Posts Tagged ‘Growing up’

Operation Remove the Pacifier

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

That’s right, we started Pacifier Boot Camp in our house this week.  Surprisingly Mikayla is taking it a like a champ.  The first night I think she thought we just forgot and went on to sleep after crying for only a few minutes.  The next night she cried for 15-20 before falling asleep.  Last night was a little trickier because she is teething as well.  However, tonight she didn’t even make a sound.  She was either really tired (although Ben said she took a really long nap today) or doesn’t mind too much not having her pacifier! 

Yesterday was really funny though.  She had gone to a friends house for a few hours and must have seen Ben stick her pacifier into the diaper bag because all night she kept going over to it and pointing.  When she finally figured out how to get it out of the bag she  was so funny.  It was like she had found her long lost friend and wouldn’t let it out of her sight the rest of the night!  I wish I had gotten some pictures or video.  All in all though, I would say we are successfully removing the pacifier!

2009-12-25 Christmas 013Mikayla with short, dark hair (Decemberish) and her ever loved pacifier getting into to no good!

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My Little Thief

Friday, August 13th, 2010

In case you missed the video Ben posted of Mikayla the other day, here it is.  We had gone to Sonic for an after dinner treat and she stole my milkshake!

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Mikayla is One!

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

In case you didn’t her the news, our sweet Mikayla is now a one year old.  It is hard to believe that a year has past since she entered this world, but it sure has been a fun one! 

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We had a blow out party last weekend with close friends and family, but more on that soon!  Here are some of Mikayla’s one year stats from the doctor’s office.

Weight: 19lbs 2oz (up from 17lbs 5oz at 9 months)

Head Circumference: 45cm (up from 43.5cm at 9 months)

Length: 28 1/2 inches (up from 27 inches at 9 months)

She is still right at the 25 percentile in all areas, but Dr. F says she is healthy, so we will take it!  Other important milestones she has reached at one year:

  1. Walking – when she reached the one year mark she decided that walking would be her primary mode of transportation!_DSC4747.jpg_DSC4747.jpg
  2. Table foods – while we had already been giving her table foods for awhile, we got the official go ahead from Dr. F at her one year appointment.  She even likes a little dirt if she is working in the garden!  Her favorite foods at this point are blueberries and bananas and (like her mom) most carbs!_DSC4874.jpg_DSC4874.jpg _DSC4852.JPG_DSC4852.JPG
  3. Car seat – In my car we have graduated to a Convertible Car Seat.  She is still rear facing in the car, but once she reaches the 20lb mark she can be turned around to front facing.
  4. Pacifier – We have started the process of weaning her from the pacifier.  She now only gets the pacifier if she is sleeping, in the car or at the sitters (although the sitter told me on Friday that she wasn’t that interested in it)! Soon we are going to start the process of weaning her completely!
  5. Milk – We haven’t moved on to whole milk just yet, but that is mostly because we have some breast milk in the freezer that needs to be used.  Once that is all gone I will only nurse her in the morning and evening and she will get whole milk the remainder of the time.  Once school is out we will start the official weaning process.  I am most excited about not having to pump all the time anymore!
  6. Explorer – Mikayla loves to explore everything and is so inquisitive with new objects.  She likes to sort things, put objects in baskets (and then back out of the baskets), throw things, and watch.  She is just like her mommy in the sense that she loves to people watch, except that she likes to get their attention too!  She loves to laugh, smile and giggle.

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I am sure there are more milestones, but that is what I have at this point.   She is a fun loving kid who loves to be around people.  Perfect, if I do say so myself.

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**Pictures were taken by Melissa Devries Photography

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Little Miss Independent

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

As Mikayla gets older, she wants to be more and more independent.  She enjoys playing by herself and wants to walk/crawl everywhere.  She has been feeding herself some finger food for quite some time now and has a tendency to push away the spoon when we try to feed her.  So, I decided to try a little experiment tonight.  I made a bowl of cereal (on the thick side) and let Mikayla go to town.  Besides the mess she made, I would say she did a pretty good job!  Check out Little Miss Independent herself:

Forget the spoon, she goes in with her hands.  Is this a preview to her first birthday??

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In Case You Haven’t Heard…

Saturday, March 20th, 2010

This child

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Is WALKING!

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Check her out on Ben’s blog here.

By far the coolest milestone she has met thus far.  I am not sure why it was so exciting, but it was!  In case you can’t tell by the video, Ben and I are more excited than Mikayla about the fact that she is walking.  She still prefers to crawl, but is gaining more confidence each day with her walking.

