Quick stats update for both kids

Gah.  I hate that I'm so far behind.  My big girl turned FOUR and I need to tell you all about the little girl that she is.  There's no more baby left in that one...except the way she says "breakfast" and "just".  But otherwise, she's growing up.  The thigh rolls are all gone.  Sniff.

Anyway, this week is the one time that the kids' well checkups lined up--Baby Boy is 15 months and Baby Girl is 4 years old.  We were able to get back-to-back appointments.

Baby Boy:

Weight: 21 lbs 11 ounces (33.4 percentile)
Height: 31 inches (43.31 percentile, up from 2.36 percentile at one year)
Head circumference: 19 inches (86.57 percentile, which is pretty consistent)

He got one shot and didn't cry during the shot.  But the tears came soon after.  I had taken Baby Girl out of the room to take her urine sample and Baby Boy saw me walk past the door at one point and lost it.  I had to snuggle him and walk around with him to get him to calm down.  He loves his mommy, that one.


Baby Girl:

Weight: 41 lbs (87.15 percentile, which is consistent since she was 2 1/2 years)
Height: 41 inches (77.9 percentile, a large jump from a year ago when she was 57th percentile (37th percentil at 2 years old))

They didn't measure her head, but I can assure you that it's humongous.  That's how we grow them in our house.

Baby Girl had to give a urine sample, which I thought would be horrible, but I successfully collected it without getting a drop on me.  She had her blood pressure taken (it was normal, whatever it was) and her hearing testing.  The urine came back with trace amounts of blood, so we had to get another sample this morning.  Luckily, a good friend was headed to the office with her own kid, so she took the sample so that I didn't have to make the trip during work.  Also, we found that Baby Girl can't hear as well as she should.  She can hear as low as 30 decibels and they'd like her to be able to hear down to 20.  Because she also has her ear tubes still in (over 2 years later), our pediatrician has recommended that we visit our ENT.  I haven't made the appointment yet because we obviously haven't seen any ill-effects (meaning it hasn't negatively impacted her speech AT ALL), but will do so soon.

10 Month Update

I'm suffering from a MAJOR case of the winter-time blah.  I can't get motivated to do much of anything, but know I'll kick myself someday when I look back on this blog and don't have an update on Baby Boy's 10th month, especially because it seems like SO MUCH has happened!

It's amazing that in ten months he can go from this little snuggly blob to a cruising, stepping, waving, babbling, growling little boy with opinions all his own.

Teeth: Over a month after cutting his fifth tooth, tooth number six appeared 2/24.  And just days later (2/27), so did tooth number seven, the bottom left (2nd one over).  The kid is determined to be lopsided!

Mobility: Baby Boy is everywhere and into everything.  He's pulling up and cruising on anything that he can.  On February 20th, he took a single step after standing all by himself for awhile.  And then he promptly dropped to his knees and crawled the rest of the way.  He'll walk quickly while holding fingers, stands by himself, and on March 3rd stood up in the middle of the room without pushing up on something.  So we've got all of the pieces in place--we'll see how long it takes him to actually walk.  He *can* climb stairs, but we don't let him yet!

Clothes: Baby Boy is still pretty solidly in size 6-9/9 month clothes.  He has one pair of jammies that is size 6 months, but there are also plenty of 6-9/9 month clothes that are getting too small.  I'd guess we'll move up a size in the next month.

Communication: Baby Boy knows the signs for "more" and "all done".  He uses "more" to signal that he wants something to eat and has started to sign it while he's still eating.  He also signs "more" while he's nursing now, too, which is sort of hilarious.  He only signs "all done" when we say it.  Sometimes I think he's trying to tell us that he's done, but then he'll quickly sign more again and eat more.  And sometimes we think he's waving when he's signing or vice versa.

He is also using quite a few consonants now--g, b, and m are his most common.  He says "mom mom mom" both while pointing at me (also a new development) but also when he's getting into his high chair, as if he's saying "more" or "yum".  He also says something that sounds sort of like "all done"--it has two syllables, at least :)

Nutrition: We are still nursing here, day and night.  I don't think he would notice too much if I stopped offering during the day, but I'll keep offering until he's a year old, then we'll take it from there.  He does still NEED IT SO BAD overnight, though.  Last night, The Hubby went to Baby Boy when he woke up at 9:30 and Baby Boy put his head down on The Hubby's shoulder, then sat up straight and pointed at the door.  He knew where to go to get the good stuff, apparently.  My pumping production has decreased quite a bit and I'm struggling to keep up with him, but his demand has reduced markedly also and is easily appeased by solids.

Speaking of solids, Baby Boy is a pretty big fan of eating.  He growls and makes all sort of crazy noises when you put him in his high chair and don't have food for him RIGHT NOW.  When I'm cooking, he'll crawl into the kitchen and start smacking his lips at me.  He LOVED having hot dogs and likes it whenever he gets food off of someone else's plate.  He love carbs (pancakes, especially), avocados, pasta, and some veggies.  He'll eat any fruit you give him, so far.

Sleep: I'm honestly fairly embarrassed to even post about his sleep.  At over 10 months old, my baby is still waking about 4 times per night.  I'm exhausted.  He wants to eat almost every time he wakes up if it's been at least two hours since he last ate.  I'd thought that we'd figured out that he was going to bed too late and that was why he was waking.  We started eating super-quick meals, crock pot meals, doing anything we could to get him to bed earlier.  And he's still waking up.  It isn't the 4-8 times per night that it was, but it's still not good.  The Hubby, Baby Boy, and I are all exhausted and running on fumes every single day.  Happily, Baby Boy is still pleasant and happy almost all the time, even being short on sleep.  He sleeps best in our bed, so there are nights when I nurse him to sleep and he just stays in our bed for a few hours.  Unfortunately, The Hubby and I are then incredibly sore the following day after laying in one position all night, trying our hardest not to roll over on the baby.

Likes: Avocado, screaming, his sister, throwing things, pushing buttons, being on the go, putting things into other things, playing Godzilla and knocking down block towers, anything his sister is doing, trying to throw himself down the stairs, unrolling toilet paper, getting mommy's cookbooks, opening cabinets and playing with the contents, baths in the sink, playing in close proximity to the other daycare kids, music, peek-a-boo, looking at books

Dislikes: Staying asleep, baby gates, being confined, having to wait (especially for food), laying still for diaper changes, getting buckled into his car seat
---
Baby Boy--

For ten months, you've been providing me with happiness that I didn't know possible.  You may not sleep, but you honestly make up for it by being so happy all of the time.  The smile you give me when your daddy brings you into my bedroom makes my annoyance over being awake AGAIN dissolve.

Your favorite person in the world is your sister.  Everything she does fascinates you.  You two play together incredibly well.  She can be a little rough, but I think you like it.  It is awfully hard to scold her for being so rough with you when you're belly laughing at her.

Some days it feels like you were just born, but more days it seems like you've been a part of our family forever.  Your sister doesn't remember life without you.  I had fears of not being able to love you as much as I love your sister, but my heart has grown like The Grinch's to give me the ability to love you both an incredible amount.

I love you, my beautiful little man.
Mommy

6 Month Pediatrician Appointment

I have a sappy post to write and some updates about Baby Boy's development as well as a post about Baby Girl....but this is an easy post to write, so I'm going to knock it out while my queries are running.

Stats:

16 lbs 14 oz (38th percentile)
26 inches long (25th percentile)
44 cm (86th percentile)

My chunky monkey little man has quickly become a not-so-big little boy (except his head...which would explain the 3rd degree tear...).  The pediatrician doesn't have any concerns because both his weight and height have a downward trend (in percentile, not the actual height or weight!), but I have a hard time not worrying, especially since until last Saturday I was his only source of nourishment.  I thought he was always going to be huge, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

The doctor was happy with his development and said he was head of schedule for large motor since he's already army-crawling.  He also said that he doesn't expect babies to start using consonants until about seven months, which he's started to do a bit.  It always makes me feel happy when my kids are head of schedule for developmental milestones, even though I have very little to do with it.

At the appointment, Baby Girl also was getting her flu shot.  We had talked through what would happen and were reviewing it before the nurse came in.  The following conversation ensued:


Me: They're going to give you a little pinch, then put a bandage on it to help it feel better.
Baby Girl: Why does it need to feel better?  It won't hurt.
Me: You're right.  The bandage helps keep the medicine in your body.
Baby Girl: How does the medicine get in my body?  I have skin.
Me: Yep, but the shot makes a little tiny hole to help the medicine get inside.
Baby Girl: ......(you can see the wheels turning).....Will I have to wear the bandage forever?
Me: No, the skin closes up after a little bit of time.


