Moving, Moving, Moving

Since I’m already up WAY after my bedtime for the third night in a row (why do I do this to myself?!), I’ll leave you with some pics of our little crawler from the weekend.

I took these pics when HG woke up this morning, but this is also how John found her on the night of her nine-month birthday, crawling in her bed. Peek-a-boo! What’s that old western song…“Rolling, rolling, rolling”? Makes me think of Helen Grace these days but moving, moving, moving. We spent some really good time with all of HG’s grandparents today, and this is how I found HG after we got home from playing at Spif and Google’s house. Tuckered out from all that ‘grand’ love! Friday night, Helen Grace was really hamming it up, so I grabbed the camera. She normally gets a little camera shy when she sees it on, so I just held it out to the side in hopes she wouldn’t notice it or pay it too much attention- that’s why she’s not completely in the frame at times. No such luck with being a fly on the wall, but she didn’t clam up like usual. She was just chatting away, and I was trying to tickle her so you could hear her little giggle. This is how we spend our Friday nights nowadays, and I LOVE IT!!

Nine Months

Helen Grace is 9 months old! It’s weird to think that HG has been with us almost as long as she was in my tummy. I can’t imagine life without her!

Weight: 18 lbs, 10 oz (65%tile)

Height: 27.5 inches (70%tile)

Head Circumference: 97%tile

• She’s officially mobile! She started crawling on the night of her nine-month birthday.
• Her babble is getting much more pronounced, and while she hadn’t said a recognizable word, she changes her pitch and makes much more distinguishable syllables and sounds.
• She is starting to clap and give high fives.
• She has two bottom teeth and two top teeth. It HURTS when she nibbles on your finger (or nose or knee) now.
• She can pull herself up on any furniture without any assistance. She can even let go and stand on her own for a few seconds, probably more if I would not freak out and grab her. ;)
• She is absolutely fearless which terrifies her mama.
• If you hold her hands, she can walk- quickly and with direction. I often sit her at the door of the laundry room while I switch clothes to the dryer. On our “walk” back to the den, she always stops at the cat scratching post and bats at the red ball on the spring on the top of it. Ha!
• She is a water baby and loves her bath time! She would stay in there all day if we would let her.
• She is much more coordinated, and her motor skills improve by the day. She is a master at getting Puffs into her mouth now.
• She is a mama’s girl and often cries when I leave the room…makes her daddy sad. But I keep telling him that this will all change when she’s a little older, and she will forever be a daddy’s girl.
• For the most part, she has Level 2 foods at each meal, followed by a bottle. She has tried some fruit, cheese, and chicken nuggets, but she doesn’t eat any of that like she scarfs down Puffs and yogurt meltaways. Those are the only ways we get through a meal sometimes!
• We are still working on a sippy cup. She gets it to her mouth but doesn’t realize she’s supposed to drink the liquid that comes out and drenches her.
• She now fits in Size 3 diapers well.
• She is still in her infant car seat and facing backwards. Our doc really wants us to wait until her first birthday to turn her facing the front.
• She gnaws on ANYTHING. Today we were walking through Target, and John handed her a box of Tylenol that we were buying to keep her entertained. He later looked down and realized she had chewed a hole threw the box! Lordy!
• She is finally waving at the appropriate time rather than at random.
• She is having some random bits of stranger anxiety. Even when we are at home, sometimes she refuses to sit by herself and will only settle down if you hold her- going through a clingy phase.
• She gives lots of hugs and open-mouth kisses, and she often nuzzles into your neck for a little snuggle. Priceless.
• Now that we have found her crawling in her crib, I’m VERY glad we recently lowered her mattress!
• She reaches for and yells at the kitties. They will let her get somewhat close but then usually take off to find a hiding spot. Good thing she is still just a touch too slow! Just wait, Rebel and Mocha, your world is about to drastically change!!

