Savannah's One Year Update!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a one year old!

When did our baby become a toddler?!

I can sum up this month in one word -- BUSY! You are so busy and on the move all the time! Your favorite activities this month continue to be climbing the stairs, playing in the dog's water bowl, and going through cabinets!  You point at everything and we talk to you about what you see. We ask you, "where's the dog?" or "where's Dad?" and you point at the correct object. Such a smart little girl.

You had your first injury at school this month. A bloody nose. You got up and walked across the room, lost your balance and bopped your nose on the way down. Your teachers gave you lots of love and made it all better though! For the most part, you've gotten really good at walking this month so we are thankful this is the only major accident so far in learning to walk (knock on wood).

First swim lesson

This month you also started swim classes at Oak Mar Rec Center with some of your baby friends from my mom's group. You loved the pool, even if the water was a little cold and made you shiver. Your Grammie and Granddan drove up to watch you at your first "lesson" and you did great! You love when we sing and do ring-around-the-rosie. You watch mom blow bubbles in the water and you try to mimic me.

Peek-a-boo is your favorite game to play. Dad took you to lunch on Good Friday since you had the day off from school and you were playing peek-a-boo with people at the next table. At home, you like to use your dinner plate or sippy cup to "hide" from us.

Easter 2015

Other updates....

WEIGHT/HEIGHT: your one year appointment isn't until next week but our unofficial measurements at home have you at 20 lbs and 28.5 inches long.

Little bunny

TEETH: 6 (bottom two and top four)

Check out my teeth! 

EATING: all time time! You love eggs, blueberries, sweet potatoes, chicken fajitas and peas. You love going out to eat and being able to take in all the sights and sounds. We introduced cows milk last week and while unsure about it at first, you've started to drink a few ounces at a time. After twelve months of only breast milk, we have officially started the weaning process. The plan is to substitute one bottle of breast milk/nursing session with cows milk every week until there are no more bottles left. I plan to keep nursing in the morning and evening for now.

Time for bed; to bed I said.

SLEEP: you are taking two naps (a 40 minute morning nap and 1 1/2 hour afternoon nap) most days but will soon transition to one nap at school. You generally sleep from 7:15pm to 6:30am with one wake-up around 4am.

Things we learned this month...

• Leaving your baby for 7 hours to have a "day date" doesn't mean you won't miss her like crazy!
• When your baby wakes up four times in one night, teething is the only answer.
• Plastic Easter eggs are so much fun.
• Smiling while shaking your head "no" will bring big smiles and laughs from Mom & Dad (at least for now)! 

Happy Birthday to our sweet little girl! Thank you for a year filled with wonderful memories. We can't wait to keep watching you grow! 

Savannah's Eleven Month Update!

Oh baby, our baby is eleven months old!

What a month is was! We officially have a walker! 

New walking shoes!

At the end of the month Mommy and Savannah flew up to Maine for cousin Courtenay and Andrew's wedding. Dad couldn't go because he had an important work trip to California. Before we left, the hubs predicted Savannah would walk while we were in Maine but I assured him she was nowhere near walking. Well, on day 1 (February 25th) in Maine that sneaky little baby took 5 or 6 steps and the rest of the trip was filled day and night with her practicing her new skill. 

Here's the best video caught of Savannah walking in Maine by Randi

Savannah had a great time in Maine especially at the wedding where she enjoyed dancing, watching the flower girl twirl around in her dress, and pointing at the moose in the lobby of Point Lookout Resort. 

With Mommy, Zia Jenny and the moose

The only hiccups during the trip were nighttime sleep (ugh, teething) and some separation anxiety when mom wasn't around. Otherwise, it was a great trip that was extended by a day and a half due to bad weather. 

Not a fan of the snow

A few more updates....

TEETH: Savannah had stalled at two teeth since around seven months old but number three finally busted through in Maine (good eye Uncle Brian) and I think number four is on its way.

