Labor Day Weekend Pictures

Here's the pics from our weekend out at Crescent Bar, WA during Labor Day.

                        

                        

                        

                        

Bye-Bye Binkie

Today Esme's daycare celebrated the Chinese Mid - Autumn Festival (Chinese Full Moon Festival) and we got to stop by in the afternoon for mooncakes and tea.  Yum!  Faye said the other kids are much calmer when Esme's around and love watching her play instead of running around themselves.  Apparently there's a noticeable difference on Tuesdays when Esme's not there.  She also mentioned that sometimes Esme just isn't interested in food so it's good to know it's not just us.  She tried oatmeal this weekend and one day did great and the next day could care less. 

It's funny how sometimes it feels like nothing changes and then all of a sudden everything's changing.  Esme doesn't drool as much as she used to so she doesn't have to wear a bib with every outfit.  No teeth yet but still chomping on everything she can get in her mouth.  And I went to pick her up the other morning and she was sitting up in her crib.  Normally we'll sit her up and she can stay that way for a long time but she can't get up on her.  However, now she obviously can.  And this past weekend we were pacifier free!  She's never been super attached to it and I've often forgot it when we leave the house but it does help to calm her down if she's fussy.  Allen was working so it was just Esme and I having some girl time so I thought I'd see what she would do without it.  She didn't fuss for too long before she soothed herself, or found her thumb when she was tired, so I think that's the end of the binkie. 

 Too cool, cruising in her stroller

Food or No Food?

Esme's still trying all the foods we give to her but she's not all that interested for the most part.  She takes about a tablespoon if we're lucky and then she's done.  She'd rather bang on her tray or play with the spoon.  The other night I was eating on the floor while she army crawled around and she wasn't even going for my bowl of food.  Her list of foods now include poi, rice cereal, yellow squash, peas, avocado, and carrots.  Ultimately though, she just likes her momma's milk :)  We might take it easy for a bit on the food and see if she changes her mind in a bit. 

She's moving a lot more now and is perfecting her army crawl.  She pulls her weight on her right forearm and then shifts it to her left palm which helps guide her.  Along with a few rolls here and there she gets all over the place this way.  She's still working on getting up on all fours and rocking but then doesn't know what else to do.  She can also sit up for any length of time now.

My little bug!

 

The army crawl

Happy Labor Day

Esme got to experience the Columbia River for the Labor Day weekend but unfortunately mom and dad forgot the camera to document the occasion.  Allen may have gotten some on his phone though so we can post those later.  Anyways, Esme got to play with her friends Liberty and Natalie, both 14 months old and cute as can be.  She was by far the slowest of the 3 but she kept up as best as she could :)  And by next year the 3 girls will be running circles around all of us adults.  Esme resorted to her old ways when we took her out in the boat.  As soon as it took off down the river she just closed her eyes and went to sleep.  Too much stimulation I guess.  Once she realized it was safe and not so windy, she enjoyed looking around and being on the water.  While we were there she got to add avocado to her list of new foods but she's still trying to decide if she likes it or not.  Today is day 3 and she only gags once during a feeding instead of after every few bites.  I think it's just too thick for her to know what to do with it in her mouth and I have yet to thin it out.  Tomorrow we'll probably try carrots.      

Movin Right Along

Esme continues to move along.  Now she's getting up on all fours and rocking and then she gets back down and resorts to her old scoot to get across the floor.  She's also sitting up for longer and longer periods of time but hasn't mastered the graceful fall back to the floor yet.  As for food, she's still a big fan of the poi and she's also trying out squash and rice cereal.  The texture of the squash is still throwing her off and she doesn't know what to do with it in her mouth but she'll figure it out. 

                               
         I have no idea how this butterfly got on my bottom?                                            Look at me, look at me!


