Our Latest Obsession

10 Months 1 Week

The refrigerator.  Avery hears it open from across the room and hightails it straight to the kitchen.  She's in the door before I can even blink.  She thinks the whole thing is hilarious... like she just got away with something really scandalous.

On a side note...Ever since Avery has hit 10 months, she seems really clingy and fussy.  She doesn't want to play on her own for long.  She'll play for a few minutes, then see me and crawl to me and hang on to my legs until I pick her up.  She used to play so well on her own.  Is she bored?  Is this a normal phase like one of the Wonder Weeks leaps I don't know about?  I think she's bored.  I try to give her new things to play with but she doesn't seem interested.  Plus, I honestly don't want to keep buying toys that she'll get sick of.  I'm looking for more household items for her to explore.  I did get all of my bangle bracelets out of the drawer to see if she'd be interested.  She liked them. 

10 Months Today...9 Month Low Down!

Today is LL's 10 Month Birthday --Here's Her 9 Month Low Down 

Bedtime:
Between 7:00 and 7:30 pm. Her 2nd nap ends around 3:30 so she's more than ready to go down around 7:00.

Wake-Up:
Sleeping til 6:00-6:30

Naps: We're taking 2 naps a day.  The first one is around 8:00-8:30 and it last about an hour.  Her 2nd is around 2:00 and is usually around 1 1/2 hours.  I can finally say she's on a sleeping schedule because her night-time is so predictable now.

Bottles:
She usually gets about 5 bottles a day.  I've been making them about 6 oz. to see if she'll drink more.  She was only drinking about 4 oz at a time.  She's getting better.

Foods:
Avery doesn't eat much in the way of breakfast or lunch, but will chow down at dinner.  Doc said it's ok since she's getting the majority of her calories from formula now.  She has really been digging cut-up cherries, peaches, bananas, nectarines, and grapes.  She'll eat the pureed sweet potatoes & squash but no other veggie.  We're back to eating Chiobani yogurt the Honey-Nana flavor and she luuuuuvs  it.

New foods this month:
Cut-up cherries, grapes, peaches, nectarines

Night Time:
OH, GOOD LORD....Avery is sleeping ALL NIGHT LONG.  I have died and gone to heaven.  When she goes down at 7:00 she stays in her crib and sleeps til 6:00am.  We no longer feed her a bottle at 9:00.  If she does happen to cry out, we wait for about 5 minutes before going in.  Most of the time she goes back to sleep on her own before the 5 minutes is up.  If we do go in, we just put her pacifier back in, lie her down and back to sleep she goes.  It truly is the best thing in the whole world.  We feel like we've got control of our lives back.   

Developmental Milestones & Firsts:
We got our top 2 front teeth and 2 new bottom teeth this month.  She's calling for daddy when he walks in..."dada" and crawls for him.  It's so cute.  She says bye-bye and waves her hand up and down, "buh-buh".  She's also learned to click her tongue...which is so adorable because it's the first thing she does when I pick her up from her crib in the morning.  She's still cruising around walls and furniture a lot.  I pray she doesn't walk for at least 2 more months.

Momma's Mental State:
Momma is feeling so great!  Baby has been sleeping so great at night and it makes all of our lives so much better.  LL is happier during the day and so are we.  Now, we're actually planning an "out of town trip" with just Bryan and myself.  It will be our first time away from our sweets but I think we need it.  Let's hope we can pull it off.

More Teeth!

9 Months 4 Weeks

Yesterday I spotted 2 new teeth coming in!  These will be teeth  #5 and #6.  It's the bottom teeth on either side of the other 2 that are already in. 

Boy, she really looks like her daddy in the picture below.

They are just breaking through the skin.  She hasn't been crabby or anything so I was surprised to see them.

I've been trying to get a good picture of her top two teeth, but she REFUSES to let me snap them. Little stinker. 

**Sleeping Update**
It is SOOOO amazing when your child sleeps all night.  I can not believe it took so long, but am so thankful it's finally here.  She usually goes down about 7:30 wakes up around 9:30 for another bottle and then is out til 6:30 the next day. WAA-HOO.  Amazing.  If she does happen to wake up in the middle of the night, we go in, find her pacifier, lay her back down and say "night-night" and she goes right to sleep. 