Waiting to see Dr. Barrett for our nine month check-up. She’s never met a mirror that she doesn’t love!

Let Chaos Reign

On Thursday night, I had a Delta Gamma alum meeting, so John picked up Helen Grace from Grandma’s and got her home, fed, and into bed. When I got home, I went straight to bed to watch the Olympic women’s figure skating, and John was in the den watching a movie. HG started fussing so John went upstairs to check on her, and she was CRAWLING IN HER BED!! He started yelling into the monitor for me to get up there fast, so I go flying out of bed to see what was the matter only to find her in her bed on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. Come to find out that Jeanne told John when he picked her up that night that she would be shocked if HG weren’t crawling by the end of the weekend. At Jeanne’s on Thursday, she had been working on getting her hands and feet to be more coordinated, and sure enough, she was practicing in her bed that night!!!!

We had her nine-month check-up this morning (a separate post on that to come), went to Kindermusik, and then had a fun lunch with Jessica and Callum. When we got home, we laid out in the den floor, and wouldn’t you know she started scooting around  and she never stopped. It’s just so unreal!!  She does a good bit of backward scooting and crawling, but some of it has forward motion too. I have videotaped ALL AFTERNOON. John has made so much fun of me and says that you have to fast forward at least 30 minutes until you see her do something, but I was just so excited to try to capture her getting up into the crawling position. She does it so fast that I had a hard time getting it on camera. Today she also pulled herself up from the floor to a standing position on our ottoman in the den several times with no help from me and no hanging onto my clothes. I was sitting beside her, watching with my jaw on the ground at how easily she can now get her feet under her and pull herself up.

Our world has dramatically changed in an instant!!! She seems to get more coordinated and more confident with every minute, so I have a feeling that our weekend is going to be spent chasing after her. :)

Here are some pics from our afternoon, and as soon as I comb through our video footage, I’ll post those too.

“Look what I can do all by myself now!”

Payback Play Date

On Wednesday, Helen Grace and I had a great morning at FTM…well, maybe I should say that I had a fun time with the other mamas and babies. HG was a fusspot for a good bit of the time. She seems to be fighting sleep lately, and I think she was just worn out. I should have known it was a sign of things to come. Anywho, afterward we came home to start my first EVER crock pot creation (the pot roast turned out dee-lish, by the way), and later in the afternoon, Emily and Ann Maxwell Coats came over for a play date. Ann Maxwell is almost 11 months old, and it was amazing to see what kind of exciting things are to come for us in the next few months- she can say a ton of words, is toddling around all over the place, and even has manners! She also likes to point out facial features, and she was completely sweet and harmless in doing so…but Helen Grace only had a short nap in the car, and you would have thought that each little finger that came anywhere close to her face was like a dagger into her eye. She threw several all-out FITS (arched her back and threw her head backward, cried crocodile tears, let out ear-piercing squeals), and I’m scared that Emily and Ann Maxwell might not come back since our cry baby put on such a dramatic show. I kept telling Emily that HG can give it out but can’t take it and that this is the only way she is going to learn not to be such a bully! We’ll have to try again soon because I really enjoyed some fun ‘mama time,’ and I hope that they will give us a second chance- and I promise to bring a well-rested child this time. :)

Spif, HG’s sailor outfit finally fits her!This series of pics really chronicles our play date. As her usual bully self, Helen Grace takes Ann Maxwell’s thingie of puffs. Ann Maxwell rightfully makes a move to retrieve her snacks. Helen Grace tries to fight AM off, but when she realizes that Ann Maxwell isn’t scared by her antics, HG then starts to get a little whine going. And when Ann Maxwell doesn’t back down, Helen Grace starts crying and thrashing around. I only wish that I had kept taking pics so that you could have seen the fit. Oh, it’s hard to be a spoiled baby girl!

Some Bunny Special

Saturday afternoon we went to our friend Lilly’s 1st birthday bunny bash, and Helen Grace wore a bunny dress just for Lilly. Since we were all dressed up and clean, we had a mini photo shoot.

