My Little Climber {Milestones & Firsts}

Be still my heart! She's figured it out. We will have to watch this little one like a hawk for a while cause she's a climber! And a good one at that. This past week she decided she was ready to brave Mt. Everest. Or at least the playset out front. She's so proud of the fact that she can get up the ladder and down the slide on her own now. So proud in fact that she'll refuse to come down until we drag her out. Oy vey!

 

Of course her brother thinks it's the greatest thing ever and encourages her whenever they run to play outside (which is just about every morning while I read other blogs and catch up on email while stealing a few sips of coffee). I'm sure she'll be climbing up the slide like her brother does in no time.


What feats have your little ones mastered over the last few weeks?

Dear M: Ten Months Old

(I promise to update with the usual crib and chair pictures soon!)

Dear Miss M,

I'm so sorry this is a few days late. We've been keeping ourselves pretty busy for the past few weeks but things are finally starting to slow down a bit (for maybe a week... then it's the holiday season!). You are not slowing down at all though.

You have amazed us yet again with your ability to quickly pick up on just about everything. You've started taking steps although I wouldn't quite call you a walker just yet. You've started saying words AND signing them! And you've started playing more with your brother. It's been amazing to watch how you've grown.

Pushing the walker around the yard

We always knew you were a strong little girl. From early on you always wanted to stand. When given the choice you'd stand while holding onto us instead of sitting. So when you started standing on your own and purposely letting go of whatever you were holding onto I knew that steps would follow. And they did!

While we were playing in you brother's room one day you decided to take two steps to Daddy from Mommy's arms! I was so excited that I had to grab the video camera. And we caught it on video. Over the past few days your interest in walking has only increased. You can take about 6-7 steps from one object to another but usually you are only motivated if you're walking to a person. I can't wait to see what this next month brings! You may be a walker before Halloween!

Where's the bird?

Your vocabulary is also expanding. You can say Dad, Mom, bird, dog, and uh-oh. I think I'm forgetting one more but it'll come to me. You can also sign bird, dog, and ball as well as signal when you want something (by grabbing in the direction of the object and pointing repeatedly) and when you want up or down. You wave hi and bye...

Oh! That's the other word. You say Hi! When you are saying hi to someone you say "Hi!" and wave. It's adorable. And when you first wake up you look over to see if Daddy is still there and if he is you say, "Hi, Dad!" It's adorable. And he melts every time (then you go to digging in my stomach).

What do you hear, M?

And your sense of play has only increased this month. You'll get down on the ground with your brother and play right by him. You grab a ball, throw it and than crawl after it to catch it. You knock over the towers that brother builds and love when he plays with his Little People animal farm. You love playing with the animals and little people. And when anything rolls under a couch, dresser or chair you copy your brother by lying down, cocking your head to the side and peering under wherever the toy went. It's so cute to watch! You even attempt to get the toy too if it's in your reach.

Riding Scout

You love playing with the dog. It's almost funny watching you hunt him down and surprise him by sneaking up on him. Not sure if he likes your game as much as you do but it keeps us entertained. I've started putting you on Scout and pretending like you're riding him and you giggle and laugh! He only kinda tolerates it because we're paying so much attention to him. But we have to keep a close eye on you because you've started to enjoy poking him in the eye and he just doesn't like that...

You've grown so much this past month, my little girl, and I'm so happy that you are in our lives. You bring such joy to this home and we are truly blessed to have you. We cannot wait to see what the next month brings us!

Love,
Mommy

Miss M's First Steps

I have been waiting for Miss M to attempt her first steps for quite a while. For the past few weeks she's been pulling up to a standing position and letting go of whatever she's holding onto to practice standing on her own. And I guess she feels really comfortable with it now.

When I set her down now I usually just set her down standing vs. sitting. I picked her up while we were playing in Brother's room and out of the corner of my eye caught her taking a step towards me before going down to a crawl. So I figured what the hey... lets see if she'll take a few steps. And she did! Again and again. And after each time she'd get this huge grin on her face and wiggle out of my arms to go again.

Then Daddy took over so I could get some video of her. I'm so proud!

