stranger anxiety and a new friend

Dalia is in the thick of stranger anxiety now. (Lisa, I remember when Violet was going through this) Anyway, she's a mama's girl right now (and Daddy's girl too). Our dear friend Scott came to town for just a day. This is as close and he could get for the whole first day without Dalia bursting into tears and be her charming self, of course.


This is the next day:

checking him out

getting the okay from mom and dad, and...MUNCH

Priceless

Honestly, folks, this could go on forever. I think making her laugh is our new favorite pastime.

where's mine?

Dalia is very interested in food and beverages now. She grabs at anything we're eating or drinking, including beer bottles. We decided to give her her own bottle last night to share in the libation activity. Here's Dalia and Dad enjoying a cold one in the kitchen. She took the bottle and knew exactly what to do. Amazing!

our little sitter

These are a couple of my favorite shots of her sitting. She's a little big for laying on the boppy while breastfeeding now, but it works great as a cushion for her falls (I think that's what it's made for).

Visit from Pops

We get lots of visits from Pops but rarely document them. Dalia is so interactive with others now, especially those she knows and recognizes. We had a great time hanging out. Doesn't she look so grown up? Here's a video too. You can hear her responding to me. Thanks Pops! We love you.

the world from an upright position

Dalia is five months old today! Besides my boobs, her favorite thing is now doing anything in the upright position. She can sit up for a few seconds unassisted, tho just like rolling over, we've not been able to well-document it. Also, after five months we've finally given up on the swing to amuse our active daughter. So we bought her this crazy thing called a rainforest jumperoo, which I think is the most stimulating thing she's seen to date. This photo was taken just after she got in it for the first time. I'm sure we'll have some crazy video of this soon. Anyway, the sun is shining for Dalia's birthday and we are thrilled that she is thriving and growing.

our valentine

We went out on our first date without Dalia for Valentine's Day. Decided to do lunch instead of dinner, which was great. Dalia got to hang out with Grammy. She did so well. When we got home, the two were snuggling up with a book on the couch. She apparently enthusiastically took a bottle, too. Here's to a successful milestone and encouragement for mom and dad to go out more often! Thanks Grammy and Dalia! Here she is in her new coat (thanks, Amy) and with Grammy.

Happy to see you

This is Dalia looking at the computer with Dad again. You all might think she gets excited because she sees the camera, but it's really because she sees mom behind it. Really, no one told us how great it feels to have your kid be so happy to see you walk in the room. It's like being a movie star. Anyway, this is Dalia in full form. You can pretend she's smiling at you if you want. In between smiles she is trying out her bubble blowing, though can't quite get enough slobber going. Enjoy.

It's official

Though we don't have it on video as we were too mesmerized to get the camera, Dalia can now successfully roll over from her back to her tummy and then back again. She seemed to purposefully pitch her toy just far enough out of reach that she really had to arch and turn to get it, effortlessly flipping her over. It's quite a remarkable achievement to watch given how we take such simple movement for granted.

Also, the sun came out this weekend - I'm not kidding. Here are a couple from our sun filled morning.

bathtime

Dalia had one of her famous blowouts last night, necessitating a bath. She's too wiggly for the kitchen counter now so we've moved into the big bath. Here she is after in her cozy towel - so clean, empty and happy.

friends

Elaine and Eleanor came over for lunch the other day. We had such a good time playing. Dalia was so into Eleanor and loved being held by sweet Elaine. Before they came over we were just having fun with Dalia working on standing, sitting and just being the happiest baby ever. These are the good days...

a day in the life

okay, so this is kind of a silly video. it glimpses a lot of what she is doing now - talking and loving it when we make her talking vibrate with our fingers, trying to make bubbles, noticing everything and wanting to grab it and eat it, particularly things that mom and dad use like the camera (she's starting to get what the phone is all about, too).

For Aunt Robin

Those overalls you got her fit now so we thought we'd take a few photos for you to say thanks. They were perfect for the snowy weather. Who knew we'd get such great shots.

A new family portrait

It's been a while since we had a family photo. Juli officially has mom hunch. She's got to work on that.

Dinner out

Mom took Dalia out for dinner with the girls. She did pretty well, considering it was her first time in a restaurant at night and it just happened to be during fussy happy hour. Thank goodness we live in such a family friendly town. Everyone in the restaurant just thought she was the cutest thing. It's a good thing too, cuz we were sat smack in the middle of the restaurant. Thanks for the love Barbara and Nancy.

Time with the Philips

Dalia and Mom got to hang out with Julie, Julie's mom Cindy and Leo on Friday. I think this was really the first time Dalia interacted with Leo, who, by the way, is really good at smiling for the camera.