9 Months!

Our little bug turned 9 months this week. It is so hard to believe that she has grown up so fast. This last month has brought many changes with it too.

Anna absolutely LOVES to stand. It makes her so happy. A week or so ago she pulled herself up to standing for the first time and now she can't get enough of it. When she gets up she looks so pleased with herself which is pretty adorable. From there she enjoys slowing edging along what she's holding onto or going back and forth between the couch and coffee table or whatever objects are near by. Sometimes she'll even let go and try to balance for a moment but she's not quite there yet. While she still falls every now and then she's learning how to lower herself back down into the sitting position. 

We had Anna's 9 month appointment this week as well. She weighed in at 18 lbs 13 oz (60%), was 27.8 inches longs (55%), and her head circumference was 18.5 inches (100%). She's doing great on all her milestones which we are very pleased about. We asked about her not crawling yet (she can do the army crawl if there is something she wants that isn't too far away) and we have nothing to fret about. She's just busy working on standing and cruising and they don't even use crawling as a milestone anymore. 

Like most babies, Anna still enjoys grabbing everything in sight. She is especially interested in those things she can't have like iphones, ipads, laptops, outlets, cords, your full glass of water, etc.

I mentioned in a previous post that Anna has her two bottom teeth now. I used to wonder what it would be like when we lost that gummy smile but now I can't imagine her without those little pearly whites. 

Despite not crawling Anna is getting really good at getting where she wants to go. It feels like she is constantly on the move when she is awake. I think her naps are starting to get longer as a result and at the same time she is slowly getting rid of her last cat nap of the day. Yesterday she fell asleep while we were reading stories which is unusual for her. We are seeing the frustration with wanting to do more than she's able but that's to be expected. 

Changing time has not gotten any easier. She turns, twists, and kicks all over the place. Toys as distractions have become increasingly less effective and I sometimes sigh in relief when we are finally all done. :)  Grandma Patti agreed with us that Anna is tough to change so we're not just first-time parent wimps, at least in this one aspect.

Another thing Anna really enjoys right now are doggies. Whenever she sees them she bounces in excitement, grins from ear to ear and makes adorable noises. She likes grabbing the Husky's fluffy hair and enjoys touching the Jack Russell's soft ears. The doggies are so sweet to put up with her but we're working with her on being gentle. 

We're also entering the separation anxiety stage. She is still pretty good with other people holding her but she does watch me or Kevin when we leave the room. If she's playing by herself she wants to be able to see you and fusses if you aren't visible. It makes getting stuff done a little more challenging so Anna has just had to start helping me a little more with chores. 

Anna is also as "talkative" as ever. Her blabbering can get really really loud sometimes. Pretty hard to ignore it when she gets going. Grandma Paula calls her Loudmouth Lion sometimes.

We love our curious, funny, active, smart girl so much and we're excited to find out what the next month has in store. 

August Fun!

We've managed to keep pretty busy this last month and it has flown by! We've been so busy that Anna's had to start helping Mommy with laundry.
 

We always manage to get plenty of play time in though.

Anna loves other little kids but she especially loves her cousin Adell. Adell seems to love her baby cousin just as much!

When Anna sees Adell she gets super excited and there is lots of bouncing to show it! Adell is very helpful and will always bring toys to Anna to play with and likes to give her drinks out of the sippy cup. We love that they are becoming so close.

 

First Tooth

I think I mentioned in Anna's 8 month post that she started teething. Well about a week and half later we finally got our first tooth! It has been a little difficult to get a good picture of it but if you zoom in you may get a peek. It's her bottom right tooth. Just the other day her second tooth popped through right next to it. It's fun hearing her use her new accessory to munch on her puffs.
 

Birthday Celebrations

After getting caught up on posts from vacation it seems I was a bit blogged out and I've pretty much neglected the month of August. In an attempt to get caught up before we leave for an out of town wedding this weekend I'm going to try and get caught up again.

It seems that August 16th is a very special day since there are three important people in my life who were born that day. Hailie, Lindsey (my roommate all through college), and Brian. We weren't able to celebrate with Brian but we did get to celebrate with Hailie and Lindsey.

Kevin, Anna, and I headed over to my parents house for dinner, cake, and gifts. This is the first birthday we've been in town for since Hailie's 5th b-day and I was so glad we could be there.

The birthday girl and Anna

 Hailie is very much into zebra print right now so many of her gifts consisted of zebra print items. Luckily for us zebra is popular right now and it wasn't difficult to find items to please her.

Hailie also requested a zebra cake. I made an attempt at it and while there are some improvements I plan to make next time it at least had stripes!

I don't think this photo was taken that night but I thought I'd include it. TWO kinds of chips...can life get any better?

Happy 12th Birthday Hailie! We love you so much! 

Later that evening we headed out for a surprise birthday party for Lindsey. Lindsey is currently living in Denver but was back for the weekend. It was great seeing her although we didn't really get a chance to talk to her as much as I would have liked since there were so many other people excited to see her as well.

The picture we took with her didn't turn out very well but we managed to get one with our friends Ryan and Kara. They drove in from Emporia for the party and it was fantastic getting the opportunity to catch up with them. The last time Kara and I got together we had our girls with us so it was nice having a chance to talk baby-free.