HG tried out Lilly’s birthday gift, and she seemed to really like sitting in a big girl chair. Speaking of chairs, I learned today that we can no longer sit HG on a couch or chair and turn our back for even a split second. This afternoon, I set her down in her in the chair in her room for a minute, and I was digging for something in her closet a few feet away. When I looked back to check on her a few seconds later, she was on the floor- eek!! Luckily, she landed on her bottom (still can’t figure out how she managed that maneuver) and wasn’t hurt or upset, just surprised. Ruh roh! Bad mom of the month… :(

Some of our FTM buddies…Mom Lauren and itty bitty baby Libby, Callum (standing), HG with her hand in Graham’s lap, Camille, Caroline, Lilly (standing), Emsley, Mom Chasity and baby Abigail (Abigail has a twin brother, Connor, who was chowing down and missed the photo op)

One of the Kindermusik teachers came and gave us a mini class during the party. Those of us who go to Kindermusik really enjoyed it, especially because she gave all of the songs a bunny twist for the the birthday girl (as noted by the bunny ears below), but we giggled a little at the reaction of the moms who hadn’t been before. I think they all thought we had lost it, acting so silly and bouncing around! But we do silly things to make our babies happy! (P.S. HG wasn’t too crazy about the bunny ears. She didn’t pull them off (I kept her distracted), but she gave some resistance to my putting them on her head.)  Helen Grace couldn’t get enough of Camille’s shiny silver shoes. When I showed John these pics, he laughed and asked why she was trying to get Camille’s shoes when she wouldn’t wear her own shoes! We think she really wanted to nibble on them since that’s what she prefers to do with hers. :)

Happy Birthday, Lilly!

Meeting the Minors

My cousin, Amy, and her hubby, Chad, finally got to meet Helen Grace! They live in Florida, and Chad has been deployed overseas with the Air Force for several months. They drove up to Byhalia to surprise Bubba and Chad’s parents on Friday for Amy’s birthday, so we were able to meet them for dinner at- where else but- Seafood Junction! :) We had such a good time catching up, and I really enjoyed watching Amy be so excited to love on HG.John is always stirring the pot…he just tries to blame it on HG now. John and the boy cousins always pat Bubba’s hair do, so John is trying to teach Helen Grace the tradition as well.

Overhearing Daddy

Just a quick funny that I want to remember…John was helping HG get in her pjs the other night. The ones he picked up were the kind that snap down the front and all the way down each leg. As he was getting her into them, I overheard him muttering, “Who would make pjs like this? I know, a MAN had to come up with this! Who else would do this? Not just a man, but a SINGLE man!” How funny- and true!

TMI

TMI = Too Much Information

Consider this your warning- this is a blog only a mama could love.

When we all got home from work and Grandma Daycare tonight, we took Helen Grace straight to the bathtub. I finally remembered to get her fun little bathtub toys out of her closet, and she just had a BLAST with so many things to play with in the tub! After her bath, we got her bundled up in her pjs, and the two of us got settled on the couch for her bedtime bottle. She drank almost all 7 oz., and then I heard my work cell phone ring in our bedroom. My coworker and I had been working on scheduling an interview right before her bath, so I hopped up with HG on my hip to grab the phone. On the way across the den, I heard her burp a little, but by the time I got to the doorway between the den and our room, she let out the loudest burp I had ever heard…and the WHOLE BOTTLE spews all across the hardwood floor, the corner of the rug, my feet, and all over her pjs, face, and hands. I started screaming for John, and the stench of formula was almost making me gag! I couldn’t move without making an even bigger mess, so John ran to get some towels while he was doubled over laughing. HG and I both had to strip down and start all over with new pjs. While HG was sitting on our bed in her diaper, she got that funny look on her face and started grunting. REALLY?!?! That was the worst diaper I have ever changed too. How could such awful stuff come out of both ends of her and she was still giggling? I am still shaking my head over the huge amount of liquid that came out of that little body! I wonder if I disturbed something in her belly when I hopped up to get the phone or if she gagged somehow?? Anywho, we finally got her cleaned up and redressed, and after 4 more oz., she has conked out. I don’t think I will ever walk across that part of our den without giggling a little bit…and smelling formula!

