Walker

Well, we have a walker on our hands as of last week.  My parents came to town and my dad was bound and determined to teach her to walk.  She has had great balance for a while and stands alone all the time.  It has been clear for a while that she could walk, she just hadn't quite figured out that she was able to.  I was pretty sure that one day she would just realize she could do it, then there would be no turning back.  Stephen and I went out for lunch last Wednesday, and my parents and grandparents watched B.  I think the audience helped her out a little.  No surprise to us, she took her first 'step' with my dad while we were gone. 

The next day B and I drove to OKC with my parents.  That afternoon she took her first unprompted 'steps.'  She knew exactly what she was doing too.  She was in the dining room by herself (but I could see her) and she was walking from chair to chair, and you could just tell she was thinking about it.  She turned and was looking at me and my mom, smiling really big, and she took a few steps.  She was pretty proud of herself.  So of course after that, we were making her practice all the time.  Here are the first two videos: 

Once she realized she could do this, there was no stopping her.  In fact, I think she has forgotten that she can crawl to get somewhere a little quicker.  She isn't quite to walking exclusively, but I have a feeling it won't be long. 

She also added to her word list:  "Barbara."  It's my parents' dog's name.  And it is by far the clearest word she says.  She is a little obsessed. 

I am so excited that she finally started walking!

X

I thought I'd change things up and use a roman numeral X instead of boring old TEN.  :)  I'll spare you the "I can't believe my baby is ten months old..." business and cut to the chase!

She turned 10 months old last Saturday but had her check up a couple days ago.  We were very excited to learn that there weren't any shots this time.  I just assumed since we hadn't seen the doc in a few months that she would get shots today, but not til 1 year! 

She weighed in at 17lbs 7oz- 13%
She is 28in tall- 45%

I was really thinking that she was going to weigh more, cause she sure feels heavier than that! 

Doesn't she just look like a little person?  It is so crazy how she looks less and less like a baby, and more like a little girl.  I love it!

We spent Blakely's 10 month birthday celebrating my brother's 29th birthday in Kansas City.  We went and saw his apartment, went and ate on the Plaza and shopped around.  Then we all came back to our house to watch the hogs beat Auburn! 

Blakely is an expert crawler.  I thought she would be an early walker, but she has proved me wrong now that she has gotten so good at crawling.  She has recently discovered her inner explorer.  A few weeks ago she discovered that there are other rooms in our house, and she now has the freedom to go to them.  Her favorite spot is the bathroom- mainly because she knows she isn't suppose to go in there.  She is quick too, if she finds something on the floor, as soon as she sees you coming she will slip it into her mouth ASAP.  gross.  She can stand on her own- and she is super proud of it. She also pulls up and walks along anything and everything.  It makes Stephen pretty nervous.  She has taken some pretty hard falls, but I think she is finally mastering bending her knees and landing on her butt. 

She has also recently learned to clap and wave!  She loves to applaud herself.  She also loves to share.  She will take a toy (any toy) and hug it or put it in her mouth then she will hold it out for you and wait for you to hug it or put it in your mouth- then she'd like you to return it.  :)

Here she is exploring.  I don't know why I think this is so funny.  She will also sometimes crouch down and make sure there isn't anything under the couch that she needs. 

She has finally started to love books!  She will pick one up and hand it to me to read to her.  It's so cute.  She will sometimes let me finish the whole book, as long as there aren't too many words.  She loves to turn the pages.

We always have some issue with her eating.  She recently decided that she LOVES her bottle.  She takes FOUR 8oz bottles a day.  However, this new found love has also started her dislike for baby food.  I have to bribe her to eat baby food veggies with a bit of big girl food.  She gets a bite of egg, or turkey or cheese, in exchange for a bite or two of veggies.  It usually only works for a short time before she is just done altogether.  She loves ANY big people food you give her.  It doesn't matter if she just ate, if she sees you eating, she wants some too.  Stephen says I have turned her into quite the begger cause I pretty much give her a little bit of whatever I eat. 

She got her first kiss the other day from her friend Hudson.  He is a little bit older than B, and she usually chases him at church or our playdates, and when she catches him and touches him, he freaks out.  It's pretty hilarious.  But after hanging out for a couple of hours last week, he warmed up to her a little bit and decided to give her a few smooches.  I was SO sad I didn't have my camera ready because it was hilarious.  She didn't even know what to do with the attention after all the rejection she had experienced. 

She is wearing 6-9 month clothes, except for jammies she wears a lot of 12month since we bundle her pretty good. 

She goes to bed between 7:30 and 8, and sleeps till 6:30 or 7.  She wakes up for a little playtime around 3am though.  I usually get up and change her diaper in hopes that she will sleep a little longer.  Sometimes it works.  She takes two 1hr (if I'm lucky) naps a day.  One at 9am and one at 1pm. 

I think her eyes are going to be green like mine.  They are more gray than blue, and they are starting to have little hints of green.  We will see! 