The nurse gave her her shot and she just watched and was happy to get her star-shaped bandage (like below):

Next it was time for Baby Boy to get his shots.  We'd talked to the doctor about what vaccinations he needed at this appointment and the pediatrician was going to give him 4 injections (Hepatitis B, flu shot, TDAP (something like that, at least), and leading cause of meningitis) plus an oral vaccination for rotovirus.  I asked if there was anything we could delay for the month until we come back for his second flu shot and he said that the Hepatitis B could be delayed, so we did 3 shots plus the oral vaccination, then at the end of November need to go back for a second flu shot and the Hepatitis B shot.  Blech.

His sister held onto his arm while I held his hands and looked at his face.  I felt awful for him when his head turned bright red and he was screaming, but he stopped crying pretty quickly after I picked him up.  He whimpered a little, but was generally okay.  I took Baby Girl for her sticker (she chose Mickey Mouse) while The Hubby got Baby Boy dressed.  I then nursed Baby Boy in the car in the parking lot of the pediatrician's office because, as expected, he passed out on the way to the sitter.  We dropped off the kids and went to work.

At 2 Years

At 2 years, Baby Girl can:

Say her ABCs
Count to 20 (sometimes missing 13 and sometimes missing 16)
Sometimes count to 29
Speak in full sentences (longest word count I've had is 7 words, but I don't count most of the time)
Spell her whole first name
Spell the names of most of her daycare friends
Write her first initial
Recognize some letters (I don't know which ones or how many at this point)
Sing lots of songs--her best ones are Jesus Loves Me, ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and most of Carmen Ohio
Go up stairs without holding on
Go down stairs without holding on (very recent development closer to 25 months)
Ask many, many questions: "What you doing here, Daddy?"  "What's that?"  "What's that sound?" (while holding her hand out like she's trying to listen, only with her hand in front of her ear)
Know that green means go and red means stop
Know that a red hand means don't walk
Do extended pretend play
Go potty all day with few accidents (2-3 per week)

At 2 years, Baby Girl loves....

Mommy at bedtime
Daddy at playtime
Baby dolls
Her doll house
Running
Being tickled, so much that she asks for it
Mimicking Mommy and Daddy (putting babies in timeout, etc.)
Being polite--she says "excuse me", "thank you" (which is now turning into "thanks"), "I'm sorry", "please"
Food--she's still a great eater (knock on wood)
Singing with Mommy
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Special Agent Oso
Marching bands
Goldfish crackers
Anything sweet
Wearing big girl panties
Daddy's iPhone
Rough housing with Daddy
Drinking milk
Jelly toast
Blueberries
Noodles
Coloring

At 2 years, Baby Girl dislikes...

Going to bed (although it's getting better)
Taking time out to go pee
Being told "no"
Anytime she feels like she isn't independent
Listening (I'm sure I say "Are you listening to Mommy?" at least 10 times per day)
Time out
Sitting still
Riding in the car

At 2 years, Baby Girl is:

28 lbs (60th percentile (!))
33.25 in (40th percentile)

(Letter to Baby Girl forthcoming...)

23 Months

In just one short month I'll be posting about my baby turning TWO.  Insane.

I've wanted to devote an entire post to the things Baby Girl is saying.  Let me just say that she's talking.  A lot.  She's forming sentences (minus "the", "a", "an"), asking questions (usually minus "what" and "where", such as "Daddy doing?"), using contractions, using pronouns (not necessarily successfully, of course...), singing, counting to 15, and repeating everything that comes out of our mouths...which could be dangerous.

The singing is the best thing, if you ask me.  She can sing all of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Jesus Loves Me.  She also sings a good chunk of quite a few other songs.  I love her sweet little voice singing with me.  We finally got a recording of her singing Carmen Ohio with me--so sweet!

Baby Girl officially has 13 teeth.  She has the eight front teeth, top and bottom, her first set of molars, and cut her bottom right eye tooth awhile ago.  No real signs of any other eye teeth yet, though.  She is drooling and chewing still, though, so I'm guessing the bottom left one will cut through sooner than later.  I check for it every night when we brush her teeth.

She's wearing size 2T or 24 months in many clothes now, but many pants are still falling off of her and some capris are too long.  If we had more shorts and capris in 18M, we'd have her wear those.  She must have a longer torso, though, because 18M shirts are too short.

We're still struggling mightily with bedtime.  I can't bring myself to shorten our bedtime routine, as I really cherish that time we get together.  I love reading books with her, praying with her, and singing with her.  She's still crying when I leave, but isn't crying as much when we have a later (not going upstairs until 8:00) bedtime.  I honestly think she's tired before then, but if it cuts down on the crying and she's waking up okay on weekdays, I'm okay with a later bedtime, I suppose.  It does give us time to do more things, like go paint pottery, cook dinner, and still get to have bathtime, like we did last night.  Maybe my kid will stop being dirty all the time now :)

I can't even begin to express what a sweet kid Baby Girl is.  She's quick with a hug and a kiss.  She now has an imagination and loves to play with her baby dolls, diapering them, feeding them, and putting them to bed.  She typically eats like a champ, although her favorite foods are any fruit (besides melon) and anything she can dip in some sort of sauce.  She is drinking a lot more milk than she used to (some days 3 sippy cups full, which is A LOT for her).

Baby Girl is still working on potty training.  She'll go whenever we ask (and typically has some pee to put in the potty), but tells us she has to pee as she's doing it.  We'll get her to the potty (typically after running there) and she'll have a warm diaper.  We'll still let her try, but we explain to her that she already peed.  She's really proud of herself when she does it, though, which we love.  And she's also finally peeing at the sitter's house.  Previously she'd just try and then want down immediately.  She's even trying to poop there.  Woo!

Her favorite phrase is "birdie eat it".  We've created a monster.  When we were eating dinner outside regularly, if she'd drop something, we'd tell her a birdie would eat it because she'd worry about it through the rest of the meal otherwise.  Now she's telling us that birdies are going to eat everything she drops, inside, in the car, outside...everywhere.  And now she's throwing things down specifically FOR the birdies.  We're going to have some fat birdies around our house!

22 Months

On May 29th Baby Girl turned 22 months old and I want to briefly update about her development.

It's much harder to describe the changes that she's going through at this point--it was much easier when she was walking, rolling, and sitting.

Our sitter claims Baby Girl has had a language explosion but I think The Hubby and I would say it happened closer to 21 months.  She's definitely using phrases and sentences a lot more and rarely communicates with only one word.

My favorite thing (I think) that she's doing right now is singing.  Just tonight, for instance, she sang almost all of the ABCs with me.  She didn't get all the individual letters right, but said something for each of them.  She sings Mary Had a Little Lamb and says all the repeating lines.  She also sings pieces of Itsy Bitsy Spider and Wheels on the Bus, complete with hand motions for both.  She still insists on If You're Happy and You Know It in the can, but has started playing tricks on Mommy and not actually doing the actions you're supposed to do.  The silence after I say "Shout 'Hooray!'" cracks her up and she will laugh for about 5 minutes afterwards.

Speaking of the car....we still battle the car regularly.  Baby Girl always claims that her "buckle hurts" and wants to get up.  She always wants entertainment from one of us as well--either singing, reading a good, holding a finger, playing "Hide Seek" (covering her eyes and saying "I can't find her anywhere!")...you get the idea.

The major thing that can keep her occupied in the car, though, is looking for buses or big trucks.  She loves them.  I'm actually pretty nervous about car rides now that school is out and we won't be seeing too many "big yellow bus" anymore.

Baby Girl's eating has gotten worse.  I'm not sure if she's just not as hungry or if she's getting pickier.  She just recently started refusing broccoli, which was one of her favorites for awhile.  She also seems to be starving on the way home from the sitter's so we give her her afternoon snack that she didn't finish and we're wondering if this is filling her up enough that she's not hungry for dinner.  We're hoping she isn't getting too picky--we've always been really pleased with how many different things she would eat.

We're pretty much at status quo for pottying.  She's peeing in the potty about once a day, but we typically have to ask her if she wants to try.  Sometimes she'll try and sometimes she'll refuse.  We don't push.  We've been giving stickers as a reward for trying and money (typically five pennies) as a reward for actually peeing in the potty.  The sitter will have almost half as many kids in a week, so she plans to focus on potty training at that point with her, which we really appreciate.  I hope Baby Girl is ready. 

