As promised here are the rest of the “update” pics…these are from December. And if you happened to read part 1 of the update yesterday, you might want to check back because I added in some more things that I had forgotten to include. ;)

Crazy to think that this is the last update I will write before she is one, ahh! Enjoy! ;)

With that, I am FINALLY caught up! Now, off to finish some last-minute birthday party things!

-S

First off, I want to wish my bestie Sarah a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY today! Loved spending the weekend with you and hope you have a fabulous day today! xoxoxo

I have been needing/wanting/meaning to write a weekly update for WEEKS… bad mama! Life has just been so. crazy. lately. I feel like I barely have any time to stop and sit down at the computer and when I do, I need to be editing photos (the new photography business is definitely keeping me busy and I am l-o-v-i-n-g it!). Anyway, excuses, excuses. This really should probably be called H’s “one year update”, however I am currently still in denial that my baby turns one on Saturday… so 51 weeks it is! ;)

Sit back and relax, because this is gonna be a long one, folks. In fact, I think I will just break it into two posts because that seems easier for me to tackle than one gigantic one. So, I’ll head straight to the stats. 

Weight/Length: I’m gonna hold off on her official one year stats until her doctor appointment, but my guess is around 20 lbs and 30ish inches long. She is getting longer and longer and is continuing to slim down—she is long and skinny! She is wearing all 12 month or 12-18 month clothes now, and still in size 3 diapers.

Sleep: The only real change here is that recently, we have transitioned to one 3 or 3.5 hour nap a day for most days, unless she just seems really tired and then she will take two shorter ones. She is back to sleeping late again…bed time is around 9:30 or so and she sleeps until somewhere around 9:30 or 10. 

One sleep-related thing to note is that just a few days after my last update, (I think at around 10.5 months?), H decided she no longer wanted her paci to sleep. Up until that point, she used it only at bed time…but she took it upon herself to get rid of it, which was fine with me because I was planning to take it away at a year old anyway. ;) Anyway, for a couple weeks after she gave it up, she would fuss and sometimes cry a little bit (sometimes for 10-15 minutes) when going down for naps and bed time, but she got over that pretty quick and now will just play in her crib until she is tired and then she’ll lay down and go to sleep. Couldn’t have asked for an easier transition as far as that goes… I was nervous about it, though!

Feeding: I sure do miss the days when she would just eat anything and everything I put in front of her. She is still a pretty good eater in that she loves pretty much all veggies and definitely ALL fruits, but she is weird with some textures, and she is just very moody about it! I can give her the same thing 3 days in a row and she will gobble it up…then try to give it to her the next day and she acts like she is gagging and throws it all on the floor which is part of the reason Ralph has gotten so fat. It is sometimes a struggle, but I am trying to be persistent in making her try things a lot of times (I read somewhere that it takes 7 times of trying foods to develop a taste for them?) even if she just spits it right back out. 

One thing to note is that I am AMAZED at how much the child can eat for breakfast. I suppose it is because she goes so long between meals from bed time to breakfast, but she seriously eats more than I ever could for breakfast! A typical morning meal for her is: a banana, blueberries or cantaloupe, oatmeal or multigrain cereal with fruit mixed in, a mini bagel or piece of toast, one egg with or without cheese, and a cereal bar (she LOVES Trader Joe’s cereal bars). Seriously. I don’t know where she puts it. Or how she doesn’t weigh 40 pounds. Guess she inherited my metabolism, ha!

We are down to nursing once or sometimes twice a day, still aiming toward weaning at a year old. (Which is only 5 days away. WHAT?!) I have not had any problem saying that I am planning to wean at a year… but now that it is so soon, I am definitely starting to feel sad about it. I find myself enjoying every second of our nursing sessions now, and I am trying to take it all in and remember just how precious those moments are. It is just so hard for me to admit that H really isn’t a baby anymore. I will say that nursing her for this year has been one of the most fulfilling, amazing parts of her first year for me. It hasn’t always been easy… but it is one of the best decisions that I made. Now… who has advice for me on weaning completely/introducing cow’s milk? I am not really sure how to go about any of that!

Developments: Whew. I don’t know where to start with this. It seems like EVERYTHING has changed since my last post, which was only 6 weeks ago! 

I guess the biggest development is that H is officially walking (I think the most I have counted is about 17 or 18 steps)! She took her first steps just last week, but it is crazy to me how fast she is learning! She is still wobbly and learning to catch her balance…and usually once she loses her balance and topples over, she will just crawl to wherever she is trying to go to. It won’t be long though, I know, before walking is her main means of getting from place to place. Just in the last few days, she is walking from place to place on her own (without encouragement from us, which is the only way she would do it for the first week). This makes me very nervous, because like I said, she is still very wobbly and susceptible to hitting her head/face on so many things! Now more than ever, I feel like she can’t be out of my sight for a second!