She is talking all the time.  Mostly "dada", and she certainly knows who that is.  She gets very excited when he comes home and goes and stands at the gate saying "dadadadada" until he walks in.  I think she says dog too.  It doesn't really sound like dog, but it's the same word each time she sees a dog, so I am pretty sure that's what she is going for. 

She loves to play hide and seek.  Loves to go on walks outside.  Loves to go to the grocery store.  Hates her carseat.  Hates going to bed.  Hates getting her diaper changed.  I let her crawl around naked every night before bath...and somehow we have never had an accident.  Well, I got a little too confident in her and I let her crawl around on our bed last night.  She stood up, and peed all over.  I think she was proud of herself, too. 

Fall, fashion, and craftiness

Two posts in one day!  I know! 

I LOVE fall!  The colors, the weather, the food.  Everything!  So now that I have been wasting lots of time on pinterest, I have been getting lots of great creative ideas.  I am not naturally creative on my own, but if I see someone else's creativity, sometimes I can recreate it.  So here is my new fall wreath! 

I haven't decided if it needs more or if I should just leave it.  I am open to thoughts.  I got all excited about these flowers and I made lots of headbands for Blakely.  They are SO easy. 

FASHION:  my good friend Claire has a gift for fashion.  I do not have this gift.  So she came over and looked through my closet and put outfits together.  I was so excited, because she pointed out LOTS of outfits that I didn't even know I had!  Here are a few!  

Maybe this seems super simple to everyone else, but I never would have put these things together!  Navy and black?  Apparently they go!  Leopard=neutral.  Who knew?  So it's almost like I got new clothes, but I didn't have to pay for any!  She also told me a few key items that I should consider adding to my wardrobe.  She even helped me find some of those things!  We got interrupted by our babies, so I am hoping she'll come back over and continue this super fun game of dress-up.  I also want her to purge my closet.  I know there are some things in there that I just need to let go of, I just need someone to tell me to kick it to the curb. 

Anyway, she is SO talented, so if you need a wardrobe makeover but don't have What Not to Wear $5000 credit card to do it, then you should hire Claire Heido! 

Somebody's old...

So, I turned 27 this weekend.  And I really feel old.  There's something about 27 that just sounds older.  It was a great birthday though.  Stephen got me coffee, donuts, let me sleep in, got me some goodies from J.crew, and took me shopping.  He's the best.  We then had a slumber party with my brother, Joe. 

Blakely didn't mind being tortured by Uncle Joey.  She got to have stuff put on her head, got turned upside down, got put in other awkward positions, and got to put strange things in her mouth. 

Unfortunately for us all, I didn't get a picture of him taunting her with his toe- which she did manage to get in her mouth at least once.  He is such a big brother...

Isn't she a cutie!?  I am so ready for fall.  I love dressing her for cool weather.  I will say, it's a little harder to keep a little crawler warm, but she is just so cute in her jacket and leg warmers. 

In other news, the neighbor across the street thinks her name is "Bailey" and I don't know what to do about it.  I feel I have missed my window for correcting her.  I think the first few times she said it she didn't say it loud and I thought maybe I misheard her...and now it's just too late.  What should I do?

visitors

This past weekend, Stephen's parents came to visit.  I always say I am going to take pictures for things like this, but I always forget!  Luckily, one afternoon Stephen reminded me to take a few.  They were here for a few days, but these are all I took!  Hopefully I will get better at this. 

Blakely had a great time having constant entertainment.  She not only had constant entertainment, but one of her favorite things, a constant audience.  This girl loves to show off.  She is a people person, and the more the merrier for her.  She might take a few minutes to come out of her shell, but once she's out, she's out.  She quickly learned that Grandma and Grandpa equals someone to always help her walk around, distract her when she is fussy, make goofy faces and noises at her, and praise her when she does pretty much anything. 

They also were a huge help for us!  Bob fixed our fence, watered our flowers- Blakely enjoyed helping, cleaned off our patio, and trimmed some trees!  Our yard always looks better after Stephen's parents visit.  :) 

Lucky for B, she will finally have a cousin to play with in March!  (well...it might be a little longer before any "playing" occurs.)  Stephen's sister, Anna, is pregnant.  We can't wait for little Moore to make his/her debut! 

Blakely also started for real crawling.  She was moving around just fine, but it wasn't exactly a conventional crawl.  It was actually surprising because she did next to no crawling while Grandma and Grandpa were here- it was all walking (with help, of course).  It was like, the knees and the arms finally clicked.  She just started doing it.  She is now much faster, much more efficient, and much happier!  She doesn't get frustrated when she wants to go somewhere else, she just goes!  It is pretty amazing how much faster she can get to the power cords than she can her own toys.  She is also enjoying finding all the tiny things on my floor for me to run over and swipe before she can stick it in her mouth...  I have already vacuumed 3 times this week.  I guess my house will be cleaner these days! 

