Blakely 14 Months

I've said it before and I'm going to say it again..and again...and again...

Blakely is growing WAY too fast and getting so big. She has learned so many new things this month I just don't know where to begin. Oh wait, yes I do...

SHE'S WALKING! (I think that milestone deserves all caps)

About two weeks ago, Kevin came home from work and said, "Blakely, walk to daddy." And so she did! Then over the next few days, she started taking more and more steps. Now, she pretty much walks everywhere (with a few tumbles still of course). She's still a little unsteady on her feet but she's trying so hard. However, when she decides she needs to get somewhere quickly, she'll immediately get down and just take off crawling.

• Her vocabulary is still mostly comprised of her own invented words but she's gotten some new ones down.  Nana and Papa, milk, juice, play and cheese have been added this month.

• When you ask her what a bear says, she goes, "Raaaar." Actually, she does that with any animal but the bear is the cutest because it actually makes sense.

• She is learning to play by herself which is great! She can entertain herself with the remote, uh I mean her toys, for a while and it frees me up to get things done.

She's ready to go walking with Mommy!

• She spent her first...and second and third nights away from Kevin and me this week. Actually, she's been away from Kevin before but never me. It was hard but also great to get away. Our second anniversary was this week and so we decided to take our first vacation since our honeymoon together for a few days. Blakely had a great time with Nana and Papa while Mommy and Daddy went to Atlantic City. We missed her so much and were racing each other to the front door when we got back to see who could get to her first. 

• She has learned what "inside voice" means. We'll be riding down the road and she'll start screaming. I'll say, "Blakely, inside voice," and then she starts whisper screaming. 

 

• She has learned to click her tongue and loves doing it. She knows it gets a laugh from others so she does it quite frequently.

It has been so wonderful being with her everyday during my summer break. I go back to work next week and will miss her like crazy during the day. But I know she will have a great time with her Nana and cousins while Mommy is at work.

Blakely 13 Months

I've been debating whether or not to keep doing monthly updates on Blakely since she has reached 1 year old. I finally decided to keep doing them until she turns 2 for two reasons.
1. She hasn't hit a lot of her milestones and I want to continue keeping track of her growth until she reaches them.
2. These updates will force me to not get lazy in putting up new pictures of her on a regular basis.

So here we go!

• She is still crawling everyone she goes but last week she started doing this adorable monkey crawl where she's on her feet and hands. I'm so ready for her to take off and walk but I guess this is a step in the right direction.

• Her vocabulary is picking up and she's learning some new words. She is now saying dog, please (all the time which makes mommy proud), and yes. She babbles constantly and it is so cute to see her carry on whole conversations in her own little language.

• She's starting to understand the purpose of a phone and will hold it up to her ear when she gets a hold of one. It's really cute to watch but she also likes to push all the buttons. She has been known to hang up on quite a few people when I let her talk to them.

• She finally hit 20 pounds (Woo Hoo!!) but is still a little small for her age. She's not the greatest eater (obviously she doesn't have mommy's appetite) and usually just picks at her food. Luckily, she's not real picky in terms of what she'll eat. She'll eat most anything but not large amounts of it.

Go Gamecocks!! (But not really. Mommy is a Clemson fan but we have to support Uncle Jon's Alma Mater.)

• Bananas are her favorite food. I will give her a whole banana and she'll finish it in about 5 minutes! 

• She takes two really good naps everyday. She sleeps for about 2-3 hours in the morning and then about 2 hours in the afternoon. Nighttime is also getting better. She still gets up anywhere from 2-4 a.m. and sometimes will go back to sleep in her crib but sometimes will want to sleep with Kevin and me. Of course, we don't mind that extra snuggling with her and are just thankful that she sleeps most of the night in her crib.

Blakely, you amaze me everyday!! I will tell you every day of your life how much I love and treasure you!

Blakely 12 Months!

How fast this wonderful year has flown by!! One year old is such a fun age and I can really see how Blakely is going from a baby to a toddler. Here are some highlights and updates on what she is doing now.

• She is still pretty small. She is 29 inches long which is in the 25-50th percentile for height and weighs 18 pounds which is in the 10th percentile for weight. Unfortunately that means she can't switch over to her forward facing seat that Kevin and I bought her. She needs to weigh at least 20 pounds to switch over. So for the next few months, she'll have to continue using her baby seat.

• She's becoming a bit of a drama queen lately. If she gets hurt, she cries for an extended period of time, even if she's being comforted. I think it's her way of making sure she gets extra attention.

• She is so very, very close to walking. She's been walking with help for about two months and navigates around tables very easily as long as she's holding on to something. This past week, she started walking by holding only one of my hands instead of two so I'm hoping she'll let go of my hands soon. She is doing such a great job of standing alone so I know walking is just around the corner.

