She's walking!

The title of this post is self-explanatory! She took her first steps on November 24th and is full on walking now. We got our first family Christmas tree a few days ago and now it sits, sparkling with white lights, in our living room. We are going to put ornaments on the tree on Sunday when we're all off work and able to sit around and enjoy each other's company.

Here are some pictures from today! The moose that S is holding was sent from Iraq from Aunt M... she LOVES it so much!

Happy Birthday and Happy Thanksgiving!

S turned one on November 12th, and today we celebrated our second Thanksgiving with her! We had a birthday party for her on the 14th with lots of friends and family. I don't think she quite understood what all the hoopla was about but we had a great time. She smashed a cupcake, opened presents, and traipsed around in her birthday dress with a pink, tulle skirt.

Family picture from her birthday party:


Cupcake smash:




On November 17th S sprouted her 3rd tooth - her upper, right tooth. She's in business now with her 3 teeth - she can chew off pieces of food with more efficiency. Her favorite foods these days are grilled cheese sandwiches, yogurt, avocado, bananas, bagels, ice cream and pizza.

At 12 months she weighs 21lb 3oz and is 31.75in long! That's 55th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for length. Now that she is crawling, cruising and taking her first steps I think she's burning more calories and losing some of that baby chub. Fortunately she still has her sweet, kissable cheeks!

On November 24th S took her very first steps! She was at daycare and she walked 7-10 steps repeatedly. By the time I picked her up in the afternoon she was too tired to recreate the event. The next day (and the next...) she was happy to pick up where she left off. She definitely still uses crawling as her main form of transportation (she can crawl faster than I can!) but she's getting more stable on her little feet, tottering around the house.

Here is a quick video of S's first days of walking:

First Ponytail and more!

S is unbelievable. She is the sweetest little girl. She smiles at everyone, wrinkles her nose and laughs at the slightest amusement, and gives the sloppiest, most affectionate kisses ever. Her eyes have slowly changed color from solid blue to blue with gold and green streaks.

Her first tooth is firmly visible and I think we're working on our second tooth. She says "mama" all the time which is music to my ears, and she loves to blow raspberries on command. Her hair is finally long enough for a tiny ponytail on the top of her head.

R and I took her to the Outer Banks, NC with R's parents for a weekend trip. It was her first trip to the ocean. She was fearless and loved the water and waves! She also loved the sand between her toes.

She loves to sit on her Papa's shoulders and go for long walks. She bounces on his shoulders and giggles with glee. It is such a sight to see! One of my favorite things to do is nap with her on the weekends. Her cuddles take my breath away.

Here are some recent pictures:

10 months!

Recent milestones that S has mastered in the last month:

- crawling
- pulling to stand and cruising around furniture
- waving bye-bye
- first tooth
- dancing

Here are some recent pictures:

S has a big head like her Mama and her Papa - 95th% for head circumference, 60th% for weight and 50th% for length.





First tooth! On the bottom right of her mouth (bottom left of the picture)


10 months!


2 through 10 months with Teddy

9 months!

Today is S's 3/4 birthday. I have taken a picture of her with Teddy every month since she was 2 months old, but this was the first time that she has been too mobile to sit still for the camera. She preferred to leap up to the crib railing and stand tall and proud... it was adorable. Here are some pictures of her today on her 9 month birthday... both in the crib and enjoying bath time tonight!

She is [thisclose] to both crawling and walking and yet she still has a fabulously toothless grin. I wonder when her first pearly white will pop through...

Flying by

Life, that is. I just finished 6 weeks of night shifts... it is so nice to see the sun again! Every morning when I came home from work I would snuggle and nap with S. I looked forward to it every day. I am excited to see R a lot more now that we'll mostly be on days together! We both love our jobs and things are going well. My mom, dad and sister, H, have been absolute angels helping to take care of S. They have been amazing and I don't know what we would have done without them this summer. S loves her Aunt H so much! Mary came to visit the week of the 4th of July when she was on leave from Iraq. Savannah had so much fun with her Aunt M and we can't wait to see her again in February.

S is changing and growing so much! She's over 18lb and 28 inches long now. She still isn't crawling or walking, but she's starting to learn to do both! She has become very adventurous in trying to lunge forward when sitting and going after whatever toy she wants at the moment. Right now she "swims" trying to crawl. It's so cute! She is also standing up with assistance and trying to let go and try to take steps. She feeds herself the bottle and is starting to say consonant phrases like "mama" nonspecifically. I love it!

Here are some recent pictures: