What are you lookin' at?

Caught with her pants down!

This is how I found the p after her nap today :)

9 months

That's right...still no teeth ;) It's okay, she has had a very big month and it is certainly not slowing down her eating. She is eating solids really well and is up to 3 meals a day. She picks up finger food and can chew just fine with her gums only. However, when we weighed in at the doctor today she was only 17 pounds 6 ounces (not much more than she was a 6 months). She has dropped from the 96th percentile down to about 30. I shouldn't be surprised since she is always on the move. But don't worry, she is by no means a skinny baby. Her rolls are smaller, but they are stil there ;) At this point she actually wieghs about a pound less than The P did at her age and height wise she is about 1/2 an inch longer.

Developmentally, this has been a big month. Lots of changes. At the beginning of the month she finally started to say "Mama". It's great! Of course no more than 24 hours after I created the last post about how she can't sit up by herself I found her sitting up in her crib. Then the sitting lead to standing. Now when I go to lay her down for a nap she pops right back up. She loves to practice, practice, practice, so she has been missing some sleep during "nap time". She can also walk all around with her push walker. The child loves to be up and walking. Speaking of, she is still walking/running all over holding onto our fingers, but if you let go she can stand and balance for what seems like forever. She has attempted to take a step or two on her own, but would much rather have our support. I don't think it will be long before she is walking by herself, but in the meantime she has started crawling. She ges all scrunched up on her knees and can make her way around. We are in big trouble!

the p is also a social butterfly. She is still smiling at everyone and now she waves "hi" and "bye". When we went to the doctor today she kept waving to her and saying "hi". She loves the attention it gets her. She can do high fives and clap her hands. Put on some music and she'll bob to the beat :)

It's getting more challenging now that she is more mobile, but it is also super cute. We are very lucky that the p has such a good big sister to help. The P is a great help to me and loves her little sister so much!

Rock Gym

We took a family trip to try out a new activity this weekend. We went to the Rock Gym to try out some rock climbing. We had both kids, so we decided just to "boulder around". It was fun to try to get up to the top of the wall, and much more difficult than it might look. The P had a good time exploring and the p sat in her car seat on a table watching everyone and smiling. I would definitely like to go back to take a repelling lesson- without the kids next time. It was fun to go and try it all together.

8 months...

and still toothless :)

the p is officially 8 months old. She is doing new things all the time. I keep telling myself I should write them down, but of course I don't and then I have a hard time remembering what happened when...maybe that should be the New Year's resolution that I have yet to make. But anyway...as you can see she's still fat and happy. Although I do think she is a little less fat and a little grouchier these days ;) I think she is still around 18 pounds and she will definitely let you know when she is not happy with something. Gone are the days where she was completely content sitting on the floor with a couple of toys. Now she needs to be up and walking. Yes, I said walking. She doesn't crawl, but she loves to stand up holding my fingers and walk/run all over the place. Her favorite game is chasing The P. She screams and laughs the whole time. It's fun, but hard on my back. She can also stand on her own and balance for about 10 seconds or so. In her crib she has learned to pull herself up to standing. But she has to start from sitting up which she can't quite get to on her own yet. She babbles a lot. My favorite is when she says "Hey dada!" She can also wave "hi" and "bye" and she has started bobbing her head and dancing to music. It's really cute. She is eating lots of food. Two meals and day and she just started eating "puffs". She's already pretty good and picking them up and getting them in her mouth. It takes a little more effort to keep her entertained but it is tons of fun. Luckily she also has a great big sister who loves to help out.

Christmas 2009

I can safely say that Christmas with two kids- and especially preparing for Christmas- is totally exhausting! But we had a great time! We travelled up to New Jersey to spend Christmas with family and to visit some friends. The P is at a great age to get excited about Santa. We have been reading Christmas books at bedtime for months and I think she has "Twas the Night Before Christmas" memorized. (Don't make a mistake or she will correct you.) She had fun opening her gifts- as long as they weren't clothes. (The clothes were immediately discarded on the floor ;) ) the p also had a great time. She especially loved all of the ribbons, bows and paper.

Here is our one family picture with everyone dressed up.

(Clearly someone was not cooperating.)

The girls had fun spending time with-

Aunt Amy

Papa Ronnie

and Baba

New Jersey Snow!

Since we don't get much snow at home these days, The P got her fill in New Jersey before Christmas. Baba and Amy brought her up to NJ the Friday before Christmas- right in the middle of the big snow storm. The ended up with over a foot of snow. The P had a great time shoveling and riding on the sled...

earning her keep...

ready to ride
I think this was actually more fun for dad

cold and tired

7 months old!

Wow! My baby is 7 months old today. I can barely get over it. We have been so busy and time flies. The good news is she is doing great! She sits and plays for long periods of time. Although she can get a little grouchy if you leave her on her own too long. She loves to find two of my fingers so she can pull herself up to stand. Once she's up she wants to move and is learning to put one foot in front of the other to "walk" around. She has also started reaching forward to grab things that are out of reach and looks like she wants to start crawling. (For my sake, I honestly hope she takes her time before she crawls.) No teeth yet, but she enjoys eating and gets excited when she sees her bowl and spoon. According to my calculations she weighs about 18 pounds. However, she moves so much I think her legs are slimming down. (Or maybe I'm just kidding myself.) She is also learning to become a better sleeper. We moved The P into her own room a couple weeks ago, so now I don't have to run in and stick the pacifier in the p's mouth every time she moans. I let her go and she learned to put herself back to sleep. Now she rarely wakes up in the middle of the night (knock on wood). She still likes to wake up early- usually starting around 5:30- but she is happy to play in her crib for a while or she will put herself back to sleep, so I don't normally need to get her up before about 6:30. That makes everyone's life a little happier ;) She is still as smiley as ever and LOVES her big sister. We have been taking a baby sign language class for the past 4 weeks. It is still early for her to start signing, but she loves the class. She plays with the toys, watches the other kids, and is completely exhausted by the end.

Just yesterday she started to say "da da da". It's super cute :) You can kind of hear it on the video.