As she grows.... month 10

I can't believe my baby is TEN months! This first year is going by too quickly. Also just realized I better get started on the first birthday plans with just 2 months to go. She is really catching up quickly and can't quite believe she's 16 lbs. I was only around 19 lbs on my first birthday, so comparing her to my own growth curve, she might just catch up to her mama by her birthday and will surpass me for sure come May.

10 Month (32 weeks adjusted/7.5 mo.) Stats:

• Around 16 lbs (according to my own bathroom scale)
• Probably still around 25 3/4 in. from last well visit

Activities/Interests

• This kid likes to EAT! She eats around 3-4 oz at each meal in addition to 4-5 nursing sessions a day. 
• She still doesn't love her green veggies, but will eat them if something fruity or sweeter is on the spoon as well. Some of her favorite things to eat with her green veggies are apples and sweet potatoes.
• Yogurt is now at the top of the list of favorite foods. So far we've only tried "Yo Baby" brand and think she'd eat it all day long
• All flavors of puffs are now acceptable as well as yogurt drops. These usually entertain her long enough for Mama to heat up her meal and she's gotten pretty good at landing them in her mouth.
• At the last well visit the Dr asked us if we tried meat purees yet (can we say yuck!). We hadn't and I decided I couldn't bring myself to puree meat myself, so I threw a few jars in the cart on my next grocery visit. Needless to say, this chick wouldn't touch the chicken with a ten foot pole. I have to say it looked DISGUSTING! Sort of like meat jello...gag! So since she was doing well with the puffs, I decided to give her a little taste of our Pot Roast a few nights ago and she was in LOVE. Since then she's tried a few bites of chicken and is a fan of that as well. For me, meat just falls in the category of things not to puree.
• I already shared this, but at the beginning of this month she has started saying "dada" - A LOT! She loves babbling while she's playing and dada is by far one of her favorites. I love listening to her little voice and wonder what she's talking to her toys about. 
• The past few weeks at church have started to become a little more difficult with a chatterbox. We have to stay out of the nursery until after RSV season ends, so we might find ourselves in the hallway a lot more now that someone has really found her voice.
• Peek-a-boo is one of her favorite games to play with Mama and Dada after dinner. I love watching her hide her face behind her bib and wait for us to play with her. 
• Think we might have a true extrovert and social butterfly on our hands. She has never met a stranger and will smile and giggle at anyone we meet. For example, this weekend we had a packed day of church, early Christmas with my parents which included lunch and play time with her cousins, Ellie and Blake. After a quick nap in the car, we arrived at an annual Ladies Tea with my mom's friends and their daughters. Lydia quickly reached out to be held by my mom's friends and was having a blast "talking" to everyone and giggling with the other little girls. They say extroverts recharge being around others and I think that was definitely the case with our girl. Even when she started to get tired towards the end, she was still smiling, laughing and just slowly lowered her head on my shoulder and fell asleep to the background noise of all the ladies chatting.
• We also have a professional roller on our hands. She can get just about anywhere with her rolling skills -- under the chaise, to the Christmas tree and to any of her desired toys. She has started to put herself into the crawling position - knees and butt up, tummy off the ground and hands locked, but ultimately decides rolling can get the job done just fine. She has pulled herself in a sort of army crawl a few times on our wood floor, so I feel like crawling is coming soon. but am having fun watching her try and figure this all out on her own.
• Actually as I type this, I see her army crawling to get to our entertainment unit haha!

Was able to get a quick video with my phone of her army crawling to my computer this afternoon!

Here are her 10 month shots with Mr Bear as well as a few peek-a-boo shots. I just love her little smiling face!

Dada

Lydia's new favorite word lately is of course "dada". She says it constantly -- especially when she's playing. I captured this short video during bath time when she first started saying it to send to Kyle. I think he plays this video for everyone now. He's so excited she can say his name... even if she doesn't realize it!

