11 months

Again, I'm posting this a week late, but I figure better late than never. Right?! Besides, I only include stuff that was legit at 11 months...even if she started doing something new the very next day. =)

*Wearing a size 3 diaper

*Wearing mainly 9 month clothing.

*She has 4 teeth: top two & bottom two and working on cutting 4 more (next two on top & next two on bottom) She's handling the teething fairly well, but she can be pretty cranky about it, too.

*She hasn't really added many words, but she still loves to squeal. She says "uh-oh" a lot...especially right before she drops something. Little stinker

*After taking her 11 month pictures, I was giving her a hard time about not learning any new "tricks" and asked her if she was ever going to pull up, stand, walk, anything?! and apparently she wanted to show me a thing or two because she finally pulled up onto the bathtub while Jeff was getting the bath ready.

*She still likes to observe more than participate. She's in no real hurry to do anything. Can't blame her, though. She's always got Sophia someone to talk for her, get things for her, entertain her, etc.

*She still sleeps pretty well and almost always puts herself back to sleep if she does happen to wake up.

*She's quite the eater. We have completely stopped baby food. She loves pancakes, french toast sticks, fish sticks, chicken nuggets, yogurt, carrots, rice, cheese, quesadillas, waffles, bread, and much more. She still has about 20oz of formula a day: 6 in the am, 6 before lunch, 4 after nap, and 6 before bed. Hopefully she'll transition to whole milk easily...

Olivia Grace, you sure are a mess, but we are absolutely smitten with you! It is so fun watching you & Sophia interact with one another and seeing that sparkle in your eye whenever you see her makes me smile. You are an absolute stinker and I wouldn't have it any other way! I cannot believe you will be ONE so soon!! My oh my how time flies!

Having fun outside! Just 3 days apart...crazy weather!

This mischievous lil girl just ate some play dough...yum!

First taste of lemon. Guess we won't buy her any anytime soon!

I love her hair after a bath! It lays so flat once it's dried =(

The best Valentine picture I got of them. ha!

My littlest Valentine <3 td="">

Yup, sisterly love.

"See mom, I can stand if I want!"

Double Digits

Our ornery little mess is 10 months now! I kept meaning to get on here for her 9 month update, but time got away from me. I guess we can call it even since I skipped a month for Sophia back in the day, too. Olivia is definitely much different than big sister Sophia and we're loving every minute of it! Here's what she's been up to lately....

*She weighs 18lbs 4oz (50%), is 29inches (90%), and her head is in the 45%. I thought she was much bigger than this but her 9mo well check wasn't until 2 days before she turned 10mos so that's her official stats!

*Wearing 9 month clothes. Some pants and sleepers are 12 months for the length.

*In a size 3 diaper

*She started crawling the day after she turned 9 months old. She completely skipped the "army crawl" and went straight from rolling around the room to up-on-all-fours crawling. The "that's mine!" and "No Livy!" has officially begun...fun times.

*She has 4 teeth. Bottom two were first and then the top two came in one right after the other. She handles teething pretty well...we didn't even know she was cutting a tooth until I saw some white! Her main teething symptoms are nasty (nasty) diapers and drool.

*Her hair is finally growing out! Her hair has always grown pretty fast...it just grew in to look like a full head of hair but wasn't very long. It's still not "long" but it's now growing in length rather than just volume.

*She sleeps pretty well nowadays. She goes to bed around 6:30/7:00 and sleeps until 6:30ish. She wakes up around 4am most days to jabber, play around a bit, then go back to sleep. Bedtime is also the only time she uses a pacifier and even then she doesn't always use it, but it's in there if she wants it.

*This girl loves to eat! She has five 6oz bottles a day and 3 jars of baby food. Her favorite jars are pasta ones, especially lasagna and spaghetti...a pasta girl like her mommy. She also loves to snack on crackers, cheerios, yogurt bites, crunchies, "wheels", pizza crust, chicken nuggets, French fries, nilla wafers, pancakes, waffles, and just about anything you'll let her try.

*She loves to jabber and squeal...she's the loud one! She can say dada (her official first word), mama, byeeee, nigh-nigh (night-night), give kisses, blow kisses, give fives, clap, and wave bye.

*Your nose is a faucet. You have super bad allergies and it's hard to keep them under control. Your doctor upped your dose of children's Claritin to a full dose for a 2yr old and that seems to have helped a bit. However, if we miss even one dose, your nose immediately begins running and it takes about a week to get it to clear up. In the meantime of getting it to clear up, it causes ear infections. I hate that you have to go through this and I'm hoping you'll grow out of it?!

*Speaking of ear infections, I've actually lost count to how many you've had. Oops. I'm pretty sure we're up to 6? You had a double ear infection in the last month but the antibiotics cleared it right up. You also got the flu last month but were a champ during it!

