52

One year old! This year has flown by and it really seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital.  You were so little and you still are! Your Dad and I just adore you so much.  We had a birthday party for you with some of our closest friends in Dallas: the Brattons, the Beals, the Grinsfelder and William, Landen and Shawn.  I made you a cake that took multiple attempts. In the end it was prettier than it was tasty.  Monica made decorations and decorated the cake-- all in a strawberry theme since that is your favorite food.  You played with William and munched on bell peppers during the party.  You wore two dresses and we took a ton of photos.  I can't wait to see what the next year brings! 

51.

A new park opened near our house and we have been spending lots of time there.  During the day we play with your friends in the children's area and in the evenings we lay out a blanket and have a picnic dinner from the food trucks.  You love to be outside and enjoy pushing your stroller around on the grass and crawling all over the place. 

50.

You love to walk around pushing your walker.  At first you could not figure out how to turn it so you would get to a wall and get very frustrated until one of us turned you around.  But, your Dad taught you to make the turns so now you are independent and can walk back and forth across the room.  The dogs are learning to stay out of your way!

49.

You are an expert cruiser now.  You can go all the way around the coffee table!

We went to Tucson for Thanksgiving this week and you got to play with your cousins and baby friends.  Your Grandpa Schlosser taught you to say yellow and claims you can also say "ding" but Mama has not witnessed that one yet.  You also stood by yourself for almost 3 seconds.  You like to walk around holding onto our fingers and you are getting to be a very fast crawler.

Your Dad taught you how to climb up the stairs and you can do it so fast now. You are just learning so quickly and we love to teach you new things. 

48.

This week your Dad taught you how to quack like a duck.  You have a little stuffed duck that quacks when you squeeze him and you are now able to mimic the sound.  We can ask you what a duckie says and you do your adorable little quack.  Dad is so proud of you!

This week we went to Chicago for your Dad's conference.  Grandma and Grandpa Schlosser came too.  We went to the Chicago Institute of Art, the Signature Room (96th floor) of the Hancock tower, Bloomingdales, Millennium Park and the Bean, out to dinner and walked up and down Michigan Avenue. You had a great time and were such a happy wonderful little traveler.

47.

You are a baby genesis! I say this all the time now.  This week you have been having so much fun playing at the coffee table in the living room. You can pull yourself up to a stand on it.  I put all sorts of random items on the table and you love to knock them all off.  One time though you decided you wanted to put the items in your toy bin.  You systematically took one toy (or remote control!) off the table, sat down with it, reached over and dropped it in your bucket. You did this about 4 times in a row. 

46.

We celebrated your first Halloween this week.  You dressed up as a lady bug and were so adorable. You wore your costume to a party on Saturday night with our friends (which you mainly slept through), to your music class and to a little play date with two of your friends.  You were the cutest lady bug I have ever seen.

45.

You are such a happy, sweet baby!  Everywhere we go people stop me and tell me how cute you are.  At the grocery store people talk to you constantly and you love smiling at them and waving.  We have been participating in lots of play dates recently and you seem to like interacting with other kids. You are not so sure about them playing with your toys, especially your prized orange slinky.

44.

10 months! This week you are cruising around the little red ottoman in your room.  You can pull yourself up and get all the way around without help. You also stacked three wooden blocks on top of each other.  You want to play at night instead of sleep and are often up from midnight to 3 am- yikes.  You are too busy learning new things!

43.

 This week we went to the Dallas Arboretum to see the pumpkin village.  There were so many cool pumpkins and we had fun taking tons of pictures of you with them. 

42.

You eat dinner with us every night sitting in your bumbo on the table.  We put little bites of our dinner on your tray and you pick them up and eat them.  The whole eating thing is really coming together now and you are actually consuming these bites instead of playing with them and dropping them in your lap (although, quite a few crumbs end up down there still).  Currently, you seem to really like strawberries and shredded cheese.  You also ate hot dogs, kidney beans, eggs, blood oranges and mushrooms for the first time this week.

41.

This week you started pointing at things on the pages of your books.  You love to point at the goldfish's eye in Brown Brown Bear.  You also still enjoy turning the pages of your books.  You will lay on the floor now and turn the pages of your indestructible book.  You look so grown up "reading" your stories (no matter that this particular book has no works, just pictures).

You pulled yourself up to a stand using your daddy.  You like to crawl and climb on him when he lays on the floor with you.  You also started crawling up on your knees this past weekend. You are going to be moving quickly soon!

You also got your 5th tooth this week. The third on the top. You have been putting those teeth to good use crunching on rice crackers and on mama's shoulder!

