Charlotte is ONE!

Happy first birthday sweet girl! What a joy you are:) We celebrated at GG and Big D's house with cupcakes that Aubrey helped make. We didn't have a big celebration because of the move. We love you SO very much!

Firsts: Birthday! Move, being baby sat by Madeline, visiting GG and Big D’s church

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: All of your new little words you are saying. Mommy also love watching you when you get a baby or stuffed animal and you make the sweetest sounds and hug it.

Milestones: Standing for several seconds without support. You are starting to become more of a toddler than a baby. You pretend to do things like brush your hair if you see a brush, put shoes on your feet, put bows in your hair (even though you pull them out if I put them in!), and rub your hands together if you see someone washing their hands or putting on lotion.

Measurements Weight and length clothes and diapers: We have to find a new pediatrician so your 1 year checkup is going to be a little delayed. For now I know you are in 6-12 month clothes and in a size 3 diaper, size 4 at night.

Funniest Moment: Watching you dance to music. You love it! You hear any kind of music and you start bouncing. You get one leg going and you get low. If someone is holding you, you start kicking and the you move your arm back and forth.

Memorable moment: Packing up and saying bye to our house and town. We are so excited to be in a new town and have loved our new church. We can’t wait to move into our new house! But it was still a little sad saying good-bye to the house we brought you and Aubrey home to.

Challenges: Packing up a house with a baby and a toddler! It was quite a task!

How we spend the day: This has been pretty crazy this past month. We moved out of our house and haven’t moved in to our new one. We are staying with GG and Big D so our schedule has been a little hectic. We’ve made several trips back and forth to the Dallas area as well as having several errand to run throughout the day…all these things have made our days busy, but fun.

Feedings/Eating: You are eating with us at every meal and several snacks. You are a pretty good eater still although you don’t eat just everything I put in front of you anymore. You still will eat a lot of fruits and veggies. You nurse still before bed and before naps at home. This is also how I get you back to sleep at night. You will probably be night time trained when we move into our own houseL It makes me sad, but you need to sleep through the night now.

Sleeping: You haven’t been sleeping great which is understandable but still hard. You have been waking at least once if not twice a night. Sometimes its hard to get you to go back to sleep. You’ve been waking up pretty consistently about 6:30 for the day and won’t go back to sleep. You are still taking two naps a day unless your schedule is messed up.

Personality: You are becoming such a big girl and have changed so much even in the last month. You want to keep up with Aubrey all the time. You love playing with all of her stuff and love when she plays with you and chases you around. You love to laugh and squeal. You love other people and wave and smile at everyone who passes by. You are generally a very happy baby, but if someone makes you mad you’ll let them know quickly. You are fearless and love to climb in and up anything you can before we catch you…and when we do you crawl away as fast as you can!

Likes: animals, especially puppies, Christmas trees and lights, blueberries and strawberries, climbing up stairs,

Dislikes: When mommy leaves you in the nursery, baby gates that keep you from climbing the stairs, long dresses that hinder your crawling,

Mobility: You crawl everywhere you want to go and you crawl fast. You are such a climber and scare everyone because you climb on tall things and you again, do it very fast. You are starting to stand unassisted for longer and cruise the furniture very easily, but you still haven’t taken your first step yet. You pushed yourself up from squatting to standing by yourself once.

Favorite toy: Anything Aubrey plays with…still! You are starting to like Little People things and you love to just pull stuff out of things like cabinets, suitcases, boxes…

Upcoming Events: Moving into our new house. Your 2^nd Christmas.

New Explorations: You are have a great time at GG and Big D’s house because they have 2 flights of stairs and they have all of their Christmas decorations out. You are always looking to make your great escape up the stairs if someone forgets to put the gate back up. You love looking at all of the lights and want to play with all of the ornaments on the tree. You have also started wanting to hold a pencil or crayon and try to color.

Sounds, words, and communication: You are talking and communicating so much these days. You say hi/bye while you wave. You put a phone up to your ear and say “o” (hello). You say mama…but sadly its mamamama and only when you want milk or you see some kind of food you want. You imitate a lot of sounds…you love to squeal when you hear Aubrey squeal and you just made a woof woof sound when you heard a puppy bark. You point and say uhh uhhh when you want something haha. If you see something pretty that you like you say “ooooo” in a really cute high pitched voice.

Teeth: You finally have 4 teeth. The top ones are still working on coming through though. It looks like the ones next to the tops ones may be trying to break through now as well.