Kara and I enjoying a "Loopsey Loo"... Lindsey's signature party drink.

Ithaca Waterfalls

We really wanted to check out some of the waterfalls around Ithaca during our stay. The night before there had been some rain so all the falls were booming when we went to check them out.

This first one is Ithaca Falls and it is practically in downtown Ithaca. Moria told us she can usually get much closer but we stayed back because of the wind and mist.

The next one was a little further away. You can walk down much closer but the stairs had lots of standing water and Anna fell asleep so she was with Brian in the car while we took a look. 

Laughingstock Falls

 Next stop on our little tour was Cayuga Lake...the longest of the Finger Lakes.

Family photo

 Moria and Brian with their little flower girl. Anna was destined to be in the wedding since before birth!

Anna warmed up almost instantly with these two and it was so fun watching Brian and Moria play with her. 

We even had time to stop by Robert H Treman State Park which is where Brian and Moria's wedding reception will be held. It's a fall wedding and I'm looking forward to coming back to see the colors changing!

Normally this waterfall leads to a swimming area but with the rain it was definitely closed. The falls were bringing lots of rocks down and the area around the lifeguards chair was just covered. I wouldn't want to be in there anyway! 

After our tour of the beauty surrounding Ithaca we got cleaned up to head out to dinner. We went to Bandwagon Brewpub which was in downtown Ithaca and only a short walk from where Brian and Moria live. Anna seemed to enjoy the walk.

Our flight left early the next morning and we were sad to leave. It was awesome that it worked out for us to go back with these two for a little extra time together. We're so glad that we'll get to see them again in just a few months! Thanks Brian and Moria for having us!

Next Stop....Ithaca!

After the wedding Kevin, Anna, and I were headed to Ithaca, NY with Brian and Moria to stay for a few days. Before leaving Vermont though we made a stop at a maple syrup museum. A bunch of people from the wedding went as well so it was fun hanging out for that much longer!

The museum itself was just okay (Kevin seemed to like it quite a bit but I found it a little bit corny). One thing we could all agree on though was that the best part was the samples at the end. It wasn't all sweets and included a few savory items as well but we were all pretty sugared up by the time we left.

The drive from Vermont to New York wasn't a terribly long drive but it felt longer with a baby in tow. 5 plus hours is the longest car ride Anna has been on and she was pretty ready to get out of the car. The next day, although we were pretty tired, was nice because we didn't have to be anywhere in particular. Just had the chance to enjoy the company of our great friends and meet their dog, Strider.

Hanging out by the water!

 We went for a walk with Strider and made a stop to do a little swimming. The water was a little chilly for Anna but that didn't stop the doggie!

Go Strider Go!

 It was nice having some time to visit. We hadn't seen these guys since Christmas. I think they enjoyed playing with Anna. She was only a month old last time and has obviously changed a ton in the last 6 months!

Gimme that!

Anna is pretty used to dogs since we are currently living with three of them but Strider wasn't quite sure what to think of this tiny person. 

He was pretty curious though and he seemed to learn to relax a little more the longer we were there. 

Anna was just loving the couch and loved staring down Moria.

Hanging out and enjoying Brian's latest home brew.

 

8 Months!

Anna is 8 months old now! We've seen lots of changes in our little bug this month.

While Anna has been sitting up for quite some time now she is so incredibly stable now. She doesn't really ever fall anymore unless she is reaching behind for an object and loses her balance and even that isn't very often. 

While she isn't crawling quite yet we think it could happen anytime. She leans forward and gets one leg back and will rock back and forth. Where she runs into trouble is with that second leg and by the time she gets it under her she falls to her belly. We are reminded to enjoy it because once she starts we will really be in for it!

Early on this last month I noticed her carefully examining her hands. Since then I've noticed a huge improvement in her hand-eye coordination. Anna truly enjoys using these new skills to play with lids, cups, and bowls. They can keep her entertained for a very long time.

Our little babbler has been saying both mama and dada a lot but it is still pretty indiscriminate. We look forward to the day when we KNOW 100% she is directing it towards us. Anna has also been using her lungs to screech and scream in delight. You can go back and forth sometimes which is pretty fun. 

During our vacation Anna started the bouncing up and down in excitement which we absolutely love. It's nice being able to tell when she is truly pleased with something! I wouldn't be surprised if it turned into a scoot one of these days but we will have to see. 

We're also in the stage where you wish you'd majored in professional baby wrestling. This bug hits the changing table and immediately wants on her belly. You try and hold her in place and there is some major twisting going on. Pair that with a poopy diaper and you know you're in for it :)

Anna also started clapping and now it seems she can't get enough of it. We can sometimes get her to do it in response to something specific which is fun but since basically she just claps whenever she is happy so it's quite a bit. 

Clap those hands!

Right at 8 months and Anna has just now begun teething. It started last weekend and it seems like it may be the bottom right tooth but nothing yet. It's strange talking to people with much younger babies that already have several teeth. Daddy didn't get teeth until after a year though. I'm counting myself lucky since I'm still nursing!

Her objections to getting something taken away from her have gotten much louder and involve mini fits. Usually they go away pretty quickly but it's funny how she shows her anger now!

It's been such a fun month and we're excited to see what the next month brings!