10 months old

Alexa turned 10 months old on April 16th. We celebrated by doing nothing but lounging around for the day. The days seem to go by so fast with her and I just want to capture every memory and engrave it in my memory. But since that's almost impossible I'll have to try to capture them here.

At 10 months old she:

~~eats 25 oz of formula a day
~~eats 1 jar of fruit and a small cup of rice/oatmeal cereal for breakfast
~~eats 1 jar of veggies and bits and pieces of what we are having for dinner
~~still drinks soy formula
~~eats puffs, cheerios, cereal bars, biter biscuits, toddler graduate meals, and just about anything that can be broken down into small pieces
~~she gives me a hard time about drinking formula from a cup but will down a cup of juice
~~drinks her bottle in the high chair and if put on the floor to drink it she won't finish it because she gets distracted and wants to get up and crawl away
~~is wearing size 3 diapers still
~~doesn't soak thru her diapers at night anymore
~~goes to bed at 7:30/8:00pm
~~wakes up at 7am and sits and plays/talks in her crib until 7:30am
~~ always wakes up happy in the morning and after her morning nap
~~always wakes up grumpy from her afternoon nap
~~loves sleeping with her satin "bankie"
~~stands up in her crib and turns on the mobile music
~~will spit out the binkie in her mouth and pick up another one near by to "switch" binks
~~ loves dances to the chicken dance (Easter decoration)
~~crawls super fast
~~can stand unassisted for about 30 seconds
~~cruises along all furniture
~~is exploring the entire house now and doesn't just hang out by the coffee table
~~gets into all of my bow stuff when I'm working
~~fake coughs and imitates someone when they cough
~~will laugh just because someone laughs
~~lays her head to the side when I saw "Awwwww"
~~has just started trying to clap
~~went to her 1st music class yesterday and loved it
~~doesn't give me a hard time about wearing headbands but will take it off and play with it if left unattended like in the car
~~loves music and anytime we sing to her
~~will lay her head of my shoulder as I sing "Hush my little baby" before I put her to bed
~~will give someone a kiss if they say "Give me a kiss" and say "Mmmmmmmuah"
~~is warming up to other people and lets Aunt Amanda and Mom Mom hold her with no problem
~~HATES Juan and Uncle Frankie
~~stands up in the bath tub and tries to crawl to get her toys
~~fits in size 2 shoes but they're getting very snug
~~only enjoys the jumperoo if she's in it outside
~~loves taking walks in the stroller
~~hates mulch or dirt being on her hands and gagged when she touched it
~~loves the swings
~~says Mom mom mom and dadada but not regularly
~~hates getting dressed or having her diaper changed
~~has 2 teeth on the bottom

Just a Mommy moment

Sometimes on Friday or Saturday night I bring Alexa into bed with me in hopes of getting an extra hour of sleep in the morning. Saturday night I did this. She was still pretty sleepy and actually rested her head on my shoulder as I carried her from her crib to my bed. She hadn't done this in months and I loved it. We wrestled around for a couple of minutes trying to get comfy. When we finally snuggled in we laid there eye to eye. She was awake but tired. She struggled to hold her eyes open. Almost as if she just couldn't bare to stop looking at me. She fought it and stared. As she stared she smiled. She was so in love and so was I. Finally the sleepiness got the best of her and her eyes closed. The sweetest part though was how the smile stayed on her face. There was no other place she'd rather be then in my arms cuddled up in Mommy's bed.

Growing and changing every day

Again I update with so many changes. On Saturday March 12th Alexa crawled for the first time. This was 4 days before she turned 9 months old. F-i-n-a-l-l-y! We were all sitting around eating lunch getting ready to head out to go swimming at the YMCA. I happened to look down at her playing on her tummy on the floor and she did it. Out of no where she just did it! So then I scooted her back and told everyone to watch her. I put a mozzarella stick on a plate on the floor a few feet from her and sure enough she did it again. We all clapped and cheered. I rewarded her with a cherry dum dum, her first one ever and she loved it!

It was around this time that she really started to master pulling herself up onto her knees. She'd do it holding onto the recliner, the coffee table, my leg, wherever she could. I knew it was only a matter of a few days before she started pulling up to standing. Sure enough on her 9 month birthday she did that too and even cruised along the table! Burt and I couldn't be any prouder. But soon we remembered why we enjoyed her immobility so much. Boy is she getting into everything! Her favorite thing to do by far though is to crawl to the coffee table and stand there holding on. She's just so happy with herself.

