Happy Halloween!

What a scary ghost!

MawMaw and PawPaw got this swing for me and put it up on their back porch. I loved it!

Me, dad, and Adora at Laura's house.

Yep, she loves the wind blowing in her hair!

Adora was a good little camper when we went the evening of the 18th at Lake Texoma.

We hiked with Adora around the campground the next day.

Surprise!

So, Jake surprised me with a visit to Baton Rouge a couple of weeks ago! It was soooo fun. We went to the So You Think You Can Dance tour and just hung out with my friends and family. What a good time! We then took Adora camping this past weekend. It was a whole lot of fun. The little sweetie loves being outside, and she slept just as poorly as normal between mom and dad on the air mattress in the tent. I haven't uploaded pictures from this stuff yet but will as soon as I can.

Here are some pictures from last month or earlier this month--can't remember.

I'm Captain Adora Laine Hostetler! This hat stayed on her head only briefly before she ate it.

Sometimes, Mommy puts my hair in a ponytail like this but it doesn't stay in very long!

I like to wear my giraffe robe after a luxurious bath.

This is at the petting zoo during Falls Fest. The event itself was kind of a disappointment, but hey, it got us out of the house and was something to do for a couple of hours! The petting zoo was the best part. There were all kinds of animals--deer, calves, sheep, etc. There were even some kangaroos, but they were in a separate part. I think they were resting and probably came out after we left.

This is Adora painting that beautiful masterpiece from the last blog entry. I'm planning on framing it--just one thing on my long list of to-dos.

In other news, two nights ago, Adora only woke up twice at night! It was so wonderful. She went to sleep at about 8:15 or 8:30 and woke up at about 3:00 and again at about 5:30. The next night, however, she woke up a million times. Tonight, she's already woken up once.

First Bath (3/08)

I know this is old, but I just saw it for the first time at Laura's house. It's a sweet video of my little girl's first non-sponge bath. Look how skinny she is compared to now!

Famous artwork!

Look at this artwork! See if you can guess who the artist is.

That's right! It's Adora Laine Hostetler's first painting! First artwork, actually. We went to Falls Fest today and visited the painting booth. Jake named this painting "Harvest Sunset." He said Adora told him that was her name for the painting.

It's been awhile

Ok, so it's been awhile since I've updated. Sorry! Adora is doing really well. She isn't spitting up as much anymore, which is great. She loves trying new foods, and she is eating a ton at each of her two meals. She is getting better at picking up finger foods and getting them to her mouth. She got a new tooth this week, so she has her bottom front two now :) Sooo cute. They are razor sharp, though! I'm trying to teach her not to bite.



Adora still isn't sleeping well, but I am trying some new techniques to try to get her to sleep a little better. Since Jake went cross country last weekend, I haven't had a full night's sleep in almost two weeks, so I am really looking forward to tonight!

Adora is moving all over the place now. She's not crawling (she can't get up onto her hands and knees by herself yet, even), but she rolls everywhere and occasionally scoots a little bit, too. I put her down on the blanket to play while I worked in the kitchen, and she somehow ended up underneath the coffee table!

Adora had a friend come over for a playdate last week. Adalyn is about three weeks younger than Adora. They had a lot of fun sharing toys, and Adora feasted on Adalyn's foot :)

I've always thought Adora was probably ticklish, but when she was a tiny baby, she didn't really know how to react to tickling. Now, though, she sometimes will laugh and laugh and laugh! I discovered a new tickle spot today--just above her knees. She has a cute laugh sometimes, like she is trying to hold it in but it escapes anyway.

Well, back to the debate!

6-month checkup!

Adora had her 6-month checkup yesterday. She was about 6 1/2-months-old. She weighed 17 lbs. 3 oz. (below the 75% percentile). She was 27.5 in. tall (the 90% percentile!). Her head circumference was 17 in. (above the 50th percentile). She is doing really well! Dr. Bryant said her acid reflux should go away by her 9-month birthday. He said that 25% of babies still wake up at night at nine months and wasn't concerned by the amount that Adora wakes up.

