Baby Steps

Cecilia took her first tentative steps last night. Of course it happened while Mommy was at the store and Nanaw was busy elsewhere. In front of her Pawpaw, Daddy, and Uncle Elliott, Cecilia took two steps from Daddy to her play tray. The feet hasn't been repeated for Mommy or Nanaw, and it isn't on video, but I think we can expect more of these steps in the future. She doesn't crawl or sit up on her own, but it looks like she can walk!

Clapping

I don't have a video yet, but Cecilia started clapping on her own today! We're working on patty-cake, and she "pattied" all by herself! What a big girl. She's growing SO fast!

9 Month Milestone

Cecilia turned 9 months old today. Can you believe it? She can sit on her own, stand and walk while holding on to people/things, wave, and is almost saying some simple words. She is also cute as a bug and smiley and a joy. She loves being with the people she loves, and can't stand being alone too long. She loves performing for approval and craves attention. She refuses to eat solids, but will sometimes deign to taste things from our plate. She's sweet, charming, beautiful, and the best blessing we've ever had. Happy 9 Months Cecilia!

We also had Cecilia's 9 month pictures taken today. She charmed the photographer so much that we did several different poses. She smiled and laughed through most of it, and she particularly like some flowers that the photographer brought out. In face, she loved the flowers so much that when we took them away for the next shots she got upset. She didn't smile as well after that, although she's such a charmer there were some great pictures of her. The link below is to the website of the pictures. Click the link then use the customer name "Hannah Swoboda." We ordered a few and will show them off as soon as we get them.

9 Month Pictures

It was also Ash Wednesday today, and Cecilia got her first ashes. She did NOT like it! She gets a blessing at communion every week, so I didn't think it would be a big deal, but not today! She was also noisy and fussy all during mass. It may have been because we went to the 5:30 mass, which is almost the end of her day. In any case, she ended up in the cry room and HATED both the ashes and communion. Her fear of strangers is really kicking into high gear. So, her ashes didn't quite last until the end of mass, so we didn't get a picture. Nevertheless, it was a milestone in and of itself, and she is now experiencing her first lenten season.

Valentine's Day 2010

This Valentine's Day we were so blessed with good wishes and love! It started with a box from Oma with goodies in it! We got chocolates, a card, and Celia got a stuffed monkey and a new outfit. What a great start to the weekend!

Ben woke Celia and I up this morning with a dozen red roses. After we got up, I gave him his gift which was homemade chocolate covered strawberries. We exchanged cards and chocolate (yummm!) and he gave me the board game Settlers of Catan! Am I spoiled or what! Stuart and Kathy also gave us chocolates and Celia got a teddy bear and a new book (which she loves).

Tonight we'll be going out for dinner and a movie. What a great day!

Nap With Dad

Ben accidentally put her down for a nap tonight. He was holding her and singing and dancing with her, and she clung to him and drifted off. Sweet baby! I added a blanket and took some pictures.

Bottom Tooth

So, we tried to get a picture of her bottom tooth, but she kept getting her tongue in the way. This is the best we could do. Stubborn girl does NOT like people looking in her mouth! We're pretty sure she's working on another one, but we're not 100% sure which one.

Bath Tub

Some of Cecilia's prime play time these days is in the bath tub. She really loves it, so I got a few pictures. Remember, I don't always post all the pictures to the blog, so be sure to check out the facebook links for updates.

Laughing At Paw-paw

Stuart and Kathy were playing with Cecilia and dish soap bubbles after dinner tonight. Stuart really had her going! Ben got some of the belly laughs on video. So cute!

Update on Pregnancy #2

It was suggested that I make sure I blog about this pregnancy, as well as the adorable Cecilia. So, since this will be the only baby book our children have (an intentional decision), here we go.

I have been much sicker with this baby. The morning sickness has been bad enough that I got SeaBands accupressure bands for my wrists. They actually really work! I also got ginger ale and ginger root gum, which helped a little. Lemon drop candy DID NOT work as suggested. Crackers were also not usually helpful when I was feeling really bad. My morning coffee became a thing of the past, as did a lot of foods.

