11 Months

Excuse me while I neglect the fact I have missed a few milestone blogs for Miss B. We've got a lot, I mean A LOT going on at our house right now. From chalkboards orders a plenty... to halloween costumes and 1st birthday planning I am definitely behind. 

It is hard for me to think that one short year ago we were praying hard for our little pumpkin while she spent the last few weeks snuggled inside. We were counting down the days until we would see her face. I can't believe how life has changed...

 And has changed for the better...

One more month and this happy girl will be turning one.

Girlfriend is on the move. In the past month Brynn has gone from a few unstable steps to full blown walking. She has found her balance and started by walking from piece to piece in the living room but now she can be found making laps around the loving room and/ or kitchen. The other night my parents came over for dinner and she was walking all over the place from person to person, chatting up a storm. Little show off... With each milestone we feel so grateful that we have a healthy little girl. 

Now that our little is walking and after a shoe less venture to the park {mom of the year} we decided to buy Brynn her first big girl pair of shoes. I mean, she did have a few pairs of shoes but she rarely wore them because she would just pull them off. And then summer came, and no one wants to wear shoes during a Texas summer. So girlfriend went barefoot... Mama's girl at heart. It was a big day when daddy took little girl to Stride Rite and got her a legit pair of walking shoes. I got a phone call in the middle of the day at school about their outing, and daddy did not disappoint. Brynn Marie is rockin' her silver sparkle Stride Rites all over this town. She also has a few more pair thanks to her mama's love for  shoes. 

Baby proofing... it's funny. Everyone asks, have we baby proofed yet. We really don't let her out of our sight but this past month she has been infatuated with opening the cabinet doors. So guess what we will be doing this weekend? Luckily the previous home owners left some behind. We've got a dare devil on our hands. If you're not careful little lady will dive out of your arms, off the couch or anything she is on.  This girl has no fear. She is into climbing as well. She can climb a flight of stairs {with supervision of course} and it makes me so happy we don't have a 2 story house. Kali often becomes her jungle gym. Brynn does not look where she's walking and often dives over Kali instead of walking around. Hence the constant bruises on her forehead. 

Somedays it seems like toys have become a thing of the past. Brynn's favorites are mama's chalk markers and daddy's remote controls. And these are obviously not toys. We have graciously received many amazing handmedown toys and are excited for the next stage in toys. We may be doing some packing up of the baby toys. Little lady is not so little anymore. 

I think we've got a reader on our hands. This girl is OBSESSED with books. Brynn is not a snuggler but when it comes to books she will grab it and crawl into my lap. She is one sassy lady and knows what she wants. We re read the same story over and over and when we stop she let's us know she wants some more. And because there is no cuddling at bedtime I will take this. So here's to Spot Goes to the Farm 100 times a day.

With all of the reading she's doing she has picked up on some new words. We have perfected "baby." We went from saying "day day" to full blown pointing to and saying "baby." It is the sweetest sound. In order to prevent full blown melt down in Walgreens I gave her a coupon book for babies that I received and it became her favorite toy. She walked around the house for days repeating "baby" and did that until the pages fell apart. Brynn is a chatterbox in car. She will sit in the backseat chatting away to anything and everything. 

In the past month we started taking Brynn to an in home daycare once a week so Tom can catch up on his sleep. He would sometimes have a 22 hour day before policing the streets. We LOVE Mrs. Connie!   In the past few weeks Brynn has grown so much developmentally. Chasing around 2, somedays 3 older kids will push a girl! I was so anxious in the beginning but she comes home in the best mood and I can sleep easy knowing Tom is fully rested. 

This month we were sure Brynn would get her top two front teeth. Instead we were surprised when she sprouted her top "vampire" teeth! Talk about a true snaggle tooth. Tom was so funny! He shouted, "Google that... what does that mean?!?" 

Seriously... what a worrier. She looked so funny when she smiled her big tooth grin. This week she has been a drool box again and the middle teeth are finally starting to poke through. We have been so lucky with teething this far. Nothing more than a bunch of drooling and constant toys everything in the mouth. I feel especially grateful about this. I have heard horror stories.

Tom and I both have agreed how nice it is now that Brynn is eating table food. We have loved seeing her explore all types of foods. There's still a part of me that is stuck in the bland {baby foodish} mind set but Brynn is all in. She wants anything and everything we are eating and likes it all. We have nick named her Grabby McGrabberson. She's a swiper folks and is quick. I can't wait to see her when we give her the smash cake. Mrs Connie tells us everyday what a good eater she is. Good thing her favorite  foods are her veggies. 

Lady is still sleeping through the night and recent growth spurts have led to sleeping in on the weekends a bit and longer naps. She still loves mama's blanket... but I don't think it's mine anymore. The downside... it's a full size blanket and we bring it with us sometimes. The sitter's and the nursery at church. I am contemplating cutting and sewing into two small blankets. The worker in the nursery said it was a godsend. She loves it! The thumb instantly pops in the mouth and she rolls all over it. I love that she adores something I loved so much.

