A look back at the mini girl

Looking back through our photos it's crazy to think that I've already somewhat forgotten just how small Amber really was!

Amber at 1 month old

Amber at 7 months

Napping with Dad at 3 months

Napping with Dad today

 She seems big to us even if she is only in the 10th percentile!

Sleep? Who needs it!

Amber is still struggling to have a full nights sleep these days. Actually, I wouldn't say that she's struggling, but I certainly am!

Sleep isn't a problem as long as mom is willing to hold me!

At 7.5 months she still has quite a few nights where she wakes up every hour. Needless to say I am more than just a little sleep deprived - sigh. I've tried quite a few different techniques to have any sort of success, but nothing seems to work for any more than a token night here or there.

It would be great if it was just a case of her having her days and nights confused, but she hardly naps during the day. So either she's not getting her recommended 14 hours of sleep each day, or she's sneaking naps in when I'm not looking!

A rare and peaceful moment

Somehow I've managed to adapt to only getting ~4 hours of sleep each night (I wish this was an exaggeration, but I'm actually lucky to get 4 hours each night). Once I get up and mobile - and have my much needed one allowable cup of coffee - I seem to be able to function as well as any other new mom :)

I find I'm quite jealous when I hear of other babies around the same age sleeping so well through the night. I've even heard of some that are quite a bit younger than Amber that sleep better than she does! I'm sure there will come a time when I look back at this and have a laugh. At the moment, however, it just seems tiresome.

You don't need sleep when you look this cool ;)

To Washington and back!

Amber has really been logging her driving miles these days! We took a little mini vacation and decided to drive down the Washington coast. It was a bit of a dual purpose trip as Tim found a canopy for his truck in Aberdeen Washington.

Our first stop (after picking up the canopy) was to Westport, which is a beautiful little surfing town southwest of Seattle.

While in Westport we stayed in a cute little motel that overlooked the ocean. Loca was pretty happy that we were in a ground floor unit so she could run out the door and sniff out her new surroundings.

After some much needed rest we checked out in the morning and headed for the beach so that Tim could get in some surfing. As for the girls and I, we had a nice relaxing time on the beach - pure bliss :)

Tim getting ready for a surf session

The girls and I enjoying the beach

Next we were off to La Push for some camping. I was impressed at how well Amber did with her first camping trip. I think she really enjoys being outdoors as much as possible.

I have to admit, our tent was more than just a little cozy with all four of us in there, but it was an adventure. Plus, the fresh air really does feel great when you wake up in the morning - too bad it was only about 16 degrees though! I had Amber wrapped up like a Stay Puft marshmallow for most of our time at the camp ground :)

Other highlights of our night in La Push include:
Forgotten BBQ nozzle = weenie roast over the campfire

and Loca's extreme fetching

The next morning we took our time, enjoyed the campground and beach a little longer and then packed up and started to make our way home.

The McNelson's at La Push

Amber ready to roll out!

We decided to do a bit of sightseeing while on our way home as well. We made it to Hobuck beach which is pretty close to the most northwestern point of the contiguous United States. Once again the beach there was absolutely amazing and nearly empty!

Amber and dad at Hobuck beach

After Hobuck we made our way to Port Townsend and then took the ferry over to Whidbey Island for the last leg of our trip.

On the Whidbey ferry

It was a long day of travel with quite a few stops to see the sights and stretch our legs, but it was worth it to see the beautiful coastline!

Approaching the 7 month mark!

I can't believe Amber is only a few days away from being 7 months old! Time is really starting to fly now that she is a lot more interactive and eating solids. We're even up to three meals a day :) She definitely lets me know what she likes and doesn't like - full body wretch = dislike.....baby bird open mouth = like

In terms of development, Amber is still resisting sleep at night. Some nights are better than others, but there are still a few nights here and there where I see every hour on the clock. I keep thinking that "tonight will be different", but so far Amber has proved that she is anything but predictable!

After her 6 month check-up and shots we found out that Amber is taking after mom a little more these days. She's fallen to the 15th percentile in weight and the 10th in height. Looks like we have a petite little girl!

All in all things are going great. Amber is really helping me keep in shape as she loves to go on jogs with me in her stroller. She usually just looks around at all the things going by and then after she's had enough of that, she peacefully falls asleep.

Passed out with Grandma after a long day :)

Amber's first road trip!

Over the past two weeks Amber has become quite a seasoned car traveler! We decided it was about time to go and show Amber off to the Nelson side of the family.

