Ten Months: A Letter

March 28, 2015

Dear Molly Ann,

Wow!  10 months!  You are getting so big!  You are growing and learning so fast; we can hardly keep up with you.  You are funny, silly and a little bit of a stinker:)

You started the month with another ear infection, which made your third!  This was your hardest one yet...throwing up, crying in pain, and not eating very much at all!  It made Mama really nervous, but we finally got you to drink from your sippy cup, which you got pretty good at.  One more, little one, and we'll have to get tubes:(

Speaking of eating, you eat anything and everything we put in front of you!  You have eaten sausage, pizza, fish sticks, carrots, potatoes, green beans, corn, strawberries, chicken, etc!  You love all of it:)  You still eat your baby food pretty good, for the most part, so we just mix and match.  You aren't total people food, but it won't take long:)  You drink from your sippy cup every night before bed, but you don't hold it very well.  We'll have to work on that.

Your typical schedule is:
-Wake at 6:45a (on a school day) and eat 4oz oatmeal (with formula) and yogurt/fruit
-Nap at 9a
-Wake at 11a and play
-Eat Step 2 veggies and 6-7oz bottle; then snack on the lunch served at Mrs. Kelly's or home
-Nap at 1:30p
-Wake at 3:30p and play
-Eat 7oz bottle at 4:30p
-Play
-Eat veggies and fruit at 6p; then snack on the dinner
-Drink 4-5oz formula from your cup at 7:15p
-Go to sleep at 7:30p

You like to be rocked now, but you don't have to be.  But I'll take it when you let us:)

You are on the go all the time now!  You are officially crawling and pulling up and you don't like to just sit.  You have gone from crawling to sitting a few times, but not on a regular basis.  You don't want to sit still!  You are content to play on your belly:)  Even in the bathtub!  It's hard to keep you on your bottom, so we can't put much water in there.  You want to be on your belly!  Two of your favorite places to be on in Jovie's dog bed and in brother's chair.  You love to crawl in there and you laugh so hard and bury your head in there when we come to get you out:)

You had your first Spring Break and we got to do a lot of fun stuff with family!  You went on the swing and slide for the first time at the park (with our help), you went on your first horse ride (with Mama), went to the zoo again, met Aunt Jana for the first time, and met the Easter Bunny!  We had a great time:)

You are officially in 12 month clothes and still in size 3 diapers.  You babble a lot, but still don't say anything officially.  You clap every time we say "Yea" and you wrinkle your nose now when you smile and show your top 2 teeth (you have 3 now!).  You smile when we tell you know and just start crawling faster and you want to watch your brother at all times!

We are so excited to celebrate Spring with you.  We've almost lived in this house for a year and we can't wait to really enjoy this beautiful weather with you:)

We love you so much!

Love,
Mama and Daddy

Nine Months: A Letter

February 28, 2014

Dear Sweet Molly,

I can't believe you are nine months old!  You have officially been out of my belly as long as you were in.  You are 3/4 of a year old and this year is just flying by!

You had another exciting month!  We started this month going to Grandpa Doug's wrestling tournament!  It was your first trip and everyone just loved seeing you:)  We go every year to honor him and a lot of our family was there too!  We always take a picture of your brother on the 1st place podium and this year we got one of the two of you;)  Oh, how he would've loved you!  He had a special place in his heart for little girls:)

You also started to scoot that weekend.  Your great-grandpa Dennis says that the best way to teach babies to crawl is to use keys:)  It worked!  Uncle Callen jingled his keys and you took off after them!  You look like a little inch bug when you crawl, so I guess it's not technically "crawling", but you get where you want to go and you get there fast!  

You also experienced your first little stomach bug:(  You threw up a few times and wouldn't drink your bottle, but we got you to drink some Pedialyte out of your sippy cup and you did great!  We laid you down on the floor (which is how we taught your brother) and you did really well:)  It didn't last long, thank goodness and you bounced back, but then you got your second double ear infection.  You started coughing and your cough was pretty deep, so we took you in and that's what it was.  You'd think we'd start to figure these things out by now.  

Your second tooth appeared the very next day (on top!) and it's so cute:)  You'd been so drooly.  We can start to see it when you smile now.  I miss your little gummy grin, though! 

We celebrated Valentine's Day at Shogun.  We go there every year with the Rials to celebrate your cousin Megan's birthday!  You looked so cute and you even got to exchange Valentine cards with your friends at Mrs. Kelly's:)

Another big thing this month was your clapping!  We had been working on this for awhile, but you would just stare at us like we were crazy and you refused to even move your arms.  But then one day when you were in your highchair, I started clapping and so did you!  It was so exciting;)  Lucas was watching you and cheering you on and he was so happy for you!  It's so cute when you clap; because every time you clap, you look at your hands like you can't believe they just made that sound.  I love it and want to remember this:)

You also got to experience your first big snow.  It had dusted a few times, but it snowed a lot and we took you out to feel and see it:)  You don't have any gloves or very good clothes, so we didn't keep you out for long and your mix of clothes we put on you looked so silly, but you didn't seem to mind!