We cannot believe that ONE year has almost passed. Where did my baby go? She is growing into an independent, strong, curious girl and I am so excited to see who she grows into. Not too quickly though. This mama can't handle it. We are in full blown party planning mode. I am loving every minute of creating a beautiful day to celebrate my favorite little lady. 

9 & 10 Months Old

Yikes... this has been sitting in my Drafts for WAY WAY WAY too long.

I can't believe that this sweet girl is 10 months old. The summer flew by and I held onto every last moment with her before school started. It was so nice to have a break from work and see her grow into her personality. She is such a ham and has both her mommy and daddy wrapped around her finger. Many times a day Tom and I stop and say, "I just love her so much." I don't think anything prepared us for the immense love of parenthood. 

Brynn has perfected the crawl! If she sees something she wants, she is there in a second. If you turn your head she is pulling up on something. And usually something other than her toys. Her favorite "no Brynns" are the fireplace, the end table {on wheels}, the entertainment center with daddy's sound bar and the white chest in the living room. Playtime consists of chasing after her and redirecting or walking her back to the play area. 

In the last post we predicted she would be walking before her 1st birthday. I stand by that statement because she took her first steps last weekend. One step and now she is up to 3 small steps. She takes a bit to find her balance but then she falls our way with a few steps of her feet. It is the cutest thing. She is so proud of herself and so our we. She's going to be full on walking in no time. And it will be another game changer.

Brynn is still infatuated with anything that makes noise, sings or lights up. She has recently become fond of stuffed animals & dolls. Brynn's Memaw gave her the sweetest crocheted doll and she loves it. We give it to her in the carseat and she talks to her the entire car ride.  It is a constant tug o war with the "babies" and Kali. We have had to wash a few because Kali was raised on stuffed animal babies all to herself and now thinks they are all for her. WRONGO! 

Speaking of Kali, our first baby... She has definitely taken the back seat. I feel so bad but I will say, she is so good with Brynn. At first she wanted nothing to do with her and would walk away whenever she came close. But now she lets Brynn climb on her and they play tug o war with the babies. Kali is so soft, I think she thinks it's fun! 

Brynn has definitely found her voice. The past few months I felt like she was in an observing stage, taking everything in but turning a little quiet. Not anymore. She is chatting up a storm. Lots of babble and it is the SWEETEST sound. Her first word was Dada. But she has also said Mama. It was the most amazing feeling. She had pulled up on my legs and we were working on walking and she said it. I cried. I hugged her. It was amazing. I love being a mama.

Brynn still has her two snaggle teeth. Good grief those little things are sharp! No more chewing on our fingers. We had been giving her celery and apple chunks to chew on when she was teething, or to distract her when we were fixing dinner, but not anymore. I gave her an apple chunk in the bumpo while making dinner and she used those two little teeth and bit through the entire chunk. It scared me.  I also was reassured about feeding all the table foods, knowing what she could do with only 2 teeth.

At her 9 month appointment the Dr. gave us the go ahead to start any table foods that could be mashed. I didn't think of myself as a planner but when she gave the ole "I'm not going to tell you how much or when to feed your baby" I panicked. I wanted to know how much of each food and what time to feed her. We quickly figured out a good routine. We wake up and she has breakfast; usually oatmeal and a 1/4 cup of fruit. Then we play and she has her first bottle before her morning nap, anywhere from 9- 10am and sleeps for 1-2 hours. She eats lunch around 12-1pm; a protein (babyfood meat) 1/4-1/2c veggie and 1/4c fruit. We play and then she takes her afternoon nap. The another bottle when she wakes up. This is her long stretch of playtime before dinner around 6 or 6:30;  a protein (babyfood meat) 1/4-1/2c veggie and 1/4c fruit. I recently started mixing cooked chicken pieces in with the jarred food. She's done so well for only having two teeth. We are going to have no problems weaning her off the bottles at a year. She loves her food! She is constantly reaching for anything we are eating. Luckily no food allergies. She's even had a few bites of peanut butter. {i know.. new research is showing the earlier you give them p. butter, the less likely they are to acquire the allergy. But you can find research for any side you believe.}

Brynn is still sleeping through the night. We put her down anywhere from 6:30 -8pm. She gets tired early and we feel there is no reason to fight it. She's a trooper if we are out though.. but sometimes the car rides home are full of meltdowns! She sleeps through the night until 6:40am when I take her to my moms. Brynn loves her sleep. I love the early bedtimes. It allows Tom and I some along time before he leaves for work and then I get Mama time when Daddy leaves.

When nesting/decorating Brynn's nursery I put my baby blanket in a basket. Mostly for decoration and filler. But when it got cold there were a few night we would lay it over her she snuggled to it as much as she could all swaddled up. Of course when summer came, the blanket went back in the closet. Somehow it was thrown into the hamper and went through the laundry. Brynn was "helping" me fold laundry and when she saw the blanket she pulled it down and started snuggling to it. She remembered the blanket!!! Luckilly I had my camera/phone right there to capture this special moment with her mommy's blanket. I cried! {thebottompicture} Guess it's not mine anymore. Now she can't sleep without it.