Our first leg of the journey was to visit Grandma and Grandpa Nelson in Fairmont, BC. After an extremely long drive we arrived at 4:30am (Fairmont time). We decided to drive during Amber's bedtime so the stops/meltdowns would be less frequent. At first Amber wasn't all that happy about spending that much time in the car, but she eventually fell asleep and we powered through the drive. Thankfully Tim is a pro at doing the long late night drives!

Posing with Grandma

Relaxing on a hot summer day

Amber also had a chance to meet her cousins and Aunt and Uncle for the first time in Fairmont!

Meeting her cousins Oakley and Georgia for the first time!

A quick snug with Uncle Paul

Me and Oakley - what a cutie!

During the last couple of days in Fairmont, we were lucky enough to spend a day on Windermere Lake where Tim and I got to try out some wake surfing! Tim was already a seasoned surfer:

 I, on the other hand, was a newbie to the sport and needed a bit more coaching:

 Amber really seemed to enjoy her time on the boat as well!

Our next stop was Calgary where we celebrated Tim's uncle Ken's 60th birthday. Amber was a big hit that night....makes us realize that soon we will only be known as "Amber's parents". In addition to the big celebration, Amber got to meet her great grandma Dode!

Just before we decided to leave Calgary we spent a night visiting our friends Mike and Kelly. Once again, Amber was all smiles and charm!

Next stop was Elkford, BC to visit with Paul, SJ, Georgia and Oakley a little more. During our visit there Tim managed to get in some "epic" mountain biking with Paul.

To wrap up our road trip we drove back to Fairmont to celebrate Tim's birthday with his parents. Once our short visit was done there we decided to drive back home at nighttime so Amber could sleep. Poor Tim manned the wheel from 7:30pm (Vancouver time) to 5:30am when we pulled into our parkade!

We had a great trip, but are also happy to be home again :)

All tuckered out :)

Littlest hiker......at least for the day :)

On Sunday we took Amber on her very first hike. We thought we would pick a melo route for her maiden voyage, however, Mt. Seymour had other plans as there was up to 7ft of snow left in some parts of the path! At first we had second thoughts as to whether we should continue with the mission, but figured that since we put in all the effort to get there in the fist place we should press on.

At first the path seemed a little treacherous, but the sun warmed the majority of the trail so it was soft enough to get some traction. There were, however, a few near wipe-outs along the way due to thinning snow and I lost my foot momentarily to a tree well. Luckily Amber was oblivious to what was happening and slept for the duration of the hike.

Once we reached the lookout point we had a little rest and a mini picnic. I'm not sure if Amber truly appreciated the view, but she seemed to appreciate not being pressed against sweaty mom any more!

 All in all it was a successful day: no meltdowns, no wipe-outs and a great view for lunch :)

All is well with the McNelson's

It's been a while since our last post so here's a little family update :)

This past Sunday was Tim's first Father's Day. We had a nice relaxing day starting with brunch at JS and MC's place followed by some lounging at home.

Napping with Dad

As for updates on lil' half Nelson, she seems to be growing like crazy. Every time I go and get her in the morning I swear she's bigger than when I put her to bed! We're still having a bit of trouble with the whole sleeping deal, but I'm told there is "light at the end of the tunnel" so I'm remaining hopeful. At least we've moved past the waking-every-hour business, however.

I'm not certain, but I think we might be in the midst of teething. I can't see any teeth poking through the gums quite yet, but there are little bumps. The past few days have been difficult for little Amber, she seems to be miserable quite often and is constantly chewing on anything she can get a hold of. Yesterday was particularly bad. For whatever reason, I couldn't get her to nap on her own for even a minute. We would rock her to sleep and then as soon as she was lowered into her crib her eyes would pop open and she would refuse to go back to sleep. By the end of the day I had managed to get her to nap for about 2.5 hours total! Needless to say it was extremely difficult to get her to go to bed last night, but by 11pm she was finally asleep......and stayed asleep until 7am this morning! Woohoo! I'll admit, I've had to give in a few times and give Amber some Tylenol. I always feel instantly guilty when I give it to her because she thinks it tastes awful and makes faces until it's all gone. I thought that Tylenol would make her drowsy and help her sleep (and help me sleep!), but so far it doesn't seem to have much of a sleep effect on Amber.

Today has been a much better day. Amber is back to her happy self and doesn't seem to be in pain....at least for the moment. To celebrate this pain free day we decided to walk to Granville Island with Amber's "bestie" Morgan and her mom Kate. Here's a picture of the girls sharing a moment in Amber's stroller :)