10 Months Old!/11 Months Old!

Amelia is 11 months old!

With a trip to the beach, the Wagner's visiting SC AND a trip to Iowa I missed the 10 month update so we are doing 10 and 11 months together.

Can you believe my little baby will be 1 year old in less than a month? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? As if I even need to mention it but it is getting harder and harder to take that monthly photo...as you can see!

So much is going on...where to start....

Amelia is at a very fun stage. She is mobile and independent and LOVES to play but she is also loving and sweet and learning how to show her emotions.

Starting back in August she gained so much confidence with her pulling up. Now she pulls up every chance she can get and cruises along the furniture with ease.On September 9th she learned how to walk with her walking toy and she hasn't stopped since. Its the sweetest thing, she pushes it and walks and looks back at us with the biggest smile of pride I have ever seen. We clap and cheer and she walks along. She is so smart. When she first started walking with the toy she would walk it until she hit a dead end then get down and do something else. She has now learned how to walk to the other side of the toy, pull it out from the wall and push it from that other side! Unassisted walking is right around the corner. She has even stood alone for several seconds a hand full of times. She will be walking along the furniture and find a toy and pick it up with both hands...which means letting go of the furniture. Then she will either slowly ease into a sitting position (no falling down here!) or grab back onto the furniture.

(first time caught on video!)

Independent play has really increased in the Wagner house. Amelia loves playing with her puzzles, reading her boys and putting her shapes in the (holes?) She has hungry hippo type toy that has a circle, square and triangle hole with corresponding shapes. She has learned how to put the circle shape in its hole and how to get it back out of the hippo by pushing the button on top! She hasn't quite figured out the other shapes yet but she is working on it.

As I said above Amelia has learned how to show her emotions...both happy and not so happy, lol! She will now give kisses when asked and sometimes on her own accord. She even gives kisses to her toys and to the dog.She LOVES playing with Elle and petting her and giving her kisses. She leans in for the kiss and when Elle kisses back she giggles like crazy. Just this past week she started giving hugs.I picked her up and asked for a hug and she leaned in and squeezed! She has mastered "gimme five" and has really started mimicking the sounds we make. She talks and giggle like crazy pretty regularly and has started clicking her tongue and blowing raspberries.

Amelia now knows the sign for milk and asks to nurse. This is both awesome and terrifying as I have learned that she wants to nurse ALL THE TIME. I have NO idea how I am ever going to wean this child because man does she love it!

Here is what Amelia is up to at 11 months:

• No idea on weight and height (had another ear infection and weight was just under 20 pounds but that was a few weeks ago)
• still in size 3 diapers
• mostly 12 month clothes, the occasional 9 month and the occasional 18 month
• Still sleeping 7:30ish to 6:30ish (a few wake ups in the past few months I think due to being sick)
• Tried Coconut milk for the first time!
• Still a great eater, 3 meals and usually 1 snack a day
• Still nursing...hope to cut it down to morning and night only once she is 1...we shall see...
• First time at the beach: 9/2/12
• First meat/spaghetti: 9/5/12
• First time standing alone: 9/18/12
• First flight: 9/22/12
• First ISU football game: 9/29/12 (GO CLONES!)
• 7 teeth! (I'm pretty sure working on a few more...)
• Loves: reading books, walking along furniture, pushing chairs or push toys around the room, opening and shutting doors and gates, playing with Tupperware
• Not so much: diaper changes, not getting her way, wiping her hands and mouth after meals

The first birthday is right around the corner...yikes! :) 

9 Months Old!

(a little late but...)

Amelia is 9 months old!

I'm not going to do it....I'm not going to say it again I promise...but I can't help it because it's true...oh I give up..HOW IS MY LITTLE BABY 9 MONTHS OLD! Time is flying by at an alarming rate. They say the days are long but the years fly by and its true! Sometimes when we are having an especially rough day I have to remind myself that she will only be little for a short time and the hard times will pass and the good times will pass even faster!

Since our last update Amelia has made some serious strides! On July 24th she started crawling on hands and knees...otherwise known as the normal way, LOL. She would only go a few "steps" at a time and move right down to her belly and motor around army crawl style....well today is August 22nd and that is still what she is doing. It appears she knows how to crawl but just prefers the army crawl as a faster method getting to her destination!

On July 28th Amelia mastered sitting up from the crawling position, she even learned how to do this in her crib!