Last night Nathan had her chasing after a box of corner guards we bought from BRU. Every time she'd get close to the box he'd pull it away again. She's crawl as fast she she could to the box again and he'd pull it away. He actually got her to crawl from the living room to the dining room and back again. This has been the most crawling she's done at once. I'm enjoying every second with her. Never again will I take for granted my ability to get pregnant. For now I think of her as being my last baby even though we plan on trying to conceive again in June.

Love to watch you learn

Alexa,

As your nine month birthday rolls around I'm forced to think back again on these past months and think about how much you've changed. From my "chicken little" to my "baby bear". I've watched you learn some of the most basic skills and yet I couldn't be prouder. I remember those first few tries at tummy time that prepared you for holding up your head that prepared you for rolling over that prepared you for sitting up that prepared you for getting up on all fours and now here I sit glancing over at you while you're trying to crawl. You're such a happy baby and that makes everyone happy. If someone looks at you you smile. If someone talks to you in the grocery store you smile. Your social skills are great and everyone enjoys being around you. You make people happy. Most importantly you are happy. You've changed our lives in so many ways. Every one of us is different now because you're here. Abby is so much more patient. She's a teacher and loves to show you new things. She has learned a selflessness that I haven't yet seen in her. The other day I watched her as she let you bang on her prized keyboard. Never would she let your brother do that but you, no problem! You were having fun so she was happy to let you do it. You love her and you light up when she smiles at you. One day I hope for you two to be the best of friends. To share secrets, to turn to one another for advice or just a shoulder to cry on. I sometimes think of future holidays and think about how full of laughter our house will be when you both have children of your own and we sit down for Thanksgiving dinner. Nathan has become so much more nurturing. He loves to help you do things. And he's the best at making you laugh. Everything he does is silly to you. You stare at him just waiting for his next move. He's your big brother, your protector and he does a great job at it. Daddy has learned a softer side of himself. He too is so protective over you. God forbid Mommy grabs your arm too fast when I'm dressing you! I've learned to never take things for granted, Every day is a miracle and I'm so lucky to be able to kiss you good morning everyday. For so long I thought I would never have this chance again. I thought my luck had run out. But God was only letting my heart grow bigger so that I could love you the way I needed to. You've taught me to trust in His plan. He knew I needed you to make my heart whole again and you're even better then I could have ever wished for. I love you Alexa Lynn and I hope to live a long long time letting you know it every day!

1st cold of the season

Enjoying her 1st cheese curl which of course she loved!

"Freeze! You're under arrest!"--Silly Daddy!

Lots of new junk foods to try. Mmmmm! Hardened rice crispy treats make nice chew toys!

And they make a cool noise when you bonk yourself on the head with one!

Not so happy with the diced apples

Alexa's 1st bubble bath. Now she smells like lavendar and had a blast.

Her new toy and her new trick--kneeling to play

The little lady has her first cold/sickness since having whooping cough/pertussis at 6 weeks old. I knew I was getting sick yesterday when I woke up with a sore throat. Sure enough her and I started coughing last night. Other then the cough though she seems to be doing well. It's not even a wet yucky cough...YET! But it did give me tons of flashbacks of those horrible days and nights of coughing. All the times she stopped breathing. The hospital stay. The worry. The tears. The sleeping in the swing and waking up every 20 minutes at night. That tension in the pit of my stomach minute after minute. I remember the doctors at Children's saying to me "She will breathe again. " And just repeating that to myself over and over again. Even though he had no guarantees that she would pull through it something about the calmness of his voice helped me get through ever mucousy stressed breath she took. Ah! I used to think to myself "One day this will all be a memory". She was eating 10 ozs a day and struggled to gain even a few ounces for weeks. Now she's yelling and moaning for big people food and I'm sure has well surpassed 17lbs. And it's all a horrible memory.

On to happier times. She's learning new tricks everyday. Today I noticed that she was intentionally leaning over from a sitting position to get into a crawling position. She's even almost got the hang of going from a tummy time position to a sitting position. But boy is she still lazy! No crawling yet. She moves. Just not in any traditional way of crawling. She pushes herself backwards and can turn on a dime. Sometimes I can't wait for her to crawl and other times I'm enjoying all the baby-ness she'll let me hold on to.

