My Buddy

12 Months

   Wow, twelve months old already!  I'm amazed by how much can happen to a little person in just one year.  She's gone from a tiny person who didn't know how to eat or sleep by herself, to a little toddler with the biggest personality and her own opinions about what she should be eating, and when she should be sleeping.  I can't boast that I made her myself anymore, because she's so much greater and bigger than anything I could have ever accomplished.  I'm so proud to have such a big-hearted, fearless girl who loves so freely and openly.
   She has become so independent.  She crawls so fast, cruises laps around the furniture, races her wagon back and forth across the house.  She refuses to be hand fed, and has very decided opinions about which foods she will and will not eat, and "mush" is definitely out of the question.  She loves Sunday school and play-dates.  If I left her in a room full of children, she would stay happy indefinitely, and forget she ever had parents.
  She tries so hard to be grown-up.  Everyday I catch her trying to imitate me doing things, like trying to drink from a water-bottle, read a book, write with a pen, talk on the phone, push carts at the store or open and close containers.  She imitates the way David and I talk, too.  When we leave her in her high-chair for a while she starts to babble, and sometimes she sounds just like me and David when we pick on each other.
  I'm so grateful that she loves music so much.  She dances and claps whenever she hears music, or even when I sing or whistle to her.  She loves to bang on everything and gets so excited when she can make two different sounds at the same time.  Her favorite toy is is her new xylophone, she'll go straight to it and dig it out of a huge pile of toys every time she sees it.  She holds her mallet so artfully, like a tiny maestro.
  I'm pretty intimidated by the thought of raising a toddler.  Raising a baby was easy.  All I had to do was feed her, change her, love her and play with her.  Now she'll require activities, meals, and patience (I am the polar opposite of structure and graciousness).  
Here's to one year conquered, may the next be just as delightful!

Cool Stuff she can do:
Give kisses
Dance
Clap to music
Walk (10 steps is her record!)
Climb stairs
Bend over and pick stuff up

Actively play Peekaboo
Play hide-and-seek with a phone

Throw stuff overhand (usually food)
Pull her wagon backwords

Stuff she likes:
Playing chase or peekaboo with her buddy
Her toy xylophone
Digging in my purse
"swimming"
Buckets
Drawing
Animals
Bread, cheerios, pasta, as long as it's not a vegetable and it's been baked
Nibbling

Tooth Count:
Four, plus two more upper teeth on the way

Words she can sign:
More, milk, food, up, please

Words she can say:
Hi

11 Months

   So much has changed in the last month, I feel like I have a whole new baby!  She is a speedy little crawler, and she could get into anything if I'd let her.  Our house is officially Baby-Land, with gates, corrals, outlet covers, toys and cheerios everywhere.  She is constantly moving.  She can walk one-handed and stand up on her own.  She cruises around everything and she has even taken one step on her own (although I think she might have just lost her balance).  Her newest thrill is dancing.  Whether standing or sitting, as soon as she hears music she bobs up and down or back and forth.
   She has also started "putting away" and sharing her toys.  I have found her filling buckets, bread pans, orange cones and shoes with toys.  She loves to move things back and forth and fills my lap with toys.
  She has a growing fascination with her feet.  If she is standing, she likes to pat things with her feet or she will put her feet up when she is sitting at the table.  She loves when I play with her piggies.
   She is becoming so goofy, and I think she has her parents' strange sense of humor.  Sometimes she will laugh just because of the way I look at her.
   I can't believe that this is my last monthly post before her first birthday.  Every day I wish that I could just press Pause on her and keep her from growing just a little while longer.  Just long enough to catch up.  I don't think I'm ready for her to keep growing and I'm so afraid that I'll miss something or that I'll forget the most beautiful little moments.
   It makes me sad to know that she won't remember this time.  She won't remember all the cuddles and story times, or how she fits so neatly between my arms, pressed against my chest. 
   People might make fun of moms for being cheesy and emotional, but there is never any time that I have been more happy and fulfilled and full of love than when I'm holding my child.  I never understood that before I had her, and I never would have.  That's also why moms have ladies retreats and go to Mama Mia together.  We need to be around other people who are the same kind of crazy.

  Emotional mommy stuff: CHECK
  Up next: BRAGGING

Cool stuff she can do:
   crawl
   walk while holding one hand
   stand alone (while clapping, too)
   dance
   make monkey and elephant noises, and woof
   fill things with toys and share
   drink from a cup
   wave hello
   play peekaboo and hide and seek

Favorite things of assorted varieties:
   wheeled push toy
   blocks
   pictures of people, especially babies and people she recognizes
   tomatoes, asparagus and cheerios or any food on the floor
   emptying the dishwasher and the pantry
   kids
   being carried on our shoulders
   being tickled by feet
   streaking

Tooth count:
   Two on the bottom, two more on the way on the top
  
 

Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum-Summertime

We have been having way too much fun lately.  David is done with school for the semester, so I actually get to see him EVERY DAY and like, eat together and stuff.  The weather has been beautifully sunny, but increasingly more miserable every day.  Minnesotans do not belong in the South.
I've been busy on my garden and taking walks and picnics with the family nearly every day.  I love being able to take the kids outside when I'm babysitting.  I can take them out into the grass to eat dirt, or if it's too darn hot we'll sit in the porch and play all day.  Since David's semester has ended, the list of activities has included church and school picnics, visiting Arlington Cemetery, playing frisbee and a birthday party.
I'm looking forward to going to the pool and possibly taking a road trip to the Shenandoah River or the Maryland coast.

