!8 months old

You're 18 months old!  I guess 18.5 now... let's just say one and a half.

You are so much fun right now.  Full of sass, humor, energy.  You make me laugh everyday, like real life, I can't believe this girl is so funny, laugh out loud, kinda laugh.

You have sound effects that go along with walking, dragging stuff across the floor, trying to take things from Garrett, and anything else you want to add funny sounds to.  You try to be sneaky.  You're adventurous.  And there's always something new with you.

You try to repeat just about any word we ask you to say, and you seem to add 'regulars' often.  New words this week that I've noticed:

-Get me!  (You love to be chased.  You tell me to get you, and if I don't start running, you grab my leg until I come after you.)
-Miss me (That's how you say excuse me.  Sometimes it's 'Moose me'.  It took us a while to figure out, but you use it correctly, like when you need to get past someone, want to close a door and some one's in the way, etc.)
-Chip (anything crunchy like pretzels, crackers, etc.)
-Cake (everything else is cake, like: noodles, bread, beans, apples, everything.  You sound really unhealthy because all you ask for is cake and chips!)
-Boing boing (that's what you say when you want to jump on our bed.)
-Nooooo! (You learned 'no' a long time ago, but now it has the dramatic touch.)
-Tattoo (sometimes it's tutu, but you usually get it right, and you've had a lot of fake tattoos and you love showing them off.)
-Saw some (awesome)

Yesterday we were at a fabric store next to a woman holding an infant in a baby carrier.  You said, "Mom! Mom!" When I said, "what?" You pointed at the child and said, "Baby."  It was a growing-up-too-fast moment for me.  When did my baby start pointing out babies??

You sleep 12 hours at night and you take one 2-3 hour nap.
You love kidney beans and watermelon.
You had a growth spurt between 15 and 18 months and jumped from the 50%ile to the 75th.  You weigh 26 lbs. and you are 32.5 inches tall.
You hate the doctor.  Hate being weighed, hate being measured, hate lights in your eyes, hate having your temp taken.  Shots are probably the easiest part of our visits at this point.
You're fearless (besides doctors) and want to try everything.  You sometimes jump to do new things before Garrett does.  He's cautious (like dad) and you're daring...and a bit crazy (like mom).

We love you like crazy, kid!

You turned ONE!

Grandma White had a party for you here, and I had one for you in Utah.  I'll get to the details of the parties tomorrow (hopefully).

But for now, here are your One year well baby stats and milestones.

You are 29 inches tall. (40th %) You weigh 20 lbs. 6 oz. (40th %)  And your head is 47.5 cm. (96th %)  She's sloooowly evening things out!

We're having so much fun with you. Here's some words you're saying on a regular basis:
- Uh-oh
- Yeah!
- Mama
- Dada
- Hi
- Nigh night
-Ba (bottle)

I'm not a big sign language mom, but you know 'more'.  (Garrett probably taught you.)

You (sometimes) folds your hands when we pray.  And just like Garrett used to do, you clap and say "Yeah!" when it's over.

When someone walks in the door you get so excited and say over and over, and louder and louder, "Hi, Hi, Hi, Hi! HI!!!"

You're a great eater most of the time.  And you like most meat and most vegetables.

You stand and know how to walk. The walking thing really started in Utah last week. (Video to come.)  But you very much still prefers your 'peg-leg' crawl. (Another video coming soon.)

You also wave, play peek-a-boo.  You tease and irritate your brother, a lot. 

You sleep well.  It's gotten better the past couple of weeks.  We put you to bed at 8PM and we've started giving you a 'sleeping feeding'.  We feed you about 2-3 ounces when you've been asleep for a couple of hours, or just before we go to bed.  You don't wake up, but you sleep-drink.  And then you sleep till about 8AM.  For the longest time we were having 1AM wake ups 3 or 4 times a week and then you'd be up around 6:30 or so then go back to sleep for 2 or 3 hours.  When I would talk about this with our ped, he'd say "You're really pretty lucky."  But now things are MUCH better.

You still take two naps a day.  The first one is for 2 hours and the second about 1.5 hours.

 This last picture is of you licking cake batter off the floor while I was baking. Oops.

I love you little Lulu.

 

11 months

Here's what's new...

-You got yourself a tooth this past month!  Late teether, but still sooner that your brother got one.

-You say 'hi'.  I think I may have said that on your 10 month update too.  But this month it's even more clear.  And you say it without me telling you to, or saying hi first.  I'll be paying at a cash register and you'll stare at the cashier until they look at you, and then you'll wave and say, "Hi, hi, hi."  It's so flippin' cute.  I remember wondering if new things and milestones would be as fun for me the second time around, and they are!

-You've started dropping and brushing food off your tray.  This is a constant battle with your brother, and I was really hoping you'd skip over it. No such luck. And when you 'accidentally' drop something, it's always followed by a look in my direction, and an "Uh....Ohhh."  It's still kind of cute right now, but I know that won't last.

-You give fabulous kisses.  Tongue and all.

-When Garrett is with me in the morning when I come to get you from your crib.  You don't even look at me.  It's all smiles for Garrett, as well as a 'Hi!' and lots of bouncing up and down as you stand and hold on to the side of your crib.

