Aubrey 9 Months

This month was filled with many sleepless nights and yet smiley days (at least for Aubrey on the whole smiley thing!). I am constantly amazed at how happy a baby Aubrey is, and how well she can entertain yourself most times.  This month has been fun, and I look forward to seeing your personality blossom more and more over the passing months! How we are 3/4 of the way to a year I will never know! Time SLOW down!  

Happy 9 Months Aubrey Lynn!

9 Month Highlights:

-We had a few park days this month (although not a ton b/c it was hot!) and you love the swing!  You smile, giggle and just take it all in!

 -You started giving open mouth kisses which is slightly gross, but mostly just adorable!  You grab our face and then just go in to plant a big wet one.  It was only really, REALLY gross when you lead into Max, and he definitely got some french kiss action.  Yuck!

-You got tired of being in your car seat this month, especially when we were running errands so we put you up in front with Bella and you loved it! You especially loved being at Kroger where you got to "drive" the car : )

-When I leave the playroom for 2 minutes and it gets quiet, I know something is up! Last time this happened Bella had pulled out every single wipe from the container and threw them all over the room. This time it was YOU!  You found the chalkboard behind the door that I forgot to erase, and decided to rub your face all up against it, then your arms, then your butt and back.  I came in and Bella was doing the same, but I was laughing that you started it all!  

Look at that sweet chalk covered smile!

-This month you are cruising better and better, and at 34 weeks you somehow got from the coffee table to the couch which required no hands at one point. I missed the actual steps in between, but just know 1 second you were in front of my feet at the table, and the next second you were patting the couch by my thighs!  You also started standing on your own this month.  By 36 weeks you were standing for 1-2 sec on your own and by 38 weeks you could last 5 or 6 seconds before falling over. 

-Aaaand, the day that you turned 9 months you started signing "All done" with eating which was amazing! Up until then, you'd just scream and wriggle even though sometimes you'd keep your mouth open, until I tried to put the spoon in and then you'd whip your head away and spit it out. Nice. So now, as soon as you start to get loud, I say "Aubrey are you all done?" and you signed it! YAY!! Love when babies learn to communicate far before they can speak!

Sleeping: Ugh, the 8 month sleep regression was a real thing, and for two weeks in a row, nobody got any sleep in our house!  The other two weeks this month weren't great in the sleep department but at least we weren't walking around like total zombies.  Bedtime is anywhere between 5 and 6:30 depending on the day and how you napped (or more frequently, how you didn't!). You woke up anywhere from 1-3 times before 6 am, and were usually up for the day around then.  Your morning nap was around 8:30 or 9 and lasted 1 hr to 1.5 hr.  Your afternoon nap is pretty much always 20-30 minutes like clockwork.  Very rarely you will sleep for 45 minutes to an hour.   

This is overtired, exhausted Aubrey who would not take a nap...go figure!

Breastfeeding: You still love eating, both breastfeeding and eating solids/pureed.  You have taken an extreme interest in any food on our plates and turn Angry Elf if we don't give you things!  You breastfeed 5-6 times a day, at totally random and varying times based on your sleeping schedule and what we are doing that day.  

In regards to eating purees, you love your oatmeal in the morning, and sweet potatoes (that I mix green beans or broccoli with), vegetable medly, and peas the rest of the day.  But you get really excited when I give you whole food, especially peaches, bananas, and strips of toast.  Unfortunately, because you want to try all foods on our plate, I have lost count of the new foods you've tried this month. Basically, I think if we eat it, it's safe to say you've at least had a lick, including eggs, hummus on pita bread, and pizza (though you just stuck to the crust on this one). 

Aubrey Loves:
-Musical toys and listening to music

-Being on the go, always crawling or cruising around

-Being outside in the warm air, it chills you out pretty quickly!

