Cruisin' right along

Holly has been doing great. Her naptime is a little erratic from time to time but she still gets plenty of sleep. We're also about halfway through the weaning process. She's to the point now where I can hand her a sippy cup of milk and she happily grabs it and drinks it. Holly does the same with finger foods. She hasn't done more than two steps on her own at a time. But she walks with her car/walker or pushes her music table across the floor.

Crazy Sleeper

Now that Holiday knows that she can sit up and stand up in the crib she does it every time we put her in there. Which means when she eventually falls asleep, it's when she's sitting up then falls forward and then she sleeps like that with her face by her ankles. So during naptimes and bedtimes we check on her and straighten her out so she sleeps on her back and just drape the blankets over her instead of swaddling her. Last night I made the mistake of checking on her too soon. Holly had been quiet so I thought she was asleep...she was probably close since she was quiet, but she was still sitting upright. So when she saw me she wanted me to pick her up and was upset when I just laid her back down. We're all going to have to adapt to these changes. Holly has been trying to walk more. She'll take a step or two and set her butt down and scootch the rest of the way. We just got back to where we were with weaning off of formula and bottles when her molars disrupted things, she's eating more regular solid food too. Holly really likes french toast. We took Holly to her first swim lesson at the Rainier Beach Community Center last Saturday. It just took a minute for her to get used to it. Then it was Holly splashing all the way. We practiced passing her through the water, dipping side to side (via I'm a little teapot), reaching forward, kicking legs, jumping in the water, and dunking all the way in. Holly had lots of fun. There were several kids in our group, only one protested swimming but I think that little guy was younger than Holly. Holly is in the toddler age group so it's ages 6 months to 3 years old.

Changes...

David had to lower the mattress level in Holly's crib all the way to the bottom last night. Holly's been sitting up and even standing in there throwing everything within reach. So we don't want her getting out and falling on her head. Holly's lower right molar came in two days ago without too much chaos. I wonder if all the teething has messed with her sleep routine. The last couple of nights she hasn't wanted to go to bed, just wanted to play. Yesterday I laid her down for her morning nap and she just played in there for an hour. So I picked her up and she fell asleep on my lap within 5 minutes so I laid her back down and she slept for two hours, but then she didn't want her afternoon nap that day. But I think all this sleep rebellion is catching up with her. This morning she seemed really sleepy when she woke up and didn't get quite to the peak of her playful self before falling asleep on my lap again after two hours. Didn't even need a bottle.

Milestone Update

Well last week Holly ate with a spoon, although she holding on to the wrong end. But the rice made it in. On Sunday at breakfast Holly scribbled with a crayon. We haven't been pushing anything, just giving her stuff to do and sit back to see if Holly does anything. She doesn't get a lot of access to crayons because she mostly eats them. I know they're non-toxic but one can only handle so much green crayon in a baby's smile. Yesterday afternoon Holly was standing up and she slid her right foot out to the right and then brought her left foot to meet the right repeating the process 4 more times. I'm counting it as walking since she was upright the entire time. I've had a milestone of my own. I can fit into my pre-pregnacy bras so the upper part of my trunk has lost a of lot inches. For those who don't understand the big deal, bras are like $40 or more a piece and you need more than one, so it's really cool that don't have to buy new ones.

The Eye of the Storm

Holly's feeling much better. She slept through the night last night. Thursday night was a total bear. She had her fever and woke up screaming 3 times. David stayed home on Friday because I was so tired I felt sick. Holly's doctor checked in with us on Friday and we're pretty much doing everything right with the pedilite and ibuprofen. She said she didn't have an infection since the ibuprofen worked while it was in her system and brought her fever down. It was just enough pain to cause a fever and vomiting. Her face even swelled up a little. Friday night her fever broke and I really think we owe it to the teething tablets Aunt Jannie gave us that cousin Ayden didn't need anymore. Thank God David remembered we had them. They're little homeopathic tablets of shear magic painlessness that takes the cry out of babies and lets them sleep. It reminded me of my vitamin B candies for morning sickness...worked like magic. I highly endorse both products. :) Be that as it may...there are other molars cooking and are nearly done. I really hope we don't have to go through all that again. The storm rages on...

