El Chunche!

Laura put Deia on the cover of El Chunche!!!! So cute. Though she is not a local, she embodies the spirit of Jaco....by association :-) We feel honored! What's next, Vogue? Ay, I just realized that this could be the start of many bikini clad poses for her, let's all keep her away from the trucker mags!

6 Months!

April 28th, 2009, Deia is 6 months old!  What!!! When!!! How!!! Well, she definitely seems like she is half a year old, my how far we have all come! She is rolling back to front, front to back, side to side, upside down and backside up. She really never, ever stops moving. ....which is making it very difficult to change her diapers and her clothes. Deia is now eating rice cereal, carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash and zucchini. Only loves the squash, of course. She is blowing bubbles and spitting a bit, so out come sprays of bright orange and green and now I need to buy a "splat mat." She opens her mouth in anticipation and when she closes it she smiles and says, "mmmmmm." It's quite adorable how she is starting to mimic facial expressions and sounds now! She is trying so hard to make noise while moving her tongue in and out of her mouth and can't quite get the two to happen simultaneously. She has figured out and loves peekaboo! And she always acts so happily surprised. Deia sleeps in her crib now, but wakes too frequently. Tonight is actually the first night we will attempt some sleep training. Boo hoo, wish us luck...we are such suckers. But it's good for all of us. Deia still adores her daddy like no other and smiles so so much. That smile, makes us putty, total goo. Her cheeks are particularly rosy these days, her lips sloppy with yummy saliva and her eyes twinkly as ever. She melts us to the core and our love for her is boundless. Yes, we do love her more every day and every month becomes our favorite. I live to smell her sweet breath, to feel her little hands against my skin, to watch her babble and to hear her laugh when I kiss her soft underarms. 

Table For Dinner

Though there are no teeth in site and we all know everything still goes in her mouth, it's amazing to see what she gets in there sometimes. And with rabid conviction, Deia attacked the marble dinner table at the Pali House and gnawed the cold slab in front of her for a while. Makes sense I guess!

XOXO Daddy

Deia cannot get enough of her daddy. She has looks that she gives him that are not cast on anyone else. The apples in her cheeks never bundle so round and high as they do when she smiles for him. When he comes home from work and she hears his voice she stops everything, her breath gets frantic and we must go to him before her little neck gets tired from straining to find him! And Corey, well, he's just putty. Such a sucker. And we love that! 

Sleeping Beauty

Who knew you could just stare at a baby, well, forever! And who knew that the second they finally fall asleep, you look at their soft cheeks, their sweet lips, their growing eyelashes, their tiny nose, their relaxed hands and toes and all you really want is for them to wake up again so you can play and bother them! Of course, their sleep means you might get some "you time" in, but staring at this little person in all her cuteness...sometimes it's hard to resist waking her :-) 

Easter Bunny

She is becoming such a strong, easy person. By easy I just mean that she loves being out and surrounded by adults and children. You can sit her up and she'll just play and laugh and check everything out until you pick her up...or she topples over :-) This is what I call "The Easter Hat." We have a bigger size for next year too!

You Don't Have To Take Your Clothes Off....

Deia & Haven on Easter.  Haven is showin' a little belly and trying to get Deia naked too! The only reason this doesn't freak Corey out yet is because there is no boy involved! Deia is exactly 5.5 months here.

Mommy Movie

This is Deia and her mommy & me friend Sylvie @ the movies. Marisa and I are trying to determine if they are watching the scary part or the sex scene...both of which I suppose could be traumatizing for the lil ones. We don't let them look much, but just the little bit that they do allows us to actually follow a story line!

First Food!

She was surely ready for this, staring at our dinners and every bit going into our mouths. Her first bite was followed by a funny face and immediately grabbing for more! She couldn't get enough and definitely not fast enough. In fact, she wanted full control of the spoon and bowl. She is 23 weeks old, so 5 months and a week-ish. This was rice cereal, in a few days we graduate to some orange and yellow veggies. Mmmm, stands for Messy.

5 Months!

5 months and Deia is really becoming a person. I might have said that before, but she is blossoming, truly. 16.2 pounds, 26 inches long.  She is a tall baby so far! She has distinguishable expressions, the faces and sounds that tell all. The "squealy" hungry and tired whine, the excited shake and inhalation that means excitement, the inquisitive stare, the you're so goofy mommy/daddy nose crinkle, the who-the-heck-are-you furrowed brow, the tips of her mouth turned down for those she hasn't entirely figured out yet, the open mouth tongue hanging out smile that shows you she is having a ball, and that little dimple on her right apple that makes its appearance every single time she is happy. We now feel the love when she wraps her teeny, muscular arms around us. She slides her arm around yours or around your neck and you feel her small hands delicately caress (or desperately grab) your skin. She loves kisses and seems to be ticklish under her armpits and on her thighs. Her favorite song is the wheels on the bus and, for some reason, laughs when we say Topeka, Kansas. Rolling over has become a normal movement for her and she is now doing it in her sleep. So much for trying to keep her on her back! But she prefers sleeping on her side the most and somehow she still does that with both hands behind her head. Standard Deia. We think she is teething although there are no teeth in sight, but she is biting and gnawing everything. Still loves the exersaucer, has little tolerance for the Bumbo and loves to sit up and play in her bassinet. She rolls in a Maclaren umbrella stroller, which is often more convenient that the quinny now, but lacks those great shocks... She tests her vocal cord capabilities all day long, screaming happily and getting as loud as she can. She grunts and groans SO loud when she tries to poop that it's embarrassing, and she does it in public A LOT. It is time to start her on solids now, so that poop is going to take a turn for the worse and I am very afraid. After all this time, it's amazing to both of us how staring at her never gets old. Awake or asleep, she (and all children) is such a wonder. We feel so blessed to have such an easy, sweet, yummy baby, who clearly will not be a baby for long. 

Mommy & Me

We started our mommy and me class and it's so so cute to see these children size each other up and the way little people interact! Deia was taking it all in, smiling at everyone and loving the stimulus. 

The Future's So Bright...

...that I gotta wear shades! not quite the water baby yet, but dang she looks cute in her little beach get-up. AND, there is no protest when the hat and glasses go on. We'll see how long that lasts!

Costa Rica

Deia's first trip was to Costa Rica, one week before her 5 month birthday. She loved the sand, but was upset when we wouldn't let her eat it. She loved the heat, and took great naps to the sounds of the waves. She played in the pool, but still doesn't know how to splash and have fun in it yet. She traveled for many many hours to and from Arenal Volcano and was such a trooper! She hiked with us along the suspension bridges and had no idea she was looking at such a majestic volcano. She sat in a warm thermal pool at Tabacon Hot Springs while we enjoyed a beer and the surrounding jungle. She was a total gem on this vacation and has proven to us that we can take her anywhere. Also, she got to spend some quality time with her grandparents and aunt and having their extra, loving hands allowed us to really relax for the first time in a while. We are so lucky to have spent this time down there and with them and look forward to more and more traveling with this good little girl!

First Flight!

Deia got her wings on Continental on her way to Costa Rica. This was her first flight! She slept on both legs on the way back and was a fantastic traveler when awake on some of the return flight. She made friends will all the passengers around her and seemed to bother no one :-) Phew!

Yummy Toes

So she discovered that she could hold both feet at the same time, which is the happy baby pose in yoga. It didn't take her more than a day to realize that with two hands she can pull one foot up to her mouth and she can suck on her own toes. Endless hours of fun!

Daddy's Birthday

Deia proved that she needs to be a part of the action, a true party girl. No naps during daddy's surprise party. Oh no, full interaction with all the people here and a great ref for beer pong. She took a kitty nap amidst the noise of the gathering and then sat right up to watch everything that was happening. Rock on Deia!