Happy Birthday Grandma T

It's Grandma T's birthday today! Wishing you a wonderful year ahead. Rose wants to spend a special thank you for helping take such good care of her :)

Hello everyone

Can you believe it's March!? Next week, Rose will be 10 months old already. It seems like only yesterday we were eagerly anticipating her arrival. She's had a great week. Last weekend was jammed packed with fun. We celebrated her cousin Caitlin's birthday both days. Rose enjoyed all the kids and she loves soaking up all the interaction with little people and big people too. She had swim class #2 and continues her success and enjoyment of the water. She even enjoyed her first walk of the year with Grandma and Grandpa T. She loves being outside to enjoy the fresh air and take in all the sights, sounds, and smells.

Just chillin in my ride

Rose can't get enough of her books. She has her favorites, but spends plenty of time reading everyday from her vast collection. Even if she is playing by herself, she often gravitates to her books over her other toys. Keep it up kiddo!

Let's read!

Girl On The Move

Look out world! Here comes Rose. She is certainly in the phase of curiosity about everything. Since she's mobile, she is either crawling, or pulling up on things and testing her skills as she is getting closer to walking on her own. She loves walking around the house (many laps) over and over holding onto only 2 fingers of her willing companion. She enjoys looking at the family photos and her favorite people to identify are her cousins, Caitlin and Jack! She continues to develop her vocabulary as you can decipher some of her favorite words. These favorite words include dada, bottle (ba), car (ca), kitty, go, jack, and she is working on curious george and cockadoodledoo. What fun!

 

Can't stop me now

Just driving my bus around

I love Little People

Rose's 9 month appointment went great. She had a little diva moment since she decided she did not want to lay down on the baby scale. Long story short, after some screaming and peeing without her diaper on and a bottle, she settled into her sweet and charming self. She tipped the scale at 20lb 6oz (75th%) and 29.25in long (90-95%). It appears she may have the tall genes. She is a healthy and happy baby girl and we are so blessed.

I'm such a big girl!

This thing is so cool

She is a good natured girl and is pretty happy to see almost anyone with a smile. She is fascinated by Dad's guitar and wants to play with him all the time. So much for her toy guitar, she wants the real thing! It is tougher and tougher to change her and get dressed since she always wants to be upright and on the go. She is a little squirmy worm. She now has 5 teeth, 2 on the bottom and 3 on the top. Teething hasn't phased her too much. She isn't quite sleeping through the night, but usually up a couple of times.

Let me play Dad!

We also started swim classes this past weekend. She seemed to really enjoy the water. She only fussed a couple times since she tried to drink too much of the water. She splashed and played and passed out in her car seat as soon as we packed her up.

Great champion in training

This is hard work

Long day at the pool

It's hard to believe she is approaching her first birthday. She is our little sunshine and everyday is so much brighter with her in it!!

Hot stuff

What a transition in just a few weeks! In less than a month Rose has figured out how to crawl and now she is convinced she can walk. She is not really interesting in spending much time crawling around. She would much rather be upright racking up the miles using her walker or pulling herself up to standing on anything that might hold her weight. She loves playing basketball with her Little Tykes gym, basket after basket.

She is a girl on the move, and certainly a sweet one. We go on the 17th for her 9 month wellness checkup and will get an update on all of her stats. 

Playing around in my high chair 

Another picture Mom, really?

I love this thing!

Taking a break

Sparty on!

8 Months Already!

Hello and Happy New Year! After a difficult week, we are happy to report some of the many exciting things that Miss Rose is up to. On the 15th, she turned 8 months old. It seems like yesterday that she was born. She has starting crawling from room to room and she is a non-stop babbler. She also has 4 teeth now! Her top 2 came in over the last week and she was remarkably good. She continues to enjoy trying new foods and has mastered getting those puffs into her mouth. She enjoys holding her own sippy cup and thinks she can feed herself by holding her own spoon. What a big girl! She has transitioned into her 12 month clothes. We go for her 9 month wellness checkup next month to see how she measures up. She is certainly thriving, and growing fast! We can't get enough of those adorable cheeks.

Cheese!

On the move

Favorite toys-She still loves her jumper, walker, play kitchen, Little People farm, anything Elmo, Cookie Monster, or babies. She loves reading and must turn the page herself :) She loves lights and music and mirrors. We are working on her athletic skills as Uncle Chad got her a great new sports station. She also enjoys playing with her plastic cups and enjoys her bath time books! Everything continues to go in her mouth and I catch her smelling things a lot too. There is so much to discover and she doesn't want to miss a thing!