I Have A Pointer {Communication and Development}

No, we didn't get another dog. My daughter has started pointing! And I am loving it. When my son started pointing I didn't realize it was such a big deal until one of my friends (who happens to be a speech language pathologist) commented about it and let me know that it was a good sign that he was developing right on track.

I actually noticed it when I was playing Angry Birds on my smartphone and she kept reaching over from her seat on the couch to try and touch the screen with her little pointer finger. She saw me pointing at the screen (launching the birds) and wanted to do the same! Then on our most recent trip to Disneyland this past week she started pointing at things around her. So we took advantage of her interest and started telling her about everything she pointed at. She might have been overwhelmed just a bit...

It's important for kids under 12 months of age to be watched for signs that they're using their "voices" to relate to their environment. A few things to look for in your infant to make sure that they are on track are listed below. Knowing what's "normal" and what's not in speech and language development can help you figure out if you should be concerned or if your child is right on schedule.

Early Stages of Speech Development
Birth to 3 Months

• Respond to speech by looking at the speaker
• Respond differently to the voice of a parent than to other voices
• React to changes in a speaker's tone, pitch, volume, and intonation
• Respond differently to their home language and another language
• Communicate with bodily movements, by crying, babbling, and laughing
• Attempt to imitate sounds

3 Months to 6 Months

• Exchange sounds, facial expressions, or gestures with a parent or caregiver
• Listen to conversations
• Repeat some vowel and consonant sounds

6 Months to 9 Months

• Begin repetitive babbling (deaf children also start to babble with their hands)
• Associate gestures with simple words and two-word phrases, like "hi" and "bye-bye"
• Use vocal and non-vocal communication to express interest and influence others 
• Saying words like "mama" and "dada" (without really understanding what those words mean)

9 Months to 12 Months

• Understand the names of familiar people and objects (for example bottle, binky, etc.)
• Show their understanding with responsive body language and facial expressions
• Say a few words
• Respond to a firm "no" by stopping what they are doing

There are certain milestones that children are evaluated for at their well-baby visits. For the 12 month visit, pointing, gesturing and waving good-bye along with a few spoken words are great signs that a baby is on track developmentally. Being able to communicate for an infant can be difficult at times because of the lack of a vocabulary. But if you watch your infant closely you can see that they're constantly communicating with you in their own special way. And don't worry if your child hasn't met some or all of the developmental guides listed above. If you have any concerns about your child's development please speak with your pediatrician.

Sources: PBS, Kids Health, ASHA

Have you entered my Teething Bling giveaway yet? Only a few more days left!

Dear M: Nine Months Old

Dear Miss M,

I am so amazed by you every day. You are such an exceptional little girl who makes everyone around you smile. Seriously... I've been approached by more and more people wanting to just meet you as the months go by. Your smile and laugh are contagious.

You are also developing so quickly! In the past month you've mastered crawling and can get just about anywhere you want to go. You can also pull to a stand and let go for a few seconds as well as lower yourself down without falling. You just started picking things up off the ground while standing and know that if you can't quite reach it you can sit back down, pick it up and stand back up. Oh, and did I mention your cruising like crazy too? You are one strong lady!

When I tried to get your monthly pictures I couldn't get one good shot in the chair because you kept pulling up to a standing position. And then when I tried to get a crib shot you would roll over as quickly as possible and crawl to the side of the crib to stand. You didn't want to have anything to do with laying down. These pictures might just get harder and harder to get!

You are starting to get more and more hair. And I didn't want to say anything but I think you may be a strawberry! I always thought there were hints of red in your hair but most people just looked at me like I was crazy for suggesting it. But I'm not crazy. You can definitely tell in some of the pictures we took in Hawaii.

You went on your first plane ride (and did amazingly well) as well as went on your first family trip with us. Your brother didn't get to do this until he was 18 months old! And this was his first plane ride too. You snacked, played, nursed and slept for the majority of the flights. But there were a few fussy times where you wanted to get up and move. So we let you stand up and crawl at our feet (with a blanket put down first, of course). Daddy also took you to walk up and down the aisle at least once or twice to stretch your legs some more.

You adjusted quite well to the time difference and went with the flow of each day even though you might not have gotten quite as long of a nap as you would have liked. You slept poolside, at the beach, on Mama, on Daddy, on Grandma, on Aunt Louise, in the car, in the stroller and on the couch. And you convinced us to purchase a king bed since you loved the one in our condo so much on vacation (and now try and stretch out as much as possible in our small queen at home).

