I should have served yogurt

Miss M was left alone with a yogurt cup and spoon within range of grabbing.

Disaster.

Straight to the tub (or sink).

She fed herself with the spoon for a bit fairly well.

Then she went straight to sticking her hand in the cup and feeding herself.

She ate more yogurt than she did birthday cake when she fed herself.

I should have served yogurt.

Jack is here

Miss M has a new cousin. His name is Jack. He doesn't have any nicknames yet but knowing his father it will not be long before Jack is called a million things except Jack.

Jack took his sweet time getting here but he finally arrived and is as sweet as can be. He is such a tiny little guy. He weighed 8 pounds and one ounce.

It's amazing how quickly I have forgotten how tiny and fragile a new baby is when you bring them home. I don't even really remember Miss M being that fragile but she did weigh almost a pound more than Mr. Jack. She weighed 12 ounces more at birth.

Miss M looked a lot like Uncle Craig when she was born but Jack doesn't look much at all like Craig! He looks just like his momma and her family. He has so much hair!

Here are some pictures of him so you can see his sweet face.

One year birthday stats

Miss M went to the doctor for her one year appointment Tuesday afternoon.

She weighs 20 pounds and 6 ounces - 50-75%
She is 30 3/4 inches long - 90%
Her head is in the 98%

The doctor was finally pleased with Miss M's weight gain since we have struggled with it the last six months (in her opinion). Miss M loves fruit so I am surprised she is gaining as much weight as she is when it feels like all she consumes is fruit. The doctor asked if she was making gestures such as clapping and waving. No. No she isn't. The doctor wasn't impressed and informed me that I need to practice with her because the only way she will learn is through watching and mimicking. I clap for her all day long and have been wanting her to clap for months now. Miss M is not interested in clapping. I don't see why this is really of much concern to the doctor.

Miss M started taking one or two steps by herself few weeks ago and now she is taking about 10 steps by herself. I think the stroller and grocery cart are helping her to feel more comfortable with her walking abilities. She takes the stroller or grocery cart up and down the hallway.

She loves to find her belly. She can tell you that a cow says Moo (sometimes). She can find and get things that you ask of her i.e. a ball. She likes to play ball although playing ball is really just rolling/bouncing/throwing the ball to her. She doesn't much engage in throwing/rolling/bouncing the ball back to you. She likes the iPad game called Peekaboo Barn where the animals come out of the barn and make animal sounds at her. She squeals in absolute delight.

We got to turn her car seat around as well. It's so fun to turn around and see what she's doing or be able to give her something without a stretch. I think she was initially confused. It's so much easier to get her in and out of the car now. I love it! I love it so much I keep turning around to see her. I have to be careful though because I almost rear ended a car - yikes!

Miss M officially turns ONE

Miss M officially turned one on Monday. We didn't have much planned for the day which seemed kind of sad since it's her birthday and we should celebrate all day long!

We started our day off by just playing around the house until after her first nap. We then packed up and headed to McDonald's. Who doesn't want to go to McDonald's for their birthday. We went primarily for ice cream but ended up with lunch and dessert! She enjoyed her yogurt parfait and her Oreo McFlurry.


We ran errands. We made some returns, went to the grocery store and then to Costco!!!

I took her to the gym for some extra play time and then stopped off at the cupcake store.

Again, she tentatively put her fingers in it and then put her entire hand in it and just squeezed the cake and frosting through her fingers. She didn't eat much of the cake or frosting. I don't understand. I love cupcakes!




She was so happy all day. It was such a fun birthday to spend with her!

The birthday party part III

Here are a few family pictures from the birthday party.





Her laugh is so sweet.

The birthday party part II

Miss M received all sorts of fun presents. She got a baby doll from Gramma Lu. She puts it in the stroller (which she got from Grandma D) and pushes her around and feeds her with the baby's bottle. It's sweet and sometimes when she feeds the baby she smacks her lips and makes a noise like she is eating herself. She also likes to give her baby hugs and kisses.




She also got a few more books to rotate through. She likes to read books where there are flaps and things to feel or books with dogs.


Miss M also got magnets of pictures of her. They were so cute and she loved them. She immediately recognized the baby in the magnets and enjoyed being able to carry them around with her and eat them without destroying them!


Miss M with (most of) her loot.


Overall, I would say she had a pretty wonderful 1st birthday party!

The birthday party

We had a small birthday party for Miss M this past weekend. Grandpa and Grandma C were in town and Auntie Nessie came over. There were a few decorations and a homemade cake. There were lots of presents, laughs and pictures taken. Trying to go through all the pictures and decide which ones to post was very difficult. I will separate the pictures into multiple posts to keep you actively engaged!

The night before the party the big kids were up putting together the presents. Miss M had a kitchen and shopping cart waiting for her when she woke up the next morning. She likes playing with both of them. Currently her grocery cart is full of canned goods to weigh it down so it doesn't tip over on her!





Grandpa and I made a three layer cake with neon layers as loosely the party theme was Hula theme since we had the skirt and coconuts.



Miss M went after her cake cautiously in the beginning. Then she went in with both fists and squeezed the cake between her fingers over and over again. She never really ate much of the cake thus we didn't have much of a mess even though the cake is a disaster.

It all starts with one

Miss M has one lone curl in the back of her head. I tried to take a picture of it. It's hard to capture because she has light hair and because it's so small but hopefully you see it. One curl means there will be more hair in her future...eventually.

Exhibit B

This is what I found this evening. She's unstoppable.







Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

We've got a climber

Miss M is a climber. We don't have steps. She's never experienced steps yet when we were visiting Grandma D last week she took to the steps like she knew what she was doing. Then we took her to the pool last weekend and she wanted to climb up the steps there. Then today I was laying on the floor watching tv assuming she was close by and I look over to find her climbing on top of the soda boxes. Good grief.

Please note the number of books decreasing on the shelves as she climbs. Those books have found a new home now. Pretty soon we aren't going to be able to find new homes because our apartment isn't that big.

Sweetness

Miss M is pretty darned sweet except when she isn't!

She likes to find her belly (and mine too).


We have an extra large sink so Miss M still takes baths in the sink. I put her in the tub the other day and she was shivering because our bathroom is cold. I think we'll stick to the sink until it warms up or she outgrows it whichever comes first. I like when she's in the sink because I can multi-task.

Possessive

We had friends in town this weekend. Our friends have a little girl, O, who is six weeks younger than Miss M. O (as she is affectionately called) doesn't move and can't defend herself. She needed a lesson in self-defense before coming this weekend. Miss M was quite possessive of EVERYTHING she owned. Good grief. She pays zero attention to most all of the toys we gave to O to play with and yet Miss M would find herself in O's business stealing toys out of her hands. It wasn't pretty. Miss M apparently needs a lesson in sharing.

It was very difficult to take pictures of the girls together since Miss M doesn't sit still. Here's what I was able to capture.

Miss M isn't thrilled the camera is out.


Miss M decides she's done with pictures.


O wonders why her friend isn't cooperating.


O is so sweet and photogenic. She just smiles when requested.