-Following Bella around, watching her play

-Playing in kitchen on the floor with tupperware while Mama cleans or cooks

Aubrey Hates:

 -Sleeping

-Being held : (

9 Month Stats:

Height: 26.5 in (about 10th percentile)

Weight: 16 lb 12 oz (about 15th percentile)

*Teeth: 6 total, 4 on top, 2 on bottom

*Wearing size 3 diapers

*Wearing mostly 6 month clothes, with some 9 month things in the mix as well

Aubrey Firsts this Month:

-Standing on own at 36 weeks
-Signing "All done"  (day after 38 weeks)

This Month in Pictures:

Even though I can almost always guarantee Bella will not smile, you pretty much always will : )

Oh my sweetness!

Such a happy little lady just crawling all around and using the chairs as a jungle gym to crawl over, under and through!

Mama's happy, smiley, music loving baby!

Isabella 26 Months!

As we enter more fully into Isabella's second year, I am understanding a bit of where the term "Terrible Twos" comes from!  This girl is wanting to be independent at things she is not quite capable of yet, and is trying to communicate things she just doesn't have words (or emotional maturity) for. It has been a lesson on patience for all of us, and many days while I am telling Bella to take a couple deep breaths so that she can calm down, I am finding the need to do the same!  And yet, even on the hardest days where I feel like she is fighting to be the Queen Bee or Boss in the house, about two minutes after I put her to bed, I think "Wow, that was exhausting...but she was so cute when..." At the end of the day it's all of the funny things she's done, or the super cute things she has said ("F**ky water anyone?) that have made me laugh that I tell Jon about as we crawl into bed at night.  And I know when she's off at college, there will be moments when I probably will wish I could have just one more day of her terrible, feisty, whiny twos all over again.

Happy 26 Months Isabella Rae!

26 Month Highlights:

-This month you continue to talk more and more, and are forming bigger sentences with 2-4 words.  I am still amazed DAILY at the things coming from your mouth.  I keep meaning to write down some of the funny ways you say words, and yet there are not enough hours in the day to keep up.  Most days I know pretty much what you are saying, but a couple weeks ago you said something 4 days in a row that we had NO idea what it was.  "F**ky water, f**ky water" you said over and over, until finally on the fifth day I realized you were trying to say Sparkling Water.  Bahaha! 

Other funny things you say:
-Downstairs = "Soshee"
-Oatmeal = "EO" (which I finally realized was your attempt at saying the last part of the word, "meal"
-We love when you say "Hold You" or "Help You" as you are trying to ask us to hold or help you
-You still don't get the hang of questions; rather it comes out as commands "Get it" "Do this" etc

-We had a lot of water fun this month, going to Mimi's pool a couple times, going to the Leflers pool, and even going to the Aquatic Park once (which was a Mama & Bella date for you doing so well with the first week of potty training!). You absolutely love being in the water, and while you are cautious, you are putting your mouth in and blowing bubbles, and are starting to get the hang of kicking your legs to move a bit.

-You have always loved singing and music, but now we are in the fun stage where you are singing along with a majority of so many songs. Your most frequent requests include anything in your Nursery Rhymes book, You are My Sunshine, Open the Eyes of My Heart, and about every 4 seconds you ask for "Wheels Round and Round"

-You are doing SO well with potty training! I am amazed at how few accidents you have had (all but 1 with pee thankfully). I do still have to ask you/prompt you to go potty if we are playing b/c you get so distracted you don't realize it til it's too late (hence the few accidents we've had...literally like 3). You always know when you have to poop and I am grateful you've gotten that one down!

-You are growing more and more independent as the days go by, and you certainly are growing more opinionated in daily choices.  You particularly love to pick out your outfit (pretty much a dress every single day), and then pair with it a hat, and many times sunglasses (yup, even inside!).  It makes for some fun combinations : )

Red gingham hat, pink and purple butterfly dress, hot pink glasses, and pink with rhinestone shoes (girl loves her pink!) 