-You let go of whatever you're holding onto and stand for a few seconds.  Then you realize you're doing it and squat down until you're safe on your knees or bum.

-You're doing fine without the sleep positioner, (Nap Nanny).  I think we had 2 or 3 adjustment nights, but now you're back to your normal sleep pattern.  That pattern still needs some adjusting, but we're doing ok.  You go to bed at about 8PM and maybe 3 or 4 nights a week you wake up when you hear us going to bed at 11PM or so.  But an ounce or two does the trick and you're right back to sleep.  You wake up for a bigger feeding anytime between 5 and 7AM.  I love when it's closer to 7, and when it's right at 5 I sometimes get discouraged and wonder if you'll EVER SLEEP AS WELL AS YOUR BROTHER.  But I feel you inching later and later into the morning, so I know it'll happen.  You go right back to sleep after the morning feeding and sleep until about 9 or 9:30AM.

Pre-flu shot smile. Fortunately, like your other 'poke appointments', it doesn't phase you much.  Usually just a 'What's going on?!" gasp, a couple tears, and we're back to whatever we were doing.

 Lunch at Ruby's Diner.

 The costume isle at Target.  I can never resist the hats.  Thanks for humoring me.

 Being big brother's doll at the airport.  You let him push you all over the place.

 Garrett got a cold from Grandpa after his birthday.  Twice now you've had a bit of a runny nose, and I've thought, this is it- her first cold.  But it has lasted less than a day both times, so I still say you've never had a real cold.  (This picture was when I thought G had shared enough germs to infect you.)

 I've found you sleeping sitting up a handful of times and it's the cutest thing.  I wish I could watch the process, because the end result is so darling, I'd imagine getting to this point is pretty cute to see, too.

 Trying to be like big brother and drink from a big girl cup.

Speaking of cups.  I've once again let too much time pass before trying to introduce the sippy cup.  One time I gave you a little watered down apple juice in a sippy cup.  I think you drank a little and then Garrett found it and drank from it.  I said, "No bud!  That's sister's!"  And he laughed at me like, "good one, mom." And he kept drinking.  I keep forgetting to buy super girly sippy cups so he really knows which ones are yours.

I think you're a little jealous of your brother's new bike.

 Dad made this onesie for you before you were born.  He sewed sports buttons on it and wrote, 'Just playin' the field'.

 I've been finding a lot of pants lately that are 9 month size.  I hate it when I do that.  Unfortunately, these cute overalls were on you long enough for this picture.  You couldn't even lift your arms and the sides wouldn't button.

 But fortunately, You're skinny enough and it's warm enough, that most of the pants have become capris.

You took an over night trip with dad.  He had a meeting in Utah and had his flight booked.  At the last minute we decided to add you to the ticket so I could have one on one time with Garrett, and Grammy and Grandpa Greenhalgh could have one on one time with you. (G tends to overshadow you when grandparents are around.)  It sounds like you had a great time.  Grammy and Grandpa have both called to tell me all the cute things you did, and how much they enjoyed their time with you.  I missed you!  But I think it was a good  weekend for all of us.  This is all that I got from your trip.  Looks like quite a party!

10 months

This month you...

-are crawling much faster.

-love chasing your brother.  Especially when I say, "get him sis!" You laugh and crawl as fast as you can after him.  He's in for it when you learn to walk because you already do great at keeping up with him.

-pull yourself up to standing all the time and you cruise along furniture well.

-say 'mmm' whenever you eat.

-eat just about whatever we give you.

-say mama, dada, yeah, and uh-oh, all on queue.

-put everything in your mouth.  I hate this phase.

We're easing into a new sleep phase.  Sigh...  You've been sleeping in the Nap Nanny Chill your whole life. (It's likely the best baby purchase I've ever made.)  When you became more mobile and we stopped swaddling you, we started latching you in.  When you learned to push up and kick out of the straps we just tightened it a bit.  But we think you're finally at the age where it's not going to work anymore.  I've loved it because it's done wonders for your sensitive tummy/reflux.  And you sleep so comfortably and peacefully. And I'm not a fan of tummy sleeping too young and this kept you on your back, or just barely on your side.   So, last night was our first full night of no Nap Nanny.  You were free to move, free to roll, and free to wake up...  You woke up at mid-night and at 4am.  And then you were up for the day at 9am.  I guess it could have been worse.  And I know this is a big change and will take some getting used to.  So please get used to it in a week or less, because that's how long I've told myself it'll take, and I need my sleep.  Naps today without it went surprisingly well.  The first one was almost 3 hours, and the second one was about an hour.  I've had you nap a couple of times without it this past week, and twice I've found you sleeping sitting up and just slumped forward.  So cute and so uncomfortable looking.

Garrett trying to slow you down.

Visiting Great-Grandma's grave on a windy day before we left Utah.

 Relaxing!

 Green beans!

 Sorry Lulu, I shoulda helped you instead of taking this picture.

 You were so excited to see this kitty when you went home teaching with Grandpa in Utah!

 I came across yours and Garrett's dress shoes one night when I was cleaning.  I just love little baby stuff.

 Yummy yummy yummy...messy messy messy...

 Sneak peek of the theme for brother's birthday.  You're a cute little clown.

 Sleeping while sitting on your bum.

I love you, Lulu!