Summer - 12 Month Stats

I took the princess to her doctor yesterday for her 12 month well-check.  She was such a ham, as usual.  That is, until they lined up the FIVE shots they were giving her.  Poor baby.  It was just plain awful.  I usually hold myself together pretty well for these events.  I believe vaccinations are important and I have great trust in our doctors.  I just broke down crying with her this time.  She had cake for lunch and that seemed to help her feel better. 

She checked out perfect.  Her stats prove that she is just what I thought she is....sweet petite.  Although she is pretty tall! 

Height: 30.25 inches (75-90%)
Weight:  19 lbs. 5 oz (10-25%)
Head:  18.1 inches (50-75%)

At 12 months, Summer...

• Has many, many words!  This girl can talk, and she does it all day long.  Off the top of my head, some of her words are:  Snack, ball, brother, mom, dad, bath, banana, bread, milk, bottle.
• Loves to show off her tricks - pretend sneezes, pretends to brush her teeth, so big, big chuckles
• Love, love, LOVES stuffed animals. I've never seen a kid love them so much.  Her favorite thing to do it grab an animal, pull it close, say "awwwww!" and then hand it to you for a hug. 
• Is a great eater.  She eats anything you put in front of her, including stuff her brother won't touch.
• Loves the swing and slides.
• Has six teeth.
• Switched from formula to cow's milk with no problem. We are weaning from the bottle right now.
• Can often be found crawling into the bathroom so she can pull the TP off the roll.
• Is sleeping better.  She goes to bed around 7:30 and wakes around 7AM.  Still wakes up about once/night. 
• Two naps/day for about 1.5 hours each.
• Loves to play cars, trucks, and blocks with her brother.  Has a great motor sound she can make.
• Is obsessed with doggies.  She can spot one a mile away.
• Not close to walking yet.  It's going to be a while.  She can pull herself up on low pieces of furniture or the stairs but hasn't tried to cruise yet.   She got a new walker for her birthday and pushes it around on her knees.  It's pretty cute.
• Loves her dad and brother.
• Is such a sweet, sweet girl and TONS of fun!

She is One.

Ahhhh, no words can describe this mommy's heart.  My baby girl turned one today.  She is our joy, our little Miss Sunshine, happy-go-lucky, sweet petite, little baby sister.  I think we all love her more than we ever imagined we could.   This girl brings out the best in everyone. She can lift your spirits with one tiny toothy grin of hers.  She can cheer up her big brother like no one else can.  They love each other.  So much. 

We have big plans in store for her this weekend.  An awesome family celebration with all the most important people in her life.  Today was hers though.  Michael stayed home in the morning and we all took her to breakfast at Chic-fil-a.  She enjoyed her OWN juice box and ate her own chicken mini's.  She hugged her tiny CFA cow with all her might and kissed him sweetly.  We all laughed together.  I even let her crawl around in the indoor playground (ughhhh!  gross!) because she can't stand to sit and watch her brother play without her.  She got two mini cupcakes for lunch.  She mmmmm'ed and yummmm'ed the whole time.   The day ended with mac and cheese, her favorite,  an extra long pause at 5:00, and sweet hugs and snuggles to bed. 

Happy birthday, sweet Summer Grace! 

Family Vacation

I'm back.  I've been contemplating giving up the 'ole blog.  The goal of this cyber space has always been to document the events in our family and, most importantly, our kids as the grow.  I'm just finding less and less time to spend in front of the computer.  My big boy has unofficially dropped his nap,  I finally found an exercise routine that has helped me return to my "normal" state, Summer Grace is constantly on the move, and summer has offered too many fun events to lend much down time.   Blogging has simply taken a back seat to everything else going on.  Thankfully, documenting has not (I have 1000 photos from the past three months to prove it)...but blogging has definitely dropped off my radar.  But oh-how-I-love looking back and reading about days gone by.   Not much can warm a mommy's heart more than a sentimental look back in time.  So, I'm back.   For now. 