(This video looks a little skinny b/c it was taken on my phone)

Melts my heart! Love her!! Now we are working on Mama!! Also just noticed she's a bit of a toy hoarder...haha

As she grows... month 9

Almost caught up on my monthly posts for our little girl. It seems like she's doing something new almost every day and her little personality emerges a little more. I had a realisation at our doctors appointment this month, that we're getting close to the 1 year mark! ahh.... As I was making our next well visit appointment, I realized she would be ONE! I'm not ready for my baby to reach that milestone yet,  but am so thankful for her health and the progress she has made in her life so far. She's such a fighter and is quickly catching up to her peers.


9 month (around 29 weeks adjusted) stats:

• 15 lbs 1 oz
• 25 3/4in.

Interests/Activities:

• This month she really figured out how to put together the rolling from tummy to back and then back to tummy. At first she would just roll in a complete circle and then one day she just started rolling across the floor to reach her desired toy. It's quite funny to see her roll from place to place.
• She hasn't quite figured out how to crawl, but has been "crawling" backwards, turning in 180 degree circles and rolling to get what she wants. Daddy can't wait for her to start crawling, but Mama is a little unsure about that!!
• We added Puffs and Num nums into the food selection this month, but she didn't really enjoy the puffs at first. Silly Mommy bought the healthy "green" ones and quickly figured out she was gagging because of the flavor - not the texture. "Orange" has been much better for this little ones palate!
• This month she started blowing raspberries and make all sorts of mouth noises. She loves "talking" and babbling to her toys as she plays.
• While she enjoys playing with us, she does a great job of playing independently on the floor or in her exersaucer; which has been great for Mommy to be able to accomplish some things around the house.
• We've been "working" on naps a lot this month. She is now able to go down without much fuss, but still don't know if she'll sleep 30 mins, 45 or the rare 1.5 hrs. Haven't quite figured out how to make it at least an hour each time, but hoping as she gets a little older, she'll go for longer stretches at a time.
• Right before Thanksgiving we went to see Santa and the Pink Pig with our cousins Ellie and Blake. That was a fun filled day that deserves its own post with Santa picture... so more on that later. But she does great when we are out in public and think she just loves to observe everything around her... again Miss Nosey!! I don't mind though because she seems content and allows me to have a relatively low stress outing.

Our big 9 month girlie:

 Little Wiggle worm make it hard to take any good shots this month, but got a cute profile

 Hello Mr. Bear

 mmm.... SHOES!

And here's a quick shot of our roller trying to escape the den! She didn't know what to make of the hardwood at first.

As she grows... month 8

So, I knew I was behind on my monthly stats for Lydia, but was about to write a post for month 9, when I realized I never did one for month 8! Ekk...


8 month (23 weeks adjusted) stats:

• 14 lbs 4 oz
• Around 24 in. (based on my measuring skills... so not that accurate)

Interests/Activities:

• Continues to try new baby foods and textures
• Anything green makes her look at me with a face of such disgust
• I also realized she likes things REALLY puree'd -- no chunks yet
• She really started noticing Sadie at this point and would get a big grin on her face whenever she would come in the room. Though I think she keeps expecting Sadie to turn and flash her a big smile in return, but she does get covered in doggie kisses if Sadie comes close enough. And I do mean covered... I could just give up baths all together and let Sadie handle the task!
• The beginning of month 8 was when Lydia finally figured how to roll from back to tummy, but wasn't too interested in going tummy to back... I guess since she already mastered that a while back, she didn't feel the need to repeat. :)
• She also hit the big sitting up milestone this month without toppling over. She had been able to "sit" for a while now, but would soon topple over, but she finally figured out how to keep her balance and sit up for longer periods of time.
• She is such a happy baby and really loves to smile and flirt with everyone she meets. Love her easy going disposition and that smile gets us everytime!
• Visiting the pumpkin patch wasn't your favorite activity this month, but we had a blast with your cousins and wearing our pumpkin attire.
• We also enjoyed your first Halloween by showing you off in your flower costume to a few neighbors.

Here are a few of the shots from her 8th month shots with the bear.

Rolling and Other happenings

I've been sort of slacking off with blogging. I'm sure you all miss me terribly! HA! Lydia is taking her morning nap, I should be showering, but instead I'm catching up on all my blogs and decided to give a little update of my own.

We've had a little technical difficulties lately since "someone" MAY have accidentally spilled water on the laptop. Geesh! Who would do that!!?? At first, I thought everything was okay. Then I noticed that the computer would start to type on its own. It's favorite key of choice you ask? Well, it happens to be the \\\\\\\\

It doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes it behaves wonderfully and then sometimes it takes you 30 min to sign into Google because its so darn fast and can type \\\\\\ faster than you can hit the backspace. And then sometimes just when you think you might win, the keyboard won't work at all.

I think its a conspiracy. Though as I tattle tale on my computer now, it's behaving.

All that to say... it makes it hard to enter my email address, let alone write a full sentence. But I'm going to roll with it while its cooperating!

In other news... Lydia has started to put her rolling skills together. She rolled clear across the room while I was ironing (I know, right? That's a rarity in our house). I set her back in place and she took off again.

She ha\s also started to scoot backwards. I'v\e \b\een tol\d this is a \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \pr\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ \e\\\\\\\\\\\\cur\ser\\\\ \\\\\\\\\\\t\o\ c\\\r\awling\. (Th\is is wh\at happ\ens when th\e computer takes over... just leaving\ it in so you can see wha\t I'm dealing with\ over h\ere!!) Guess my streak of no \\\\ is over. Any advice on getting my keyboard to behave??

Ok... back to Lydia. I feel like my baby girl is growing up WAY too fast. She already wiggles in my arms like she wants to get down and go, but she doesn't realize she can't really move yet. I'm going to be a little sad the day I put her down and she doesn't stay in one place... and I have a feeling its coming soon. Sniff!

Since I never had an official Halloween post, I'll leave you with a picture of my sweetness dressed up as a flower. Better late than never, right?

Second Mommy

In case you weren't aware, Lydia actually has two mommies. Myself and our beloved Sadie. Sadie is quick on her feet, always atuned to the slightly whine or whimper from our girl. She's the first one up the stairs and offers reinforcement during tummy time via kisses.

Well you may ask... who is this Sadie? She is our doggie.

Our doggie, who when we adopted her nearly 3 years ago was so scared, she'd hide behind the couch, never barked and wouldn't even lay in her bed... poor little thing.

Motherhood has changed Sadie as well. While she slowly became more comfortable with us, laying on the couch (when I'm not looking), begging for treats, etc... She has come out of her shell even more to keep watch over Lydia.

She now barks when the doorbell rings or if family walks in without her knowing it. She even comes to check on us in the middle of the night if I'm in Lydia's room.

During the day, she can frequently be found napping besides Lydia's crib or sprinting up the stairs at the slightest sound from the baby monitor. She's mommy's little helper and I'm pretty sure she considers herself Lydia's mommy too.

Here is Sadie waking up from her nap when I came to check on Lydia

Outdoorsy? Not so much...

So I've decided my child offically doesn't like the outdoors.... or maybe she just doesn't love fall as much as her mama does. We've gone to a few fall festivals/pumpkin farms since the weather has gotten cooler and our little Miss hasn't totally been in love.

While her cousins enjoy horses, more horses, petting bunnies....





Or picking out the perfect pumpkin...

 

Our little lady wasn't quite as excited. Inner baby dialog below...





Why am I on the ground?



What is this giant ball and why does mom insist I sit by it?





Still not happy



We grown ups had fun watching the kids play and of course took a few hundred photos to remember the day. Here are a few of my favs:

Again with the pouty face... haha

I'm pretty impressed we got 2 out of the 3 looking in the same direction and smiling

Onnie and Papa with their grandbabies

My little pumpkin

Videos

Before we became parents, I talked Kyle into getting a video camera to capture those moments where a still shot just wouldn't cut it. Kyle wasn't convinced I'd really use it and while I admit I'm not so good at remembering to use it all the time, I have captured a few cute milestones so far.

