Frolicking in the Garden

The weather was beautiful again today, so after FTM and a visit to see Da Da at work, we headed out to the Botanical Garden with our friends to play! I love seeing the trees starting to show some green, and the tulips are in full bloom. Silly me didn’t think to bring sun screen or a hat (I know, shame on me), but I promise to be a good mommy and add them to our diaper bag staples now. Thankfully, we didn’t stay in the direct sun too much, and she doesn’t seem to be sunburned. What a great day with friends!

So she doesn’t look like me at all other than her blue eyes, but she does scrunch her nose like I do when I get tickled! And as a side note, my car keys have become the ‘go to’ toy when she is having a meltdown. I don’t know what it is about them that she loves, but hey, it works!We noticed that she would hold up her foot rather than let it touch the ground. Don’t let that fool you into thinking that she’s a total girly girl though. She continuously tried to eat sticks and leaves!Kelly and Grant, Cassie and Will, Jessica and Callum, Ashley and Tyler, and Amy and Emsley- sweet friends! Jessica kept HG entertained with a game where she would put the ball on her head and act like she was sneezing. She would say, “A-choo!” and drop the ball. This game kept Helen Grace in stitches for the longest time! I loved these purple tulips and tried to get a photo of Helen Grace in front of them. As you can tell from the next few pics, it was a pretty fruitless endeavor.Tried to bribe her with her Kindermusik egg. Didn’t work. And she’s done.Will, HG, Emsley, Tyler, and Callum- poor Grant was smart to not participate in this photo shoot. I’m scared the big kids would have clobbered him!Watching the big boys trying out the worm holes. “Hmm, do I want to try this?””Yes, I think I will! It’s really fun!”

Backyard Picnic Playdate

Last Friday was beautiful, and after lunch with Christy Mag, Helen Grace and I headed out to the backyard. We threw down a quilt, grabbed some toys and animal crackers, and had a great little backyard picnic playdate!

CMag She had NO interest in putting on her cute new sunglasses. I know, this pic is terrible cheesy, but it’s the only one of the two of us where she is even remotely looking at the camera. Bear with me. :), Finally! I snapped the pic just in time before she threw them off!Yay, Daddy’s home! She loves to ‘play dentist’ and stick her finger in your mouth.So typical- love it!

Slobbery Goodness

Helen Grace is so stinkin’ adorable with these massive, messy, slobbery raspberries she’s blowing lately!

She also played peek-a-boo today- all by herself! We were packing her up to leave Grandma’s, and I tossed her jacket over her face and then pulled it off to play peek-a-boo with her. After a few times of my doing that, she took the jacket, put it over her own face, and then pulled it down to give us a big smile and giggle. She did it a few times too- so cute!!

We Have a “Da Da”!

Today has been a busy day for Helen Grace. She finally said her first word- Da Da! John still does not admit that she did- I think he is trying to be sweet to me- but she has said it twice now and in the proper context, so I say that counts!

We were sitting at the kitchen table this morning eating breakfast, and Helen Grace looked over at John and said “Da Da.” Then, tonight we were all sitting on the couch, and she was climbing toward him and said it again! It’s so neat and exciting that she is finally starting to communicate in ways that we can understand!

I think this is way premature, but I do feel like we are making progress with Ma Ma too. When I was fixing breakfast, Helen Grace was sitting in her high chair. I had my back to her, and I heard a “Ma”…and then a few seconds later, another “Ma.” So funny! The context was right for her to call out to me, but I’m not sure we’ve got the word down yet. My parents laughed that we sound like the redneck family with her calling me Ma! I promise we will continue to practice Ma Ma!