• She is starting to make a lot more sounds and noises with her mouth. When my sister was here last weekend, she taught Blakely to say "More" when she wanted more to eat. Well, it's her own special version of more. She's also learned this past week to say "Done" when she doesn't want any more to eat. Those words are so much more pleasant to hear than lots of fussing.

• Sleeping alone is going a little better. The night before last she went to bed in her crib at 8:00 and we didn't hear anything from her until 7:00 the next morning. It was wonderful!! However, that is not the norm for her. With school ending this week, my goal is to have her trained to sleep the whole night in her crib by the end of June. Although, truth be told, Kevin and I will really miss having her with us all night. 

• Her two top teeth have finally poked through.

• She LOVES to play peek-a-boo especially in the bathtub at night. She'll pull the shower curtain closed when I say, "Where's Blakely?" Then she'll throw it open and start laughing. It absolutely cracks me up.

• She is definitely a Nana's girl! When I drop her off in the mornings, she is ready to go to Nana and doesn't really care that I'm leaving. However, when I pick her up in the afternoons, she does not want to go home. Sometimes she'll even cry when I try to take her from my mother-in-law. I love that she loves her Nana so much! Kevin and I are so blessed to have her because I never have to worry when I'm at work and I know she is getting so much love throughout the day!

My sweet darling Blakely, you are loved so much more than you will ever know! You fill up my life with joy and my heart with love.

Blakely's 1st Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl! She was one yesterday and we had such a great weekend celebrating her birthday. My mom flew in from South Dakota and my sister came from New York City to help her celebrate. It is so hard to believe that it has been a year already but it truly has been the best year of my life.

We celebrated Blakely's birthday on Saturday, June 4 at my in-laws house. They have the most beautiful backyard so they let us use their house to have a cookout and pool party. They did all the cooking and my sister, mom, and I did all the baking. The food was amazing and we had lots of family and friends who came to celebrate with us.

One of the most fun things about this party was making Blakely's birthday cake. I've always done cupcakes but never a cake and I was kind of nervous that it wouldn't turn out right. However, I was really happy with the end result and had a great time making it along with the cupcakes. I'll do another post later on how I put her cake together because it was so easy!!

Daddy putting together her present!

I think Daddy needs some cake too!

Blakely and Auntie Amy

"I bet Daddy didn't think he'd be teaching me to drive this soon!"

Enjoying my new wagon with Lexie Kate

 Happy Birthday my sweet girl!! I thank God every day for blessing daddy and me with your life. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for your life!

11 Months!

So I'm a little late in getting this update done but better late than never. Blakely will be one year old in two weeks and I cannot believe how fast this year has flown! She has truly made this one of the best years of my life. Here are some highlights and new things she is doing now.

• She is walking really well as long as she's holding on to something. I don't think it will be too much longer before she takes off on her own.
• She is standing by herself now for a few seconds at a time. However, when she realizes she's not holding on to anything, she quickly sits down for fear of falling.
• She's eating a lot of solid foods now. I still give her some food from a baby jar since she only has two bottom teeth, but I'm trying to introduce her to new foods every day. 

• Speaking of teeth, Blakely has had the same two teeth for about 5 months now and I've been wondering when she'll get more. Just yesterday, I noticed a new little tooth poking through on the top. I'm hoping some more are just around the corner.

• Sleeping is still not great but we're working on it. She goes down in her crib every night, but about an hour later wakes up and wants to get in bed with me and Kevin. Once she's with us, she sleeps pretty well through the night. My goal is to use this summer while I'm not working and get her used to sleeping through the night in her crib. I know it may mean lots of getting up and rocking her at first, but since I'm off work it won't be as difficult to give up my nights. Hopefully it won't take long to get her adjusted.

• She is into absolutely everything!! Her favorite "toys" are my 10 seasons of Friends. She loves to pull them off the DVD shelf and scoot them around the floor as she crawls. Her favorite room in the house is the bathroom. When I walk away from her and come back to find she's gone, I know she's in the bathroom playing. She loves to stand up against the tub and put her hands in whatever water has been left there from the shower. However, I try to keep the bathroom door closed as much as possible because I have found her digging through the trash and sticking her hands in the toilet.

• She is wearing 9-12 month clothing (but mostly 9 month) and is petite for her age. Her last couple of visits, she has been in the 25 percentile for weight and height so I'm curious to see if that's changed at her next visit.
• She is talking so much now, although only she can understand what she is saying. She is definitely saying "mama" and "dada" but everything else is her own language. However, she is using a lot of voice inflection now as if she's trying to really have a conversation when she talks.

 

To my sweet Blakely, you are the joy of mommy and daddy's life. Thank you God for this amazing little miracle!!