The bad part is they haven't really been viewed by anyone, so in a effort to show off our princess' milestones so proud grandparents can see her in action, below are a few recent videos of our girl.

Warning: Everyone might not love these videos as much as the grandmas, pas and great-grands, so I won't be offended if you don't watch them in full :)

Rolling Over

Hitting the highchair toy

(This was one of the first times in the highchair and she barely reached the tray)

Giggles with Mommy

(Don't be jealous of my videography skills in this one)

Sitting Up

Family Reunion of sorts

This past weekend we were able to get together with a lot of the family on my mom's side to catch up, celebrate belated birthdays and hang out with grandbabies.

We had 3 generations of cousins (all female except Blake) and a good time was had by all.

Cousin Shot 1

 Aunt Laurie, Cousin Christine and Mom

Cousin Shot 2

Me, Cousin Erin and Gretchen (and wiggle Blake)

Cousin Shot 3

Ellie, Blake and Lydia

(Ok... I know... this is a bad shot, but its hard to get them all 3 in a shot together because Blake would probably body slam hug someone into the ground)

Here is the closest Blake ever got to Lydia. Once she is mobile, maybe they can actually play together.

Lydia LOVES Ellie and thinks she is sooo funny

We tried to take a few family pictures to mark the special weekend. Somehow we ended up with mostly girl only shots (sorry boys)! Here are a few of my favorites of everyone:

To Swaddle or not to Swaddle

Before Bean starts really rolling I want to try and get rid of the swaddle. So far she has proven to be fickle.

We are 2 and 0 for non-swaddling at night. YAY! She has been able to sleep in just her sleep sack with arms free for the past 2 nights without any excessive waking or arm flayling.

Naps are another story. Everytime I try to keep her arms out for naps, she WILL NOT fall asleep. No matter how many times the mobile goes around, the paci is reinserted and she is repositioned. She just went down for her first nap of the day in a full swaddle and she's out in under 5 minutes. I would take a picture, but I don't want to jinx myself.

We aren't there yet, but this progress at night is making mama happy.

As she grows... month 7

Do I really have a 7 month old? Time is really flying way too fast for this mama. I was just getting use to the idea that she was 6 months. She is really starting to act like an "older" baby and I can't deny that she's growing up! SOB!

7 month (19 weeks adjusted) stats:

• 13 lbs 4 oz
• Around 23 in. (based on 6 mo check up)

Interests/Activities:

• Getting into the beginning stages of baby food.
• Tolerates oatmeal, but prefers fruits and veggies.
• So far loves bananas, sweet potatoes and apples. 
• Dislikes avocado
• Can almost roll back to tummy, but keeps getting hung up on what to do with her arms.
• Has gotten back into rolling tummy to back, but only when she's in the mood - otherwise she'll scream until I turn her back over.
• Tries to sit up when I put her in that position, but doesn't last long. Usually ends up looking like she's touching her toes in a stretch pose, but thinks she's pretty hot stuff like that.
• Speaking of toes, she loves to put her feet in the air and hold onto her toes or rip her socks off.
• Hands are constantly in her mouth...which drool is constantly dripping out of
• Enjoys watching mommy cook or work in the kitchen. She follows along like she's going to cook next time and gets really excited when new ingredients come out.
• She is getting louder and more expressive each day, both with her likes and dislikes. Other kids and babies bring out laughter and "talking" the most. She especially loves her cousin Ellie and I can already see lots of sleepovers in our future.
• Don't think she's really getting clingy to me, but when she's with someone else she watches to make sure she knows where I am at all times.... in other words, she's nosey! Same goes for daddy's whereabouts. When he gets home from work, she is all smiles for him.

Here are our little princesses 7 month shots:

My smiley girl

She really likes to smile for the camera now!! Yippie

Her "sitting" position

I think she looks so big in this one...

 

And just to compare from months past, here are her 6 month, 5 month and 4 month shots. You can really tell when comparing past months just how much bigger she's getting.