One Year Old!

We made it to 1 year! I can't believe how time has flown by us. Many friends and family joined us for Ada's First Birthday party. Our theme was Dinosaur Train, complete with decorations and a dinosaur cake. J's folks came down to celebrate her birthday, and they baked and decorated the cakes. It was a lot of fun.

In the week following her birthday, Ada had her 1 year appointment. She weighed in at 18.9 lbs and was 28.25" tall. She's still on the low end of those percentiles, but we're still on the charts. We got the go ahead to let her eat just about anything. In the past few weeks we've had orange juice, whole milk, honey and even peanut butter. She loves the peanut butter!

Now that we've hit one year, I'll cut back on the updates. Now enjoy some pictures from the party.

Party dress

Cake time!

Enjoying her new Cozy Coupe

1 Year Old!

11 Months

One more month until our precious girl turns one year old! Unofficially, she's around 17.4 lbs and about 27" tall (I'm using the baby gate as my ruler for height). Much like 10 months, there isn't too much to update in terms of progress. She does a lot of standing on her own, but we still can't convince her to take steps without a finger or other support. Like her daddy, she loves tomatoes. A majority of the time she now shares my plate of food for meals. Not much longer and she'll be able to have just about anything to eat.

This month we started doing the Baby Signing Time series of videos. They help teach infants/toddlers (and parents too!) sign language with fun songs and animations. Usually Ada's not one for watching tv; she'd much rather play with her toys. Not the case with these videos. She'll bring J or I the case, or do the sign for "baby" when she wants to watch them (which is at least once a day). Like all good children's program, the songs are rather infectious. I find myself singing the songs long after we are done watching the videos. I'm also dvr-ing the original Signing Time show, which comes on PBS early Sunday mornings. I'm certainly no where near conversational, but I can put together small phrases.

Our 11 Month Old Monster 

Taking Lamby on a walk around the house

Playing in a box with my buddy

Ada's First Aggie Game

This month Ada attended her first Aggie game at Kyle Field. We saw the Aggies take on the Auburn Tigers. Even though they ran out of time, we had a good time. I need to preface the story of this weekend though. At the beginning of October, I got strep (first time in almost 29 years). Despite our attempts to prevent, J came down with it the Wednesday before the game. Doctor visit Thursday gave him new meds. By Saturday he wasn't any better, so the doc called in new meds to College Station. Unfortunately it wasn't in time for him to be up to going with us to the game.

Ada and I struck out on our own for Kyle Field that afternoon. Mom and Dad had left ahead of me, at separate times. It was a little chilly in the stands as we were in the shade, but I hear it was the better option to being in the sun the whole time. I didn't do terribly well traveling with baby and accessories on my own (Ada in a sling plus diaper bag, camera and sweatshirt). Somehow we made it up to the seats.

Knowing that the game was going to last 4 hours, during nap time, we were unsure of how things would go. However, I made sure that I had plenty of food and toys to entertain Ada. She was loving it from the start. I put her up on my shoulders to get a better view and she giggled with delight. At times it even seemed like she was cheering along with the crowd. Somehow we managed to make it the whole game (plus of course travel to and from, total of 7 hours I think) without it being too terrible. Hopefully next year J will be feeling better and we can do more of the pre-game Aggieland fun.

Pre-game, playing with her train

With Nini at the start of the game

Watching the players run on the field

With Pop at half time

This picture cracks me up, "Why?!?"

Family shot

Double digits, 10 months!

We hit double digits with Ada on the 14th. I feel like things are starting to slow down, in terms of progress. Seemed like she went through so much between 6 and 9 months at top notch speed, and now is plateaued. Unofficially she weighed 16.8 lbs, and I'd put her around 26.5".

Currently she's not any close to walking on her own. I can get her to walk holding my fingers, but she has to be holding on with both hands. If I let go, she immediately sits down and continues with crawling. Perhaps in the next month she'll realize that walking is the way to get around.