As week 9 has come, the symptoms have improved. I still get queasy, but it is nothing like it was for the last 2 weeks. I can drink coffee again! So, the questions is, does that mean this is a boy or twins? People keep talking about twins, and I just want to say that I am not going to consider it. Three babies under the age of 2 is too horrendous to think about. Plus, as I've said before, I truly believe this will be a girl. What I think is that this baby will give me more pregnancy symptoms but it will be one girl with a more even temperment then our precious Cecilia. You know, do things like breastfeed, play on her own for 5 or more minutes, and eat solids at an appropriate time. Although, another Cecilia would be wonderful too (we do love her more than we can say). We'll just have to wait and see!

Waving

She's been gradually getting better at waving, and during the Super Bowl this year, she really started to do well. We've gotten a couple of videos (uploading on YouTube right now) that show her new skill. She got distracted during the first video because she had to fill her britches! All day today she's been waving at everyone, waving at the walls, waving at anything! What a smart baby!

To the Fireplace!

Cecilia walked her music table to the fireplace all by herself! It was a long trek, and she enjoyed exploring it. It's behind glass, so she couldn't get in it.

Standing On Her Own

On Sunday, it was only a few seconds, but Cecilia stood by herself and she didn't even fall. She was playing in her toy basket (laundry basket) holding onto the side and picking up toys with her left hand. She would pick up a toy, wave it around over her head, then put it back in the basket. She also loves to do the "so big" game and put both hands over her head. In the midst of picking up toys, she raised both hands over her head doing "so big" while standing by the toy box. It was a brief few seconds, then she went right back to playing in her toys as if nothing had happened. In the meantime, Kathy and I were watching her and saying "Did you see that?" She won't sit up on her own or crawl, but she has now stood on her own.

Ben is a Published Author

We got word late last week that Ben's paper entitled, "Assessing Concentration Dependence of FCC Metal Alloy Diffusion Coefficients Using Kinetic Monte Carlo" will be published in the Journal of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion in the near future. He'll be lead author, too! It was a lot of work, and the final acceptance is hard-earned. Congratulations to Ben!

Pooh-Bear

This is Pooh-Bear. It was Ben's when he was a little boy. Kathy has saved it all these years, and she brought it out recently so that Cecilia could play with it too. She loves Pooh-Bear and gives him lots of kisses. It turns out that Ben has missed Pooh-Bear all of these years and is a little jealous. While Cecilia was napping, Ben took Pooh-Bear back. Mommy got it back for Cecilia later.

Sledding

Cape got some good snow, so we took Cecilia sledding before it melted. She enjoyed putting on her hat, but she did not enjoy the actual sledding or anything to do with snow. After two rides down the short part of the hill, she watched while Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Elliott took a few turns.






Unfortunately, we're getting older and Ben got a cramp half-way up the hill. He shook it off, though, and after some laughter on my part, we resumed sledding.

Daddy's Hat

Cecilia was playing with Daddy's hat and wearing it. She really loves it!

Undressing

Cecilia has decided that she does not want her left arm in her pajamas! We don't know why, but she keeps taking her arm out of her pajama shirt. Ben quotes Joe Becker, "We aren't raising a stripper." She was even doing it at night. We'd go to bed and one arm would be out of her shirt. We'd put it back in, and she take it out again - without waking up. Smart baby!

Hamper

Cecilia loves playing in the hamper. We think it's because she can lean on the sides without having to hold on so she can play with both hands while standing. We've learned that if she's really cranky, this will generally cheer her up!

Cecilia and Paw-Paw

Cecilia playing with Kathy (Na-naw)! She really loves playing with her grandparents, as well as being upside-down!Stuart (Paw-paw) can always make Cecilia laugh, unless she's very angry. He put on quite a show after dinner one night, and I got a few pictures. He's just making funny noises and playing with his hand. She loved it though! I also got a couple pictures of one of Cecilia's favorite places to stand. There's not much room, though, and a steep drop-off, so she doesn't get to do it often.