5 Months Old

Since there technically isn't a 30th of February, we celebrated Ally's 5 month birthday over the weekend. She is getting so big! Ally has pretty much outgrown all of her 3 month clothes and is working her way into the 6 month stuff. She is sort of in-between sizes so pants and shirts are still a little big but the bigger one piece outfits fit well. She has also worked her way into the size 2 diapers. It has become more obvious that Ally discovered her voice this month and she loves to squeal in delight and babble very loudly. She always greets me with a happy yell when I take her out of her crib in the morning and we decided that her ah-goo sound is definitely "love you". Last week she began to show some signs of teething so that made for a rough week. She had a fever Sunday and Monday, woke up often at night crying, ate less, cried a lot more and was just an unhappy baby for a few days but it seems to have passed for now. I don't feel any teeth coming in yet but maybe soon. Here is what Ally has been up to this month:

• Tried rice cereal for the first time and loved it! She also tried pears over the weekend and enjoyed them as well
• She can stand flat footed in her bouncer and play but she hasn't figured out that it turns yet
• She can sit up well by herself but is still a little top heavy
• Passes toys from one hand to the other
• Likes to play with her paci by taking it in and out of her mouth and turning it around or sucking on the side
• She often has scratches on her forehead because she rubs her face when she gets tired and I cant keep up with her nails
• Discovered her feet and how to take off socks
• Can roll from front to back and back to front but mostly just hangs out on her side
• Loves to stand and sit up to look around
• Enjoyed watching Purdue basketball, tennis and swimming and meeting some new friends
  
• Is very interested in faces and is constantly grabbing cheeks, noses, eyes, hair, etc...
• Discovered that she has a dog and likes to touch her nose or pet her face (if Ella will let her)
• Laughs like crazy when you kiss her cheeks or her neck, or bounce her on your leg

Allyson is a very easy going and happy baby, unless she doesn't feel well, then she lets you know it! She is always smiling and laughing and has really started to develop her own voice and personality. We love all the new things she does and can't believe we will be celebrating six months soon. Here are some photos from the past month to enjoy.

Movin' Out

Its official, just call us the Simpsons. Karl has accepted a position with St. John's Hospital in Springfield, IL and we will be relocating there this spring. This is the same hospital system that recruited Karl right out of graduate school but it just wasn't the right fit at the time for our family. This time around, they came after him even harder and made us an offer that we just could not refuse- better company, better money, more responsibility, better growth potential, etc... We chose to keep the news to ourselves for a while for several reasons but our house is on the market and I had to officially "resign" from my job so we are now making the news blog official... and the rumor mill at work is starting to turn!

Karl began his work as the Process Improvement Project Manager at St. John's three weeks ago and is already enjoying the new location and job responsibilities. I will be staying in West Lafayette with the kids (Ally and Ella) and my job through at least the end of April when I have wrapped up the Swimming Championships and most of the baseball season. Part of the deal Karl was offered was to be able to work from home two days out of the week until we get situated in Springfield so starting next week he will be driving to Springfield (about 2 and a half hours) on Tuesday mornings and returning on Thursday nights. It has been a big adjustment for all of us but we are excited about the opportunity to try something new. The bad part for me is that there really isn't much to offer in terms of my career goals in Springfield but it is centrally located between three major universities (Bradley in Peoria, Illinois State in Bloomington, and Illinois in Champaign) so I am hopeful something will come up at one of those places. We will be moving closer to my brother and we hope that my connections at one of those schools will help a lot with my job search. Until we are sure where we will settle, we plan to rent a house/townhouse in Springfield once our house in West Lafayette sells. It went on the market last Sunday and we have had two showings already so it seems like the poor housing market may be turning around.

It will be tough when the time comes to actually leave Purdue but we know that we will be back often to visit family and go to games, the difference is now we will actually have to pay for the tickets and I will get to sit in the stands with the family. As always, we will keep everyone updated but until then wish us luck and if you are looking for a very well maintained 3 bedroom, 2 bath ranch in West Lafayette just give us a call.

February Art

More beautiful works of art for our fridge. This month we feature a colts blue football to celebrate the Super Bowl and a wonderful pink heart for Valentine's Day.

The First Bites

I had some issues uploading the video but here it is... Ally's first attempt at almost solid food. Karl and I took turns feeding her and she was unsure at first but as you can see, she quickly started squealing with delight.

Cereal Time

Ally had her first taste of rice cereal on Saturday night and she loved it! We mixed 1 tablespoon of the rice cereal with 3 tablespoons of milk so it was very runny for her first attempt. We assumed she either would spit it all out or just refuse to try it but we just couldn't get it in fast enough. She loved using the spoon and most of the cereal actually ended up in her mouth. She still got a fair share on her face, hands, bib, etc... but not nearly the mess I expected and clean up was pretty easy. She really enjoys sitting at the table and wants to put the spoon in her mouth by herself, even more last night when we did it again. This time I made it a little less runny and she still did very well. Our plan is to stick to the cereal once a day at dinner time for a while then introduce new foods little by little to work for more variety and frequency. So far she is doing great!