ten months old

My girl,

Your mama is having a hard time staying on top of things (like blogging), but you just keep right on growing and changing.

This month you started crawling on your hands and knees.

And I have to keep a close eye on you!  You are quite the little explorer.  And you have a strong attraction to things like shoes, cords, and plastic bags.  If I turn my back on you for long, I'll find you halfway across the room with a shoe in your mouth. Lovely.

 I've already noticed how different it is for you as a second child.  You get to play with things that I'm sure your brother never did.  

Small balls, colored pencils, plastic bags filled with small objects.  Sometimes I'm diligent enough to keep them out of your reach or take them away if I see you with them.  Other times, I just let it slide.

It's fun to watch you explore though.  To you, the world is full of wonder.  

You got a couple more teeth this month.  The top two front teeth.  We had some rough nights when they were popping through.  And that was followed by a cold that stuck around for a while.  So every night you'd wake up (at least once) and scream your sweet little head off.  We'd be up with you for an hour or two.  It's in those moments that I need to remind myself (over and over) that I will not be able to cradle you in my arms a whole lot longer.  Still, at 2 o'clock in the morning, it's a tough reminder.  Fortunately, once you got past all of that you went right back to sleeping through the night. 

 You can stand with support, but aren't pulling yourself up yet.  You don't seem in too much of a hurry, and that's okay with me.

 You have gotten LOUD.  You really can make a lot of noise.  You're not noisy all the time, fortunately.  But you can be when you want to.

You've started getting into books more this month. You like the touch and feel ones the best.

I don't think there's too much else to report so I'll just throw in a few more photos.  Here's some of you chillin' with your dada...

laughing at your brother...

and hanging with your tia, who returned from Bolivia this month!
 

I'm excited that the two of you will have some time to get to know each other before she takes off on another adventure.

In the meantime, I am sure that you will be filling your days with your own little adventures.

I love you so much, little lady.  You fill my heart with joy.

Love,

Mama

nine months old

Dear Lilah,

I can't believe you are nine months old already!  Just three short months until your first birthday.  Lately you've been into giving me these big grins that make my heart just spill over with joy.  You are so much fun.

This month you've made some pretty big leaps.  You finally got the hang of the eating thing and have been doing a much better job at eating solids.  You are still pretty picky though.  The only way I was able to get you to eat anything at all was to feed you those little pouches of organic baby food that are currently all the rage in the baby food world.  They enable you to suck your food right out of the pouch, which was a more familiar way of eating to you than using a spoon.  

 You do finally eat off of a spoon as well now, but for the most part we've stuck to the pouches...they're easy, and they work.  Of course, they aren't cheap.  I made most of your brother's baby food and hoped to do the same for you.  You aren't really cooperating with that plan.  So far, you have turned your nose up at any of the food that I have made for you.  But I plan to keep trying.  You do seem to take some time to warm up to things.

You also have started moving around more this month.  You still haven't quiet taken off crawling, but you do drag yourself around the floor some.  And you can get yourself into a seated position on your own.  I have a feeling that things are going to change around here soon!

Your other latest modes of transportation include riding on my back in the Beco (baby carrier)...

and riding in the Joovy (stroller) like a big girl (i.e. sitting up instead of in your car seat). 

 Your top two front teeth are just starting to come in.  You are getting so big!  You even show me when I ask you...

"How big is Lilah?  Soooo big."

I've never shared any of your nicknames on here.  By far the most prevalent one started very early on and has stuck.  When you were still very young, I started calling you Lilah Bean.  Then I shortened it to Bean and that has been your primary nickname ever since.  We commonly refer to you as "the bean."  Another favorite nickname is Liley, which was coined by Caleb.

This month, your mama realized that summer was almost over and subsequently tried to cram in as many summer activities as possible.  You played in the pool in our backyard (even though it was a little chilly)...

rode the train at Belleview Park...

went to the beach...

went camping for the first time...

and even got to go on your first boat ride!

That was actually your second time out on the boat and you were really tired, but you had a BLAST on the boat.  I wasn't too surprised because for some reason you love the feeling of wind in your face.  So when the boat went fast you just smiled and giggled away.

Speaking of wind in your face, your brother learned early on how much you enjoy it, and is often trying to blow in your face because it makes you smile and giggle.  At least it usually does.  Sometimes he goes a little overboard, which is a good general description of the way he interacts with you.  But you're a pretty tough cookie.

 I'm excited to watch your relationship with your brother grow as you grow.  So far, you seem to like each other quite a bit.  I hope that time will only make you closer.

I can certainly say that my love for you continues to grow as you grow.  You are my sweet sunshine, and I'm so very thankful for you.

Love always,

Mama

eight months old

My girl,

You are amazing.  Before you were born, my hope was that I would really treasure you as a baby.  I've been doing a pretty good job of that, but I really haven't been doing such a good job of recording those moments that I treasure so much.  Mainly, I just wish I had more videos that capture how incredibly precious you are.  I do have a lot of photos at least.

This month you really mastered that sitting up thing.

 You still topple over on occasion...especially when your brother is around to mess with your balance a little.

That brother of yours loves you like crazy...

But he can be a little rougher with you than he should...

Fortunately, you are pretty forgiving.  You are also quite the happy little girl...