Baby Girl is still refusing Daddy a lot.  We have to reason with her and tell her that there are two parts to bedtime--changing diaper/pjs and the everything we do upstairs--and that Mommy will do one and Daddy will do one.  We typically have a tantrum (which is fairly mild compared to what I hear from other parents of kids her age) before she gives in and lets Daddy change her diaper and pjs.  Her refusal of Daddy makes both of us incredibly sad.

Baby Girl is definitely discovering her will and opinions, for better or for worse.  A lot of the parts of this age are sweet.  She's loving, still snuggly, curious, adorable (seriously--you need to hear this kid say "okee-dokee"), and fun.  But she's also very opinionated and strong-willed and because of that we butt heads a lot.  I am typically exhausted by the end of the day, especially when she fights bedtime every.single.night.  But I love her truly and deeply and only want the best for her.  Only two more months until she's two.  Wow.

Edited to add some things I forgot:

Baby Girl is now navigating stairs entirely standing really well.  We still try to spot her sometimes, but she does a really good job.

Baby Girl is still technically wearing 18 month stuff, but we didn't buy any summer 18 month stuff, so we're having to use safety pins on some of her 24 month/2T bottoms.  The tops are fine and the dresses seem fine but the pants are long and pretty big in the waist.

21 Months

Every time I write one of these, I'm tempted to start out with the same, tired line.  "I can't believe it's been XX months".  But it's true.  In ways, I cannot remember a time without my baby.  But in others, I can't believe that she has changed from a baby to a toddler seemingly in the time it took me to take a breath. 

She is amazing.  In this past month, she has started exerting her independence more than ever.  Her favorite phrase of the last month has been "DOOWIT!!!!" or "Self!"  In other words, she wants to do it herself, whether it's get dressed, put on her shoes, eat, change her diaper, climb the stairs, brush her teeth...  You get the picture.  It's generally been okay except when she had a cold.  A toddler trying to blow her nose and hold the tissue gets a bit messy.

In the last couple of weeks, we've noticed a big push toward using phrases instead of single words to convey her thoughts.  She had been using two-word phrases some, but now it's almost always at least two words (even if they still sound like one word sentences because of the unnatural break in between them).   

Baby Girl is also becoming more reliable with her manners.  She says "Sank You" and "Peeease" and "Cue Me" on a regular basis.  And she says "Sorry" when she hurts herself.  I think this is because whenever we hit her head getting her into her car seat we'll tell her "sorry".

This month has also been one where Baby Girl learn to climb and descend the stairs standing up.  I don't know if her height was her previous limitation or if it was our hesitation, but she's getting to be a pro now.  As long as she has something to hold onto, she can go up and down any stairs.  Of course, this also means she wants to prove her abilities whenever we're around a set of stairs, so our baby gate has been getting a good amount of use.

The last, less pleasant development that we've experienced has been, as of this past Monday, a complete shift in attitude.  She's decided that Daddy isn't worthy of putting her to bed.  She now knows that brushing her teeth is very likely going to kill her.  She also now believes that booby milk is for babies. 

Yep, she's now weaned.  Look for another post all on its own about that.  It has been since Easter Sunday that she last nursed.

All of these changes have meant that bedtime has become an incredibly painful battle.  I think she's having a hard time winding down now that she's not nursing.  It could also be because she's throwing tantrums about brushing her teeth and about Daddy trying to change her diaper and put on her PJs.  Oh, and she's screams and cries if we even mention Daddy doing bedtime, even though he's done 98% of her bedtimes since she was born.  It's loads of fun.  I'm praying it's a phase and fearing it isn't. 

All of this means that she's becoming her own independent little person.  I have moments of loving it...and moments of not being so happy about it.  But it's inevitable, so I'm accepting it and trying to adjust to her ever-changing personality.  Only three more months until we hit age two!

20 Months

This month has been a big one developmentally for Baby Girl!  It feels like she's grown and learned so much just in the last month.

Just this past weekend I discovered teeth #9 and #10 poking through, her top molars!  She's still pretty behind, but that's okay.  Hoping this will decrease the crankiness, but who knows...

Went to a Japanese steak house with Baby Girl for the first time and she really enjoyed it.  She ate a TON of the food and didn't seem bothered by the fire.  She just looked and said "fire".  The chef was really nice and warned us and asked if it was okay to do the fire and interacted with the kids well (we went with a couple of good friends and their little boy). 

I think morning nursing is done.  Last weekend Baby Girl asked for oatmeal and didn't even ask for milk once she saw me.  She was happy enough to read her book.  The Hubby takes her on downstairs for oatmeal instead of having her nurse unless she asks for milk and now hasn't nursed in the morning since last Saturday.  When she has nursed last week , she'd thrown an absolute fit when we "poly-ed" (as in rolly poly (how the heck do you spell that???)) from right to left.  She'll point to righty and whine "miiiiillkkk".  I have started to try to get excited about coming back for more with "lefty", so she'll say "efty" and doesn't get as upset now.

Baby Girl has started wanting to do things "self"--the most prevalent being the stairs.  She wants to take them standing up and always tells us that she doesn't want help, so we just tell her we're spotting her as we stand down a step or two.  She does a pretty good job all of a sudden--it definitely isn't something that we've pushed her to start doing.

We went through a period of waking between 4:45 and 5:30, which is too early on any morning.  Once it was happening consistently, we knew something needed to change, so we pushed her bedtime back closer to 8:00.  It cuts into our "us" time, but it's nice spending more time with her and feeling less rushed in the evenings.  Maybe we'll actually start getting her bathed more often!  This will be really useful once we get back outside and start jogging again.  After changing her bedtime by just about a half hour, though, she started sleeping until close to 7:00, which is too late on weekdays!  We're working on a happy medium :)

She's also been learning like crazy!  She can count to 10 if we get her to say 4 after 3 (she likes to say 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3 and gets stuck in a loop).  She also suddenly knows pretty much all her colors about 85% of the time.  She can tell us strings of letters (usually G through L) and can recognize letters (definitely E and O and some others some days). 

We have to go bus-hunting some days.  She LOVES busses and will point them out everywhere.  And some days she'll get cranky if we don't see any, so I've told her they're all sleeping.  So now when we see one, she'll say "wake!".  So lucky we could find one that's awake. 

Late this month Baby Girl has also started becoming more interested in the TV.  We don't typically turn it on and they only watch it at the sitter's during drop-off, so she doesn't know many TV shows.  She really likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and loved Spongebob until we pulled the plug on it.  I will sometimes turn on Fresh Beat Band in the evening (it's hard to find cartoons at that time) and we'll watch Chuggington (about trains) On Demand sometimes.  But generally it's just background noise while she's playing.  More recently, though, she's actually sat on the couch and watched almost a full episode of Special Agent Oso or Handy Manny with me.  She'll ask about her "toons" and we'll typically oblige.

Loves:  Singing ("Happy Birthday", "Pider" (Itsy Bitsy Spider), "Happy" (If You're Happy and You Know It), "Bus" (The Wheels on the Bus), dancing (we have regular dance parties now, especially to Glee music), bathtime, vegetables (multiple times this week she's asked for more corn, peas, green beans, carrots, and broccoli), cookies, "toast" (bread), Mommy, Daddy, babies, friends, hugs, kisses (she even makes the little smacking sound now--adorable!), jammies, animal sounds, counting, letters, colors, busses, jumping on the couch, walking

Dislikes: Not getting her way, not having Mommy or Daddy's attention, cow milk (she doesn't hate it, but definitely doesn't drink it like water), some meats sometimes, riding in the car, being strapped into a stroller

18 and 19 Months

I've been a slacker recently with updating the things Baby Girl is up to!  Now that most of the major physical milestones have been crossed, the verbal ones are much more difficult to itemize in a blog.

Physically, not much has changed.  She's got quite a bit more hair (but still won't keep a clippy or headband in it).  She's still got some adorable little thigh rolls that keep getting gunk in them (that part is much less adorable).  She's now jumping, especially on the couch, thanks to the Five Little Monkeys.

The one thing that I was fairly stressed about, physically, was that she wasn't using silverware.  Silly, I know, but I know kids younger than her that were proficient at using the spoon to scoop foods other than thick oatmeal.  But it seems like it's clicked recently.  She actually wants to put food on her fork, instead of holding the fork in one hand and eating with the other.  And this past weekend, she started having Cheerios with milk and eating it like an adult.  Yes, she still picks out those last few O's with her fingers, but I understand--those last ones are tricky to get with the spoon, floating around, evading you.

