Gaby's 12 month letter!

1/28/13

Dear Gabriela:

You are a YEAR OLD! We are amazed at how fast this year has flown by and we’ve had so much fun getting to know you and having you as a part of our family! You’ve really completed our lives!

You are still crawling and scooting everywhere and are SO FAST! We have fun chasing you and having you chase us. You’ve also started pulling up! It took a few days to master but now that you have you pull up on everything. And you’ve gotten daring and just drop to the ground when you want to move to a new spot!

You started using a straw when we gave it to you! We were amazed that you mastered this skill so early, but it makes our lives a bit easier since we don’t need to bring a special sippy cup for you if we’re out.

You’ve also kept on feeding yourself independently as well as you can eat the fruit squeezes by yourself. You have a hard time with letting us feed you with a spoon now but we still manage it.

Your Mama Lupe came to visit from Peru and you spent 6 weeks with her and Santi playing and having fun! You really like spending time with her and she loved spending time with you!

Here are some more things that you’re doing:

• Drinking from a straw. You’ve also asked to drink from an open cup and have been successful about 80% of the time. You need us to hold the cup but you can take small sips that way.
• Pulling up onto everything. Walls, doors, the train table, couches, etc. You really like pulling up and seeing the new world around you.
• Still love to dance. Anytime music comes on you start bouncing up and down to the beat. It’s pretty cute and you’re actually in rhythm about 99% of the time!
• We aren’t sure but we think you might have a dairy allergy since your diaper rash got worse when you drank it so we switched you to soy milk and it seems to be a bit better although you occasionally break out in a hive type rash on your face after you’ve drank it.
• Eating solid foods for 3 meals a day and taking a sippy cup of 4-6oz of soy milk 2-3 times a day
• Wearing size 6 month, 9 month and 6-12 month clothes
• Wearing size 1-2 diapers and your largest cloth diapers
• Wearing size 1-2 shoes
• Weighing in at 17 lbs

We are so lucky to have you as our daughter and so happy you have had a great year! We have some big plans for this year (a trip to Maine and Massachusetts, lots of visits to some new play spaces in the area, and a music class for you as well as maybe swimming lessons.) We know you’re weeks away from walking, and once you start, there’s no looking back! Thank you for being such a joy this past year, and we’re excited for the future with you!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Here are some photos:

 

Gaby's 11 month letter

12/28/12

Dear Gabriela:

You are now 11 months old! The whole year has gone by so quickly, and we’re so happy we’ve gotten to spend this time with you!

You had a wonderful Christmas, including your first trip to see Santa Claus. You were happy until we sat you on his lap, and then you just cried. Mama knew she should comfort you but couldn’t resist snapping a few photos of you crying in his lap. You’ll like having them someday!

You have started crawling and scooting. If you have something that is closeby to you, you will scoot to it on your bum (or if you’re holding something in your hands) but otherwise you will crawl. You’ve gotten really fast and have started chasing Santi and the cats around the house. Santi thinks it’s great, but the cats seem annoyed that you can move now!

You are able to take a sippy cup in your hands, as well as feed yourself independently with finger foods. You still like some pureed foods but we’ve moved you up to oatmeal with bananas, applesauce and macaroni and cheese among other things. You seem to try everything at least once.

You’re still super attached to me. You prefer me over anyone else and Daddy is a close second but I’m still your first choice, which makes me happy as I love holding you and cuddling with you.

Here are some more things that you’re doing:

• You can find Santi when we ask you where he is. You will smile or point at him and he thinks this is pretty great too.
• Getting braver and braver with your crawling. Chasing the cats and Santi everywhere.
• Working on using a spoon. You like to hold one and occasionally try to use it when we are feeding you with another spoon.
• Still working on pulling up. You’re not quite strong enough yet, but we know it’s coming!
• Dancing to all types of music. You got a puppy that plays music and a computer for Christmas from your grandparents and you love dancing to the ABC song on both of them as well as a “song about you” where it spells out your name!
• Eating solid foods for 3 meals a day and taking a sippy cup of 4-6oz of formula 3 times a day
• Wearing size 6 month and 6-12 month clothes
• Wearing size 1-2 diapers and your largest cloth diapers
• Wearing size 1-2 shoes
• Weighing in at almost 16 lbs

Next month marks your 1 year birthday and we’re so excited to celebrate with you! We’ve had so much fun getting to know you and your personality and can’t wait to see what else you have in store for us!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

 Here's some photos of you at 11 months old:

 

 

Meeting Santa...not happy

 

Playing in her doll stroller on Christmas morning

 

With Mama Lupe

 

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to all from our family to yours!

Gaby at 10 months old!

11/28/12

Dear Gabriela:

You are now 10 months old! We can’t believe in two short months you will be a year old! You really light up our lives and we are so thankful for you!

You experienced your first Halloween, trick or treating (you loved it and were a cute little ladybug!) Thanksgiving, tried turkey (you weren’t a fan), and have seen your first Christmas tree all in the last month. You weren’t a fan of the tree at first, but now you like to wave at it and smile when the lights are on.

You are getting very independent when it comes to eating. I’d say you’re more independent than Santi was at this age. You love feeding yourself, and some of your favorites are toast/bread, crackers, Mum Mums, Cheerios, puffs, and banana slices. You can hold your sippy cup but haven’t figured out you need to tip it up to get the liquid out quite yet.

