She's ONE!

Leah took her FIRST STEPS on November 30th! She still prefers crawling but she's doing great with her steps and she takes more every day. It wont be long and she'll be running around everywhere.

Her FIRST birthday party was on Saturday, Dec 18th, and it was a blast. We had lots of family and friends here to help us celebrate. Leah loved all her gifts! She wasn't as messy with her first birthday cake as I thought she was going to be, but she still had fun. :) And it was a very yummy cake, Thanks Kim!!


I just can't believe that a year has already passed. It really doesn't seem that long ago that we brought her home from the hospital. Just shows how time flies.

She had a great Christmas!! Santa came to visit her on Christmas Eve, and she enjoyed opening her presents on Christmas morning!


Another big update for her is that she is FINALLY sleeping through the night! She's been doing this for 2 whole weeks now. I love it! We had to let her cry it out initially but, it's gradually gotten less and less crying as she gets faster at getting herself to sleep. I do miss the night-time cuddles but, its safer for her to be in her crib at night and I get better sleep this way.

10.5 months old!

Invitations were mailed out today for my sweet girl's first birthday party. Can't believe that December 19th is fast approaching!

Since I updated last time, we had 2 doctors visits for weight-checks. I'm happy to say that at her last appointment, Leah got back on the weight-chart. She's back on the 5th percentile which is where she was before her 6 month check up when she completely fell off. She weighed 16 pounds, 5 oz at her last appointment. She's still very little but, she's gaining weight at the average rate so, we are happy. They contribute her low-weight gain to her being such a small eater. She wasn't eating enough calories to support a healthy weight gain but, she's getting better now especially since she's mainly eating table food which is higher in calories than the pureed stuff.

Here's how she's doing:
- She now has 8 teeth, 4 on top, 4 on bottom.
- She is eating pretty much everything that Mark and I eat, she's really starting to refuse her baby food but, who can blame her? Pureed peas and carrots sure doesn't sound appetizing to me either.
- She is saying: Mama, Dada, Hey, This, That, 'What's this?', 'What's that?', Num-Num, and Nana (She will be thrilled).
- Can stand independently, especially if she has a small toy in her hands and isn't paying attention
- Everything that can be pushed turns into a walker toy for her.
- She has began to climb. We have a large box of her toys in our living room and she enjoys climbing into that box and sitting in it. Lol. We also have a few boxes blocking the hallways so we can keep her in our living room with us and not have to chase her around the house but, now she's discovered that she can climb over those too so, now I have to come up with some other way to keep her confined to baby-friendly zones.

She's very close to taking that first step but, she's still scared of standing on her own at times. She will get there when she's ready and then when she does, I will miss my crawling little baby. Can't believe that she's almost one already.

Almost 9 months!

Can't believe I am planning Leah's 1st birthday party!!! Also can't believe that our invite list is up to 75-80 people!! Thank goodness we have a large back yard that can accomodate this many people as well as the weather should be perfect for an outdoor get-together!

Leah is SUCH a blessing to Mark and I. I don't know what we did right to deserve such a sweet girl, but we thank our good Lord for her everyday because we know we are very lucky to have her in our lives. She brings us such joy and happiness.



So, here's what Leah's doing now:
*She can clap! She claps, and we say "YAY" :)
*She can wave
*She says: Mama, Dada, Hey, and Num-Num-Num (when she eats something good)
*She can stand by herself for short periods of time (She's better at this wearing shoes)
*She can walk with a walker toy (We have wood floors so I don't let her do this unless I am right there with her, or the toy goes faster than she can walk)
*She now has 5 teeth and counting!! 2 on top, 3 on bottom, and 2 more on top that are almost through
*She is eating some table food - her favorite is string cheese (just like Daddy)
*She can (this is one of my favorites) play Peek-A-Boo with us! We were on the bed Saturday morning and Mark was playing Peek-A-Boo with her using the sheets and she caught on. Now, she does it herself with anything she can find. She yanks the bib off her neck while I'm feeding her and raises it up to cover her eyes, waits a few seconds, then pulls it down fast and laughs while I say "Peek a boo!" Then she does it over and over and over again - to her, it never gets old. Lol, its adorable!