Last month we enjoyed a 9 day trip to the beach.  The longest vacation I've ever taken.  But when we figured just how much work it is to transport our lives 6.5 hours down the road, and the fact it takes the kids a good 24-48 hours to get settled in to a new groove, we figured we would make the most of it.   It was HIGHLY anticipated.  We started counting down 40 days out.  I think we all just needed a good change of pace and scenery.   We were fortunate to have great weather while we were down in Sandestin.   Grandma and Grandpa came for four days in the middle of our trip to offer helping hands with the kids.  It was such a treat to be able to stroll down to the beach bar in the middle of the day and head out at night...ALONE!  Everyone enjoyed having them there.  

We found out that Summer really enjoys the sand, that Marshall has come to peace with it, and that we can make it out on the beach for nearly 3 hours if we plan appropriately.   I was quite impressed.  We spent many days at Baytowne Wharf throwing $5 bills into the remote control boats,shooting gallery, and carousel.  The dang guy or girl that's collecting a paycheck from all of the tourists must be livin' the good life, that's all I have to say.  Regardless, it's the perfect area for families with enough entertainment for the kids to keep them happy and enough laid back shops, unique restaurants, etc to keep the adults content. 

As good as the trip was, it felt WONDERFUL to be home.  Marshall went straight for his snuggle spot on the couch and Summer must have covered every square foot of the house on her hands and knees three times within the first hour of being home.  

I'll leave the rest of the story to some of my favorite pictures from the trip.  We were so lucky to have the opportunity to spend so much great time together.

 

Announcing...

We've been busy here in Suwanee.  I've been helping my mom launch a fun, new venture!  After many years of bugging her to do so, she finally started her own little furniture painting business!  She loves to update old pieces of furniture and give them a new life, no matter how old or dingy they once looked.

Please check out her website and put her into your Google Reader to keep up with her latest projects.  http://fanciseats.blogspot.com.  She would love to update any pieces you have, from lamps to chairs to mirrors to kitchen tables...or anything that strikes your fanci!

Thanks!

Summer - 10 Months Old

Summer Grace is 10 Months old now.  So many changes and developments this month!  She is becoming such a sweet little girl.  Started crawling at about 9 1/2 months and hasn't stopped since.  She's getting into EVERYTHING, of course.  We have to be careful what is left on the floor these days and keep an eye on where she wiggles off to.  We are all enjoying her mobility though. She's really starting to be able to participate in some fun activities with us...and we all get a kick out of that, especially big brother.

At 10 months, Summer is:

• Crawling all over the place and trying to pull up.  Unsuccessful at that so far but I'm sure it won't be long.
• Starting to protest baby food and insists on eating what we eat.  She seems to be a pretty good eater so far.  She enjoys peas, carrots, black beans (and black bean burgers), pizza, and french fries...oh french fries!
• Has a few words we can understand already...da-da, ma-ma, ba-ba (brother), uh-oh, ball, puppy, more, duck, ball, book, Buzz (as in Buzz LIghtyear...hahah) 
• Claps and dances when she hears a tune she likes.
• LOVES doggies and small animals.
• Mastering the straw.
• Has teeth #3 and 4 breaking through right now (all on bottom so far)
• Loves Minnie Mouse
• Sleeps through the night on occasion but still wakes up once on most nights. 
• Naps twice/day.
• Continues to be our easy going, laid back girl. 

Coolest Dad. Ever.

I think every boy wants a dad like this one....Happy Father's Day!

Backyard Camping

First camping trip is a rite of passage in a little boy's life.  We set up camp in the backyard this weekend.  After some debate, we decided that was the best option since chances were likely that it would be a partial camp out ending sometime around 1 or 2 AM when our little camper started missing his bed.  It was still an authentic experience though, complete with sing-a-longs and peeing in the bushes. 

All was smooth in the great outdoors until Michael slipped up with the hatchet and almost lost a finger.  A hatchet?  While camping in the backyard?  Yes, people...this was the real deal.  He was chopping wood for the marshmallows we never got to roast because of the bloody scene that took over around 8:30 PM.  The finger was saved and we have some extra memories to go along with the experience.