Update on Miss M's progress

We went to the doctor for Miss M's 9 month check up. The appointment went fairly well. She was 17 pounds and 5 ounces which is still on the low side of what the doctor would like to see as it's in the 25%-50% percentile. She is 28 inches tall which keeps her in the 75%-90% percentile.

The doctor proceeds to ask questions regarding Miss M's motor skill progress Is Miss M crawling. Nope. Is she getting to a seated position on her own. Nope.

Apparently based on these two questions she is failing. So she writes a prescription for a physical therapist to come to the house to see if she is progressing appropriately. I decide Miss M is fine and talk to various people and decide not to call the physical therapist for a few weeks.

Well, in the days and weeks since we went to the doctor's office Miss M is working hard on her army crawl. Yesterday she sat up by herself twice. I have also found a certain little girl standing in her crib when I go to get her after her nap! I am so proud of her. I shouldn't be happy that she's standing in her crib because it's not yet low enough but I don't care. Silly doctor. My girl is just fine.




Per the doctor, crawling is considered her gross motor skills. Piking up food with her fingers are her fine motor skills. She's ahead of the curve on the fine motor skills because she loves to eat (the dr. did not say she was ahead of the curve - I am giving her extra credit to make up for failing gross motor skills). She can get her O's out of her snack trap and into her mouth like a champ!

Disregard that her O's are on the floor. And she does like to eat O's 4, 5 or 6 at a time. She doesn't think one at a time is sufficient.



So all in all Miss M is right on track!!!


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Christmas 2011 Tour

Miss M celebrated her first Christmas. It was a fun and special time even though she didn't really know what was going on most of the time. I think her favorite part of each celebration was the food...she is her father's daughter!

She enjoyed throwing tissue paper more than opening presents.









One of her new bibs...perfect for every family get together...



Miss M received so many presents it was unbelievable. She is enjoying having new stuff to play with at home now. I enjoy it too since she doesn't want to spend all her awake time on or near me but now she plays a little more.

Aunt Lynne made Miss M and I matching aprons for when we start cooking together!



I don't remember what was so funny but something was certainly funny.







Family Christmas photo for 2011





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Christmas round 1

We celebrated Christmas with Auntie Nessa Sunday. Miss M opened her presents and went to bed then the adults had dinner and opened presents!

Miss M likes to eat paper but isn't too sure about the ripping to open process. It was fun though.

Aunt Nessa did an amazing job buying presents for everyone (like usual). There was one gift that was my absolute favorite. Aunt Nessa made an 'I See Me' book which is personalized. It is the sweetest book and the personalization makes it that much sweeter. I cried reading it. Miss M isn't allowed to touch it until she stops destroying books and eating paper.

I made my first brisket for dinner. I have some work to do before I can serve it to non-family members. It was good but could have been better. The mashed potatoes were excellent though!

Christmas round 1 was a lot of fun. I am anxious to celebrate Christmas 2, 3, 4, and 5. Christmas #5 isn't until January so we will have some time to recover a little!

She likes new clothes...what girl doesn't!





The bigger present didn't scare her off...she tackled it with determination!







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Miss M is 9 months old

Miss M is 9 months old which is getting pretty stinking close to one year. I have made no attempt to plan a one year party yet. It's possible I will think about that after the holidays. It just seems like there is a lot of other things to think about and do in the next three months!

Miss M is a happy girl and prefers her momma over anyone. It's sweet but at times exhausting. I try to remind myself there will be a time when I am not her favorite anymore and to enjoy the love now!

Miss M is not crawling. She barely army crawls. She doesn't rock back and forth as though she's going to make an attempt. She doesn't really get her belly off the ground. Apparently she's not interested in going anywhere for now. Oh well. Everything happens with time, right!?! In our small group, which has been meeting weekly since May, Miss M is the last to crawl. She isn't the youngest either. Grandma D says someone has to be last. People say life isn't the same once they start moving. Therefore, I am just going to enjoy life without worrying whether the bookshelf that isn't anchored into the wall is going to fall on her when she starts moving.

I tried to take an official 9 month picture today but the few I did take did not turn out well. Then she ruined the outfit she was wearing so I gave up. Here are pictures from last week sometime.












She likes the Christmas tree. She laughs at it and likes to touch the ornaments. She has very little interest in the presents even though she eats a fair amount of paper each day.

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Spending - time and money

We have been busy ladies spending money shopping for Christmas presents and spending time with Grandma D and Aunt Callie, Uncle Nick and the girls.






Miss M sticks her tongue out a lot these days so it's fun to get pictures of her doing the silly things she actually does.

Every time I think we are almost done Christmas shopping it seems like we have a lot left to get still. Therefore we bundle up, load up and head to the stores! Miss M is a relatively good shopper. She just likes getting out of the house so for now it's not really a chore to take her shopping.

Here's a picture from when we were out shopping recently. Quite the outfit. The yellow thing in her hand is a noise clapper I picked up from the store for $.99 which is cheaper than a toy.

She's sitting in a child's Hawkeye bag chair. It came home with us. The headband is a new winter accessory she received as a gift. And we bought new boots to keep her feet warm as the socks aren't cutting it for winter warmth. One might wonder why we aren't worried about keeping her legs warm as her pants look too short but they aren't too short. It's just a bad picture.






While we were at grandma's house Miss M developed a cold. She's still struggling to get over the snotty nose but we are managing. The unfortunate part is we can't do anything social like music class, play dates or babysitting at the gym as they all prefer/have policies that you keep sick kids at home. Thus we go to Target!

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Keeping busy

Before Miss M was even a thought I kept myself busy with working out. Andrew always worked/studied later (even on a good night) so working out filled my time so I wasn't sitting on the couch watching mindless television and hanging out by myself.

Miss M came along, and while I am not technically alone I am sitting around a lot and watching plenty of mindless television. I have been into a little bit of everything trying to find something I will enjoy for more than an evening or two.

I got the bike out but that gets boring and painful quickly.







I thought I would make Miss M headbands since I need one for her Christmas dress and reds are hard to match when buying online. They kept me busy but there are only so many headbands I can make.







The headbands required the use of my free sewing machine. When I brought it home there was some doubt I would ever use it.

I feel comfortable making straight lines. And that's about it. So I thought I would make curtains for Florida. And that's what I did tonight. I opened a bottle of wine and made some curtains (well one curtain). They aren't perfect and sadly I am not sure they are long enough but for my first time I think they look pretty darned good.








I needed to display them to see how they looked and the stocking holders worked perfectly. You can see part of my Christmas decorations. I don't have much but our place isn't very big. I did, however, decorate a tree and Miss M likes it. She smiles at it when she sees it. And thankfully she can't crawl so it poses no threat. Yet.









Please note the presents under the tree. They are wrapped. I know people already have all their shopping and wrapping done by October. But I am not one of those people so this is huge for me. Huge!

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