We had to take her to the doctor due to some weird swelling on one of her breasts (turned out to be from hormones from me somehow) and they discovered that her weight is beginning to be an issue. She was just below the 10th percentile for weight at her 6 month check up and she fell to the 5th percentile. So her doctor's conclusion was that I'm not able to make enough fat in my BM to maintain her weight SO, we have switched her to formula during day and BM at night and 1st feeding. This has worked out well, we took her back a few wks ago and she's staying at that 5th percentile line. This means shes not falling off the chart anymore which is a good thing. Her doctor would prefer her to be higher on the chart but, Leah has always been small and has never had that big of an appetite. She returns for her 9 month checkup on Sept 21 so, hoping shes gaining weight as she should! Her doctor said if she drops anymore on the chart then she would order a 'failure to thrive' workup and see if there is an underlying cause for her low weight. So we are keeping our fingers crossed for good news!

7 months!

Leah is now "cruising" on furniture. If she sees something she wants, she will take steps along the edge of whatever she is pulled up on to reach it. She also shocked me! She has an activity table that she stands up to play on and it was about a foot off our couch. She decided while playing on the table that she wanted something on the couch, so she reached out her arm to touch the couch, and walked over to it. ??? What is she thinking?! I am sure she will most likely be walking in a month or two. This is crazy.

Unfortunately, she likes to bite. :( Her favorite thing is the reaction she gets when she does it. She will bite down with her two little teeth, then pull her head away while still biting. Doesn't feel too great but she finds it to be a lot of fun. Not sure how I will break her of that habit but, I've gotta figure somethin out.

She is getting VERY close to having some more teeth! Her top teeth are making their way down and will erupt probably sometime this month I imagine. Lovely... A girl who bites with two teeth on the bottom is now going to have matching teeth on the top... Should be interesting with nursing her. I've been debating whether or not to begin to wean her onto formula. My initial goal of BF'ing was 6 months, then I changed it to 8 months when I got to 6 months and now I'm setting my goal to make it to a whole year but, we will see how it goes with this whole biting and new teeth business. Haha.

She loves to also squeal at the top of her lungs to make "happy noises". Its especially funny to her to do this while in a restaurant. LOL.

What I love love love, is to feed her a baby food that she likes, because I get to hear "Num num num". Haha, I love it!!

We are already thinking of my little one's first birthday party which is fast approaching. 5 more months and my baby will be 1. I can't believe how quick this baby stuff is going by. People always said when I was pregnant with her, "Enjoy when she's a baby and small, because it won't last long." I now understand what they mean, and she is only 7 months old. Cherish every moment.

6 1/2 months

Baby girl got more shots on June 23rd at her 6 mo check up. She weighed 13 pounds 6 oz's, 26 inches long, and head diameter was 16.5 inches. She's in the 10% percentile for weight (meaning 90% of babies her age weigh more than her), 25th percentile for head diameter, and 50th percentile for her length.

She's now sitting all by herself with out falling over! Its like she learned this over night. She can also go from crawling to sitting and sitting to crawling. And I must add, she's got crawling down because she is FAST now. Especially if she see's something in sight that she wants, she is gone in a flash. I have to watch her like a hawk.

We tried a sippy cup recently. I put juice/water in it. She wasn't really sure about what it was. We got her a Learning cup by Nuk, its supposed to be kinda inbetween a bottle and a real sippy cup. She mostly chewed on the tip and banged it against the chair, then dropped it and smiled. :) I think she's catching on to this 'throw stuff down and let mommy pick it up' game.