Yes, that's right. You are still in bed with Mommy and Daddy. I honestly didn't try too hard to get you into your crib and don't think I'm going to. I suggested that Daddy just take down the crib now and turn your room into a playroom for the time being. It just makes more sense.

Speaking of play, you try so hard to keep up with your big brother. You love playing with him and all of his toys. He isn't too keen on sharing everything but you will take any toy he gives you so for now it works out quite well. He even occasionally shares his prized dinosaurs with you! Such a lucky girl. You smile and talk to him as much as he'll listen and then some. And he loves calling you his sweetheart (he may have overheard Mommy and Daddy calling you this). I sure hope that you two have an amazing sibling bond when you are older. But no pressure!

To end this monthly letter to you I want to leave you with a few outtakes from our monthly photo shoot. You did NOT want that gorgeous Evi Luna headband on your head so your brother helped you out... as any good brother would do!

She's Got Skillz

It might not look quite like the crawling you're used to but it's how she gets around. And she's getting pretty darn good at it! Here's a little video of Miss M crawling to me. I hope to have more videos soon to show off just how good she's getting at moving around. I just keep forgetting to grab the camera as she crawls from one end of the room to the other. And her favorite person to hunt down? Her brother!

Dear M: 6 Months Old

 

Happy 1/2 Year Birthday beautiful girl! You, as always, are such a joy to your mommy, daddy and brother. You are a pro at sitting up and babbling and you can now scoot yourself backwards when you want to go forwards. I predict that you'll be crawling in the next two months. Still no teeth though but that's ok! You can gum anything and everything with skill :)

I love your little personality. You are so sweet and laid back but know what you want and if you don't get it you let us know! You have all of us wrapped around your little finger but we definitely don't mind. You are starting to have a little bit of separation anxiety when I leave the room and you aren't preoccupied with toys or your brother. I'm not used to this since your brother could be anywhere with anyone and not mind at all.

You still are refusing the bottle but are catching on little by little to a sippy cup. We have also started solids with you. You've tried sweet potatoes, bananas, peaches, pears, asparagus and avocado! We're going to start plain full-fat yogurt next. Then I can start mixing some of your purees with yogurt too. You want to eat everything we eat so hopefully now you can start doing just that. Yogurt and fruit with mommy in the morning :)

Because you won't take a bottle when Mommy is away from you I've had to quit my job. So over these next six months I hope to really learn and grow from being a stay at home mommy to you and your brother. I can't not be excited about that! Our summer is going to be full of fun!

You have started taking sign language classes with Joann at Sign4Baby and really seem to enjoy time with babies your age and a little older. I think that this mommy/daughter time will really help us bond together each week. I've started signing more with you at home. I have even seen your happy reaction when I ask you if you want to nurse and do the sign for nursing. I think you might pick up on this quickly!

You're still a petite thing, 14 pounds 8 ounces and 25.5 inches long (25th %tile for weight, 50th %tile for height) but you are very healthy! I get stopped all of the time when we're out and about by strangers who tell me how beautiful you are. It makes me swell with pride every time!

I am loving every minute of being your mommy and am enjoying watching you grow into your own person. I love you, Molly!

 

Not much time for more pictures this month but stay tuned for professional 6 month photos soon! Done, of course, by the crazy talented Tessa of Grin & Share It Photography.  You can also check out some practice photos I took last week of both kids.

Dear M: Five Months Old

 

Has another month really gone by this fast? I cannot believe it! I almost forgot to take pictures this month. I was all ready to do it yesterday but the day got away from us! I'm so glad I remembered this morning though :) Luckily it was overcast so we got to take a few photos before church outside. Not sure what's going on with the color on my computer though so I apologize if the pictures don't look so hot. They looked awesome on the camera. I'm going to have to edit them on the desktop.

Enough about little things... lets get on to the big things, Molly! You're five months old! In one more month you will be half a year old. I am just shocked that you are growing so quickly. It's not like I didn't know you were going to do this to me; I guess I just wasn't as prepared as I thought I was.