She was so silly today. As we were all just sitting around hanging out Daddy started playing the music in his cell phone's ring tone list. When he got to this one she started dancing. I laughed so hard I almost peed myself.

She has also started trying to pull herself up onto her knees to kneel at her toys. And she loves being set up in that position in her crib to play peek a boo behind the crib bumpers. She sticks her hand thru the bars and tries to grab my face. She has gained a new nickname too. We now call her woodpecker because she likes to bang her binkie (while it's in her mouth) onto the side of the crib. Oh yea and "Kiss the baby" a fun game played in the bathroom mirror has become a huge hit too! She's a bundle of fun and I couldn't love her more.

Big day of firsts

She was too impatient to wait for Mommy to break it into smaller pieces

She loved the pear juice in her sippy cup

His car is the red white and blue one in lane 1

Nathan and his car

Little Miss had a big day of firsts today. We started the morning off with her very first pancake. I've only given her "big people food" a few times now. She's tried mashed potatoes, beef noodles, pizza crust, and frosting. She seems to do really well so I've graduated myself to letting her try other things. You'd think she was my first baby with how hesitant I am and how worried I am about choking. We tried so long and went through so much hurt to get her that things that shouldn't worry me WORRY me! I digress...I made her a mini pancake. I first tried to just set it on her high chair tray while I was getting the camera on the counter. No sooner did I turn my head that she had the whole pancake up to her mouth trying to eat it. She loved it! She even freaked out when I tried to take it away to break it into smaller pieces. The next first for her was drinking from her sippy cup without crying! I've only tried giving her a sippy with her breakfast. I was putting formula in it and trying to get her to drink her 4 oz bottle in a sippy. She has been refusing for the past two months. I even tried buying different kinds of cups to no avail. Well today I figured I'd try to put some juice in there for her to wash down her pancakes and ta-dah! It worked! I first had to take the "no spill" spout out and give her a taste but soon after she tasted it and I replaced the spout she was chugging it down. Victory is mine!! She also enjoyed a fun big girl bath today with her big sissy. Abby has been begging me to let her take a bath with Alexa for awhile now. My older two have been taking showers for the past year. I hate giving baths and I hate cleaning up the soaking wet floor after they splash a few gallons of water on it. Needless to say I was happy when they decided they'd rather shower. Alexa had a blast with Abby and I'm sure it will happen more often now. Finally our other exciting news is that we bought Alexa her big girl car seat. I have been dreading making this decision and have put it off as long as I could. Today was the last day for the trade in event at BRU and I knew I should take advantage of it. Britax? Graco? Safety 1st? I've spent hours reading reviews and still had a hard time choosing. I finally went with the Graco My Ride 65. It's an adorable pink and brown pattern much like her Graco snugride 35. I hope she's comfy and safe. We rounded out our day with Nathan's Pine Wood Derby race. His red, white, and blue car was one of the first eliminated but he had a blast building it and is already looking forward and thinking about his design for next year. That kid has such a great personality! We all enjoyed some snacks and watched the rest of the racers. All in all a very fulfilling day!

1st toothy!

I really need to get better at updating here. Ugh! I've been so busy lately. Who would've known that three kids would have me so busy?! . And not to mention Lil' Ladies has taken off. In the last few weeks I've had over 50 bows to make. I'm sooooo happy!

My baby girl is growing by leaps and bounds this week. On the 15th (1 day before her 8 month b-day) I spotted Alexa's 1st tooth popping through the gums. I knew something was up when she had been incredibly cranky. I figured it was either a tooth or a cold coming to get her.

I've been out doing a bit of shopping these past few days. Alexa has about half of a summer wardrobe. I even bought her a cute pair of white sandals (size 3's) for the summer. I've noticed my shopping routine has changed a bit. Instead of finding clothes that I like and then matching bows to it, I've been looking for cute clothes to match my bows. I'm buying her size 18 months in anything one piece. She's so tall/long for her age. She's now in size 18 month Gerber onesies. Her torso is just so long. I'm excited to spend the summer with her. Last summer she was so sick and we spent so many days in the hospital or just cooped up in the house that I'm excited for her to feel the sunshine.

I'm a little late on her 8 month pictures this month. Such a slacker! I'll take them tomorrow morning and post. Ta-ta for now!