Hadley still loves books. ANY books. She especially loves to turn the pages. I am excited about her getting some new books for Christmas/her birthday…and I know she will be, too!

She is repeating more and more sounds/words that we say. She says “dall done” (all done), “walllph” (Ralph), “byyyeeee”, “hi”, “hey”, “da da”, “yaaay”, “yuckkkkk” (emphasis on the kkk), and drumroll…….FINALLY “mama”! It took her long enough! And she normally really just says it when she is crying and/or fussing, but at least she is saying it, and I know that she knows what it means. ;) I think I have remembered most of the words, but I’m sure I will think of more after I post this.

Pretty much her favorite activity of late is finding any cabinet, shelf, or drawer that she can get to and completely clearing its contents. This keeps her entertained for hours each day… it also keeps me extremely busy, making sure that she isn’t getting into things that she shouldn’t and of course, cleaning it all up! She just loves to explore and to examine new things…I can see her wheels turning as she checks everything out.

She loves to go for walks in her stroller, or rides in her car. She generally just loves being outside, so we try to go for at least one walk or trip out a day. She LOVES grocery shopping (lots of things/people to look at), especially at Trader Joe’s, where many of the cashiers know her by name. :)

A seriously cute/sweet development is that H loves to give hugs and sloppy, wet kisses now. Mostly to me, but sometimes to Jon, too, if she is feeling particularly sweet. There is no better feeling in the world than her wrapping those little arms around my neck and then slobbering all over my face.

The last “development” I can think of is that my sweet girl unfortunately now realizes when bows are in her hair, and she is not having it. :( She pulls them out immediately…and if I try to distract her and/or force her arms down so she can’t take them out, it only takes a few minutes before she pulls it right out. :( Whoever told me that if you start them young with wearing the bows, then they will be more likely to keep them in when they get older…you lied! ;) We will keep trying, though!

Firsts This Month: First trip to cut down our Christmas tree! First steps. First time in big girl bathtub. First time meeting Santa Claus (fail). This is all I can remember for now, but I will come back and update if I think of more later.:)

Nicknames: The nicknames are really out of control lately. I don’t know if she even knows her real name! We like to call her: Ma’am, Ma’amy, Jams (by Daddy), Little Miss, Haddles, Jenks, Jenkins, Jenkers, Stinkins, Stinks, Chunkster or Chunks, H, Sweet Pea, Sweet Cheeks, Beautiful, Hadley McGee, Sugar, Shug, Honey Bunny, Missy, Shorty (by Pop), Darlin, Baby Doll, etc. etc. etc.!

What I’m Thankful For: One year of perfect health for Hadley. (KNOCK ON WOOD!!!) We haven’t even had a runny/stuffy nose. Praying this continues and thanking God every day for our happy, healthy girl!

What I’m Looking Forward To: The holidays (3.5 days until Jon is off work until after the new year)! And H’s first birthday party with our family this weekend. I love this time of year!!

Next Pediatrician Appointment: Her 12 month (!!!!!!!) appointment is January 3rd.

So, I started going through all the photos from the last 6 weeks. There are a LOT (shocking, I know). So, here are the photos from November… I will post the ones from December either tonight or tomorrow. :) Without further ado, here’s what my sweet pea has been up to!

Whew. That was a lot. More to come soon, I hope! ;)

Happy week before Christmas!! 

-S

Happy Election Day! But I’m not going to blog about that because it makes my blood pressure go through the roof and I really just want to love everybody. Just ready for it to be over and to know the results. :)

Soooo it has been OVER a month since I wrote an “official” update. Like I said in my last post, I’ve been a bit busy with launching my photography business…oh and with keeping up with a 10.5 month old who is FAST AS LIGHTNING and into everything! 

As usual, a lot has happened since the last update. The most notable being that I feel like Hadley has grown from a baby to a toddler in just a few short weeks! She is definitely not a “little baby” anymore, and this makes me both sad and happy: sad that she’s not so little anymore, and happy that she is growing and loving her little life!

Weight/Length: Bad mama, but I’m not really sure. I weighed her at some point last week and per our scale she was just under 20 lbs (19.8), but I am not sure if that is reliable. She was 28 1/2 inches long at my last post and I know she has gotten longer, because she is getting too long for her 9 month sleepers now, so I will guess she is around 29+ inches long. :) She is definitely outgrowing quite a bit of her 9 month clothes and is moving to some 12 month stuff now…but her 6-12 month stuff is still fitting quite nicely which is good because there are about a million things in her closet she hasn’t worn yet!