Charlotte's 11th Month

Firsts: staying with Ashley and her girls, fever, Halloween, trick-or-treating, visiting Fortified Hills,

News Headlines: ISIS is basically crazy. There was a terrorist attack in Paris.

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: You’ve started dancing to music! You love music and it calms you down if you’re sad. If you’re sitting you start bouncing and twisting your arms, and if you’re standing you hold on and bounce and wiggle one leg. It’s hilarious!

Milestones: saying a few words, standing for a few seconds unassisted, cruising along furniture, climbing on everything, clapping, waving

Measurements Weight and length clothes and diapers: At the doctor on your 11 month birthday you weighed 18lb 6.5oz. You’re wearing 6-12/12 month clothes and size 3 diaper during the day, 4 at night.

Like Aubrey: You are both so different, but you both love music so much!

Funniest Moment: screaming and being scared of cow at chickfila and dog at GG’s house. You love animals when they are far away, but as soon as they get close to you, you scream and then your lip pokes out and your cry. You also did this with a pig at the pumpkin patch….you get so excited when you see them!

Memorable moment: crawling to mommy and saying mamamama and yelling dada really loudly at the football game. You also heard his voice on the phone and said “dada!”

Challenges: mobility…you’re climbing on everything, even the table. You fell off of Aubrey’s PBK chair and flipped over the side…you have no fear…except baby animals;)  You had 2 days of constipation and we had to use miralax L And you had your first fever because of a virus. The time change…

How we spend the day: These days have been so crazy lately. We found out we are moving and Daddy has a new job in Dallas, GA!! We are so excited but have been doing a lot of traveling back and forth. You’ve had to be a little more flexible lately and deal with a lot more car time. Also the time change has messed up our schedule.

Feedings/Eating: You eat mostly what we eat, when we eat. Mommy still nurses you before bed, if you wake up at night, and before your naps. You’ve been sick a lot so its been harder to get any closer to weaning you, but that’s okay…it will all work out! You are pretty good eater most of the time except the past few days when you weren’t feeling well.

Sleeping: You didn’t sleep well while you were sick and have had a really hard time with the time change. Everyday honestly seems different. After the time change you’ve been getting up about 6 something so you’re pretty tired. You’ve actually taken pretty decent naps recently. For the most part if you’re awake you can put yourself to sleep…if I nurse you beforehand its not to sleep, just as part of our routine. You almost always head to bed about 7:30/45.

Personality: You are so much fun! You are starting to come alive and really let us know what you want to the best of your ability. You are mostly in a happy mood unless you’re tired or hungry…or if you’re not getting your way. You love to play and explore and happy to do that as long as mommy is pretty close by.

Likes: blueberries (I think these are currently your favorite food), Aubrey, climbing in Aubrey’s chairs, looking at animals, climbing in the dishwasher, rolling around on the carpet, music

Dislikes: when you don’t get your way, when someone takes something you want or take you away from something you want to climb on, when you want down and we have to hold you, animals that touch you or bark or get too close, when mommy has to leave or puts you down and you want to be held.

Mobility: Cruising around furniture and climbing everything. You are a champ at climbing up entire flights of stairs. You’ve started dancing to music. You shake your head and bounce and swing your arms.

Favorite toy: any paper you can eat but aren’t supposed to, any flight of stairs or chair you can climb on but aren’t supposed to.

Upcoming Events: Thanksgiving and MOVING! We will be moving the day after thanksgiving to live with GG and Big D for about a month, then we will move into our new house. Also…your first birthday!! How is that even possible??

New Explorations: CLIMBING ON EVERYTHING!!

Sounds, words, and communication: saying mama, dada, bye bye, uh (uh oh), waving, signing all done with prompting, pointing to things you want

Teeth: One top tooth has broken through finally! And the other is possibly on its way.

Charlotte's 10th Month

Firsts: It was a big month of firsts! You met Papa (Daddy’s dad) for the first time. We went to the pumpkin patch and you got your first pumpkin. You’ve also sadly gotten your first ear infection and gotten your first antibiotic (Amoxicillin). You’ve also started waving and we think said your first word while you wave “di-di” (bye bye). You stayed with GG and Big D while mommy and daddy were gone for several hours.

Mommy’s favorited: Watching you and Aubrey play together is still my favorite. It has gotten even more fun the more you grow. The other day you were following her around crawling copying her.