Baby Girl is still sleeping well.  She woke up in the middle of the night during a recent thunderstorm, but was easily calmed and went right back to sleep for the remainder of the night.  She went through a spell of waking early, grunting and groaning, but this morning we had to wake her to get ready for the day.

I think we're getting ready to drop the morning nursing session.  When I've picked her up from her crib the last few days, the first thing out of her mouth was "oatmeal" instead of "milk".  I'll miss it (since her morning session is typically more relaxed), but it's part of her growing up, I suppose.  The evening session is a struggle almost every night, but she still wants it.  She twists and turns (and stands up!) and pops off every few seconds to tell me something about her day.  It's adorable, but frustrating!  And when she finally settles down, she'll "nurse" (because who knows if there's even anything left...) for another 20 minutes. 

As far as talking, Baby Girl will say anything we ask her to.  Her favorite word right now is "dangerous".  We told her once that climbing behind my parents' computer was dangerous and since then, when we say "You could get hurt" she'll respond with "dane-rus".  Yep, it's dangerous. 

Another cute thing she says is "mup", "mon", and "moff".  Don't sound like words, do they?  Oh, but they are....  Whenever she's in the backseat, taking her shoes off, we'll say "Keep them on", but it comes out more like "Keep 'em on", which she hears as "mon".  Or "Pick them up" becomes "mup". 

She's also quickly learning her ABCs.  It started with her repeating the letters after we say them, but now she can rattle off strings of them at a time.  Her first string was H through L.  She also is very interested in counting...but always skips the number two!  So everything is "one......three....."  It's a work in progress :)

Baby Girl's eating evolves every day.  A few things that were on her dislike list were avocado and broccoli, both of which she's eaten in the last few days.  She actually ate ALL of my broccoli while we were out to dinner (and her own zucchini and Daddy's green beans....) and begged for more.  We're also starting to work in some sweets (I made a batch of cookies over the weekend and gave her some bites of mine when I would eat them in front of her), but not too many--just as a treat.  Her most regular treat is graham cracker Goldfish.

Loves:
Mommy (yes, I'm called Mommy now), Daddy, Gamma (both of our moms), "Pots" (My father-in-law is called "Pops"), "Papaw" (my dad), all the kids at daycare (we even sing songs with their names), kitties, dogs, birdies, giraffes, making animal noises, trucks, cars, airplanes, FOOD (especially: "wishies", which are Goldfish crackers; peas; corn; Cheerios; cheese; taco sauce; ketchup; BBQ sauce; bread), bare feet, going "fast", "flip-flop" (tumbling), taking walks (especially when she can do the walking), her "friend" (her lullaby-singing seahorse), jammies, water, juice, pulling things off the end tables that she shouldn't have, remote controls, phones, putting away dishes, dance parties with Mommy & Daddy (we typically dance to the Glee soundtracks), Five Little Monkeys, If You're Happy and You Know It, saying her ABC's, counting, Mommy's singing, rocking in the rocking chair at bedtime, playing with hair, The Wheels on the Bus, being tickled, rough-housing with Daddy, reading (of course), Daddy reading from the front seat of the car, baths, hiding in the bathroom, going potty with Mommy & Daddy, peek-a-boo, blowing "bubbles" (raspberries)

Dislikes:
Being "stuuuuuuuuck" (in her carseat, especially), wearing shoes and socks, snuggling when it's time to be awake, blankets on top of her, being told she's all done (especially after we've read a book five times in succession), not having Mommy & Daddy's complete attention, hair bows and clippies, Mommy or Daddy pretending to sleep, cow's milk as a drink, getting out of the bath, laying still for diaper and clothing changes, the number eight (she won't ever say it!)

She really is a wonderful little girl.  She's starting to develop empathy (if she sees one of us crying, she'll show concern, give us a hug, and say "cry").  She gives the best hugs and kisses.  She's incredible and amazes us every single day with her abilities and we fall more and more in love with her all the time.  I am so incredibly honored to be her Mommy.

Pep-poo and other cute things

(This post was started a week and a half ago....and instead of adding to it, I'll post it now and be writing an 18 month update in a week and a half!)

The last two months have brought about a lot of changes for Baby Girl--most of them verbally!

Physically, she's got 7 teeth now (#5 showed up the Saturday after Thanksgiving, #6 that next Tuesday, and #7 that next Friday--3 new teeth in a week and no fussing involved).  We think #8 is coming soon based on a low-grade fever and some major chewing this morning (edited to add: #8 showed up 1/10). 

She's jumping.  It's mostly with each foot off the ground separately, but it's a-dor-able to watch her trying.

She LOVES pretzels.  Serious love.  Those and Goldfish.  We made the mistake of giving her some pretzels in the car one day and now she asks for them every time we get in the car.  But she says them "pep-poo" and it's so sweet...so we typically give in.  Not like she's asking for a Snickers. ;)

She's gone through some pickier phases with eating, but seems to be back to eating like a tank after our unfortunate illness.  We send her to daycare with the following: her lunch (leftovers from the night before), pretzels (probably about 25 of the little sticks), full can of mandarin oranges, small box of raisins, and something else.  She eats it all after eating over 1/2 cup of baby barley and sometimes part of a banana.  And then she acts like she's starving, so we give her some pretzels when we get home and then she eats all of her dinner.  And she still nurses in the morning and before bed.  That girl can put it away!

Baby Girl LOVES animals.  The new sitter has a bird, a cat, and a HUMONGOUS dog.  She asks for the kitty all evening and wants to pet it as soon as we get there in the morning.  She asks to see the dog (usually says "woof woof", although yesterday finally said something like "dog") when we're leaving--but she's scared of him when we get close (his head seriously comes up to my boobs and I'm 5'7", so I don't blame her).  We also have to pet the kitty (which she calls a kitty).  She doesn't call many animals by name, but rather identifies them by their sound (you should hear her make the elephant sound...so cute!).

She's also starting to string together words--at the sitter's she said "more color" to indicate that she wanted to color more or that she wanted a new color of crayon. 

Speaking of coloring...it's ALL she wants to do.  That, play with block, and read books.  But it always comes back to "color?  COLOR?"  It's cute....but gets annoying.  Because you know she can't do it on her own.  Oh no...she must have "mom-mom" (her name for me) or daddy color with her.  And we oblige...because we miss her so much during the day.  But we're running out of things to color on plain paper (because Grandpa makes paper, we get free reams all the time).  We typically do footballs, trees, flowers, and try our best at some animals.  She does circles, squiggles, and lines.  Curvy ones.  :)

Baby Girl also has reasoning skills that really impress me.  We'll be in the car and she'll say "Emma?" (one of the kids at daycare) and before we can respond, she says "home".  Yep, honey, Emma went home.  And the first day at the sitter's, K, the sitter, told her that Mommy and Daddy went to work.  So whenever someone else would be dropped off, Baby Girl would say "work".  Then when the first kids were picked up, she'd say "home".

Fifteen Months

Baby Girl turned fifteen months old last Friday, which meant it was time yesterday to visit one of our favorite people--the pediatrician (and no, I'm not being facetious...I seriously adore this man).

First, the stats:

Length (now that she's standing (although not to be measured), it is height???): 30 1/4" (50th percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs 12 oz (8 oz gained in two weeks?  Whoa.) (25th percentile)
Head: 47 cm (approx. 80th percentile--have I ever mentioned how glad I am that I didn't pass this noggin through my vajayjay?)

We arrived, she made eyes at everyone in the well waiting room, looked at fish, read a few books...in other words, we waited...and waited...guess that's what happens when you have the last appointment of the day.  She got measured, then we waited...and she begged to put her clothes back on...and we waited. 

And then.  Then she figured out how much fun it is to stomp on the paper on the exam table.  So we did that for about 10 minutes.  She was marching back and forth, back and forth.  Crunch crunch crunch.  Seriously adorable.

Dr. W came in and did the normal checking out.  Looked at her ears (since the last time we were in the office, her ear was a mess), checked her eyes, her mouth (so glad we've been working on getting her to open her mouth to show us that her food is all gone!), her tummy, etc.  He asked the developmental questions and confirmed that Baby Girl is a genius.  :)  He checked out the evidence of her battle with the sidewalk (as confirmed by the nurse AND the doc--the sidewalk won...eep!). 

