Monday, May 20, 2013
Pool time
In Tara's 11 month update I mentioned that we've bought her her first baby pool. We had an unusual run of 80+ degree days a few weeks back and were working a lot in the yard, so we though Tara might enjoy splashing around in a little pool. Let me tell you, that was $8 well spent!
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
11 months
Dear Tara,
I'm a little late this month, but the fact remains that you are now 11 months old! I'm in disbelief, because your 1st birthday is just around the corner and suddenly you're less of a baby and much more moving toward toddler-hood. This is a hard time for me, because I love each new thing you do while at the same time I miss the bity baby that you used to be.
Some of your big girl developments include pulling up on your crib and other furniture to a standing position. This has caused even more issues with bed time, but for the most part is wonderful to watch. You haven't figured out how to simply stand up without help, but you frequently experiment with it as you crawl by straightening your legs and sticking your butt straight up in the air. It's adorable.
You now understand the concept of over and under. You crawl over our legs when we're sitting on the floor and happily crawl under bridges of any sort that we create for you. You enjoy blocks, puzzles, and your circus train, which is also a block toy. So far you still mainly like to disassemble toys, but I can tell that soon you will understand how to build them back up again. You also have decided that everything in the house should be your toy, which is both educational for you and rather hectic for me. You keep me running, little lady.
You still only have your two center bottom teeth, but that doesn't stop you from eating everything we give you. Broccoli continues to be your favorite food, but there really isn't much you don't like at this point. I can't wait for your next visit to the doctor so that we can see how you've grown. Daddy and I think you're around 31 inches tall already!
You have become much more interactive and playful. You clearly understand the world around you more than ever before. You respond correctly to simple requests, such as lying down when we ask you to lay back for diaper changes. You are beginning to "talk" to us using basic signs that we've tried to teach you. "All done" is the primary one that you seem to understand and use, although our response to that excites you and you now want to use "all done" to communicate everything. You cover your face when we play peek-a-boo, or you grab our hands and move them to cover our faces for us. You giggle so much, especially when we swing you around. Also, you have a pool! Even though it's only May in the Pacific NW, we've had some lovely, hot days recently so we bought you your first pool. You LOVE it. Right now, the pool sits in the front yard and you point to it every time we walk past. I can not put you down on the lawn unless I'm prepared to fish you out of the pool, because you make a beeline for it and barrel right over the inflatable side.
It's getting late and is time for me to go to bed. I'm sure you'll be up in a few hours, so I'd better take advantage of this time while I can. Stay tuned, because by this time next month I'll be yammering on about my amazing 1 year old daughter!
Love,
Mom
I'm a little late this month, but the fact remains that you are now 11 months old! I'm in disbelief, because your 1st birthday is just around the corner and suddenly you're less of a baby and much more moving toward toddler-hood. This is a hard time for me, because I love each new thing you do while at the same time I miss the bity baby that you used to be.
Some of your big girl developments include pulling up on your crib and other furniture to a standing position. This has caused even more issues with bed time, but for the most part is wonderful to watch. You haven't figured out how to simply stand up without help, but you frequently experiment with it as you crawl by straightening your legs and sticking your butt straight up in the air. It's adorable.
You now understand the concept of over and under. You crawl over our legs when we're sitting on the floor and happily crawl under bridges of any sort that we create for you. You enjoy blocks, puzzles, and your circus train, which is also a block toy. So far you still mainly like to disassemble toys, but I can tell that soon you will understand how to build them back up again. You also have decided that everything in the house should be your toy, which is both educational for you and rather hectic for me. You keep me running, little lady.
You still only have your two center bottom teeth, but that doesn't stop you from eating everything we give you. Broccoli continues to be your favorite food, but there really isn't much you don't like at this point. I can't wait for your next visit to the doctor so that we can see how you've grown. Daddy and I think you're around 31 inches tall already!
