A First Christmas

It was the first time we admired our very own Christmas tree; the first time we hung our stockings with care. Grandma VH came in and stayed for 4 days, showering us with gifts, yummy food, and assisting Scott with his breadmaking and me with my fondue aspirations.

Colleen visited us Christmas Eve and Scott and Tracy Hochstadt joined us for dinner and Catch Phrase. Grandpa Van Howe, Barb and the kids came by on Christmas for home-made pasta, meatballs, and more. We even drove out to Lisle to see Great Grandma Van Howe, and Saralea, Lisa and Holly Holstrom swung by. It was great to see friends and family, and Ainsley was lavished with adult attention. Scott and I decided that a 3 adults to one baby is the best ratio.

Coming up on 6 months, Ainsley is pushing herself up, standing nearly unaided, jumping like Michael Jordan (assisted of course), and making new and sometimes unattractive noises. We've been visiting with Nana and Papa on Skype, and we can't wait to see the Swanson's and then the VanHowe's of Davenport on New Year's Eve. Love to all -- it truly was a glorious holiday.

Ainsley Frances Recognized as a Child of God

Emmanuel Church in Rockford remains a spiritual home for us; so lucky Jim Roberts (in his year before retirement) blessed sweet Ainsley Thanksgiving weekend. Nana in from Henderson, NV, Barb and Kelso kids, Sundstrom's, GG, Jess, Shawn and Evelyn, Aunt Saralea and Uncle Bruce, Great Grandma VanHowe, Grandma VanHowe, Grandpa Van Howe, Uncle Jim, Auntie Farah, Eloise, Amelie, Lynne and Mike Istad (and grandma), and godmother Amy all the way from Manhattan celebrated. After Ainsley commanded ooohs and aahs at the church, she baptised Scott and Jen with her first poopy blow out -- down her tights, ruining her post-baptism H&M ensemble -- LuckilyMike Istad guided us to the bathroom and guarded the door as Scott and I wiped the baby down (no wipes with us, of course) with paper towels...all had a good chuckle...and none of us worse for the wear in the end-- except perhaps the patrons of the Stockholm Inn who watched a poop soaked baby make her way past their plates of pancakes and eggs....

Magic of the Season

The my latest favorite pictures of Ainsley...

Two Nights, One Lifetime of Experience

So some of you may know that Jen had her first official overnight away from us on Monday. She went to a firm meeting in Philly. It was my first night taking care of Ainsley all by myself. Well, I wasn't completely alone as Jen's dad generously stopped by. He helped me at least go to the bathroom and get some bottles together. Thanks Bill! I knew I would have my hands full and I was right. After an evening of playing, talking, bottles and even some rice cereal, the witching hour came about 9pm when sweet Ainsley realized mommy wasn't around. She cried for about 45 minutes or so until I finally gave her a bottle and she passed out. After bottles at 1:30 and 5am, we began our day at 8:15 reasonable well in tact!
If that wasn't enough, Jen's flight got cancelled Tuesday night and rebooked for the following morning! So we had a second night and this one was all alone. It was definitely better than the first-less crying and more sleeping. In fact, Ainsley slept from 10pm until 5am! Woo hoo! Can we get that every night, baby doll?
Mommy arrived home safe and sound at 8:15 again and we were all reunited. We're thrilled to have mommy home and I think I earned my trip to the golf dome! All is right in our world.

Instant Classic

Hi all-yes we've been a little lax on postings lately. Things have been hectic but good. Ainsley is five months old now and has turned a corner. She is trying her voice out a lot more and thinks nothing of interrupting a conversation by adding "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa". She is also close to outgrowing her bouncer which has been her happy place since she got home from the hospital. We continue to enjoy her changes-even if it means bigger challenges!

Here is the instant classic-this is at Grandma's house in Rockford. That is of course Ellie pushing Ainsley around in the little car thing. It was even funnier in person than in the video. I love Ainsley's little feet kicking away under there! Enjoy.

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

Thankful for family, friends, health, Obama and piles of leaves to mark a baby's first autumn...

Still cute

Here's a recent one of Ainsley in her cute plaid coat that mommy just loves. We've got all kinds of new tricks to report:

• Rolling over. Mostly back to front but we're doing both sides now.
• Feet in mouth. She loves to nibble on those toes.
• Laughing. Mommy remains really funny. Daddy occasionally gets a laugh.
• Back bending. She has quite the ability to bridge herself on her head when she wants to see something behind her
• Grabbing. This morning she and daddy had fun reading the paper. She enjoyed the part where she got to dump every single sale paper on the floor one by one. I'm sure those of you with children know it does not take long some mornings for them to trash the house. I can see why more each day now.