Daddy’s Favorites: You crawled up to him and held your arms up for him to pick you up for the first time.

Milestones: You’ve been waving to people as the come and go quite frequently now. You have also started clapping. You love dancing to music. Also you have become quite the climber and can climb all the way up a flight of stairs. You have been pulling up on everything and have started cruising around all of the furniture.

Measurements: At the pediatrician you were right at 18 pounds. You are in size 3 diapers during the day and I just moved you up to a size 4 at night because you were leaking through. You are in such a mixture of sizes of clothes right now. You’re mostly in size 12 month pj’s but can still fit in a few 9 months. In clothes it is anything from 9 months to 12 months (these are mostly too big) and, depending on the store, 6-12 months.

Memorable moment: You come with us to Aubrey’s kindermusik class and you love it! You get so excited when its time for you to use and instrument and you love listening and dancing to the music!

Funny moment: Aubrey came in to kiss you goodnight. You decided it was time for your milk and for her to go so you started waving bye bye to her.

Challenges: Being sick! You weren’t sleeping very well and had, had a cold for over a week with so much congestion! We took you to the doctor and we were surprised to find you had your first ear infection. Aubrey’s never had one and you didn’t seem phased by it during the day so I didn’t think you’d have one. You don’t like the medicine very much and we have to hold you down to get you to take it:/ But thankfully you’re feeling better and have been sleeping much better now!

How we spend the day: You wake up between 6/7:30 each day and we start bedtime about 7:30. During the day we are still working around your 2 naps. We’ve had a lot going on lately so our schedule has been pretty crazy during the day. You do so well and come along with us wherever we go. You are very flexible, do well in the car, and really enjoy our little outings.

Feedings/Eating: You are still nursing before bed, when you wake up in the middle of the night, and a few times throughout the day…normally before a nap. I probably need to start cutting back on this, but you have always fed on demand so it is a little weird to cut out a feeding when they’ve been so unscheduled. You don’t always like to eat right when you wake up so breakfast is hit or miss, but you love eating lunch and dinner with us. You get so excited about mealtime. I’m pretty sure its your favorite part of the day. You eat basically everything we give you so I just give you a little abbreviated version of whatever we are eating. You love all fruits and most veggies. You’ve even swiped green beans off of my plate before I gave you your own. You have even eaten and liked tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, squash, and other random food. I’m trying to take advantage of this now and make sure you taste several different kinds of foods and textures before you get to a picky stage.

Sleeping: For the most part you are only waking up once a night. When you were sick you were up quite a bit more. Thankfully you’ve gone back to sleeping better. You are taking 2 naps a day; one is normally 30 minutes and the other is a little over an hour. You normally go about 3 hours between your wake up time and between your two naps.

Personality: Your little personality is really coming to life! You are such a happy baby most of the time. It is funny to begin seeing your little opinion develop. You’ve started “yelling” at Aubrey when she wont give you something or takes something away. You love to laugh and smile. You love babies and animals (real and toys) and you make the sweetest noises and start kicking your legs when you see them. You are still a mama’s girl for sure, but you’ve gotten better with going to some other people occasionally.

Likes: Food! Your favorites are strawberries and blueberries. You see them and get so excited. Aubrey and all of her stuff. Mommy and Daddy, Kindermusik, animals, bathtime, GG and Big D!

Dislikes: when mommy walks away or leaves you with someone else, when all of your food is gone, when Aubrey takes something away or won’t play with you.

Mobility: You are cruising all of the furniture now and can get wherever you want to go. You are such a fast little crawler now. When you’re doing something you’re not supposed to and we start to get you, you start crawling away from us really fast.

Favorite toy: You love Aubrey’s babies and you also get excited about anything furry…especially Aubrey’s Kitty and Ellie!

Upcoming Events: Your first Halloween!

New Explorations: You are climbing on everything and pulling up on everything you can. You can even crawl up stairs now.

Sounds, words, and communication: saying bye bye and waving at people. You say mama and dada I’m just not sure if you’ve related to who we are yet. You also say ba, na, etc. and several other sounds.

Teeth: still just the bottom 2!

Charlotte's 9th Month

Firsts: First time going to Lakeview (it was the longest you’ve been away from mommyL), first time at MOPS, sleeping in a pack n’ play, trip to the McWane Center, Ice cream on your 9 month birthday

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: You have started dancing every time you hear music or a beat you like. As soon as you notice it you start bouncing and smiling.