On July 30th she began pulling herself to standing on a Toddler cot at Grandma's. This was her first attempt at pulling up without the support of Mommy or Daddy's legs. She was still pretty wobbly at this point but she loved crawling to us and grabbing our hands and standing up! Well, that wobble didn't last long. Within a couple days Eric and I witnessed what I believe was the first true pull to full standing on her walking toy! (we make Grandma not tell us if she does something for the first time at daycare...)

Unfortunately this attempt ended a little tragically with the toy sliding and her falling backwards but she didn't let that phase her and began pulling to standing on anything she could get to! Now nothing is off limits and she even is starting to side step. She is still pushing up on her toes pretty often when standing but I think she will be walking before we know it. My mom tells me I basically skipped crawling and started walking at 9 months so maybe Amelia will be like her mommy!



Now for the real fun....She figured out that she could stand up in her crib....

Which led to this...

Yep, she is sleeping standing up...this was a 45 minute nap battle that ended in basically no afternoon nap...really fun for mommy and daddy! Needless to say we lowered the crib to the lowest setting...at least we can avoid this for a bit longer. The funny thing is she absolutely knows how to sit down from standing, she does it all the time during the day, she just refused! Stubborn girl!

Although the last couple weeks have been a bit rough due to some teeth cutting...we are loving this time with our precious girl. Here are some more fun facts about Miss Amelia at 9 months:

• Says dadadada all the time, says ma ma when she is really upset...I guess its something! Makes the pa, na and ga sounds. Says WOAH and is working on uh oh! Tries to copy the sounds we make.
• Waves Bye Bye when she feels like it...
• Eats 3 meals a day with an afternoon snack
• Nurses (or gets a bottle at daycare) 4-5 times a day depending on naps
• 2 Naps a day (hooray), a morning nap around 9 that last 1-1.5 hours and an afternoon nap around 1 that lasts 2-3 hours!
• Still heading to bed around 7:30 PM and waking between 6 and 7 AM
• Cut her third tooth on August 13th, top left, working on the 4th, top right
• size 3 diapers
• Mostly 6-9, 9 month and 6-12 month clothes although a few 6 months items still fit
• Weight: 18 pounds and 5.5 ounces, 52th percentile
• Height: 28.5 Inches, 80th percentile
• Her head is in the 70th percentile...thanks dad! :)
• LOVES: Cell phones, remote controls, shoes, watches, pulling to standing on ANYTHING, looking at herself and talking to herself in the mirror (really need a video of this)
• Not so much: diaper changes, being confined,
• Pretty much done sucking her thumb! She still occasionally uses it to soothe herself back to sleep but that's it!





A whole lot of babies!

Last month (June) I started a monthly mommy baby playgroup get together with a bunch of my local new mom friends. Its INCREDIBLE how many people we know that have had babies within a few months of Amelia's birth. We even have one friend that had a baby 5 days after Amelia! Last month was at our house and we failed to get a group shot as our hostess (Amelia...) got a little overwhelmed by the party apparently and had to go down for a nap before everyone even left!

This month we went to the Rousey household and we had a BLAST. Jefferson has the best toys! We almost had a repeat of last month as Jefferson pulled an Amelia and had to go down for a nap while we played but apparently he only needed a quick breather to get himself together because he was back within a half hour and we were able to snap a quick pick of the SEVEN babies that were present! Let me tell you...it is really hard to get a picture of seven babies...especially when a few of them are crawling and trying to get away! I managed to get a few good shots! We are really enjoying our new playgroup and we can't wait for next month!

8 Months Old!

Amelia is 8 months old!

It's getting harder and harder to keep her sitting in the chair for pics!

Although every month since Amelia came into our lives has been wonderful in its own way this last month has truly been a joy to experience. Amelia is growing and developing so much, she is a whole new baby each month! I feel like last month she had just started to hit her developmental stride...learning so many new things, well, we are in full swing now and have a little mover and shaker on our hands!

Amelia is army crawling around at quite a high rate of speed! We are constantly chasing her around the living room as she tries to get to the lamp (or more accurately the cord to the lamp...) or Elle's toys or our shoes. Of course those things are all so much more interesting than her toys! She has started to get up on all fours and rock back and forth before slumping down to her belly and scooting around. (First time on 7/11) I think she will be legit crawling before my next update. She sits up perfectly now without any fear of falling over, she reaches for toys and steadies herself and moves seamlessly from sitting to her belly to crawl around. She hasn't quite figured out how to get back to sitting from the crawling position but I think that is right around the corner as well.

