11 Months

Hi Buggie,



Well 11 months already, and again you have changed so much! You are standing by yourself and have even taken a few steps alone. You had your first fall and scratched your head. We think this scared you because since then, you dont like to try and walk by yourself, You will walk only if someone is holding your hand. We have lost the fear of you going underwater in the pool...you do it by yourself and hold your breath. You try to push off from whoever is holding you and close your mouth and eyes getting ready to go under. You havent figured out how to actually swim yet, so you kind of just wiggle under the water...trust me..its only for a second and you come up smiling. You have gotten 3 top teeth...your two fangs and 1 in the middle. It is so cute, except when you try to bite down on us..then that hurts. We have taken you off all but your night time bottle. The rest of the day, you drink out of your cup. You have done very well with this transition and we couldnt be more blessed about that. Your papa went back out on the boat over this past month, He came home right before you turned 11 months old. We were nervous that you would be skiddish of him, but nope..you smiled and went right to him...it was so sweet! We spent alot of time with papa while he was home, but then he went back out on the boat. You are eating regular foods now and absolutely love turkey and chicken...You cant seem to shovel it in your mouth fast enough. Mommy has been planning your birthday for months now. We will be doing a ladybug theme with swimming and fun. I am so excited. We feel like your party is not only a celebration of your Birth but its also a celebration for daddy and I for making it through this past year of change and challenge. We love you so much and cant wait to see whats instore for us next!

xoxo

Mommy

10 months

Hi precious girl,

Well you have reached 10 months old now and my how you have changed. You have become a professional crawler and pull yourself up on everything. You love to walk along items no matter where you are. We have a feeling you will be walking by yourself really soon. You love to explore the house...whenever you hear a sound in another room you crawl to see what it is. You LOVE music and dance whenever it comes on(just like Mamma). You are very independent when it comes to eating food. You want whatever anyone is eating and pretty much refuse any baby food at this point. You are starting to eat almost everything now. I will let you try new foods to see if you can chew them up well. Daddy on the otherhand, leaves that to me...he is afraid you will choke on everything. You have learned some new words such as: atha...(which means sasha) Papa, and unfortunately the word No...this leads me to my next topic...your temper...and boy do you have one. If something is taken away from you, you will yell. If someone tries to kiss you and you dont want them to, you will say no and swing your hand to hit...We are working very hard to nip that in the bud. You hear alot of "dont hit, that hurts, and use nice hands" We know you understand because once we say that..you become more gentle. If you are playing with something that you shouldnt have, once you make eye contact with Daddy or I and we come to get it...you throw it and crawl away. You try to be so sneaky, its actually really funny!

We have been spending alot of time in the pool, which of course you love! We try not to let you go underwater because we dont want you to get any ear infections. However, your papa doesnt listen to us when we ask him not to let you go under. I do have to say though, he taught you how to hold your breath underwater. He also, has you moving your arms and kicking too. We have a feeling you may be swimming by the end of summer, but we will see. It all depends on how brave mommy is with you in the water. You got sick over this previous month, but we couldnt figure out what it was. You had a high fever and didnt want to eat. You werent sleeping well and wanted me to hold you all the time. Which I have to say, I loved the cuddle time with you. Turns out a few days later you had your two fang teeth come in at the same time. We are guessing it was all due to you teething. Your grandma bought you sophie the giraffe, which has become a good friend of yours. This giraffe is a special teething toy and you like to chew on her legs. You also got a cute little mushroom shaped teether that you like as well.

We spent a couple days watching your baby cousin Madison while Aunt Jess and Uncle DJ went to work. Madison was laying on a playmat at nanas house and you wanted to do it too. You crawled over and layed down next to her on the mat for a while and played with the toys hanging over head...it was to cute! I have no doubt you two will be very close! We also took another trip up to Jacksonville, but this time daddy went with us. We went to Kristen and Brocks wedding (which is aunt Kellys sister) and you fell asleep during the ceremony. Afterwards we went to the reception and Mommy and Daddy had a very hard time leaving you with the sitter there. You were right in the other room and you had Dillon and Elyse in there to play with, but we just couldnt leave you in there long. We had a great weekend with Your Auntie Sko, Aunt Kelly and Uncle Aaron...And of course with Dillon and Elyse. You did very well on the car ride as usual. We are so thankful you love to go bye bye in the car.