Sleep: No changes here… so thankful for a good sleeper. I was just telling someone the other day that I don’t think I realize JUST how lucky we are, but seriously since H started sleeping through the night (6 or 7 weeks I think?), she has literally never woken us up in the middle of the night. That is not to say she hasn’t woken up in the middle of the night, but when she does, she doesn’t cry or fuss to wake us up. And that is also not to say that we haven’t had a couple mornings where she has woken up abnormally early, but for the most part she sleeps for ridiculously long stretches and we are so. lucky. Everyone tells me to enjoy it because the 2nd child will probably not sleep until he or she is 2! ;) 

Daylight savings time threw her for a little bit of a loop (much earlier bed time and much earlier wake time), but I think we are back on track now with a 9:00ish bedtime, and she sleeps until 8:30 or 9 each morning. Still taking two naps a day, around 2 hours each (sometimes a little shorter or longer, just depends on the day). 

Feeding: The girl still loves to eat. Anything. When she tries something new that she likes, she gets REALLY excited and I can’t give it to her fast enough. I would estimate that she is eating 75% finger foods (feeding herself) and 25% purees (I just have so many in the freezer that I need to use up!). Her current favorites are bananas (yep, they are her favorite now even though she despised them at first), cheese, turkey, any type of bread, edamame, apples, green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes, pizza, cheeseburgers, chicken… really the girl likes everything. I really, really, REALLY hope that she will continue to be a great eater even through toddlerhood!

We are still nursing 4 or 5 times a day, but I think we will soon be cutting back to 3 times a day. She isn’t nearly as interested as she once was (she gets extremely distracted by anything/everything) and we are moving toward weaning at a year old (which is sooo close, sigh!). I am having mixed feelings about weaning; I have loved (almost) every minute of breastfeeding and it is hard for me to believe it has almost been a year. I love how close it makes me feel to her and it has definitely been an amazing experience. 

Developments: Like I said, Hadley is still all over the place. She is ridiculously fast at crawling, and she cruises all around everywhere holding onto the furniture, her toys, etc. This week, we bought her this push toy with her halloween money (yes, Hadley’s grandparents and great-grandparents sent her “halloween money”…spoiled girl) and she LOVES it! She caught right onto what she was supposed to do with it and now is walking all over the place pushing it. In fact, I snagged a video of her using it the first day we got it:

I don’t know how long it will be until she is walking by herself, but it’s crazy to me that she is big enough to even be walking behind something now. She can stand up by herself now for 20-30 seconds at a time (before she sees somewhere she wants to go and sits down, starts crawling and is off!). 

In teeth-related news, she now has 6 teeth! I think the last time I updated, she had 4 (2 on top and 2 on bottom), but 2 more have come in on the top. They came in much like the others, with little to no indication that they were coming in (except maybe a day or two where she fussed a tiny bit more than normal). She has a gap between her front teeth as of now, and I have nicknamed her Michael Strahan, and Jon tells me I am being ugly…but I think it is seriously cute!! She uses those cute little teeth to chomp down on food, and I have been calling her a little rabbit. :)

She is mimicking more and more sounds/words that we say. She will say “all done” when she’s finished with her food (my mom told me I should not be teaching her bad grammar, that I should teach her “all finished”…whatever, Mom ;)). She says “hi” and “hey” and “ba ba” (“bye bye”) when she feels like it, but not necessarily whenever I ask her to say it for other people. ;) She is also still a big fan of giving high fives and clapping. 

Her absolute favorite thing to do these days is reading! Well, being read to, I mean. :) She will crawl over to her bookshelf, pull down several books, and push them to me while crawling, then climb into my lap and will sit there as long as I will read. I have read Ten Little Ladybugs and Where is Baby’s Belly Button (along with about 10 other Karen Katz books, they are the best!) at least 5 million times. The lift-the-flap books and any books that have textures and things to touch/feel are her favorite. As soon as she sees the flaps she is grabbing to open them. She also loves to turn the pages and if you turn one without letting her do it, she will turn it back just so she can turn it (I am already foreseeing hearing lots of “I do it!”). I am so happy that she loves books and I am looking forward to her getting lots of new books for her birthday/Christmas. 

P.S. THANK YOU for the farm animals book, Laura!! It is one of her favorites, she loves the animal sounds!!

