T-I-double-GRR!

Beware the Franken-Monkey!!!

She's walking!

Happy First Birthday!

Well, that time is here. She's one whole year old. Where did the time go? Where did my little bitty baby go? It seems so surreal. She's gotten so big...22lbs 4oz at her checkup today. She's walking, climbing, the whole 9 yards. It's craziness. I can't believe how much she's grown. It's incredible watching her learn new things.

Here are a few pictures from her birthday party. Zach took her one year photos for us, so hopefully I can get some of those up once I get them :)

Happy 11 Months, Savannah!

Our baby girl is 11 months old tomorrow, I can't believe it! Soon we'll be celebrating her first birthday...time has flown! We have a total of 6 teeth so far, and she's just about ready to walk.

Happy 10 Months, Savannah!

Update

Well, she's "cruising" now. It won't be long before she's walking on her own. She can also now say "Uh Oh" thanks to some help from her aunties this weekend :)

This is what happens when a Monkey feeds herself:

And then when she "escapes" from the bathroom post-bath...

Happy 9 months, Savannah!

Wow...she's getting so big! She's got 4 teeth now (2 top, 2 bottom), she can pull herself up to standing, she can clap, and she's crawling like crazy. Our lives will never be the same. Or, in the words of Steve, we're "screwed". Our babyproofing efforts are currently being put to the test :)

Her 9 month checkup is on Thursday, and I will update then with her current stats.

My little Monkey's growing up so fast...

And now she's crawling!

Time to put our babyproofing efforts to the test!

Look out! She's standing!

She's pulling herself up to stand...scary! I wonder if she'll be one of those babies that skips crawling and goes straight to walking? She's trying really hard to crawl, but I have a feeling she'll start trying to walk soon now that she can pull herself up. We'll see! For those who didn't get the video I texted, or didn't see it on FB, here ya go (it's only 10 sesconds long)!

Savannah Clapping!

Just because!

Long time...

...no update. Oops.

It's been a while. We've been busy enjoying life.

So far, we now have four top teeth coming in, in addition to the two on the bottom that have been in for a while. Those little chompers are sharp!

And, we have an almost crawler! She's working really hard, and can get up on all fours and rock back and forth. If I had to guess, I would estimate that she would be crawling by the end of the week. So crazy. It goes so incredibly fast. I can't believe it's been over 8 months since she was just a teeny tiny newborn nestled on my chest in the hospital. Now, she sprawls across me when she falls asleep on me :)

I think that's it for updates for now...not really a whole lot to report. I'm sure I'll have some crawling videos soon!

Cheers!

Jess & Savannah-Monkey

Our future pianist!

Teeth!

Well, she's had them for a couple of weeks now, but I'm just now getting around to updating. Savannah has her bottom two front teeth, and those suckers are sharp! She hasn't let me get the camera and simultaneously get my finger in her mouth to open it up for a picture, so I don't have any pics yet.

She's moving along just great...we've tried lots of different foods, and so far avocado is the only thing she hasn't cared for. We'll give it another couple of tries over the next couple of weeks before giving up on it completely.

That's really all I have for an update right now...cheers!

Luck O' the Irish

A few pictures from our St Paddy's Day photo shoot...enjoy :)

Happy Halfsies, Savannah!

Six months...I can't believe it's been 6 months. Savannah has grown so much, and is developing and changing so much every day! She had her six month checkup this week, and she weighed in at 16 lbs 2.5 oz, and measured 25.5" long. I can't imagine life without my precious baby girl...I sometimes wonder what I ever did before she came along, because she makes my life feel so complete. Peter and I both feel so blessed to have such a happy, healthy baby. She is our world. Happy 6 months baby!

Changes

It's so great and so fulfilling to watch my baby girl grow and develop. Sometimes I just sit and watch her, because it's so interesting to me to watch her learn. She'll spend 20 minutes just staring at her hand, twisting it this way and that. She already knows she can control it, but I think she's realizing just how much control she has over it. It's really an incredible thing to watch.

I also notice changes within myself. I'm not just Jess anymore, I'm a mom. I'm "mom". There are days when I get home from work, she sees me, and if I leave the room for even a second, she starts crying because she wants me to hold her. There are nights that I sit up feeding, rocking, and shh'ing her to sleep. There are mornings that I wake up to a happy, smiling, chatty baby. Most mornings, in fact.

There are nights like last night, where she's fussy and wakes up every hour wanting to eat. I know she's fussy because she's teething, and she's hurting. So I feed her, rock her, whatever it takes to make her comfortable and help her get to sleep. We take her to the doctor for her check-ups, and I cry when she gets shots. I don't like hearing the cry of pain when they stick her with the needle...it just breaks my heart.

I eat better, for her sake and my own. I want to be healthier and lose some weight, I want to be able to keep up and to play with my daughter. Most importantly, I want to ensure that I'm around for her as long as I possibly can be, and that means taking better care of myself.

I think more and more about the future. Our future as a family, Savannah's future. The fact that Peter and I are solely responsible for raising a child, making sure she eats her veggies, does her homework, and goes to bed on time...it's an interesting thing to think about. I know that we're up to the challenge, and we look forward to it.

We have a roller!

Savannah rolled back to front for the first time in January, at 4 months old. She did it a few times the first night, and after a few days of no rolling, she started back up again. She's become a pro at it now, nearly 2 months later! We put her down on her back to play, and before we know it, she's on her tummy! Crazy! She's working really hard to learn to crawl now. My little girl is growing up!

Let me know if you want the link to the YouTube video (I don't have the vids trasferred to the new laptop yet...I'll try to remember to come back and add the video once I transfer them).

Solids...

We've done the rice cereal thing a few times now. The pediatrician said we could start introducing it any time after 4 months. We're waiting for the 6 month mark to start regularly giving her solids and introducing fruits and veggies to her diet. We're working on giving the rice cereal more consistently in the evenings right now, and we'll probably be introducing oatmeal soon, and possibly barley cereal, to give her a little variety. When we start the fruit and veggies, the plan is to make our own baby food. It's a fraction of the cost of the jars, and I know exactly what's in it. For now, here are a couple of pictures of our entry into the world of solids.

First time (end of January):
"Mom, I'm not too sure about this..."



Most recently (end of February):
"Hmm...this isn't so bad..."




And as a bonus, the first time using the mesh feeder...there was a chunk of banana in it, and she seemed to dig it:

"This is much better than that rice stuff, mommy..."