Buggie, It is so hard to believe that you are going to be a year old in 2 more months. Each hour of each day is going by so fast, but in the time..you manage to fill my heart with more and more love for you! Sometimes you will just stop and look at me with such a sweet I love you expression, and I just get so choked up. You are my world little girl! I love you sooo very much!

xoxo

Mommy

9 Months

Hello my sweet Baby girl!

This past month was filled with Many wonderful milestones and experiences for you my sweet! You had your 9 Month checkup today. You weigh 23 lbs and are now 27 1/2 inches long. Dr. Pai says you are doing Great and isnt worried about anything! You began clapping and do it so often..especially when you hear anyone say YAAY! You wave Hi and bye and have started to blow kisses. Daddy took you to see Dr. Pai for a surprise for mommy and got your ears pierced! You look so cute with your gorgeous little gold earings! I cant wait to put a pair of ladybug earings in. We went to the sesame street Safari of fun at busch gardens with Nana and Ashleigh and you had a BLAST playing in the water. Daddy and I took you to the dunedin splash park and you absolutely LOVED that! We have gone a few times after that as well and even brought Stacia and your boyfriend Cobe J along! The big pool at Nana and papa's house finally warmed up and you have gone swimming with mommy and Daddy 3 times already! Lets just say, you give us a struggle to keep you in our arms. You wanna go go go! Your favorite place to play in the pool is on the step. You stand up and splash and kick...You have let go and done a couple dives into the pool...luckily, you didnt seem to mind and of course mommy was there to catch you. You love to eat! You have moved on to eating cooked whole carrots with cinnaman and gerber graduate ravioli. You also love to chew on bagels with a light spread of fruit jelly. You get messy, but its so cute! You have gotten so good at feeding yourself! You did however, smash a ravioli all over your face and some got in your eye. Your eye watered alot the next day and mommy and daddy were afraid you were getting sick..But during bath time, I washed your eye out with a little bit of water and thats when the little piece of noodle came out...poor baby girl! Im sure this will not be the last time this happens. Your method of movement around was rolling and scooting for the longest time.. Until Friday May 14th 2010..You began crawling! You are still getting used to this new method of transportation and freedom. Your coordination is getting so much better and you are getting alot faster. Everyday you decide to explore a little bit more of our house. You have made it to the kitchen and hallway so far. Daddy has been working on baby proofing EVERYTHING! You have also started to make smacking noises with your mouth and tongue. You love to make noises...You love to talk loud...You love to growl! You crack us up!

Buggie, I truely cant describe the depth of my love for you. You are my breath and my life! You make every worry, doubt, stress or sadness just fade away with one look or smile! You amaze me every hour of every day! I love you my sweet!

xoxo

Mommy

8 months old!

Hello my sweet girl,

You are 8 months old today and my have you changed in a month. You are such a talker baby girl! Your daddy and I love being woken up by you saying Ma ma or Da da....It just melts our hearts. You are completely amazed by "balloons". We always try to keep one in the house for you to play with. If we ask you "Amberly, Where's the balloon?" you will completely turn and twist your body/head all around until you locate it in the room...you are such a smart little munchkin. You have a 2nd bottom tooth now and you have really seemed to become a pro at eating and chewing. You have finally figured out how to put the puffs in your mouth by yourself, but still have a hard time trying to pick up the slippery bananas or noodles..You are always very interested in what everyone else is eating. You have tried mashed potatoes and Mac n cheese...both really soft foods. Mommy is still a little nervous about other stuff. Once you get more teeth we can try something new. You know how to hold your own bottle, but it really only seems to be when YOU are in the mood to.

The weather has been beautiful..finally! The easter bunny brought you a new bathing suit and a little baby pool for you. YOU LOVE THE POOL! You splash and kick and wiggle in it...You yell at me when I go to get out though. We are so excited to take you into Nana and Papas pool. The water is still too cold right now, but really soon we will be having that first adventure! You are so close to crawling now. You rock yourself from a sitting position forward to your belly. You have figured out how to push yourself backwards, but not quite how to move forwards. You LOVE to stand. You will grab on to anyone/anything and try and pull yourself up to a standing position. you will even take steps if mommy or daddy is holding your hands. Daddy bought you a walker to help you become more independent in the house. You cant really reach the ground to much yet...you can reach just enough to push yourself backwards. You love "some" dogs. Sasha and Buster (nana and papas dogs) grab your undivided attention whenever they come into a room. Sasha lets you pull on her ears and then when shes done she just licks your face or hands to get you to stop. You have moved into a new car seat now. You are becoming such a big girl and so fast.