You have become much more interactive and playful. You clearly understand the world around you more than ever before. You respond correctly to simple requests, such as lying down when we ask you to lay back for diaper changes. You are beginning to "talk" to us using basic signs that we've tried to teach you. "All done" is the primary one that you seem to understand and use, although our response to that excites you and you now want to use "all done" to communicate everything. You cover your face when we play peek-a-boo, or you grab our hands and move them to cover our faces for us. You giggle so much, especially when we swing you around. Also, you have a pool! Even though it's only May in the Pacific NW, we've had some lovely, hot days recently so we bought you your first pool. You LOVE it. Right now, the pool sits in the front yard and you point to it every time we walk past. I can not put you down on the lawn unless I'm prepared to fish you out of the pool, because you make a beeline for it and barrel right over the inflatable side.
It's getting late and is time for me to go to bed. I'm sure you'll be up in a few hours, so I'd better take advantage of this time while I can. Stay tuned, because by this time next month I'll be yammering on about my amazing 1 year old daughter!
Love,
Mom
Monday, April 8, 2013
Here comes Peter Cotton Tail...
Tara's first Easter was a lot of fun! I dressed her up in what is quite possibly the most ridiculously cute outfit yet (because I can!), we went out to breakfast with friends and then came home to see what the Easter Bunny had left for her. Thanks to two generous grandmothers, the Easter Bunny had an easy time of it this year.
10 months
Dear Tara
You may notice that I'm a few days late on your 10 month update. Well, this is your fault. No, really, it is. In the past two weeks or so, you have waged war against sleep. More specifically, you have wagged war against your crib. You suddenly hate your crib with a passion that is hard to understand coming from such a small being. You are ok sleeping on Mom or Dad's shoulder, in our bed, even on the floor of your room. Anywhere except your crib. You wake frequently and yell a lot. Most evenings are spent simply trying to help you get to and stay asleep. Therefore, I simply haven't had the time to write this yet. In fact, I had to stop after just the first two sentences here in order to go back to your room. Now, as I type, you're peacefully asleep on the floor. Later I'll transplant you back to your crib and I suppose the fun will start all over again.
We have no idea what is causing the poor sleep right now. If we knew, we'd do everything in our power to fix it for you. You may have teeth coming up. You've had a slight fever on and off this past week, and that makes you sad. You are also working very hard at crawling and we sometimes find you trying to crawl in your sleep. Any of these things, or perhaps all combined, could be causing your sleepless nights. I can only hope that the teeth will come in, the bug will pass, and the new skills will settle in soon.
As far as the crawling goes, you're pretty much there! Tonight you definitely shuffled on all fours right out of your room, in search of Daddy. It only lasted for a few shuffles before you went back to your scooting/leg swing pattern, but you definitely had it for a minute.
You have become very playful lately. You like to lean to your right side and hope someone will mimic you. You do this most frequently while sitting in your high chair, and are particularly happy when Daddy plays this game with you. We've tried leaning to the left instead, but you're not having any of that!
We are watching you go through a huge boom of intellectual development. You are becoming inquisitive in a fun way. We bought you a little car to scoot around on, which you love and are becoming good at balancing on. The car has a little trunk in the front and you quickly learned how to open it. Now we find toys that fit inside and you enjoy opening the trunk to see what is there and take it out. You understand that clapping is for good things, so you clap every time you think you've done something well. I clap too. You point at objects that you are curious about. You have two tactile books that have special areas that are soft or fuzzy or what have you and you can recognize exactly which part of the picture is different and reach out to touch it right away. I love watching you make these connections about the world around you. You're such a smart little girl.
You currently have a crush on a soft yellow duck that is filled with lavender. You reach for it as soon as you see it and give it big hugs. You like to keep it close while you play and try to drag it around with you. It's fun to see you develop friendships and attachments like this now.
Finally, you just celebrated your first Easter. The Easter bunny left you all sorts of fun toys. I, being the good mom that I am, dressed you up in a super cutesy, uber girly outfit that made you look like a little tulip. In my defense, I don't dress you like that often and couldn't resist a little ridiculous cuteness!
All in all, we've had a good month. Now the rain is letting up and the sun is out more often, we can go for more walks and visits to the park. In fact, we're going there tomorrow so that you can enjoy your new favorite experience - the swings!
Love you,
Mommie
P.S. Please stay asleep!
P.P.S. You love bath time, so here's two bath pictures, just because I love them.
