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.

Savannah's Seven Month Update

I'm a few weeks late posting this update but we have a lot to cover!

This month we dove right in to eating solids! The hubs and I weren't sure if Savannah would ever learn to eat the first week or so. She was very skeptical about food and most of it was ending up on her hands or bib. But things quickly turned in the other direction and we have a good eater on our hands now! Some of her favorite foods are peas, sweet potato, mango and pears!

On the other side of things, she's not loving butternut squash and banana and avocado are hit or miss. For the first two weeks we fed her solids at dinnertime then added food at lunch and another two weeks later we added breakfast too. She's still taking in the same amount of milk in addition to all this food!

Learning to eat is messy! 

Savannah's seventh month also coincided with Mom's first trip away from Savannah. I was honored to be a bridesmaid in my friend Kim's beautiful wedding in Arkansas. We had debated taking Savannah but decided the quick trip south would be a bit much for everyone so the hubs stayed home with Savannah and single-parented like a champ!!! I missed my baby (and Ray too) but I made sure to check-in several times a day by text or phone and even got to Facetime with my little monkey a couple times. It was definitely hard being away but thankfully I was busy with lots of wedding related activities which helped keep my mind off how much I was missing my little girl. I was beyond happy to be reunited with my little family on Sunday and think overall it was a good first trip away for all of us.

First swing ride October 25th

We took a road-trip to Ohio last month (minus Brownie who stayed with Grammie and Grandan) to visit Ray's buddies from high school as well as their wives and kids. It was a lot of driving but Savannah did really well in the car and we had a great time at the Byers' Buckeye Bash!

Savannah's first sick day

Savannah got sick for the first time this month on Halloween of all days! We woke up to get her ready for her Halloween parade at school and noticed she felt warm. A temperature check told us she had a 102 degree fever which meant our little owl would miss her parade! Day 1 wasn't bad. We treated the fever with some baby pain reliever and aside from being less hungry and a little less energetic she was pretty much herself. Day 2 on the other hand...the cold came on full force! Our baby was all congested and had a really difficult time sleeping. We ran the humidifier, used saline drops and suctioned out her nose but it wasn't providing much relief. The only time Savannah would sleep was if she was being held. The second we'd go to lay her in her crib she'd wake up crying. Safe to say no one slept well that weekend. By Tuesday she was feeling and sleeping much better though. The hubs and I agreed seeing your baby sick is horrible. We are hoping we can keep her as healthy as possible this winter!

 Dressed up in her Halloween costume at Friendsgiving

Finally, we have a tooth!! Savannah was chomping away on Grandan's finger during a visit on November 8th when he felt something sharp. Sure enough, baby girl had her first tooth poking through on the bottom. That night she woke up 4 times -- I think because she was in pain from the tooth -- so we gave her some pain reliever and she slept till her normal wake-up around 6am. A few days later we noticed the other front bottom tooth poking through as well. We haven't been able to get a good picture of her little chompers yet but hopefully soon!

10.10.09

Happy 5th anniversary to my wonderful hubs!

The last five years have been quite the ride and I'm so glad to be on this journey with you. You are an amazing husband, loving father, and great friend. I'm so lucky to have you.  I look forward to many more years of happiness together and lots of wonderful memories!!   XOXO

Savannah's Six Month Update

Half way to one year old! How is this possible??!

Savannah had her six month check-up Tuesday and weighed in at 14 lbs. 14 oz. (25th percentile) and measured 26 1/2 inches long (85th percentile). Very healthy said the doctor! Our little monkey had to get two shots and they were the toughest yet partly because she was hungry and tired at the time. We (Mom, Dad & Sav) all got through it though and the doctor gave us the go-ahead to start solids so Savannah tried butternut squash for the first time that night. She wasn't too sure about it and most of it wound up on her face or bib but I know she'll get the hang of this eating thing soon. After a few more days of squash we plan to try avocado and sweet potato!

Making messes

Trying food for the first time

This month Savannah took her first beach trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina for a family wedding. She really liked sticking her toes in the sand and staring out at the ocean! We stayed in a house with her Grammie, Grandan, Aunt De and Don Al and I think it's safe to say everyone was happy to have a few days of "baby time."

Storytime with Aunt De

Loves to stand especially with a little help from Grandan

Savannah has settled into a really great schedule at daycare over the last month. She wakes up in the morning between 6 - 6:30am. I drop her at daycare just before 8am and she takes a bottle at 9am, noon, and 3pm. She's taking three naps a day -- one from 9-10:30am, another from 12:15-2pm, and a catnap from 4:30-5pm. I pick her up around 5:45pm and then nurse her in the evening before bed at 7:30pm.

Love visits from Grammie

Family pic in Outer Banks

Nighttime sleep has been great this month! Savannah isn't waking nearly as often if at all. I think part of it has to do with the fact that's she's started rolling onto her stomach at night and sleeping on her belly. Every once in awhile she'll wake-up fussing and she wants to be rolled back on her back or side but otherwise everyone is getting some good shuteye these days! Also, Savannah has been working on sitting both at home and at school and Mom and Dad think it's fun to watch her wobble a little from side-to-side as she practices this new skill.

Finally, Savannah walked "strolled" with her Mom and Dad in her first 5k this month in support of Prevent Cancer Foundation. After the walk which took place at Nats Park, we got to go down on the field and check out the batting cages inside the stadium!

Nats Park. First baseball field visited.

This month we've learned....

• 5+ hour car rides with a baby aren't so bad when you take turns entertaining your little munchkin in the backseat.
• Grandan can't be trusted with vanilla ice cream.
• A sweet little baby face is even more adorable when covered with butternut squash.
• You will slightly panic when you wake-up in the morning and see your little one asleep on her stomach for the first time.