I have to tell you about a story for a second, Mommy and Daddy were running late to grandpas birthday party. Daddy had just gotten home from work and was changing really fast. He sat on the bed next to you to put on his shoes and didnt have a shirt on at the time. You touched his back with your hand and he jokingly jumped away and said ooooo...You laughed so hard at that! He did it again and you laughed even harder! This continued for about 15 mins....Little girl..In this moment...nothing else mattered in the world! We didnt care that we would be even later to the party. We didnt care if they would be upset with us...Your daddy and I just looked at eachother and you and we ALL smiled! In this moment we really realized this is our life, and we couldnt be more happy!

Ok back to other stuff! You love having other kids around. Your cousin Ashleigh is your FAVORITE! You just light up when she comes around you. She dances and makes faces at you and you just crack up. We welcomed your brand new little baby cousin Madison into the world just 4 days ago on the 12th. She weighed a little more than you but not by much. You had no idea what to think of her and DID NOT like for mommy or daddy to pay any attention to her. We could not believe that at only 8 months old, you would start to show some jealousy.

Mommy and Daddy's love for you grows every second of every day! Your laugh can take our breath away! You are our world!

Love you

Mommy!

7 Months old

To my sweet,

I cannot believe you are 7 months old...I literally blinked and a month had gone by already. Mommy and Daddy love you so very much and are so overjoyed with your every "NEW" developmental milestone. I have to say the biggest one was on 3/10/10...Your first tooth had broken through. We were at nana and papa's house to pick up something and I had just finished feeding you your dinner. You started to bite down on my knuckle and I felt something in your mouth..I used my fingertip to feel around on your bottom gums then I started to flip cause I felt and saw your first tooth. Of course, I cried... Daddy was smiling away...he was soo proud...and Nana and papa just laughed at us. You also decided that now that you have your tooth, you will actually chew on your puffs instead of spit them out. You are still trying to put them in your mouth by yourself, but just havent figured out how to open your hand.

Mommy and Daddy went and looked at a daycare for you...We were not happy with it...Not happy at the thought of you in daycare at all...so, Mommy gets to stay home with you for a while. I am so excited that I get to be the one to teach you! I get to be there to see you do so many more of your 1sts. Speaking of a first, Your Grandpa Rick and Grandma Vicki took you to busch gardens for the first time...You loved the fish tank and all the animals. They said you fought sleep the entire day..You wanted to see everything! You say momma and are starting to make the da sounds for dada...we had to adjust your jumper to the next level because you werent able to really jump anymore. You had a pretty bad stomach bug that lasted about 10 days...We dont like you to be sick, so hopefully that doesnt happen anymore. We went to the park for the first time as a family...it was the first warm day of the year, and we took full advantage of it. You loved the swings and you went down the slide..this was such a fun day!

We are looking forward to the months ahead...warm weather, swimming in the pool, lots of family BBQ's and new family members to meet...especially your baby cousin Madison Rae...She should be born in April sometime.

Love you sooo much my sweet!

Mommy

1/2 a year!!! 6 months of happiness!

Hello my sweet!

Happy 1/2 Birthday baby girl! I cannot believe you are 6 months old already. You have brought so much joy to our lives and happiness to our hearts. You love to meet new people and are sooo happy! Always smiling, well, unless you are tired or hungry. We went for your 6 month check up and you weighed 19 lbs and you grew to 26 inches..Yaay...your getting taller! Dr. Pai said you were growing perfectly, and was so happy to see you sitting all by yourself. You are getting so curious now. Every noise you hear, you have to turn to see what it is. I can only imagine how curious you are going to be once you are crawling. Speaking of that, You are slowly making your way to that wonderful stage. You push up on your hands and lift your belly. You just cant seem to get your knees tucked under you yet. Mommy and Daddy have been trying to help you with that, but you just spring your legs back out from under you, like a little frog. You LOVE your Daddy! My heart melts every time I see you look at him. You give him this look , that I try to explain but really cant...Its almost like....ugh...just brings tears to my eyes! Its pure unconditional love!!!! You love your mommy too..We have a complete bond that all daddy's out there would not be able to understand. You are my Breath, My heartbeat...My World!

Lets see, We did alot over this past month...We took our first Road trip to Jacksonville to see Aunt Kelly, and Auntie SKO. You did WONDERFUL in the car the entire ride. Slept basically the whole way there. You had fun with your Friends Dillon and Elyse. Dillon wanted to kiss you and love on you the whole time, while lysee tried to beat you up. You had your first spill which scared your mommy to death! This is when I realized you were starting to become more mobile. Luckily, Everything was ok..If it wasn't for Aunt Kelly, Mommy would have had a heart attack and we would have been on our way to the hospital. I have learned this was just one of the MANY yet to come... You loved your Aunt Kelly and of Course you thought your Auntie SKO was just the funniest person alive...I haven't seen you smile so much at 1 person like you do with SKO, well except for your cousins Ashleigh and Olivia.

You have had so much fun with your Grandma Vicki and your Cousin Olivia over these past couple Mondays. They ware you out by the end of the day. I love coming up the drive way and hearing you laughing inside the house...

We spent a day with your boyfriend Cobe too. Mommy thought she was going to have her hands full watching both of you by myself...but, It was a piece of cake..You two were cracking me up..You kept trying to eat him and he would look at me like.."hello, can you get this girl please" ...It was so much fun...

You love to eat...Sweet potatoes are your favorite.. You have been introduced to your first sippie cup and are getting pretty good at bringing it to your mouth. You are starting to teethe...so you are beginning to get a little fussier at times. You are constantly putting your fists in your mouth or whatever toy you can get your hands on. You love to be sung to and you love to be entertained. Bath time is still your favorite time of the day. You had your first time on the swings at the park and loved it. You LOVE baby bop from Barney! Mommy and Daddy only let you watch Barney or Play with me sesame in the morning after your bottle. You are completely amazed by these people on the TV and basically don't move...We will hear you laugh and talk back to them..well in your own words or noises anyways. We went and saw your new cousin Madison on the 4d ultrasound..that was really cool. You stared at the screen for a little while, then got bored. Mommy cut up some fruit into tiny pieces and let you try them...You weren't sure about it so you spit it out. You liked playing with the fruit on your tray though. You sit up by yourself. If you want something in front of you, you will reach for it and sometimes end up on your belly. Your not to sure about the rolling over stuff yet. You get half way over and then freak out and go back to your starting position, especially on your back. You are rolling from your belly to back pretty often now though. You wake up at 7:30 in the morning almost everyday and just talk to yourself in your room for a little while. Daddy and I listen to you on the monitor and just giggle.

You are your own little person. We are really seeing what type of personality you have and love every little minute of it. We wish time would slow down, but we always look forward to the NEW things you do...We love you sooooooo much!

XOXO

Mommy

5 months old

Hello my sweet,

You are now 5 months old and full of smiles. You are such a happy girl. You only cry or fuss when you are sleepy or want to eat. You love spending time on your belly and playing with your toys. You have discovered your feet and are always grabbing at them now. You have been on baby food for the past month and oh how you've grown. Mommy has given you another nickname.."munchie" Short for Munchikin...I actually seem to call you that more than buggie lately. Daddy and I are constantly trying to get you to say Ma ma or Da da...At this point we dont mind which one you say first, as long as you do. You have tried, but mostly you just smile and raise your voice at us. We cant help but giggle at all the many faces you make and the stuff that you are starting to do. You like to play with your toys in your high chair and have learned that if you drop your toy mommy or daddy will pick it back up for you. This is starting to be your favorite game. You love to stand up now! We will hold you by your hands and you will stand for a while, but then end up flopping down on your bottom. You have outgrown your baby bathtub and absolutely LOVE being in the big bath now. You kick and Kick, like you are going swimming and love to play on your belly in the bath. We are still working on you sitting up by yourself. You are fine as long as you are concentrating on something, but once you look away, you fall over... We celebrated our first christmas as a family and brought in the new year together. We love you more and more everyday and thank god that he has brought you into our lives!!!!!

I love you with all my heart...

xoxo...Mommy