Milestones: You’re becoming quite the little climber and pull up on everything you can! You also are a champ at crawling and are always trying to keep up with Aubrey.

Measurements: You wear size 3 diapers and are in mostly 9 months and 6-12 months clothes. We get your exact measurements at the dr. Wednesday. You actually seemed to have slimmed down a bit because you are SO mobile. You were 17lbs 6oz. and 26.75inches…50% for everything.

Like Mommy: Me and Caitlin “Aya” think you have my eyes.

Like Daddy: Most people say you look like Daddy.

Like Aubrey: You love music

Unlike Aubrey: you’re a really good eater so far. You eat almost anything we put in front of you and always try new things. You’ll even eat things like tomatoes, olives, and cucumbers.

Challenges: Still diaper changes!! I’m ready for this phase to pass. Also, it is honestly physically exhausting to hover around you all day to make sure you don’t smash your face or head on something. You are into everything these days and would just crawl right off of the couch if we’d let you. Finally, the biggest thing is mommy leaving you. We went to MOPS for the first time and you basically screamed for an hour until they came to get mommy. You were content as soon as I was holding you. It was awful and broke my heart when I came to get you because you had obviously been crying for a while and were snubbing and congested. I know I have to leave you sometimes, but it breaks my heart when you get like that. You have gotten to where if mommy can’t hold you that you’ll settle for daddy over other people not in the family.

How we spend the day: You wake up about6/7:30…this changes daily for some reason and sometimes it is as late as 8:30. You take a morning nap about 2/2.5 hours after that and then an afternoon nap 3/3.5 hours after you wake up from the morning nap. For the most part you’ve dropped that last nap about 5 unless your other two naps were both only 30 minutes. And you’re getting your bath and going down about 7:30. You eat solids about the same time as we do, but sometimes you don’t eat all 3 meals and will nurse instead. We are just gradually trying to ease you in and continue to nurse on demand.

Feedings/Eating: Your feedings throughout the day are still so random. I never really got you on a strict schedule and it worked for us. I always nurse you before you go to bed and at least once or twice in the middle of the night. You normally eat when you get up and sometime in the afternoon. I offer it several times because I never know when you’ll actually be hungry enough that it is worth it to you to be still and eat! You are doing really well with solids. I’m trying to offer almost everything that we eat so that you get introduced to all kinds of flavors. There are some things that you like better than others, but overall you’ll eat most foods we put in front of you. We give you small bites and you are able to pick them up and feed yourself.

Sleeping: You do okay I guess. You still wake up at night, but generally go right back to sleep. You have had a little bit of a stuffy nose which has affected your sleep a few nights this past month, but for the most part you wake up about twice and go back to sleep. Your naps range from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours…it just depends on the day. You are pretty consistently down to only 2 naps a day, one about 2.5 hours after you wake up and one about 3 hours after you wake up from that nap.

Personality: You are so silly and have such a fun personality. You want to be big like Aubrey so you can do everything she does. You already like to ‘play’ and have fun with her. You kick your little feet when she’s around and get the biggest grin on your face. If you get one of her Kitties or babies you look at her and smile until she comes to get it back. If she squeals, so do you! You are generally happy unless you are really tired or you want mommy and someone else has you.

Likes: most food especially grapes and strawberries, being independent, taking a bath, Aubrey, Mommy, Daddy, being outside, watching other kids, exploring and pulling up on everything, putting things in your mouth

Dislikes: when Mommy leaves you, when you’re tired, diaper changes/getting clothes changed/being made to be still,

Mobility: Fast crawling and climbing and pulling up on everything. We’ve really had to watch you lately everywhere, but you even try to stand up in the high chair and bathtub.

Favorite toy: You love Aubrey’s babies and get so excited when you finally get your little hands on one.

Upcoming Events: You’ll get to meet ‘Papa in a few weeks for the first time.

New Explorations: tabletops :/ You have been pulling up on everything these days so you are able to get to everything that was once hidden and out of your reach. You are also crawling around and eating every little thing you see on the floor.

Sounds, words, and communication: You aren’t saying words yet, but you are very expressive. You definitely recognize your name. You babble to us like you are telling us a story and we know exactly what you mean. You let us know when you are excited, chatty, angry, sad (you still poke that lip out and put your head down if someone hurts your feelings), or just playful. Your favorite sounds are still “AAAAAAaaaa” and you say this very loud, squealing, and dadadada.