You are now sitting up AND eating solids. You decided to start sitting up at about 4.5 months old but have gotten very good at it. Good enough that I've been just plopping you down on the bed or the carpet and working around you and your brother playing. You are very strong. You like to bend down to pick up a toy and than come back up like it's no big deal. But when you go a bit sideways you can't help but fall all the way down. But it's not a sudden fall like with your brother. You just kind of slowly roll down to the ground and than roll to your back or belly and look up at me like "oops!". 

You were just so darn interested in Mommy, Daddy and Brother while we were eating so I decided to jump in and give you food. We started at about this age with your brother too but I was very lax about jumping in and maybe took 2-3 weeks before we were really giving him meals every day. Well, you've had cereal for the past three days and tomorrow I'm planning on adding avocado! Maybe some sweet potatoes after that. Then it's on to some greens. I haven't decided what yet but I'm sure I'll check out Wholesome Baby Food for some ideas.

I am kinda hoping that this helps your grandma and great aunt as well when they watch you while I'm at work since you STILL aren't taking the bottle. Well... I lie. You take about 1 ounce for them and than completely give up. It can be a little frustrating since you get very hungry and the food is right in front of you. So hopefully with some oatmeal and/or purees in your belly you'll be happier for a little longer until you can get to mama. 

I also want to mention how much you move around. You aren't crawling or rolling everywhere but you sure do look like you want to. You are starting to pull your knees under your belly and look with longing at your brother as he runs around you. Your legs are very strong and you already stand up very well. I put you in your crib and you stood at the rail for quite some time until you lost your balance and sat on your bum. I think you really like to stand up. Almost as much as sitting :) 

I'm so excited to see you change and grow over the next few months and years. You are amazing and amaze me every day. I am so lucky to have you as my daughter and am so blessed to have such wonderful children.

M's First Meal

So first a confession. We've given M food two other times. First, two weeks ago she went for my banana. Like lunged for it. She saw E and me eating one so she wanted in too. I proceeded to give her about 1/2 a tablespoon of banana mashed up. Don't worry... I gave it to her the next two days too just in case there was an allergy.

Then on Cinco de Mayo we went to our favorite mexican restaurant, Tio Leo's, and I enjoyed an enchilada, rice and beans. Well, I gave E half of my rice and beans so she saw not only me but E and Daddy eating the same thing. So again she tried to lunge for my fork as I was eating. I stopped her and put her in the high chair they gave us for her (first time in a high chair!). I took a small amount of beans on my finger and gave it to her. She gobbled them up! And kept asking for more by opening her mouth and shoving my finger in her mouth.

So, we knew it was time to really start solids. And last night we did. I started with just a teaspoon of oatmeal cereal and 1/2 to one ounce of breastmilk (hey, it's not being used anyway!). Well... she loved it! Ate the whole thing. Even took the spoon from me at the end since obviously I wasn't giving it to her fast enough :)

M is sitting!

Look what I can do, Ma! Miss M has been working on this talent for the past 3 weeks. She's lasted over a minute now so I think it's fair to say she's a sittin' baby! She started working on this two weeks before her brother did (at 5 months). I'm kinda afraid. I mean with this and sitting we may have an advanced baby on our hands!

(Today she is 5 days shy of 5 months)

Is she really?

I don't think I'm ready for this...

I think it's over

Breastfeeding that is. We're down to one nursing session a day and with all the aches and pains of this pregnancy I really think that both of us are ready to wean. He sometimes asks to nurse during the day but I can usually keep him happy with a sippy of milk. So that's what we'll continue doing in the morning instead of nursing.

It's been an amazing journey. We lasted 18 months and I am SOOO proud of that. I went through thrush, low supply, teething and many other challenges but made it through. I am hoping and praying that nursing my second will be as smooth as my first. I loved nursing and the extra snuggle time I had with my little boy.

Now so that I remember this precious time always here a few pictures of us nursing (don't worry... not too much is showing. If your offended... sorry). I didn't know that either of these pictures were being taken when they were but are glad I have them.

Communication is Key

In any relationship communication really is necessary. This also goes for the relationships we have with our children. And E is starting to get MUCH better at communicating. He has a long list of words he now says. A few of the new ones are trash can, keys and banana. Sooo cute to hear him say these!