You may notice that I'm a few days late on your 10 month update. Well, this is your fault. No, really, it is. In the past two weeks or so, you have waged war against sleep. More specifically, you have wagged war against your crib. You suddenly hate your crib with a passion that is hard to understand coming from such a small being. You are ok sleeping on Mom or Dad's shoulder, in our bed, even on the floor of your room. Anywhere except your crib. You wake frequently and yell a lot. Most evenings are spent simply trying to help you get to and stay asleep. Therefore, I simply haven't had the time to write this yet. In fact, I had to stop after just the first two sentences here in order to go back to your room. Now, as I type, you're peacefully asleep on the floor. Later I'll transplant you back to your crib and I suppose the fun will start all over again.
We have no idea what is causing the poor sleep right now. If we knew, we'd do everything in our power to fix it for you. You may have teeth coming up. You've had a slight fever on and off this past week, and that makes you sad. You are also working very hard at crawling and we sometimes find you trying to crawl in your sleep. Any of these things, or perhaps all combined, could be causing your sleepless nights. I can only hope that the teeth will come in, the bug will pass, and the new skills will settle in soon.
As far as the crawling goes, you're pretty much there! Tonight you definitely shuffled on all fours right out of your room, in search of Daddy. It only lasted for a few shuffles before you went back to your scooting/leg swing pattern, but you definitely had it for a minute.
You have become very playful lately. You like to lean to your right side and hope someone will mimic you. You do this most frequently while sitting in your high chair, and are particularly happy when Daddy plays this game with you. We've tried leaning to the left instead, but you're not having any of that!
We are watching you go through a huge boom of intellectual development. You are becoming inquisitive in a fun way. We bought you a little car to scoot around on, which you love and are becoming good at balancing on. The car has a little trunk in the front and you quickly learned how to open it. Now we find toys that fit inside and you enjoy opening the trunk to see what is there and take it out. You understand that clapping is for good things, so you clap every time you think you've done something well. I clap too. You point at objects that you are curious about. You have two tactile books that have special areas that are soft or fuzzy or what have you and you can recognize exactly which part of the picture is different and reach out to touch it right away. I love watching you make these connections about the world around you. You're such a smart little girl.
You currently have a crush on a soft yellow duck that is filled with lavender. You reach for it as soon as you see it and give it big hugs. You like to keep it close while you play and try to drag it around with you. It's fun to see you develop friendships and attachments like this now.
Finally, you just celebrated your first Easter. The Easter bunny left you all sorts of fun toys. I, being the good mom that I am, dressed you up in a super cutesy, uber girly outfit that made you look like a little tulip. In my defense, I don't dress you like that often and couldn't resist a little ridiculous cuteness!
Love you,
Mommie
P.S. Please stay asleep!
P.P.S. You love bath time, so here's two bath pictures, just because I love them.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
On the move
We've been asked a lot lately about whether or not Tara is crawling. She's not. Not a proper, 100% crawl, anyway. She's trying so very hard and will be there any day now. That's not to say that she isn't mobile, though. She is very, very mobile.
A few weeks ago she started like this:
She then progressed to this:
Now, this is where she's at (sorry about the funny color):
If she's out in the living room there's no stopping her, since the floor is so much easier to slide around on. She also is very good at turning in circles while sitting. Crawling is certainly just around the corner.
A few weeks ago she started like this:
She then progressed to this:
Now, this is where she's at (sorry about the funny color):
If she's out in the living room there's no stopping her, since the floor is so much easier to slide around on. She also is very good at turning in circles while sitting. Crawling is certainly just around the corner.
Monday, March 11, 2013
A little adult time
This past Saturday I slipped out of the house *alone*. Gasp! I had been invited to a baby shower to celebrate the impending arrival of Maggie and Sam's sweet baby boy. Since the shower was being held in West Seattle, a ferry ride away, we decided that I'd get a day out and Jeff would get some daddy/daughter time with Tara.
I wore a dress and nice shoes (and a real bra!) Sorry if you didn't want to know that, but I'm still giddy over it, so tough! I took a purse, instead of the baby bag, and didn't have a single baby related item in it. I got to meet lovely new people, eat some amazing food, and got to ooh and ah over how beautiful my friend is. Just 3 weeks away from her due date, she makes pregnancy look good!
