Reese One Year

Wow!  I can't believe its been one year already since you've came into our world sweet girl!  I am going to be so cliché and say it has without a doubt been our most favorite year yet, and man has it flown by!  You just bring so much joy to our lives, I swear I can't even remember what we did before you were here.  You are just my most favorite little girl in the world and I can't explain how special you are to us. 

Its true that once they hit one year they really begin the transition from baby to toddler.  You just seem like a toddler now, its crazy!  It makes mommy so sad, but also very proud.  You are becoming your own little independent person now, and your personality is really coming out and cracking us up every day. 

You are so good at balancing while standing now, squatting down to pick things up, etc.  You had taken a few steps a few times starting a few weeks ago, but I'm pretty sure you didn't realize you were doing it.  But once you hit one year, within a day or two you figured it out and have started taking steps and I can tell you are so proud of yourself each time!  The most you've gone is maybe 6 or 7 steps so far (today is August 12th), so we'll see if you start getting more interest in walking soon.

You are still not saying any words yet, except for occasionally "hi" but I'm not sure if its just a coincidence that it happens at the same time you are waving hi :).  Other than that you still chat and babble up a storm, we just have no idea what you are saying.  Doctor says this is common baby will focus on one side developmentally (walking vs. talking) so maybe in the next few months we'll hear some real words out of you!

This also comes with a few temper tantrums, but really they are pretty few in between lately.  You do however not like certain things the majority of the time like getting in your car seat, diaper changes, or being picked up or taken away from something you shouldn't be doing or if we just need to get going somewhere.

You have gotten so snugly lately, it is my most favorite thing in the world and I am savoring each one.  You love to give us hugs and will wrap both arms around our necks and just hold on for a minute.  I can't describe how very sweet it is to mommy!  You also love handing us anything you have to show us, love laughing at yourself or others, and pretty much love playing with daddy more than anything in the world.

I am in the process of weaning you now and I have to say I have different feelings about it than I ever thought I would.  It is very hard and feels like I am sort of taking something away from you.  Next time I will probably let baby lead more with the timing, but Corey and I are taking a vacation without Reese at the end of the month so its sort of necessary.  Thankfully though you are handling it very well and don't really seem to notice, so I know this is a sign that you are ready. 


You are still sleeping fabulous at night, around 7/7:30 to around 7 am and two great naps that typically last 1.5 - 2 hours long at 10am & 2pm.  You are still quite the peanut, weighing 18lbs 4oz (9%) and 48% for length.  You are getting a little better at not being super picky with food lately, so I'm hoping once we are done nursing your food intake will start to increase even more.

dare devil

you got a water table for your birthday!

we went out on the boat a few times this month

piggies!

your best bud in the whole world

pure joy on that face!  you love when daddy pulls you on your train

snuggles

birthday girl!

 

Eleven Months

Miss Reese!  I am having a hard time believing you are a month away from your first birthday!  We are going to have a one year old on our hands, just craziness.  This first year has flown by, but its been the most incredible one of our lives so far! 

You are just becoming a little toddler in front of our eyes.  You are becoming so interactive.  You always want to know what we are doing and make sure we are watching everything you are doing.  Things you are up to this month:

You have discovered the stairs and will climb them all the way to the top!  Time for the baby gates to go up!

You still love playing peek a boo and will giggle so cute when we pop up from behind a table and say boo.  You also love playing back, you'll crawl out of the room we are in or around a corner, then turn around and peek in at us and crack up.  You love when I put a basket over your head or a blanket and take it off and say peek a boo.

You love to hand anything to us that you have and we say thank you and hand it back to you.

You still love crawling to the windows or back door, especially if daddy takes buster outside.  You'll crawl up to the door, stand up and bang away.

You are still cruising like crazy and are soo fast and really brave, and you love walking/running behind your walker toy.  You are getting really good at balancing yourself if you let go for a minute.  You took a few steps the other day toward me before tumbling down, but I'm pretty sure it was a fluke.  I don't think you really have any interest in walking yet...crawling is so much faster and easier! 

We finally put cabinet locks on all the cabinets because you are now obsessed with opening and closing them and reaching for the contents.