                               
                 Hanging with Grandpa                                                                            Mmmm, daddy's watch is so......salty :)

Poi Pounder

Turns out Esme's totally been ready for food but she's just been politely waiting for us to give it to her.  I tested her out with a spoonful of water earlier this week and she took it with no problems so we decided to try some poi.  Again, I was expecting a funny face but nothing.  She took a bite of the poi, swallowed and sat in her seat waiting for more.  She's a champ at this already :)

                    
                                                                             The many faces of Esme
                    
                                                                                Trying out the Poi

Esme eating for the first time

Flying Kites

We went to the Washington State International Kite Festival in Long Beach this past weekend.  It was a little bit of an adventure since it was a 3 hour drive to the coast and then when we got there it was nice and sunny but also VERY windy.  It wouldn't have been so bad if the sand wasn't also blowing around.  Thank goodness for Esme's big hat and sunglasses, we managed not to get any in her eyes.  Though it got to be a little much for her after awhile so she just went to sleep and then woke up when we left the beach.  I was hoping she could enjoy watching the kites in the sky a little more but oh well.  Allen attempted to fly a kite and that too was an adventure!

Esme now gets very excited when she sees a glass of water.  She starts flapping her arms and legs and sometimes she even starts talking.  She likes to take a few sips and then stick her tongue in the water and then blow bubbles.  Still no reaction to food or our silverware so she's still on the milk only.  And she's moving a ton more.  She can scoot herself across the room really quickly by pushing off with her feet and sliding on her belly but she's still not up on her knees crawling. 

The Gals are blown away by the kites!

                   
      Checking out the kite festival                                                         Allen and kite flying, not a good combination

                   

      Kites in formation... very cool                                                                 Kite Wars

 She's almost crawling

Happy Half Birthday Esme!

Today Esme's 6 months old.  Woohoo!  It's hard to believe that a half a year has already gone by.  She had her 6 month well child visit last week and she passed all her tests - tracking, talking, rolling over, sitting up, etc.  She got her 3 shots and barely made a wimper.  To make it easier on me this time I just decided to leave the room when the shots arrived :)  She's now 26.5 inches long and 17# 5.5oz which puts her in the 75th percentile for both height and weight.  She's still nursing like a champ so we haven't introduced solids yet but we'll probably do that in the next few weeks.  At most she takes water from our cups and is still trying to figure out how to work a straw.  But she doesn't go crazy when we're eating and not sharing with her.  Today she'll celebrate her half birthday by staying home with daddy.  Faye's Bilingual Daycare is closed this week for a summer break so we've got a different person watching her everyday.   

The Jumping Bean

Esme's still drooling a ton and trying to eat everything she can get her hands on but no teeth yet. She was on the floor in the family room this morning and I was in the kitchen when I heard her grunting and growling so I went over to see what she was doing. She'd worked her way over to my nursing stool and was chewing on the edge of it. Ouch! She finally took some water in a sippy cup today and also from a water bottle. We've tried offering to her before with no luck so maybe food isn't far behind...


                 
              I know I'm sooooooo cute!                                               Grrr...I just can't get enough of my hands!

                    
Mmmm...mommy's nursing stool feels so good on my gums :)                       Hungry caterpillars unite!

The Adventures of Esme Bean

Esme's been on 3 different trips in the past 3 weekends and she's such a great travel partner. First was the big trip to Hawaii, then last weekend we went on a 5 1/2 hour road trip to Lewiston, ID and then this weekend we went for a 2 1/2 hour road trip to Vancouver, WA. It's been a whirlwind but she's been great. At most, her sleep schedule is still a little off but we're working on getting it back to where it was before we went to Hawaii.

Her latest trick is pivoting on her tummy when she's down on the blanket. Instead of rolling over and inching towards things, she'll just pivot on her stomach to switch directions.


                 

                Swimming with Nana                                                                Piggie in the blanket


                          
                                                        Nice hat

                 
                   Chewing on the bib                                                         Esme meet moose, moose meet Esme

More chewing