Lainey is 1 year old!

To say this past year went by fast is one of the hugest understatements ever! I swear I was just pregnant?! It has been a bittersweet time for me seeeing you turn 1 my love. Not only did you turn 1 but you also got much better at walking and weaned yourself from nursing all in the same week! Did you mean to break mommy's heart?! I cannot look at you without smiling and/or getting teary eyed. I swear you are the most beautiful little baby girl! Your cheeks are just amazing and pair that with your piercing almond shaped blue eyes and perfect little bow mouth and I just want to gobble you up!

• Walking almost always now
• pulling self up to stand without holding onto anything
• saying "dog" "mama" and "dada" and just after turning 1 you started to say "ta" which is Daddy's version of please/thank you
• Dancing to any music but especially Yo Gabba Gabba tunes
• Giving sister your HUGEST smiles
• Jabbering away and making facial gestures to help express yourself
• eating almost anything sat in front of you
• drinking cows milk now even straight without breastmilk mixed in
• using only sippy cups no bottles or breast
• playing shy with almost everyone but you do give Aunt Katie some smiles too
• fave toys include fisher price peek a blocks and especially the farm for them, fisher price peek a balls (?) and gumball machine (you love putting blocks and balls and whatever else into containers), little bath squirter toys you love to carry around in your hands, board books (your collection is growing greatly!)

1 Year Stats
Height: 25%  28 inches
Weight: 50% 21 lbs 5 oz
Head: 25%   44.5 cm

11 Months!

Oh my gosh I have had this just sitting as a draft as I was waiting to input pictures and then forgot about it completely! So here we go....

One month to go and our baby is officially moving even closer towards toddlerhood! *GASP*! Cannot even believe it!

• I coaxed you into taking two steps to me yesterday(2/9/11)! Otherwise you still hold on as you cruise cruise cruise! You are doing free standing more and more often though.
• Yo Gabba Gabba is seriously your baby crack! You can be super grumps and as soon as you see us turning that on you freeze...then smile...then dance!
• You are eating pretty much all that gets put in front of you but starting to get pickier and tossing some things overboard straight away! Not a fan of breakfast sausage though haha
• You have 2 front teeth (with an adorable gap between them) and 3 bottom teeth with a 4th working it's way to the surface

• You are developing more and more stubborness! Especially when it comes to wanting the computer mouse or remote controls!
• 2/23/11 you are now taking a couple steps here and there but still usually resulting in a faceplant. You shrug it off though and crawl away at top speed!
• You have become quite the animated one while telling us "stories" bobbing your head around and experimenting with all different pitches and sounds and faces to go with (SO cute!)


We are getting excited for your upcoming first birthday party! Cannot even begin to believe it little miss! It has gone by so, so, SO fast!

10 Months

Well Miss Lainey Bear aka Lainey Bug aka Buggy ;) you are officially 10 months already! Jeesh almighty you are growing WAY too quickly for us young lady! Cannot believe I need to start thinking about your 1st birthday more as it is going to be here in a blink!

This month....

• You now have 3 teeth! two bottom middle and your top front left (the right is going to come out any time now!)
• You are still loving guacamole and hummus especially on crackers, you also love egg salad and pancakes!
• you are saying Mama and Dada and what sounds like Dog....still not sure if you realize what each means though haha
• You speed crawl all the time
• You are cruising like a pro along the furniture now 
• You have let go while standing a couple of times (you mostly do this in the tub eeeek! not the BEST place to try this missy!)
• You ADORE the show Yo Gabba Gabba and no matter what is going on you start dancing when you hear it come on
• Personality is developing more and more and it cracks me UP! For example you were standing holding onto the couch and the ottoman and just kept lifting one leg outwards in front of you like you were kicking as you smiled away, so cute! 
• Way too heavy for your swing now but we still put you in it from time to time for you to just chill after nursing and such
• You are already attached to "Owly" a little brown blankie with owl head, you HAVE to have it to sleep with and will grab it and crawl around with it when you are sleepy 
• 
  

9 Months

Your 1st Birthday is coming up so quickly we just cannot believe it! Pretty ironic how slow my 9 month pregnancy went yet these 9 months of your life have gone by so FAST! You are growing way too quickly for us my dear!

• Crawling still like a wounded soldier but you are also crawling on all fours when you can be bothered ;)
• Pulling up to standing not only on the dog but on the furniture, walls, doors, your swing!
• Cruising! Cannot believe how fast this skill is being perfected by you!
• Dancing! Either just sitting in swing or high chair swaying head back and forth with ear to ear grin and even dancing while standing! You bop up and down and head goes back and forth, you are LOVING Christmas music :)
• You are still nursing 3 or 4 times a day on days Mommy works (as well as 2 to 3 bottles of 3 oz each pumped milk from Daddy)
• You eat lunch and dinner every day and are loving homemade egg and chicken salad on toast sticks! You also still love pear and apple slices as well as avocado and banana.
• You hated Santa heh heh.....Sorry mommy laughs about it but for some reason I crack up at kiddos that are freaked out about the big red guy ;)
• Wearing size 9 month stuff but 12 month stuff can pass easily too! Yet you are still in 0 to 6 month shoes!
• Cannot wait to find out your stats for 9 months but we don't go to doctor until December 23rd so will have to update then, my guess is over 20 pounds for weight though definitley!

ETA: Lainey's doctor stats from 12/23/2010 so 9.5 months
Weight 20lbs 8oz (75%)
Height 27 inches (25%)
Head (10%)

8 Months

8 months....and it is November! Your 1st Thanksgiving and 1st Christmas are going to be here before we can blink! And your 1st birthday is right around the corner! SIGH.....

This month has been a blur as I am sure the next couple will be as well! Things about this month

• You still just have your bottom 2 teeth
• You are eating LOADS! You eat pretty much everything and anything that we eat at meals. Favorites now include homemade egg and chicken salad spread on toast sticks! You like mommy are also really enjoying the pears that are so perfect this time of year! Avocado is still a yummy for you too! 
• You just learned how to get cheerios to your mouth in the past week you are working that pincher grasp.
• You are in desperate need of medium sized fuzzibunz (these are mommy and daddy's faves and we hope to get you 12 of them once Christmas shopping is complete!)
• You are now pulling yourself up to standing not only on us and the dog but also on our "leather" ottoman! You look too tiny and short to be standing it amuses us haha!
• You dance! You love rocking your head back and forth especially if we do it with you
• You are trying to clap but usually it results in your fists banging together 
• Finally I have heard "mama" but I doubt you are making the connection with it meaning me haha....
• You still prefer army crawl as your mode of transportation and you are FAST at it! 
• You are still a pretty great sleeper and most nights you are asleep before 8pm and sleep through until 5 or 6am
• you are doing better and better with sippy cups of water
• still nursing off mama around 6 to 8 times a day when I am home and then when I am at work you have around 9 oz of pumped milk along with around 3 nursing sessions when I am home (before and after I work)
• you still fit your 0 to 6 month robeez shoes (your feet are TINY lol!) but are in mostly 6 to 9 month clothes and even some of those are getting small.

7 months

As you can see by the photos this was a tricky month to attempt posed pics! Mommy gave up after a short while haha! You are growing so much and seem to be so much older everyday which fills us with joy but is also so hard to bear some days when we realize just how quickly it is going!

• Daddy came into your room to find you sitting up in your crib waiting today!
• Obviously you have learned to sit all on your own this month and you get into position in the cutest ways (sometimes from being on all 4’s to plopping backwards onto your bum, other times doing a sideways maneuver)
• Still breastfeeding and I think you really enjoyed your 2 weeks of no bottles while in England!
• Luckily you went back to taking pumped milk from daddy in a bottle with no problem though!
• You are eating more and more solids and we LOVE doing baby led weaning/solids with you! So easy!
• Your hand to eye coordination is fantastic and you are learning just how to get even the most slippery bits to your mouth (chicken is a favorite!)
• You still haven’t figured out a sippy cup but that is ok as we haven’t really let you practice too much!
• Bruno is definitely becoming your sidekick! You adore him and are still loving chewing on him…he doesn’t mind this too much it seems although he wasn’t too happy when you had a death grip on one of his jowls! He was patient though and just licked you a bit until you let go and then he pawed at his face for quite awhile as he swiftly moved away from you hahaha
• Your army crawl gets you to where you need to go! We are putting carpet down this week so will be interesting to see if you perfect a “normal crawl” once that is down. Needless to say more baby proofing will be done!
• Since England you now go to sleep at night with no night light or music…this kinda makes me sad and I may need to re-introduce but as long as you are sleeping I guess it shouldn’t matter to what I want LOL
• You are still wearing 6 to 9 month clothes but some are getting snug
• You are officially out of your size small fuzzibunz which makes us sad since they worked the best and now we need to afford some mediums! We were having wayyy too many leaks with them since they are too small for your chubness, have to use the ebay cheapies and a couple Happy Heinys we have until new FB can be purchased.
• Mommy and Daddy have started to do the baby signing for “milk” to you anytime you nurse or have a bottle….it gets either big smiles or frantic panting grunting noises (indicating YES that is what you want!). Will be fun to see if you start doing it yourself when you want milk.

6 months!? Happy 1/2 Birthday to our Lainey Bear Cub

Cannot believe it...I know I say that every month but it seems each month comes quicker than the last!

• You are "talking" soooo much! Especially from 2am on.....at least you aren't fussing but we sure would rather you would sleep through the night again!
• still not crawling but you can get around a room QUICKLY! You do various moves to get where you want to go (rolling, launching, half crawling, etc..)
• You seem to be enjoying our slow start into Baby led solids! I think it is even more fun for mommy and daddy ;)
• You are wearing mostly 6 to 9 month clothes 
• Mommy loves the times when daddy changes you then brings you into me to nurse in bed in the mornings on the weekends
• You have your first passport! Leaving for England this month to meet Nana England and rest of the fam!
• You thoroughly enjoy teething on the dogs legs....Bruno pretty much tolerates it but will get up and move after a little while

gosh you are gorgeous baby girl!

5 months

Oh my sweet Lainey bear cub cannot believe it has been 5 whole months since you came into our world already!!! Time is flying by so dang fast!!!

Some notes for this month...

• You are moving fast now! Granted you cannot yet master getting up on your knees but you are still trying and you manage to get around quite well via your inchworm moves!
• Sleeping has been great still with the occasional middle of the night feed but on average still sleeping from 10 to 5:30 during the week and like 11 to 7 or so on the weekends
• Still 100% on Mama milk! So proud of us for this and doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon YAY!
• You "talk" more now but are still very observant, you seem to prefer to watch us all and then only "talk" when you are in your swing or crib
• You smile loads but rarely laugh (are we not funny enough for ya?)
• I do get a bit irritated lately with your distractions while nursing (mostly at night time)...you need to learn the release THEN look to the side instead of bringing mama's poor nipple with you!
• You are starting to have stranger anxiety and will cry when others are in your face or holding you if you are not constantly reassured by mommy or daddy or sister!
• Still loving bath time and have now discovered how tasty sucking on a washcloth is!
• You are lots more aware of Bruno when he is around and are reaching out for him more and more when he is near (he better watch out!)
• You are wearing a bunch of your 6 to 9 month clothes already :(
• Still in size small of your perfect fit fuzzi bunz diapers but you are now on largest setting for those juicy thighs of yours heehee...when we get news ones think we may go with the one size they now offer!

Love you so much my dear

4 Months

A little belated since you officially turned 4 months on the 10th but I am sure you will forgive me ;)

at 4 months you....

• keep changing up your bedtime ritual...some nights you love nursing on mama then fall asleep and we put you right into crib...other nights you want mama but also a bottle of mamas milk...and other nights you think it is party happy flail your chubby limbs around time until midnight! Of course toss in some nights where you are super cranky and we have to try all of the above to finally get you to sleep
• you are wearing a mixture of sizes but mostly the 3 to 6 month stuff with very few 0 to 3 month stuff fitting
• you are now rolling not only from back to tummy but also just started tummy to back 
• you can scoot! you push off your toes and are starting to pull with your arms more and more moving yourself around (not sure you know what direction yet but you are def moving!)
• sleeping on your side or belly now most nights even though we start you on your back
• still only consuming mama milk and seem to be thriving just fine (see below pic for proof)

your fave toys include your skwish ball, owl that vibrates when pulled, a little owl that came on your bouncer,and a baby einstein toy that lights up and plays several classical songs

smiling like crazy but still not really laughing yet

starting to "talk" more 

And your blue twinkling eyes and gummy smiles mesmerize us more and more each day! 

3 Months

This month you have started getting more personality which we of course love! You smile all the time and have done so good with sleeping and eating! You are not a fan of too many daytime naps which frustrates Daddy some days, but overall you are a great baby who doesn't give us too much trouble (yet!). You have had a few rough nights this past week but to be honest even what we think is rough really isn't....our idea of rough is when you don't go to sleep until past 10 haha....once you are down for the night though you do stay asleep almost always until I wake you at 5 to nurse. Once in awhile a 3am feeding will sneak in but overall you have been sleeping through the night since about 5 or 6 weeks!

You average 8 feedings a day still that is a combination of bottles by daddy and then of course feeding off of mommy :) We have been so lucky with how the breastfeeding has gone! I really have not had any issues besides a few bruises when I haven't realized you were latched on in the wrong spot!

You love that daddy brings you on walks each day but now that big sister is out of school we are going to have to go on family walks in the evenings instead (which I am looking forward to!).

Still no real laughing yet but you sure are trying! You also haven't quite figured out all the cooing either....you get some out once in awhile but then it is like you forgot how you were doing it haha I am sure you will figure it out for good real soon!

 These photos were taken at 3months1day but I figure that is darn close enough! Not as many smiles as last month but still some cute ones...

Pretty Blue eyes!

Letting me know she is all done with this photo shoot!

The End

2 Months

Time just keeps going faster and faster it seems....let's see at 2 months old Miss Lainey you enjoy
*eating/nursing
*bath time which we are bumping up to every other night now
*You smile loads especially when Daddy is telling you he loves you
*You are starting to coo even more and have attempted some giggles
*You sleep pretty much every night from 10pm to 5am with the occasional nights where you wake around 3
*You love Daddy bringing you on walks
*You are loving the new sleepywrap Mama got but I better not dare sit down unless you are REALLY asleep
*You are still in bassinet to sleep at night and swing to take naps during the day
*Still 100% fed by Mama's milk
*Wearing mostly 0-3 and 3-6 month stuff now with the occasional newborn item that runs bigger
*wearing your size small cloth diapers now, still on smallest setting but had to bump it up a size on thighs ;) (our faves are the fuzzibunz perfect size pocket dipes and then our ebay sweet doll baby pocket dipes)

1 Month

About your first month of life Miss Lainey Bear aka Zombeebee...

You have been cloth diapered since around 2weeks old (right after belly button stump came off), any time we put sposies on you get a bit of a rash, as soon as we go back to cloth it clears up! We love cloth diapers on you too soooo cute :)

You have been breastfeeding the entire time and Mommy is so proud of herself for this even if we are still stuck using the nipple shield!

You get the hiccups LOTS!

You are SO noisy and feisty LOL, if you are grunting and snorting in your sleep you are then doing it while nursing which is what gave you the nickname Zombeebee(cause you sound like a Zombie feeding haha!)

Not only are mommy and daddy completely in love with you but your big sister is as well! She even asked us last night if you two girls could share a bedroom when you are 5....we will see how she feels about that when the time comes since she will then be almost 13 haha!

Sleeping is pretty good most nights and you usually give mommy and daddy a 4 hour stretch and sometimes even a 5 hour one! Too bad mommy is used to sleeping 9 to 6 am on average so even with longer stretches Mommy just cannot seem to catch up and is always tired!

You are wearing newborn clothes still and some of your 0 to 3 month stuff

You have just in past few days started gurgling and cooing with what seems like some purpose...usually it is while staring at the sun filtering through our living room curtains

You have had a couple smiles slip through while awake but mostly still all while sleeping (gas I am sure)

Speaking of gas...every morning almost Mommy can lay you on her tummy and chest in bed and you will let em go for a good hour!

You have been binging past few days...meaning you nurse almost constant for like a 3 to 4 hour stretch! Mommy hopes this passes soon! Especially since you then usually spit most of it up afterwards!

Love you so much little girl and we love seeing each and every milestone you reach...we are too blessed to have had you!!!