All You Need Is Love

Whew, it’s been a busy few days! Our social calendar has been packed, but we’ve had some really fun time together.

Helen Grace was excited to attend her first OBHS Soccer Banquet Thursday night, and she was a complete angel. As soon as we walked in the door, Christy Magnifico, one of the girls John has coached for several years, grabbed her and hung on to her around all night- and even passed her around the entire Magnifico family. I had worried how John and I were going to eat with her in our lap, so this was really a nice relief to have Helen Grace entertained. HG loved the slideshow with the music and pictures and was even quiet during the boys’ team awards (although I tried to pry HG out of Christy’s grandmother’s arms before the awards started but she wouldn’t let her go). HG finally started getting fussy around 7:30, right before John started the girls’ awards, so we slipped out so that we didn’t disturb Daddy’s presentation. After Kindermusik on Friday, Helen Grace and I met Gina Roman and her kiddos, Brandon and Jane, for lunch at Chick-fil-A. Helen Grace was a pretty sweet playmate that day, and I was happy to get some pics of the girls ‘talking’ to each other. I got brave and let Helen Grace try some chicken nuggets, strawberries, and Mandarin oranges. She makes awful faces- I guess getting used to the texture- and she ate all but the oranges. Since I ate so many Mandarin oranges when I was pregnant, I thought she would love them, but she turned her nose up and wouldn’t open her mouth at all! She showed me who’s boss, huh?!

Friday night, Brandy and I had a girls’ night out with dinner at Olive Garden and a movie, “Valentine’s Day.” It was so nice to catch up and eat my own food with my hands free, and I enjoyed a night with one of my oldest (longest time- not age) friends. How refreshing to be reminded that some of the best things in life never change!

Saturday we celebrated our friend Isaac’s first birthday. I love seeing how babies react to cake and icing, and I’m looking forward to seeing what Helen Grace will do. She tends to put her hands in her food (although that drives me and my OCD over the edge), so I really see her getting into it.

Happy Valentine’s Day!! We had a family Valentine’s brunch this morning (Sunday) at Mesquite Chop House to celebrate. Spif is feeling awful though and couldn’t come, and it just wasn’t the same without her. The show must go on though, so we enjoyed our time with Google, Bubba, Grandma, and Geggy. Helen Grace wore the dress that I started smocking months ago but Bubba had to finish for me (so that she could wear it before outgrowing it). She was a busy bee and wanted to be carried around, so we all took turns entertaining her. After brunch, John and I dropped her off at Grandma’s and took a THREE HOUR NAP. WOW. I did some laundry and dishes too before she got home. I hate to send her off like that, but man, I feel like a new woman after getting caught up on sleep and chores. We’ve had a relaxing night watching the Olympics, and I believe she has fallen in my footsteps in loving figure skating- yay! She just laid in my lap and watched intently. Gotta love my cuddly baby girl! Here are some pics from our Valentine’s breakfast…

She loves to bounce on her Daddy’s knee.She got way too close to the camera, but I love the little smile and crossed eyes! She’ll kill me when she’s older for posting this. :) And of course, John had to put her upside down…for the sake of showing of her top teeth, of course.My sweet baby girl She really wanted Bubba’s bracelets.And the wave has come back in full force. She is waving all the time now- it is so cute!- and she has also started pointing a little bit.Daddy’s little girl  Oh, how she loves tummy tickles from Daddy! She was just cackling- wish I could have caught it on video.She is learning to defend herself. She can really grab Daddy’s hair!