Squeaker

Rachel has discovered the higher ranges of her voice and is loving it. This is what we wake up to every morning, and any time she sticks anything in her mouth it reminds her that she can make cool noises, so she starts up again.

4 Months Old!

Rachel's getting bigger and bigger every day. Today we had her 4 month doctor's appointment (she hit 4 months last week) and she is now 14 pounds 8 ounces, and 25.25 inches tall. That's 67th percentile for weight and 82nd for height. She's a big girl. She's discovered her toes and has learned how to capture her feet in her hands so she can suck on her toes, so she really enjoys these feet rattles these days.
Rachel has also grown interested in bottles--any bottles: water bottle, bottle of lotion, etc. She loves to put it (or anything she can get her hands on) in her mouth. So we decided to get out her sippy cup for her to play with. She won't drink out of it, but she can hold on to it better than she can a regular water bottle. Right before I took this picture she had her foot in her right hand hand the cup in her left hand and she was trying to somehow fit both into her mouth at the same time. It was pretty funny.
And by the way, to any of you still experiencing winter, I'm sorry. But at least you won't have the cooling bill we will--it's been in the 80s lately and I think we're going to have to turn our AC on soon. I almost did today.

Laughing and B-ball

Rachel has started laughing more lately and we were able to catch her on video a bit yesterday. Saturday we went up to Mesa to go to the temple and we dropped her off at her Great-grandma Updike's house where her Grandma Campbell was visiting from Utah. When we got there Grandma Updike held Rachel and Rachel just started laughing out of nowhere. It was really funny. Of course that we didn't catch on video, but here's what we did catch. Enjoy.

Also, here's a lovely picture at my first homemade baby dress. I cut it out weeks ago and finally made myself sit down and sew it on Thursday before she outgrew it before it was even made. Those weird wrinkles on her right side are just wrinkles, not dress deformities (the dress deformities are there, you just can't see them as easily).
And finally, March Madness is here! And the U of A continues its streak-the longest consecutive NCAA tournament berths, despite having a mediocre season and losing twice to our arch rivals ASU (who didn't make it). Of course it's time to continue my winning streak against Wendi, my former roommate whom I have beat every year since we've been roommates, even when I was on my mission not following college b-ball at all (she sent me a bracket to fill out and I beat her). Any who would like to join us are welcome. I set up a group on espn.com. It's called Colette and friends and the password is rachel. I think you can just go to: http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/group?groupID=32982
I'm not saying I'll beat all of you, but at least Wendi. :) So go fill out a bracket. And good luck. Go Cats!

Attack the block

Here's a video of Rachel playing with her new block. She loves putting things in her mouth, but obviously has no sense of size and was trying to get the whole thing in her mouth, but no matter how hard she tried it just wouldn't fit.

I'm a slacker

Well, it's been a long while since my last post on here. Yes, I'm a slacker. I'll try to do better, but don't count on it. Up until about when I last posted on here Rachel would sleep a lot during the day--like four 2 hour naps each day (give or take). She could only be awake about an hour before she would get tired again. Of course I would think, "I wish she didn't sleep so much so I could play with her more." So now she' started staying awake for a couple hours at a time and having one 2 hour nap in the morning, and several 1/2 hour naps during the rest of the day. And I now realize how nice it used to be. It is a lot easier to get things done with a sleeping baby than with an awake baby. So the housework gets neglected even more these days. Oh well.
Rachel is getting really fun and likes playing with her toys more. She doesn't like laying down much--she prefers sitting up so she has a better view of the world, but she doesn't quite have the muscles to do it on her own, so she gets propped up on the couch, or sits in her high chair or bouncy seat.
Here's a lovely picture of her in her bouncy seat. She had lost grip of her rattle and it just sat on her face. Before I managed to get the camera it was actually covering her face, with the rattle handle circling her eye and the sun on her cheek. It was pretty funny. Across her chest you'll see her drool catcher. Without a bib or something she ends up with drool halfway down her shirt.

Baby care

I know it's 3 months since Rachel was born, but I just barely learned some handy baby care tips that would have been very useful for her first 3 months of life. My old roommate, Wendi, passed on these bits of wisdom to me. I'm sure Rachel's next 3 months will be a lot safer than her last 3 because of these helpful tips. Hopefully someone else out there will find these helpful, too.

Taxes

It's tax time! Woohoo! So last fall I took this free class offered by Jackson Hewitt to teach how to do taxes--that's how they recruit tax preparers each year. The books were decent, the teaching was about what you could expect from a free class. But anyway, I learned some good stuff, and did our taxes this year (just like I always do). And all I can say is kids are profitable. Jacob never turned in a W-4 to adjust the withholdings since before we were married, so all year the government has been earning the interest that we could have been earning. But it does make for a very happy little surprise right now. He's since turned in a new W-4 and significantly increased his take home pay each paycheck. But in the meantime we benefit from our little tax deduction with a few shopping sprees. We plan on getting our food storage built up--as much as we have room to store in our house, and getting a few fun things, like an SLR camera, a new freezer, and such. Yea for tax returns!

Our weekend in Provo was a lot of fun. It was great to hang out with the fam and give Rachel a chance to hang out with them all, and to meet the cats, which were a new experience for her. The cold air was also a new experience. She doesn't own any warm clothes besides long sleeved shirts and pants, and one jacket. Luckily we own blankets. Here she is getting bundled up to go out into the cold.

And here Jacob is getting bundled up for the cold. Or something.