One hilarious discovery she has made this week involves the bathroom. Specifically, the toilet. I had her in the bathroom with me while I was getting ready one day this week. She was sitting on the floor happily playing with a toy, so I turned my back for literally 5 seconds to brush my teeth before I heard splashing. Yep, baby girl found her way into the toilet water! After washing her hands AND rubbing hand sanitizer all the way up to her shoulders, I sat her back down and started to dry my hair. It was this time that she discovered her new favorite obsession…the toilet paper roll. I am not sure what the fascination is, but she is seriously obsessed. I have to watch her like a hawk or she is trying to crawl to each bathroom and get her hands on it and start unrolling it!

Firsts This Month: First time walking behind her push toy. First trip to the pumpkin patch. First Halloween (no trick-or-treating because she is obviously too young for candy, but we had a good time hanging out with our neighbors in the cul de sac and walking around and seeing everyone’s costumes!).  First time on NC State’s campus (I think she loved it)… I’m sure there are plenty more but I just can’t remember!

Nicknames: Little Miss, Haddles, Jenks or Jenkins, Stinkins and Stinks, Chunkster or Chunks, H, Sweet Pea, Sweet Cheeks, Beautiful, Hadley McGee, Sugar, Shug, Honey Bunny, Missy, Shorty (by Pop), Darlin, Baby Doll, etc. etc. etc.!

What I’m Thankful For: Being able to start my photography business and do something that I love (while still being home with H). I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn, but I am loving every minute of it and can’t wait to see what it brings in the next few months. 

What I’m Looking Forward To: The holidays. Last year this time was full of excitement and anticipation of H’s arrival, and this year it is full of excitement and anticipation of H’s “first” holidays (technically last year was her first Christmas, but we feel like she got robbed since she was only 3 days old!).  Also looking forward to H’s first birthday party with our family… we aren’t doing a huge shin dig, but it will still be great to get everyone together and celebrate little miss turning one!

Next Pediatrician Appointment: Her 12 month (!!!!!!!) appointment is January 3rd.

Ok, now for the part that most of you probably scrolled down to find, anyway… the pics from the last month! Warning: this is extreme photo overload. Like even more than usual. But I am determined to get them all on here!

Whew. Finally caught up!! Now the Aldridges are headed out to watch the election coverage with friends. Happy Tuesday everyone!

-S

I guess at some point I just need to start calling these “updates” instead of weekly or monthly, because I realize I’ve been doing them rather sporadically. :) It takes more time than you can even imagine to go through the million photos I take each day, to edit and upload them all, and to think through what’s been going on the last few weeks to actually write the update! However, I’m committed to doing it whenever I get the chance so that one day H can look back on all this (and also so that I can use it as a reference for the next baby!).

A LOT has happened since my last update—we have been to the lake for our last summer weekend of fun on the water, to Hadley’s first NC State game, to the beach…and we are OFFICIALLY (finally?) crawling! Anyway, I’ll leave the full details for the update! 

Weight/Length: We had H’s 9 month checkup this past Thursday, and all is well! Her stats are: 18 lbs, 10 ounces (44th percentile, down from 68th percentile at 17 lbs, 4.5 ounces at 6 months), 28 1/2 inches long (79th percentile, up from 76th percentile at 26 3/4 inches at 6 months), and 17 1/4 inch head circumference (44th percentile, it was 45th percentile at 16 3/4 inches at 6 months). I asked (again) if I should be concerned that her weight percentile is dropping (she was in the 90-ish percentile for the first few months), but the doctor said that with as mobile as she is, it’s completely normal, and also since Jon and I aren’t large (ok Jon is larger than me but he was 130 lbs at 6’3” when he graduated high school…), Hadley probably isn’t going to be, either. The doctor showed me her growth curve, and she is still growing just as she should be! She also checked Hadley out from head to toe and said that she had no concerns, everything looked perfect! So blessed to have had great health for 9 months.

Sleep: Still not too many changes here. Her bedtime has moved up (slightly) to around 9 p.m. or so, but she still sleeps until 10 or 10:30 a.m. every day. She is still napping twice a day, but has been fighting me occasionally on the afternoon nap. Sometimes she doesn’t go to sleep at all and sometimes she’ll sleep for an hour or hour and a half, but I still put her in her crib for at least an hour in the afternoons… if she isn’t tired, she will just crawl around/pull up/play, but doesn’t usually fuss to get out. She still sleeps hard during the morning nap, usually for around 2 or 2.5 hours. The doctor told me that she should be sleeping around 15 hours per day at this point, which she is technically getting from just her sleep at night and morning nap, so I suppose she’s just trying to work out a schedule that works for her. In other news, my worries about her not sleeping well in another crib/pack and play are gone; we have been to the lake and to the beach since the last update and she slept great in both places, so who knows what was going on when I wrote last time. 

