Catching Up (Presley)

It's been 3.5 months since my last post. I'm so irritated with myself for not keeping up with this blog like I should. So much has happened and I don't want to forget anything... especially Presley's milestones!

Presley is now 9.5 months old. At 6 months she was crawling. Two weeks later, she started pulling herself up... and by 7 months, she was walking along furniture. She is one active baby!! Unfortunately, from 6-8 months, her active lifestyle was waking her up at night. I will admit I was one frustrated mommy after about a month of sleepless nights. I didn't know what the deal was. But then I realized she was waking up because she knew I'd go in and grab her immediately. Her crib is in Kennedy's room and I was afraid Presley would wake Kennedy! So we decided to put up the pack-n-play in the office for the night. She woke up twice the next night, but fell asleep immediately. The next night... once. From then on, she slept through the night! It's been 1.5 months of sleeping through the night and now I'm afraid to move her back to the crib! Someday we'll put the crib in the office temporarily and she'll just sleep there until her and Kennedy are on the same schedule. Until then, the pack-n-play is working perfectly!

Presley says mama, dada, hi, num num, and Bear Bear (pronounced baba). She waves, claps, shakes her head when we say no, and every time I say "Are you hungry?" or "Do you want num nums?" she smacks her lips together and sticks her tongue in and out saying, "NUM NUM!". It's the most adorable thing. She knows when it's bed time and loves cuddling with her blanket. She is the happiest baby. All she does is smile... and when I have a camera in my hand, she looks up with the biggest grin on her face every single time. She's my easiest subject to photograph! Presley got her first tooth at 8 months, and one more shortly after that, but none since. At her 9 month check, she was 15 lbs and 27in long. She didn't gain a single ounce in two months and it had me worried. We started her on solids at 6 months, but her doctor told me to feed her even more. She is such a peanut! I'm trying to bulk her up now. In the meantime, I enjoy wearing her at this weight. She's super light!!

We're so thankful for this little blessing in our lives! :)

Presley - SIX months old!!

WOW! Time flies. It feels like just yesterday I was having those contractions. It was still the BEST experience ever and I'd do it again in a heartbeat - pain and all. Now six months has passed and Presley has grown into a wonderful, sweet, loving little baby. She is super easy-going and smiles with her whole body. What a joy to be around! And Kennedy is obsessed with her. She is truly the BEST big sister and loves being around her.

A big and exciting milestone took place on February 8, 2012. She said her first word... MAMA!!!!! I put her down for bed and she started crying. Not too hard though, so I was going to give her a few more minutes to see if she'd calm down. All of the sudden I hear, "Maaaaaa maaaaaaa!" I stopped and listened again. "Maaaaaaa maaaaaa!" She sort of paused in between each MA. I was in disbelief! Not even six months old and saying her first word?! Seemed so early to us! I went in there immediately and picked her up. I pointed to myself and said mama again. She repeated, although a little slower. The next morning by noon, she had already said it six times. It was so exciting!! Unfortunately, it's mostly when she's whining/crying. Hmm... maybe I should've taught her DADA after all! ;)

Presley is ready to crawl. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks, but can't quite figure it out. Within the last few days, she's REALLY been moving. Her legs move forward in a crawling motion, but her arms are stuck. Basically she face-plants and gets right back up again. She is 'scooting' everywhere!! I'm excited, but anxious at the same time. I'm actually on amazon searching for a baby gate as I type this! Ahhh!

Everyday she seems to feel the effects of teething more. Whether drooling, chewing on everything in sight, or just a little whiny, I'd say those bad boys are right around the corner. I'm indifferent about this taking place. I'm excited for her to have teeth, but I think I'll regret it when she chomps down on my nipple for the first time. We'll see how bad it really is...

Presley is 13lbs 12oz and 27in long. That's one pound and one inch more than her 4 month check. The doctor said, "She's tall and skinny... it's the American dream." lol! So basically, I don't need to worry about her small size. She's gaining and is healthy! :)

Sledding

We took Kennedy sledding for the FIRST time ever on January 21st! Yes, I'm behind on blogging. That isn't a new occurrence, after all. It was a GORGEOUS day out. Sunny, about 30 and lots of snow to sled down. After dropping Presley off at Grandma and Grandpa's house, we met the Browns at Humboldt park. This was also Max and Silas' first time sledding!

Kennedy's first time down was a doozie. Jon sat behind her and because there were other children in his path, he had to use his feet to steer clear of them. This caused the snow to spray up onto Kennedy's face, giving her a horrible face wash. She cried pretty hard. But after we wiped her off, she was ready to go again! Each time down she came up with a different method for covering her face. It was pretty cute. In the end, the kids all went down by themselves (A LOT). They did an awesome job! And after two hours, they didn't want to leave! But since there was talk of hot cocoa afterwards, they left with no questions. We picked up Presley and went home for some good 'ole hot chocolate -- with mini marshmallows.

Jon and I had such a great time sledding that day. We felt like kids again! We can't wait to take Kennedy... IF it ever snows again. (Not that I'm complaining about our mild winter AT ALL. I love it!)

It was a FANTASTIC day!