It was nice to have some adult time while cooing over new baby things. Even though Tara is just 9 months old, there's just something extra special about buying gifts for a new baby. I can't wait to meet little Evan!
I wore a dress and nice shoes (and a real bra!) Sorry if you didn't want to know that, but I'm still giddy over it, so tough! I took a purse, instead of the baby bag, and didn't have a single baby related item in it. I got to meet lovely new people, eat some amazing food, and got to ooh and ah over how beautiful my friend is. Just 3 weeks away from her due date, she makes pregnancy look good!
It was nice to have some adult time while cooing over new baby things. Even though Tara is just 9 months old, there's just something extra special about buying gifts for a new baby. I can't wait to meet little Evan!
Thursday, March 7, 2013
9 months
Dear Tara,
You are 9 months old! You now weigh 19lbs 8oz and are a whopping 29 inches long! You're tall for your age, but that doesn't come as much of a surprise to us. Your parents aren't exactly on the short side.
You are bursting at the seams with new developments. Two weeks ago you realized that you could move with a purpose and started butt scooting to get around. It's ridiculously cute, but it means that we have to watch you like a hawk now. We've run around the house, baby proofing and moving everything out of your eager little reach. You are also trying very, very hard to crawl. You lean forward from a sitting position until you're on your hand and knees and start rocking. You can't quite get past your feet, but you get stronger every day and I'm sure that you'll be zooming around the house in no time.
Last Friday was the day you turned 9 months. It was also the day that I discovered your very first tooth poking through. Both of your bottom front teeth are coming in and you are surprisingly cool with it. I'm cool with that. It's nice to not deal with the typical teething madness. I'm going to miss your sweet, gummy, no teeth smile, though. I'll miss it very much.
You also have an ear infection, an cold, and a tummy bug right now, which you are also strangely cool with. I swear kid, you're so happy every day. This is such a huge change from the baby that you were the first few months of your life that it's sometimes hard to remember those times.
You started going to daycare 1 day a week. I do not consider it a coincidence that illness has suddenly descended on this house. But you seem to really enjoy your time there, mostly because you're such a social baby and enjoy playing with the other kids. We continue to go to swim lessons twice a week and once a week to story time at the library. You're a kid on the go!
I feel like I had more to say, but it's getting late and I should be getting to bed. You'll wake up yelling for me soon enough. I fear you've given me the yuck, as well. So I'll wrap this up here. Love you baby girl. Feel better soon, ok?
Love,
Momma
You are 9 months old! You now weigh 19lbs 8oz and are a whopping 29 inches long! You're tall for your age, but that doesn't come as much of a surprise to us. Your parents aren't exactly on the short side.
You are bursting at the seams with new developments. Two weeks ago you realized that you could move with a purpose and started butt scooting to get around. It's ridiculously cute, but it means that we have to watch you like a hawk now. We've run around the house, baby proofing and moving everything out of your eager little reach. You are also trying very, very hard to crawl. You lean forward from a sitting position until you're on your hand and knees and start rocking. You can't quite get past your feet, but you get stronger every day and I'm sure that you'll be zooming around the house in no time.
Last Friday was the day you turned 9 months. It was also the day that I discovered your very first tooth poking through. Both of your bottom front teeth are coming in and you are surprisingly cool with it. I'm cool with that. It's nice to not deal with the typical teething madness. I'm going to miss your sweet, gummy, no teeth smile, though. I'll miss it very much.
You also have an ear infection, an cold, and a tummy bug right now, which you are also strangely cool with. I swear kid, you're so happy every day. This is such a huge change from the baby that you were the first few months of your life that it's sometimes hard to remember those times.
You started going to daycare 1 day a week. I do not consider it a coincidence that illness has suddenly descended on this house. But you seem to really enjoy your time there, mostly because you're such a social baby and enjoy playing with the other kids. We continue to go to swim lessons twice a week and once a week to story time at the library. You're a kid on the go!
I feel like I had more to say, but it's getting late and I should be getting to bed. You'll wake up yelling for me soon enough. I fear you've given me the yuck, as well. So I'll wrap this up here. Love you baby girl. Feel better soon, ok?
Love,
Momma
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