today you are 9 months old AND you are celebrating your very first valentines day so it is an extra special day around here. evelyn was visiting us (you could not stop smiling at her!) and we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. you got a baby songs dvd, a musical key ring, and a container of lil' crunchies (your fave!) for your valentines gifts...sorry, no chocolate for you just yet!
this is what a sample day looks like for you...
7.15am - wake up. lay in crib and play with toes. sing. talk to the decorations on the walls.
8.00am - get up! you are always so happy to start your day with your mom, dad, or miss leah. i am "training" you to sleep until 8am mostly because this is what time leah arrives and because on the weekends when leah is not arriving, i would not like to get up before 8am. :)
8.15am - feed puppies breakfast. feed miles breakfast. this month you have been really into rice cereal with mixed fruit. we mix up the cereal with white grape, pear, or apple juice and you eat bowls of the stuff! sometimes you also have yogurt bites with your cereal. this month you also tried waffles and pancakes, and enjoyed both.
8.45am - jump in the jumper in your playroom.
9.00am - a nap in your crib. i am going to be really sad when you stop scrunching up into a tiny ball and sucking on your fingers to sleep. its adorable! you've been using a handmade afghan that a friend of mine knit for you as your blanket and you've been cuddling with a little puppy dog rattle/blanket thingie. if i watch for signs that you are getting sleepy (rubbing eyes, cranky, staring) and lay you down then, you usually will go right to sleep.
10.00am - wake up. play with blocks, musical train, etc in your playroom. you sit and reach for your toys. if something is out of reach you lean forward, folding yourself in half and stretch your arm out sideways to reach it. if you can't quite reach it, you either give up or start to get upset. you are still not seeming interested in crawling at all. we will enjoy it while it lasts i suppose.
11.00am - another nap in your crib.
12.00pm - breastfeed. hang out with mom and blab away. you love to hear the itsy bitsy spider and play peek-a-boo. if i put a blanket on my head or on your head then you will pull it off and grin when i say peek-a-boo. i also do patty cake with my hands and sometimes help you do it with your hands. you love just chillaxin with your mom.
12.30pm - play with toys in the playroom. maybe jump for a few. read some books. all month your two favorite books were your lift the flap books ...."little people farm book" and "toes, ears, and nose". though you still enjoy these books a bunch, this past week you found a new favorite book. it's a baby einstein book "mirror me" that i bought for you at half price books. it has a mirror on every other page for you to mimic what the character on the previous book is doing. you rarely look at the mirrors but you LOVE the pictures of the animals. you grin like crazy when we read this book. and when its over you slap your legs and get really excited because you can't wait for me to read it again. so i do. again. and again. the other day, after 8 times, i hid it under the couch. you strained and strained trying to find it and then burst into tears.
1.30pm - nap in your crib.
3.00pm - snack. usually lil' crunchies and water.
3.15pm - play with toys in the playroom. if the weather is nice we sometimes go to the neighborhood park. sometimes we go to the grocery store or run an errand.
4.00pm - breastfeed. then, a nap in your crib.
5.00pm - sit and play with the water bottles and pitchers in one of the kitchen cabinets while mom cooks dinner. try some of what mom is cooking for dinner...pasta, sweet potatoes, green beans, bread, chicken, cheese, etc.
6.00pm - nap in your crib.
7.00pm - play with dad. jump. play with toys.
8.00pm - bath time. you LOVE bath time! this past week you graduated to the big tub. you have already figured out how to drain the water. you love to feel the water coming out of the faucet and investigate the bubbles it causes.
8.30pm - breastfeed and a good nite story. we have been reading goodnight moon (another half price books find) each night the past few weeks. then to bed in your crib.
12.00am - breastfeed and go back to bed.
3.00am - wake up, cry.
3.15am - fall back asleep. mom refuses to wake up for less than a 4hr interval these days. :)
6.00am breastfeed and go back to bed.
and there ya have it. this is what you are up to. most days you spend from 8am to noon with miss leah. your dad is also starting to take care of you a lot more and you are really bonding with both of them.
you enjoy going to the nursery at church. yesterday when i went to pick you up i was a little embarrassed because you were having so much fun with the toys (they were pretty cool toys!) that you wouldn't even look up to see me! and when i did pick you up, instead of acting happy to see me, you just craned your neck down to try to get back to the toys that were on the floor.
you get very excited. you show this by breathing really fast, nodding your head, rocking your body, and slapping both arms on your legs repeatedly. you have also started making a clicking/smacking sound with your lips when you are happy.
you had a rough week this past week because you were teething. yesterday i felt that one of your top two front teeth has poked on through, giving you a grand total of 3 teeth, and the fourth is going to be here very shortly.
you love your puppies, especially brady. you watch their every move and love to try to pet them. you laugh and laugh if brady licks you and then reach out your hands to pet him.
we love you so much and think you are the most beautiful and sweet baby in the world! nothing makes me happier than seeing you smile. :)
