9 Months Old! :)

Lucy Pearl, today you are NINE months old!!


You have officially been here with us for as long as you were in my belly!  So surreal!


So just what have you been up to this month?


Oh....


You hit your 9 month growth spurt and weigh a whopping 17 lbs. 13 oz. and are 26 1/2 inches long!!!


You are still in size 3 diapers and are wearing 9-12 month clothes -- you've always been right.on.track with the clothes sizes!  (Practically perfect in every way, I say!)


And for the FIRST TIME EVER... I can announce you have your very first tooth!! :)  I never imagined I would be as excited as I discovered you had indeed cut your first tooth!  And the best part was, I found it the morning of my 25th birthday -- best birthday present you could have given me!  You love practicing how to use it.   The Easter Bunny even brought you your very first toothbrush/toothpaste set -- so stinkin' cute in the different colored pinks!


You have mastered the art of clapping -- you clap all the time, especially when you're happy and you know it - ;)  Okay, but seriously, you clap when you like something, are excited about something, or are just wanting to hear your little hands make that cool sound.


Speaking of getting excited... when you get really excited, you do the CUTEST thing.  Let's see if I can describe it.  You ball up your little hands into little fists and you put your arms straight out in front of you in a locked position. And then you sort of wave them around in little circles while making the funniest scrunched-up face and squealing.  It's too precious!  My description does not do it justice...


You have learned to make a clicking sound with your tongue just this past week and do it all the time!  You know it's cute, too, because you grin so big afterwards.  At any given time, you can hear one or all of us "clicking" around this house.  It's the new trend.


Ooooh, you've also learned to razz with your mouth and spit flies everywhere!  I think you're doing it because of your teething, but it makes such a mess -- especially when you're eating!  We try to tell you "NO!" very sternly, but your sweet smile and your repetitive ways of doing it again just can't keep us from laughing (on the inside).


You are doing fanTABulous with your helmet!  You wear it like a champ for 23 hours a day.  You don't pull or tug at it.  We take it off for an hour every day so that we can wash your hair (your poor head gets so sweaty!).  As soon as we take it off, your hands go immediately to your hair and you start pulling it.  Sometimes, it really hurts you and you will start to cry and I have to explain to you that you're the one pulling your own hair -- silly girl!  At the end of the hour, you're starting to be able to tell when we're about to put it on, because I have to put your hair up in an elastic band to keep your long hair from getting between your scalp and the helmet (it just makes you that much hotter).  You are starting to fuss a little, but I don't blame you, baby... I wouldn't want to wear it either.  I am so proud of you and how well you're handling it!


We still haven't taken you in public with it.  I tried, and was even approached by an ignorant curious woman at Wal-Mart, and I decided that even though it doesn't bother you, and you have no idea how to even feel embarrassment, I wouldn't want to wear a helmet on my head in public, and it's my job as your mother to be your advocate. I may or may not have cried after her ridiculous accusations and so I took it off and you just got an extra hour of helmet freedom that day! :)


You pull up really well by just using my fingers, or by pulling up on my jeans, you're trying to pull up on other objects, furniture, etc.  but it's hard to go from the sitting position to pulling up.  You're not interested in crawling either.  You are finally tolerating being on your stomach a lot better and even can get what you want by doing some pretty impressive stretching and/or rolling.  But, you just won't put knee to hand and crawl there.


You fell of the bed for the first and hopefully only time this month... :(  Unfortunately it was under my care, too.  Poor Me!  I watch you like a hawk all day long, and thought you were safe enough in the middle of the bed with plenty of books and toys around you to distract you as I picked out your clothes you were going to  wear that day.  From what I can figure, as you were sitting you reached in front of you and got into a laying position (which you can do very well), which put you closer to the side of the bed and then rolled.  My heart dropped so quickly when I heard that awful sound.  Thankfully, you only cried for a few seconds and me picking you up and holding you tight made it all better!  Made me feel much better about the situation.


Just tonight, you cruised along the edge of the couch -- it was stunning to see your tiny self moving from one end of the couch to the other by picking up your feet and walking there.  I was and always am in awe of you, Lucy!