Olivia, you are such a mess and you keep us on our toes! You are a good girl, but we can tell you are going to be the ornery one. We LOVE what you have added to this family and we couldn't imagine life without you. We love you sweet girl!

Her 9 month picture =)

  

Cute lil puppy ;)

She thinks her Gma Bettye & Papa Al are pretty neat!

they are best buddies <3 td="">

Our sweet baby is in double digits! Her first birthday is coming way too fast! Slow down, baby!!

 

The original baby

is now officially 2 1/2 years old!! Y'all probably thought I had forgotten about my firstborn, eh? Since this is more of a personal journal since I have only like 1 reader (Hey Ashley!) I've only been using this as a baby book of sorts. So, I thought I would make sure Sophia felt loved and not forgotten and update on what she's been up to lately!

Sophia Faith you officially turned 2 and a half years old on December 23 and I cannot believe it!! You are an absolute JOY to be around and you bring smiles to everyone's faces.

*You are a petite little thing! You weigh approximately 28 pounds but I have no clue how tall you are. Your clothing size is a bit difficult. Your tops are mostly 2T but your bottoms are tricky. You wear a size 18-24mos for the waist, but they are too short on you. We tried 2T with the adjustable waist but those were a no-go so you are pretty much living in 18/24mo leggings and skinny jeans tucked into boots so that length doesn't really matter. You wear a size 7 shoe.

*You are potty trained!!! It was a rather easy process, too. We decided we weren't going to force you to get potty trained because ultimately we knew you wouldn't until you were ready. Starting around 18mos old your Memaw got you a toddler potty that you loved to sit on, fully clothed, and read books. We tried putting it in front of the TV, giving you the iPad, books, etc to use it but you didn't Just sat on it. I figured that I would really get serious with the potty training once Olivia was born because I would be home for maternity leave and then summer break. Well, that didn't' work either because Liv was colicky and I could never put her down long enough to work with you. You would occasionally want to sit on the big potty and go, but nothing consistent. We got you an insert thingy for the big potty and you much preferred that over your toddler potty. Around 25mos old you started to take more of an interest in the potty so we got serious about it again. In October I pulled out a cookie jar with a witch lid and filled it with treats such as fruit snacks, Halloween candy, Smarties & Tootsie Rolls and told you that the witch said she would give you treats every time you went potty. It worked like a charm! I introduced the witch on a Saturday morning and by Monday morning when we were getting ready to go to Ms. Cain's you asked if you could wear big girl panties & you did and haven't gone back!! You completely skipped pull-ups...went straight from a size 3 diaper to a 2T panty. Another victory: you've been in panties for a little over 2 months and you've only wet the bed 4 times and had 1 accident out in public. We're so proud of you!!

*Your vocabulary astounds us. You were an early talker and have always had an extensive vocabulary and that hasn't slowed down a bit. People are constantly asking us how old you are because of this and making comments about talking to a teenager rather than a toddler. Some of the things that stick out for your talking abilities are: when we ask you to do something you tell us "Just a minute. I'm busy right now." When asking what you want for breakfast you say something like "Uhm, cereal bars. No, actually, pancakes please." "Mommy/Daddy, I'm talking to you. Look at me!"

*You use manners so well and we're very proud of you for that. You don't even need prompted and you say: please, thank you, no thank you, bless you, excuse me, yes sir, no sir, yes ma'am, I'm sorry, and thank you very much!

*You are the BEST big sister EVER. period. You adore Olivia and are her biggest cheerleader. Whenever she rolls over/sits up/tries to crawl/etc you tell her "good job! I'm so proud of you!" If she's crying, you immediately tell us and run to her side to see what you can do to help. You help her sit up, roll over, lay down, get toys, hold her bottle, feed her snacks, and so much more. Although we love that you love her so much, we're trying to get you to ease off a bit. You see, Olivia has you to do everything for her so she's in no hurry to learn to do things herself! ha! You still give her random hugs and kisses all throughout the day and it melts my heart.

*Some of your favorite things are: your sister, your Lambie, Dora the Explorer, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, "kitty" (the iPad), Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Monsters Inc "kitty and boo", all things Christmas/Santa Claus, helping me bake/cook, cereal bars, blueberry pancakes, bananas, yogurt, applesauce, fruit snacks, milk, sweet tea (oops!), coloring, your cousins, boots, playing outside, and I'm sure there's more.

I can't believe you are on your way to being three! Time is soaring by! Like I already said, you are a JOY to us and my heart just swells whenever I watch you loving, learning, and exploring. You are destined for great things, sweet girl. We love you!!

You held onto Livy during the Hayride because you didn't want her to fall off. So stinkin' sweet.

Sweet little pirate on Halloween

Silly girl snuck a lick while baking Thanksgiving cookies!

Cheering on Notre Dame this (awesome) season!