Teeth: Two bottom teeth

Charlotte's 8th Month

Firsts: Tooth! Meeting some of Daddy’s intern friends, going down the slide alone...

  

Milestones: Crawling and pulling up, picking up small objects using pincer grip

Measurements: Size 3 diaper, 3-6 month and 9 months clothes, 26.5inches, 16lbs 12 oz.

Like Mommy: you love fruits and veggies

Like Daddy: People are saying you are looking more like Daddy these days

Unlike Aubrey: You do really well in the car most of the time, you LOVE the pool and have such a fun time, fussier while teething

Memorable moment: We were staying with GG and Big D while Daddy was out of town. GG and Mommy decided to take you and Aubrey to the park. Mommy had you on the slide and was helping you go down while GG was videoing and taking pictures. While Mommy was holding you at the top once a hornet stung her back and her hand and she accidently let go of you and you flew down the slide!! Mommy felt HORRIBLE!! Thankfully you were ok and only cried for a minute or two. Aubrey was so sweet and said she would catch you next time if you fell and was very concerned.

Challenges: Changing your diaper! Oh my goodness you are constantly on the go and roll over the second we lay you down. This means we have to do some quick changes and use all limbs to hold you down! It was also a bit of a challenge to be away from home for two different weeks this month. You actually did better than expected! But it was still a little rough some days and you slept worse.

How we spend the day: You wake up anywhere from about 6:30-8 (normally somewhere in between) and eat breakfast, we play or run errands and you take a morning nap about 2 hours after you wake up. We eat lunch about 11:30 and take an afternoon nap about 1:30/2. We play until about 5 or so and you take a final nap while mommy cooks dinner. You take a bath and get ready for bed about 7:30. You wake up once or twice to eat and go right back down.

Feedings/Eating: You are eating solids about 3 times a day now. You sit in your high chair and eat with us during meals. You still don’t love baby foot, but you eat all kinds of big people food. Your favorites currently are watermelon and mango. When you see a watermelon you get so excited even when its not cut up yet! You whine until you get to pat it and then until we give you a bite. You are getting so good a picking up little pieces and eating them. You are still nursing several times throughout the day, before bed, and a few times at night.

Sleeping: Your sleeping is getting a little better…basically all you’re doing is sleeping a little later. You are still waking normally twice a night and your naps are normally about 30 minutes…one (its always different!) is normally a little longer.

Personality: You are such happy baby! You are definitely starting to get more opinionated though and let us know when you want something and when someone takes something away that you want. You love to “talk” to us and you talk so loud sometimesJ You are becoming more adventurous but only if mommy is in sight. You love to play (and eat everything) and you are constantly laughing and smiling…mostly at Aubrey. You are fairly content most of them time except when you are frustrated because we are trying to change your diaper.

Likes: Watermelon, Mommy, Daddy, Aubrey, eating everything you can get your hands on (grass and leave included), swinging, the pool, when Mommy holds you in the ergo (Sometimes!)

Dislikes: having your diaper changed, not being able to get where you want, when mommy walks out of the room, when Aubrey takes something away that you’re playing with, when you’re strapped in the ergo and you want down.

Mobility: You have started crawling and pulling up on smaller things.

Favorite toy: You’ve had fun in your jumparoo lately and had a great time in your float at the pool. You honestly love any toy that Aubrey has and you love to play in her room.

New Explorations: Crawling and pulling up. This is a stressful time for mommy and daddy. Not only are you constantly falling and running into things, but you also can move around and you eat everything you can get your hands on. We have to watch you SO carefully!

Sounds, words, and communication: You are making so many sounds these day. “A da a da” “na na na” “ya ya ya” “blah blah blah” “la la la” etc. You love to scream and just be really loud just for fun! You talk all of the time and love to yell especially if there is an echo. You squeal with a huge smile on your face and have the most serious conversations with us and look like you know exactly what you are trying to tell us.

Teeth: You have finally gotten your bottom two teeth. It has been a little rough some days and you have been a little whinier than normal. But they are finally through and you seem to be a little happier.

Charlotte's 7th Month

I can’t believe you are already 7 months old. This one kind of snuck up on me…it doesn’t seem like its been a whole other month. How did you get closer to your first birthday than your birth??

Firsts: 4^th of July, swimming in the pool in your floaty

News Headlines: Supreme Court legalizes “so-called gay marriage” in all 50 states.

