We put you in your crib yesterday afternoon with the hope that you would find a nap appealing.  It became quite obvious after a few minutes of off and on crying and noise making that you had no interest in sleeping.  So, I opened the door to come get you and what did I see?!  My baby girl STANDING in her crib hanging on to the rail for dear life.  Your response to my shock and disbelief?  You laughed…a big, hearty from-the-gut laugh.  Gotta love it!  🙂

Not many parents can say that their baby didn’t vomit for the first time until they were over 8 months old.  Luckily, we are those parents!  Yesterday morning you ate a full serving of of applesauce and were washing it down with your bottle when all of a sudden you had a major cough attack.  I guess the coughing set off your gag reflex and there it was…all of your applesauce and formula back up – on your jammies, on the floor, and on my foot!  🙂  Hopefully it’ll be another 8 months before the next episode.

You are starting to fill out your car seat so we started looking at big girl car seats.  We went to Babies R Us yesterday and they were having a sidewalk sale.  We found a seat that was regularly priced at $170 on sale for $50 – simply because they came out with a new fabric this year.  After we used our 20% off coupon the total came to just $40!  What a deal, what a deal!  We also talked them down from $65 to $40 for a really nice umbrella stroller.  Can you say bargain shoppers!?

Poor baby girl, you’re sick again.  Over the last 5 months you’ve had the croup, a throat virus, and now it looks like just a case of the crud.  When mommy picked you up from daycare they said you had a fever of 101.5.  That means they won’t let you go back tomorrow.  You’re such a little trooper.  You’re definitely a little fussy, but even being sick you’re still such a sweet little angel. 

I hate that you’re sick, but I actually got some great QT with you tonight.  You’re always on the go.  You and I rarely get quality cuddle time.  You always play with mommy and I.  We all have lots quality time, but you’re just so curious and active that you’ll rarely just hang out in our laps.  You were such a sweet little cuddle bug tonight and actually feel asleep on my chest and laid there for almost an hour.  You hadn’t done that since you were about a month old.  I’m sorry you’re sick, but I cherished our time together tonight.

Love you and hope you feel better really soon,
Daddy

You made your way into this world exactly 8 months ago today.
Happy Birthday Angel!

It’s been too long! We’re already into 2010 and one of my commitments is to blog more often…even if it’s just a sentence or two! Let’s see, a lot has happened since the last blog entry.

Thanksgiving – Jeremy, Stacey, Grant, and Molly drove down from Iowa. The dads went to the Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving day. The girls and Grant decided to do a little tailgating with them so you can officially say you’ve been tailgating!

Christmas – You took your first flight (outside the womb) to Iowa. You had a 10 minute crying fit (you were just absolutely exhausted) on the way home, but even with that, you did great on the plane! You got lots of good gifts from your grandparents and got to see your first snow. Ironically enough, it actually snowed more at home in Dallas than it did in Iowa! It’s was Texas’ first snowy Christmas in 30 something years…and we missed it!

New Years – very sadly, your great-grandfather (Daddy Dann) passed away on New Year’s Day. He lived a long, healthy, happy 90 years, of which he spent 66 years married to the love of his life, Mama Lou. Luckily, you were able to see him quite a few times since you were born in May. We have a couple of great moments of the two of you captured on video and picture. Cherish them always.

Milestones – you’ve accomplished quite a bit since the last time I wrote. Though you are not crawling quite yet, you are definitely mobile. You are able to get up on your knees and rock back and forth so it won’t be long til you are actually moving on all fours. In the meantime, you’ve mastered the art of the belly crawl…you can spin a full 360 using just your arms and you can move your legs enough to make strides across the room. It’s only a matter of time til all of our lives change forever.

Your hair is ridiculously long. Your bows and barrettes have begun to serve the purpose of function, not just fashion. You are growing like a weed and are already into 12 month pajamas! Most of your onesies and shirts are 9 – 12 months. It’s absolutely amazing how much and how fast you’ve matured!

Your motor skills are developing nicely. You can grip things and use your hands/fingers with more precise purpose now. You are sooooo curious (or as the girls at daycare say, nosey). You constantly have to know what’s going on around you and are constantly taking in your surroundings. I sometimes think your neck can turn a full 360 degrees!

You have four teeth now! The two bottom ones came in first, almost at the same time, and then your top left broke through. The top right was soon to follow and just recently broke the skin. You’ve become much more vocal in recent days. You make this really cute hissing noise, mostly when you are smiling or happy. You’ve also learned to let out a little yelp when you want attention and you are known for just chatting away when you are bored.

About a month ago you ventured into the land of baby food! Squash was your first taste of something besides formula…and you actually liked it. Since then, you’ve had all kinds of fruits and veggies. You don’t seem a big fan of bananas and peas make you gag. Other than that, you’re much less picky than either me or your father!

We actually moved on to the next step just this week. The ladies at daycare said you were stealing Cheerios off the other kid’s high chairs so I figured we better get you some of your own. We’ve since tried Cherrios and puffs – some sweet and some cheesy. You’ve got the hang of hand to mouth, but the minute those puffs get moist they just stick to your hand so you spend more time passing it from hand to hand than you do eating it. You had juice for the first time today…we started with apple and you sucked it down. Guess that was a hit!

It’s absolutely amazing how much you’ve changed and how fast time has flown by. You are one very lucky little girl…and we are two very blessed parents. Our love for you is simply boundless.