:::Knock on wood::: Before you read this post, please find a piece of wood, & join me. Reese has been sleeping better. I can't believe it. As I posted a couple weeks ago, our pediatrician insisted that Reese did not need to be eating throughout the night. So, I have stopped feeding her (well, I have only fed her in the middle of the night twice in 2 weeks, as opposed to 3x/night). Matt has been helping to go in & comfort her when she wakes, & it has been going really well. The first night, she woke up at her initial wake up time of 10:30. I KNOW that there is no way that she is actually hungry at that time. It's just not possible. So, Matt went up & comforted her to get her back to sleep. It took about 45 minutes, & she finally gave in. She woke up again at 3:30 (a usual feeding time). We went in & gave her a pacifier, & she went right back to sleep without an argument. For the next week, she continued to sleep better & better. She stopped fighting when she woke up in the middle of the night, & she would go back to sleep as soon as we gave her a pacifier. There have even been a couple of nights that she has slept through the night, 7-7. It's like a whole new world, & we are SO hopeful that this will continue!

Unfortunately, Reese has been sick AGAIN this week. Her nose is really congested & runny. She has been EXTREMELY fussy. She doesn't want to be put down, & she whines & fusses all day long. We have had a little hiccup with the night sleeping since this started, but we're hoping that it's only because she isn't feeling well. Even with this bump in the road, her sleep is still better than it was before, so I'm not complaining (well, I am a little, but not as much). I finally took her to the pediatrician on Thursday to verify that she didn't have an ear infection, or something else that was causing her discomfort (I feel like we live there!). Luckily, everything checked out fine, but I really hope this fussiness stops soon! I keep checking to see if she is getting a tooth (because I'm extremely excited for her to get her first tooth), but I don't see anything. So, more than likely, she will get over this cold, & then she will start teething, & we will have a whole new reason for fussiness & interrupted sleep! Such is life, right?

Reese's appointment with the doctor to evaluate her head is on Thursday. I'll be sure to post with the details!

As usual, Reese is growing & changing like crazy. Her hair was super cute, & especially curly last weekend. She got all dolled up to go to Matt's grandma's birthday party, complete with shoes, which she rarely wears. We couldn't keep them out of her mouth.

A rare picture of baby & mama, since I'm usually the one behind the camera.

She has been doing really well eating more & more solids. She is eating 3 solid meals a day now. We were SO excited to introduce her to fruit, because we figured she would love the sweetness. As it turns out, she does not. Matt rushed home from work last Saturday to be here in time to see Reese eat bananas for the first time, & she didn't like them at all! She kept making faces & trying to spit them out. She did the same thing with apples, & they upset her tummy. :( I guess we have a vegetable lover! I know that this next picture looks like an adorable smile, and I don't want to ruin it for you, but this is actually one of her "poop faces". She is trying her hardest to get something moving. Poor girl. (Please don't ever tell her that I posted a picture of her pooping on the internet.)

We gave her an apple in her mesh feeder:

She wasn't thrilled, & decided she would rather chew on the handle.

Reese's reading skills are really improving.

Pure adorableness:
Yeah, this is another poop face. This one brought success.
Wearing the tutu that my cousin Jordan gave her for Christmas:

She found it rather tasty.


Deep in thought...

Reese is now doing a full army crawl. She has been dragging her entire body around with her arms & elbows. In the last couple of days, she has started adding in some leg motion. She spends a lot of time rocking on her hands & knees. I have a feeling this girl is going to take off very soon. When she does, I guarantee that it will be to get to the cat or the dog. They are the two main things that motivate her to move.




She is also.....STANDING!!!! Seriously, this is going WAY too fast. She wants to stand & play ALL THE TIME. It was as if she figured out that she could do it overnight, & now she isn't content unless she's showing off this new skill. We are always right there to catch her in case she falls, but I am amazed at how good her balance is already.




Seriously, one hand???? Who told her she was big enough to do this?????