 People have been asking me for a while if you're "always that happy".  In the past, I hesitated when answering that because you definitely had your unhappy moments.  But these days you really are happy a lot of the time (no, not always).  I think that is in part because we've gotten to know you better.  We know what you like.  We know what you don't like.  For example, we know that while you enjoy interacting with others, you tend to prefer to do so while in the safety of your mama's arms.

This month you had your first bath with your brother.  He loves taking baths with you.  I think it's because he likes to squirt you with water toys.

 Right near the end of this month, you "found" your thumb.  In layman's terms, that means you've been sucking it.  Not a ton, but definitely some.

Also right at the end of this month, you started getting up on your hands and knees.  You look like you're ready to take off, but haven't quite figured it out yet.  It'll be fun when you do, but for now I'll enjoy your relative lack of mobility.  I'll hold onto you for as long as you'll let me, baby girl!

Love always,

Mama

caleb turns four

Dear Caleb,

Oh my sweet boy, I can't believe that you are FOUR years old!!   

 

 This has been a big year for you.  You started preschool and became a big brother.  You moved into your new room down the hall and into a big boy bed.  You dropped your nap.  You spent a whole week away from Mama and Dada.  You grew 3 1/2 inches.  You wrote your name for the first time.

  

I am so blessed to be able to watch you grow and to share so many special moments with you.  It's amazing to see how you much joy and wonder you can find in ordinary things.  You have an adorable little giggle...especially when you're laughing really hard.  You sometimes get really excited and say things like, "Oh my goodness, this is going to be GREAT!"

You are still really into sports.  I am most impressed by your baseball skills.  You can whack the ball pretty far, and you have a good arm too.  It will be fun to see which sports end up sticking with you since right now you like playing any sport you come across.  You also still love to dance.  You like to pretend that you are performing for an audience...and you're pretty particular about what your audience should be doing during your performances.

You are such a sweet, well-behaved little man when you are at preschool, Sunday school, etc.  At home, you like to test your boundaries.  A lot.  You can also be somewhat of a wise guy.  Sometimes you say things that I probably shouldn't laugh at, but it's hard not to.

It's definitely been different since your sister came along.  I sometimes feel like I'm missing out on time with you.  You always used to be a mama's boy, but since Lilah was born, that has changed.  It makes sense I guess.  You do really love attention, and I haven't been able to give you as much.  But I think your dada is enjoying having a little more of you to himself.

Bedtime tends to be dragged out these days.  You always want to snuggle, and sometimes your dada will fall asleep as he snuggles with you.  Oftentimes when I get to that point in the day, I'm worn out and/or thinking about the things that I still need to get done.  I have to remind myself that you will outgrow your desire to snuggle...probably sooner than I'd like.

I'm writing this a couple of weeks after your birthday, and the Olympics are on.  The last time we were watching the summer Olympics, you were just a couple of weeks old.  So crazy to think how much you have grown and changed since then.  

It's been such an adventure being your mama and watching you grow up.  You are so precious to me, my angel.  I love you more than words could ever say.

Love,

Mama

family time in NC

In early July, we got to go visit my parents in North Carolina.  My sister and her family drove up from Georgia so that we could all spend some time together.  We had a wonderful visit.  Here's a photo book that I put together with photos from our trip...

 

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

seven months old

Dear Lilah,

Another month gone by.  This month was one of lots of changes.  You've been sleeping through the night more regularly, you cut your first two teeth, you tried your first foods, and you started saying syllables.  Mostly da's, which makes your daddy happy, of course.

You may have noticed that I said you "tried" your first foods.  That is about all you've done.  Egg yolk, banana, avocado...you weren't having any of them.  You like to put everything in your mouth...except food.  So we'll have to keep working on that one.

In last month's post, I mentioned that you weren't too into rolling over.  Well right after you hit six months, that started to change.  Now you're rolling over all the time to get to things you want.  When I put you down for naps, you roll right onto your side and I often find you on your tummy when you wake up.  You are better at rolling from your back to your tummy and sometimes you get stuck there...

 And it's hard work holding that head up...

 

"C'mon, Dada, put the camera down and help me!"

But teeth, syllables, and food weren't your only firsts this month.  We got to go visit your MorMor and MorFar in NC and you went in the pool and the ocean for the first time!  Here's a little photo shoot of you before we headed to the pool for the first time (compliments of your daddy):

 

You were a little unsure of the pool at first.  

 You went in the water for a bit with your mama, but looked a little wary the whole time.  Then your dada tried to take you in and you were not having it.  The next time we went to the pool though, you enjoyed it much more!  Same thing with the ocean.  Not so sure the first day, loving it the second!  Just took a little warming up, I guess.  Sadly, we did not get any pictures of you at the beach because we didn't have the camera.  

This month has been a time of transition in another respect.  In the past couple of months, you've gone from being fairly attached to your mama to being extremely attached to your mama to doing fairly well with other people.  Your MorMor, MorFar, and Aunt Carrie were really looking forward to holding you and weren't about to let you get away without some time in their arms.  So I think that might have helped you a bit with that transition.

You are growing and changing so quickly, baby girl!  It is fun (and sometimes a little hard) to watch!  At least you're still little enough to take a bath in the sink...

I love you, my beautiful girl!

Love,
Mama