q - how old is annabel now?a - well, she was born on september 9, 2009 at 5:29 am, so right now she is 4 months, 2 weeks, 15 hours and 27 minutes old.
q - why did you name her annabel helen?
a - the short answer is that we really liked the name annabel and helen is a close family friend who we recently lost to cancer. you can read the whole story by clicking here.
q - is she still rolling over?
a - not so much. dang. she can roll pretty well from side to side but thats where she gets stuck. it appears that the problem is her arms. she isnt really so sure what to do with them so they just go where they want which is often right in the way. eventually gravity will win and she'll get over that hump. but as of now she's at the mercy of her parents when she's had enough tummy time.
q - how big is she now?
a - at her last check up she weighed 14 lbs 5 oz and was 25 inches long. those numbers put her in the 70th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height. and amazingly she still looks quite dainty.
q - is she still sleeping through the night?
a - yes (knock on wood). her sleep schedule is one that makes her parents very happy. every night after her 900pm bottle we swaddle her, rock her, kiss her, and tuck her in for the night. most nights she's ready and goes to sleep pretty quickly. other nights she's not quite as ready but usually doesn't resist for too long. she's getting really good at "putting herself to sleep" also. by that i mean that she's not out when we're done rocking but lays in her bed until she falls asleep. some of those times she's quiet but some nights she sings herself to sleep. :)
q - is she eating solids yet?a - umm...no. today was her first attempt at eating solid foods (if you can call cereal paste on a spoon a solid food) and her second attempt will probably not be tomorrow. she did fairly well but it seems like she needs a few more days to figure out a) what her tongue is for and b) that she needs to open her mouth before the spoon gets to it. but once she's ready we're confident that she'll make a dang good eater.
q - does she like the puppies?
a - i guess so. not real sure that she has an opinion of them yet. she watches them and doesn't freak out when they lick her. so i guess that means that she likes them. we'll see.
q - do the puppies like her?
a - i guess so. they were uber-interested in her when she first came home from the hospital but their interest has kind of waned over the past four months. they don't jump up and run over every time she squeaks anymore and this morning she was sitting on the floor with me and they just laid there watching. we're hoping that once annabel starts pulling and poking they still like her the same. in fact, i think that i'm going to start riding harvey around the house now to get him used to it.
q - is she laughing?
a - laughing is a tricky thing. she does a lot more squealing than laughing at this time. every now and then when the planets align and the tides are in the right quadrant (...) we get a giggle. very cute. and we know that she'll get it one day so we're happy with what we can get.
q - how is her eye doing?
a - good. her follow up appointment with the eye doctor went better than we could have expected. short story is that the scar does not look like it will affect her vision and early indications are that she will not need glasses. you can read the long version by clicking here.
q - has she made any friends yet?
a - i think so. you know kids...every day i ask how her day was and she says "fine." jeepers. how the heck and i supposed to know anything? but seriously, she has hung out with aidan, my coworkers son, a few times but they've both just sat and stared the times we've gone over. and i don't think that its because they're so awestruck with the other. her other friend is grace who lives a few houses down. grace is 6 months old now so they are a little more fun together. their first slumber party (bedtime upstairs while their mommies and daddies played cards) was broken up since they just wanted to stay up and talk to each other. girls...
q - does she travel well?
a - better than i do really. thanksgiving she went on her first road trip and made it something like 22 hours in the car (round trip) with nary a peep. we also took a mini-trip last week up to marion ohio which is about an hour from our house. she was either staring out the back window or sleeping the whole time. who could ask for anything more? and she's good on a plane too. when we flew to houston over christmas, the ladies in front of us turned around as we were deboarding and said, "we had no idea there was a baby on the plane." attagirl annabel.
q - what color are her eyes?
a - something in between brown, hazel and green. and the left is slightly different than the right. go figure.
q - what color is her hair?
a - today its kind of blonde. tomorrow it may be brown again. not real sure yet. the jury is still out but it may not matter since it will probably change once we figure something out. so right now its either a dark blonde or a blondy brown. but it is starting to get pretty long in some spots. she is still showing off her wild side by sporting the "fuzz hawk" as i like to call it. keep it up annabel.
q - does she have any favorite songs? nursery rhymes?
a - depends on the time of the day. when its time to have fun she likes the "wheels on the bus" and recently "bingo" (or any song that we just make up on the spot). when its bedtime its definitely either the "irish lullaby" (you know, tura lura lura) or "amazing grace." cheryl and i each could probably sing the three verses of amazing grace in our sleep we've done it so many times. just wish i could learn the other verses. cheryl has also recently begun teaching her barney songs and her favorite recording artist is definitely leann rimes. as far as nursery rhymes, not so much. we read her berenstein bears books all the time but i'm not sure that she's picked a favorite yet.
q - does she like getting a bath?
a - much more than she used to. she was a screamer every time she touched the water for the first few months but she's really calmed down quite a bit recently. she also outgrew her first tub so we've moved onto a bigger model. it seems to be working though. next step i think is the actual bathtub. whoa!
q - has she chosen a college yet?
a - annabel has not chosen a college yet but early signs point to texas a&m. i mean, she's always wearing maroon onesies and hats and bibs with "howdy" and "whoop" on them, but then we caught her the other day trying on some buckeye gear. thankfully we've got some time to decide. :)
so that's the run down of the faq's that we get. if you have any other questions you are wondering about, post a comment or email one of us. we'd love to hear what you're interested in knowing.
1 comment:
This comment is for Andrew (Annabel - don't feel left out. I know that the blog is mostly for you, so you'll get your fair share of comments and kudos over the next 60 years...): sometimes I think you are weird, brother boy, but today you are freaking hysterical! Laughed my tail off - particularly like the ones about riding harvey and Annabel's new friends ;)
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