Fifty One Weeks!

(Picture to come later... we had professional pictures taken on her 51st week day, so I'll be posting one once we get the rights to one :))


Weight: We did the old trick where we step on the scale with her, step off, then back on without her, and it seems our girl is a whopping 20 pounds! What!? That would mean she's gained three pounds in the last month and a half. We'll see if it's true when we get the official states at her 12-month appointment, scheduled for next Thursday.  

Sleep: Sleep continues to be pretty good. Some nights she's straight through, other nights she's up once.

Medical Issues: Feeling good :) Wondering if we're getting some teeth because of a drooly mouth (from a typically non-drooly baby) and some interesting diapers.

Clothes: Wearing six to 12 month clothes and three-to-six month jammies, but those are slowly starting to get too short for her. 

Socialite!: We had a big birthday bash on Mother's Day for Lizzie, so she got to hang out with 24 pretty awesome people! She's in love with her cousins, especially Mykenna. She definitely gave Mykenna a hug on her birthday party day, unprompted :) It was adorable.

Diet: I bought girlfriend some whole milk, so she's now having that with meals. We're still using formula until it's used up for breakfast and snacks (for the most part). Honestly, I'm a crazy nutrition foodie mom and I kind of worry about her eating what they offer at daycare. I'm not into crackers (crazy mom, yes. But where's the nutritional value?), and the other day they gave her a slice of Kraft Singles and I just about went through the roof with worry (preservatives? Artificial flavoring? Coloring? Aaaaah!!!). Whatever. It's something I need to get over maybe.

Food rant over. Well, blog-wise… but not in my head.

Any suggestions/words of wisdom on this subject?

Anyway, like I said, girlfriend got her first-ever taste of birthday cake over the weekend and she was in LOVE. It was hilarious :) She continues to love everything we put on her tray. This week, we had some whole-wheat pasta with a white sauce and diced tomatoes in it, and she ate both the tomatoes and the pasta (which seems to be her only food aversion)… woohoo! And even I ate the tomatoes, so it was a big night all-around in our house ;) Lizzie continues to be a far better eater than I!

Baby Gear Love: Books. Over and over, the same ones, six times over. I love it! I've got a few of her favorites memorized and have even recited a few to my third graders :) It's so fun how much she loves to read. At night before bedtime, we read and read and read, and when it's time to put the books away, girlfriend gets the saddest, puppy dog look and cries a few tears. So sweet.

Crying: Lizzie is such a happy babe. She only cries when she's hungry or tired.

Mommy News: Finally, a week when I don't have to mention any sad news! Everything is looking great, my uterus is back to a healthy state, and all is well. Praise God!

Loved Lizzie's birthday party over the weekend, though I'm glad it will only happen once a year :) I loved the prep in the weeks leading up to her party, but the night before was pretty intense as we finally put everything up and together. But it was wonderful! We are so lucky to have such wonderful family so close :)

I only have a few weeks left of school at this point, and can't wait to spend my days with my girl!

I truly can't believe she's a year old already! Though it seems it's gone so fast and she just got here, it's also strange because I feel like she's been here forever. She is my little miracle, and sometimes I still can't believe she's ours. Every single struggle, every heartbreak, every up-and-down, every tear, was completely worth this beautiful sweet baby who calls me "mama".

Milestones:  Lizzie had her first birthday party on Sunday and turned ONE on Monday, May 12th! Can't believe we are Mommy and Daddy to a one-year-old!

Lizzie shared her second Mother's Day with Mommy ;) Though not as exciting, still just as memorable since we had her birthday party on that day :)

We're babbling more and more all the time, with new sounds and new intonations. Love it!

She's starting to say "uh-oh" and "uh" for "up". I swear she's saying "mamama" for milk these days as well. Whenever she sees or hears a puppy (or the word "puppy"), she does a little "wuh wuh wuh".

Starting to be more confident in our standing skills these days, too! She's been testing the waters on standing alone from time to time :)

Fifty Weeks!

Weight: I'm guessing around 18 pounds. 

Sleep: Sleep is really good lately, usually giving us full, through-the-night, sleeps.

Medical Issues: Feeling good :)

Clothes: Wearing six to 12 month clothes (still a little big!) and three-to-six month jammies. 

Socialite!: Just hanging out with our daycare friends lately :)

Diet: Girlfriend is crazy for milk… as in, regular milk. No, it's not replacing formula -- though it will (in whole-milk form)  as of Monday the 12th (her first birthday!). She drinks it out of her mason jar mug with a straw that she got for Easter in her basket. It is toooooo cute!

We also LOVE raspberries! Can't get enough. I've noticed lately that she seems to like her fruits the most, veggies in second place, and typically the "main course" in third place. She typically cleans her tray, so it doesn't really matter -- but she does seem to eat things in that order. She now requests all of her food on her tray at one time -- I used to hold the fruit back until everything else was finished because she wouldn't eat anything else otherwise. Now, however, she'll definitely eat her fruit first (and then point at the fruit on our plates later in order to "request" more, after hers is all gone… :)), but she'll finish eating everything else afterward. Here's to hoping this "clean plate club" and the love of veggies and all thing flavorful continues into toddlerhood! (Seriously? Did I just say "toddlerhood"? I can't believe my girl is so big!)

Baby Gear Love: We just got a bike trailer for Lizzie to sit in, and unfortunately, the weather hasn't been too great for it at this point; however, the two times she has gotten a little ride in it, she's loved it. She waves and is all smiles while she rides in it :)

Crying: Lizzie is such a happy babe. She only cries when she's hungry or tired.

Mommy News: Unfortunately, my miscarriage nightmare didn't end last week with my D & C. Instead, it seems not everything was "gotten" with that surgery -- so I had to go back and have a hysteroscopy and D & C performed again this week. What. A. Nightmare. But, praise God, all went well and everything is fine now. I'm so ready to put the past few weeks behind me.

From this point on, just looking forward! Just a few weeks left of school and girlfriend's birthday bash this weekend :) Can't believe she'll be one year old in less than a week! (Yes, this is her 50-week post… yes, I am a week behind :))

Milestones: Lizzie can walk behind a walker, one-handed these days :) She's got that "look" in her eye, that she wants to let go of things and just try taking some steps, but it's almost like she thinks better of it before she actually does it. 

I swear she's saying, "woof, woof" at times when she sees dogs. She's saying "raaar" more and more, too :)

Last night, she did say "uh-oh!" It was adorable (I think every parent thinks most anything their child does is adorable at this age)!

Her sense of humor is really coming out -- girlfriend will offer us different objects, and just before we take them from her, she'll pull them away and laugh hysterically :) I just love it!

She's doing this funny thing now, too, where she'll throw her head back and laugh uncontrollably at the tiniest thing. Just about everything is funny to this girl!