And he listened to her heart.  Because since about 6 months (or was it 9?), Baby Girl has presented a heart murmur.  And I think about it almost every single night when she lays down to go to bed because I'm afraid that little ticker is just going to stop.  In which case, my little ticker is going to stop as well. 

The heart murmur?  Still there.  Dr. W says we should hear from a cardiologist office at the pediatric hospital in town and we should expect to be taking her for an appointment sometime next week.  He said he would bet $100,000 that it isn't a problem, but said that since Baby Girl is worth $1 million to him, he wouldn't take any chances (see why we love him???).

And while he was referring us to specialists, he decided we should also see an endocrinologist.  Apparently Baby Girl's bewbies are too big for a baby her age and he's concerned that she's moving toward puberty too quickly.  My suspicion would be that she's still getting hormones from me.  It's not like she needs a bra, but they are bigger than other babies'--even the sitter pointed it out.  But she isn't presenting any other symptoms that might suggest a problem, which is encouraging.  That office (also at the pediatric hospital) will be contacting us in the next couple of weeks and we should expect to go see them within the month.  ~sigh~

He told us again how wonderful she is (she was too busy playing peekaboo with Daddy around me to pay attention) and walked out.  And in came the nurse.  Only two pricks this time and while it wasn't fun for Daddy to hold her down, she had stopped crying by the time he picked her up.  She even gave the nurse a smile before she left.  So it wasn't too traumatizing for anyone involved....thank goodness.  We do have to go back in a month to get her flu shot booster.  Blech.

So that was our appointment.  She's perfect...except for the heart and the bewbies.  But we'll get those checked out and everything will be wonderful :)

Now, to update her development:

Eating:

Baby Girl is eating pretty much anything we put in front of her.  She isn't a big fan of green beans and doesn't love ground meat, but will eat both.  She would snack on peas all day if we'd let her (and it's not like we're denying her).  She still LOVES Cheerios and has had a few different new foods, but nothing terribly exciting--just whatever we eat.  I think the most interesting thing she's eaten is taco sauce by the spoonful. 

Verbal:

Baby Girl has about 20 words: duck, dog, hi, hello, no, help, up, down, walk, rock, sock, shoe, juice, please, truck, daddy, mom, peas, done, ball, hat, slide, swing...and I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting.

She knows the noises for these animals: cow, duck, dog, elephant (sometimes), tiger, bear

Signing:

Baby Girl can sign: please, eat, milk, more, thank you

Mobility:

Baby Girl is running everywhere.  She spins in circles (hilarious) and walks backwards.  She very rarely crawls, but when she does, it looks so funny!  She can get on and off of her riding toys like a champ (for awhile she'd aways swing the wrong leg over it and face backwards), but has problems going forward.  I'm sure if we worked with her to learn to go forward, she'd get it, but it's fun to watch her scoot around backward for now.

Nursing:

She is nursing 4 times a day and once overnight on the weekends (she nurses before work, before bed, and overnight during the week).  I'm pumping around 6 ounces a day and she's drinking about 25 ounces of milk from a sippy each week.

Cognitive:

Baby Girl knows the following body parts: head, toes, feet, hands, fingers, nose, tongue, mouth, hair, eyes, ears, belly, belly button

Just last night, she impressed us by knowing the difference between the red ball and the football.  I figured she would get whichever one she'd been playing with most recently, but she threw the football, then I said, "where is the red ball" and she turned around and found her red ball and threw it. 

Personality:

Baby Girl is an incredibly loving little girl.  She's quick to give hugs and kisses and some nights will switch between Mommy and Daddy 10 times giving kisses without prompting.  She's stubborn and wants things her way, which has led to a few tantrums, but so far nothing we can't handle.  At the end of the dinner each night, instead of telling us she's done (which she can do), she starts spreading her food around her tray and knocking it into her lap and onto the floor.  Sometimes if we clear off the tray and give her only a few things, she'll keep on eating (and eating and eating and eating...).  And sometimes she just wants her applesauce...NOW. 

She is a thinker, though.  Surprising for MY kid, eh?  haha  She looks at the world with inquisitive eyes, sometimes to the point where it looks like she's scowling.  She's just learning.  And within a little bit we can usually break that with tickles and giggles.  She's SO HAPPY.  She may not be giggly happy (unless we're chasing or tickling her), but she doesn't cry unless she doesn't want to be sleeping.  She's incredibly resilient (that battle with the sidewalk?  No tears (from her...we're not talking about mommy's state)) and always bounces back from tumbles that her daddy and I think could cripple us. 

Happy 15 months, kiddo.  We love you and the little girl you're becoming!

14 Months Old

I feel like I could write a post almost daily with all the new things Baby Girl is learning.  Just yesterday she repeated "teeth" when her daddy said "let's go brush our teeth" and in the morning she repeated "shoes" when I told her I needed to put my shoes on.  She's making logical connections that I didn't think possible--she's starting saying "woof" at all dogs, whether they're cartoons (Brian on Family Guy...lol), stuffed, real, or real in pictures. 

Of course, she's also making connections that we don't necessarily want to encourage.  We've been telling her the oven is "hot" and that she shouldn't touch it (which, of course, turns into a game some nights).  So I was blowing on her food and she wanted it and I told her it was hot.  Now she thinks all food is hot and won't eat it without a 5 minute argument and us telling her it's okay.  She doesn't seem to understand the word "not".  So when we say "it's not hot" she just says "hot".  It's amusing for awhile, but gets pretty frustrating!  We're working on it, though.  And it *is* adorable to watch her try to blow on her food (she's actually sucking in air) to cool it off.

Just this week the sitter has started giving Baby Girl her milk (still breastmilk, thankyouverymuch) in a sippy cup and she also tried to move her to one nap.  We'll see if it sticks.  At home last week she was very happy to take two 1 1/2 hour naps at 9:45ish and 2:30/3ish, but yesterday (9/27) she took one nap 1:30-3:30 and had quiet time on her cot until 4.  We didn't see any ill-effects at home, so we'll see how she continues to do.  My guess is that she'll still take two naps at home on the weekends.

Baby Girl is a bit confused about both possessive words (Mommy's nose, Daddy's nose, etc.) and who Mommy and Daddy each are.  She'll get it--it's just funny to watch her.  I ask where Baby Girl's nose is and she points to mine.  I ask where Mommy's nose and she points to her daddy's. 

She is definitely starting to know her body parts, but it comes and goes.  At some point she has successfully identified: head, hair, nose, ear, eye, mouth, tongue, knee, belly, belly button, fingers, and toes.

Baby Girl is starting to learn animal noises.  She growls at a picture of a tiger in a book that she has and woofs at dogs.  I've been told she moos, but I've never heard it.  I'm a little surprised she's never quacked with how much we do it at home!

We're starting to see bits of separation anxiety, but find that she is fine once we leave and we haven't had any actual meltdowns (knock on wood), just a bit of whining and clinginess.  The sitter is really good at grabbing her and saying a happy goodbye to us, then engaging her as we walk out the door.  By the time we pull away, she's either hanging out in the sitter's lap or already on the floor playing with a friend.

The kid still loves love.  She will hug any kids she can find and apparently tries to kiss many of them.  The sitter has had to enact a "no kissing" policy because she left teeth marks in someone's cheek (unintentionally, of course).  She's just so sweet!

Speaking of kissing, Daddy has taught her how to eskimo kiss.  He has been sick the past few days, so he didn't want to kiss her, so he taught her how to eskimo kiss.  You ask her for an eskimo kiss and she offers up her nose to you--it's adorable!  What's great is when she leans in for one unprompted. 

I am loving this age of exploration and learning.  She's testing some boundaries sometimes, but generally is a really happy, fun little girl.  I can't wait to see what the fifteenth month brings!!!

13 months

This monthly update is coming in a different form because I started jotting things down and just want to get this post published since Baby Girl will be 14 months in less than 2 weeks!