-We got our first taste of you using Aubrey as a scape goat this month! Mama went to the kitchen to get some water, and when she came back the entire package of wipes was all over the playroom floor, on the futon, and even on top of the play kitchen (AKA way too high for A to reach!), and the first thing our of your mouth (before Mama even said a word!), was "Ohhhhh, Aubee did it!" Bahaha! Oh Boy!

-We celebrated Pop's birthday and you fell in love with the "Happy Birday" song!  You wanted to sing it daily for the next....well you still want to sing it almost daily! The next weekend we went to a friends birthday party and when the whole room sang "Happy Birthday to Emery," you belted out "Happy Birthday to Pops" which cracked a bunch of us up!

-Some of our best friends came to visit us for a long weekend and you soaked in every minute of having a full house! You loved sitting with Auntie Stefi, reading and singing. And you certainly loved hanging out in the basement with the "big boys."

Sleeping: Your sleeping habits haven't changed in the last month. Still napping from 1-3 or 1-4pm, and then bedtime is 7:30.  We started getting more consistent with bedtime the last two weeks because this summer was a bit all over the place and you weren't sleeping as well at night.  You typically sleep from 8pm til 7 am or so, and we come get you at 7:45 or 8 am.

Eating: You have a robust appetites most days. You have your moments of being really picky, and then moments of wanting to try anything we are eating.  You love frozen foods (while they are still frozen), and will gobble up frozen corn, peas, and your favorite: frozen pureed sweet potatoes (that I made for Aubrey!). For breakfast you love oatmeal with just a tiny drop of jam, or GF waffles ("wahkeys"). Otherwise you love "teetoes garden circle" (AKA garden cherry tomatoes), PB sandwiches, "Nooness with sauce" (AKA noodles with butter and parm), black olives, cheese, Fig bars, and any and all fruit *although peaches and blackberries ("blackies") seem to be a favorite this month.* 

Isabella Loves:

-Swimming, splash pad, anything water!

-Taking baths

-SINGING all the time!

-Musical toys

-Playing dress up

-Coloring

-Stickers...putting them all over herself!

-Taking walks and running outside

-"Rock rock", snuggles and cuddles

-Reading
Isabella Hates:

-Not being able to do something independently (esp brushing teeth and getting dressed)

-Having her personal space occupied by Aubrey

26 Month Stats:

Height: 35 in (approx. 50th percentile)

Weight: 28 lb 6 oz (approx. 50th percentile)

*Wearing 2T/24 Month clothes.

*In size 4 diapers when sleeping

 *No new teeth this month (I don't think! It looks like she has all her front teeth, all canines, and I think we are still waiting on 4 molars (all the back ones)

This Month in Pictures:

Bella LOVED the slide...and went down about 72 times...literally!

This girl loves her hats and playing with "tiny hats"

We love sitting on the front porch in the mornings while Aubrey naps

Oh my, we are in trouble when this one is 16!

Back porch pool days made perfect with popcicles!

These two are truly our cherries on top (b/c who eats just one cherry!?)

Aubrey 8 Months

Pretty much daily I forget that I have an 8 month old, and think she's about 12 months. But alas, despite this little one trying to grow up way too quickly, we do indeed have an 8 month old on our hands! You are still the happiest baby I know, and smile SO easily which we adore!  You also can turn Angry Elf on a dime, but that just makes you that much more endearing : )

Happy 8 Months Aubrey Lynn!

8 Month Highlights:

-You have gotten quite active this month and are crawling at a very high speed all over the house. You love to pull up on anything and everything and just explore. You started trying to cruise and mostly fall over, but it doesn't phase you at all...you get right back up and try again! You are getting into everything, and trying to even climb the stairs. Look out world...Aubrey is mobile!!

-You celebrated your first 4th of July this year keeping it low key. We had a family day and spent some time at the park, which meant you crawled around on the blanket and just enjoyed the warm air.