Feeding: She is LOVING trying all the new finger/table foods! The doctor gave us the go ahead to feed her pretty much anything at this point (which we were really already doing) except for the known allergens (peanut butter, shellfish, fresh strawberries, honey, cow’s milk). She also said H should be eating three meals per day at this point (check, we have been doing this for about a month or so now I guess) and nursing four times per day (she is still nursing around six times per day, but the ones in the middle of the day are usually super short, so I am sure it probably averages out to around four times).

I am still giving her purees at each meal in order to make sure she is getting enough to eat, but I have been increasing the amount of finger foods at each meal and she is doing great with them. I don’t really measure anything, I just let her eat until she is full…which she lets me know by pretty much smacking my hand and/or the spoon out of her face! For breakfast, she usually eats oatmeal, rice or whole grain cereal mixed with fruit puree, and/or yogurt, eggs, toast, cheerios or little bites of fruit. For lunch, she eats a couple fruit and veggie purees, along with cheese, deli meat or some other meat, and plenty of bites of whatever I am eating. Dinner varies, but she gets more fruit and veggie purees, then she eats whatever we eat—her favorites are pasta, chicken, green beans, peas, rice and broccoli! She loves to feed herself and sometimes will refuse to let me feed her…she will grab it from my hand and feed herself instead…miss independent!

Another development is that she now loves bananas (I was certain she was going to hate them forever!) but only if they are in little bites…she does NOT like it mushy. She still loves to snack on puffs, and Sarah introduced me to Little Duck Organics Tiny Fruits…H wasn’t too sure about them at first, but now she loves them!

Developments: If I could describe the developments over the last few weeks in a word: nonstop. She is go, go, go ALL the time! The beginning of last week, she officially learned to crawl! She has been doing the hybrid army crawl/legs out to the side/butt up in the air for a while, but last week, it finally clicked that if she put her knees up under her she can go faster… and boy, does she go fast! She is incredibly fast now on the carpet, and she gets frustrated if her clothes make it too slick for her to go fast on the hardwoods. I have lots of video on our video camera of the crawling…maybe one day I’ll learn how to upload those. ;)

She continues to pull up on EVERYTHING. Her favorite lately is pulling up to standing in the crib and then walking all the way around it, sitting down, pulling up and doing it all over again (fun game, I suppose?). I watch her do this on the monitor sometimes for 20 or 30 minutes until she gives up and goes to sleep! She is also getting better at sitting back down from a standing position… she used to be very wobbly and pretty much just fall over if she tried to sit, but now she can do it more gently (and on purpose!). She has also mastered walking all the way around the coffee table, and likes to go from the coffee table to one of us, to her music table, to the jumperoo, back to the coffee table (they are all within close proximity of each other and she can just take a small step and lean towards the next fun thing). She absolutely LOVES her music table…this thing is worth its weight in gold. 

Last week, I decided to just sit in the kitchen floor with Hadley for a few minutes and see what all she tried to get into. Any cabinet or drawer within her reach, she figured out how to open and/or pull up on. I really can’t turn my back for one second because that’s all it takes for her to be into something!

A seriously cute development is that Jon has taught her to give “high fives”. She has to be in a good mood to do it, but she will pretty much always do it with Jon. She also still loves to clap, and will do so if I say “Yaaay Hadley!” and clap for her; she also claps when she gets really excited.

She is mimicking us more and more, and almost always if I say, “Hadley can you say ___?”, she will at least make a noise (though most of the time it sounds nothing like what I said…she is trying!). She is still saying “dada” ALL the time, to both Jon AND me… but still no signs of her saying “mama”. Meanie. ;) Also we swear that she is trying to say “Ralph”, she says the same thing every time she sees him, though it sounds more like “wall”, I really do think she is trying.

Speaking of Ralph, I will not be a bit surprised if “Ralph” is one of her first words; she is still obsessed with him, and often uses him to help herself stand up (bless his heart, he just lays or sits there like “Mom what is she doing to me?!”). She loves to pet him, pull his ears and tail, and he has shocked me by letting her do it and not getting up!

Firsts This Month: First State game, first “official” crawling! First time staying in a hotel and first fine dining experience (at the beach—photos/post coming soon, I promise). I’m sure there are more, but I am drawing a blank!

Nicknames: Little Miss, Haddles, Jenks or Jenkins, Stinkins and Stinks, Chunkster or Chunks, H, Sweet Pea, Sweet Cheeks, Beautiful, Hadley McGee, Sugar, Shug, Honey Bunny, Missy, Shorty (by Pop), Darlin, Baby Doll, etc. etc. etc.!