Words:

HI!
Uh-oh
Duck
Truck (which sounds more like "Guck" and is really cute when we say "Terrruck" and she replies "Guh-Guck!")
Mamamamama (I'm still not convinced she's ever said it *at* me)
Da or Dadadada
"Sheesh" (we have no idea what it is, but she says it when she points at many things, including the seagulls she was obsessed with at the beach, even after three days of us saying "bird")
Oh (which I think is the beginnings of "nose")
Tikikikiktikitikiki (Tickle tickle tickle)
Nononononono (never in a defiant way--just nonononono)
"ot" (Which is "hot"--what we say when she goes to touch the oven or dishwasher, even when it isn't hot.  Unfortunately, she doesn't understand yet that that means she shouldn't touch it)
Dah-og (dog--although all dogs are now "Shu-shee", or Suzy, which is the name of my ILs' dog)
Up (we're working on getting her to say this when she wants picked up instead of whining at my feet...it's not going well)
Mmmmm! (when she likes something she's eaten--it's especially nice after she's done nursing!  It lets me know I cooked up a good batch for her ;) )
Yeah

Actions:
Nodding
Shaking head "no"
Dancing
Tickling
Puttting away items when asked in the appropriate place, even if it's been awhile since she took it out
Itsy Bitsy Spider--her favorite part was when the rain comes down, but now she's more into the sun coming up


Knows nose, eye, belly button, belly

Ornery:
Tantrums (laying down slowly onto floor and looking up at us--only one real tantrum so far)
Spitting water
Take-away game (offering something to you, then taking it away)

Signs:
More
All done
"I don't know"--raising hands in the air

Twelve Months Old

A few of these developmental things technically happened just after she turned a year old, but I am having a hard time remembering what was happening as of her birthday (bad mommy not writing things down then!).

~ Baby girl is beginning to run!  It's the cutest thing!  She's still stumbling and falling down a lot, but she (almost) always hops back up and goes again. We've had multiple people tell us that she's really "rough & tumble", which we're happy about.

~ Baby girl says "Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" all the time.  Seriously.  To her dolls, to us, to anyone.  She says "Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" as soon as a door is opened, many times before people can hear her.  And if you don't respond, she'll keep saying it.  Of course, if you *do* respond, she'll keep saying it. 

~ Baby girl also says "mamama", "dad", "daddy", "daho" (dog, we think, as she said it when the IL's dog would run across the room), "duck", "bye", and The Hubby says he's heard her "moo" and "quack"

~ Baby girl knows where her nose, her tummy, and her mouth are.  She can also point out the eye on her doll, but we haven't seen her do it on my own body yet.

~ Baby girl has had a few meals where she eats what we eat, but because we still haven't successfully introduced milk, we typically give her pieces of our meals.  Last night, for instance, she had a bunch of black beans from Chipotle while we had our burritos.  I also gave her some of my tomato and corn salsas.  We still haven't found many foods she won't eat (she didn't seem to like yogurt this time, even though she liked it the first time and she didn't like the fruit cocktail I tried to give her at Sam's Club last night.  She still love hummus, applesauce, black beans, corn, peas, and quite a few other things.

~ As of the day before her birthday, Baby Girl has four teeth!  That second top one finally poked through the gums and is about the same length as her other top tooth.  She never seemed horribly bothered by it, thank goodness!

~ Her favorite game is still peek-a-boo.  It is the only thing that will always be responded to with giggles. 

~ Baby Girl loves to tickle.  If you aren't wearing shoes in our house, chances are good that she'll toddle over to you and grab at your feet.  Many times it's a bit rough to be ticklish, but we play along.  She's also started pulling our shirts up to tickle our bellies.  Just need to remember to teach her not to do it in public!

~ Books are still a favorite in our house.  Many times we'll be delayed in doing something because she'll request a book--and who can deny that???  She still loves her Elmo book (So Big) (she even knows when it says "Elmo says 'Ma-Ma-Ma'" and says "mamama" when the page is turned) and also really likes Brown Bear and anything with a flap or textured pages.  Our library has grown tremendously--there are books all over the house!

~ We're working on teaching Baby Girl to put things away.  It's fun to see that she understands simple questions ("Please take this shoe to Daddy") and follows our instructions.  She receives high praise and snuggles whenever she does something we ask! 

~ Baby Girl's kisses have moved from open to closed mouth and, honestly, I'm a little sad about that!  I loved those big open-mouthed kisses I used to get all over my face.  But the closed-mouth ones are so sweet and if you say "give Mommy a kiss" she'll lean in and give you one right on the mouth.  She's also learned to blow kisses this weekend.  Sure, sometimes she'll blow them from her cheek or something, but she gets it ;)

~ We've completely transitioned to the convertible carseats.  We weren't taking the infant seat out of the car anyway, so we went one weekend and got a second convertible seat (our first was a hand-me-down from The Hubby's relative).  Baby Girl looks so teeny now in there, but she seems comfortable (besides getting sweaty....anyone have a remedy for that???). 


I think that's about it...my baby is turning into a little girl before my eyes!  She's still so sweet and loves to sit on your lap to read books, but when she thinks you're going to try to get her to go to sleep, she's out of there!  She's sleeping okay--bedtime is a bit more challenging than it used to be, but getting better.  She slept through the night for exactly a week, but then got sick and we haven't seen that again.  But we're doing okay :)

Eleven Months Old!

This is the last monthly update that I'll be able to write before Baby Girl is ONE YEAR OLD.  Excuse me while I go puke.

Baby Girl, this past month you've made a lot of progress (much to Mommy's dismay at times) at becoming a Little Girl, rather than a baby.  You've stopped fearing that Mommy would make you go to sleep if she put you on her shoulder and started giving the sweetest, longest hugs and cuddles.  You wrap your little arm around Mommy's neck for a minute or so (which is NEVER long enough for Mommy) and I could just melt.

You've become so VERY vocal.  You love to tell us stories and it amazes us how many consonant and vowel combinations you use!  We can't wait until we know what's coming out of that sweet little mouth (unless you're cussing us out...which is possible sometimes!).

You also took your very first steps!  You continue to take a few steps at a time, but just don't have the confidence to let go and take more.  You can do it, Baby Girl!  You have the balance and the strength--just do it!  You love to drive around your push toy (a pink car) and also the push toy at the sitter's (a Pooh with wheels), but haven't figured out the steering just yet.  You'll get there soon, but won't need to once you start walking!

This month you've tried lots of different foods.  Your standard dinners are still the same--vegetable (typically peas because you can feed them to yourself) and a fruit (applesauce, pears, or peaches, typically)--but you're trying lots of Mommy and Daddy's food.  You've had little bites of chicken, ground beef, chicken pot pie, salsa, hummus, and you love black beans!  I just hope you'll always be this adventurous with your food. Your favorite remains Cheerios, though.  Your little body just shudders with excitement when you see the little bowl of them!

You're still our happy little lady.  You smile from the top of your head all the way down to your toes when you're happy.  We love that we can tell you're smiling even if you're looking in the opposite direction.  You're quick with a smile, even if you've just taken a bit of a tumble (which is happening more and more as you become more adventurous).

You've also become quite the little climber.  You love to climb into kiddie chairs and stand in them and like to try to climb on top of tubs and under tables.  We know you're just exploring, but it makes Mommy and Daddy really nervous!

As of your doctor's appointment last week (your follow-up from your ear infection--your first one!), you were 19 lbs 8 oz (with clothes and diaper on) and 27 1/4 inches tall.  You haven't grown even a quarter of an inch since your 9 month appointment, but Daddy and I are expecting a good amount of growth before your one year (!) appointment next month since you were eating like crazy over the last 4 days, then slept really well last night. 

You've got three teeth, with number four just wanting to come through and join the party.  Your bottom front two are pretty much all the way in and your top left is about halfway in (or less).  That upper right tooth has dropped down about as far as the upper left, but the gum is still covering it and is bright white.  It doesn't look comfortable, but like so many other things, your spirits have remained high and you're taking it all in stride.  We haven't noticed you being in pain, even though you're chewing like crazy on everything (including Mommy...ouch!).

This month you've learned so much!  You were hanging out with your Grandma and Grandpa B. and danced with them and also did the Itsy Bitsy Spider with Grandma.  You amaze us with how quickly you learn things!  We can see your mind moving quickly, trying to grasp ideas.  You can now find objects that we hide behind us or inside a tub and are figuring out how to turn things on and open and close things.  You climb into cupboards just to see what's inside and cruise around the dining room table, just to see all sides of it or to play peek-a-boo (your FAVORITE game!).  I have loved watching you learn this month (and every month!).

Even though we still aren't sleeping real well (still waking at least once a night), we are loving spending time with you, Baby Girl.  You're fun, funny, happy, curious, explorative, adventurous, and just plain busy!  I can't wait to see what the next month brings.  It's always something new and exciting with you!

Ten Months Old

Oh Baby Girl, I can't really believe you're ten months old.  I realize I say that every single month, but it's true!  Ten months ago, you were this little teeny baby who couldn't even hold her head up, and now you're this independent little girl!