You’ve started (finally!) taking a sippy cup, but only the special one that we got from Children’s Hospital when we went for your feeding evaluation. And you will only drink the most expensive organic formula and only if it’s mixed with a banana. So we make you a banana “smoothie” as we call it three times a day and since we’ve been doing that you have been drinking about 16-18 oz of formula a day. We did all of this because you weren’t getting enough fluids before and even though you were nursing, you weren’t getting enough, so we decided to try supplementing. Your weight had dropped two pounds in a two month period, and we’re happy that it looks like you’re gaining weight again!

Unfortunately, because you like the sippy cup and formula so much, it looks like our nursing relationship is done. While I’m a little sad about this, I’m happy that I was able to nurse you for 10 months, and I know you have gotten a lot of health benefits because of it. And you are such a mama’s girl, I know we will still get our snuggle and bonding time in without the nursing.

Here are some more things that you’re doing:

• Showing excitement when you see something you like. It’s especially funny when you see the container of puffs or your sippy cup being prepared as you start giggling and smiling and will sometimes clap
• Still giving us big belly laughs when we tickle you or do something that you think is funny
• You play “hide your foot” with Daddy, where he pretends to try and eat your foot when you stick it up over the tray of your high chair. Right when he gets to your foot, you will yank it down and then put it back when he backs away. You are usually giggling the whole time he is doing this.
• Scooting ALL over the place. The other day I put you down in front of the kitchen so I could see you and got distracted and when I turned around a few minutes later you had scooted all the way to the front door. You looked pretty pleased that you’d made it that far!
• Still working on pulling up. You’re not quite strong enough yet, but we know it’s coming!
• You love music and “dancing” – your favorite song is still “Bounce Your Baby” by Caspar Babypants. Whenever it comes on you start moving all over the place!
• Eating solid foods for 3 meals a day and taking a sippy cup of 4-8oz of formula 3 times a day
• Wearing size 6 month and 6-12 month clothes
• Wearing size 1-2 diapers and your largest cloth diapers
• Wearing size 1 shoes
• Weighing in at almost 16 lbs

We are excited that you will celebrate your first Christmas this month! It will be fun to see what you like and don’t like…we’re wondering if you will like Santa or if he will scare you, and what you will make of opening presents on Christmas morning.

Thank you for making our past month interesting, fun, and for continuing to be a light in our lives!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

 

Seeing the tree for the first time... :)

 

Trying out pig tails for the first time!

 

Trying out hanging on to stuff

 

Out to lunch and having some bunny crackers

 

 

 

Love those eyelashes!

Kitchen Pinterest success!

So I've been on Pinterest for awhile now, and there are many projects or tips I've tried that work so-so, or not at all. Partially this could be due to user error, or it could be due to bad directions, or me just not having the skills needed to do the project, who knows?

When I first joined, I saw this tip about green onions. Rachel over at Baked by Rachel said you can basically have a never ending crop of them by saving the ends, and placing them in a cup of water on a sunny window sill. I didn't really believe it, but I used up our green onions in a stir fry last week, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I placed the green onions in an old Ikea glass on our kitchen sill. This is a window that is south facing so it doesn't get direct sunlight but it gets light in the afternoon. Not only was I surprised yesterday when I noticed that the green onions were indeed regenerating, but they are growing SO fast!

This is day 6:

 

It's been so successful that I'm going to get another bunch to add so we have some more. Green onions are the veggie that I add to everything if I have them on hand, but I often forget to buy them, so this is perfect!

Have you had any tips from Pinterest that have worked really well?

 

Gaby's 9 month letter

10/28/12

Dear Gabriela:

You are now 9 months old! Almost a whole year has passed since you joined our family! You certainly have made your place in our hearts because we can’t imagine our family without you!

Your personality is shining through more and more every day. You let us know when you are happy and when you are angry/sad. Your crying and screaming seems to have gotten louder and more high pitched, if that was even possible. You’re trying to be more independent and love to do things like pick up your toys to play with and feed yourself.

Sometimes when I put you into your car seat you will cry because you’re mad that I’m not holding you. But once you’re in and I’ve given you your doll or blanket, you are happy. And you will even laugh at me/with me when I come around to your side again after putting Santi into his seat.

Overall, you are a very happy and easy going baby. Once you are comfortable with people, you will let them hold you, although you’re more apt to let them hold you if I’m not around. Once you see me, you need to be in my arms.

You managed to lose almost two pounds between your 6 month appointment and your 9 month appointment at the pediatrician so we are going back in a couple of weeks to get things checked out and see what’s going on. In the meantime, I’m piling more table foods and starchy/high fat foods into you in hopes that it will help you pack on the pounds.

You’ve also managed to get a bad yeast diaper rash. And a skin infection, so we’re giving you medicine, which unfortunately gives you diarrhea. So you’re not very happy right now when we change your diapers and have to slather on medicine as well as A&D diaper rash cream.

Here are some more things that you’re doing:

• Talking more and more everyday. Right now it’s more babbling, but you do say “Mama” and have started babbling with “d’s” and “b’s” sounds
• Laughing when we tickle you
• “Sharing” your food. You like to take whatever is in your hand and put it out for us to “eat.” We will pretend to eat it which you find hilarious and then you’ll eat it yourself
• Pulling up more and more on us only. You will also hold onto things if we place you against them but we usually need to be right nearby in case you decided to leave
• You will take a few steps if we are holding your hands/arms but not all the time
• Really love being upright in your bouncer
• Eating solid foods for 3 meals a day and breastfeeding about 3-4 times a day
• Just started wearing 6 month and 6-12 month size clothes
• Wearing size 1-2 diapers and your largest cloth diapers
• Wearing size 1 shoes

You’re now an international traveler, and have also visited the pumpkin patch for the first time. We’re excited to celebrate your first Thanksgiving this month and hope you like turkey and rolls as much as Santi did his first Thanksgiving!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy