Socks

Taylee loves socks. She likes to eat them, smell them, and play with them. I try to keep only clean socks within reach. The other day while I was folding laundry, she was in heaven!

Nine Months!

Taylee is nine months old!! We went in for her nine month check-up on Tuesday, and Dr. Strasser was pleased with her progress. She is growing well, and seems to be on target with her developmental milestones. There remains this looming question mark about her speaking abilities, mostly because I worry too much. I have felt like she is lagging a bit in this area, but with her cleft palate that would be expected. Dr. Strasser actually thought she was doing pretty well, and that we could revisit this issue AFTER her repair. Plus, speech therapy is a standard part of the craniofacial clinic, which we will visit annually after her repair. I believe that the craniofacial team follows up on her repair, orthodontics and dentistry, audiology, and speech therapy. So, here are her stats :
- 17 lbs. 9 oz. = 33rd %
- 27 inches = 31st %
- 43.5 cm head circ. = 36th %
Looks like she is a well proportioned gal!
Here are some fun facts about Taylee at nine months :
- She is getting mobil! She is crawling (slowly), oftentimes backwards
- She LOVES her mommy and daddy, and is becoming a little anxious about strangers
- She sleeps through the night (after a little persuasion), but gets up at 6:30 am! Eeek!
- She is just beginning to wear 6-9 month clothing
- She likes vegetables A LOT more than fruit
- She LOVES her turkey rice dinner, mac and cheese, and chicken & sweet potatoes!
- She squeals in delight when she sees her bottle
- She laughs with peekaboo and tickling (sometimes), but remains a pretty tough girl to impress
- She (FINALLY) naps like a big girl, with 2 long naps a day. (Yay!)
- She LOVES Baby Einstein!!
- She is absolutely LOVED by everyone who knows her!

Kent's Birthday!

Kent's birthday was on Friday. But, we celebrated ALL weekend. That's just the way do it in our family! Kent took his birthday off work, and we went out and about (mostly running errands, since the weather was NOT nice enough to golf!). We had dinner at Pizza Factory that night with Kent's parents. We had a great time, and if you've never been, the garlic breadstick twists are TOTALLY worth a visit!
Saturday was "our day," and we got a babysitter (gasp . . . I know!). We really need to do this more often, as she is becoming a real mama's girl. Anyways, for our big day out, we golfed 9 holes, and had dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Yummy! We had a really good time enjoying the beautiful day, and dining out like adults. Can't wait to do it again. After dinner, we were greeted by our baby who was REALLY happy to see us. What a wonderful sight to come home to. Our sweet baby girl's smiles. She was more than happy to help daddy open his presents. And eat some wrapping paper along the way.
Sunday we celebrated again with Kent's siblings. We barbecued hamburgers on the grill and had a fabulous new dessert made of ice cream sandwiches, fudge, and oreo cookie crust. Mmmm.
Stay tuned for more birthday fun next weekend when we are dining out with my parents to celebrate. What a lucky guy my husband is. And he deserves every minute of it!

ENT

We took Taylee to see Dr. Muntz (ENT) yesterday, to be evaluated for tubes in her ears. She has only actually had 1 ear infection, but ENT is a big part of the craniofacial team. Apparently 96% of cleft palate kids require tubes. Long story short, we took Taylee in to see Dr. Muntz for stridor back in February. That turned out to be nothing, but while we were there he noticed some fluid in her ears. He wanted to see us again prior to her cleft palate repair. She still has fluid in her ears, and fortunately we can have the tubes placed during her repair. This is good news because it means she will only have to go under anesthesia once. Yay for killing two birds with one big ol' stone!

Sweet Potatoes and Chicken

Mmmm . . . Yummy! (Yes, it's in her hair)

Leads to this . . .

Tubby Time!!

Jibber-Jabber

I am so excited to report that Taylee is FINALLY babbling. Up until a few days ago, all of her "talking" was breathy vowel sounds. Oohs and ahhhs. This may not seem like a big deal, but to a first time mom who reads a lot of "What to Expect," her lack of hard consonant sounds was freaking me out! I was hoping it was just due to her cleft palate, but I wasn't totally convinced. What a relief it is to hear her bababaing, and gagagaing. No mama, dada yet, but hopefully that is just around the corner! Kent and I attribute these new conversational skills to the arrival of her talking teapot. She talks to it like it's her best friend. It must be the accent. Maybe she thinks she is British?!

My New Obsession

OK, I can't believe I am going to admit this to everyone, but I have a problem. I am TOTALLY OBSESSED with the New Super Mario Bros Wii! I haven't really played video games since I was a kid, but I am hooked. Maybe I'm so enamored because it makes me feel like a kid again? Anytime Taylee is napping I can be found playing this silly game! I do force myself to do at least one chore when she goes down for a nap, then it's on like Donkey Kong!! Not sure Kent is impressed with this obsession, but I consider it his fault since he bought the game for me. ;) The best part? You can play with 2, 3, even 4 players at the same time. With 4 little guys running around bouncing off each other, chaos ensues! Taylee took a 2 hour nap on Sunday, and me, Kent, and Skyler played for her entire nap. We had a blast! So that's my confession . . . please don't judge me!! ;)

Four Months!

Four months was such an exciting age. I remember feeling like she went from being a newborn to a baby. She wanted to play with toys, she liked to play silly games with us, and most especially, she became curious about EVERYTHING! I had to be careful toting her around in the Baby Bjorn, because those little hands were after anything within reach. (They still are - and now she can reach further!) What a silly girl!

Happy Easter!!

We had a great Easter this year (despite the cold weather). We spent a couple hours at my parents in the early afternoon. The Bunny came to Grandma Deb and Grandpa Dave's and left Taylee her very first PIGGY BANK. It is adorable, pink with white polka dots. We quickly ran home so Skyler could find his basket (he spent Saturday night with his mom). He is getting to be too good at finding it. It's hard to trick a 14 year old! Taylee's hamper seemed like a perfect hiding spot . . .

In the late afternoon we went to Grandma Karen and Grandpa Terry's for dinner and an EGG HUNT! All the cousins except Kira were there, and we hid 130 eggs. It was a pretty good hunt if I do say so myself. It is one of the kid's favorite events of the year. Skyler got a basket full of goodies, and Taylee got the CUTEST little bunny. We just can't wait til next year when she can run around with her cousins!

She is definitely thinking she wants to crawl, she just hasn't quite gotten it down yet. It's only a matter of time now!

HAPPY EASTER!!

Sleep Training (again)

Unfortunately Taylee has had a little setback in her sleep routine. This entire week she has been getting up at the crack of dawn. Well, frankly, not even dawn. Some days between 0530 and 06, and once at 0430. NOT morning! I feel so terrible letting her cry it out, because I know she doesn't understand that it's not time to get up yet, and why isn't mommy coming to get her?! I am just hoping that this phase passes quickly.

Skyler and Taylee

Who would have thought my 14 year old and my baby would be BEST FRIENDS?! Seriously, they adore each other. Taylee lights up when Skyler walks in. And Skyler? Well he thinks she is the best thing since sliced bread. (Except when his friends are around!)

Here she is telling him a story

when she was a little squirt

She was bored and fussy in her exersaucer,

so Skyler tried to entertain her.

Apparently she didn't find him

that funny on this occasion.

Here they are playing with Skyler's iPod Touch.

She may be asking for one for her 1st birthday!