Sippy cups & more...

A couple weeks ago, I started giving Ayla an empty sippy cup to play with. I read that this way, she can practice holding it and kind of figure out what it's all about. This week, I decided to put a little bit of water in it to see what she would do. (Is it okay to give her water at this age, moms?) With a little help, she can get a few sips in. I've been giving it to her after she eats dinner...who doesn't need something to drink after pureed chicken noodle? Mostly, she just likes to grab it with one hand and shake it all over the place so she can listen to the water sloshing around in there. I think she knows that the spout goes in her mouth though...every now and then she'll gnaw on it and since it's a soft silicone spout, it's pretty easy for her to get a drink out of it.

She spends a lot more time on her belly now and is able to last longer in this position before freaking out. Lately, she has been lifting her legs a little bit and also pushing with her feet in an attempt to reach a toy that's slightly out of her reach. It looks like the beginnings of an army crawl. :) I don't think it's going to happen anytime really soon, but with some practice, she'll get there. She's still working on sitting up by herself...she can go a little longer before tipping over and she has figured out that she can prop herself up with one arm.

I forgot to mention in my last post that she already had to have her first haircut. We had to tame the mullet. The hair at the nape of her neck was pretty long when she was born...six months later, there were a couple of chunks that were close to two inches long. Mullets are not cool...not even baby ones. :) Another option could have been braiding it into a rat tail...also not cool. So, my dad trimmed it for her and now we can see her cute little neck. Remember a while back I mentioned that Miss Ayla may have a bit of an attitude? Well, she does and it's officially here to stay. She now sticks her chin into her chest and grunts when she's not exactly thrilled with the current situation--getting her face wiped off, being in her carseat, getting dressed, or just being plain bored. Sigh.And just a random funny about Kody. Everyday, he gets two scoops of food...some days, he doesn't eat his morning scoop so come dinnertime, I just put the second scoop right on top. When he finally decides to eat, he does this...everytime:Right down the middle...what dog does this?! Most dogs would just scarf down the whole thing, but not our Kody-bear. I always joke that he must count the pieces as he eats so he knows when he's halfway done. Goofy boy. Dean and I finally watched "Marley & Me" last week (we both read the book). After we bawled our eyes out, we couldn't give Kody enough hugs...I think he was a bit weirded out. :) We've been making an effort to pay more attention to him because ever since Ayla was born, he's been pushed down on the family totem pole. He deserves as much love as he unconditionally gives to us.