You are still sleeping so good at night and one thing that's changed a little this month is you falling asleep on us.  We absolutely love this and capture it whenever we can!  I don't know if it's because of your little stomach bug or your ear infections, but when we get you in the right position, you snuggle up and start snoozing;)  It's the sweetest!

You are now eating bits of real food now...so far you've tried spaghetti noodles with no sauce, cheese, green beans, corn, pancakes, waffles, bagels, baked potato, and any kind of bread.  You also love yogurt melts and anything that's banana-flavored; banana yogurt, banana puffs and banana yogurt melts!  I think we are going to move you to Level 2 fruits and some foods with meat in them.  You devour your supper, so I think we need to bump it up a little.  You are really good at pinching foods and you have loved everything you've tried:)  Maybe you won't be as picky as your brother!  One thing you do that your brother never did is put your hands in your hair when you're doing eating, which results in some very nasty hair!  I hope this stops before your hair gets too long.

You love giving high 5s, especially to daddy, say "dadadadada" and you still laugh at everything your brother does.  Now that you can move around more, he's starting to interact with you more and it's so fun to watch:)  Your relationship is my favorite and I cannot wait to see it unfold!  

We are so looking forward to this coming spring!  You are going to love being outside more, going to Daddy's baseball games, meeting some new family over Spring Break, and experiencing some more fun holidays:)  You are growing so fast and it's so fun to watch your little personality break through!  

We love you so much and are just so blessed to be your parents:)  We pray for your little heart that it would come to know Jesus and love your family!  

Love,

Mama and Daddy

Eight Months: A Letter

January 28, 2015

This letter is a little late...life is just so busy!  You are busy too:)  You are growing, learning, and progressing so fast.  I just can't believe 2/3 of your first year of life is over!

You started this month off with a double ear infection:(  You weren't fussy or anything, I just took you to the doctor because your eyes were goopy...not red like pink eye, but goopy.  The doctor said both of your ears looked awful and it backed up into your eyes.  He gave us some medicine and you took it like a champ!  At that appointment you weighed 17 lbs 4 oz.

We then celebrated the New Year and reflected on this last year.  It was a busy one with you entering our lives, but we are so blessed.  We also looked forward to this year and all that you'd accomplish!  It'll be a good one:)  We had some friends over and you had fun with Graham and you loved showing him all your new toys:)

You really got good at sitting up this month and hardly ever fall over.  You also have started easily going from sitting to belly because you are getting really close to crawling.  You get up on all 4s and rock back and forth:)

You got your first tooth on the bottom this month and love to munch on all kinds of stuff...apples, puffs,  and bread.

We had to go back to the doctor 2 weeks after to check on your ears and finally had your "6 month" appointment.  It was a little late because Dr. Freed was gone over the holidays.  You still weighed 17 lbs 4 oz (45%) and you were 27 in long (77%).  He said you needed to start eating 3 meals a day plus a night bottle.  So, you eat 4 oz oatmeal and a tub of yogurt for breakfast at 6:45a, a Step 1 veggie and 6 oz bottle for lunch at 11:15-11:30a, a Step 2 veggie and Step 1 fruit and a 6 oz bottle for dinner at 5:15p and a 3-4 oz bottle before bed at 7:15p.  You are still taking 2 naps a day and sometimes a 30 minute catnap from 4:15-4:45p (but not always).

After your shots, you had a fever and were pretty sleepy for a few days.  You fell asleep on Mama and Daddy a few times and it was amazing!

You got a few new toys for Christmas and you love to play with them...your taggie, your vanity mirror, and your peek-a-boo bear.

You went to a few birthday parties this month, as well.  Your brother's party was fun and we got to see a lot of family at our house, your Aunt Cassie and Lucas' birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse, and Lucas' friend Campbell's.  You had a blast playing with the bags and tissue and talking to Campbell's sister, Jordan.

You wear all 6-9 month clothing now and some 6-12 months.  You are still in size 3 diapers and I think just maybe your size 1 shoes might be getting little small:)  You got some leg warmers for Christmas and those are my favorite on you.  I just love your chunky thighs!

You grab for everything now and put anything and everything in your mouth.  I know once you start crawling this will get even crazier!  Brother has been practicing keeping his toys off the floor.  You love my necklaces and earrings, you grab for our food from our plates, and you love when Aunt Cassie holds you because of her long hair.  You are still very quiet and don't talk much and it still takes a lot of work to get you to laugh out loud.  Daddy can do it pretty consistently and Lucas is getting good at it too.  Your favorite thing with Mama is giving kisses and I love it too:)  You lean over and open your mouth even when I don't ask for it!

This month I want to remember how hard you chomp with that little tooth in your mouth, how you want to roll over immediately when you get on your changing table and how crazy your hair looks in the morning when you wake up.

You are about to get mobile and it's about to get a lot more exciting around here!  You have the sweetest disposition and you just love to feel and explore.  We couldn't ask for a better baby:)

We just love you so much and are so proud of the little lady you are becoming:)

Love,
Mama and Daddy