This is Leah's first Independence day and I am excited to see what she thinks of the fireworks. I think she will love them, because she loves bright lights, it amazes her. :)

Leah will be beginning ISR lessons soon. In these classes (10 mins, everyday, for 4 wks) she will learn survival skills if, God forbid, she happens to fall into a pool while we are not watching her. They teach her to float onto her back until an adult can get her out. It's amazing and I'm excited and nervous at the same time. Lucky enough, our friend is one of the certified ISR instructors so, I feel more at ease with this whole let her go in the water thing. Check it out: www.infantswim.com, its pretty amazing to see babies floating in water like that. Here's a video of a 7 month old doing it:

6 months!

Can't believe my sweet girl is already 6 months old! She finally started crawling on the 15th and to our surprise, the very next day she began pulling up!! So funny when you lay her down thinking she will fall asleep and instead she crawls to the side of the crib and proceeds to stand up.



We took her to Sanibel this past weekend and she Loved it!! She loved being in the ocean, loved playing in the sand, and loved the pool. We are so glad she enjoyed it, otherwise it would have been a very long weekend, lol.



She's saying "ma-ma" and "da-da". Yes, I know she doesn't have a clue what she's saying but, it still cool.

She has been on stage 2 foods for a few weeks now. She seems to really enjoy the combinations! So far her favorites: Apple Blueberry, Fruit medley, Apple Strawberry Banana, Sweet potatoes, Pears, Apples. See a pattern? Shes not a huge fan of veggies, go figure. :) She hated peaches!

She has 2 little teeth! Her first tooth erupted on May 11 and her second one on May 12. Unfortunately she knows they are there and uses them while nursing.. OUCH! I think her top two teeth are next but they still have a little way to go before they break through.

4 months

So much to update!

Leah had her 4 month check up today. She did great, minus the shots but who can blame her? She was exactly 12 pounds today which puts her in at just below the 25th percentile. Head measured 16 1/2 inches and length 24 inches, both put her at the 50th percentile. She's a growing girl, just a little skinny for her size but doing well. :) I put Leah on rice cereal last Tuesday after she turned 4 mo's old so, today our pediatrician said it was time to start with jarred foods. We begin w/orange veggies, then green veggies, then fruit last. She gets one food once a day for 5 days in a row, then add another food. :) So today I started her out with sweet potatoes... she wasn't big on it, lol. I think more ended up on her bib than in her tummy but, I know that's normal for the first couple of times.


After 4 months of cuddling with me at night, Leah has graduated to her crib. Yep, this is a HUGE deal for me because she has fought me on this since the day she was born. She sleeps in 4 hour stretches. Thats probably not that long for other babies but for her, thats a lot.

Another big thing that has happened since the last update was that she now rolls over from back to tummy. 4/10/10 was the first time and she has gotten so good at it! Now I have to be quick with diaper changes because this girl has discovered how to be mobile! She will roll and roll and roll to get to something she sees that she wants... and then of course, when she gets it, it goes in her mouth so, we watch her like a hawk because you never know. She's even been able to push her tummy off the ground and get into the "all 4's" position like she's going to crawl. She's not quite strong enough yet to sustain that for more than a couple of seconds but she's getting there! I think she'll be crawling before long and then.. WATCH OUT!


Leah was baptised on 4/18/10! We are so proud of her! She was amazing! She only fussed while Father Hugh poured holy water on her head three times to symbolize the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We were blessed to have family and friends surround us that morning. Leahs dress was SO special! Leah's Nana made her dress out of the lace from her wedding dress and beads from mine (which she also made). Leah looked beautiful in it!



She has also discovered how to blow "rasberries". I just think this is the funniest sound ever. She squeels while blowing rasberries so, they can be quite high-pitch and loud at times but they are just adorable! She also found that its fun to blow rasberries while mommy tries to feed her sweet potatoes with a spoon so, even mommy got a little messy after that one, lol!

We think Leah is getting close to cutting some teeth! She's chewing on everything and her gums are a little raised. If you pull her lip down you can see 2 little white pearls so, they aren't there yet but they are definitely on their way!

Sweet Giggles and a new first!