In the last month, you've started clapping!  It actually just happened in the last couple of days.  You'll clap when we do and also when you do something that makes you happy (turning on a toy, some music, etc.).  Your daddy noticed that you're clapping by bringing your left hand to your right--is it possible you'll be left-handed?  Mommy and Daddy will have to enlist the help of your aunt and uncle to show you how to write and cut with your left hand, if so!

You also have started to shake your head "no".  We don't think it's actually that you're saying no, though--it happens more often when you're dancing to some music or just generally being silly.  You've also started shaking your head when Mommy and Daddy do, too.  For now, it's adorable, but I'm not sure if it will be so cute when we're trying to scold you.  Oh, let's face it, it'll still be cute...but might be frustrating!

You love music and books so much.  You're a lot like Mommy and Daddy (music for both, books for Mommy) in that respect.  You love to dance to music by bouncing while standing.  You're a busy, busy girl, but if we give you a few books, you'll actually stay in one place for a few minutes, turning the pages and sometimes giving the babies in the book kisses (big, wet, tongue kisses). 

Speaking of kisses, you're great at giving kisses.  Yes, they might be a bit wet and you might tend to stick your tongue in Mommy and Daddy's mouths, but it's obvious that you're trying to kiss us.  You also love when Daddy tries to have you blow kisses to Mommy before he takes you to bed.  You always giggle as he puts your hand to your mouth.

This month you've also really found your balance and stand upright without holding onto anything much of the time.  One time you even stood up from a crawling position without pulling up on anything!

You are so close to walking...you'll hold onto our fingers and walk, but aren't brave enough to try it while not holding on!  I know we'll get there soon enough.  Soon you'll realize that you could do it if you wanted to and once that happens, look out!  You'll be running soon after you start walking (once you figure out it's quicker to walk than to crawl!).

This past week you discovered the stairs.  Within two days, you figured out how to scale the steps like a pro and can now get up three of them before we can get to you!  We've been trying to teach you how to come back down safely, but you aren't really interested in that part.

You also got your first tooth this month!  Your bottom left tooth showed up with no fanfare and Mommy and Daddy thought that meant they would all be pretty easy. Unfortunately, you seem to be getting a few more (at least the bottom right and possibly the 2nd bottom left and maybe your top two) and your sleep has begun to suffer for it.  You chew on your fingers (and everything else) really hard, trying to work those teeth through your gums.

The only thing about you this month (and most others!) that hasn't been so pleasant is your sleep (or lack thereof).  We had gotten into a great groove with bedtime and were able to put you down awake most nights and you'd suck your thumb and fall asleep.  Now, though, you need to be completely asleep before we can lay you down and even then sometimes you'll pop your little head up--sometimes crying and sometimes grinning ear to ear.  Mommy and Daddy can deal with the waking once (or twice) a night, but this bedtime stuff is pretty painful.  We all can tell you're obviously tired, so just let yourself sleep, please!

I had to mention the sleeping, but feel I need to also tell you what an absolute joy you are.  I could watch you play for hours.  Unless Mommy or Daddy has something you want (the laptop, a remote, a cell phone), you are really pretty independent and can entertain yourself with your toys as well as some of the things around the house (the bookcase, the armoire--really anything you can pull up on).  You're quick with a smile and giggle pretty easily.  You're friendly with strangers and now even sometimes smile at them in the stores instead of just staring.  You are fascinated by other kids and just a pleasure to be around all the time.  I love to watch you grow and change, even though I do want to hold onto my baby for awhile longer.  I'm not ready for you to be a one year old!

Nine Months Old

Nine months...how did we get here?  You've been here with us for longer than you were in my belly (from the time of conception, that is--I counted the days!).  Some days I feel like it was just yesterday that I was feeling you squirm around in my belly and then that day, nine months ago, that we finally met you.  But then other days I can't remember my life before you.

At nine months old, you're just recently wearing size 3 diapers.  You're starting to wear 6-9 month size clothes (we usually have to cuff the pants and sometimes even the sleeves), but are still able to wear most of the 3-6 month stuff.  Tomorrow we'll find out how you've been growing (and you have been!).

You still love to nurse--it's the only thing that can soothe you when you're extra grumpy.  We only get a few nursing sessions a day while I'm at work (morning, evening, then whatever happens overnight), but we both savor every moment (except when you're pinching my bo.ob--that still hurts pretty bad).  I love to look into those big brown eyes while you gaze back at me.  I still can't believe my body has provided for you for this long.

You're quite the eater overall.  You have cereal made with pear juice in the morning and fruits and veggies for lunch and dinner.  So far you've had: carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans (both whole and pureed), peas, zucchini, avocado, bananas, applesauce, pears, and peaches.  You've got quite the set of pinchers on you and have mastered picking up food like green bean pieces and Cheer.ios.  You now know the color of bowl we keep the Cheer.ios in and get excited whenever we get them out.  You get mad when we tell you the Cheer.ios are "all done". 

You're the busiest little girl I've ever seen.  You're into everything and crawling and pulling up everywhere.  You can pull up on a flat wall, which is a really funny thing to watch!  You love to explore and are so curious about everything around you.  You're also pretty easily distractable--you could be headed toward one toy, but if another is in the way, you might stop to play with it instead (or you might just try to crawl right over it, no matter what it is!).  You prefer to be upright at all times.

You love your daddy fiercely, but I think you're still a mommy's girl.  Over the last month we've spent a lot of time together because of Daddy's work schedule and I think that's attached you even more.  Sometimes it's frustrating (like when I just want to go to the bathroom!), but most of the time I love to turn around and see you crawling like a mad-woman to get to me.  You can move really quickly!

Soon you're going to be walking and I'm not sure I'm ready.  You're starting to let go of things and stand on your own for a few seconds at a time--thank goodness you've become quite the graceful faller! 

Your favorite thing to do at home is to pull up on the windowsill (we have one that's no more than a foot off the floor) and watch the goings-on outside.  You love to watch other little kids, cars, motorcycles, and even just the trees blowing in the wind.  I'm excited for the weather to turn warm (as much as I truly hate warm weather) so we can spend even more time outside, where you seem to thrive.

Your sleeping continues to be a struggle for us.  Some days we'll think we've got it under control, then you'll shake things up.  Last week, for instance, we were at a point where you'd sleep 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., get up and eat, then go back to sleep until 6:30 a.m.  This week, however, you've been up all sorts of odd hours and then getting up for the day at 5 a.m., which is WAY too early for all of us!  Mommy still thinks there are teeth coming, but who really knows.  If I keep saying it, it eventually has to be true!

You have the biggest smile that just melts my heart.  You're sometimes shy about showing it to new people you meet, but when we get you alone, you don't stop smiling!

You also now wave!  It's the cutest thing (well, to this mommy, anyway).  You won't do it on command, but I suppose we should get used to that, shouldn't we?  :)

You giggle and babble nearly constantly now and my favorite time is when we're in the car and you sit in the back and tell me all about your day.  We've heard so many consonants from you: B, D, F, H, L, M, N, P, T, V.  I was so happy to hear "mama" finally.  Of course your words aren't directed at anyone in particular, but it's still a beautiful sound to hear.

You had your first real boo-boo this month and it scared your mommy and daddy a lot.  I finally have a picture uploaded and will do another blog post on it either today or tomorrow.  You, of course, were fine within a few minutes--it amazes me how resilient you are.  Usually a hug from mommy or daddy and you're off again!

I love you, baby.  I hope you'll never ever doubt that.  Even through the sleepless nights and grabby hands (you love to get ahold of Mommy's hair and tug HARD), I can't imagine my life without you in it.  Thank you for being such a happy blessing in my life, Sugarbear.

Love always,
Mommy

8 Months Old

Wow. I'll say what I say every month...I cannot believe she's eight months old. I thought time would slow down when she hit 6 months, but it hasn't, sadly. While I'm looking forward to a lot of things as she gets older, I know she's only going to be my little baby for such a short time and am trying to cherish these moments.

I'll try to get a weight on her soon. I'm guessing she's a little shy of 18 pounds. I think she was about 17 pounds around 7 months and she seems to be gaining about a pound a month.

Baby girl is just now starting to wear 6-9 month size clothes. She is still wearing most of her 3-6 month stuff, but since there are some 6-9 month clothes that are definitely for winter, I want her to get some use out of them, especially now that spring is officially here (although you wouldn't know it with the snow we had last Thursday night!).