  

Milestones: You are sitting up really well now and only occasionally fall over when you’re trying to reach for something. You are pushing yourself up really far now. You want to crawl, but you haven’t mastered getting your belly up and your knees up under you. You love to wiggle and stand and move…but you can’t do anything independently yet. You are able to pick up cheerios and put them in your mouth…you haven’t mastered the pincer grip quite yet though.

Measurements: You’re still in 3-6 month clothes except for a few 9 month pj’s and size 3 diapers. You weight 16 pounds 3 ounces according to our scale, and you’re about 26ish inches.

Funny/Memorable moment: Giving you your first food. You make the worst faces when we give you new food.

Challenges: Sleeping…always sleeping. You are so inconsistent with your nap times and wake up times. Sometimes you are up 3 times and sometimes only once. Sometimes you’ll be up for the day before 6 and sometimes not until 7. Naps range from 30-2 hours. Another new challenge is eating. We’ve officially started solids and you hate them all basically. You’ll eat a few things that are real chunks of food but absolutely hate pureed baby food. You have also had a little rash. I’m not sure exactly what it is…possibly a little virus. You’ve been a little extra fussy lately but that could be because you’re starting to realize more when mommy leaves the room.

Feedings/Eating: You’re still getting most of your calories from nursing. You’re still fed very on demand. I’m not sure why I haven’t gotten you more on a schedule with this, but you seem to do fine with how we are doing things and are gaining weight well. You’ve tried a lot of different foods so far and you basically only like puffs, yogurt bites, popsicles, and pizza crust. You also don’t mind fruit cup peaches, avocado, and watermelon. You haven’t liked one puree and have gagged a lot. I’m kind of at a loss so I’ve just tried to continue letting you try several things to see how you do!

Sleeping: We’ve tried to do a better job getting you on a sleep schedule. You take a nap about 2 hours after you wake up which usually falls about 8:30 or 9. Depending on how long you sleep and what time you get up from your nap I try to wait until 12:30 or 1 for an afternoon nap. If you sleep well then, I’ll give you one more nap about 5 for about 30 minutes and you’ll go to bed for the night starting at 7:30/45. The times aren’t consistent so you’ll occasionally take a 4^th nap if one of your other ones isn’t long. You wake at night at all different times…it changes daily/weekly. I have gotten you to the point that if you wake up only an hour or so after I put you down you are able to quickly put yourself back to sleep. You normally wake about 11:30 and 3:30 and then 5 or 6 something. Sometimes you’ll go back to sleep if you’re up before 6…sometimes not. Those are hard days…

Personality: You are pretty laid back for the most part as long as mommy is around. You love to laugh and squeal at Aubrey. When you get excited you make all kinds of noises and kick your legs really big. You’re always smiling and chatting with whoever will listen. You have always been a mommy’s girl, but this seems to be growing a bit. You’ll be fine playing until I walk out of a room…then you cry and sheik and get really angry. You also get like this when someone takes something away that you want…like pizza crust.

Likes: Mommy, Aubrey, Sometimes Daddy (he’s growing on you!), some solid foods,

Dislikes: pureed baby food,

Mobility: You are creeping all over the place. I can sit you down and walk away and you will be on your belly and twisted around. I’m guessing you’ll be crawling soon! You can’t go from a sitting to laying position very smoothly yet. You like to stand but can only do it while someone is holding you.

Favorite toy: You still like Sophie the Giraffe, but basically you enjoy anything you can put in your mouth…especially if it is crinkly!

Upcoming Events: Going to GG and Big D’s house for a week two different times.

New Explorations: You are starting to focus in on smaller things and more details. You are also able to move around a little bit on your own so this helps you explore what you want. You’ve been arching your back a lot lately and will look around upside down.

Sounds, words, and communication: You’ve started doing a ya/na/da something I can’t quite decide which one. Its only occasionally and normally you stick with your old faithful AAAAA in a loud voice and high pitched squealJ

Teeth: Still nothing!

6 Months Old...Half a year

Firsts: VBS (you were mostly mommy’s little helper), first trip to the beach,

News Headlines: Prince William and Kate Middleton have a baby girl and name her Charlotte Elizabeth Diana!! 