Only a few more days until Nana gets here. We are so excited to show Ainsley all her new tricks.

Bouncing baby

Here's another video from this weekend of Ainsley enjoying her bouncer. As you can tell this is her happy place! (Sorry about the sideways thing-it plays fine on my computer, not sure why it uploaded this way.)

Grandma Weekend!

When Grandma Van Howe is in town, we party! Met at Oak Brook mall and went to lunch; Ainsley nuzzled up to Grandma and fell asleep; came home and played; then grandma took some video of Ainsley's tricks. Enjoy this "Peek-A-Boo" video. (mom remains a cut up)

Election Day Fame!

Check this out-Ainsley got her adorable picture in the paper when she went to the polls for the second time today with Valerie! You can't see her red, white and blue outfit under her bib, but she was a very patriotic baby today! Enjoy!

First Rollover!!!!!!

The Avers and Crimingers knew we were close to a full roll over -- and it happened around the midnight hour of Nov 1st. Ainsley Frances had been rolling to her side and increasingly enjoying tummy time and her powerful back bend this last month -- but she only dared to give us the full maneuver in her sleep. We heard her cry; Jen ran in, and the baby who had been put on her back to sleep was on her tummy, head craned...and quite annoyed. Later on Nov 1st, Scott was talking to Nana and relaying the developmental milestone when she rolled from front to back on her Safari mat... We have a big infant on our hands, people!

Ainsley's First Halloween

Sweet Ainsley had a fun first Halloween. She wasn't scared of any of the kids that came to the door and she was extra cute for the neighbors. She also crashed a Halloween block party later on that night.

Well taken care of

Valerie, Grace and Alex have now been providing loving day care for Ainsley Monday-Thursday for a month now. It is working out great! They take really good care of our sweetie. They go for walks, hang out in the Bjorn, do lots of reading and provide tons of love. Grace loves to give her a bottle-especially in her princess bed!

Super Happy Baby!

We took this one last Sunday and it is easily one of my favorites of all time. We were just hanging on the couch before I left for NJ. I was so happy to capture two big smiles and share them with everyone!

Cousin dance party!

Ainsley had a chance to see her cousin Ellie, Auntie Farah and Uncle Jimmy this weekend. The celebrated by dancing in the kitchen. A good time was had by all.
Little stinker just won't seem to sleep in her crib lately, preferring to wedge between mommy and daddy in our room. This has to change and it will. Of course, she sleeps great when she is with us!

We've found our toes!

Here's a video to confirm that Ainsley has officially found her toes. She loves to grab her feet when she is having her diaper changed. She grabs them every time now-even middle of the night half asleep changes. While it makes changing a bit more challenging, it is so darn cute I can't stand it! Enjoy and I will work on more regular postings in the future-we've been kind of busy lately! :-)

We're back from Iowa!

Wow-has it really been 10 days since our last blog entry? We had a fun weekend in Iowa with Jim, Farah and Ellie! It was Ainsley's first trip across a state line! Very exciting.

Some of Ainsley's new tricks:

• Smiles, smiles, smiles. She just loves to smile for us-early, late, whenever.


• Talking. She and I can hold a pretty long conversation about the current economic crisis.


• Nearly rolling over! She wants it so bad! She can get on her side but she hasn't figured out what to do with that other arm just yet.


• Sleeping! She is good for a 5-6 hour stint at night now! Very exciting.

Here is a picture of sweet Ainsley in her "babies gone batty" onesie with Ellie on Jim and Farah's festive front porch.

You don't eat meat?

Here's our first video clip with the new camera. Sorry about the extreme zooms-I'm still getting the feel for this thing.

If you've seen "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" as many times as we have, you'll think this is funny too. Ainsley thinks Mommy is the funniest thing out there.

Settling In

Our little sweetie had her first couple days at Valerie's this week. She is doing great. This is her with Grace.

12 weeks and big overnight

* First 5 hour sleeping clip (9/29).

* Significant increase in baby talk.

* More smiles and laughs.

* Increasing recognition of which facial expressions represent which feelings.

* Much more self soothing and comfort hanging out by herself.

* Interest in specific items and ability to target her grabbing.

* Freakish neck, hand, and leg strength given her 9 lbs frame.

* Enjoyment of mirrored reflection.

* Increased fascination with leaves, grass, greenery and nature sounds and color contrasts.

What a difference a minute, day, week can make in a sweet baby's life and development.