and the colors were just amazing. 

Unfortunately, Alana was having a rough time.  She would not let anyone hold her except me or Jeff.  I was able to pass her on to some friends and family but she was not happy for very long.  After the wedding, she was so tired and grumpy the next day.  But she looked very cute :)  It was a long weekend for everyone. 

Alana speaks!

Alana has finally started to coo regularly.  She only knows how to make the "aaaah" sound right now.  So everything is "aaaaah" or "agaaaah" or "abaaaaa".  She doesn't get very loud when she does it... which makes me suspect that she is still a little shy about it. 

After many attempts, I was finally able to get it on video!

Also... some recent pictures

Alana also got her ears pierced on Friday, July 23.  The doctor asked me to mark on her ears where I wanted the piercing.  The doctor told me it was going to hurt... so I braced myself.  Alana's look was shock and surprise!  Then she cried and cried.  Poor baby.. but it only hurt that day.  The next day it seemed to be painfree.

 

Alana 4 Months

Alana is now 4 months old.  She is doing so many new things!  She can put her hands together now.  She can also grab things now and can pull them to her mouth.  It seems like she has to taste everything.  She's also developed the habit of pulling on my hair every time I hold her.

Alana can laugh out loud now, but only sometimes.  She has only really laughed 3-4 times now.  I wish I can figure out the secret to her tickle spot, but it just doesn't work all the time. 

We had her Baptism this past weekend.  She was so unbelievably good the whole time!  During the hour long mass, she did not cry once.  Not even when the Priest poured the holy water over her head.  She even let Father Jerry hold her and he held her throughout the prayer.  She was just chillin' in his arms!  Everyone was so amazed at how good she was.  Jeff and I were very proud :)

Yesterday, she got on her knees for the first time by herself!  The only thing is, she has no upper body strength - she doesn't know what to do with her arms yet.  I would post the video, but she's nakey in it.

Alana had her 4 month check up and her shots recently.  She is now 25 inches tall - that's the 75th percentile for height.  She weighs 15 lbs. 13 oz - 90th percentile.  So, she is doing really well and the doctor is happy.  

She is finally sleeping for 8 hours at night!  It feels good to sleep again.

Alana - 3.5 months

Alana has been doing so many new things lately.  She recently found her hands.  She is fascinated by them!  She puts her hands in a fist and stares at them.  Sometimes, she chews on them.  If she feels nice, she offers me some of her slobbery hand.  She tries to suck on her thumb, but she doesn't know how to do that yet.

She has also started to talk a lot more now.  She does funny sounds and long sentences.  She laughs at us when we imitate her.  Well, she would laugh if she knew how to.

Lately, she has also been trying to sit up.  When we prop her on our laps, she uses her stomach muscles and sits herself up.  She's not stable yet though, and she flops forward once she gets up too far.

We finally started to make her sleep in her crib.  She sleeps in her crib fine so far, but I still end up having to let her sleep with us when it gets to 3 or 4 in the morning and she won't go back to sleep.

July 4th 2010

Today was the fourth of July.  It was a great weekend so far, with cousins Ryan & Sean and family visiting us in Lake Tahoe.

We decided to take Alana to see the Fourth of July Fireworks show at the Lake.  It was a great show!  We thought she would be scared by the loud sounds, but she was just amazed with the lights from the fireworks.  She loved it so much!  Next year, we plan to go down to the beach and watch from there.

Tonight, Alana also hit a milestone.  She laughed out loud for the first time!  It was a real giggle =)  We were so happy and it was so cute to hear her laughing.

Alana - 3 Months Old

Alana is now 3 months old!  It is hard to believe how fast she has grown.  She weighs about 15 lbs. now and she has grown a little taller.  We will get the official numbers at her next check up next month.  Everyone who sees her is amazed at how big she is - and they are especially attracted to her cheeks.

Alana is now starting to smile when she sees you.  She loves smiling at everyone and if you are lucky, she will squeal in delight.  She also tries to have conversations with you too when she is in a good mood.  She has been sleeping about 5 hours at night.  I can get her to skip 1 feeding at night, but she still likes her 3am breakfast.  She also loves when we read books to her - mostly because of the pictures in the books.  She still smiles and talks to the ceiling sometimes.

She has been more observant of the world around her, so I have been bringing her out more often.  She loves meeting new people, and doesn't mind when they hold her.  She loves shopping with me :)

She is now wearing size 3-6 months, but is starting to grow out of some of her clothes already and transitioning to 6-9 months.  I suspect she will be in size 3 diapers shortly.   The pictures below are from 2 months old...