40.

This week you turned 9 months old. It was a big week for you because you also started to crawl! You do an army crawl, pulling yourself on your tummy across the floor.  You only do it when you really, really want to get somewhere (usually to one of the dog's tails).  You also ate a rice cracker and had your first taste of salmon this week.  You are getting so grown up and you change so much every day.

You are back on "dada" this week and say it all day long.

39.

This week you started helping Mama turn the pages of your board books.  Sometimes you get a little excited and turn all the pages before we can even read them.

You had your second swim lesson and Dada went in the water with you this time.  You went under for 2 whole seconds this week.  You really seem to like splashing around with Dada and the other babies. You are just the cutest, sweetest baby and we love you so much. 

38.

This week you had your first swim lesson at Emler Swim School. You love the water and were happy splashing around with the other babies.






You are getting very close to crawling. You lunge forward from sitting onto your hands and knees and rock back and forth. But, then you flop onto your belly instead of crawling. You also are getting really strong and love to stand with support. You can support yourself on the furniture for a few seconds now but mainly we are still holding you while you stand.



You are eating all kinds of new things including artichoke leaves! You also like rice and shredded cheese. You don't actually eat much of these table foods and most of it ends up in your lap but it is still fun to try news things!

You still love to nap cuddling with hard plastic toys.  We are not sure where this came from but it is pretty funny. 

37.

This week you started giving me your pacifier.  You take it out of your mouth and reach out towards my face with it.  You smile and laugh when I take it and put it in my mouth.  Then I give it back to you, repeat over and over.  You also played this game with Dada and your watermelon teether, he loved it. 

36.

This week we are back at home and you are moving.  Not crawling yet, but between log-rolling and sliding backward you are able to get around pretty efficiently.  This week you are back to sticking your tongue out and you are making all kinds of new noises and sounds including saying "ma-ma". 

35.

This week you and I went to Cape Cod for The Most Aggressive Vacation ever taken.  We stayed in a house (without air conditioning!) with Mama's friends from Brown.  Ginny (Chris), Jeri (Abby, Colin), Gina (Domenic), Jenny (Cooper) and Jayne were all there.  We went to the beach, the playground and the ice cream shop a lot.  We played on the front lawn on blankets and spent lots of time in the play room checking out toys, the house fans and the other kids.  You were so happy during the day exploring all the new things to look at and play with. Nighttime was another story, and we struggled with going to sleep and staying asleep.  You slept in bed with me every night. 

You went on the swings for the first time at the playground on the Cape.  You loved it! You kicked your legs around and giggled the whole time. 

You did great on the long plane flights to Boston and back.  On the way there you just wanted to stand in my lap and smile at the passengers behind us.  You did this for at least an hour straight. Luckily you are totally adorable and everyone loves smiling at you and saying hello. 

34.

This week you are lunging forward from a sit onto your hands and knees.  You can also stand with support now.  You are eating all kinds of new foods, but are still weary of textures and chunks.  You tend to spit puffs and other crackers right back out at us.  We set up a new play area for you in the living room and you love rolling around and the floor playing with your toys.

33.

 This week we went to San Diego and stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado. You spent time in the swimming pool and loved to splash and play. You had a play date with Miles Barker and you both sat and played on the floor while us parents enjoyed delicious brunch. You also played in the pool together. 

In San Diego, we saw Grandma and Grandpa Schlosser, Uncle David and Cousins Maddie and Nate.  We all went to Sea World together and you got to see your very first Shamu show.  You fell asleep at the beginning of the show and almost missed it all, but woke up to see the end. 

On the way home, we stopped on Tucson to visit Grandma Kautz, Wally and Aunt Mary. You clapped your hands for the first time while we were in Tucson.

32.

This week you got your first big teddy bear from Neiman Marcus. He is way bigger than you now, but you are growing so fast I am sure that discrepancy will not last.

31.

You are 7 months old! Time has flown and I cannot believe how old you are already.  This week you are saying yayayayy and dadadaaayay.  Daddy loves that you are throwing those dada's in there.  He loves you so much and tells every morning that he wishes he could stay and play with you instead of going to work.  We send him photos during the day of all the fun things we are doing.

This week you are eating so much more.  You are really getting the hang of it and are loving roasted apples mixed with blueberries.  You also gnawed on a boiled potato for dinner the other night.  You made hilarious expressions while you tried to figure out how to move it around your mouth. Your Dad and I were cracking up watching you have so much fun exploring!