**FYI – Her diaper is so large because it is a night time diaper.  Daytime diapers are not this "fluffy"!

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The best toys…

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

The best toys are not ones that you buy at the store and make a lot of noise.  The best toys are not ones that cost a lot of money.  The best toys are not the ones you (as the parent) choose as your favorite. 

No, the best toys are what you would least likely expect them to be.  They are items that you already have on hand or items that cost little.  Some of Mikayla’s favorite toys have been things like pots and spoons or magazines or containers of Puff’s.  This weekend we spent time with some dear friends in Tallahassee (see this post for more information) and Mikayla found a new toy…a laundry basket.  Who knew laundry baskets could be so much fun!  She liked to put things in it and then promptly take them out.  She enjoyed being dragged around their apartment while sitting in the laundry basket. 

Then she got the bright idea to stand up behind the laundry basket and try her hand at walking up and down the hallway pushing it.  She was really moving.  Check her out:

 

How cute is she?  Let’s take a poll…will she be walking by her first birthday (April 28)?

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My Little Chef

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Mikayla apparently takes after me and loves to cook.  Take a look for yourself.  Note the level of concentration on her face.

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We also had our first go at spaghetti this week.  I must say, she stayed cleaner than some of my kiddos at school when she ate it.

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Sunday marked Mikayla’s 10 month birthday.  Hard to believe 10 months have already passed.  Check out this, this and this post for past giraffe growth pictures.  Here she is at 10 months (note it is getting harder and harder to get her to lay still long enough to snap the photos).

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She is now standing for long periods and scooting along furniture.  She has even gone from sitting to standing a couple of times.  We fear walking is in our near future!  "Talking" up a storm too.  And even dancing a little, if you could call it that!  Here are a couple more videos of my Little Munchkin!

Sorry, this post got longer than I had intended.  Hope you enjoyed!

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She’s perfect…

Monday, February 1st, 2010

…even the doctor agrees! We already knew that she was perfect, but Dr. F. confirmed it this morning at her nine month check up.  Those were his words…"she’s perfect"!  Here are her nine month stats:

Height – 27 inches, up 7 inches from birth.  Pops, I think we have a ball player on our hands.  She has always been in the "above average" category for height.

Weight – 17lbs 5oz, up almost 10 pounds from birth (she was 7lbs 7oz in the hospital).  This has been an up and down battle with us, but she is right at the 25th percentile.  Dr. F. says that is great, so we will take it!

Head – 43.5cm…we are moving on up.  Her head has actually just made it on the average growth curve, she has always been below average in this category.

MLK has grown so much in these past nine months, I can’t believe she is only 3 months away from her first birthday!  She has accomplished so much.  Here are a few of her latest tricks.

  1. MLK can crawl.  If you have followed this blog at all you already knew that, but she is really moving these days.  All over the place.
  2. Pulling up.  Again, she has been doing this for some time now, but has really perfected it in the last few weeks.
  3. Standing on her own for around 20 seconds.  It won’t be long now before she is walking.
  4. Feeding herself.  She actually prefers this method much more than us feeding her.  She uses her hands (we will work on manners later) and makes a big mess, but she is doing great.
  5. One tooth and one more on the way.  This has caused quite the battle at night time, but we are managing.
  6. Mimicking.  She is at a really fun age right now because she tries to do everything we do.  If we click our tongue, she attempts to click hers.  If we wave our arms around, she will do the same.  It is so cute!

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Snow Day – In case you didn’t get the memo, BG got a ton of snow this past weekend.  A ton for us anyway.  We got between 6 and 8 inches.  It was beautiful.  MLK wasn’t a huge fan of the snow, but really all she can do at this point is sit in it.  Maybe next year.  Here are a few pictures from our snow adventures, but please excuse her "snow suit".  It is a Snoopy Halloween costume and it was the warmest thing we could find for her.  She showed a little resemblance to Randy from A Christmas Story, but at least she was warm!

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Chatty Cathy

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Sometimes we just like to talk…that’s all!

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MLK Update

Sunday, January 17th, 2010

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day, Mikayla’s namesake.  Check back later for pictures and comments about this and how we celebrated.  But for tonight, here are some recent pictures of our little MLK.

If you recall this post, you will be able to see how much MLK has really grown in 8.5 months.

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Mom got MLK this little zebra at a consignment sale, and while she isn’t quite ready to ride on her own, she is enjoying it.  Even Shiloh wanted in on the action! 2010-January 066   2010-January 068 2010-January 070

 

MLK was very eager to help me fold and put away the laundry yesterday.  She was a great helper!

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