She's been eating more "real" food as opposed to purees. Some of her favorites include: lil meat sticks, cheese, crunchies (like cheetoes for babies) and all sorts of fruit. Much like her momma, she's not as interested in eating the veggies. We'll keep offering and trying though in hopes that she'll eat them. Also like her momma, she's a climber. Her new thing is to empty her doll cradle and climb into it, usually with a book (sometimes a toy as well). Her personality is beginning to come through and I'm excited to see the person she's going to become.

Are you ready for some football?

One exciting thing in our house is the beginning of football season. Both college and pro football keep us occupied on the weekends. Sometimes Beau and I end up in other rooms to watch our respective teams (if the games are being aired simultaneously). Of course, Ada has to help represent her parents' school pride. Given that we went to different schools (him Wisconsin, me Texas A&M), her outfits alternate from week to week. Of course there's no argument with pro (I sort of rooted for the Cowboys, but not really a true fan), we just have to get her some Packers gear.

I can't wait until Friday. We are doing her 9 month pictures with a football theme. Until then, here are some shots of her supporting the teams.

Supporting the Aggies for the season opener against Rice

 Ready to Jump Around as the Badger took on Tennessee Tech

On the bus to Aggieland for the Alabama pre-game

(we actually watched the game from Nini & Pop's house)

9 month update

Saturday was Ada's 9 month birthday. So crazy to think that we are merely 3 months away from her first birthday. Today we had our 9 month well check, which included our flu vaccination. She took it like a champ and only cried for a little bit. Officially she's 15 lbs and 26" tall, which fall into the 2nd and 7th percentiles respectively. She may be small for her age, but she proportionate and her head circumference (most important) is still in the 50th percentile.

We've been given the green light to start adding more carbs to her diet and start trying to swap solid snacks for bottles of formula. At this point, we can also start adding meats and more table food into her diet as well. This mom's gotta get back to introducing new foods into the diet. She has her picky days, which makes it harder at times to get the new things in there.

Each day she's doing more standing and "walking" around the furniture. She can stand unsupported for a few seconds before losing her balance. I'm sure that she'll be off and walking/running in the next month. In the meantime, she's cruising all over the house by crawling. She's amazingly quick, so we do our best to keep her contained. Stairs are also now a breeze for her. I try to let her crawl up them herself when we have the time.

The doctor today noticed 2 new teeth that are beginning to break through, her two lateral incisors on the top. We have a vampire baby on our hands now. Perhaps we'll be able to sing "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" come December. This brings our total number of teeth to 3, none of which are fully through yet.

Lots of babbling has been going on for a while now, but I think she may finally be cognitively making sounds. Lots of mmmm/mamama when she wants something (food, me, etc). She's getting an understanding of simple commands. For example when I tell her to "watch her fingers" she'll pull them back from what ever I'm trying to close. However, there isn't always a guarantee that she'll do what's asked of her, especially no/stop/leave it. Ours is definitely a strong willed child.

9 months old (excited by J coming down the stairs) 

At Story Time at the Library with friends from MOMS group

8 months old

Once again, I've gotten a little behind with the updates; however, such is life with a little one. We crossed the 8 month mark on August 14. Unofficially, Ada Bean was 14.8 lbs and about 25.5" long. On her 8 month birthday, I felt her first tooth coming through! It was the bottom right incisor. Very exciting to finally have a tooth coming through.

By this time, we were able to start introducing more fruits and veggies into her diet. Things like melon, blueberries, regular potatoes, beets and turnips to name a few. In addition to these, we started trying more snacky-finger foods as well, like the Gerber Li'l Crunchies (man does she love those).

Just after passing 7 months, Ada got down her all-4's crawl and began to pull up on the coffee table and other furniture. I have to be constantly aware of what's on top of lower surfaces now. She's cruising everywhere and getting into everything.

We also joined the local MOMS group, which is for stay at home moms. We do playgroups and lots of fun outings with other moms and kids. It's been a great way to meet new people and socialize Ada.

8 months old, and such a ham! 

Helping Momma with Laundry