Amelia Takes On the World

Did you all know mom & dad were taking me to the woods for Memorial Day weekend?  I had a great time!  We stayed at Kaykay and Grandpa Joe’s cabin, and I got to play with them and their dog Zuey.  I loved Zuey - I would giggle at her as she tried to lick me all the time.  Mom & Dad got a hiking backpack to take me around - we went on two hikes!  They took turns carrying me, but I had a great time.  I loved looking around and commentating on the scenery.  I did decide to take a nap during one of the hikes - what can I say, it was comfy.  Mom & dad claim their backs don’t hurt from carrying me, so maybe they’ll take me again. We also decided to try and take some pictures of me in front of the pretty pond and flowers - mom was worried I’d roll into the pond so she decided to join me too.  You can see what I thought of that - I was being a little stinker and trying to make sure they captured my tongue in the photographs.  However, they managed to catch me smiling too - oh well.  At least the scenery was beautiful.   I turned ten months old on Saturday and decided to celebrate by pulling myself to standing for the 1st time - I can do it as long as whatever I’m pulling on is lower to the ground - still haven’t mastered the taller things yet.  I’m also figuring out how to cruise once I am standing, its very exciting.  I also got my first taste of deli meat for lunch and tonight mom & dad gave me freshly grilled zucchini.  I love finger foods!

Thanks Kaykay and Grandpa Joe (and Zuey) for having us visit for the weekend, we had a great time and I can’t wait to come back for July 4th.  Maybe I’ll try to catch one of those fish in the pond.

Love,

Amelia

Amelia - I am in denial that you are ten months old this weekend.  I can’t believe my little girl is growing up so fast.   We were at a party recently and kept saying you were nine months, but then the other baby who is only 5 days older, her parents said she was ten months… and it hit me that you were right there!  How is that possible?

However, its true.  You are ten months old on Saturday.  So much has happened this month… the main milestone is crawling.  You are fully crawling and even have turbo speed crawling when you really want to get to something.  So far your favorite things to get into, that you shouldn’t, are inside the fridge/freezer if I open the door and playing with the springy door stops.   You also love to find paper anywhere so you can rip it up.  I’m sure any day now you are going to move onto standing and then walking.  Right now you try so so hard to stand up and I’ve seen you get almost there - you get one foot under you, but can’t get off the other knee.  I’m sure that is going to happen any minute, if not by the time I get home today.

Unfortunately this has also been the month of the ear infection and teething (and maybe a growth spurt?) - so its not been the most restful for anyone in the house.   You like to sleep, so I know its not a pattern starting, and I’m hoping we are through the worst since you slept well the past two nights.   Those front two teeth are just coming in frustratingly slow!!  Not that you let us feel them to really tell how they are doing - maybe there is more in there, who knows?  You are up to about 22 lbs now and growing longer so I do think you had some growing going on in there that just complicated the sleep issue - one night you ate a full 16 oz during the night in addition to daytime eating.

We’ve also been working on finger foods and you are really starting to get the hang of it.  Your favorites are the puffs & cheerios, you also really like the dried fruit bits.  I love how you use your index finger to make sure to push the food back into your mouth - its adorable.   You also eat stage 3 foods like a champ, so now its on to real table food this month.  Wish us luck.

I had my first night away from you this month, and while it was nice to not worry about waking up at some unknown time, I still rather be home with you and your dad.

Your favorite toys - that’s a hard one - you don’t have a ‘lovie’ yet.  I did recently put the soft lamb in your crib, and you like it, but you like all your toys - especially the ones you haven’t seen recently.  You do seem to have a preference for the little balls that came with your kitchen, but really any toy will do.   You also love bathtime, and try to jump out of our arms to get in the tub when you realize its time.  We tried your first bubble bath last night - though I think those just confused you, you were more playful once they went away and you could see your toes again.  There were a couple days where you were carrying your toy rings in your mouth, kind of like a dog would… I think Graham taught you that at school.  I managed to capture that on film (disk?) thankfully.

More and more, we see you are the social butterfly.  You get so happy to go to daycare to play with the other kids, and when we see kids on our walks around the neighborhood - you squeal with delight.  I’m so glad that you love other kids, it makes me feel better about you going to daycare every day.  You truly seem happy to be there, and your teachers are wonderful and love you so much.

Lastly, I’ll leave off with the fact that this week, sticking out your tongue has returned.  Especially when you are trying to do something - or want to show me your food.  Actually I’m not sure you need a reason - it just makes you happy to stick it out.  Hopefully I can capture it on camera for all your friends to see how adorable you are.

I love you baby girl, though with each day you are more of a little girl - I love seeing you grow, but I also love my little baby.  Don’t grow up too fast okay?

Love,

Mom

Here are a few pictures to enjoy - mostly from a couple days this past weekend which coincides when she was carrying toys in her mouth.  One picture isn’t the best - but it captures the wonderful color of her eyes, so I included it.  Be safe and have a great Memorial Day weekend.

Let’s see, at this time, four years ago - we were arriving at the hairdresser and my stomach was a nervous wreck. Not because of anything bad- but because I was so excited to finally be getting married. It was one of the best days of my life, and not because of the wedding itself (although it was a great party), but because it was the day I started my marriage with my wonderful husband Chris. I can’t imagine my life without him in it, nor do I want to imagine that.

