Photo Shoot - Little Peanut

Last week, Adah and I had a photo shoot. She looked particularly cute that day (says her unbiased mother) and we got a new hat that she was trying on. Enjoy the pictures!

"Mama, is it nap time yet? I'm tired of picture taking."

Give Peas a Chance

This week we gave Adah her first real solid food ... rice cereal. She has been watching us eat for the past few weeks and has seemed interested in and amused by it. After trying it, though, the jury is still out on whether she likes it or not. She ends up eating it, but there isn't a lot of noticeable swallowing. Her mouth crinkles up when we give it to her and she gets a confused look on her face, followed by a smile. Occasionally, some actually gets down her throat (probably due more to gravity than anything else). Below are some pictures from her first attempts.

Adah in anticipation of her first meal
(She has on her "Give Peas A Chance" outfit just for the occasion.)

"Wait a minute ... you guys said this was good."

"Really? Are you kidding me? This is what all the fuss is about?"

The next day ... Adah learning to open her mouth

Adah Turns Five Months

Adah turned five months old this weekend. She has had a busy month of playing. She still loves to read stories, but she also loves a good game of peek-a-boo, listening to music, watching others eat (crunchy foods are especially funny), and telling "stories" with the many new sounds she has figured out how to make (the pterodactyl-like scream was our least favorite). It's so awesome to watch her little brain work as she figures out new things.

Apparently, putting her foot in her mouth is soooo last month. She has now moved on to throwing her legs in the air and slamming them down on the floor, crib mattress, or whatever else happens to be beneath her. This is especially funny in the morning when I hear THUMP THUMP THUMP coming from her room ... she's just letting me know that she's awake and ready to play. Adah has also figured out how to play peek-a-boo with me by herself. I had been throwing a light rag over her head and then pulling it off saying "There's Adah". One day last week she grabbed the rag herself, put it over her head, then pulled it off and looked at me with a big grin. She was quite proud of herself, as was I. Adah has also started showing some interest in sitting up. She does what Chris and I call her baby crunches. From a lying position, she picks her feet up at a 45 degree angle, then lifts her head and shoulders off the ground with her arms stretched out toward her feet. We have started sitting her up and helping her learn to balance, but she usually falls over in a few seconds. Maybe next month!

Here are some of her favorite activities of the last month and a few pictures in Easter outfits...

Adah likes looking at herself in the mirror.

Adah also like waking up from naps.
(and THUMP THUMP THUMPing her feet on the mattress)

Snuggling with Daddy

Here's Adah in her pre-Easter day outfit.
(Notice the bunnies on her feet.)

Here's Adah in her Easter outfit.

The Rozell household has been quite busy the last month. Chris has had two out-of-town trips (one to Atlanta for business at GA Tech and one to a conference at Princeton) and three grant submission deadlines. Unfortunately, sleep has been elusive for him lately. Adah and I have been holding down the fort while he was out of commission for a while. Chris and I are also starting to think more seriously about our move to Atlanta, which is approaching quickly. We have been looking at houses, hoping to buy something in the near future. California has been fun, but we now feel as though we are on the downward slope of our time here.

Kara's Birthday

I celebrated my 32nd birthday this week. To celebrate, Chris treated me to several things: 1) a morning of rest by taking care of Adah's morning feeding and making me breakfast, 2) a date night out on the town without Adah, and 3) a morning brunch with friends and their children on the weekend. What treats! Here are some pictures from the week...

Daddy says it's Mama's Birthday,
so I put on my Birthday Suit!

Mama with her favorite girl

Adah put on her cute Winnie the Pooh dress for the party

Playing with Daddy .... a series

Napping Makes Me Happy

We bought Adah a new shirt a few weeks ago to celebrate her ability to start taking regular, long naps (after a 1.5 mo. hiatus of the activity). If you can't read what her shirt says, it says "Napping Makes Me Happy". A little power of suggestions is fine, right!?! It makes Mama happy as well! She's now sleeping by herself in her crib 2 times per day for 1.5 - 3 hours at a time (and an optional third nap which is much shorter). It is wonderful to have the time to recharge and get a few things done for myself (like shower, eat, make a few phone calls, etc). She does wake up happy and is ready to get back to playing! What joy!

Adah laughing

Sometime in January I coughed near Adah and she burst out into a laughing fit. We don't know why that was funny, but we were rolling on the ground laughing ourselves. Since then, she will occasionally laugh at sneezes, animal sounds, or us laughing. A few weeks ago we tried to use our webcam to capture a few seconds of one of her laughing fits for you all to enjoy.