You are back to hating sleep.  It takes between one and two hours to get you to fall asleep at night.  You just hang out in your crib rolling around, falling asleep, startling awake, crying, talking, playing, etc.  We camp out in your room and take turns trying to sooth you when you get upset.

This week you also learned to blow. You love doing it and make the cutest faces- I must have taken a hundred photos of you blowing!

30.

This week you are eating carrots and mango! You like the carrots a lot.

You also got a new toy- a sit and stand walker.  You love it (especially the little door that you chew on)!

29.

This week you went swimming for the first time. We were at a BBQ for the 4th of July and your Daddy took you in the swimming pool. You were not a fan at first but ended up happily kicking around in the water.

You were quite a party animal this week and you went to a residency party, Mama's 30th birthday dinner and a BBQ. All of our friends love you and say you are the cutest baby ever. People always stop me and tell me you should be a Gerber baby.

You are sitting up so well now and are getting so strong and big. This week you like to say "hey" and "ey" over and over.

28.

This past weekend you took your first trip to the lake.  You hung out on a blanket by the dock during the day and loved all the attention from our friends.  You are getting more and more comfortable sitting up and you like to play with things in your lap.

You are eating oatmeal cereal, peas, avocado (your favorite right now), yogurt (not a fan), and bananas (also not a fan).

You also started a new music class this week called Music Together.  You love the class and smiled and talked to Ms. Gila (the teacher) the whole time. You even got to play with your first drum.

27.

Mama left you overnight for the first time this week. I went to a wedding in New Jersey for one night. Grandma Kautz came and took care of your during the day while I was gone and Daddy took care of you all by himself at night. I missed you so much and was so excited to get home and see you.

26.

Teeth! Your two bottom teeth poked through at the same time this week. And you slept through the next night. I hope you have a little break now before the next ones come in so that you can get back into your normal routine.

This week we are eating roasted butternut squash and you seem to really like it!

You are grabbing everything within your reach now! We took a quick trip to Tucson this week to house hunt and we went out to dinner at Casa Molina. You sat in your Aunt Mary's lap and grabbed at her silverware and plate. You tore her paper placement up and tried to eat it.

25.

This week you are eating rice cereal for breakfast and pureed peas for dinner. You are getting better at eating everyday and you seem to like sitting on the kitchen counter in your bumbo and being fed.

In the last couple weeks you have grown a neck! It is a skinny little sweet neck that I refer to as your "noodle". I don't have to wash and grease up your little neck folds anymore. You are growing up!

You have decided that you hate going to sleep at night. You can fall asleep in our arms but you wake up when we set you down and cry hysterically in your crib. You also have been waking up throughout the night. Previously, you were my great little sleeper. I think you might be teething. One night this week, you slept in your bouncy chair downstairs and Daddy slept next to you on the couch. That was the only night this week that you did not end up sleeping in bed with us.

You are also learning to sit up by yourself. You can balance for awhile with your hands bracing yourself in your lap.

24

This week we went to NYC to celebrate our 6th Anniversary. We took you all over the city, to Central Park, the Met, the West Village and TriBeCa. You spent a lot of time in Bloomingdale's and shopping on Fifth Avenue. Our very quick visit to the Met included a quick visit to the rooftop bar, time spent searching through multiple exhibits for a place to nurse you while you screamed, nursing you in a stinky bathroom stall and then searching for the exit.

This week you also tried sweet potatoes for the first time. You thought they were just ok and most of your meal ended up on your bib. You are getting so much more interactive now and you can grab onto your toys and shake them around (often hitting yourself in the head in the process). You still love your jumperoo and your Bumbo seat and one of my favorite things to do is make dinner with you sitting in the kitchen with me. We sing songs and I show you various ingredients that I am cooking. We also listen to music, mainly either the Beatles or Paul Simon.

Naptime after a day in the city

23.

This week you rolled from your back to your tummy for the first time.  Daddy has been working with you on your "tummy time" and you are getting so much stronger.

You love your Jumparoo.  You can jump around in it and you giggle and pant with excitement.

22

Grandma and Grandpa Schlosser came to visit you this week.  We went for lots of walks and strolled around the Dallas Arboretum.  It was Mama's first Mother's Day and we went to brunch to celebrate.  Your Daddy made me a case for my phone with pictures of you, Wrigley and Murray on it.  He also gave me a locket with the letter "A" on it from you.  It was a wonderful day and I am so happy to be your Mama. You also tried your first bites of rice cereal.  You seemed to like it but you had a lot of trouble sleeping that night so Mama was worried the cereal did not agree with you.  We decided to wait a few weeks to try some other solid foods.