Amelia is starting to attempt to pull herself to standing position. She has always loved "standing" and was putting weight on her legs months ago but now she makes an effort to get to that position. She will crawl to our laps and climb up our legs until we grab her fingers and then pull herself up! Its adorable! We decided to go ahead and lower her crib on 7/9 just in case. She hasn't had the courage to pull up on anything without our arms or legs nearby just yet.

While on vacation at the lake in Tennessee Amelia learned two new tricks! I do not even know how to describe one of them, we call it the silly bunny noise. She basically blows air in and out of her nose. I know that sounds strange but its really cute. She did it a lot for Grandpa (Pop Pop) Wagner and does it every once in awhile for mom and dad.  She also started waving bye bye! Its not an every time thing but I think she is starting to know what it means so now I wave bye bye every morning when I leave her at my mom's for daycare. Even when she doesn't respond with a wave she laughs and smiles. She just loves it!

This past week I was at my moms for lunch and I looked down and Amelia was clapping! I quietly told my mom to grab me my phone and I caught it on video. We have been working on this for awhile and she finally got it! Here is the video:

(knock on wood) Sleep has been great this past month. (knock on wood) Every time I say that I get a serious fear that I will jinx it. I typically nurse one last time between 7 and 7:30 and put her down sleepy but awake between 7:30 and 8. She doesn't always wake up at the same time but its usually between 6 and 7. Although I wish I could get ready in the mornings without having to figure out how to entertain my now mobile little sidekick I really can't complain. Since she has absolutely outgrown the bouncer seat she now sits in the excersaucer in the bathroom while I get ready. Most days she is fine with it, others not so much but we make it work!

We just upped Amelia's solid foods to 3 meals and sometimes 1 snack a day. Here is her typical day of eats:

· Breakfast: fruit and cheerios

· Lunch: cereal and fruit or veggie

· Snack: puffs or cheerios or fruit or veggie (sometimes)

· Dinner: fruit and veggie and usually some puffs

I'm not pureeing the fruit at all anymore, she will eat any fruit cut up into small pieces. Currently we are rotating between plums, peaches, mango, watermelon and blueberries. We also bought a mesh feeder and we give her banana in that and she devourers it! I give her some cut up pieces or veggies but she doesn't seem to do as well with those so we also do veggie purees. Her favorites are sweet potato, carrots, and butternut squash...not the biggest fan of peas but she will eat them every once in awhile in a veggie medley (whole). I am trying to give her more and more finger foods and get away from purees. She does AWESOME with the cheerios and puffs and fruit. We (thankfully) haven't had any gagging or choking scares. (again...knock on wood!)

Stats:

· size 3 diapers (just made the transition, they are a little big but the size 2 were too small!)

· wearing 3-6, 6-9 and 6-12 months clothes, depending on the store

· weight on 7/12: 16 lbs, 12.5 ounces

· nurses (or gets bottle at daycare) about 5 times a day

· Loves: crawling, taking sunglasses off of faces, remotes, cell phones, books (especially when mommy or daddy read to me) and FOOD

· Not so much: diaper changes first thing in the morning, getting her face or nose wiped, not being able to play with remotes, cell phones or cords :)

Like I said, this has been a very fun month in the life of our little girl. I can only imagine it will get better from here. It is really hard to think she will be a year old in 4 short months...guess I better start planning the party!

Wagner Family Vacation

For the week of 4th of July we headed to Watts Bar Lake in Tennessee for the Wagner family vacation.

We went to Watts Bar Lake in 2010 and enjoyed it so much we decided to go again this year. We originally chose Watts Bar Lake because everyone could drive...Bob and Mary Ann from Iowa, Abby (and now Laz) from Chicago, and Eric, Amelia, Elle and me from South Carolina. We really got the best deal however because our drive was only 4 hours...a lot less than the rest of the family. Good thing too, I don't think Amelia would have lasted a minute longer. It makes me quite nervous for the long drive to Iowa for Christmas!

I digress...we had SO MUCH FUN this past week I don't even know where to begin! We spent many an hour on the Wagner's new boat, Amelia experienced the lake for the first time, Elle enjoyed swimming, we water skied, we (as in everyone but me and Mary Ann...) jumped off a large rock into the lake (I did it in 2010...), we ate good food, read good books and simply relaxed! It was wonderful.

