Watch Me Grow - Twelve Months

Well folks. That's it. It's over. My baby is no longer a baby.

This is literally the best picture I could get of her. It took a paci and me holding her lovey
above her in order to get her to look at the camera for .00358493 seconds.
Its grainy and blurry but at least I got one of her looking!

Just kidding, she still totally is. Until she's running around by herself and talking in sentences I'm going to pretend that she is still a baby.

Speaking of running around, this girl is on the move. Well, she's not technically walking yet, but she is taking a few steps here and there. The most I have counted is four steps in a row, which was a couple days after her birthday. She took her very first steps about a week and a half before she turned one. What an exciting moment!! She is still very hesitant, and she basically walks with the top half of her body only (meaning she leans over and falls nearly every time), but she is so exciting about walking and I can see her confidence growing day by day. But just because she isn't fully walking yet doesn't mean that she isn't moving around like a maniac. She cruises along furniture, walls, people, appliances, and pushes chairs, tables, walking toys - pretty much anything she can to get around.

Right now Lauren only has about 2 "words" - maybe three if I stretch it. "Da-da" is the obvious Daddy, and she also makes a "buh buh" noise when bubbles are around. Lately she also goes "Ooo Oooo" when she sees birds so, uh, yeah. I'm going to count that as three "words". Nice to see that she's following her sisters lead and not including MAMA in those first few words. Thanks girls ;)

She had a great month celebrating all sorts of birthdays in May and having lots of visitors - Nana and Pop-pop came to visit for Kaitlin's birthday and then Pahmoo and Grandpa were here for Lauren's birthday and baptism.

Food continues to be a big part of her day and it seems like dairy is no longer bothering her. She has no problem eating cheese ravioli and fruit/yogurt pouches. She also eats lots of food with dairy in them and has no problems. I've recently tried to introduce milk to her but she doesn't usually take more than one or two drinks. She makes the funniest face when she gets a big swig of milk and realizes it isn't water - and then she shakes her head "no". I can't tell if it's because the milk is usually cold from the fridge or if it's because she doesn't like the taste.

The biggest excitement over the past month is that Lauren ended up having to get tubes in her ears about a week before her birthday. She had another ear infection at her follow up ENT appointment and considering all that we have going on in the next month we decided it would be for the best. Apart from being super hangry the morning of her appointment (she couldn't eat after midnight and for a chunk-a-monk like her that was hard!!) she was a total rockstar. I'm hoping these are for the best and she won't have any more ear infections from now on!

Happy 1st Birthday, sweet baby Lauren <3

Watch Me Grow - Eleven Months

(I'm not exactly what's going on with her facial expression here - but it is the ONLY photo that I was able to take with her laying on her back and not rolling/crawling all over the place)

Eleven months. One more and she will be a whole year old. That little face. My gosh her smiles just lights up a room. What have we been up to this past month? I'm happy to report that there are no new teeth but it looks like her molars might be ready to make their debut. Her gums are swollen and she is gnawing on just about anything she can get her chubby little hands on. And we all know how fun molars can be (que sarcasm). In fact I think they have even woken her up in the middle of the tight with pain or at least being uncomfortable. Going back to 1am, 4am and 6am wakes up calls is definitely not fun. Molars molars go away!

Unfortunately Lauren has another ear infection this month. We managed to go about two months without one, but now that she's had another we will have to see if the ENT recommends tubes or not. Teething doesn't help as we know it can cause congestion and excess fluid, so hopefully she doesnt get an ear infection every time she's working on a new tooth. She's got way too many teeth left to have that be the case! We have a follow up with the ENT this month so the tubes discussion is TBD at the moment.

Little Lauren has started bear crawling like a champ, speeding around the sidewalks outside (much more comfortable than crawling with your knees on pavement). She has also started really walking with assistance - her number one choice is Kaitlin's chairs to her little eating/drawing table. The chairs are the perfect height and weight so that she can glide effortlessly across the room, right over to the shoes or stairs or pantry - where ever she can get into trouble ;)

Lauren has started talking and babbling SO much more than she used to. She loves to blow air out of her month (think the precursor to whistling) and blowing raspberries. She loves to attack you with "kisses" (mostly just open mouth drool bites) and has a small freak out every time she sees her sister or her daddy. It's basically the cutest thing you've ever seen <3 

Watch Me Grow - Ten Months

TEN MONTHS!!

How can it be that my baby, my baby of all my babies, is going to be ONE in less than two months. Cue all the tears and all the wine. Please and thank you. I can't handle it.

Crawling has taken on a new life of its own. It didn't take this girl long to pick up speed and start moving around the house like it was her job. Constantly chasing big sister, she's crawling at full speed. Oh, and starting to crawl up the stairs. And also pulling up to standing. MAKE IT STOP! I thought for sure that I would be blessed with a late walker considering Kaitlin took her first steps at 10.5 months. I dont think Lauren will make it there quite that early but man she is learning fast. She is already pulling herself up to standing using furniture, toys, even just the wall or door. And climbing stairs - yup, she learned that one real fast!

Also, I know I say this every month, but she is literally the happiest baby ever. That smile, man oh man. It just melts us. She's still working on getting those top teeth to come it - that puts the tally at SIX teeth so far. Slowly but surely they are making their way in. 

As to be expected all of the crawling and standing and motor developments have disrupted her naps. I'm so glad that I can be a *little* bit more relaxed about all of this the second time around. I guess being the second child is good in that aspect :) She is still waking up once a night to eat, but the time is getting later and later so I am hoping that she drops that soon. I thought about sleep training her but honestly, at this point, it's easier for me to just go in and feed her and then everyone can go back to sleep. I love sleep. Did you know that? I need all the sleep I can get. 

Speaking of eating, solids are still going well and she is quite the good eater! We got the OK from the pedi at 9 mos to go ahead and try solids but we haven't done it yet. I'm nervous she is going to have a bad reaction and also I dont want to hurt her tummy if I dont have to. I will get there, but for now I'm just leaving it alone. I have given her a couple of things made with dairy (waffles and pancakes) and so far so good...hopefully that is a good sign! She continues to LOVE all fruits and all vegetables, even oatmeal (real, not baby) and some kinds of beans. Roasted chicken is her jam....let's hope she stays this way in the long run :)