flashback to 6 months

aiyana learned that she could pull on the toy with her toes! she stuck her foot in the handle and pulled until it played its music.

one of her last nights in mommy and daddy's room. she graduated to her crib and her own room. it was a tough move, but she liked having room to spread out and roll around.

aiyana and her friends

6-month visit

Tanglewood Park in mid-april

this was aiyana's 2nd ride in a swing. it wasn't nearly as scary as the 1st time (at 3-months)

first ride in the excersaucer...
if only you could here the excitement in her voice. aiyana makes this frustrated grunt sound, usually when she's trying to remove something that is permanently attached such as her thumb, and here, the red roof on the excersaucer.

"mom! we have got to get one of these at home!"

a few fabulous moments from 6-month-old aiyana... somehow we didn't get around to posting these...

new dress and new toys. what a day.

come and get me, daddy!

mama... do i really have to eat that?
but, mama.... it was in the dirt!

while aiyana and missy played in the dirt, daddy and wally boxed in the livingroom

i'm ready for my close-up

doing the wave

aiyana waved hello to mommy! we suspected that her fingers have been trying to imitate our waving, but now we are certain.

mario carried aiyana into the kitchen and she was just so excited to see her mommy!

lessons in object permanence

i.e. peek-a-boo

i can't see you...you can't see me!

sometimes aiyana squints her eyes tightly and sometimes she closes them halfway. she thinks it's a good time. i think she's displaying classic curiosity. she knows what her world looks like with eyes wide open, so she's playing with the partial view between her eyelids. (at least that's what mommy read in a book...)

so....... my baby likes to put things over her face. she has since birth. that's all i can say about that.

copied from "Baby Center"... "At this age, a simple game of peek-a-boo can absolutely fascinate your baby. She's starting to understand object permanence (things don't go away forever when they leave her sight), and she loves games where people or things appear and disappear."

peek-a-boo has always been fun for aiyana. during her 6th month, she stretched her neck to follow daddy out of the room. for several weeks now, aiyana has searched for whatever toy she has dropped...or the tv remote control that mommy put behind her... or the cat that walked past...

we can no longer peek in her room while she's falling asleep because she cranes her neck back to look at the door. (although even the slightest squeak of the door jolts her awake.) she even hears our door across the hall open at 4am. i know she hears because her cry grows impatient..

"i know you're out there! come and get me!," she says.


wow. she's pretty.

tastebuds in training

aiyana ala avocado

"i will not suffer fish breath again! "

aiyana has expanded her menu with green beans, mango, and steel cut oats. (not all together, of course). she likes them all. she's especially fond of the oats (and who doesn't love mango). these two mixed well together for a yummy breakfast. this was the first morning baby and mommy shared the exact same breakfast. mommy's milk was skim, however.

maybe she's hungrier, or maybe she really does prefer full "people" food, rather than the dehydrated baby cereals. either way, she's learning to like the good stuff. though when she discovers chocolate she might wonder why mommy has been holding out on her. we see her eying our cheesecake...
and no, auntie em, chocolate pudding is not in the near future.

what's on the menu?

here's the list of yummy eats that aiyana has enjoyed so far...

veggies: sweet potatoes, butternut squash, peas, potatoes
fruit: apples, pears, bananas, avocado, peaches, prunes
meats: chicken, salmon

grains: brown rice, oatmeal

two tooths!

this morning daddy spied the 2nd tiny toothie! aiyana's left bottom tooth broke through during the night! didn't seem to disrupt her dreams, however.

if you click on the pictures to enlarge them, you should be able to get a closer look!

serious slapping skills

our genius baby learned how to close the doors on the pop-up toy....and then she just couldn't stop slapping at it! it was as if her arms were out of her control...must...slap...doors..

the best part was watching her double check each door to make sure it was fully closed.
each door got a second slap (just to be safe).

first, she closes door #3 (the orange door in the middle), then moves on to #2, and then usually follows with #1.
pesky door #4 (the red door) just won't stay closed. aiyana dislikes door #4.

princess picasso

focus...focus...

aiyana was surprisingly impressed by the fingerpainting experience. she dove right in and devoured her work (literally).
she was not happy when mommy took the paints away and continued to slap her squishy hands at her many projects sprawled across the table.

grandma's gingham girl

aiyana's grandma got this sweet dress while aiyana was still in mommy's tummy. we love this dress with its little ladybugs.

chicken and sweet potato casserole

i spy, with my little eye...

well, not so much with my eye but with my finger. baby's cutting her first tooth! she's not so generous about opening up for a looksie, but she'll happily accept a finger to chew on. the new tooth is on the lower right. we'll share a picture of the toothy grin as soon as it's visible!

prune power!