 

Ten Months, and Then Some

 

 

Little has been a busy little lady since our last progress report.  She's crawling everywhere!  Creeping is her most effective mode of transportation, but she can also crawl, cruise, and walk while having her hands held.  No place is beyond reach for her anymore, not even the bathroom.  I have been interrupted during a shower more than once in the past month, and finally convinced David to fix our bathroom door.  
She's also developed quite a personality.  She understands "No" now, but she doesn't like to hear it.  She's so curious and always wants to see what I'm doing, particularly when it comes to the toilet.

Here's some cool stuff she can do:
 Sign "up," "more," and "milk."
 Say "Dada"
 Wave goodbye

 Knock on doors

Stuff she likes:
 Peek-a-boo
 Being fanned in the face
 Swinging
 Chasing me across the floor
 Emptying the cupboards
 Having the butt cheeks pinched
 Flying

I never did get around to month eight's pictures, but I did manage a nine month photo.  This is the only tolerable picture I had out of about 50.  I nearly gave up photography for good, but I gave myself another chance.  Orange you glad?

Annora: 6 and 7 Months

Little turned six months old while we were away for Christmas, so month six is getting thrown in with month seven.  So much has happened in two months!

 

 

 

Little's Discoveries and New Behaviors:
Sitting.  Her best friend Adeline taught her this one
Eating Cheerios.  She invented her own sign for "more" by slapping her tray.
Banging on things with a stick.  Or a spoon, or fork, or her hand.  Just banging in general.
Screaming.  David's favorite.
Moving towards things that she wants by rolling or diving.  Next lesson: gravity.
Elephant noises.  This one kills me.
Standing while leaning or grabbing something.  Little Miss Independent picks out her own toys now.
Bouncing.  Or the Flipper flap, depending on how you look at it.
Drinking from a sippy cup.  Or holding it while milk dribbles down her neck.

In Progress:
Supporting herself on her hands and knees while doing the Flipper Flap and saying "UhUhUhUhUhUhUh."

 

  

My favorite part about seven months is how much she loves me.  She loves to cuddle and hug and chew on my face (I think that's supposed to be kissing).  Whenever anyone else is holding her she makes a Kamikaze dive into my arms.  I love having a Momma's girl.

Her favorite things:  Elephant noises, flying upside down, mirrors, Mommy, her sippy-cup, oatmeal, cheerios, her feet, empty boxes, playing Pop Goes the Weasel and dogs.

5 Months

See my new skirt?

I'm watching you, Sophie...

The little Princess, looking over her kingdom.

Guitar solo!

The Little is not just an infant anymore, she's a real Baby!  Before she was born, five months seemed so old and so far away, but we're already here!  She's traded in so many aspects of her infancy.  She has replaced her slender figure with soft and delicious little rolls of fat.  She no longer needs to be snuggled to sleep, but will go to sleep on her own once we kiss her good-night.  She can entertain herself with almost anything without any help.
We recently started using Parent Directed Feeding, which keeps your baby on a constant rotation of eat-play-sleep.  Now she naps for 15 minutes before every feeding, and seems a lot happier lately.  She also goes to sleep easier, I think because she knows that's the expectation.
We finally moved her crib out of our room this week and into the living room.  I'm hoping that she'll sleep longer during the night without us around to disturb her sleep.
She loves to touch everything, and inspect things with her hands.  She always wakes me up in the morning by touching my lips and my nose, and when I open my eyes I see a very inquisitive little face looking back at me.  If you give her toys, she'll whip them around in the air until they fly off into the distance, then she'll marvel at her little hands wondering where her toys went.  She likes to inspect everything from mirrors and windows, to the carpet, couch upholstery and bedsheets.
While most of her jabber still consists of lip buzzing, she is slowly building up her repertoire of sounds.  Just this morning she looked over at David and started shouting, "Dadadadadadadadada!"  You might say it's coincidence, but I'm pretty sure I've got my very own child genius.
I'm starting to make this a little too long, but there's still so much to say!  So bear with me, because Little is about to start CRAWLING.  eek!  Last night, David and I watched as she pushed her chest up off of the floor and spun in a circle trying to play with every toy within arm's reach.  My heart jumped out of my chest, partly from pride and partly from fear because we haven't BABYPROOFED yet! Again, eek!(!!!!)  This is especially scary because only two days ago, she couldn't even do half a push-up, now she's a baby yoga master!  Lord, help me!
She's also eating cereal now, and that's so entertaining, it might even warrant it's own post.
Her favorite things this month include bouncing (especially to the tune of "Prim, Prim, Prim"), being tossed in the air, watching Mommy dance, hearing Mommy sing gospel choir songs, kisses, Peekaboo, being naked, having her fingers and toes nibbled on, and sponge-baths.
And her least favorite thing this month is pooping.

 

P.S.  Congratulations to my favorite Baby Blogger, Melissa.  She's having more!!!!  Yay!  http://dearbabyblog.com/post/2083026766/dear-everyone-this-is-a-letter-from-us-there#disqus_thread