Mommy and Daddy’s Favorites: Seeing you and Aubrey play and interact together. Mommy also loves that you've found your two fingers to slurp on. You slurp on them and play with your ear when you're tired. Its so great that you've found something that helps soothe you when you're sad and its the sweetest:)

Milestones: Sitting up…just for a few seconds…and right at the end of the month

Measurements: 15lbs 15oz. (50%) 26.75 inches (75%) We are trying to finish up our last few size two diapers and are already a size 3 at night, still almost all 3-6 month clothes but starting to move up to 9 month pj’s,

Like Daddy: People are starting to say you look more like Daddy

Unlike Aubrey: You loved putting your feet in the sand!

Funniest Moment: You are a very loud baby…you are always expressing yourself very noisily

Memorable moment: Your first time going to the beach…you really liked putting your feet in the sand and in the ocean.

Challenges: Our “vacation”…I use this term very loosely! It was great to get away and to be around family, but it was in no way relaxing. You went into it with you 100^th cold since you’ve been born. You did GREAT in the car and slept the whole time both there and back, BUT you slept terrible…especially the first 2 nights. You woke up several times and were awake for hours when you woke up. It was so crazy how wired you were! Thankfully you settled in towards the end of the week. Also, since you’ve been sick you’ve digressed and are back in the rock n play since its inclined. Now that you’re better we are having a harder time transitioning you back to your crib.

How we spend the day: You used to wake up about 6:30 but that’s not been the case lately. Sometimes you are up about 5/5:30 and sometimes you will go back to sleep and stay asleep until about 7/7:30. You take your first nap between 8 and 9 (depending on your wake up time) and take another one or two afternoon naps and normally one last shorter one about 4:30/5. We spend the day playing, sleeping, eating, and going places. You do great when we are out and about.

Feedings/Eating: You eat I guess about every 3 hours (every 2-4ish) You don’t always eat right when you get up but get pretty hungry about 10 or so. You still eat once or twice at night also…you need it to fill out your chunky thighs ;) We haven’t started solids yet but I’ve let you slurp on a banana and a watermelon chunk…you seemed to enjoy then since you are constantly trying to grab food off of our plates.

Sleeping: Other than our vacation you do a decent job sleeping. Your naps are pretty sporadic but you’ll normally sleep 45-1.5 hours. But occasionally you’ll take a much longer nap, especially if you’ve gotten up at 5 something for the day. You seem to be getting ready to have a more scheduled naptime with a longish morning and afternoon nap and a quick one before dinner. One thing I’ve noticed is if you are still awake after your last feeding I’ll lay you down and you’ll put yourself to sleep!! If you do this you normally sleep better than if you fall asleep nursing. You are waking up 1-2 times a night. You’re always up around 3/3:30, but sometimes you’re up around 11 before you settle in for the night or are up at 5 and will hopefully go back to sleep! The closer to 6, the more likely you’re up for the day.

Personality: You are normally such a happy, smiley little baby! You are easy to make small and are constantly chatting up a storm to whoever will listen. You won’t always give a big giggle, but when you do it is the best sound in the world! You are content to be out and about and on the go, but you also like to play at home.

Likes: Aubrey…she can always get you to laugh and smile, Sophie the Giraffe…she is your favorite, all of Aubrey’s toys, mommy…and daddy occasionally, eating, playing, being outside…it calms you down even if you’re fussy

Dislikes: when mommy leaves you in the nursery…it is awful and I hate it. Your lip pokes out and you cry this sad, high-pitched cry and breaks mommy’s heart, being left by yourself, sitting in your car seat in the car…you are fine if you are outside, in the house, and even for a few minutes in a restaurant, but as soon as we stick you in the car you start to cry.

Mobility: You are rolling both ways but not so much that you’re getting too far. If I lay you down I normally come back to find you on your belly and facing a different direction. You look so proud of yourself.

Favorite toy: Sophie the Giraffe…you seriously love that thing. You will gnaw on it and hold it and talk to it for a long time.

Upcoming Events: Starting new foods and trying out a sippy cup.

New Explorations: seeing the world from a new view while you sit up to play! You are also really into eating your toes these days…I’m not sure when that started and if I’ve mentioned it before but you love it and so do I!!

Sounds, words, and communication: You’re still making the AAAaaaa aaaa sounds all day every day. I’ve been trying to listen for consonant sounds but I don’t think you’ve started that yet. You have the loudest little voice and I love it and think its adorable. You've also started to make that raspberry sound and you think its hilarious.

Teeth: No teeth yet…but I keep thinking they will pop through soon. You’ve been drooling up a storm and you chew on anything (including our fingers and your toes) you can grab fast and shove in there.