Weekend at MeMe and PawPaw's House

9 Months 4 Weeks

This past weekend our little family went to visit MeMe and PawPaw.  MeMe took Avery out walking around one of the many lakes in their home town.  When  I look at these pictures, I can't believe how much she has grown. 

Avery saw some ducks along the way.  She loves all animals and squeals really loud and kicks her feet when she sees them.

Even though it was super hot this weekend, like walking on the sun hot, Avery still managed a smile.

After our walk, we enjoyed some snacks and pool time. 

We had a great visit and can't wait for some more family time.

9 Month Wellness Visit

9 Months 3 Weeks

Today was LL's 9 month wellness visit.  It was a complete success.  We left without tears and very happy.  Why, you ask?  NO SHOTS!  We were both very excited to learn that baby wasn't getting any vaccinations at this visit.  These were her 9 month STATS:

9 Month Wellness Visit:

Weight: 19.4 lbs
Height: 28"
Head: 17 3/4"

They did prick LL's toe to measure her iron levels.  They had to do it twice because the reading was 10 at first, which is low.  After the 2nd measure she was reading 12, which they liked. :) yay!

While we're at it, here a few more important tid-bits on sweet baby:

Diaper Size:3

Clothing Size: 6-9 Months

Table Food: cherries, grapes, peaches, corn, beans, rice, sliced ham.  Basically, whatever is on my plate at dinner, is what she is tasting.

Sleeping:  Down at 7:30. Sleeping 6-7 hours straight.  If she wakes up in the middle of the night, we lay her down and pat and sh-sh her bottom...then leave, sometimes it takes a couple of rounds of that before she gets the picture.  It was hard at first, but she's getting better at it.  Doc said today that she should soon be sleeping longer stretches at night.  This of course will all go downhill when we go out of town, which is this weekend.  So, we'll have to do the whole "fuss it out" thing on Sunday night when we get back.

Teeth:  Her top 2 teeth are coming down right now.

Interests:  Right now LL is obsessed with wheels, and doors.  She will sit and play with the wheels on the stroller (which is completely disgusting) forever.  She rolls it back and forth, back and forth.  She also will sit in front of any door and open and close them...open and close them....until her arm falls off.

Temperament:  My sweet, docile child has suddenly turned into a "throw herself on the ground and arch her back" child when something she likes is taken away or when we leave a place she clearly doesn't want to leave.  She has even gone as far as biting momma on the leg when a certain balloon was taken away from her.  If any one has any suggestions on what to do or handle this new behavior...I'M ALL EARS.  I mean I taught 5 year olds for 8 years and know what is appropriate for that age group....not so much for 9 month olds.

"sometimes I like to throw myself on the ground and arch my back when I'm mad...so, SUE ME"

4th of July Weekend!

9 Months 2 Weeks

We spent the 4th of July at Bryan's grandmother's house in Amelia Island. This was Avery's first time at the beach.  Not a bad view from your front porch, huh?

We took her baby pool with us so she could have some fresh water to play with.  We also got to spend some time with Bryan's Aunt Debbie, Cousin Mary Catherine and Avery's grandmother, Loretta.

It was so great to see Aunt Deb and Mary Catherine.  Every visit with them leaves me wanting more time with them.  Such great people!
 

This tent was a lifesaver.  I'm not sure how other families do it without this sun protection.  I would say that this, or an umbrella, is a definite when you have small children.

Our first taste of sand.  Yuck.  I thought she would take one bite and be done with it.  But, she kept digging in for seconds.

The tide pools were nice and warm.  A perfect place for Avery to hang out.

Avery is so close to walking.  On this trip, she wanted to walk everywhere.  She's balancing on her own when I set her down and she's no longer walking on her tip toes, but flat on her feet.

Avery's first time in the ocean.

She came back all smiles.

Her grandmother got her this 4th of July outfit.

Here she is with her GG...

and Papa Tom!

All in all it was a great trip! Avery's sleeping was off, but that was to be expected. The last two night's at home she has been trying to get back on track. Up off and on till midnight, but then down til 6:00-6:30am.