Practicing w/ my bat

Going for the slam dunk

Favorite foods-Anything with pears is still at the top of the list. We've added meat blends at dinner time and she has done well with chicken and turkey. She is loving yogurt and we are even able to sneak in some broccoli, peas, and spinach in different mixes. What a good girl!

Playing w/ my kitchen

Just walking around

Rose is a such a sweet and good natured baby. She will pretty much give a smile to anyone who shows interest. What a little ray of sunshine for us all to enjoy!

We will miss you Great Grandpa

Heaven became a better place early on Sunday with the arrival of Rose's Great Grandpa W. A remarkable and loving man, he was so proud of his family and adored his 4 great grandchildren. Although Rose may not remember meeting him, she will certainly learn about what a wonderful person he was as we share many of our memories with her.

Merry Christmas!

Hello and Merry Christmas. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday. It was such a special year for us, Rose's first Christmas! She has loved the lights, sparkle and huge 10 ft tree parked in our living room for the last few weeks. She loves reaching out to grab the branches and touch the ornaments. Her favorites are the round ones. She finds Mom's Baby's First Christmas ornament from 1980 every time! There has been so much to look at and she has enjoyed taking everything in.

Opening presents

We were happy to host the traditional Russian Christmas Eve lunch and enjoyed meeting up for Ryan's family party later that day. Santa Claus found Rose, since of course she was on the nice list this year. We had a wonderful Christmas day and hosted Grandma and Grandpa H and Uncle Jay for a yummy lasagna dinner. The 26th was a day with Grandma and Grandpa T and then over to Great Grandma and Grandpa W for a visit with cousins and aunts and uncles. What fun!

How am I going to decide what to wear?!

Playing with my new toys

Happy family

It appears Rose may be in another round of teething. She bites everything (including us sometimes, and hard). Those 2 bottom teeth are pretty sharp! She is working on crawling, but is not quite ready yet. She does have the freestyle kick figured out while on her tummy. May we have a future swimming champ on our hands? She loves dancing to all kinds of music and enjoys standing and holding up on us or furniture.

Working those gums

I have been enjoying the last week and a half at home with her. We have had some busy days visiting, but it is so nice to have her at home to myself since we are so busy when we're in regular work routine. Going back on the 3rd will be tough, but I know she will enjoy her time back with Grandma's and Grandpa's.

Playing around with Dad

Silly girl!

Happy New Year!!!! 2011 has been an amazing year for us and we are so thankful for all of the wonderful memories made. May you be blessed with health and happiness in 2012 :) We can't wait to see what's ahead for us.

Holiday Time

What an exciting month Rose has had. She had her first weekend sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa T and was on her best behavior (thank goodness that she'll be welcomed back!).  She has also been spending more time with Grandma H and is enjoying having 3 different houses with lots of fun toys, all for her!!

I love sitting up all by myself!

She is also getting used to eating lots of solids. I am attempting to make her baby food at home and have had success using the Baby Bullet. If I can do this, surely anyone can. Her favorite foods include pears, apples, banana, avocado, zucchini and squash. She is not a big fan of sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, or peas. It took a week or so to get used to eating and now she loves it!

This spoon tastes pretty good

We had her 6 month checkup and she weighed in at 18lb 5oz and 27.25in long. She is a healthy girl, on the higher end of the percentage charts. The doctor said her extra "girth" is a good thing :) Those cheeks and chubby thighs couldn't be cuter. We think there is just more to love. She is in her 9 month clothes and in a couple of weeks, I expect us to be pushing into 12 months! She grows so quickly.

I better be on Santa's "nice" list this year!

She is babbling non stop and we think we hear "hi", "mama", "dada", and "yeah". She also loves to crawl in a circle and try and pull up on your legs. She is standing with little support and pulls hard on everything (necklaces, earrings, hair etc.). She loves music, lights and is fascinated watching Layla our dog. She loves her jumper and exersaucer and enjoys rolling across the entire floor now.

Dad and his little girl

Mama's Buddy

We're looking forward to Christmas to slow down a bit and enjoy our family time. Wishing Great Grandpa W strength and healing too.