yum yum yum

it's official, Alessia looooves food. And loves to let you know she loves it. She insists on "singing" while you feed her. Tonight she practiced her "eeee" and "aaayyy" sounds while she chowed down on some butternut squash. Cute, but makes it difficult to feed her. Today she also had avocado for the first time. My mom said she made a funny face at first, but still ate it. So far, she hasn't rejected anything. Soon to come: oatmeal (we've been eating brown rice cereal), peas, green beans, and carrots. I have to get some recipes for some yummy combos for her as well. Any suggestions?

Tomorrow I'm playing hookie from work so I can spend the whole day with her and show her off in her costume. We're driving all over creation to make the rounds to all the "important" people, then back home to do some trick-or-treating with Danielle, Eliza and Pete. Can't wait!

long time no post

So sorry I haven't been posting - I know some of you family peeps (especially those that have moved to another country for the next few months) check up for info on Alessia, but I have been exhausted!!! Actually I don't think that word even does it justice...I am waaaay beyond exhausted at this point. But let's not dwell. Here are some Alessia updates:
She's having another bout of teething this past week and was CRANKY at the end of the weekend/beginning of the week. The drooly monster has returned. But today she was back to her smiles and giggles, so we forgive her.
She's been "talking" up a storm. I think she's going to be just like her mamma - a big mouth! Her new sounds are funny gurgles and sounds she makes while sucking air in through her mouth. She gets a kick out of it. The gurgly sounds probably feel funny. And she looks at you like "you know what I mean?" I just immitate her or talk back and we both crack up.
Saturday night we finally made the big move: Alessia slept in her crib in her own room. She loved it, but I had a hard time. I kept going in there to check on her. She was sleeping so soundly, I couldn't tell if she was breathing and startled her a few times when I checked. She's still in there. I guess we all sleep better like that, although I do miss having her sleep snuggled up next to me in the bed sometimes. She still wakes up at least twice during the night, but Mark has been a big help and going to get her and bring her to me to eat, then I put her back.
Lately, she's been seriously eyeing our food, drooling like crazy when she watches us eat and has tried to grab food from my hands on occasion. But our dr. says it's best to wait until 6 months before introducing any food, so she's got a little over a month to go. Poor baby! You should see her when she watches her friend Eliza eat.

Um...I think that's it for now. Sorry there's no pics. We finally set up a new office and switched computers, so I haven't moved my files yet or had time to load any new pics on this comp. I promise to have some soon.
Now it's off to bed with my sorry ass so I'm not a complete zombie at back-to-school night tomorrow (my second one this week - oh the pleasures of teaching both 7th and 8th grade).

ups and downs

It has been such a crazy week! I haven't gotten a chance to sit down and write any posts because Alessia has been a little fussy this week. So here are the "downs" we've had: Apparently, she's teething, so besides the fussiness, she's been biting and chewing on me during feedings. Can we say "ouch"?!? That has also been affecting her sleeping, both during the day and at night. I guess she's just uncomfortable. So bedtime has been taking an average of 2 hours to finally get her down, where we were finally able to just put her down while she was sleepy and she'd put herself to sleep. Oh well, what are you going to do? We just go with the flow. It just freaks me out when she starts screaming because it's so not like her.

"Ups": she laughed a real laugh for the first time yesterday. So cute!! Until now, she would just open her mouth real wide and smile with a little squeak sometimes, but this was a real giggle. She has also found her voice, so she just babbles and squeaks and squeals all day long. Adorable! The other day, she just made my heart melt. While I was feeding her, she pulled off and looked straight into my eyes while she gently stroked my face and held her hand up to my mouth for kisses. She's been doing that a lot lately, just feeling my face while she eats and stares at me. I just love it and always look forward to feeding times (well except for when she bites me). Yesterday Alessia and I went to the supermarket by ourselves for the first time. It may sound like no big deal, but it was for me! My husband has been doing all the food shopping since she's been born or all 3 of us go. I can't see over the cart if I put her carseat on it. But I was all out of breakfast foods, and Mark was coming home late. So I put her in my ringsling (from Heavenly Hold, and went about my shopping. She didn't cry, and we came out with everything we needed. Yay for babywearing!! It makes life soooo much easier.

Um...let's see, what else? Oh yea, we got the pictures from the christening. So cute, except that she won't smile when she sees a camera. I think we got one with her smiling, and that's because it was taken from the side so she was distracted. But I think she still came out adorable. Here are some of my faves:These are her godparents, Carmela and Joe.