Happy New Year

It has been a busy month at the Bubb household and December flew by in the blink of an eye!  So here's an update on what's been going on in the Hubertus metro area and beyond!!  Amita has been eating more and has been getting more adventurous in trying things.  She is really starting to love feeding herself solids, which makes meal time much slower and messier!  But we're enjoying seeing her try new things and expand her list of foods she enjoys.  Today oatmeal was not a winner, but turkey was.

Here's Amita playing her favorite game... Where's Amita??  She will start this almost anywhere - in her high chair, on the changing table, playing on the floor, in the car... you get the idea!  She just loves it!!

And the answer to, "Where's Amita?"  THERE SHE IS!!!!!

Amita has started standing up when holding on to things.  She hasn't started pulling herself up on her own yet, but she enjoys getting a good leg workout whenever we help her onto her feet.  Azzy was also interested in this game.  I had to remind him about the time he stepped a little too far out from the loft...  that step was a real doozy!

 We took Amita to a live nativity at a church near our house in December.  She loved watching the animals and all the children dressed as angels.  We were worried she wouldn't have a good time because it was so close to her bed time, but she was a champ and didn't make a peep for the whole production.

My future engineer showing off her Tech pride... and quite a bit of tummy!  That is a welcome sight to see for us.  She has really started eating well and growing along with it.  My arms haven't adjusted to her new higher weight yet!

Cousin Piper showing off her little chompers.

Mama and Amita showing off a Christmas outfit.  Who can resist a holiday tu-tu?

At the Bubb family Christmas in Plymouth, WI.

Hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma Bubb.

Opening her first Christmas gifts.

Relaxing with Daddy and a bottle before taking a long winter's nap.

Inspecting Grandpa Morehouse in the UP.  She stayed almost completely still for several minutes as she watched him on the ground.  Then she was happy to play with him until bedtime.

Grandma Morehouse and Piper swinging.  It's VERY hard to capture this baby when she's still!!

And speaking of still... somehow, my brother managed to get her to lie still for just one picture.  But before the preview had even disappeared from my camera, she had broken free of his "snuggles" and she was climbing over the top of him to chase something else!

Amita loves Auntie Sandra and she showed her love by showering (literally!) her with kisses.

Showing off a new hat made by none other than Grandma Morehouse!

Cousin Piper with her new monkey jammies.  

While up north at my parents house for Christmas we took the girls sledding.  As you can see, it was a thrill for Piper.

Piper even helped by hanging on to Amita so she wouldn't fall out of the sled.

Amita wasn't quite as sure about the whole thing.  She never cried really, but she also never really smiled about it.  Good thing Piper smiled enough for both girls.

All six of us taking a break from sledding.

Piper opening one of her Christmas gifts - they were some really cool chicks inside eggs.

Apparently, they were so cool that Amita tried to take them all!!  (Note their very cute coordinated Christmas outfits provided by Aunt Sandra!  The girls were a hit at church on Christmas morning, to say the least!).

Modeling the hats that Grandma Morehouse made for everyone.  What a hoot!

Santa Claus is coming to town...

It seems like there is always something new and exciting happening in our lives these days and this weekend was no exception.  Santa was at our local elementary school on Saturday, so we took Amita to meet him.  She did surprisingly well - no crying, no beard pulling - she was very calm as she sat on his lap and took in the scene.  I hope she remembered to tell him what she wants for Christmas this year!

Here she is checking out the big guy up close.

I also finally finished Amita's Christmas stocking this weekend (after 10pm on Sunday night!).  It was a challenging knitting project and I'm pretty proud that I was not only able to finish it myself, but that it actually turned out too!  And the pattern I had was similar to the stocking that my grandmother knit me 30+ years ago, so it was really fun to make one like that for Amita too.

Here's the front view of her stocking... I embellished it with a little silver bling!

Amita posing in her special Santa outfit.  I'm thinking she'll get to wear this most of the winter... who wouldn't want to be in a snuggly fleece jumper this time of year?!?!?!

Here's Amita showing that she's SOOOO BIG and modeling her new cat sweater.

We also managed to install a baby gate on Sunday.  We had Amita and our two furry boys "helping" us install it.  The way Amita was getting around, it was pretty obvious this was a necessary enhancement to our dining room.  Now the stairs are off limits to her!

Amita modeling an animal print hat.  She's keeping it toasty and oh-so-cute in the cold!!