Since that day four years ago, we bought a house, we’ve both had different jobs, we’ve had Amelia - definitely the most important thing in that list. We’ve made new neighborhood friends and have luckily convinced a bunch of old friends to move to our area of town as well. We’ve taken some great vacations along the way too - Chile, St. Lucia, Hawaii, Bahamas… many of them courtesy of my first job at Delta. Things have changed now - we can’t just pick up and go away for the weekend - but I wouldn’t have it any other way because Amelia is a treasure. I love that I see Chris in her, and I love seeing them together. He is a great dad, which I always knew would be true.

If I had to choose a perfect evening, it would be to hang out in nature, drinking a good wine, with my husband and my child. I can’t really imagine life getting much better than that. (Maybe add in a personal chef and full-time housekeeper but…)

We won’t get a big celebration tonight - Chris is just getting back in town from a business trip - but this weekend we’ll head to the mountains of NC for a relaxing Memorial day weekend. My parents will watch Amelia while we go out for a nice celebratory dinner, and we’ll get some good hikes in as well.

I will say Chris was so cute this morning when we talked by phone - he knows I call right at 7:30 after dropping off Amelia at daycare, and within 5 seconds he had said ‘Happy Anniversary’. He said he went to sleep singing Happy Anniversary in his head so he’d remember to say it first thing. I love my wonderful, cute, adorable husband.

Happy Anniversary Honey! Four wonderful years - many more to come.

Love,

Kelly

Here are a few pictures of us to enjoy - not in order - care to guess the order in the comments?

Due to some toy envy, Amelia now has the Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Kitchen - it has a doorway that sings songs when they crawl through and various other fun learning activities - Amelia loves it.  Here are some pictures from in and around the kitchen as she was having a grand ol’ time.  I tried to capture her cute little I’m looking curious expression but its a little blurry and not quite right… one of these days.

Kelly

My husband was a good husband and got flowers for me for mother’s day - I decided to try my hand at accurately capturing them in photos…. I tried to be artsy - hope you can appreciate how they turned out. Enjoy!

It seems like over the last two weeks I’ve seen a lot of articles and TV segments on mommy blogs. While some of the press is a little odd (what was that Kathy Lee thing on Today… weird segment) - most of it is positive. I think many of us have realized that while we all understand both the rewards and the hardships of being a mom, it makes it much easier when you know others out there go through similar emotions. I’ve met some great fellow moms online who are sometimes the only thing getting me through sleepless teething nights, knowing its not just my daughter waking up every hour (thankfully we seem to be through the latest round). In honor of that, I thought I’d share some of my favorite blogs & links that I’ve found over the last year and a half. Many of these I found through links on one of the other sites - its a pretty tight knit community. Don’t forget to check out Amelia’s friends as well - linked on the right hand side of this blog.

Dooce - the one that started it all for me, maybe the most well known - she shares her experiences with life, and her beautiful photography of her dogs and anything else she feels like sharing

Woulda Coulda Shoulda - a recent find, a mom of two whose writing I enjoy… she also happens to write for one of my other favorites….

Cool Mom Picks - a great site of fun items and contests - focused mostly on items for babies and younger childern

Surrender, Dorothy - another recent find, probably because of the publicity around a book, featuring mom bloggers, coming out that she brought to life - I enjoy her writing about her Little Angel

MetroDad - a great blog from a male perspective on parenting

Snippets of Life - I once read she was Australia’s answer to Dooce - I’m not sure thats the right description as the style is completely different. However, I love Karen’s blog for her openness and ideas and appreciation of art

Five Years, Still in Alpha - I enjoy this, because she’s not afraid to talk about anything and because our children are really close in age

And lastly - maybe not as known nationally - is Amelia’s photographer’s blog, EBS Photography. The way Elizabeth captures children is special, and I just love to check in and see what photos she’s posted each week.

Hope everyone has a great Friday and an enjoyable weekend. I’ll be having a girl’s night out, my first away from Amelia - she’s almost 10 months old, I guess its time…

Kelly

These were from before and after our walk - one of my favorite things.The messy hair is post hat and why she needs bows most days.  Enjoy!

I’ve had a wonderful first mother’s day, and I hope everyone else has as well. I enjoyed doing some of my favorite things with Chris and Amelia -brunch, taking pictures, going for a walk, even playing the Wii. Chris didn’t let me change a single dirty diaper today! Here are some pictures from our day I hope you enjoy, as well as some other random ones from this weekend. Also - I finally got a good short video of Amelia crawling for everyone to see - she’s getting faster and more determined by the day.
Love,
Kelly

We had another playdate with Amelia’s cousin Lena, who is 6 weeks older.  You can see Lena has learned how to share, but Amelia has not.  Its a rather large video, so hopefully it works for everyone.

Love,
Kelly

We had Amelia’s 9 month checkup yesterday (at 9 months, 1 week and 4 days).  She was 20 lbs 8 oz, 27 inches long.  So roughly 50th - 75th percentile on weight and 25th on height.  Her head was also 75th.  But that’s consistent with where she has been at the last few appointments, so no suprises.

She’s really becoming a mover now, realizing she can crawl and get to things.  She tries to pull up and can get to her knees well, but not to her feet so much.  We find her sitting in her crib quite a bit when she should be sleeping.  Hopefully we can get her back to the good sleeper she was before her ear infection.

Now that we’ve given Chris’ mom her mother’s day present, I can post a couple more pictures from the cousin play date a couple weeks ago.  Hopefully later today or tomorrow I can post a video from this past weekend’s playdate.

Have a good day!

Kelly