What I’m Thankful For: H’s continued good health. We have been very lucky (knock on wood…) thus far to not have had to deal with any sicknesses (not even a cold or runny nose!), and it would be awesome if we could continue the trend through cold and flu season this year!

What I’m Looking Forward To: Visiting a local pumpkin patch/farm (hopefully) with the Baums this weekend! 

Next Pediatrician Appointment: October 29th to get round 2 of her flu shot…the first one wasn’t bad at all at her 9 month appointment—only a little yelp, but no tears! Her 12 month (!!!!!!!) appointment is January 3rd.

Here is what Little Miss has been up to lately:

She did NOT want to smile for the following impromptu photo shoot… but I think I still got a couple cute ones :)

Happy Tuesday!

-S

Hi, friends! I am going to really make an effort to get back to regularly blogging…but Little Miss is all over the place these days, so I will have to find time when she is still (read:asleep) to sit down and write, but I am going to do it! :) H is about 8.5 months old now, and like I said, she is keeping me on my toes. I’ll get right down to the stats:

Weight/Length: Still around 20 lbs (I think). And I really have no idea how long she is, but I can tell she has gotten even longer in the last few weeks…she seems SO tall to me now! I haven’t packed up her 6 month clothes yet, but she is pretty much wearing all 6-12 and 9 month stuff now. Maybe I just don’t want to admit that she’s that big?!?!

Sleep: Not a whole lot has changed here, she still sleeps from around 10 p.m. to 10 or 11 a.m. every night, and takes 2 naps which range from an hour to 3 hours depending on how hard she plays prior. ;) The only thing really to note is that there has been a little bit of separation anxiety over the last couple of weeks, particularly when we have been out of town. Both in Concord and at the lake, she has cried a few times (though not every time) when I put have her down for her nap or for the night, but only once I am out of her sight. I am not sure if it’s because she has been in a strange place or what, but she has literally NEVER cried when I’ve put her down before now. I have had to resort to letting her cry/fuss it out somewhat (which is HARD!!!), but it has never been more than 10 or 15 minutes before she calms down and goes to sleep, and has still slept through the night and for her normal naps, etc. I am hoping it is just a phase, because we do travel quite a bit and she is not always going to be sleeping in her crib in her room! 

Feeding: I feel like the most changes have occurred in this category over the last month… I can’t even keep track of all the new foods she has tried, but one thing is for sure: the girl loves to eat. We introduced puffs several weeks ago, and she now gets so excited and squeals every time she even sees the container. I try to limit these just because of the sugar, but they keep her occupied in her high chair while I’m getting her meals ready. She has mastered feeding them to herself just in the last week or so, and she is SO proud of herself when she feeds herself (perhaps it’s due to all the “HOORAY HADLEY, YAAAY HADLEY” that we have done while she’s been learning?!). H is also eating pretty much anything that we eat (as long as it’s soft/not spicy, etc.) and is happy as can be sitting in her high chair as long as she is eating what we’re eating. :) So far, the only food that I know she really hates is bananas (tried again this week), everything else she pretty much loves! I hope this continues and that she will not be a picky eater!

Developments: Oh me, I don’t know where to start here. It seems like overnight she went from sitting up and playing and occasionally scooting around to being all.over.the.place. I can’t turn my back for a second because she will pull up on anything within her reach (she wants to stand up ALL the time). If she is sitting on the floor and I’m standing in front of her, she will push her head up against my legs as hard as she can while holding on to them and push herself right up. She still gets SO excited every time she does it…so cute but also SO SCARY to me! She is obviously still incredibly wobbly, but she forgets this once she’s standing and it’s almost like she thinks she can just start walking wherever she wants to go. She has NO FEAR and of course that strikes major fear in me! This means that on the to-do list for this week are childproofing the kitchen cabinets, putting corner guards on the coffee table (her favorite thing to pull up on), lowering her crib mattress, and just generally putting things up that she shouldn’t get her hands on. I’m probably late on the childproofing overall, but I don’t think we can put it off anymore!

So, I think I mentioned in the last update that I thought H would be crawling any day. The update on that is: I am now not sure which will be first, crawling or walking! She can scoot wherever she wants to go and can “army crawl”, but when she gets her knees up under her now, all she wants to do is reach up for something to pull up on. She doesn’t really seem the least bit interested in crawling now, since the pulling up and walking around the coffee table, etc. is still so new and fun to her. It will be interesting to see which she does first!

Another new development: clapping! We were in Concord over Labor Day, and H’s great grandmas were playing patty cake with her (which she loves), when she finally realized that she could do it, too! She now claps when she’s excited, when she sees me first thing in the morning, and when she sees Ralph. It’s pretty darn cute.