You are starting to associate your Daddy with "Da-Da."  The sweetest thing happened today, and it will forever be a memory mark on my heart:  Your Daddy always texts or calls when he's on his way home so we can be waiting for him on the porch when he comes home.  He pulled in the driveway. (No reaction).  He honked his horn. (No reaction).  He got out of his truck -- and you said "Da-Da!" with such excitement and the biggest smile on your face!  It was the SWEETEST moment to witness!  Now, let's get you to figure out "Mama!" :)


You ADORE bath time!  You basically jump up and down every time you hear/see the bathwater running.  It's so funny!  You have the best time splashing in the water and chewing on your squirt toys.  We use L'Oreal Kids Mango-Orange shampoo to help your head not stink so bad (from the helmet), which it does, and it makes it smell so good!!!


You're still loving your friends and teachers at Learning Safari and I am too!  We are so happy where you are.  I love that when I drop you off in the morning, I never know who I'm going to leave you with because everyone wants to hold you -- and the afternoon girl always comments on how sweet you are and how much she loves your outfits (Note to future Lucy: your Mama can dress you with style!)


You still love riding in the car, but since you're a) starting to be awake longer and b) starting to want to be more mobile you don't love riding in the car as long... :)  I think an investment in a DVD player is in our near future.


You love my cell phone -- Well, you love any cell phone really.  But especially mine because it plays your favorite videos (two things I want to make sure I never forget): The Duck Song (Parts 1, 2, & 3 -- but mostly just the first one) & Elmo's Song.  You have a little Elmo doll that MaMa gave you for Christmas, and you just beam every time you see him!  You really love any of the Elmo videos.  We haven't had to buy a bigger cable package to get the "kids shows" yet, or start buying any of them on DVD.  I just pull up the YouTube app on our BluRay and type in Elmo and we just watch video after video after video of Elmo.  


Your Daddy hung your swing on our front porch and you're a fan.  Not in love with it, but you really enjoy it!  We hung it so you can see the road -- you love to watch the cars drive by.  It looks a little ghetto having a bright pink swing hanging crooked (for a better swinging range) on our front porch, but at least people will know there's a spoiled well-loved little girl that lives here! 


You are starting to LOVE reading -- we read three books at night: You Are My Sunshine (I bought it for you before you were born, because that was my favorite song when I was little -- it was also the first song I ever sang to you the day you were born), A Cuddle for Little Duck, and Goodnight Moon.  You're starting to really pay attention and love pretending to eat the "bowl full of mush" when we get to that page.  Your nosey-rosey self also loves hearing me "bzzzz" like a bee when we get to the page of Little Duck playing in the meadow.  Your head quickly turns and you just stare at me like "Whoa."


Like I said before, you've now been here with us just as long as you were in my belly.  And before I typed this I thought to myself which 9 months did I enjoy more?  The 9 months where you were all mine, and your kicks and rolls and hiccups were feelings only I could feel.  Or the 9 months where I've gotten to see you grow into such a fun little girl with a bubbly-never-meets-a-stranger personality, with the most addicting giggle and smile that I get to share with everybody else but also get to proclaim "She's mine!"  


...Yeah, I'd definitely choose the second one.  Mama & Daddy love you sweet girl!


Happy Nine Months!

8 Months Old!

Oh my sweet Lucy...

Today you are EIGHT months old!

Where, oh where, has the first 2/3 of your first year gone???

This month, Miss Lucy:

You weigh about lbs.

You are still in a size 3 diaper and fit well in 9 month clothes.  You also fit well in 12 month clothes -- they just look "comfy" on you 'cause they're a little more baggy.

You are wearing your Plagiocephaly hat like a champ!  You barely know it's even there -- and you rock it with a hairbow that coordinates to your outifts every day! :) You get really hot in it, and so we're able to break out your cute summer clothes a little early and dress you in precious bubbles, rompers, and dresses.

You are still in your same class at daycare but your teacher, Mrs. Ella has retired and Miss Kacie is leaving tomorrow.  You love your new teacher Ms. Lachelle (there's also a new one starting tomorrow) and still love Ms. Mindy.

You are tolerating "tummy time" a lot better but still don't have an interesting in crawling or even scooting.  You have gotten a lot better at rolling over though and love rolling from one way to the other.