EATING: Savannah is all about food this month. If we are eating, she wants it and it's amazing how much food this little girl can put down! One day in Maine she ate an egg, banana and half a piece of toast for breakfast!  We introduced some gluten to #paleobaby this month so that she doesn't get sick on her 1st birthday when she tries cake for the first time. She's had cheerios, bread with peanut butter, pasta, and crackers. Savannah is eating three solid meals a day plus a snack or two at school. She hasn't really cut back on breastmilk at all but in another month we'll start the transition to whole milk. 

"I love zoodles!"

ACTIVITY: busy busy busy. Savannah loves to climb the stairs, pull everything out of the kitchen cabinets, and chase after Brownie! She loves books and anything that plays music. 

"Mom, I found the plastic bags!"

COMMUNICATION: Savannah can say Mama, Dada, Doggy, HIIIIIIII, and shake her head no. Also, she likes to point at everything! 

Things we learned this month...

• Flying alone with a baby isn't so bad especially when you have snacks and new toys in your arsenal!
• Baby shoes aren't cheap but they sure are cute.
• Only serve zoodles and sauce on bath night.
• 10.5 months is a good time to finally give up the third nap.
• We miss Dad when we don't see him for 6 days. 

Savannah's Ten Month Update!

We've reached double digit months old!

Savannah had her first experience as a competitor this month. She participated in the Diaper Derby race against four other babies at halftime of the George Mason University men's basketball game at the beginning of the month. The babies had to crawl from the foul line to half-court where one of their parents (mom) was waiting.

Savannah got off to a good start and was leading for much of the race, but right at the end she was distracted by one of the other parents cheering for their baby and another baby (the oldest one in the group) crossed half-court first. The race was sponsored by Virginia 529 so the winning baby received $529 in a Virginia 529 college savings account. Oh well, no college for Savannah ;)

Second place in the Diaper Derby

It may sound funny, but Savannah learned to lift her leg this month which has enabled her to become an expert stair climber! It happened on January 20th and once she did it once, it was like she had been doing it for months. Another milestone reached and another moment her parents wish she'd stop growing up so fast!

Savannah's eating was kind of all over the place this month since she was sick a few times and didn't feel like eating much when she was under the weather. She did decide this month that she doesn't like to be fed by anyone and would much prefer self-feeding. Most mornings start with a scrambled egg and veggies for breakfast and lunch is a mix of things including roasted veggies, deli turkey & cheese, or any other leftovers we have in the fridge. She typically eats the same dinner as us. Savannah's afternoon snack at school is usually fruit and she's been trying other foods served by the school at almost all her meals. The other day she tried the inside of a quesadilla and loved it!

Raspberries and banana pancakes! 

In addition to getting a big cold in the middle of the month, Savannah decided to bring the stomach bug home from school this month and all three of us were sick at the SAME EXACT TIME. Talk about miserable. It's bad enough to see your baby sick like that but even harder when you yourself are feeling so terrible. I'll spare you the details but somehow we all got through it and I hope we don't have to deal with another stomach bug like that for a looooooong time!

And that brings us to sleep which has not been the greatest. In fact, this was probably the worst month of sleep for Savannah ever. Holiday travel, a nine month sleep regression and two bouts of sickness have proven to be pretty significant disruptions to Savannah's nighttime sleep routine. She's been getting up one to two times a night and most of the  time she doesn't fall back to sleep easily.  This past week we even had a few nights in a row where she woke up in the middle of the night and it took 3 hours to get her to go back to sleep. Safe to say, we were all tired those couple days.  Now that she's healthy and we have no travel plans in the near future, Mom and Dad are going to give her another week or two to sort this whole sleep thing out before we start considering some sleep training.

Things we learned this month...

• Nothing is worse than a sick baby. Except maybe sick parents trying to take care of a sick baby.
• We can get rid of all the toys. All Savannah needs is the baby-gate.
• Even strangers at Whole Foods notice and comment how "engaged with the world" Savannah is.
• Babies don't always wake-up after they've gotten sick in their crib. 