Amelia got to spend a lot of quality time with her grandparents. Bob hadn't seen her since Christmas so it was a nice little reunion! Here are some of my favorite pics from the trip...we took so many its hard to choose!



What a trip! Can't wait for Wagner Family Vacation 2013!



A Visitor

Aunt Dot came to visit us from Iowa for a week. It was so nice to see her after so long It was her first time meeting Amelia and she really enjoyed spending time with her. Here are few pics from her visit!

7 months old!

Amelia is 7 months old and amazes me everyday!

And man have things changed around here...

watch out world...we have a mobile baby on our hands!

I feel like I say this every month but so much has happened in the last month! Amelia now sits totally unsupported and can reach for toys and steady herself without automatically falling! She does still tumble over from time to time but sometimes she tumbles on purpose because she can now "army crawl!" That's right, Amelia is mobile! Just last weekend she started making the motion to move but within a few days she has it all figured out. She isn't officially crawling and she really isn't even using her legs but shes moving pretty swiftly. She basically uses her arms to drag her body forward and most of the time her tummy stays on the floor but she is starting to lift it sometimes and I'm sure the use of legs and true crawling are not far behind. Every day I am shocked and amazed by how much she has grown up. She isn't a little newborn anymore!

This past weekend was Father's Day and Amelia gave Eric a pretty great gift, she now regularly says dadadadada! (I'm only mildly upset that dada beat out mama as her first word) :) She started around 6/10 say dah.....dah....dah and within a few days that turned into dadadadad. Although it is her only word and she says it all the time whether Eric is around or not I do think she knows he is dada. If we ask her where dada is she looks immediately to Eric and she says dada with a lot more excitement when she sees him. I'm working on mama...

6-7 months has been an awesome age. They say as babies grow each stage will be better than the last and be "your favorite age" until you reach the next. So far that is absolutely true for our little family. We love that Amelia is more independent and can play by herself but we also love how much we can interact with her. I'm sure it only gets better from here!

Amelia, Cooper Cheek and Mackenzie Mannix

Other than her major milestones above, here is what Amelia is up to at 7 months:

• weight: (as of 6/19 -- unfortunately we have ANOTHER ear infection!) 15 lbs, 12.5 ounces (not sure of height and head, next appointment at 9 months...hopefully)
• still in size 2 diapers, mostly 6 month clothes, starting to fit the 6-12 month variety and some 6-9 month clothes
• nurses (or gets a bottle of breast milk) 4-5 times a day depending on her naps
• naps 2-3 times a day...would love to get it to two long naps!
• (knock on wood) Goes to sleep around 7:30PM and wakes up between 6:30 and 7:30 AM. (knock on wood!!!)
• eating two meals a day in addition to nursing...usually oatmeal and fruit for lunch and fruit, veg and sometimes yogurt for dinner. We are starting to give her some finger foods as well.
• working on that pincer grasp but we arnt quite there...she tried some organic baby puffs but they were a little two small for her to figure out how to get them in her mouth...she loves the Earth's Best Organic Pop Snax as they are a little larger and easy to manage.
• LOVES baby Mum Mum rice crackers...simply devours them! :)
• Rides in the stroller, sits in a highchair and sits in a grocery cart like a big girl! She loves her cart/highchair cover that Grandma Wagner made her!
• Loves books, links, keys ......cell phones, remote controls...:) and everything goes immediately into her mouth!
• Loves running with mom or dad in our new BOB Jogging Stroller!
• She has really started noticing and interacting with Elle! She laughs like crazy and talks to her and smiles at her...she also grabs her hair, her tail and her eyeballs...good thing Elle is very patient and doesn't seem to mind!
• She has also started noticing other babies or little kids when we are out and about and she loves them!

Amelia is growing up, this month we are officially closer to one year old than birth and I cant believe it. We love our sweet girl more than words can even express and we can't wait to see what the next month holds!

Amelia giggling!

Amelia is such a giggle monster these days. She absolutely LOVES it when you tickle her and even does the anticipatory laugh! Enjoy this video!

The Belmont Stakes

We had a great time partying at Kim, Geoff and Cooper Cheeks for the Belmont Stakes! 

We dressed up in our Derby-esque best and had a blast. 

All the kiddos had a great time, Amelia can't wait to play with these cuties when she is a little older!

Needless to say Amelia was pretty pooped by the end of the night!