On the Move

Apparently, I'm in for it. Frannie is at 6 1/2 months and she just pulled herself up to standing from sitting on the floor. Crawling? No thank you. This girl wants to walk. She's close to pulling herself to sitting from laying down too. Although, if she's laying her new favorite thing to so is roll over multiple times or get to her belly and then do a downward dog kind of yoga move (she's hoping to stand up) and then lay like she's going to crawl...and she does- she just goes backward.

She met her Aunt Beth and Uncle Glenn this weekend and had them wrapped around her finger at first sight. However both they and my mom made multiple comments referring to how I'm "going to have my hands full" and "you are in for it" delivered in a gleeful tone and accompanied with giggles. These comments came due to Frannie's need to move and near constant busy-ness. 

Here are some pics showing how Frannie keeps so busy ...... 

Strong

Our nanny told me the other day that in 3 years of working in the infant room at a infant-5 year old school, Frannie is one of the strongest kids she's seen. Everyone has commented on how strong she is but that really solidified it for me. 

I was also told by a woman standing in line at a store that Frannie was clearly an extrovert, and would have lots to say as she got older.

I'd agree with both of these assessments. Frannie is a strong, beautiful, smiley, smart, and outgoing baby. In fact, recently more than one person has commented that she's the happiest baby they've seen. How did I get so lucky? 

Here are some new pics. She's thinking she'd like to skip crawling and move straight to walking. Her teeth HAVE to be coming soon because she is teething like crazy. She's eating real food 2-3 times a day and is getting the hang of a sippy cup. At her 6 month appointment, she only gained 6 ounces and grew 1/2 an inch but her head stayed in the 96th percentile. She must have a crazy metabolism cause she eats quite a bit but still stays skinny. Definitely like her dad on that one.

Work

The time has finally come. I have to go back to work. I have so enjoyed the last five months of being off and getting to spend time with Frannie. And now it's over :(

Last week I went back to work. Thankfully I have wonderful people to be with Frannie while I'm gone. The nanny started on Wednesday and Brian is able to be with her all day Monday plus Wednesday and Friday mornings. I'm really lucky. Leaving her wasn't too hard knowing she's in such good hands. However it turns out the hard part is that I now only see her for a couple hours before she goes to bed. I guess I have even more reason now to look forward to the weekend. She is just so much fun right now. Crawling is in the bear future I think. Her new move is sitting up, then leaning forward like she wants to crawl but gets stuck. She did inch her way up the bed this morning. 

Popped

I was wrong. Frannie has had a "blister"on her lower lip since she was like two months old. It looked like a nursing blister at first but then it got a bit bigger and after a little Internet research (love that instant information) I determined that she had a mucosele. This is a ruptured salivary gland. We took her to a ENT (after her doctor tried to pop it and it immediately refilled) who confirmed my diagnosis. He also said that we should just leave it alone and it will probably go away. I was skeptical.

However, last Sunday as we were sitting at the house with me, Brian, mom, and Joyce, Frannie was happily chewing on an apple. My mom says, "Her mouth is bleeding!" and sure enough, there is kind of a stream of blood coming out of her mouth. She was still happily gnawing the apple and didn't act like anything was wrong. As I looked, I could see the blister had popped on its own (it had developed a little callous on top of it a few days earlier). Since that time, it had drastically reduced in size and may just go away on its own. Guess that's why I'm not a doctor. 

Two other bits of info.... She is sitting up on her own now and she gained a whole pound and a half last month! Real food must be just what she needed. And her head got bigger (hard to believe) which I know because her cute red sun hat doesn't fit anymore! :)

5 months

This is so cliche (and probably annoying) but I truly can't believe how much Frannie changes every day. She is sitting up for longer and longer periods on her own....today she played with Meemaw's gel pens for close to five minutes sitting on her own. She is eating more "real" food each day. So far bananas are the fave, followed by sweet potatoes and avocados. Apples and pears are still only so so. The downside to this new food is that with all that fiber, there has been some gut issues. This evening we went for a walk by the lake at dad's to pick blackberries (Frannie was in the front pack) and I felt something wet on my thigh. I figured her diaper leaked....and true, it did but not pee. That explained her tummyache earlier. Yuck.

Today was also fun because it was her first trip to Wilderness Walk. We met some friends there and Frannie fed a goat some corn. Pretty cute. Can't wait to continue the tradition of going there as she gets older. I remember going there with mom and gramma when I was little.

Changes

I can actually post about the house since there has been a substantial change that I could photograph. It is sided (except for where the three season porch is going) and insulation has been blown in. That means drywall goes in next. Please don't ask how much longer because I just don't know. Instead let's just be happy about the forward progress.

And of course little miss sunshine is changing every day. Frannie is enjoying hanging out with friends and family-she even got to go on a girls shopping trip which included Ikea and Mall of America! She did great...I think she's a born shopper. Or at least a people watcher. Whatever the case, we are so lucky to have such a good baby. In the last three days, I've heard at least three people say, "She is such a happy baby!"  True dat.

Grandma?

Kate, Frannie, and I were in Goodwill the other day. Kate was trying things on so Frannie and I were walking around looking at stuff. Frannie garners lots of attention and this one elderly woman engages us in conversation. She comments on how cute Frannie is, asks how old she is, and then I thought we were done. I moved on a couple racks over when suddenly (loudly) she asks, "Are you the baby's grandma?"

Are you f-ing kidding me? She could have asked if I was pregnant again, and I would have understood that. She could have said I looked tired, and I would have understood that. But her GRANDMA?!?!!

And of course this was the day before my birthday. Nice.

So on a happier note, here are some pics of Frannie doing some new stuff - which I swear something new happens daily. She's close to sitting on her own and is starting to really like "real" food.