Leah is just over 14 weeks old now. By this time last year I was just finding out the amazing news that Mark and I were pregnant, and now my little angel is over 3 months old. So hard to believe it!

I've had to switch Leah to eating breastmilk from a bottle since she was wanting to nurse all day long when we were together. That is a lifesaver. Now she actually gets full, and stays full for around 2 hours. She LOVES holding stuff and gets so excited when she does get a hold of something. Yesterday (2/28/10) while feeding her a bottle, she had both hands on it and I was able to let go. She held the bottle for a few minutes by herself like a Big girl. Her eyes were big the whole time, like "Look, I'm actually doing it!". :) She's such a smart girl already.

Her first giggle was 2/21/10 but I finally got a great giggle on video. Here it is:

Babies giggles are so infectious. I just want to listen to it all day long. :)

Here's some pictures of her at 3 months.

Hand/Eye coordination

I was using my phone to google something (of course) and had it right infront of Leah. She is just amazed by my cell phone, she loves bright lights I guess... Anyway, she was just staring at it and was able to reach out her hand, open her fist, and start scratching at the screen. She grabbed it a few minutes later and had a HUGE smile on her face. ;) Such a big girl! Already infactuated with cell phones, I'm in trouble.

Was over at my Mom's house earlier today and got my hair cut (she did an awesome job). I was hoping to get Leah to giggle on video but instead I just got Emma talking to her and Leah smiling back. Someday I will get her to giggle on camera... just not today. Here's the video of it though, just precious.

Time flies!

I can not believe how fast time is flying by! My last month of pregnancy felt like slow motion and now that she's here its like its fast-forwarding. I have so much to update on! Leah is now 11 weeks old and SUCH a happy girl! She weighed 6lbs 7.5 oz and was 19 1/4 inches long at birth and now was right at 10 pounds at her ped's visit on Monday and was 21 1/4 inches long. She's growing fast!! We discovered that she is allergic to milk protein so, I am now on a no milk, icecream, or cheese diet. Its hard because cheese is a must for me but, I'll do whatever is best for my baby girl. ;) Here's some photos of birth up to now so you can see how she's growing up!

The first 2 are from the hospital, the one where she's wearing a white onesie is her 1 mo picture, pink sheep is 2 month picture and pink dress is also 2 months, being held by her Nana. Just another week and I'll have a 3 mo picture to put on here!

Here's her firsts:

*Picked up her head - 12/20/09 - only 1 day old, such a strong girl!

*1st smile - 12/25/09 - Christmas day (couldn't have asked for a better present, ;))

*1st bottle - 1/4/10

*1st rollover - tummy to back - first time was by accident when she was not quite 2 weeks old, then again 2/4/10, then twice on 2/6/10

*1st giggle - 2/21/10 - Such a sweet giggle, can't wait to get it on video.

She's already able to pull her legs underneath her stomach and lift her butt in the air, like shes going to crawl. She's got really strong legs! When shes sitting down on your lap, all you have to do is hold her hands for balance and she can use her leg muscles to stand herself up. She also can sit herself up when you recline her.. Here's a video (turn your speakers down, I get a little excited for her, lol):

Here's some of her likes/dislikes:

LOVES her swing

LOVES her mobile

LOVES being held at all times

Sometimes tolerates a binkie (only the Gumdrop binkie from Aunt Kimmie, though)

Tolerates a bottle

HATES being put down

LOVES the outdoors

LOVES car rides in carseat

LOVES her cousin, EMMA, she's infactuated with her, lol.

LOVES her baby Bjorn baby carrier

She's drooling constantly and blowing spit bubbles. She's found her hands and her feet, sometimes she just stares at her feet with huge eyes and likes to watch her hands move. Her and I have conversations all the time, I talk to her and she coo's back. ;) She has started to rub her eyes when it's night-night time. And she is grabbing EVERYTHING, necklaces, hair, earrings, shirts, whatever she can get her hands on! She likes to get handfuls of mommy's hair and pull herself up with it, lol.

I think we are all caught up now! ;)