We're getting ready to transition her into size 3 diapers. She could keep wearing size 2 for a bit longer, but they're starting to get pretty tight. She's still wearing a size 3 diaper overnight to help contain her overnight pee.

She's crawling EVERYWHERE. She's into everything!!! She can crawl really quickly and it is still incredibly cute to watch.

She loves to pull up on everything including, as of Friday, her crib. Imagine our surprise when we went to get her after a nap and she was standing there looking at us! Her favorite thing to pull up on, though, is her mommy. Whenever I'm on the floor with her she's crawling over to me and trying to climb up Mount Mommy.

Her favorite "toys" are plastic bags, computer cords, paper (coupons, newspaper, mail), and socks. She loves socks, unless they're on her feet!

Her favorite actual toys are her activity table and all stuffed animals, especially her sock monkey. She hasn't established a real connection to any one toy, though, which is okay with us!

Baby girl loves to grab faces. We try to allow her to explore, but she ends up being pretty rough. Both her daddy and I have quite a few scratches all over our faces. She'll grab at eyes, eyebrows, noses, and lips. She also loves to grab ahold of mommy's hair. Usually, though, she has ulterior motives when she grabs hair--she's trying to pull in for a kiss. One could probably argue that she's not actually giving a kiss, but we like to believe she is! She opens her mouth wide and drools on and licks our faces. It's the sweetest thing! Last week she even chased down her mostly immobile friend (my friend's son who is 3 weeks younger) and grabbed his head and gave him kisses. One of these days we'll be using that as blackmail!!!

Sleeping still isn't wonderful, but it's been a lot better this past week (except over the weekend). She's only been up once a night, eats, then goes back to sleep. Daddy is able to work his magic and put her down awake and she falls sleep on her own. We still rock and sing to her until she's sleeping, but she can sometimes lay down awake and soothe herself to sleep. It all depends on the quality of her naps.

To date, baby girl has eaten: green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, buttercup squash, applesauce, pears, peaches, banana (although not much), and avocado (bad news--she hated it!). She would LOVE to eat mommy and daddy's food. When we're eating something while holding her, she'll try to shove her nose into our mouths to smell what we're eating. Tonight she did it with a peanut butter cup with Daddy. One morning it was even with my toast!

Speaking of eating...we're still waiting on that tooth. She's been chewing on everything in sight for about 5 months now and still has no teeth. I'm not sure how excited I am about the experience of teething, but it would be nice to be able to give her tastes of our table food.

Seven Months

I think I say this every month...but I can't believe she's seven months old!!!

At seven months, baby girl is crawling all over the place. She's still not *real* fast, but she can go for sure. I sat her on the floor outside the bathroom today with a couple of toys and by the time I was done and washing my hands, there she was, tugging on my pant legs. When she crawls over to me when I'm sitting down, she'll ram her head into my shin. Can't be comfy, but it's so cute!

Baby girl is eating like crazy. I keep saying that I'm so glad she's a good eater. If she were a bad eater and a bad sleeper, I don't know what I'd do! She loves to nurse, but also take a bottle like a champ. Every morning she has 1/4 cup of baby oatmeal mixed with organic pear juice (to help keep her tummy moving). Starting this past weekend, she's getting a veggie at lunchtime. Then, while we eat our dinner she has 3 or 4 ice cubes worth of veggies. So far she's had carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, and green beans and loved all of them. Of course she likes the orange veggies a bit better since they're sweeter, but she hasn't balked at anything.

She's such a big girl about sitting in her high chair. She sometimes gets a bit fussy when the tray is on, but after she's done eating, we clean her up, take off the tray, and push the chair all the way up to the table. We give her plastic measuring cups (the 1/4 cup one was on the table from measuring out oatmeal) and she bangs them on the table. The first night this happened, we were all rocking out Bon Jovi. It's a great way to keep her occupied while we finish eating or just hanging out, listening to the radio.

Her sleeping still isn't great, but we're getting there. She'd like to sleep 12 hours a night or so, I think. We had one night where DH put her down pretty awake and he tried to soothe her to sleep, but she kept giggling and playing with him. Eventually he laid down on the floor and I put my head down and closed my eyes while sitting in the rocker. She got bored and just rolled over on her tummy and went to sleep.

She's definitely a thumb sucker. She now sucks her thumb and pulls on her ears when she's tired. She even does it in the middle of dinner.

Baby girl has recently started bouncing. She's a bit erratic about it and will only do it while being held, but it's super fun.

My favorite thing that she does right now is give kisses. I have no idea if she means to do it, but I'm the only one she'll do it to. She usually grabs my face (and sometimes my hair with the other hand) and brings her mouth to my cheek (or my mouth sometimes), open wide, and lick/suck my face. It's the sweetest thing!

She still prefers to be next to her mommy whenever possible. We can be sitting on the floor together and she'll turn and crawl up onto my lap or turn all the way around and lift her arms up to be picked up. Just this past weekend she fell asleep in our bed without any coaxing, just because she was snuggled up on mommy.

That leads me to my favorite times with her--snuggling in our bed on weekends. DH will typically get up with her if she gets up obnoxiously early and then bring her back up when she needs to nurse. I'll nurse her and we'll play a bit in bed. Some mornings we can coax her to take her nap a little early and all of us snuggle in bed together.

She can be quite impatient. Just recently she's started banging on her tray when we aren't feeding her quickly enough. And while she likes being naked, she doesn't like the process of getting changed.

Everything still goes in her mouth. She loves most of all to chew on cloth things--her clothes, her jacket, stuffed animals, tags, blankets... We always tell her she's going to get a fuzzy tongue. No teeth yet. We've had quite a few instances of some really stringy drool, TONS of chewing...but no teeth yet. Not concerned, just wondering when they're going to show up!

She's really getting the hang of standing and still prefers to stand over crawling. She will hold onto the side of her Exersaucer with one hand and stand there. Of course, we put our hands under her arms, just in case, but don't touch her. It amazes us every single time. She's *trying* to figure out walking while holding our fingers. It isn't the balance or supporting her weight that's getting her...it's actually moving her legs. She tends to walk a tightrope and that's not real conducive to learning to walk!

Baby girl loves to be upside down. I always thought she just hated being upside down, which is why she was breech, but no--you dangle her upside down and she's really happy!

She loves to squeal, especially when mommy will respond with her own squeal.

She's ticklish, but only mommy can get her to roll over to run away and squealing from being tickled. She squirms a bit when others do it, but not as much as when mommy does it!

Another great moment of the last month was when she crawled to us for the first time when we picked her up at daycare. What a great feeling to see her crawling to us, ready to see us after a long day!!!

She's still wearing size 2 diapers and 3-6 month clothes. Both are getting fairly snug and we've had to phase out a few 3-6 month outfits. I plan to exchange some of our size 2 diapers very soon for some size 3s. I have plans for her to wear a 6-9 month outfit (her first) this weekend (a sweater DH's dad picked out for her, who we'll see on Saturday).

She loves being rocked to sleep. Daddy reads her a story, then mommy comes up, lays her on her side, and starts rocking and singing. She immediately pops that thumb into her mouth. Mommy sings "You Are My Sunshine", "The Alphabet Song", "Jesus Loves Me", "Carmen Ohio", and "Amazing Grace", just to name a few.

She's giggle like crazy if you blow raspberries on her belly or make her fly.

If I can think of anything else, I'll come back and add it! I don't want to forget her the way she is right now--she's such a joy!

Six Month Stats

Baby girl's stats:

15 lbs 15 oz (50th percentile)
25 inches (30th percentile)
head circumference: 42 cm (60th percentile)

Her head size is finally evening out, so it's good to know she won't always be a lollipop.

Her weight has consistently been in the 50th percentile, which makes mommy feel really good--like I'm doing something right

Her height, though...she's going to be a shrimp! According to the doctor, she's had a steady decline in her percentile and has never been overly tall (never over 50th percentile), so it's not concerning. But it's a little weird for me--I'm 5'7" and my mom is 5'10"!

She got three vaccines via shot, one oral, then also got the seasonal and H1.N1 flu shots. So 5 pokes for her. :( She handled them really well, though, and stopped crying almost immediately after they were done.

To celebrate her birthday, mommy and daddy took her out to brunch (although she didn't get to eat) at Chick Fil-A, then dropped her off at the sitter's so she can get some good naps. Daddy went to work and I am going to do a little something for me--go shopping. Nothing exciting--I'm just going to do some dealing at the grocery store--but I hope I can actually relax a little bit.