But now he's starting to sign back to me as well! Over the past few days he went from only signing All Done after dinner and waving bye to go outside to signing milk to nurse, signing bird when he sees a bird flying, and signing light when I turn on the light. I'm going to start reading the sign books to him at bed time once we master his body parts and hopefully he'll learn a lot more.

Tonight E wasn't feeling too hot and was ready for bed a bit early. Wanna know how I knew? He came up to me with tired eyes and signed All Done! Like... he's all done with the day. I thought he was confusing all done with milk. So I asked him "Are you all done or do you want to nurse?" And he signed all done. So I grabbed him and told J that we were going to do our bedtime routine a bit earlier.

We changed his diaper, put on his pajamas and crawled into bed. E signed all done again and I asked him if he wanted to nurse. He ignored me and crawled over me to get off the bed. I was starting to get confused until he reached for a book and handed it to me (it was on the night stand and he could only reach it from the ground, not the bed). So I picked him up and gave the book to J to read.

After two books E turned to me and signed milk to nurse. We nursed as J read the last book and than J turned off the lights and turned on the white noise. E was out in 5 minutes!

I am swelling with pride!!! My baby is just so darn smart!

First Steps!

E took his first steps tonight :) I couldn't be more proud (can you tell??).

Language boom!

So a few weeks ago E started saying dog (dogah) and Jetta (do-dah, one of our dog's name). Since then he says hi, out & up on top of mom and dada! I am amazed!

Today we were at a Valentine's Day party with our playgroup. one of my girlfriends was playing with her 6 month old. E came up and stood by her and pointed to the baby and said Hi Baby! She turned around and said, "Um, Danielle, I think E just said 'Hi, Baby!' and pointed to Luke." I couldn't believe it. Now I don't know if this was a fluke or not but whenever we go by pictures of E as a baby I always say 'hi baby'!

It's just so cute! I've been a little worried (and haven't confessed yet) about him not walking yet since he's been crawling since 6 months, pulling up since 9 months and standing up since 10 months but he was just working on his language skills instead!

Almost Walking

I'm sure most remember my Almost Crawling post but now E is just so close to taking his first steps! Over the past few weeks he has wanted us to let him walk around by holding our hands. He chooses to walk if we hold him instead of crawling whereas before he would walk a few steps, get down and crawl to what he wants.

Well just this weekend he started to walk while only holding onto 1 hand! I held onto his hand with my hand and put my other hand just out of reach and he started taking steps towards it. Now he doesn't need my other hand as motivation to go forward. He's super fast while using two hands and is still a bit wobbly using one hand but he's learning very quickly! I'm sure those first steps will be here just in time for his first birthday :)

Oh, and not related to walking but E is pointing at EVERYTHING! Whenever he wants something he just points right to it. I've been trying to do sign language since E was 6 months old but he prefers the much easier point method :) Hey! He gets his point across... haha... pun intended.

Official First Word

Well... besides MomMom and dada. E's first official word is Dog! Sorry, Grandma Ann... there was just no consistancy with Duck :)

He points to the dogs and says Dah or Doda. We think Doda is a play on Jetta, our husky. He has repeated this with Aunt Louise's dog as well. PJ the beagle sure does love her some E!

I can't wait to get this on video but E has never been one to show off his tricks for us once the camera's rolling.

Another example of this is that he's been standing on his own for a few seconds now but as soon as we get out the camera he gets jello legs. It's his new game. Hopefully videos to follow with proof!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth

So as of last Wednesday E has his first top tooth (#3 behind his two bottom teeth) and is working on his second, third and fourth top teeth as well! It's been rather fun at our house lately. E is a trooper though. He's mostly just clingy during the day with fevers thrown in every other day but at night I feel so bad for him! He'll wake up crying and he never does this! Poor baby!

I really hope these next few come fast because both E and I need our sleep!

Buh-Bye!

E has found that his hand can wave good bye! He doesn't always do it when we say bye to him. He does it on his own terms. But he seems to love to watch his hand wave bye bye!

Balance

Life is all about balance. But that's not what I'm blogging about...

E is not only pulling up on everything, he's now letting go with one hand. And sometimes he lets go with both. It's quite fun to watch how he changes each and every day. He's just so amazing.