Also, we had another first today- Helen Grace BIT me! I’m talking a serious bite, the little booger! I was sitting in the chair in her room, and she was crawling between the chair and the ottoman. She stopped to pull up on my leg and do that glomming thing she normally does, but this time she bit me- even broke the skin! When I screamed in pain, she looked at me and started crying. What, I’m the one with a hole in my leg?!?! I hope the fact that I startled her so much will keep her from doing it to anyone else. Maybe she’s just not used to having sharp teeth in her mouth. Regardless, we are going to quickly be kicked out of our social activities if this continues- we’ve got to fix it! :)

Finally, we have a sick little girl. She has a terrible runny nose and couch. I think she might have inherited her daddy’s allergies. I’m scared that another doctor’s appointment is in our near future. Fingers crossed that it will resolve itself in the next day or so.

Ten Terrific Months

Helen Grace is ten months old!

March 25, 2010

Here is what our little angel is up to these days…

• Helen Grace is crawling like crazy. She has now gotten both legs to work together, and she can get anywhere she wants. She can even follow you from room to room and is starting to chase the kitties. It’s funny because they aren’t used to her moving so fast, so they are surprised most of the time when she catches their tails!
• She loves to clap, point, and wave. She can clap along with a rhythm, which I attribute to Kindermusik and the Waldron side of the family.
• Helen Grace really likes to play peek-a-boo and will just cackle when she ‘catches’ you!
• She’s eating a lot more table food. She loves animal crackers, Puffs, yogurt melts, cheese, real green beans (although hates the green bean baby food), apples, pizza crust, breadsticks, etc. Her favorite baby food choices are apples and chicken, sweet potatoes, pears with anything, and oatmeal. She’s still working on a sippy cup. She would much rather have a bottle.
• She is cruising very well- can walk from one piece of furniture to another. She can get up and down from any toy or furniture, and she’s getting more coordinated by the day.
• She survived her first illness. It really messed up her sleeping pattern for a while. In the last few days, we’ve been able to get her to sleep easily around 7:30 p.m., she’ll wake up a few times before we go to bed, and then she’ll sleep most of the night until 6 a.m. or so.
• She’s got six teeth now- four on top, two on bottom.
• She’s standing or sitting up in her crib almost every time we go get her.
• I swear that she’s saying “Rebel” when she sees him pass by, but John doesn’t believe me. We’ve heard a possible “Da Da,” but we are waiting to see that she’s associating it with Daddy rather than just trying out the sound.
• She is wearing size 3 diapers and 12-18 mos. clothes. She got her first pair of big girl sandals this week!
• Although she’s on the go most of the time, she will still hold my hand sometimes while she’s drinking a bottle or falling asleep. She will often give us a kiss (which is really just a big open mouthed glomming on the face) and a big squeeze. She is still a mama’s girl for the most part, which is very bittersweet. I’m so thankful that she seeks me first for comfort, but I wish she wouldn’t get so upset when I walk away from her to go to the other room! :)

She cracks herself up!

Fancy

Happy Hump Day!

Two updates that I’m not sure I’ve mentioned…

• HG is now standing up in her bed. I about died the first time that I walked in and saw her little head peeping over the top. She also has started kicking the mattress in her bed in the mornings, if she’s too lazy to sit or stand up. We can hear it all the way downstairs in our bedroom!
• She had her first flirting experience at the doctor’s last week. A cute little boy came over to her and just stood there smiling. He then looked at his mom and said, “She’s pretty!” Oh lordy, does it really start this young?!

I’m realizing that spring is around the corner and we still have a ton of adorable winter outfits in her closet, so Helen Grace was all dressed up for FTM this morning. We had a GREAT time catching up with all our friends, and she and I had a fun afternoon running errands together. Helen Grace was a big hit all over town- jeweler, hair dresser, Courtyard, etc.! We had a great coupon at Babies R Us, so I went ahead and bought her a big girl car seat for when she’s ready to turn around and face forward. It seems huge compared to her infant carrier! Also, she now has a pair of big girl sandals. She was too hot today in long sleeves, socks, and shoes. She enjoys wiggling her toes! Then we met Billy, Sarah, CB, and Emily for dinner at Newk’s to finish off a great day.

Helen Grace’s first bite of a Rice Krispie Treat She was sharing it with Uncle CB But then Uncle CB got a much bigger bite than she did, and she tried to steal his!

Kindermusik for Grandparents

Since my mom was out for Spring Break, she and my dad came along to see what Kindermusik was all about on Friday. I have to admit that Ms. Karen did a good job of not embarrassing us (Tyler’s granddaddy and great-grandmama AND Lilly’s brothers were there too) by doing too many of silly dances that day. Maybe Ms. Karen was intimidated by the full house of spectators- Helen Grace was a little quiet at first too. She hadn’t seen her buddies in over a week, but she soon warmed up and started pulling Callum’s curls as usual! Usually, she sits mesmerized under the parachute, and while she was still entranced by it, she was in a different spot almost every time the parachute came up. I’m still getting used to her being so mobile! Here are some pics of our class and HG’s grandparents’ participation… We all went to lunch at Holiday Ham afterward (where she sampled some chicken, turkey, and chips from our plates- heehee) and then shopped for some clothes to fit our big girl. Sadly, Helen Grace has been looking like a ragamuffin these days because her onesies are too short in the stride and her sleeves and pants are too short. She is very excited to now have some 12 mos and 18 mos clothes that give her a little more breathing room! We enjoyed our day!

Lazy Weekend

We have had a wonderfully slow and laidback weekend. Here are some pics of our family time…

Picked up a little bunny the other day at Target! HG is a climber these days. She has discovered our new bookshelves in the den. I have been hunting for baskets to put in this space for her toys, but maybe it would be a fun spot for her! :) She is definitely my child! We were “walking” from our bathroom back to the den, and she came to a complete stop outside my closet door. She then high-tailed it inside to my heels and sat down! I eventually had to pick her up and carry her out of there!

John and I laughed and laughed at Helen Grace “reading” to us this morning. She loves books!

Helen Grace was hanging out with me in the kitchen on Saturday morning while I was making my breakfast. As I started back toward the den with my waffle and chocolate milk in hand, I jokingly called her to follow me and she DID! Of course, I ran to get my camera, but when I turned on the camera, she stopped hamming it up as much as she had been. Here’s what I was able to capture…

I was able to catch her on camera playing Peek-a-boo with me, but our fun little game was short-lived as she went after the electrical outlet. Needless to say, John has now put a plug cover thingie in every outlet in our house!

Cousins

Moma, Helen Grace, and I enjoyed a great girls’ trip to Jackson this week. Since Moma is off for Spring Break, we hit the road and went to see our family in Jackson. It happened to be Worth’s 12th birthday that day, and we were so happy the timing worked out so that we could celebrate with him!

Helen Grace was a complete angel and really did well in the car. She napped for the first two hours, and then I moved back to the backseat to entertain her for the last one. We got there in time for lunch and had a fun birthday celebration for Worth, complete with cake and ice cream.

HG was strangely shy when we first got to Jackson and just stared at everyone for a little bit. She warmed up soon though, after running around in her walker, and soon she was rolling around in the floor with Worth and Grace Ann. They were so cute playing together, and I loved watching them love on my baby. It was truly life coming full circle. :)

Happy Birthday, Worthy! Love you, little man!

Playing on GG’s bed She ran in a circle around GG’s house in her walker. She almost ran over poor GG- you gotta move fast! Grace Ann and Worth were so good to play with HG. Grace Ann was all about being a ‘babysitter,’ and I think Worth even liked playing with her although I’m not sure he’d admit it. ;) Grace Ann and Worth were so nice to let HG share their birthday cake- she even got her own candle that matched her outfit. Aunt Glo came to see us on her lunch break. Grace Ann walked around with Helen Grace on her hip like a little mama. Suzanne finally got her HG moment- had to pry her out of Grace Ann’s arms! Climbing over poor GG  Awww, that look from GG brings tears to my eyes. Going for the hair, as usual!