You have learned to clap and clap every time that you get excited or we say "clap, clap clap!"

Have just learned how to blow kisses (seriously, like yesterday...).  I started about a month ago trying to teach you and every day your Daddy & I would work with you on it.  We would blow them to you and then take your hand and do the motion for you from your mouth.  Over and over and over again.  So yesterday (3/17) your Daddy was holding you in his recliner and was trying to teach you how to do it and then stopped and was just holding you while we all watched a movie together.  All of a sudden something caught his eye and he looked at you.  You were so sweetly looking up at him and blowing him kisses over and over and over again.  It was honestly the sweetest thing I have ever seen!

You are starting to really enjoy your baths!  You've always liked a bath, but now you're figuring out how to play!  A couple of weeks ago I started letting you play with the water as it came out of the faucet, and you thought it was so fun trying to catch it in your hands.  Then, just this week, you've figured out that you can splash the water with your hands and love for it to splash your face!  You also have a million rubber squirt toys that are shaped like ocean animals.  These are great for chewing on, you think!  They're the perfect size for your little hands and must feel so good to your gums because you have a hard time putting them down.

You are still eating Stage 2 foods.  You're interested in what your Daddy and I are eating, but when we put it in your mouth you act like you don't know what to do with it.  Same with the Stage 3 foods.

...this is probably because you STILL don't have any teeth!  Where are you hiding them??

You have started pulling up just this week too (you're doing all your learning and growing this week it seems!).  I was sitting on the floor with my knees pulled to my chest and you were sitting on my feet and pulled up to standing on my jeans/legs.  Pretty soon you're going to be pulling up on things all over this house!

You are still a champion sleeper, sleeping from about 7:30pm-6:30am every night.  You do roll all over your crib at night, though.  You're just a busy body at night!

You baby-babble all.the.time. and love to say "da-da."  I think you may be starting to figure out that it relates to this man you love.  You've started just recently saying "ma-ma" every now and then.  I know you'll say it, soon enough.  It'll be all the more special when you do, because I've waited for so long! :)

You've brought so much sweet joy to our lives, Miss Lucy!  We love you so much!

Daddy's Girl

I know what it's like to be a daddy's girl. I know the feeling of warm affection when his arms wrap around you. In familiar with the spark that happens in your heart when you see him. And I fondly know the feeling of security when hearing his voice. I love my Daddy so much and I know a lot of that is because he loves me just as much!

You, Lucy, are just as lucky because you have something just as special with your daddy! You're still so young and I love watching the two of you blossom your relationship every day. You look forward to when he walks trough the front door and when he gets down on the floor to play with you, I see that same sparkle in you'd eyes that I get in mine. You love me just as I love my mama, but there's something special to be had between a daddy and his princess and I'm certainly glad my prince charming turned out to be your king! :)

Slick Sleeper

You continue to make me laugh!! For 7 1/2 months now I have laid you on your back to sleep and for 7 1/2 months I've woken you up with you still on your back. Except for last night...

Your Daddy came to bed around 2 because he likes to play his play station with Jonathan Paulish and your uncle Wesley. He told me you had flipped to your stomach and sure enough when I looked at the monitor, you had!! Well, at 6:30 thus morning I heard you talking on the monitor and turned it on to look at you and saw you back on your back! I just had to laugh because we try to get uou to hip and roll on the floor when you're playing and you have no real interest except maybe turning on your side a bit. So you doing it in your sleep just made me smile! :)

Strong-willed baby!

Hahaha. It's Saturday morning and I am currently holding you while you feed yourself your mid morning bottle. (have I mentioned you can hold your own bottle? Even if you drop it, you're able to pick it up and continue feeding yourself! You've been able to do this for at least two months now..) every time we fix your bottle you'll grab it out of our hands to get it.

Anyways just a few minutes ago, shortly after you started drinking it, I noticed you werent sucking on it anymore. So, thinking it may have been clogged, I tried to take it out of your mouth to see. As I pulled on your bottle to take it away, you satellite the way up and yanked it back in your mouth before I could tell anything about whether it was clogged or not! It definitely made us laugh at what a strong-willed baby you are! :)

The Littlest Brick Chick

You went out to eat for the first time in your little life last night!