She is also now reaching for us to pick her up or to hold her. Melts my heart!

Firsts This Month: Geez. I should keep up with these better. Jon and I spent our first nights away from her (I have been gone, and he has been gone, but not both of us gone together) last week when we went to Atlanta for the first NC State football game. My parents came to our house and kept H (and Ralph), and she did great! I could not wait to get home to see her, and her reaction when we walked in the door was SO CUTE…I wish I would have recorded it. She first looked shocked, then started squealing SO loud and clapping and reaching for me. Sweetest thing ever.

She has had several “firsts” as far as food goes…but I’ll just go with a general: first finger foods/non-pureed foods.

Also, she had her first time getting dunked in the pool (3 times at the last swim lesson!) and she did great…not a single tear, just a very surprised look on her face like “Dad what did you do?!?!”. ;)

Nicknames: Little Miss, Haddles, Jenks or Jenkins, Stinkins and Stinks, Chunkster or Chunks, H, Sweet Pea, Sweet Cheeks, Beautiful, Hadley McGee, Sugar, Shug, Honey Bunny, Missy, Shorty (by Pop), Darlin, Baby Doll, etc. etc. etc.!

What I’m Thankful For: Officially being HOME with H! I can’t explain how good it feels. Just so very blessed. :)

What I’m Looking Forward To: Our weekend beach trip the end of this month with my parents! 

Next Pediatrician Appointment: September 27th for her 9 month appointment.

Here are some recent pics. I’m withholding some (swim lessons and Labor Day) for subsequent posts so be on the lookout for those. :)

Side note on these: I am generally not a fan of matching hats like this. But Pop (my Dad) LOVES this dress and the hat, so we took a few pics with it on. I have to admit, it is pretty cute. ;)

Ok friends, that’s all for today! Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

-S

Will someone please tell me what happened to my little baby? Baby girl is almost 8 months old, crazy! Things have still been pretty hectic around here the last few weeks (but this is my LAST week of work… still can’t believe it!) with our live-in babysitters, so I really haven’t had much of a chance to sit down and write, much less go through the 29582305820 pictures that y’all know I take. ;) Anyway, here is a quick update on my little miss.

Weight/Length: She’s pushing 20 lbs, and I haven’t measured her length in a while, but I can tell she is getting longer because her sleepers are all getting too short! She has outgrown quite a few of her 6 month clothes, and what fits her best is 6-12 month and 9 month sizes now. Getting so big!

Sleep: If I would have written this on Thursday on her 34 week birthday, I would have said: 13 and sometimes 14 hours at night, 2 naps during the day, the first around an hour long and the second anywhere from 2 to 3 hours. However, something funky has been going on since Friday… she has been fighting her afternoon nap (she has literally NEVER even so much as fussed or cried when I put her down) to the point where I just gave up on it yesterday and today. She has still been going down just fine for her morning nap and has been sleeping at least 2 hours for that one… so I’m just not sure what has been her deal. I am hoping that she will sleep for her Mamaw (Kim) this week without putting up a fight…fingers crossed!

Feeding: No major changes here. New foods the last few weeks have been broccoli, eggplant, spinach and blueberries, all of which she has loved. :) She is still eating her solids in the morning and evenings, but I think we are getting close to moving to three meals a day. My plan is to start that once I’m home again. :)

Developments: I know I’ve mentioned it before, but the girl LOVES to jump. It is one of the cutest things in the world to watch her just go to town. She laughs and squeals so much it’s contagious…it is a sound that will never, ever get old. 

I would be willing to bet that she will be crawling in the next week or so. She gets her knees up under her and then will pull her whole body with her arms…but she hasn’t QUITE figured out how to move her arms and legs together at the same time. I know it is going to be soon, and I’m not quite sure I’m ready for THAT level of mobility (not that she’s not mobile, she can get anywhere she needs to go now by scooting and rolling around). 

Her favorite word is “dada”… and right now she will say it when she sees either Jon OR me, so I know she’s not quite attaching the meaning to it yet, but sometimes it definitely seems like it. She will also repeat it when we say it, and mostly just says it over and over and over and over. ;) We are working on “mama”, but so far, no luck!

She still absolutely LOVES to be outside. The cure for any amount of fussing is simply…take her outside. She gets this from me!

Firsts This Month: First swimming lesson (cutest thing ever, btw) with her BFF, Lilly! I plan to (eventually) blog about it, once I have time to go through all the photos. Here are a few to hold you over…

Nicknames: Little Miss, Haddles, Jenks or Jenkins, Stinkins and Stinks, Chunkster or Chunks, H, Sweet Pea, Sweet Cheeks, Beautiful, Hadley McGee, Sugar, Shug, Honey Bunny, Missy, Shorty (by Pop), Darlin, Baby Doll, etc. etc. etc.!

