The Neel Family: June 2008

Here is an update on Ryan. She is starting to look like her dad more and more, but there are days when I see me in her. Her hair, or lack of hair, has lightened up a lot since she was born. We have a doctor’s appointment coming up next week so we will have to see if she is still in the 95th percentile for both height and weight. The most common comments that we get from people are that she looks and acts older than she is and that she looks like a doll, particularly a cabbage patch doll.

She is just starting to reach at her toys and has mastered putting her thumb in her mouth. It is really cute for now. She has slept through the night (7:30-6:00) since the middle of May and has never looked back, although we do anticipate the teething months to end the streak. She continues to be the perfect baby with very little crying. When I put her down for a nap she just falls asleep, hardly a peep said. She loves to stand! Whenever she is laying down she lifts her head up in efforts to sit up (so you think) but then when you sit her up she locks her legs and won’t bend because she really just wants to stand. She is frightened easily by unknown people but we are working on it. Our house is just too peaceful all day long. She is definitely a talker. She wakes up from her naps and blabs and blabs and blabs and we gather around the baby monitor to listen to what she has to say. When she yawns she likes to make a sound with it and drag it out as long as she can until she cannot go anymore because she needs air. She is very smiley. She stares at her dad and waits for him to look at her and then smiles and wiggles her whole body in excitement. Oh and she loves to watch TV. She will strain her eyes and twist her body as far as it can go to see the TV.

Grandma Sharee likes to visit every day and is really fun! She brings lots of toys and diapers and lunch, however the lunch isn’t delivered to her for a couple of hours (if you know what I mean, in the form of milk).

The weekends are a lot of fun. Every Saturday we get together with the Neel side of the family and every Sunday with the Williams side. Saturdays are extra fun because Ryan and Hailey get to play. Hailey loves to kiss her on the head or feet and give her hugs and an occasional poke in the eye. Hailey uses her sign language to let us know when the baby is sleeping and that we need to be quiet. The quiet part is extra cute because it is not yet your traditional “shhh.” It is more of a “sssss.”