We went out to eat with Philip, Dena, and Caylin. We haven't been able to get together with them for a while and decided to go out to the brick... Which is if course, your Daddy and my favorite restaurant.

It was packed!! But you and Caylin both did so great waiting patiently. They ended up not seating us until 720 and you aurally go I bed around 730. I was pleased with how well behaves you were considering how late it was for you!

I had to feed you your baby food there, but you were more interested in what I was eating. Too bad I couldn't share with you because it was still too spicy for your tender tummy.

I wiped down the table in front of you as well as the high chair you sat in, because it was only a matter of time before you were trying to chew on both of them. I forgot to pack you any toys in the diaper bag, but thankfully had one in there -- a ring with plastic beads to chew on and manipulate. That was entertaining for a while, but then you just wanted to throw it on the floor.

You lasted until a little after 8 when you wanted to lay your head on my shoulder and I was singing in your ear. Your eyes would be just about closed and then you would pop your head up and let out a little cry like "let's go home!" so we did.

I told your Daddy I felt bad we have not taken you out before. People from all over the restaurant were telling is how beautiful and precious you are!! Made me a proud Mama and made my heart smile! :)

Seven Months Old!!!

Our sweetest Lucy,

You are 7 months old!

I cannot believe that your birthday is in fewer months than you are old.

What are you up to these days? Well...

You are about 16 lbs. and about 26 inches long (unfortunately, we don't have accurate doctor measurements this month)!

You are wearing a size 3 diaper! You just recently switched into them too, like just a few days ago. You also started wearing Parents Choice diapers as you get more in a box and they are $11.00 cheaper! :) Yay for Walmart brand!!

You have started talking (baby talk) a lot more. Mainly da-da but also a lot of ba-da-ga-da-ba-ga :)

Love to give me kisses still! You've also kissed CiCi and Memaw.

Can pick out the color yellow when given two choices. I'll hold out a blue block and a yellow one, tell you the color of both, and ask you "Which ones yellow? Where's the yellow one?" and you will stick out your hand and touch the yellow one every single time! Smart girl!

You have moved up to the next room at daycare. We love Ms. Ella (although she's retiring), Miss Kacie is still your afternoon girl and we still really like her too, but we've also come to love Ms. Mindy too now that she's in your room some afternoons. She'll take y'all outside and play with you on the floor. She's the daytime worker for the next class up -- I can't wait for you to be with her during the day!

You are just getting interested in trying to scoot, but love to bounce and sit up. Your feet finally touch the floor now when you sit in your walker in the kitchen but you only know how to go backwards! :)

Oh and you have AWESOME balance when standing while holding something. In fact, this past weekend at Memaw and Big Daddy's we were all gathered around oohing and aahing at how good you could stand holding onto a chair and you started showing off and took one hand off and held it way far out to the side and just grinned! So sweet!!

You still have ZERO teeth! I have given up on guessing if you're teething because every time I'm sure you are, you get no teeth to show for it... You are drooling a LOT, put everything in your mouth, and bite hard... But still nothing! Oh well!

You were diagnosed with plagiocephaly which is just where your head got flat on one side from laying you on your back to sleep. Thankfully, there's a way to fix it. You're going to have to wear a helmet for a few months but it'll be off by your birthday, and I'm gonna make sure you rock it! I'm planning on putting your name on it with some polka dots or something.

Some fun things we like doing with you are...

Your Daddy has always loved singing the silliest songs with you. The current favorite is the "circus song." It goes something like "LMD Circus is coming to town" and then he sings the classic clown music.

He also likes to put one hand on each side of your head (& you love it cause you'll hold his hands there), and he moves it side to side and says "crazy baby, crazy baby!". And then he pauses and squishes your cheeks together and says "crazy face!"

You also love playing peek-a-boo and seeing people when they come back in from being outside or in another room. You get so giddy and excited -- it's hilarious!

Every morning after I change your diaper, you want to look at yourself in the mirror and I tell you the same thing: "You are beautiful. You are smart. You are kind. And you're important in this world...especially mine!"

We love you sweet girl! Thank you for being so perfect! :)