What I’m Thankful For: A repeat from last time: all of the help with babysitting from our family while I’m back at work! I cannot believe that 6 weeks have already gone by and that this is my last week at work. It is a little bittersweet because I will surely miss all of my coworkers, but I cannot wait to be home with my sweet pea!

What I’m Looking Forward To: My last week of work…need I say more?! :) Our 5th wedding anniversary this Saturday. Also our Atlanta trip at the end of next week for some NC State football!

Next Pediatrician Appointment: September 27th for her 9 month appointment.

As usual, here are way too many photos from the last few weeks (remember, this blog=baby book for H, so I have to get them on here somehow! ;))

Whew, it is WAY past my bedtime. Goodnight, hope everyone has a fantastic week!

-S

A veeeerrry late weekly update, but I vowed to do them through 6 months, and I’m almost there!! This has been (another) busy week, and the next few are sure to be very busy too, with Bekah’s wedding this coming weekend and the beach the week after next. I have TONS of photos from our fun weekend in Pigeon Forge this past weekend, but those will have to wait until another update, once I have time to go through/edit them all. Without further ado, here are H’s 24 Week stats!

Weight/Length: At the doctor last week, she was right around 17.5 lbs….so I am estimating she’s getting close to 18 lbs and 26ish inches long.  

Sleep: No changes. She has been sleeping and napping like it’s her job! 12ish hours at night and napping for a total of about 4 hours during the day.

Feeding: Still nursing every 3ish hours, and she is eating some fruit/veggie purees (I’ve made them all homemade—so easy! Maybe I’ll post about that sometime…). In the last couple of days, I have been giving her a fruit (pears or peaches so far) in the morning after nursing, and a veggie after nursing when she wakes up from her nap. She has TOTALLY got the hang of eating off a spoon, and opens her mouth super wide when she sees it coming. Pears were new this week, and she absolutely loved them. Next on the list (that I have already made and frozen): carrots, peas, and apples!

Developments: I started keeping a list of these on my phone this week, because I always seem to forget! It seems like this week she has changed more than any other week thus far. She officially discovered (and quickly became obsessed with) her feet. She holds them, stares at them, puts them in her mouth, etc… super cute.

In the last couple of weeks, she has also become obsessed with Ralph. I am serious….she LOVES him. If she is fussing and Ralph walks up to her or if she just sees him out of the corner of her eye, the fussing stops and she grins and giggles SO loud. I guess he is kind of funny looking… ;) He is beyond good with her, too, and I am so glad. He will sit in front of her and let her pet him, pull his ears, touch his nose, etc… and she loves it when he gives her little licks. I think they are going to be BFFs. :)

She has also been sitting up more and more on her own. I don’t feel quite comfortable enough to not be right there beside her when she does it, because she still likes to push (hard) with her feet backwards sometimes. If she has a toy to play with, though, she will sit up and play with it for a while! So big.

The last thing that I can think of this week is the biting. Not so much biting our hands/fingers, etc, but biting when she is nursing. She (thankfully) does not have any teeth yet, but I can’t imagine how bad it would hurt me if she did…because even without them, it is less than pleasant. I have been telling her “no” and pulling her away when she does it, so I am hoping that she will get the picture sooner rather than later!

Firsts This Week: Pears, which she loved. Her first weekend away from me (really, her first time away from me for more than a few hours) when I was gone on Bekah’s bachelorette party. Also, a very special first was that she finally got to meet Aunt Meagan (who lives in Seattle!)!!! H loved her (who doesn’t?!) and I was so glad to get to spend the afternoon with her. Love you Meg!!

Nicknames: Little Miss, Haddles, Jenks or Jenkins, Chunkster or Chunks, H, Sweet Pea, Sweet Cheeks, Beautiful, Hadley McGee, Sugar, Shug, Honey Bunny, Missy, Shorty (by Pop), Darlin, etc. etc. etc.!

What I’m Thankful For: Getting to spend so much time with our families this month. We are going to be busy to say the least, but I am loving (and so is H!) getting so much QT with our families. It makes me want to move back toward home even more! (One day!!)

What I’m Looking Forward To: Bekah’s wedding! Ahh, it’s sooo soon!

Next Pediatrician Appointment: July 6th for her 6 month appointment.

Here are (as usual, way too many) some photos from this week!

That’s all for the update… I’ll do my best to do a weekend update asap! :) Hope everyone has a great week!

-S