Gotta dig the spiffy new fleece coat for the chilly fall air. Roxi is also sporting her koala slippers that her Uncle Tyler got for her in Australia.

To our delight, Roxi still loves books. We usually read to her twice a day - several books during morning playtime and one before bed (as in this picture).

A new toy! Rob and Gamma Rose picked out this super cool exersaucer for our on-the-go girl. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the bottom is like an inverted frisbee. So when Roxi shifts her weight it moves - turning her into a giant Weeble Wobble. She loves being upright and pushing off with her legs, so this is big time fun.

CHOMP

Culinary Delights

Saturday, October 16 was Roxi's first foray into the wonderful world of solid food. I was all gung ho to start giving her chocolate bars and steak sandwiches, but instead it's just going to be rice cereal for a while. Rice cereal is fine, flaky stuff. Not unlike powdered milk. And depending on how much formula (or water) is added, it's the consistency of cream, thick soup, oatmeal or pudding.

Roxi's first "solid" food meal was more like serving her formula on a spoon, but it sure was fun. She didn't really take to it - cried nearly the whole way through. However, that was my fault because I didn't take the edge off her appetite first with a bottle. Now we know the drill: bottle first, then cereal. And now she seems to like it.

She's been eating about 2-3 teaspoons of cereal at one meal a day (she's down to 4 meals per day now). Her Gamma Rose was visiting last weekend and helped perfect Roxi's preferred consistency - less like gruel, more like thick pudding. We'll probably move on to more exciting and colorful things like green beans and bananas in a few weeks.

She looks so grown up sitting in her feeding chair with her bib. Like she could strike up a conversation about fine art and nibble on some hors d'ouevres. She looks less sophisticated once the cereal comes out though. Why swallow it all when you can spit some out and smear it on your face, after all? What fun is a bib if you're not going to use it? My favorite childhood picture of my brother Lee is one in which he's sitting in his high chair, covered from head to toe in chocolate pudding. I think of it - and him - every time Roxi eats.

We're taking a short break from the cereal right now because Roxi is going through a slow eating phase (again), and it's more important for her to eat all of her formula - packed with vitamins, iron and whatnot - than dabble in cereal.

She's also been stubborn about napping and we want to see if solid food might be the culprit. I doubt it has anything to do with the cereal though. Roxi has started to learn the power of crying, and I think she's just testing the limits when naptime comes around. Feisty! It's hysterical.

Here comes the train ...

Mmmm, mmm. Rice cereal is good stuff ... to wear.

Not EXACTLY solid food, but Roxi is starting to really enjoy some toe chomping. Her bulky cloth diapers prevent her from doing this when she's dressed. So she relishes the changing table time. For some reason, her left foot is tastier than the right.

Big Girl Stats

Roxi got her 4-month checkup this week, and she came through with flying colors. First, I must reiterate how much Rob and I love our doctor. He's such a sweetheart ... in addition to being a fine medical professional. Dr. P told us Roxi is beautiful and couldn't be doing any better. See why we like this guy?

Anyway, here are the latest numbers:

• 13 pounds, 12 oz. - in the 50th percentile for weight
• 25.5 inches - in the 90th percentile for length
• 16.5 inches - in the 75th percentile for head circumference

Dr. P told us it was normal for bottle-fed babies to lag a bit behind their breast-fed peers in weight at this age and that they catch up later. Not that Roxi's weight is considered low right now, but we can probably expect her to jump up in the percentile in a few months. Her height, on the other hand, may well stay ahead of the curve throughout. Tall girl.

Roxi was also given gold stars for her developmental milestones: holding her head up, bearing weight on her legs, smiling, using her eyes in tandem, rolling over one way, cooing and "talking", reaching for objects, successfully grabbing objects, sleeping through the night, etc. She's apparently right on track. The books I'm reading say the same thing, but it's much nicer to hear it from the doc.

The shots were the same as last time. Three big wonkin' needles. However, her reaction was much better this time. Roxi barely cried and had only a mild reaction to the vaccinations. She had a low-grade fever for the first night and was slightly cranky the next day. No big deal. Rob and I are constantly amazed at her good behavior.

This is Roxi's favorite game: "flying" with her dad. Rob lifts her over his head slowly and she laughs all the way. You can see how strong her neck, back and legs are getting!

Roxi's patented frog face. She's concentrating very hard on her play gym chicken ...

Playing with her super fun beach toys. Mmmmmm, tasty.

The left thumb is a one-way ticket to sleepyville.

Here's Roxi on her first official playdate. She appears to be saying, "Hey, check it out!" to her bud Hailey.

Bagpipes Are Loud

This is one of the many new things Roxi learned today when she attended her first parade. It's homecoming weekend here (at Colorado State University), and the parade those wacky CSU Rams put on is pretty impressive.

Roxi and I strolled the few blocks to the beginning of the parade route this morning and got a primo spot. I think Roxi was most fascinated by the bright yellow CAUTION tape separating the crowd from the participants, but she definitely looked up whenever something booming came by. There were several marching bands (one that included bagpipes), fire trucks, amplified singing groups and Shriner cars - all of which caught her attention. We watched for almost an hour before heading home again. I think there was at least another hour's worth to see, but a girl needs her beauty sleep ... and her bottle.