-We had a fun pool day with the Lefler ladies and Katie & Maggie.  You didn't love the water this time, and pretty much cried every time I tried putting you in your floatie.  So you just enjoyed the warm weather, and were content being held by Mimi, or sitting on the towel out of the pool.

-At 7.5 months, you started doing your bedtime and most naptime routines without your paci, mostly because you started to sing along with our songs! It is one of the cutest things that you do.  You seriously just sing and babble along the entire time that we rock you! I absolutely love it!
 
Sleeping: I still can't say we have found a consistent schedule with you yet regarding naps, but bedtime is a little bit more routine.  You generally go down around 5:30 pm and get up for the morning around 7:30 am. Your first nap of the day is about 2 hours after waking, and is your longer nap, anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours, although lately it's been a solid 30 minutes (urgh!).  The second nap is 2-3 hours after you wake from the first and is mostly 30 minutes, but sometimes I get lucky and it's 45 min to an hour. 

I will say this month you really started fighting naps and bedtime.  In the past we'd be able to put you in your crib "drowsy awake" and you may fuss for a couple minutes, but you'd quickly fall asleep. Most morning naps you never made a peep. At the beginning of this last month, you started Angry Elf screaming at the top of your lungs when we put you down. We tried rocking you to a drowsier sleep, putting you in more awake, and rocking all the way to sleep a few times (and then realized this wasn't a good long term solution, and didn't work anyways b/c the second you hit the mattress you were screaming).  So we had to do some cry it out with you this month which was hard, but helpful. You now still have your moments, but for the most part if you do cry it's only for a minute or two until you roll around, find Lambie and get really settled in. 

Breastfeeding: Breastfeeding was all over the place this month. The first two weeks you ate 6-8 times a day, then the next 2 weeks cut back to 5 or 6.  I think this is a combination of you eating a bit more solid food, and maybe not going through a growth spurt so you aren't quite as hungry. Either way, I wouldn't really say we have a feeding schedule with you b/c most days aren't consistent.  At the very least, we eat 1 early morning feed which can range anywhere from 4 am to 6 am, then again around 10am, and then throw in some afternoon feeds, a pre-bedtime feed (around 5 ish), and the occasionally 9:30 or 10 pm feed (which I stopped waking you up for this month, but you still wake up on your own at times).

Eating: You tried quite a bit of foods this month, and while I wouldn't say you love any one thing (other than sweet potatoes), there are days you eat a decent amount (1-2 Tbl).  You tried: Butternut squash, peas, broccoli, green beans, veggie medley, blueberries, & spinach/zucchini/pea blend.  I'm not the best at being consistent with feeding you solids just yet, but we try to feed you oatmeal for breakfast, and then veggies or fruits for 2 other meals, although I will say we are lucky to get 1 other meal in most days.

Aubrey Loves:
-Crawling, pulling up, moving all around and exploring 

-Musical toys (pianos and Puppy)

-Watching Bella play, and trying to do everything she does

Aubrey Hates:

 -Being held down or contained to one spot
-Rocking and being held before sleeping : ( (she now just fights it completely bc she knows what's coming...so sad!)

8 Month Stats:

Height: 26.5 in (25th percentile)

Weight: 16 lb 9 oz (25th percentile)

Teeth: You got 3 new teeth this month...all on the top! (total of 5 teeth now)

*Wearing 3-6, 6 and some 9 month clothes (that are still a bit too big, but too cute to pass up wearing this season)

Aubrey's Firsts this Month:

 -Pulling up to stand (30.5 weeks)
-Cruising in her crib and on playroom futon (34 weeks)

This Month In Pictures:

 

Happy, crazy, bored : )

Baby jail

Standing to play right at 7 months

Crawling under things to play

Aaaand...crawling onto things to play

Not feeling the end of a hot pool day

Family park day...couldn't get a decent selfie from this little lady

I'm pretty sure more oatmeal gets on your face and bib than in your belly, but you still look super cute either way!