Savannah's Nine Month Update!

Savannah's another month older! And mom's late again on the monthly update...shocking.

A week really makes a huge difference! Savannah started to crawl the day she turned eight months and just a short seven days later she was crawling like a pro. Not only that, but all of a sudden she thought it would be fun to pull up and stand which surprised mom and dad because it happened so darn quick! Safe to say, Savannah's crib was lowered to the lowest setting on December 14th. While we were in Maine she decided to stand up in her crib for the first time (December 29th) and now it's a regular occurrence for us to walk into her room and she's standing there greeting us with a wide smile.

We made two failed attempts to see Santa this month -- wicked long lines -- but thankfully the third time was a charm. Savannah wasn't too sure about the big man and it was difficult to coax a smile out of her but we have a nice picture to remember the moment.

Savannah celebrated three Christmas' this year! One at the lake, one at home with Mom & Dad, and one in Maine. Christmas brought lots of wonderful new gifts and Savannah made a few attempts to unwrap gifts and pull tissue paper out of gift bags but for the most part she was entertained with empty boxes and bows! On Christmas Day Savannah also clapped for the first time which was totally adorable! She holds one hand still and claps with the other hand.

Christmas presents

"My stocking is bigger than me!"

Grandan's snow globe is fascinating 

Savannah took her second plane ride to Maine this month to celebrate Christmas with family. She didn't get to experience her first snow there (that happened on January 6th when Virginia got a few inches) but she enjoyed all the attention from family and friends and or course she loved my brother's dog, Andy.

"Is this ribbon for me?"

At her 9 month appointment she weighed 17 lbs. 5 oz (20th percentile) and was 27.5 inches long (50th percentile). She had two shots but handled them pretty well and her teachers said you would have never known she had shots that morning because she was such a happy girl the rest of the day.

Hanging with Uncle Brian

As for food. Savannah's been eating a lot more table food the last couple weeks. She gets sorta angry when I feed her purees so I've been giving her things she can easily pick up and mash with her gums. She's loving scrambled eggs and sauteed zucchini for breakfast. Lunch favorites include deli turkey, pieces of sweet potato and brussel sprouts.

 Helping Memere bake

Savannah's Eight Month Update

Our little elf is eight months old!

Savannah has become pretty darn mobile this month! Scooting and rolling all over the place and right as she turned 8 months old she decided to see what this whole forward movement thing was all about and crawl! Mom and Dad were super excited and clapped and cheered....then quickly realized...we need to baby proof!! So that's currently at the very top of our "To Do" list.

"I'm so excited to take my monthly picture!"

Savannah enjoyed a weekend visit from her Memere this month (we made a fun trip to the local craft fair) as well as her first Thanksgiving which we spent at the lake with Grammie, Grandan, Aunt De, Don Al and lots of other family. Savannah loved all the people and attention and "went hard" when she was awake which meant come nap or bedtime she crashed so we all got some good rest.

Snuggles with Memere

Thanksgiving is awesome

We attended Savannah's first George Mason basketball game this month too! Our little music fan was totally in awe of the Green Machine (Mason's band) and did really well at the game. Mason even ended up winning with a game winning shot (which we missed because our little one was basically falling asleep on my lap). Oh well, at least she brought them good luck!

Pink ear plugs for the win 

Fun with Grandan at the GMU game

Savannah's been eating three meals of solids a day in addition to 6 nursing sessions/bottles a day! She tried a lot of new foods this month including greek yogurt, cauliflower, watermelon, turkey, hummus, blueberries and wild rice soup from Panera! She loved them all!

A few of Savannah's Thanksgiving "art projects" from school

Cutest little turkey

This month we've learned....

• Brownie is hilarious (see video below).
• We need a new Christmas tree skirt since Savannah thinks the shiny rhinestones on our current one are good for teething.
• Savannah gets angry if we don't feed her fast enough.