Picking out an angel from the Angel Tree

Loving on your sister during our photo shoot.

Beautiful girl

So excited to see Santa during the Christmas parade =)

8 Months

 

Again, I'm a bit late updating, but this is what you were up to when you turned 8 months on Saturday!

*Your unofficial weight is 18.1 pounds...came up with that by holding you on the scale & then putting you down & subtracting the two weights. Very accurate indeed ;)

*You are still wearing a size 2 diaper

*You are wearing 6-9 month clothing but 9 month jammies fit better for their length

*You still have only 2 teeth with no signs of new ones any time soon.

*Still loving your new found love for sleep! You get a bottle around 6:30 then we lay you down at 7:00 & you coo yourself to sleep. You also take great naps! However, you have been rolling onto your tummy during the night and then crying until we come roll you back over.

*You have discovered that tummy time isn't that horrible after all!! You began tolerating it for about 10 minutes at a time and now you are a pro at it. You've began turning yourself around in circles and scooting yourself backwards while on the floor. I think crawling is coming soon!

*You like food...kind of like your momma. ;) You eat 6oz bottles 5 times a day along with baby food for breakfast & dinner. You love love love Puffs and the Wagon thingys.

*You don't use your paci any except for to sleep at night. You occasionally like to hold it and chew on it while playing, but you don't use it except for in your crib.

*You are beginning to like playing in your exersaucer and with the musical sit/stand toy.

*You are such a happy baby now! You like mommy to be around, but you are beginning to let others hold you. You even let daddy hold you for your bottle and you like to sit and play with him.

*You still jabber a lot....dadadadada. It'd be nice to hear "momma" occasionally

These 8 months have FLOWN by! I was hoping you'd stay a baby for much longer...but we are really enjoying this stage. Watching you with Sophia makes me smile like a big 'ol goofball. Love you so much!!

I sure <3 face="face" squishy="squishy" td="td" this="this">

 

 

 

7 months

I'm a little late (imagine that!) at updating this, but this is what you were up to by month 7.

*Not sure your exact weight...my guess is around 18lbs. You're beginning to chunk up a bit. I'll try to remember to check later

*You are still wearing a size 2 diaper

*You are wearing 6-9 month clothing

*You have 2 teeth! Your bottom right tooth broke through and then your bottom left broke about 4 days later. You handled teething pretty well...it messed with your sleeping, but you weren't too crabby overall.

*Your sleeping is beginning to get better! You go to bed around 7, wake up once for a paci, once to eat, and then you get up for the day around 6:45. Now if we can cut out the paci or bottle...or both!

*You are now napping in your crib! You no longer inissit on sleeping in a swing so now naptime is now much less stressful

*You can roll both ways now, but scream like someone is cutting your toes off one by one once you get onto your tummy. You look at us like we're torturing you, but all you have to do is roll back over. I don't see crawling anywhere in your near future since you DESPISE being on your tummy and won't stay on it long enough to get up on your hands/knees.

*You are now officially weaned from nursing. It was so bittersweet. I had hoped to make it to at least 9 months like I did with Sophia, but I'm happy with getting to breastfeed at all. I just didn't produce nearly enough this time around. We slowly dropped your nursing sessions down from morning & night to just morning and then the day you hit 7 months you no longer nursed in the morning.

*You eat a 5-6 5oz bottles a day: 1 in the morning, 3 at Ms. Cain's, and 1 before bed...with usually 1 more in the middle of the night.

*You love yourself some baby food! You have one at Ms. Cain's and one around 5pm. If we are late giving you dinner you become very cranky. Poor thing, you're going to be like your momma and love food. Your favorites are fruit & oatmeal (especially cinnamon pear & oatmeal) and you are beginning to like meat/veggie mixes. You don't really like veggies unless there is something else mixed in.

*You still like your paci, but you really only use it for sleeping purposes. You are now a pro at finding your paci and putting it in yourself....except some nights you can't find it in the crib so daddy goes and pops it back in for you.

*Your favorite toys right now are: Scout, Sophia, Mommy, plastic links, rattles, your feet, and anything that flashes lights or makes noise.

*You are becoming a much happier baby, but still prefer mommy to be around. I wish you'd be nicer to your daddy, though. =(

*You make this silliest faces! You always have your nose scrunched up and your eyes doing something funny. So silly!

*You are beginning to jabber quite a bit. You say "dadadadada" all day long and are beginning to say "bah bah bah" You start out super soft and with the sweetest voice, but gradually get louder and deeper. It's adorable =)

*You appear to be the typical younger child who won't do anything because you know someone else will do it for you! Sophia takes care of you so you are in no hurry. ha!

Miss Olivia, you are absolutely rotten, but we ADORE you and your sweet little personality!

My sweet little parrot

So, my pictures are once again freezing up on me. =(  Santa better bring momma a new computer so I can add pictures!