You are really funny with your little personality.  You love to get our attention and make us laugh, but you've also figured out how to throw little temper tantrums.  You also will cry and crawl toward us if we tell you no if you are getting into something like the dog bowls.

You are going through a not wanting to eat much variety phase, these come and go.  You want to only feed yourself, and do not want me to feed you anything (purees, yogurt, etc... no thanks mom).  You are basically obsessed with blueberries and strawberries now and are not so interested in vegetables.  Maybe those taste buds are really developing now!  You love those baby food squeeze packs that you can suck the food out of, so I bought some reusable ones that I can put food I make in (since they are really expensive) - we'll see how those go. 

I am really starting to dread you turning one :(  I'm not looking forward to transitioning you from nursing to milk out of a sippy.  I know I could do extended nursing, but that is not my plan, and I'm sure I would still not look forward to it later either.  I just know that you love it so much (and so do I) and I'm already starting to feel bad about taking it away from you.  Its hard to describe, but I'm sure it will go just fine.  It just feels like a really big transition and you just seem so small still!

You are still sleeping great (with the exception of a couple wake ups with teething, but you are really doing great!).  You are still taking your two naps a day at 10 and 2.  Most days you'll take them both no problem, but every once in a while you won't take your second nap for some reason.  We are still in the phase where life seems really easy with you miss Reese! 

You are such a joy in our home.  The love we have for you is so incredible.  My mom and I were talking the other day about when you were born.  We loved you very much, but my goodness you were so new and everything was so new.  Our love grows exponentially every day for you and I can't remember what it was like without you in our lives.  You are our little love bug and its so much fun to watch you learn and grow every day.  We are so blessed to be your mommy and daddy!

swinging with friends!

love emptying everything

tippy toes

rotten

love bug

always looking for bubba

climbing the stairs now

 

 

Ten Months

Whew!  This month you have really taken off.  I can tell you are so much happier being able to explore the world now and being more independent.  Pretty soon after turning nine months you figured out crawling, and once you took off, you took off.  You are so quick and curious!  Then right after you mastered that skill, you started cruising around the furniture.  You are so comfortable at it now, you'll reach to go between the couch and the coffee table, etc.  You have a "walker" toy that you love!  You are pretty crazy with it and its a little unstable so you can't really use it by yourself yet without falling over, but I'm sure it will be so soon.

You are way more interested in things other than toys it seems lately, little stinker.  You love things you aren't allowed to play with like closing doors in the house, pulling on cords in the wall, dog bowls & bones, shoes, door stoppers, the toilet paper roll.  You are so quick its unbelievable.  I'll run in the kitchen to grab something real quick and come back and you have crawled from the living room to the bathroom, climbed up to standing using the toilet and are pulling all the tp off the roll.  You have also figured out how to throw a little "temper tantrum" when we pull you away from something dangerous or we don't want you to get into.  Its really pretty cute and ridiculous all at the same time.

We went to the beach for vacation this month and it was so fun!  You are such a little water baby.  I had no doubt you would love it since you have so much fun splashing away in the bath and you really did.  You loved the pool and the beach!  It was so fun to make such special memories with some of your first experiences!  You were fussier than normal which was a little frustrating, but we were sure it was just due to being out of your comfort zone.  You were off your normal schedule, tired from our busy days at the beach and pool, and I think just a little overwhelmed by being around a big group of people all the time rather than just mommy during the day.

Reese, our sweet little bugger. Your little personality is starting to shine and it is so much fun!  You are in constant smiles, love playing peek-a-boo, and clapping and waving your arms to show your excitement.  You are also miss little chatter-box lately with your ma-ma-ma's, da-da-da's, and ba-ba-ba's All. The. Time.  There are no words to describe watching you grow and learn.  I am having a really hard time believing that you are almost a year old.  I see how much you are already seeming like a toddler at times and it makes me sad!  We are so thankful you are a healthy and happy little girl.  Your sweetness has brought so much joy to our lives and we couldn't imagine one day without you love bug!

photo shoots are getting pretty tricky!  these are basically the only ones i got of her sitting still!

 

 

I just think its adorable when she sits like this, I love those little piggies!

clap clap clap!

see ya later mom!

bath time is a lot more interesting these days!

such an angel on our 12 hour car ride to myrtle beach for vacation!

 

loving buster

practicing walking with my new toy