New tooth

Holly has a brand new lower left molar which makes the count 9. It's a doozey too. Holly has a fever and big time puked twice last night, that's the closest I've come to sympathy puking myself. She putters around making unhappy noises or sits on our laps and zones out. Poor baby. Holly still sleeps and eats alright so we're just making sure she gets enough fluids and watching the fever.

First Birthday Portraits

We couldn't get Holly to stand for nothing and nobody that day, she just wanted scootch away and play. As soon as we let go to get the shot, she plunked her butt down and was out the door and around the corner. At least we got her to smile. We went to the zoo again for Mom and Me at the zoo event. It wasn't too crazy surprisingly enough. I think Holly's favorite was the elephants because she screamed really loud when they wagged their tails or moved, thus making everyone in the vicinity jump...it was pretty funny. The day before we were at the Southcenter Mall in the game store. There was about 30 people there playing Magic and were having a break when we showed up. Holly had been recently given a balloon on a stick which she was playing with most agressively. Then she popped it and scared everyone in the room...it was hilarious...it didn't even phase her. She just looked at everyone like, "What's your problem? So I popped a balloon..." The gamers then proceeded to get back to their gaming. LOL

Birthday Party Pictures

Holly's kind of a crazy sleeper.

But she sleeps well.

Helping Daddy put together her car.

Birthday wheels from Mommy and Daddy.

Proof that we bought her a car.

Pre-party set up.

Banana birthday cake with cream cheese frosting.

It turned out to be a nice day.

A bottle before the guests arrive.

Sable and Holiday...Daddies and the babies.

Got a birthday hat and everything.

Anna playing with Holly.

All right!

Birthday cake!

It's gooey.

And fun.

Whoo-hoo!

Got it in her hair and everything. Fun stuff.

Pictures of our Wasco trip and 12 month check up

Mommy and Holiday in Weed, CA...our halfway point to Wasco.

Grandma Linda and Holiday with her new table and chair set.

Holly really likes it. It's just her size.

Grandma Linda and Holly.

Daddy and Holly with her new lego set from Grandma Linda.

Holly's first Birthday with pretty pink cupcakes.

Grandma Linda and Holly.

Holly likes full length mirrors.

The hotel rooms had lots of space for Holly to roam around in.

Holly is in to her mimic stage.

Baby in the mirror!

Holly's first snow with Daddy while in Weed on our way home.

We had Holly's 12 month check up yesterday and mine too. Holly's doing just fine. She weighs 21 pounds and is 29 inches tall so she's almost big enough to upgrade to a bigger carseat. We have one ready when she's big enough. That's 43% for weight and 39% for height. Her flat spot on her head is diminshing so no concern there. She still doesn't have any allergies as far as we can tell. Our doctor is happy about how great she's developing...she's hitting all her milestones. Our doctor was also impressed with how great David and I are doing taking care of ourselves as well since we've been hitting the workouts pretty hard and losing weight and getting healthier. She said she was going to use us as examples to her other patients (not by name of course). Holly REALLY REALLY REALLY hated getting shots this time. It was like the worst she's ever cried multiplied by 10. That one got to me a little. Fortunately she fell asleep on our way home. Holly is beginning to climb on stuff now too. She's just about due to get a haircut or at least trim her bangs because her hair's getting in her eyes. We're starting to wean her off of formula and bottles at the same time. Last week we replaced one her bottles with whole milk in a sippy cup each day. This week we're doing two bottles for two sippy cups a day. Success has been varied...we still try to get as much solid food in her as possible. The doctor said her current feeding situation is pretty typical so we just have to stick with it and let her be as independent and messy as she wants to be. I think it will work as long as we don't change too much too quickly.