Jake is going cross country this weekend, so I might have more time to post some new pictures of Adora tomorrow! It has been a busy week here. I planned and executed a baby shower for a friend who is moving in a couple of weeks, went to two playgroups, took Adora for her checkup, had lunch with a friend, and slept very little :)

Wash it good!

We went to the Wichita Mountains last Saturday and had a blast! Adora had her first dip in a lake. She also took a nap in her pack & play outside for an hour and 40 minutes! We visited with Dan & Shawna, friends who we met when we were in Wichita Falls the first time. They are moving in a couple of weeks.

Adora had ham for the first time today (from the jar). It had an odd texture, but it didn't taste too bad. And, unlike lots of jarred food, it actually smelled like it should. She ate the whole jar, along with some turkey dinner and a little banana. (She eats chunks! She can mash them in her gums--& tooth, I guess.) Mmmmm.

Either I'm hilarious or Adora just thinks I have a really bad voice--you decide!

This post was typed by Adora

'./'/'
bv 7 nn

First tooth!

Here is a picture of Adora from a couple of days ago. I know I'm biased, but I don't know how I had such a beautiful girl!

Adora got her first tooth today! It is a sharp little one on the bottom front (left side). She has been pretty fussy and trying to bite everything. I put her teethers in the fridge, and she likes to bite the ones that she can easily hold. I've been giving her Tylenol, teething tablets, and I did Oragel once (she was very interested in the taste). I need to try the Oragel more to see if it works, but the Tylenol definitely works. I'm not too sure about the teething tablets, but they are harmless, so I give them to her anyway. Besides, she likes to eat them.

Last night was a rough night--probably worse due to the teething. I read about a technique today to get your baby to skip a feeding at night, so I might try it out in the next couple of nights when Adora is feeling better about her tooth. The Baby Whisperer says that instead of feeding your baby at night, pick her up, hold her, and give her a pacifier and she should stay awake about the length of time that she usually eats and then go back to sleep. The next night, she should stay awake less time. In three nights (which means at least nine for Adora if it works at all!), the baby will be sleeping through that feeding. I'm so exhausted that I'll do nearly anything that might work, so we'll have to see how it goes.

Jake and I worked on cleaning out the garage tonight. It has a bunch of unpacked boxes from our move and is a general mess. Now that the sailboat is in there along with the car, it's a little more dire of a situation. We got a lot done before the mosquitoes came out and I went inside. Jake's still out there plugging away!

Well, even though I took four naps today, I am still reeeally tired, so I am going to go read a little bit and then go to bed!

This is from awhile back when Adora couldn't roll over yet, but she is trying sooo hard!

Barbara Ann

Adora is growing so much each day. She turned six months yesterday. She has a tooth that is soooo close to breaking through. She was pretty fussy today, but I know she'll feel better when it gets through. She wants to crawl really badly--when she's on her stomach and can't reach a toy that's in front of her, she will get upset because she can't move to get it! She also gets upset sometimes because she wants to push herself up to sit but can't figure out how to do it yet.

Adora gets really messy when she eats, so I usually strip her down. This is one of her experiences eating barley. She had a turkey dinner tonight! Turkey, carrots, green beans, and barley. I tried it (jarred food)--it was kind of tasteless. I make a lot of her food but haven't learned how to do the meat, and I'm not sure I have the time anyway. Baby food is pretty healthy from the jar, though--it is just the food and sometimes water is added. I just like to make it when I can, and it doesn't hurt that it's significantly less expensive!

We went to Oklahoma City over Labor Day weekend. First, actually, we went to Enid to visit Steve. It was a short visit, but we had a really good time. We went to his favorite restaurant, IHOP :) Jake and Steve stayed up really late talking, but I had to go to bed around 11:00 or so. The next day, we went to the Yandles' house in OKC. We went to the OKC zoo Sunday, which was so fun! Adora did ok--she slept through a lot of it and didn't take notice of too many animals, but that's alright :)

This is a fun video of Adora--I don't know all the words, so don't make fun of me :)