4 years!

Yesterday was Blakely's 9 month birthday.  But more importantly, it was our 4 year anniversary!  Without the last 4 years of marriage, there would be no Blakely!  I can't believe we have been married that long.  For some reason, 4 sounds so mature to me.  :)  We left B home with the roommate after we put her to bed and we headed to Kansas City for some Jackstack BBQ.  It. Was. Awesome. 

This was our food after we already started!  I made Stephen run out to the car to get a camera.  Jackstack has the BEST brisket I have ever had.  The ribs were fall off the bone, and though I am not a baked beans fan normally, these beans were INCREDIBLE. 

Stephen is a really messy eater.  :)

We were holding hands (awe!) and Stephen made a comment about my engagement ring and the waitress thought we just got engaged.  I kinda wanted to pretend like we had.  :)  Sometimes it feels like we just got engaged! 

It was such a fun night! 

NINE

Nine.  3/4. 75%.  of a year!  wow! 

This is her new trick- I found her like this yesterday morning.  (Standing herself up in her crib)  Always wakes up happy!

I have no idea how much she weighs, but she is HEA.VY.  I have been trying hard to hold her evenly on both sides so my arms don't get lopsided.  :)

She is so crazy with eating.  Just a few days ago, I couldn't get her to eat hardly anything all day.  Then other days she is like a bottomless pit.  She is also SO temperamental with eating.  EVERYTHING has to be perfect.  Like I'm talking, tv on cartoons, laying at the correct angle, no talking, etc.  If she is having a bad day and we get her to drink a bottle, the other person isn't allowed to talk, sometimes isn't even allowed in the room cause it will mess her up.  My parents were in town this past weekend and she stopped eating halfway through her bottle when she heard their dog's collar jingle.  Once she stops, it's over.  She's a stinker!  She has been eating (if we are lucky) a 6oz bottle 4 times a day.  I am going to try to move her to three times a day, eating more.  I have been giving her more table food lately, and this girl is a BEGGAR.  She throws a fit when I don't give her what I am having.  I had to hide my chocolate donut from her today cause she wouldn't stop whining.  She loves anything that she thinks is MY food.  She was loving my avocado a few days ago, but then I mashed it up and put it in one of her small bowls and tried to feed it to her with her spoon and she wasn't interested. 

Still no teeth! 

She is getting really silly.  She has such a hilarious personality.  She is VERY emotional.  But that has plenty of good things that come with it.  When she is excited she is EXCITED.  Like, arms and legs going crazy, huffing and puffing and squealing.  It's hilarious.  The above pictures are her signature silly face.  It's pretty cute. 

She is crawling!  I think I said this in my last post.  Man, how that stuff develops fast!  Just two weeks ago she wasn't crawling at all.  Was barely even inching forward, and now she can get herself across a room to the electrical cords in no time.  For a toy?  Well, it's faster to just whine until mom gets it.  But anything that is a "no"- she is lightening fast!  :)  Her crawl sortof looks like a body roll.  I'll have to video it sometime. 

She is still SUPER obsessed with standing up and walking.  Her favorite is to lean against a mirror and lick her reflection.  Hilarious.  I also need to video this...

She is wearing size 3 diapers, 6 month onesies and outfits.  Anything that is 9months is huge on her.  She won't leave bows in anymore.  As soon as I put it in she grabs it and pulls it off. 

Oh!  In the last few days she has learned to sit herself up from being on her stomach.  She was just getting stuck there and crying until I picked her back up.  But now she can push herself up on to her rear.  Which means when she doesn't think she is tired and doesn't want to go to sleep, she can just sit herself up and play in her crib. 

She is having some SEVERE separation anxiety.  I'm talking, Stephen is on the floor playing with her and I am BARELY paying attention to her, and as soon as I turn my back and even start to walk away, she starts sobbing.  She gets over it when Stephen distracts her.  But when it's just me here, she will literally wail until I come back into view.  Sometimes she even will cry until I am holding her.  It's funny (and sometimes aggravating) to see her be this clingy! 

Her and Dad have a good time though.  He use to think I made her laugh more, but I don't think so.  I think especially cause he is gone all day, when he comes home, she is SO excited to see him.

My two loves. 

One of her favorite things here.  As soon as Stephen starts to lift her onto his shoulders she gets the biggest goofy grin on her face. 

She is quite the squirmer.  The only thing that makes her still is the tv. 


She hates the car.  She will cry as soon as I set her in her carseat.

I know it's a little bit of picture overload, but I just think she is so pretty. 

She LOVES other kids.  The smaller the better.  We had a play date with a friend and Blakely just wanted to grab him.  We also babysat for our friends Brett and Claire.  Ava is about 10 weeks old and TINY.  Ava was crying, and Blakely was SO concerned.  She would cry unless she was right next to Ava and could look at her.  It was pretty funny. 



Whew!  That's all for B at 9 months!