Cats and Babies Like the Same Toys

It is becoming ever more apparent to us that cats and babies pretty much like the same toys.  I feel like we didn't need to go out and get anything special for Amita... her favorite things are the cat toys we already had laying around.  And if there's one thing that babies and cats love... it's boxes!  Amita and the furry boys "helped" us install her new car seat by playing in the box that it came in.  I think the biggest challenge for the cats was that Amita got the best spot in the box and they were stuck waiting their turn (don't worry, she eventually took a nap and they had tons of fun in box too!).

Amita guarding her new territory.  Azrael didn't want to share the space that badly!

Both cats waiting anxiously for their turn inside the box!

And in landscaping news... we spent two of our days off over Thanksgiving finishing our big yard project out front.  Our friend Paul was kind enough to let us pick rocks off of his family farm to help us finish the giant washes that were dug into our front yard this fall.  It took two trunk-fulls in the Rogue to get the base laid down on Saturday.

Then we spent Sunday (while Amita was napping) making several trips with our wheelbarrow to a new home site in our subdivision that had a substantial rock pile.  Below is the finished product.  It looks even more amazing close up, so keep your eyes peeled next time you visit... assuming it isn't covered in snow by then!

Pumpkin Pie

Our little pumpkin is as sweet as pie and just as irresistible!  This has been a better week and a half for Amita - she has been eating more and gaining weight (as judged unscientifically by how much heavier she feels in our arms!).  We are counting our blessings that we have such a healthy, happy little girl!

And in case our first Thanksgiving as a family wasn't enough, Amita also chose to start crawling today!  A toy got away from her and she finally managed to push herself forward to go after it.  I guess we need to get some gates...  And the best part of all of it was that she did it while we were video chatting with my bro, sis-in-law and niece!  So they all got to see her first crawl live with us!!

Hope your turkey day is as filled with joy and blessings as ours!  Here's a pictorial of what we've been doing for the past few weeks.

Fun with gourds (note all the bottom teeth!)

Playing a new game... Where's Azzy?  He was trying to hide and Amita was enjoying finding him.  I'm not sure he's thrilled with this game...

Look ma... no hands!

Napping after a drive to go meet new baby Linus... that cute little guy sure made Amita feel heavier!!

Big game today... who to cheer for?  The right answer is the Lions, of course!

Hanging out with daddy.  I guess her days with him are #1.

Amita the conductor!  She got a hold of Azzy's favorite toy and did a lot of swinging it around.  Azrael didn't know if he should be mad she stole his toy or if he should play with her.  In the end, he just sat close and stared!

Modeling a vest (for possibly the last time!).  It was very hard to zip over her newly rounded tummy!!

Helping with the laundry.  How come I don't have that much fun when I'm doing it?!?!?!

She finished all her food and apparently was hungry for more!

Scattering all her toys - definitely one of her favorite games!

Hat Season

This weekend has been mixed for us.  On Friday Amita went to her 10 month doctor's appointment to check on her weight.  She has gained more than a pound in the past month and was exactly 15 lbs!  We were relieved to get that news and we're hoping that we don't have to take her in again until her 12 month check up.  

However, since Thursday, Amita has been eating less and less and today, she flat out refused to eat any formula.  So we're worried not only that we're going to lose all of our progress over the past month, but also that we'll need to get her back to the doctor if she doesn't start eating again.  

But even with the highs and lows of this weekend, we still got to enjoy special times with Amita.  It turns out that this season's hottest accessory is hats!  It was cool and breezy, so I dug out all the winter hats and Amita was willing to model some for us this weekend.  She is able to remove them when she chooses, so (as with most things!) Amita decides when she will and will not be wearing a hat.

Happy Teething

Amita has been teething a lot lately... but with her amber teething necklace, she's still sleeping through the night.  We can deal with tons of drool during the day as a trade off!!  The above picture of Amita was her looking cute in her little outfit for less than an hour before it required changing (not just from drool...).  We ended up having four wardrobe changes on Saturday! Good thing she makes everything look cute.

And speaking of cute - here she is modeling a pair of funny glasses she got from one of her daycare teachers for Halloween.

Hanging out with Grandma Bubb - Amita enjoyed her first Fakesgiving this weekend!  

How big is Amita???  Sooooo big!!!!

The master chef before he fries the turkey.