Pumpkin Patch

We went to Sunwest Farms on Saturday morning. It was a lot cooler than we thought it was going to be so we only spent about 10 minutes there. We headed into the building with the pumpkins and took a couple of pics and left without even buying any. The pics we got turned out great though so it wasn't a wasted trip. We actually have proof now that she smiles! lol...

Yesterday we went to Campbell's, a large nursery/garden center in town. I thought we could take her picture there, too, since they decorate really neat for the seasons and buy some pumpkins. We quickly realized that mid-October is not the time to be buying pumpkins or looking for fall photo backgrounds because according to them, it's Christmas already! The entire inside was decked out in red, green, silver, and gold. Trees were up and decorated. Not a pumpkin display to be found. We headed back outside and there were literally only about 20 pumpkins left! We picked out 3 and headed home. Note to self: buy pumpkins at the beginning of October next year. Or, just get them at Hy-Vee because they had a TON left when we went there for a few groceries afterwards.

Brianna is 3 1/2 months old now (15 weeks) now and it's amazing how much she is growing...not so much in size, she's still tiny ...but on Saturday she laughed out loud for the first time and she found her voice over the weekend, too. And boy does she like to hear herself! It sounds like she's saying "hi" over and over and over and over....! We imitate her and she smiles. Usually I have to start arousing her from sleep at 6:20 during the week but this morning I heard her in her room doing her "hi hi hi hi" thing so I went in and she was just laying there talking to the polka-dots on the crib bumper and smiling. Such a happy baby!

She's been able to roll over from her tummy to her back for about 3 weeks now and is really close to going from her back to her tummy. She gets half way over to her side but hasn't figured out how to go completely over. She's content just laying there on her side watching TV but I think she'll get it in the next couple of weeks.

I think we really lucked out because she's such a good baby. Yes, the first 4 weeks were rough and there were more than a few times where we both thought, "what the heck have we gotten ourselves into?" but the last couple of months have been so much better. Unless she's hungry she doesn't really cry. Bedtime is easy...after her last bottle of the day, Bill lays her down in her bed still somewhat awake and she goes to sleep on her own. She's been sleeping through the night since she was 8 weeks old. She's a good napper, too. When she starts getting tired and fussy we can lay her down with her paci and she falls asleep. Every now and then she needs "replugged" if it falls out before she's asleep, but not all of the time. Now that I'm back to work and don't see her during the day, I usually let her nap in my arms in the evening if she's tired. We both miss the cuddles. =)

While she likes to cuddle, she also does very well on her own and is quite independent. Given that we can't always entertain her as housework, etc. still needs to get done, this is such a good thing! We can lay her on her activity mat and she'll play by herself just fine. There have been times where I was in the kitchen washing bottles and she's fallen asleep without making a peep.

I lurk on the message boards of babycenter.com and as I read numerous entries about "my baby won't sleep," or "she cries unless I'm holding her," I'm even more thankful. Granted, things could change down the road but for now we really can't complain.